Paul Kauver Smith

1950s Abstract Oil Painting, Framed Mid Century Modern Painting Blue Black White

circa 1955

Abstract oil on canvas painting by Werner Drewes painted in vibrant shades of green, blue, and red from 1944. Signed by the artist in the lower right corner of the canvas. Presented ...

Abstract expressionist oil painting on board from 1955 by Charles Bunnell. Abstract shapes in layers of sage green, light blue, brown, gold, and black. Presented in a custom frame, o...

Mid-century modern abstract painting of crystal formations by Margo Hoff (1910-2008) created with acrylic and canvas collage in purple and pink coloring. Wrapped canvas is ready to hang, outer dimensions measure 49 x 49 x 1 ¼ inches. Provenance: Estate of the Artist, Margo Hoff About the Artist: Born Oklahoma 1910 Died New York 2008 A prolific artist, Margo Hoff’s exquisite style evolved throughout her career yet was always rooted in the events, people, and places in her life. The human experience was her sole focus, expressed through her eyes alone. Born in 1910 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Hoff began creating white-clay animals at a young age, giving them to her friends and family. At eleven she contracted typhoid fever and was bedridden for a summer. During her convalescence, she drew and made cutouts, and it was during this time that her bold, artistic imagination came alive. She began formal art training in high school and continued her education at the University of Oklahoma, Tulsa. In 1933 she moved to Chicago and attended the National Academy of Art and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Between 1933 and 1960—her Chicago years—Hoff’s works was deeply rooted in a figurative, regionalist style. She often used elements of magical realism, and many of her paintings have dreamlike qualities. As a child she learned about color by grinding down rocks, plants, and berries. Her color pallet during the Chicago years is indicative of her early-life color experimentation as she consistently used warm, earth tones in her work. Hoff was a born adventurer and traveled extensively. She lived, worked, taught, and painted in Europe, Mexico, Lebanon, Uganda, Brazil, and China. She also showed at the Denver Art Museum’s Annual Western Exhibitions in 1952-54, 56, and 57. In 1957 she showed along side Colorado modernist Vance Kirkland at the Denver Art Museum’s exhibition, Man's Conquest of Space. What was once a focus on the representational, her work began to change after 1957 when she saw Sputnik in its orbit around Earth. At that moment, feet firmly placed on the ground, she was able to imagine herself in space, looking down from the cosmos, and what she saw was an abstracted world. She then had the opportunity to peer into an electron microscope where once again she was looking down into what seemed to be a realm of pure abstraction. These two events profoundly changed her perspective and she began to move from figural painting to abstract, geometric collage. In 1960, Hoff moved to New York City and she began creating collages. Placing the canvas on the ground, and working from all sides, she used strips of painted paper and tissue—and later painted pieces of canvas—glued onto the canvas surface, building layer upon layer, shape against shape, “action of color next to stillness of color.” She believed these simplified, abstracted forms held the spirit of the subject in the same way poetry reduces words to their essence. These pieces range from aerial cityscapes, to dancers in motions, to flora...

Vintage 1950s mid century modern abstract expressionist painting by Colorado artist, Charles Ragland Bunnell in shades of red, green, white, and black. Presented in the artist's orig...

Original 1958 mid-century modern oil painting by Charles Bunnell (1897-1968), abstract expressionist composition in colors of Yellow, Blue, Teal, Green, Gray, Orange, Red & White, signed and dated lower right. Presented in a vintage gold tone frame, outer dimensions measure 34 ¾ x 28 ¾ x 1 ½ inches. Image size is 29 ¾ x 23 ¾ inches. Painting is clean and in very good vintage condition - please contact us for a complete condition report. Provenance: Estate of Charles Ragland Bunnell Expedited and international shipping is available - please contact us for a quote. About the Artist: Charles Bunnell developed a love for art as a child in Kansas City, Missouri. Around 1915, Bunnell moved with his family to Colorado Springs, Colorado. He served in World War I and later used his GI Training to study at the Broadmoor Art Academy (later renamed the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center) during 1922 and 1923. In 1922, he married fellow student, Laura Palmer...

