Mid-20th Century Abstract Paintings

Antique American modernist abstract landscape painting by Ann Anderson. Oil on canvas, circa 1961. Signed. Displayed in a period modern frame. Image, 16"L x 20"H.

Artist: Claude Lagouche (French 1943-2020) Claude Lagouche was born January 2, 1943 in Naves, died January 16, 2020. He quickly gained recognition for his talent and his work, exh...

An oil painting by Paul von Ringelheim. An abstract representational painting of the American flag. Artist: Paul von Ringelheim, Austrian/American (1933 - 2003) Title: American Flag...

The Misty River Landscape by Jacob Markiel (Polish 1911-2008) *see notes oil on board, unframed board: 14 x 18 inches provenance: private collection, Marseille, France condition: ver...

Beautiful ca. 1955 oil painting by American artist, Eve Peri. Oil on illustration board, panel measures 10 x 15 inches; 15.75 x 20.75 inches framed. Signed lower left. Excellent condition. Vintage...

An original abstract expressionist oil painting by American female artist Irene Zevon created and dated in 1959. This piece entitled "Musical" is a prime example of Zevon's relation...

Cubist Cityscape of Lucerne signed by Colbert Cassan (1899-1979) oil on canvas, unframed dated 1955 Canvas: 20 x 25.5 inches Provenance: private collection Condition: very good condi...

Nicely painted mid century abstract oil painting. Great color and composition. Framed. Signed.

Impressive early American modernist street scene. Reminiscent of New Orleans or another souther city. A bustling street scene. Nicely framed. No signature found. Image size, 24...

"Abstract Composition" by Armand Rottenberg (French 1903-2000) oil painting on board, unframed board: 36 x 28.5 inches Stunning original Cubist painting by the French abstract art...

Appropriately called the "Mosaic" period for important historical artist Carl Holty, this is a super example! His color use during this time frame was lively as he always used sky b...

Impressive early American precisionist abstract oil painting by Lad Montgomery. Framed. Oil on canvas. Signed. Image size, 25H by 30L.

The Harbor signed by Léon Schwartz -Abrys ( 1905 - 1990) French School, expressionist dated 1983 verso oil on board, unframed board: 25.5 x 21.5 inches Provenance: private collecti...

Jack Wolfe Untitled, 1965 Acrylic and collage on board Hand signed on the front Frame included: held in original vintage frame with original gallery label Unique Provenance: Parker Street 470 Gallery, Boston, Mass (with label verso) Excellent abstract expressionist mixed media work. Measurements: Image: 17" x 24" Framed: 24" x 28" x 1" From Wiki: Jack Wolfe (14 January 1924 – 18 November 2007) was a 20th-century American painter most known for his abstract art, portraiture, and political paintings. Jack Wolfe was born in Omaha, Nebraska on January 14, 1924, to Blanche and Everett L. Wolfe. Soon after his birth, his family moved to Brockton, MA. At 18, Wolfe had an interest in commercial illustration, which he pursued at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). However, upon matriculating at RISD in 1942, he developed an interest in fine art and painting inspired by an exhibition of modern French art. He described this change of direction, explaining that, "One day, for the first time, I saw an exhibition of modern French art. It was like being struck by lightning." He became particularly interested in the work of a number of European modernists, including Rouault, Cézanne, Braque, Modigliani, and Picasso.[1] Following his time at RISD, he pursued a Master’s in Fine Arts degree at the Museum of Fine Arts School in Boston, MA. At the Museum School, Wolfe studied under the renowned Expressionist Karl Zerbe, a German-born artist who was the Museum School's most influential and vital teacher until 1953.[2] After graduating from the Museum School, Wolfe was represented by the Margaret Brown Gallery in Boston, which also represented many other cutting edge Moderns that defied the more conservative tastes of New England collectors at the time, including György Kepes, Congur Metcalf, and Alexander Calder.[3] Career and Museum Representation Jack Wolfe's painting "Robin's Rock" 1962, 72" x 72" Jack Wolfe's artwork received early recognition from a number of organizations and was consistently featured in influential exhibitions, including the 1955 Carnegie International at the Carnegie Institute in Pittsburgh, PA, the American Federation of Art's traveling exhibition New Talent in the USA in 1956-57, the Whitney Museum’s Young America exhibition in 1957,[4] the Boston Institute of Contemporary Art's Selection exhibition in 1957,[5] and both the Whitney Museum’s 1958 Annual exhibition and its Forty Artists Under Forty show in 1962-63.[6] In 1959, his widely acclaimed Portrait of Abraham Lincoln toured Europe in a show circulated by the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston. In addition, his painting Crucifixion was chosen by the United States Information Agency to be exhibited across Europe, including being shown at the Salzburg Biennial in Austria in 1958.[7] Crucifixion was also exhibited at the Whitney Museum and subsequently displayed in the National Cathedral in Washington, DC, in 1958.[8] In 1966-67, his work was selected for Art for Embassies by the U.S. State Department.[9] He received the first annual Margaret Brown Memorial Award for high achievement by a New England Artist from the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, in 1958.[10] With his future as one of the great artists of his time laid out neatly before him, Wolfe moved to New York in the early 1950s, which was then the postwar epicenter of the art world and in the midst of experiencing the first real revolution in American Art, now known as Abstract Expressionism.[11] However, almost immediately upon his arrival, he became disenfranchised with the overtly commercial nature of the art scene there, spurning fame and security in an unwillingness to bend his creative vision to the expectations of others.[12] After four short months, he left New York, returned to Massachusetts where he bought property in Stoughton, cleared the land, and built both his home and studio with his own two hands. He would go on to live and paint there, extensively exhibiting and garnering constant critical acclaim.[13] Wolfe became one of the earliest artists championed by the deCordova Museum in Lincoln, MA and the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston. He was awarded a traveling scholarship in 1958,[6] which allowed him to set up studio in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico and then in San Francisco, California.[14] Upon his return in 1959, the deCordova museum hosted Wolfe’s third solo exhibition, featuring work made during his time in California...

