Mid-20th Century Abstract Paintings

Donald Stacy "Landscape wit Boulder" c.1950s Gouache paint on paper 24"x18'" unframed Unsigned Came from artist's estate *Custom framing available for ad...

Vivid mid century landscape of autumn trees blurring into colorful abstraction by Helen Gleiforst (American, 1903-1997). Presented in a giltwood frame. Image size: 10" H X 8" W. G...

This Modern Abstract Expressionist painting by Stanley Bate is made with oil paint and and lacquer on board. It features light textured and a light blue-grey and yellow palette contrasted by the almost black focal point of the composition. The painting is 14.5" x 19" and measures 16.25" x 20.5" x 2" framed. Signed by the artist in the lower left-hand corner of the painting, it is framed in a floater frame with warm silver face and black sides and is ready to hang. Stanley Bate was born on March 26, 1903 in Nashville, Tennessee. The Bates were an established Tennessee family, in fact, Henry’s brother William Bate was the governor of Tennessee from 1883-1887 and a United States Senator from 1887-1905. Stanley studied art at the Watkins Institute in Nashville. In the 1920’s Bate moved to New York City to study at the Art Students League under Frederick Bridgman. He soon landed a job with Encyclopedia Britannica, and from 1927-1929 served as art editor. From 1929 until his death in 1972, Stanley was a self-employed artist. He taught art classes at both the Art Students League and the Albany Institute of History and Art and brought in extra income by making illustrations for magazines such as “Outdoor Life” and “Popular Science”. On January 27, 1934 Stanley married Emilie Rossel. Emilie had emigrated from Switzerland to New York in 1923. She found work as a governess to Alfred Vanderbilt and later as an executive secretary for Wall Street investment brokers Kahn, Loeb and Co. Emilie met Stanley in New York in the early 1930’s when she attended one of his art exhibitions with a friend. The couple, who had no children, lived on 34th Street in Manhattan. During this period, Bate was producing and exhibiting his art and joined several artists groups. Stanley and Emilie became part of the New York art scene, dining weekly at the Society of Illustrators Clubhouse. Stanley Bate’s time in New York was pivotal in the formation of his painting style. He lived in New York during the inception of one of the most important Modern Art movements, one that helped New York replace Paris as the center of avant-garde art. This movement, which was called the New York School of artists, was later known as Abstract Expressionism. It was comprised of a loosely associated group of vanguard artists working in New York City during the 1940s and 1950s. The New York School was not defined by a specific style, but instead reflected a fusion of European Modernism and American social relevancy that was depicted in many individual styles. Influences of Surrealism, Cubism, and Modernism can be found in their work, along with an interest in experimenting with non-traditional materials and methods. American art was in the forefront of international avant-garde for the first time. Stanley Bate was undoubtedly exposed to the varied styles and techniques that were emerging during the formative years of the New York School. Mark Rothko and Robert Motherwell were formulating their versions of color field paintings. Joseph Cornell was experimenting with assemblages, collage and the use of different types of textured paints. Jackson Pollock was adhering objects such as buttons and coins into his early works, while Louise Nevelson was using found objects. Helen Frankenthaler added sand to her early paintings. The New York School artists were undermining traditional fine art by using mixed media and non-traditional methods. Stanley Bate absorbed these varied influences and soon his early realistic landscapes and still-lifes were replaced with something entirely new. The influence of Cubism, notably the flat shallow space of the picture plane, is obvious in many of Bate’s paintings. Surrealism is evident in Bate’s use of subjects from myth, primitive art and antiquity, along with the Automatism-like line work in his more linear images. The unfettered experimentation of the New York School is everywhere in Stanley Bate’s work. We see nods to color field, collage, the mixing of textures into paint, mixed media, the inclusion of found objects and thick, luscious impasto. Bate was prolific and experimented in various media including oil, watercolor, lithography, silk screen, wood cut, drawing, collage, ceramics and sculpture. Bate is considered a true Modernist. His work is largely abstract, but sometimes figures and buildings are discernable. He frequently mixed paint, sand and glue together to achieve a textured surface, and then scraped and scratched through this layer to expose some of the underpainting below. His sculpture, which is often whimsical, also reflects the non-traditional methods of the New York School. Bate pioneered the use of enamel and copper in his work. The sculptures are not carved or modeled as was done in the past, but instead are built using mixed media and new materials. In addition to the New York School influence, many of Bate’s works exhibit a strong connection to the Spanish school, especially the work of Antonio Tapies and Modesto Cuixart. These artists were both part of an avant-garde group known as Art Informel, the Spanish equivalent of Abstract Expressionism. These artists likewise worked in mixed media and introduced objects and texture into their work. Many of Bate’s subjects and titles relate to Spanish locations and words. It is likely that Stanley spent time in Spain and found inspiration there. By the early 1940s, Stanley and Emilie had started spending weekends in a barn they purchased in Craryville, New York, a few hours north of Manhattan. The barn had no electricity or plumbing, but when the Bates eventually decided to leave New York and live full time in Craryville, they remodeled the barn, putting a gallery downstairs and a studio and living quarters upstairs. Although the Bates moved out of New York City, Stanley remained part of the New York art scene, exhibiting in New York and elsewhere throughout the 50s and 60s. During his lifetime he was represented by the New York galleries Knoedler and Company, Kennedy Galleries, Rose Fried Gallery and Key Gallery, along with Tyringham Gallery located in Tyringham, Massachusetts. Craryville was Stanley’s home until his death on August 21, 1972. Emilie died 1984...

