1950s Abstract Paintings

A Colorful 1956 Gouache Titled "Sunday in Torromolinos, Spain" by Samuel Butnik. Artwork size: 18" x 25". Archivally matted to: 24" x 30". Biography...

Moody blue night with rain and wind rendered in a post-impressionist style somewhat like that of Albert Marquet

Very finely painted modernist landscape by Robert Noel Blair (1912 - 2002). Watercolor and gouache on paper. Signed Image size, 22 by 30 inches. In excellent original condition. ...

Signed and dated 1958 lower right. Vaclav Vytlacil (1892-1984) He was born to Czechoslovakian parents in 1892 in New York City. Living in Chicago as a youth, he took classes at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, returning to New York when he was 20. From 1913 to 1916, he enjoyed a scholarship from the Art Students League, and worked with John C. Johansen (a portraitist whose expressive style resembled that of John Singer Sargent), and Anders Zorn. He accepted a teaching position at the Minneapolis School of Art in 1916, remaining there until 1921. This enabled him to travel to Europe to study Cézanne’s paintings and works of the Old Masters. He traveled to Paris, Prague, Dresden, Berlin, and Munich seeking the works of Titian, Cranach, Rembrandt, Veronese, and Holbein, which gave him new perspective. Vytlacil studied at the Royal Academy of Art in Munich, settling there in 1921. Fellow students were Ernest Thurn and Worth Ryder, who introduced him to famous abstractionist Hans Hofmann. He worked with Hofmann from about 1922 to 1926, as a student and teaching assistant. During the summer of 1928, after returning to the United States, Vytlacil gave lectures at the University of California, Berkeley, on modern European art. Soon thereafter, he became a member of the Art Students League faculty. After one year, he returned to Europe and successfully persuaded Hofmann to teach at the League as well. He spent about six years in Europe, studying the works of Matisse, Picasso, and Dufy. In 1935, he returned to New York and became a co-founder of the American Abstract Artists group in 1936. He later had teaching posts at Queens College in New York; the College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland, California; Black Mountain College in North Carolina; and the Art Students League. His paintings exhibit a clear inclination toward modernism. His still lives and interiors from the 1920s indicate an understanding of the art of Cézanne. In the 1930s, his works displayed two very different kinds of art at the same time. His cityscapes and landscapes combine Cubist-inspired spatial concerns with an expressionistic approach to line and color. Vytlacil also used old wood, metal, cork, and string in constructions, influenced by his friend and former student, Rupert Turnbull. He eventually ceased creating constructions as he considered them too limiting. The spatial challenges of painting were still his preference. During the 1940s and 1950s, his works indicated a sense of spontaneity not felt in his earlier work. He married Elizabeth Foster in Florence, Italy, in 1927 and they lived and worked in Positano, Italy for extended periods of time. Later on, they divided their time between homes in Sparkill, New York and Chilmark, Massachusetts, where Vyt, as he was affectionately called, taught at the Martha's Vineyard Art...

Richard Anuszkiewicz Old Door, 1953 Watercolor on paper Signed and dated by the artist on the lower right front 20 × 14 inches Unframed This unique and extre...

This is a collaboration between Marshall Simpson (1900 – 1958) and Roslynn Estelle Middleman (1929 – 2003), 100-10, by 1958, oil on Masonite, signed and titled verso, 22 x 30 inches,...

"Summer in the Windowsill" by E.J.E. Dulfer (1958) This striking abstract still-life composition by renowned Dutch artist E.J.E. Dulfer (1909–1965), titled "Summer in the Windowsill"...

Signed lower left. “Abstract and Fractured Biomorphic and Geometric Forms” which was painted in the mid to late 1950’s is a nod to Picasso’s famous painting Guernica, which Hart may have seen when it was given to the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1958. Several elements in the painting clearly reference Guernica: the black geometric and cut-out shapes, the biomorphic shapes, the abstracted horse’s head and body, with a district reference to the bull’s tail, along with the black and white pallet choice and various details throughout-all hallmarks of Picasso’s Guernica. The abstracted reality Hart presents in these references go beyond a simple nod and reflect a personal interpretation reflected in the splintered abstraction and her bespoke interpretation. Agnes Hart’s first began her career as a social realist artist in the 1930’s. She was also WPA artist. Her longtime friend Milton Avery encouraged her, and she exhibited in the same gallery in the late 1940’s, the RoKo Gallery. Her instinctive and personalized modernist periods often reflected a similar path of her compatriot artists during the first half of the 20th century. Her early works were influenced by her teachers Josef Presser, Paul Burlin and Lucile Blanch, and Reginald Neal, and reflected historical modern trends-at times showing the influence of Avery and other modernist. Like Elaine DeKooning, Lee Kraser, Michael Corrine West...