Edward Zutrau Kamakura, 5/1963 Signed, dated and titled on verso Oil on linen 38 1/2 x 51 1/2 inches Edward Zutrau is among the American artists who worked within the whirlwind of ...

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...

Nude Abstract by Therese Hummel (French, 1911-1999) oil on canvas, unframed canvas : 10.75 x 14 inches Provenance: private collection of this artists work, Paris Condition: sound and...

Antique American modernist abstract minimalist oil painting. Oil on canvas. Framed. Signed verso.

Vintage Indonesian modernist nude oil painting. Oil on canvas. Framed. Signed.

NATURE DWELLINGS Size: 42.5 x 68 cm (including frame) Oil on Canvas A brilliantly executed semi-abstract composition, painted in oil onto canvas and dated 1967. In this abstract nature landscape...

In his monumental work *The Isle of the Phoenix* (1963–1965), Pierre Vlerick reaches the pinnacle of his lyrical-abstract period. The canvas, measuring an impressive 200 x 178 cm, gl...

Antique American modernist landscape oil painting. Oil on canvas. Framed. Signed "Lee Tang".

Title: Original Oil Painting of Blue Vase, Brown Bowl, and Eggs on a Table Artist: Roland Pichard Signed: Bottom right Medium: Oil on oil paper, mounted on card Size: 14 (height)...

Framed abstract oil on canvas, signed and dated 1968 in the lower right corner. Canvas size 30"H x 25"W Gilt-wood frame.

Without a doubt California's charming coastal village of Carmel compels one to romance. But this location, the 1797 Mission San Carlos Borromeo Del Rio Carmelo, with its lovely, foun...

Blue and green-toned modern abstract figurative portrait painting by Houston, TX artist David Adickes. The work features two men figures standing side by s...

Portrait of a Child French abstract artist, circa 1960's circle of Pablo Picasso oil on board, unframed board: 26 x 21 inches provenance: private collection, Luberon Valley, Provence...

Vintage American modernist southern school painting. A family portrait on a New Orleans porch. Beautiful detail in the wrought iron. Brilliant color palette here. Signed verso. ...

Eva Sikorski (1917-1990) abstract portrait painting by listed German born California artist. Classic impressionistic style with muted colors. Oil on canvas. Excellent condition in li...

'Still Life on Black Background, oil on canvas (circa 1960s), by Edgar Stoëbel (1909-2001). In his inimitable style, artist Stoëbel's abstract still life with black background is a lively and colourful modernist work. This artwork has a powerful intensity of tone and colour which speaks to Stoëbel's very distinctive style but remains completely approachable and appealing. This is part of the post-war concrete abstract movement, or Constructive Art...

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

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...

Mystery heavy impasto abstract sailboat scene. Fabulous midcentury oil on canvas which appears to be illegibly signed. It has wonderful colors and is...

Abstract Expressionist Composition by Jacques COULAIS (1955-2011) gouache painting on paper/ card unframed: 10.75 x 8.5 inches condition: excellent provenance: all the paintings we h...

