Skip to main content
Video Loading
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 16

Henry George Keller
Cattle Series Study, Early 20th Century Bovine/Cow, Cleveland School artist

1901

About the Item

Henry George Keller (American, 1868-1949) Cattle Series Study, 1901 Oil on canvas Signed verso 22 x 26 inches 28.5 x 33 inches, framed Keller, a leading painter in Cleveland, was born at sea, off Nova Scotia on April 3, 1869. His earliest training was in Karlsruhe, Germany under Hermann Baisch (1846-1894), then at the Cleveland School of Art, the Cincinnati Fine Arts Academy and the Art Students League in New York. The young artist was an apprentice at the W. J. Morgan Lithograph Company, also in Cleveland. Keller polished off his art instruction at the Munich Academy (1899-1902) with Heinrich Johann Zügel (1850-1941), chiefly an animal painter. There he would have rubbed shoulders with Walt Kuhn. At the end of his stay in Munich, he won a silver medal. His watercolor, Santa Maria della Salute, in a private collection, is in the tradition of John Singer Sargent. According to Arthur Covey, Keller was back in Munich in 1904-05, and he mentioned a painting called Storm-frightened Animals (Weimer, 1940, pp. 570-572). In Munich, Keller also met William Sommer, a future Cleveland post-impressionist. Back in America, Keller immediately found a job at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh then he taught at his alma mater, the Cleveland School of Art until 1945. In Cleveland, remarked Keller (in Milliken, 1950), there was "a kind of pale, timid, watered Impressionism" and he reacted against it. Charles Burchfield, one of his more famous students, studied at the Cleveland School of Art between 1912 and 1916, when Keller was studying Asian art and showing modernist tendencies, having surpassed impressionism. Keller was also an enthusiast of Diaghelev's Ballets Russes, which he saw on their American tour. He studied the psychology of color with Dr. J. J. R. Macleod and underwent Cézanne's influence. Also at that time, Keller exhibited two works at the Armory Show — Wisdom and Destiny (Cleveland Museum of Art) and The Valley (unlocated). The former shows Keller's more traditional, intellectual side, with its classical allegorical figures in a stormy landscape. The theme was inspired by one of Maurice Maeterlinck's essays. Keller's modernism is revealed in the contemporary watercolor entitled Sunflower, in the same museum, which recalls some of the bravura of the free brushwork of John Marin. Keller was part of a group called the Cleveland Independents. The list of Keller's exhibition activities is truly amazing — from local venues in Cleveland to Chicago (including a special show of his wash drawings in May of 1920), Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, and New York, his works were on view year by year. The Cleveland Museum of Art presented him with awards on numerous occasions and in 1939, he was elected to the National Academy of Design. That year, his painting Circus Day was on display at the Golden Gate International Exposition in San Francisco, while at the New York World's Fair in 1939, his Horse Barn appeared in the exhibition of contemporary artists. Here the horses are closer to those of German Expressionist Franz Marc than to those of Degas. The Whitney Museum has Keller's charcoal and watercolor, Bird Rock, California (1925). The painter died in San Diego, on August 3, 1949.
  • Creator:
    Henry George Keller (1870-1949, American)
  • Creation Year:
    1901
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 29 in (73.66 cm)Width: 33 in (83.82 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    Beachwood, OH
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU1768211939632

More From This Seller

View All
Bighorn Sheep, 20th Century Oil Painting by Magical Surrealist, Cleveland School
By Paul Riba
Located in Beachwood, OH
Paul Riba (American, 1912-1977) Bighorn Sheep Oil on paper Signed lower right 25 x 30.5 inches 30.5 x 36 inches, framed Paul Riba was a painter of Magic Realism. He explored the un...
Category

20th Century Surrealist Animal Paintings

Materials

Oil

Large Rhinoceros, 20th Century Magical Realism, Cleveland School Artist
By Paul Riba
Located in Beachwood, OH
Paul Riba (American, 1912-1977) Rhino Oil on paper Signed lower right 22.5 x 29 inches 27.5 x 34.25 inches, framed Paul Riba was a painter of Magic Realism. He explored the unreal ...
Category