5-3240a Oil on artist board set in a vintage black wood frame

Virginia Berresford Pond in Back of Her House Signed and titled on the reverse Oil on board 23 1/2 x 17 1/2 inches Virginia Berresford was an underrated American modernist who had ...

Wonderful abstract expressionist painting of guitarist painted by Norman Rubington (American, 1921 - 1991) while in Rome, 1952. Signed lower left and on verso. Dated "11 - 52, Roma" ...

Antique American modernist cityscape oil painting. Oil on canvas. Framed. Image size, 24L x 18H.

Waterline Fine Art, Austin, TX is pleased to present the following work: Oil on canvas. Signed lower right. 50.5 x 38.25 in. 51.5 x 39 in. (framed) Custom framed in maple. Theodore Franklin (“Ted”) Appleby, Jr. was born January 28, 1923 in Asbury Park, New Jersey to a very prominent family in Monmouth County. He attended the Pauling School in New York and studied at the atelier of John Corneal. On December 12, 1942, Appleby enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps, subsequently seeing action in the Marshall Islands. Upon the conclusion of the war, he was stationed for a year in Yokohama, Japan, where he studied local engraving techniques. In 1947, after returning home, Appleby moved to Mexico for a year to study mural painting in San Miguel de Allende. Following his sojourn in Mexico, Appleby briefly returned home to the U.S. before ultimately relocating to Paris. There, he joined a lively community of expatriate American artists involved with what would come to be known as the “School of Paris.” Appleby befriended fellow Americans Sam Francis and Jackson Pollock, exhibiting extensively throughout France with the former. He also regularly visited the atelier of Fernand Léger, and was represented in the "Salon de Réalités Nouvelles" and the “Salon d’Automne” during the 1950s and 60s. From 1955 to 1961, Appleby participated in group exhibitions in Chicago, Leverkusen (Germany), Lisbon, London, and Paris. He also had three notable solo exhibitions during this period: Studio Facchetti, Paris (1956); Martha Jackson Gallery, New York (1957); and the American Cultural Center, Paris (1959). In 1957, Appleby’s work was presented at the 62nd American Exposition of Painters and Sculptors at the Chicago Art Institute, where he was awarded the Norman Wait Harris Bronze Medal and Prize. Answering the famed artist André Lhote’s call to help save the village of Alba-la-Romaine in the Ardèche, Appleby and his wife - the artist Hope Manchester - purchased a home in the village in 1950, ultimately settling there until their deaths. Source: Taylor Graham Gallery

Portrait of Man San Francisco Bay Area Figurative Movement Figurative portrait of a man by San Francisco artist Peter Witwer (American, 1928-1968). Unsigned from a collection of his work. Provenance estate of Peter Witwer, Lost Art Solon. Image 32"H x 26"W Frame, 32.5"H x 26.5"W x 1.75"D Posthumous show of the artists work exhibit card on verso. Born George Peter...

RICHARD ANDRES American, 1927–2013 Untitled, c. 1950 oil on canvas signed lower left 10 x 7 inches Richard Andres was born in Buffalo, New York in 1927. A graduate of the Clevelan...

3910a Surreal oil on canvas set in a black frame Two clowns on a flying balloon Signed W.Morinet

Wonderful mid century modern mixed media abstracted Northern California landscape by Hilda Davidson Kaster (American, 1912-2008), circa 1950. The artist uses layers of mixed media earth tones and natural textures such as leaves and bark to create the aesthetic of the deep forest of Sebastopol, California. Signed lower left corner, on verso with exhibition and gallery labels. Unframed: Image 18"H x 24"W. Hilda Davidson Kaster was born in Oakland, California in 1912 to Russian Jewish immigrant parents. She went to New York in the early 1930s to study art. At the Traphagen School of Design, she was a student of Moses Soyer and William Gropper, who were founders of the Ashcan School. Later in the 1930s she worked as a commercial artist and designer for I. Miller Shoes...

This intense abstract watercolor has drawed on sheet of Fabriano paper, an Italian high quality paper specially made for artists and its artworks. About Keller arworks was told many words but we want to add that every time we look at his creations we can feel at once his whole world. Erich Keller...

At a time when Abstract Expressionism was raging, realist painterJohn Atherton nods his head to the movement with a semi-abstract work. Meticulously rendered and carefully thought o...

Very finely painted modernist landscape by Robert Noel Blair (1912 - 2002). Watercolor and gouache on paper. Signed Image size, 23 by 31 inches. In excellent original condition. ...