'Composition in Red and Blue' is a vintage abstract expressionist original oil painting on board by Charles Bunnell (1897-1968) from 1951. Signed and dated by the artist in the lower left corner. Abstract composition painted in shades of white, cream, blue, red, and tan. Presented in a vintage frame, outer dimensions measure 28 ½ x 22 ½ x 1 inches. Image size is 24 x 18 inches. About the Artist: Charles Bunnell developed a love for art at a very young age. As a child in Kansas City, Missouri, he spent much of his time drawing. When he was unable to find paper he drew on walls and in the margins of textbooks for which he was often fined. Around 1915, Bunnell moved with his family to Colorado Springs, Colorado. He served in World War I and later used his GI Training to study at the Broadmoor Art Academy (later renamed the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center) during 1922 and 1923. In 1922, he married fellow student, Laura Palmer. He studied with Ernest Lawson in 1927-1928 and, in the winter of 1928-1929, he served as Lawson’s assistant. In the late 1920’s, the Bunnell’s settled just west of Colorado Springs and 1928, they welcomed the first of their three children. Their one-acre homesite, which they referred to as “Old Home Place”, was situated between two sets of railroad tracks at the foot of Pike’s Peak. Charlie converted an old railroad boxcar into his studio, where he later gave lessons. Beginning in 1931, Bunnell spent a year and a half studying under Boardman Robinson. The two men clashed constantly due to a generation gap and markedly different philosophies. Robinson encouraged his students not to stray from realism and though Bunnell mastered Robinson’s preferred style of American Scene painting, he regularly irritated his professor with his abstract sketches. Bunnell taught at the Kansas City Art Institute during the summers of 1929, 1930, 1940, and 1941. Between 1934 and 1941, he painted and taught under federal projects which included assisting Frank Mechau on murals for the Colorado Springs Post Office. However, he did not take to mural making and, after criticism from Boardman Robinson about his use of “heavy daubs which have no place in mural work,” he abandoned mural-making altogether. By the late 1930’s, Bunnell’s work departed from the American Scene/Modernist style he was trained in towards abstraction. This is marked by his “Black and Blue” series, consisting of 83 abstracted ink and watercolors. Affected by the Second World War and the loss of his 10-year old son, Bunnell’s work of the early 1940’s took on a Transcendental and Surrealist tone. The works from this period are moody and readily reflect the political and personal turmoil experienced by the artist. In the late 1940’s, Bunnell began experimenting with Abstract Expressionism. He alone is credited with introducing Colorado Springs to the new style as it was excluded from the Fine Art Center’s curriculum by Boardman Robinson. Bunnell excelled in Abstract Expressionism and continued to evolve in the style through the 1950’s continuing to his death in 1968. He was recently recognized as a premier American Abstract Expressionist by his inclusion in the book American Abstract Expressionism of the 1950’s: An Illustrated Survey. Solo Exhibits: Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, Missouri, 1930; Santa Fe Museum, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 1947; University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois, 1948; University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky, 1949; Taos Gallery, Taos, New Mexico, 1951; Carl Barnett Galleries, Dallas, Texas, 1952; The Bodley Gallery, New York, 1955; Amarillo, Texas, 1955; Haigh Gallery, Denver, Colorado, 1955; Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, Colorado Springs, Colorado, 1956; Dord Fitz Art Gallery, Amarillo, Texas, December 1956 – February 1957, 1959, 1969 (retrospective). Group Exhibits: Carnegie Institute, 1927-1928; Colorado State Fair, 1928 (1st prize); Artists Midwestern, Kansas City, Missouri, 1929 (Gold Medal); Art Institute of Chicago, 1947 (the exhibit traveled to ten major museums in the United States); “Artists West of the Mississippi”, Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, Colorado Springs, Colorado (7 times); Denver Art Museum Western Annual, Denver, Colorado (5 times); Mid-America Annual, Kansas City, Missouri, 1958; First Provincetown Festival, 1958; Southwestern Annual, Santa Fe, New Mexico, Winter 1957-1958; Central City, Colorado; Cañon City...