PROCESSION OF SHADOWS Size: 39.5 x 53 cm (including frame) Oil on canvas A striking and richly textured mid-century abstract composition, executed in oil onto canvas. Although abstr...

Original abstract oil painting on heavy card stock by the American artist Martin Rosenthal. Signed lower left and dated 1960. Condition is very good. Slight bow to board. Nicely pro...

Rare and interesting mid century Icelandic abstract painting. Oil on canvas board. Signed verso. Image size, 16H by 13L.

Impressive early American modernist abstract oil painting. Framed. Oil on board. Signed. Image size, 15H by 19L.

Seymour Franks Paulson, 1949 Signed lower left Signed, titled, dated on verso Oil on canvas 46 x 30 inches American painter and designer, Seymour Franks, was born in New York City ...

Impressive early American modernist abstract painting. Framed. Oil on board. Image size, 16H by 20L.

Stunning array of strong colors stand out in this original mid-20th century British abstract painting. The work dates to the 1950's-60's period and is of British authorship. The pa...

"Landscape" by Carlos Carnero (Uruguay/ French 1922-1980) Pen and pencil on paper, unframed paper: 16.75 x 5.75 inches provenance: the artists estate, Paris Fine original French drawing by the important and fascinating painter, Carlos Carnero (1922-1980). The painting has excellent provenance, having come from the artists estate sale in Paris. The artists close connection to one of the 20th centuries most important artists, Fernand Leger is of important significance, with his own work being widely collected and appreciated. The artist: Carlos Carnero (1922-1980), a native of Montevideo, emigrates to Paris and joins Fernand Léger's studio workshop at the end of the 1940s. Located on the Boulevard de Clichy, the workshop-school has some seventy-five students. At the end of his life, Léger elaborates a protest against Cubism advocates the return to the human figure. The head of the workshop, Nadia Khodasievich, brilliant painter, first pupil of Malevich, then of Leger in the mid-1920s, became the assistant thenthe mistress of this one and the wife in 1952. In the workshop, Carlos Carnero, soon nicknamed "Carlos" is noted for his talent and involvement. In addition to art education, the couple Léger entrusts the task of the secretariat of the workshop: movements of the stocks, inventory paintings, material organization of exhibitions. After the death of Léger in 1955, Carlos becomes very close to Nadia, rigorous in the construction of the posterity of the master. With his new companion Georges Bauquier, they found, on their own funds, the museum Fernand Léger de Biot - Carnero gives his assistance. Carnero's style is very close to that of his master, filled with joy and colorful dynamism. At the beginning of the 50's, he tried the cubisante figuration of the portraits of Picasso then adopts the abstract balances between lines, shapes and colors of Léger. Some dates: Classical studies in Montevideo (Uruguay). 