#5-3004 Fantasy oil painting on board, displayed in a dark-wood frame

American artist Hellier (20th Century) designed this stunning post-cubist constructivist oil on canvas painting. The artwork "Ste Augustine" uses earth tones juxtaposed with green to...

With Abstract Expressionist painting, one could argue that the earlier, the more historically important. This stunning non-objective action painting is characterized by vast swaths o...

Abram Abraham Krol was born January 22, 1919, in Pabianice (Lodz), Poland. Abram Krol went to France in 1938 to study civil engineering at the Universit...

Stephen Pace Untitled, 58-A8, 1958 Signed lower right Oil on canvas 64 x 48 inches Born in Charleston, Missouri, Stephen Pace grew up in Indiana, where his parents operated a groce...

Richard Andres (American, 1927-2013) Blue Wall, c. 1959 oil on canvas signed and titled verso 42 x 60 inches Richard Andres was born in Buffalo, New York in 1927. A graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Art in 1950, he was immediately drafted and served for two years in the army as a mural painter. He received his Master of Arts from Kent State in 1961. A frequent exhibitor at galleries and museums and winner of multiple May Show prizes, Andres taught art in the Cleveland Public Schools for 28 years, as well as teaching the University of Buffalo, the Cleveland Institute of Art and the Western Reserve University. Very little in Richard Andres’ childhood would have predicted his love of classical music, mid-century-modern architecture and certainly not his lifelong passion for art and in particular abstract art. Richard’s father, Raymond, had no more than a third-grade education, and his mother, Clara, was one of thirteen children – only three of whom lived into adulthood and none of whom attended high school. They lived, when Richard was a boy, in a dingy area of Buffalo, NY in a walk-up apartment situated above a tavern. Raymond and Clara supplemented the income from their factory jobs in the bar downstairs with Raymond playing ragtime on the piano and Clara serving drinks. This often left Richard and his two older brothers at home alone to fend for themselves. The two older boys, Raymond and Russell, were - unlike Richard- rather rough and tumble and entertained themselves with stickball, boxing and the like. Richard, on the other hand, from a very young age liked to draw, or better yet even, to paint with the small set of watercolors he received for Christmas one year. Paper, however, at the height of the depression, was hard to come by. Luckily, Clara used paper doilies as decoration for the apartment and Richard would contentedly paint and then cut up doilies, gluing the pieces together to create collages. At eight-years-old, he discovered the Albright-Knox Museum (then known as the Albright Art Gallery) and spent several hours a week there studying the paintings. He was particularly fond of Charles Burchfield‘s landscapes, enamored with their ‘messiness’ and thinking that they somehow captured more ‘feeling’ than works he was previously familiar with. For his tenth Christmas, he asked for and received a ‘how-to’ paint book by Elliot O’Hare. Through this self-teaching, he assembled the portfolio needed for acceptance to Buffalo Technical High School where he studied Advertising Arts. In his Junior year, he was encouraged to enter a watercolor painting, “Two Barns,” in the national 1944-45 Ingersoll Art Award Contest and was one of twelve grand prize winners – each one winning one hundred dollars. More importantly the painting was exhibited at the Carnegie Institute Galleries, which resulted in his winning a national scholarship to the Cleveland School of Art (The Cleveland Art Institute). He flourished at the art school under the tutelage of faculty members such as Carl Gaertner, as well as that of visiting artists such as William Sommer and Henry George Keller. He would say in later years that Gaertner, in particular, influenced his attitude toward life as well as art. “Gaertner,” Andres said, “believed that there was no need to be a ‘tortured artist’, that an artist should rather enjoy beauty, family, and life in general.” Free to spend his days as he chose, he wandered the Cleveland Art Museum for most of the hours he was not attending classes or painting; the remaining time was spent drinking coffee at a local hangout with art school friends – which is where he met fellow Henry Keller scholarship winner, Avis Johnson. Richard was immediately smitten with Avis, but being rather shy, it took him the entire summer of 1948 to build up his courage to ask her out. Over that summer he ‘thought about Avis’ and worked in a diner to save money. He also used the hundred-dollar prize money won in High School to visit the first Max Beckmann retrospective in the United States at the City Art Museum in St. Louis. Over a half century later he spoke of that exhibit with a reverence usually reserved for spiritual matters, “I walked in and it was like nothing I had ever seen before... the color...It just glowed.” Returning to campus in the Fall, the first thing he did was go to the coffee shop in hopes of finding Avis. He did, and she, upon seeing him, realized that she was also smitten with him. They quickly became known as ‘the couple’ on campus, and a year later, with Richard being drafted for the Korean war, they were quickly married by a Justice of the Peace, celebrating after with family at Avis’s Cleveland home. As a gift, faculty member John Paul Miller designed and made the simple gold wedding ring Avis wore for their 65 years of marriage. During those 65 years neither wavered in their mutual love, nor in the respect they shared for one another’s art. The couple lived in a converted chicken coop in Missouri while Richard was in boot camp. At the camp, he would volunteer for any job offered and one of those jobs ended up being painting road signs. His commander noticed how quickly and neatly he worked and gave him more painting work to do - eventually recommending him for a position painting murals for Army offices in Panama. Until her dying day, Avis remained angry that “The army got to keep those fabulous murals and they probably didn’t even know how wonderful they were.” In Panama, their first son, Mark, was born. After Richard’s discharge in 1953, they moved back to the Cleveland area and used the GI bill to attend Kent State gaining his BA in education. The small family then moved briefly to Buffalo, where Richard taught at the Albright Art School and the University of Buffalo – and their second son, Peter, was born. Richard had exhibited work in the Cleveland May Show and the Butler Art Museum during his art school years, and during the years in Buffalo, his work was exhibited at the gallery he had so loved as a child, the Albright Art Gallery. In 1956, the family moved back to the Cleveland area and Richard began teaching art at Lincoln West High School during the day while working toward his MA in art at Kent State in the evenings. Avis and Richard, with the help of an architect, designed their first home - a saltbox style house in Hudson, Ohio, and in 1958, their third son, Max (after Max Beckmann) was born. Richard enjoyed the consistency of teaching high school as well as the time it gave him to paint on the weekends and during the summer months. In 1961, he received his MA and his daughter, Claire, was born. With a fourth child, the house was much too small, and Avis and Richard began designing their second home. An admirer of MCM architecture, Richard’s favorite example of the style was the Farnsworth house – he often spoke of how the concepts behind this architectural style, particularly that of Mies van der Rohe, influenced his painting. Andres described himself as a 1950’s...