Abstract Figurative Composition in Oil on Board Boldly colored abstract composition by an unknown Bay area California artist (20th Century)...

5123a Black and white letters oil on paper by Deidra Framed Image Size 17.5x11.5"

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

Incredible early American modernist still life oil painting. Housed in a great antique giltwood frame. Oil on board.

Charmion von Wiegand Pillar of Zen #124, 1959 Gouache on paper painting Hand signed, titled and dated on the front Unique Provenance: Andre Zarre Gallery, with label verso (Estate of renowned gallerist Andre Zarre, ne Andre Sowulewski) Measurements: Framed 26.5 inches vertical by 25.5 horizontal by 2 inches Artwork: 21 inches vertical by 22 inches horizontal Mid century modern, geometric, spiritual abstraction, mystical The Estate of the celebrated artist Charmion Von Wiegand has been represented exclusively by Michael Rosenfeld Gallery since 1998. From March 3 to August 13, 2023, Charmion Von Wiegand was the subject of an acclaimed retrospective at the Kunstmuseum Basel, and she has received major attention in the price, including a June, 2023 ArtNews feature entitled, "Who Was Charmion von Wiegand and Why Is She Important?". Her work was also featured in a solo presentation by Rosenfeld Gallery at the New York Art Show held at the Park Avenue Armory, which also received critical acclaim. Artists Biography - courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery: Known for her vibrant, geometric paintings that originate a deeply personal language of spiritual enlightenment expressed through a constructivist mode of abstraction, Charmion von Wiegand (1896–1983) was born in Chicago but spent much of her childhood traveling. The daughter of a journalist for Hearst, von Wiegand eventually settled in New York in 1915 to attend Barnard College and Columbia University, where she took classes at the School of Journalism while nurturing a growing interest in art history. In 1925, von Wiegand realized that she wanted to be an artist and set up a studio in Greenwich Village, teaching herself how to paint while pursuing a career as a journalist. In 1929, she secured a position in Moscow as a foreign correspondent for Hearst, the only woman at the desk at the time. In 1932, von Wiegand returned to New York and married Russian émigré Joseph Freeman, who co-founded and edited the leftist journal New Masses. Von Wiegand began writing art criticism for New Masses as well as for other publications, including New Theatre, ARTnews, and Arts Magazine. When the Abstract American Artists (AAA) held their inaugural exhibition, von Wiegand reviewed it. An early champion of abstract art, von Wiegand became close friends with AAA founder Carl Holty. In 1941, Holty introduced von Wiegand to Piet Mondrian, who would have a profound impact on her art. Fascinated by Mondrian’s artistic philosophy, von Wiegand played a key role in the introduction of his work to American audiences, translating many of the Dutch artist’s writings into English and assisting in the composition of his influential article “Toward the True Vision of Reality” (1941). Through her friendship with Mondrian, von Wiegand re-kindled her interest in Theosophy (a religion established in the late 19th century that combines aspects of Hinduism, Buddhism, occultism, and esotericism) and embarked on an extended study of neoplasticism. In her artwork, she incorporated Mondrian’s iconic grid but rejected the constraints of pure neoplasticism and embraced a wide range of influences including surrealism and German expressionism. In 1942, von Wiegand became a member of the AAA, exhibiting regularly with the group and eventually serving as its president from 1951 to 1953. In the late 1940s, sculptor and fellow AAA member Ibram Lassaw gave her a translation of The Secret of the Golden Flower: A Chinese Book of Life, which inspired von Wiegand to immerse herself in a study of Buddhist art. She began incorporating Buddhist motifs such as stupas and mandalas into her paintings, and her spiritual practice steadily intensified throughout the 1950s. In 1953, her husband gifted her a copy of the Taoist I Ching Book of Changes, a guide for divining meaning from randomly derived numbers arranged in a hexagram—a form the artist readily incorporated into her painting. Von Wiegand’s study of Theosophy also intensified over these years, bolstered by her increased access to the religion’s primary sources composed by the religion’s founders and their successors at the New York Theosophical Society’s library. Von Wiegand’s search for the sacred and transcendent ultimately led her to Tibetan Buddhism and, in 1967, von Wiegand met Khyongla Rato Rinpoche, a Gelugpa monk who had recently arrived in New York, who would mentor her spiritual study in the tradition of Mahayana Buddhism until her death. Her travels in the 1960s and 1970s took her to Tibet and India, where she had an audience with the Dalai Lama, who was living in exile in Dharamsala. Many works from these decades incorporate symbols and schematics drawn from Theosophical prismatic color charts, Chinese astrology and tantric yoga. In 1978, she was the subject of a PBS documentary titled The Circle of Charmion von Wiegand, which was scored by Philip Glass. In 1980, von Wiegand was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters and in 1982, the Bass Museum of Art in Miami Beach (FL) organized her first retrospective exhibition. She died the following year in New York, bequeathing her estate to Khyongla Rato and the