1941 to 1946 School of Fine Arts, architecture section (Montevideo). 1947 Travel grant (Italy, Spain, France). 1948 Painting workshop at André Lhote workshop. 1949 Entered the Académie Fernand Léger, first student, then 1949 to 1955 Assistant-collaborator of Fernand Léger. 1955 to 1970 Collaborator of Nadia Khodasievitch and Georges Bauquier. Exhibitions: 1950 Galerie Jeanne Bucher, Paris, Atelier Fernand Léger, Exposition collective, juillet 1950. 1951 Académie des Beaux-Arts, Paris, Atelier Fernand Léger, exposition annuelle, décembre 1951. 1953 Salon des Artistes indépendants, Paris. 1953-1954 Galerie Gentilhommière, Paris, Groupe 53. 1957-1958 Première Biennale de la “Jeune Peinture”, musée des Arts décoratifs, Paris, mai-juin 1957, Francfort, Montréal, 1958. 1959 “École de Paris” à Vienne, Linz, Gratz. Galerie de France, “Cinq peintres – Un sculpteur”. 1960 Galerie Création à Roubaix. Exposition personnelle. 1961 Galerie Pierre Weiller à Paris. Exposition personnelle. Salon des Réalités nouvelles. Palais des Beaux-Arts de Bruxelles. Exposition personnelle, mai 1961. 1962 Musée des Arts décoratifs, Paris, “Antagonismes 2 - L’objet”, juillet-octobre 1962. Galerie Pierre Weiller, Paris, “Poèmes Peints”, mars-avril 1962. Exposition personnelle. Musée d’Art moderne de la Ville de Paris : “L’art latino-américain à Paris”. 1962-1963 Exposition de peinture contemporaine, Communauté européenne, Prix Marzotto. Italie, Allemagne, Belgique, France. Exposition des Artistes latino-américains, Musée d’Art moderne de la Ville de Paris. “Expressions Nouvelles”, Antibes. 1962 à 1965 Salon “Comparaisons”. L’Oeil de Boeuf, Galerie 7...

"Portrait" by Carlos Carnero (Uruguay/ French 1922-1980) Pen on thin paper, unframed paper: 10.5 x 8 inches provenance: the artists estate, Paris Fine original French drawing by t...

Symbolic figurative abstract of wispy figures surrounding a heart by Marguerite Louis Blasingame (American; 1906-1947), circa 1940-45. Marguerite and her husband Frank Blasingame...

Antique American abstract expressionist mixed media painting by Bernyce Alpert Winick 1922-2022. Watercolor and collage paper. Signed. Framed.

Antique American oil painting by Elaine Crawley. Oil on canvas board. Signed. Framed. Measuring 21 by 25 inches overall and 20 by 24 painting alone.

This abstract painting by Modernist artist Stanley Bate is an abstract oil painting on canvas featuring a bright red geometric shape at the center of the composition and deep grey, b...

"Gravity Zero" Mid 20th Century American Abstract 1960s Color Field Abstraction James Daugherty (1887 – 1974) "Gravity Zero: 24 x 18 inches Signed on verso Oil on panel Provenance...

Diana Kurz Big Orange Signed lower right Oil on canvas 44 x 38 inches Diana Kurz (born 1936) is an Austrian-born feminist painter. In 1938, Diana Kurz's family fled Austria, first ...