20th Century Surrealist Animal Paintings

Materials

Oil

Two Owls, 20th Century Purple & Green Owls
By Joseph O'Sickey
Located in Beachwood, OH
Work sold to benefit the CLEVELAND INSTITUTE OF ART Joseph B. O’Sickey (American, 1918–2013) Two Owls Oil on board 15 x 10.5 inches Joseph O'Sickey, born in...
Category

20th Century Post-Impressionist Animal Paintings

Materials

Oil

Horses Prepared to Perform and Circus Truck, Contemporary American Modern
By Joseph O'Sickey
Located in Beachwood, OH
Work sold to benefit the CLEVELAND INSTITUTE OF ART Joseph B. O’Sickey (American, 1918–2013) Horses Prepared to Perform and Circus Truck, Circus Series, 1991 Oil on canvas Signed an...
Category

1990s Post-Impressionist Animal Paintings

Materials

Oil

Bison, 20th Century Oil Landscape, Cleveland School Artist
By Harvey Gregory Prusheck
Located in Beachwood, OH
Harvey Gregory Prusheck (Slovenian/American, 1887-1940) Bison Oil on board Signed lower right 9.5 x 11.5 inches 16.5 x 18 inches, framed Harvey Gregory Prusheck was a Slovenian-Amer...
Category

20th Century American Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

Over and Above: No. 6, Surreal Cat w/ Fish Bones, 20th Century Cleveland School
By Clarence Holbrook Carter
Located in Beachwood, OH
Clarence Holbrook Carter (American, 1904–2000) Over and Above: No. 6, 1963 Oil, sand & fish bones on canvas Signed and dated upper left 53 x 31 inches Clarence Holbrook Carter achie...
Category

1960s American Modern Animal Paintings

Materials

Oil

You May Also Like

Goyesque scene original oil on canvas painting
By Manuel Monedero
Located in Barcelona, Barcelona
Unframed Manuel Monedero (n. Seville in 1925 - m. Carboneras (Aracena, Huelva) in 2002) is a Spanish painter. His first exhibition dates from 1961 a...
Category

1950s Expressionist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Stier Bull Contemporary Oil Painting Animal Modern Nature New In Stock
By Pieter Pander
Located in Utrecht, NL
Pieter Pander (born 1962, Drachten) is a Dutch artist known for his expressive portraits of people and animals. After studying at the Minerva Art Academy in Groningen, where he was taught by artists such as Matthijs Röling, he settled in Franeker. Pander works in a figurative style with a sketch-like, dynamic touch and a distinctive color palette of browns, blues, greys, and whites. His paintings contrast rough and detailed areas, creating visual tension. He often paints wet-on-wet and prepares his coarse linen canvases with acrylics, sometimes using a burner to alter the texture. His subjects vary widely, from the Frisian landscape to images from television. Animals play a central role; he portrays them with the same respect as people, capturing their character and emotion. Inspired by Jan Mankes...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Animal Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

"Polar Family"
Located in Edinburgh, GB
The painting was painted under the impression of the beauty of the northern latitudes. A big mother bear plays with her cubs. This plot gives a feeling of warmth, home comfort and love.
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

oil on board painting Bullfighting Scene
Located in Barcelona, Barcelona
Title: Bullfighting Scene Artist: José María Tuser Vázquez (Barcelona, 1919 - 1986) Medium: Oil on panel Dimensions: 18.1 x 15 inches Signed: Yes, lower right corner "Tuser" Framed: ...
Category

1960s Impressionist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

"Le Plongeur" (The Diver) Figurative Underwater Scene in Oil on Linen
Located in Soquel, CA
"Le Plongeur" (The Diver) Figurative Underwater Scene in Oil on Linen Whimsical underwater scene of a snorkeler by Patrice Brisbois (French, b. 1945). The diver is wearing a plaid s...
Category

1990s Figurative Paintings

Materials

Linen, Oil

Mr. J.W (oil painting monochrome vintage art man hat portrait faded neutrals)
By Rudolf Kosow
Located in Quebec, Quebec
Mr. J.W. by Rudolf Kosow presents a striking fusion of realism and symbolism, where the shadowed face of the figure exudes quiet dominance and mystery. The muted palette and textured...
Category

2010s Realist Animal Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Recently Viewed

View All