Part of a new collection of painted porcelain panels by Chinese artist Yuan Lin, “Daydreams” is a luminous meditation on the sun's rays. In this painting, Lin...

Mindy Weisel Not Everything is Black and White , 2017 oil on canvas 91 x 91 cm 36 x 36 in Exhibited Mindy Weisel "Meditations on Love", Rosenbach Conte...

Binyamin Basteker The sounds of flowers , 2020 oil on canvas 80 x 60 cm 31 x 24 in Exhibited: "Jerusalem Flowers", 2020 Rosenbach Contemporary, Jerusalem Binyamin Basteker was bo...

Binyamin Basteker First rain in Jerusalem , 2018 oil on canvas 100 x 120 cm 39 x 47 in As a student of the masterful colorists of India and the Israeli abstract masters of the 1970s, Basteker has developed a unique style of painting. He loves color, he loves abstract and he loves the holy city...

Binyamin Basteker The Mighty Waves, 2023 oil on canvas 60 x 80 cm 24 x 31 in Binyamin Basteker was born in Mumbai in 1953. Growing up in a family of artists, his unique talent was discovered at a very early age. He perfected the art of portraiture and color while still living in India. Following his immigration to Israel in 1969, he studied with the modern Israeli masters and was considered to be one of the promising young abstract artists of the 1980s. In the mid-1980s he became observant and ceased to exhibit his work. The artist’s inaugural solo exhibition of oil paintings entitled “Stones that Speak” set Basteker apart from the mainstream of “modern” Jewish, religious painters. Whereas in many instances the theme of the painting, whether it be the Kotel or Jerusalem or the wealth of themes available to the observant artist, becomes the goal of the artist, Basteker relates to the “theme” as the “excuse” for the painting. Basteker searches for balance and harmony in his life and translates this to color and texture and motion. Nothing is his work is arbitrary. Every stroke and splash, every line and curve contribute to the perfect composition. The artist’s selection of tools, a result of an immediate inspiration, greatly affects the application of the color and texture. His works are sophisticated and worthy of deep examination. Tremendous layers of thought and spirituality are engraved in each and every work. Yet to the casual viewer, the paintings are aesthetically pleasing on a very simplistic level. On first glance, we see a beautiful bouquet or garden. Yet as the viewer’s eye travels and dissects the composition, we might imagine a maestro conducting a symphony orchestra or a pianist’s graceful fingers dancing over the keyboard. “Jerusalem Flowers” are unique to the Holy City...

Binyamin Basteker Urban Landscape, 2022 oil on canvas 60 x 80 cm 24 x 31 in Binyamin Basteker was born in Mumbai in 1953. Growing up in a family of artists, his unique talent was discovered at a very early age. He perfected the art of portraiture and color while still living in India. Following his immigration to Israel in 1969, he studied with the modern Israeli masters and was considered to be one of the promising young abstract artists of the 1980s. In the mid-1980s he became observant and ceased to exhibit his work. The artist’s inaugural solo exhibition of oil paintings entitled “Stones that Speak” set Basteker apart from the mainstream of “modern” Jewish, religious painters. Whereas in many instances the theme of the painting, whether it be the Kotel or Jerusalem or the wealth of themes available to the observant artist, becomes the goal of the artist, Basteker relates to the “theme” as the “excuse” for the painting. Basteker searches for balance and harmony in his life and translates this to color and texture and motion. Nothing is his work is arbitrary. Every stroke and splash, every line and curve contribute to the perfect composition. The artist’s selection of tools, a result of an immediate inspiration, greatly affects the application of the color and texture. His works are sophisticated and worthy of deep examination. Tremendous layers of thought and spirituality are engraved in each and every work. Yet to the casual viewer, the paintings are aesthetically pleasing on a very simplistic level. On first glance, we see a beautiful bouquet or garden. Yet as the viewer’s eye travels and dissects the composition, we might imagine a maestro conducting a symphony orchestra or a pianist’s graceful fingers dancing over the keyboard. “Jerusalem Flowers” are unique to the Holy City...