Bold San Francisco Abstracted Still Life Composition in Oil on Board Bold still life composition by Frank Koci (Czech-American, 1904-1983). A table is set with a jug of wine and a bowl of fruit and a landscape in the background. It is composed of several layers of paint, with bold outlines. In some areas, paint has been scraped away to create additional texture. In broad terms, you can describe Koci’s paintings as a series of “people-scapes,” wherein people are shown having relationships (some fleeting, some enduring) with fellow humans. A better term is probably “preludes” — wherein each painting sets the stage for something momentous that will occur in the very next frame. In the best Kocis, the tension is palpable. Signed in the lower right corner "Koci". Presented in a wood frame. Board size: 13"H x 30"W x .5"D Born in 1904 in Pilsen Czechoslovakia to a widowed mother. Koci grew up in poverty. Leaving Pilsen at 17 he was already too sophisticated about arts and literature, drama, and polished...

Abstract Composition is a small yet significant artwork made by Paul Bony, a famous French artist active in the mid-20th century. The artwork is in excellent state of preservation. ...

Impressive early American modernist abstract oil painting by Alton S. Tobey (1914 - 2005). Framed. Oil on board. Signed. Image size, 48H by 36L.

This superb large abstract oil painting is by Italian born but South African based artist Armando Baldinelli. It was painted circa 1958 after Baldinelli left Italy for South Africa a...

Abstract composition is a contemporary artwork realized in the mid-20th Century. Mixed colored oi painting on canvas. Hand signed R. Basso on the lower margin. Includes frame

Edward Zutrau Untitled, 2/17/1963 Signed and dated on verso Oil on linen 25 1/2 x 21 inches Edward Zutrau is among the American artists who worked within the whirlwind of diverse a...

An original oil on board painting by American modernist John W. Hatch. This incredible cubist painting was created in the 1950's. Estate stamped on the reverse. The painting comes housed in a modern black frame presentation. John Woodsum Hatch 1919-1998 During his fifty-year career as an artist, John Woodsum Hatch explored the people, the landscape, and the seascape around him. From his extensive travels to his years in New Hampshire, he developed a body of work that captures a sense of place. Through watercolor, ink and sand, he depicted the grandeur of the White Mountains. The crisp light and distinct topography of the Isles of Shoals and Great Bay Estuary are precisely and clearly documented in acrylic and tempera paintings. His ability to convey the sheer scale and longevity of the mountains and sea, and by comparison the fleeting nature of human life, conveys in a not-so-subtle way that the natural environment is to be revered and preserved. Hatch took his first teaching job at the University of New Hampshire in 1949, the same year he graduated from Yale University. He never left. A former student, Sam Cady, described his contributions: “He was a wonderful mix of jokester and sage. A teacher who obviously loved people, loved teaching, and had a great gift for it.” After retiring in 1985, he was made an honorary Professor Emeritus at UNH. Hatch contributed to New Hampshire's cultural life in three areas: his teaching, his art, and his community service. His effectiveness in these three areas can be traced his commitment to give something of himself to help others. Many artists teach by necessity and resent it as a drain on their creative energies but Hatch found his greatest fulfillment from a combination of teaching, making art, and being deeply involved with his community as an art historian and as an environmentalist. Hatch’s work can be seen in numerous public collections, including: the Addison Gallery of American Art; DeCordova Museum; Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts; State of New Hampshire's Living Treasures Collection, and the Portland Museum of Art in Maine. John Woodsum Hatch, New Hampshire's 1997 Living Treasure Award recipient, died on August 6, 1998, at the age of 78. Hatch was a draftsman, an artist and a muralist. His works can be found in public and private collections throughout the region. He exhibited at the New Hampshire Art...

SPANISH WALKS Size: 24 x 37 cm (including frame) Oil on Board An outstanding semi-abstract oil composition, painted in 1958 by the established Swedish artist Ivar Morsing (1919-2009...