Tibet Center of New York. In 1998, Michael Rosenfeld Gallery became the sole representative of her estate and has presented her work in four solo and multiple group exhibitions. Recent notable exhibitions that have included her work are The Third Mind: American Artists Contemplate Asia (Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY, 2009) and Constructive Spirit: Abstract Art in South and North America (Newark Museum, NJ, 2010). In March 2023, the Kunstmuseum Basel (Switzerland) opened the first comprehensive museum retrospective of von Wiegand’s work in Europe. Von Wiegand’s work is represented in numerous museum collections including the Addison Gallery of American Art, Phillips Academy (Andover, MA); Albright-Knox Art Gallery (Buffalo, NY); Arithmeum, University of Bonn (Germany); Birmingham Museum of Art (Alabama); Blanton Museum of Art, The University of Texas at Austin; Brooklyn Museum (NY); Carnegie Museum of Art (Pittsburgh, PA); The Cleveland Museum of Art (OH); Indianapolis Museum of Art (IN); Fondazione Marguerite Arp (Locarno, Switzerland); Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (Massachusetts); The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, NY); The Museum of Modern Art (New York, NY); Newark Museum of Art (New Jersey); Seattle Art Museum (WA); Smithsonian American Art Museum (Washington, DC); Walker Art Center (Minneapolis, MN); Weatherspoon Art Museum, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro; Wellin Museum of Art at Hamilton College (Clinton, NY); Whitney Museum of American Art (New York, NY); and Yale University Art Gallery (New Haven, CT). More about gallerist Andre Zarre A tribute in the New Criterion: Dispatch August 11, 2020 Andre Zarre, 1942–2020 by Dana Gordon On the late New York gallery pioneer. Art should never be aggressively explained; art should be felt. —Andre Zarre, 1977 Often, in the starlit New York cultural mecca, a longtime important figure fades away through the penumbra and dies without notice. Such was the fate of Andre Zarre, the contemporary art dealer, who passed away a few weeks ago. Andy, as he wanted friends to call him, opened his eponymous gallery in 1974 just off Madison Avenue on Sixty-ninth Street. He soon moved it to the omphalos of the art world in that era, 41 East Fifty-seventh Street, the Fuller Building. Over the years he moved to SoHo and then to Chelsea, as fashion and real estate prices pushed the art souk hither and thither. To understand his importance, all you need do is take a look at a list of artists who had solo shows at the Andre Zarre Gallery. This includes such names, from an early generation, as Sonia Delaunay, Nassos Daphnis, Sari Dienes, and Perle Fine. Among a subsequent generation are Pat Lipsky, Jay Milder, Thornton Willis, and Kes Zapkus.1 And this list does not include the many knowns and unknowns who were in his lively group shows. Zarre had a real “eye” and was a champion of abstract art from the moment he founded his gallery—even among the gathering storms of conceptual and political art, which he eschewed. He showed a good deal of figurative art as well. His galleries were always spacious and unpretentious, oriented simply to show the art. In the words of Dee Shapiro, who showed with the Zarre gallery many times, “He had a photographic memory and knew a lot about art and was always interested in the artist’s life.” Reliable biographical information on Zarre is scarce, but he said of his background that he was born in Poland in 1942 and that his parents were a diplomat and a socialite. He left home for the United States at the age of fifteen. During his decades as an art dealer in New York, Zarre did not appear to accumulate wealth, though he acquired a collection and lived on Park Avenue. “He was not personally aggressive in that way. People had to come to him,” Dee Shapiro said. He was honest in his financial dealings with artists, which not all art dealers are. For a long time while running the gallery he had a second job as a supervisor in an airline office and he kept little to no additional staff in the gallery. He supported a brother who remained in Poland. Among artists, Zarre was known to be quite ornery. After my show at his gallery in 1997, I refused to enter it for seventeen years. Then I ran into him in Chelsea and he offered me another show, an opportunity I gladly accepted, but he remained just as disagreeable. He showed the work of many women, probably more than any other gallery, save those devoted to showing only women. Collectors, curators, and writers found him mostly friendly. As Peter Reginato put it, Zarre was a “strange guy but I liked him. I think he was a dealer who was more interested in the art than in making money, but somehow he lasted forty-plus years.” Zarre is not known to have kept extensive or extant records of his gallery’s long history, though these may emerge in time. Scouring the Internet, one may compile a partial list of more than eighty artists who had solo shows at the Andre Zarre Gallery:Nancy Azara, Ellen Banks, Mary Barnes, Tony Bechara, Juan Bernal, Stephanie Bernheim, Randy Bloom, Elena Borstein, Michael Boyd, Fritz Bultman, Ed Buonagurio, Yoan Capote, Sonia Delaunay, Nassos Daphnis, Cathy Diamond, Sari Dienes, Joseph Dolinsky, Beata Drozd, Ronnie Elliot, William Fares, Perle Fine, Lynne Frehm, Ben Georgia, Mikel Glass, Dana Gordon, Juanita Guccione, Fred Gutzeit, Don Hazlitt, Amy Hill, Clinton Hill, Monroe Hodder, Budd Hopkins, Arlan Huang, Richard Hunt, Rhia Hurt, Buffie Johnson, Alexander Kaletski, Robert Kaupelis...