Expressive portrait of a man and a woman looking directly at the viewer as well as indicated chairs. The execution of a series of chair paintings served Wilhelm Ohm (1905 Stettin -...

LILI ORSZAG 1926 - 1978 (Hungarian) Title: Brown Abstraction - The Walls Technique: Original Oil on paper Size: 28 x 16 cm. / 11 x 6.2 in. Additional Information: This original...

Oil on wood panel, 1951. Unique work, titled and hand-signed in felt pencil by artist on the verso. Work size: 30 x 30 cm Framed size: 33 x 33 cm Very good conditions, with deep bri...

Oil on wood panel, 1951. Unique work, titled and hand-signed in felt pencil by artist on the verso. Work size: 30 x 30 cm Framed size: 33 x 33 cm Very good conditions, with deep bri...

Original Sierra Mountain Cabin Abstract Expressionist Landscape Original acrylic painting depicting a cabin in the Sierra Mountains by Honora Berg (American, 1897-1985), circa 1950....

Antique American modernist abstract landscape oil painting by Charles Green Shaw (1892 - 1974). Oil on canvas. Framed. Signed. In excellent original condition. Handsomely framed i...

This soft toned abstract expressionist watercolor painting, created by Charles Ragland Bunnell (1897-1968), is an exceptional example of his evolution as an artist. Featuring bold sw...

Palace of Fine Arts, San Francisco by Garrett Price (American, 1896-1979). Signed "Garrett" lower right. Unframed. Image size, 11.75"H x 15.25"W. G...

Jim’s of Lambertville is proud to offer this artwork by: Mercedes Matter (1913 - 2001) Best known as a painter of abstract still life and founder of the New York Studio School, M...

An illustrator for Time, Life, Look, True, True West, Saturday Evening Post, Good Housekeeping, Readers Digest, and others, he also painted for adverti...

ANTAL BIRO 1907-1990 Pozsony 1907-1990 Székesfehérvár (Hungarian) Title: Composition with Triangle and Circle, 1950 Technique: Original Signed and Dated Double Sided Oil Painting on Canvas...

ANTAL BIRO 1907-1990 Pozsony 1907-1990 Székesfehérvár (Hungarian) Title: Figures / Alakok, 1950-1952 Technique: Original Signed and Oil Painting on Board size: 21 x 31 cm / 8.3 x...

Impressive early American modernist still life oil painting. Framed. Oil on board. Signed.

Antique American modernist abstract oil painting by Majorie Shaw Kubach. Oil on canvas. Framed in a minimal white wood frame.