Mid Century Modern Boats and Bridge, Abstracted Maritime Landscape Painting Wonderful mid-century modern abstracted maritime seascape by listed San...

An original oil on linen mounted to board by American modern female artist Harriet Holden Nash. The piece will come with custom framing either black or natural wood based on the buy...

Oil on board. Signed. Framed. Image size, 24H x 30L

Antique American modernist abstract painting. Oil on canvas, circa 1940. Housed in a vintage frame. Image size, 18L x 24H.

Antique English modernist landscape oil painting by Phillip Castle (Born 1943). Oil on canvas. Framed. Signed verso.

Mid Century Modern Yellow, Blue, and Grey Abstract Striking mid century modern abstract with yellow, blue, grey and geometric patterns by Bay Area artist Americo D'Ambrosio (America...

Modern abstract ink and watercolor drawing by Houston born artist Arthur Turner. The work features energetic black lines accented with blocks of purple. Signed and dated along the ri...

Artist: Semour Zayon American (1930 - ) Title: Construction Composition (After Kandinsky) Medium: Oil on Board, signed Size: 10 x 9.5 inches Frame: 14 x 11.25 inches

Oil on academy board by the Russian/American artist Nahum Tschacbasov. Signed and dated lower left, 1945. Condition: Excellent. Presently not framed. Biography : Russian-America...

This Modern Abstract Expressionist painting by Stanley Bate is made with oil paint on board and features an earth-toned palette. The artist layers paint on the canvas, creating texture among softly blended muted green and umber colors in a highly abstract composition. The painting itself is 43.5" x 24" and measures 44" x 24.5" x 2" framed. It is signed by the artist in the lower right-hand corner of the painting and is framed in a very thin, off-white floater frame. It is ready to hang. Stanley Bate was born on March 26, 1903 in Nashville, Tennessee. The Bates were an established Tennessee family, in fact, Henry’s brother William Bate was the governor of Tennessee from 1883-1887 and a United States Senator from 1887-1905. Stanley studied art at the Watkins Institute in Nashville. In the 1920’s Bate moved to New York City to study at the Art Students League under Frederick Bridgman. He soon landed a job with Encyclopedia Britannica, and from 1927-1929 served as art editor. From 1929 until his death in 1972, Stanley was a self-employed artist. He taught art classes at both the Art Students League and the Albany Institute of History and Art and brought in extra income by making illustrations for magazines such as “Outdoor Life” and “Popular Science”. On January 27, 1934 Stanley married Emilie Rossel. Emilie had emigrated from Switzerland to New York in 1923. She found work as a governess to Alfred Vanderbilt and later as an executive secretary for Wall Street investment brokers Kahn, Loeb and Co. Emilie met Stanley in New York in the early 1930’s when she attended one of his art exhibitions with a friend. The couple, who had no children, lived on 34th Street in Manhattan. During this period, Bate was producing and exhibiting his art and joined several artists groups. Stanley and Emilie became part of the New York art scene, dining weekly at the Society of Illustrators Clubhouse. Stanley Bate’s time in New York was pivotal in the formation of his painting style. He lived in New York during the inception of one of the most important Modern Art movements, one that helped New York replace Paris as the center of avant-garde art. This movement, which was called the New York School...

Resilience - Abstract Watercolor and Ink on Paper Abstracted watercolor and ink painting depicting a deep orange background, with black contrasting string formations. Signed and da...

ORBITING FORMS Size: 37 x 44 cm (including frame) Oil on canvas A vibrant and dynamic mid-century abstract composition, painted in oil onto canvas. The composition features an arra...

Nicely painted American modernist abstract still life oil painting. Framed. Oil on canvas. Image size, 14H by 18L.

Antique American modernist flower still life painting. Oil on canvas. Signed. In excellent original condition. Handsomely framed in a period silver leaf molding. Excellent condi...