Oil and colored sand on canvas realized by Irina Zdanko (1905-1999) in the 1930s. In Excellent condition, it includes a beautiful contemporary wooden frame. Prov. Private Collectio...

Unidentified/Unknown Artist "Untitled (Autumnal Landscape in Ochre, Red, Green) , Abstract Landscape Oil on Canvas signed, 26.25 x 32.50, Mid 20th Century, 1957 Colors: Ochre, White...

"Abstraction" Mid-20th Century American Abstract 1960s Color Field Modernist James Daugherty (1887 – 1974) Abstraction 14 x 18 inches Estate stamp verso Oil on panel Provenance: ...

MODERNIST ABSTRACT Mid-Century New Hope Non-Objective oil American Modern WPA Louis Stone (1902-1984) "Abstract," 16 X 12 inches. Oil on canvas, signed lower right. An abstract pai...

Rare Hawaiian landscape of coastal Maui. Oil on canvas. Framed. Signed. Oil on canvas. Image size, 20"H x 24"L.

Title: Original Oil Painting of Istanbul’s Blue Mosque with Reflection and Bird Artist: Roland Pichard Medium: Oil on oil paper, mounted on c...

Oil on canvas. Signed in oil by the artist lower right corner.

Very impressive and amazing mid 1900s abstract expressionist oil painting. Oil on canvas. No signature found. Framed.

Title: Original Oil Painting of Vibrant Countryside Landscape with Hills and Trees Artist: Roland Pichard Medium: Oil on oil paper, mounted on card Size: 7.5 (height) x 9.25 (widt...

Signed lower right. A major exponent of non-objective painting, Rolph Scarlett's career and artistic philosophy is closely linked with the early history of the Solomon R. Guggenhei...

Joseph Kardonne (1911-1985). Nude Woman, 1968, 10 x 14 inches. Watercolor on paper, sheet measures inches. Signed, dated and titled lower right. Excellent condition. Born in Newar...

Abstract Expressionist Composition by Jacques COULAIS (1955-2011) gouache painting on paper/ card unframed: 14 x 7.75 inches condition: excellent provenance: all the paintings we hav...

Rene Beckley. City Streets, 1965. Oil on artist board, 16 x 20 inches; 18 x 22 inches framed. Signed and dated lower right.

"Harvest Moon" by Edmund E. Niemann is a striking example of Abstract Expressionism, a movement known for its emphasis on spontaneous, automatic, or subconscious creation. Niemann's ...

San Francisco Bay Area Seascape with Ships in Oil on Cardboard Seascape with large ships by Honora Berg (American, 1897-1985). The ocean is shown in...

Paul F. Keene Jr. (1920-2009). Theater Lobby, ca. 1955-60. Oil on linen canvas, 20 x 24 inches. Original metal strip frame. Signed lower left. Excellent condition. Biography: ...

This framed Picasso print, is an offset lithographic book plate from a captivating book, entitled Toros y Toreros (Bulls and Bullfighters), which features the iconic artwork of Pablo...

Antique American modernist abstract oil painting by Adele Becker. Oil on canvas. Framed. Signed.

4067 Surreal multi figural Star Stars painting unframed

Impressive early American modernist abstract oil painting. Framed. Oil on canvas.

Bold Geometric Abstract gouache on artist paper, unframed painting: 23 x 16 inches Provenance: private collection, France Condition: very good condition For more any more informatio...