Dora Maar è lo pseudonimo di Henrietta Theodora Markovitch (Parigi 1907 - 1997). Avvolta nell'ombra monumentale di Picasso, è stata a lungo - e riduttivamente - conosciuta come la su...

Signed lower right Agnes Hart was born in Meridan, Connecticut. She studied at the Ringling School of Art in Sarasota, Florida; at Iowa State University with Josef Presser, Paul Burlin and Lucile...

Dora Maar è lo pseudonimo di Henrietta Theodora Markovitch (Parigi 1907 - 1997). Avvolta nell'ombra monumentale di Picasso, è stata a lungo - e riduttivamente - conosciuta come la su...

Max Walter Svanberg (1912-1994) Untitled, 1957 Gouache on paper Paper: 36 x 29 cm l 14 1/8 x 11 in. Frame: 57 x 49 cm l 22 1/2 x 19 1/3 in Signed and dated Exhibition history: Nord...

An abstract Mid Century Marina scene with Boats, presenting a vivid use of paint and complex lines and color placement. A strong modernist oil painting depicted in 1955 with sailboat...

Vibrant abstract acrylic painting with primary tones of yellow, lime green and black with white accents, 1952. Signed and dated lower right. Original artwork on paper displayed on...

Jim’s of Lambertville is proud to offer this artwork. Signed and dated 1950 lower right. Richard Peter Hoffman (1911-1977) Richard Peter Hoffman was a precisionist painter, ph...

John Opper (American, 1908 - 1994) Untitled, 1959 Oil on board Signed and dated lower right 14.75 in. h x 18 in. w. 20 in. h. x 24.5 in. w., as framed John Opper described the 1930s...

CHARLES LEVIER – UNTITLED [PONT AU-DESSUS DU CANAL] Oil on Canvas ⚜ Signed Lower Right ⚜ Custom Conservation Frame A STYLIZED MIDCENTURY CITYSCAPE WITH CUBIST RHYTHM AND MODERN ELEG...

Antique Polish American impressionist flower still life oil painting by Edward Lis (1915 - 2011). Oil on board. Signed. Framed. Image size, 15H x 17L.

Vintage American modernist abstract Maine landscape painting. Watercolor and gouache on paper, circa 1960. Signed on verso. Image size, 30...

Stephen Pace Untitled, 56-21, 1956 Signed and dated lower right Oil on canvas 22 x 30 inches Born in Charleston, Missouri, Stephen Pace grew up in Indiana, where his parents operat...

George F. Welch (1926 - 2003) designed this lovely Mid-Century modernist enamel on copper artwork. The large square enameled plaque is wall-mounted and framed. The artwork boasts an ...

Monochrome Bay Area Abstract Expressionist Composition in Acrylic on Paper San Francisco Bay area abstract expressionist composition by Honora Berg (American, 1897-1985). Although this piece only uses black and white paint, the blue paper creates an additional layer of depth. Lines dance across the paper, implying movement and expression, yet the piece is well-balanced and harmonious. Unsigned, but was acquired with a collection of the artist's work. Unframed. Paper size: 25.5"H x 20"W Larry Miller 1958-2003, Larry was a specialist in bay area abstract artists and purchased numerous bay area artists estates. He purchased the entirety of the Honora Berg Estate and we purchased many of those works directly from Larry. Honora Berg, an Abstract Expressionist and Bay Area Figurative School artist, studied at the San Francisco Art Institute with David Park, Elmer Bischoff and James Budd Dixon...

A dramatic, Expressionist Coastal landscape showing a view of white-capped jade green breakers crashing against a rocky shoreline, with a distant mountain painted in shades of scarlet, slate blue, and indigo rising in the background. Signed lower right, "Beamish", titled verso and painted circa 1960. Provenance: The Vincent Price Collection...

Large Surrealist Abstract, Yellow, Original Oil Painting By French artist, Sophie Danielle Rubinstain 1922-2018 The painting is stamped with the artis...

Black,White,Picasso,abstract Atelier stamp lower right Dora Maar, original name Henrietta Theodora Markovitch (Marković), (born November 22, 1907, Paris, France—died July 16, 1997, ...

This painting is signed in ink by the artist "Antal Biro" in the lower left corner. It is also dated "20.6.1956" next to the signature. Provenance: The Bergman Collection, The Israe...

Antique American modernist signed scene oil painting. Oil on paper. Signed. Framed. Image size, 20L x 15H.

Black And White Abstract - Oil And Gouache On Paper Black and white abstract painting by Felix Ruvolo (American, 1912-1992). Grey takes over the center of the paper with strokes of ...