This Modern abstract oil painting on canvas by Modernist artist Stanley Bate features a geometric composition and a soft palette. The white and creme colors are complemented by earth...

Amazing surreal cloudscape modernist oil painting. Framed. Oil on canvas.

Thisoil painting on masonite board, "Untitled," by Modernist Stanley Bate was created circa 1950, part of his earlier body of work. The dark, heavy line work combined with bright col...

Antique American modernist landscape abstraction. Oil on board, circa 1940. Signed. Image size 30L x 25H. Housed in a period modern frame.

This superb Scottish Abstract oil painting is by noted sixties Edinburgh artist Alexander McNeish. An early work, painted circa 1957 when McNeish was just 25 years old, it demonstrat...

Nicely painted early American modernist abstract landscape. Oil on canvas. Framed.

This superb British 1950's abstract oil on board painting is by noted Slade School trained contemporary artist Leo Davy. Davy was born in Yorkshire but settled in Cornwall in 1968 an...

William Sharp (1900 - 1961) Factory on the River Oil on canvas 20 1/2 x 28 1/2 inches Initialed lower left: WS Provenance: Estate of the artist Private Collection, New York Swann Auction Galleries, American Art, June 13, 2019, Lot 178 Private Collection, New York Colonial Sand and Stone Co., founded by Generoso Pope, was once the country’s largest sand and gravel business, providing the concrete for much of New York City’s skyline, including the Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center, Radio City Music Hall, airports and subways. William Sharp was born on June 13, 1900, in Lemberg, Austria, where he attended college and the Academy for Arts and Industry. He later studied in Kraków, Poland, and in Berlin and Munich, Germany. Sharp began his career as a designer of stained-glass windows and as a painter of murals. He served in the German army during World War I. After the war he became a newspaper artist in Berlin and a well-known etcher. Sharp drew political cartoons that were bitterly critical of the growing Nazi movement. As the influence of National Socialism intensified, he began to contribute drawings, under a pseudonym, to publications that were hostile to Hitler. After Hitler assumed power, Sharp was confronted with these drawings and told that he would be sent to a concentration camp. However, in 1934, he escaped to the United States. His first newspaper assignment in America was making courtroom sketches for The New York Mirror...

"Walking in the Park" by Tommaso Principe (Italian b.1942) signed lower corner oil painting on canvas, unframed canvas: 19.5 x 27.5 inches Beautiful Italian Impressionist oil...

Signed verso "F. Kastner" for Fenton Kastner (American, 1915-2008), dated 1955, and titled "Waterfront-IV". Old label verso inscribed with artist's name and title. A dynamic, mid-...

Fine art mixed media painting by listed artist James Grant (1924–1997). Titled "Three Dots". Collage with oils on Masonite. This fine mid modern abstract painting will brighten up a...

Oil on paper. Signed and dated 'Walinska 57' (lower left). image size 20 x 13 1/2 in. framed size 28 1/3 x 22 1/2 inches Provenance Martha Jackson Gallery Anderson Gallery, Buffalo...

This original 1960s oil on canvas by American artist Florence V. Mercolino Graziano exemplifies the dynamic energy of the Abstract Expressionist movement. The composition showcases b...

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...

Oil on board. Framed. Signed. Exhibited at the Butler Art Institute.

This original Modern abstract painting by Stanley Bate is made with oil paint on canvas, and was painted circa 1960. It features a bold, vibrant red hue, with dark shapes lining the ...

Red Optical Composition is an original artwork realized by the Italian contemporary master, Carlo Montesi in 1966. In good conditions. Tempera, oil pai...

Very nicely painted American modernist harbor oil painting. Framed. Oil on board. Signed. Image size, 16H by 20L.

"Abstract Portrait" by Akos Biro (Hungarian 1911-2002) Oil painting on board, unframed Painting: 13.75 x 10.75 inches Provenance: the artists estate, France Original oil painting ...

Vintage American modernist landscape painting. Oil on canvas. Framed.