Paintings

Simka Simkhovitch (Russian/American 1893 - 1949) This came with a small grouping from the artist's family, some were hand signed some were not. These were studies for larger paintings. This is a miniature watercolor and gouache vibrant, colorful bouquet of flowers in a vase. Simka Simkhovitch (Симха Файбусович Симхович) (aka Simka Faibusovich Simkhovich) (Novozybkov, Russia May 21, 1885 O.S./June 2, 1885 N.S.—Greenwich, Connecticut February 25, 1949) was a Ukrainian-Russian Jewish artist and immigrant to the United States. He painted theater scenery in his early career and then had several showings in galleries in New York City. Winning Works Progress Administration (WPA) commissions in the 1930s, he completed murals for the post offices in Jackson, Mississippi and Beaufort, North Carolina. His works are in the permanent collections of the Dallas Museum of Art, the National Museum of American Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art. Born outside Kyiv (Petrograd Ukraine) into a Jewish family who owned a small department store. During a severe case of measles when he was seven, Simcha Simchovitch sketched the views outside his window and decided to become an artist, over his father's objections. Beginning in 1905, he studied at the Grekov Odessa Art School and upon completion of his studies in 1911 received a recommendation to be admitted to the Imperial Academy of Arts. Though he enrolled to begin classes in architecture, painting, and sculpture at the Imperial Academy, he was dropped from the school roster in December because of the quota on the number of Jewish students and drafted into the army. Simchovitch served as a private in the 175th Infantry Regiment Baturyn [ru] until his demobilization in 1912. Re-enrolling in the Imperial Academy, he audited classes. Simka Simkhovitch exhibited paintings and sculptures in 1918 as part of an exhibition of Jewish artists and in 1919 placed 1st in the competition "The Great Russian Revolution" with a painting called "Russian Revolution" which was hung in the State Museum of Revolution. In 1922, Simkha Simkhovitch exhibited at the International Book Fair in Florence (Italian: Fiera Internazionale del Libro di Firenze). In 1924, Simkhovitch came to the United States to make illustrations for Soviet textbooks and decided to immigrate instead. Initially he supported himself by doing commercial art and a few portrait commissions. In 1927, he was hired to paint a screen for a scene in the play "The Command to Love" by Fritz Gottwald and Rudolph Lothar which was playing at the Longacre Theatre on Broadway. Art dealers began clamoring for the screen and Simkhovitch began a career as a screen painter for the theater. Catching the attention of the screenwriter, Ernest Pascal, he worked as an illustrator for Pascal, who then introduced him to gallery owner, Marie Sterner. Simkhovitch's works appeared at the Marie Sterner Gallery beginning with a 1927 exhibit and were repeated the following year. Simkhovitch had an exhibit in 1929 at Sterner's on circus paintings. In 1931, he held a showing of works at the Helen Hackett Gallery, in New York City and later that same year he was one of the featured artists of a special exhibit in San Francisco at the California Palace of the Legion of Honor in Lincoln Park. The exhibit was coordinated by Marie Sterner and included four watercolors, including one titled "Nudes". He is of the generation of Russian Soviet artists such as Isaac Pailes, Serge Charchoune, Marc Chagall, Chana Orloff, Isaac Ilyich Levitan, and Ossip Zadkine. In 1936, Simkhovitch was selected to complete the mural for the WPA Post office project in Jackson, Mississippi. The mural was hung in the post office and courthouse in 1938 depicted a plantation theme. Painted on the wall behind the judge’s bench, “Pursuits of Life in Mississippi”, a depiction of black workers engaged in manual labor amid scenes of white professionals and socialites, was eventually covered over in later years during renovations due to its stereotypical African American imagery. Simka painted what he thought was typical of Jackson. His impression of pre-civil rights Mississippi was evidently Greek Revival column houses, weeping willow trees, working class families, and the oppression of African Americans. He painted African American men picking cotton, while a white man took account of the harvest and a white judge advised a white family, calling it Pursuits of Life in Mississippi. Though clearly endorsed by the government and initially generally well-received, the mural soon raised concerns with locals as the climate toward racial segregation began to change. The main concern was whether depictions that show African Americans in subjugated societal roles should be featured in a courtroom. The following year, his painting "Holiday" won praise at an exhibition in Lincoln, Nebraska. In 1940, Simkhovitch's second WPA post office project was completed when four murals, "The Cape Lookout Lighthouse and the Orville W. Mail Boat", "The Wreck of the Crissie Wright", "Sand Ponies" and "Canada Geese" were installed in Beaufort, North Carolina. The works were commissioned in 1938 and did not generate the controversy that the Jackson mural had. The main mural is "The Wreck of the Crissie Wright" and depicts a shipwreck which had occurred in Beaufort in 1866. "The Cape Lookout Lighthouse and the Orville W. Mail Boat" depicted the lighthouse built in 1859 and the mail boat that was running mail during the time which Simkhovitch was there. The boat ran mail for the area until 1957. "Sand Ponies" shows the wild horses common to the North Carolina barrier islands and "Canada Geese" showed the importance of hunting and fishing in the area. All four murals were restored in the 1990s by Elisabeth Speight, daughter of two other WPA muralists, Francis Speight...

Disappearing back into the shadows, she leans into the nature of a new existence, wild and free but still so alone.. In INTO THE WILD, Matthew Dutton creates a new work out of conte...

Jim's of Lambertville Fine Art Gallery is proud to present this piece by Gershon Benjamin (1899 – 1985). An American Modernist of portraits, landscapes, still lifes, and urban scene...

Sfinx Oil and Pencil on Panel Swan Angel Teddy Bear Mixed Media In Stock Michael Parkes (1944) studied graphic art and painting at the University of Ka...

Haystacks in a field in the summer sunshine. As a youth, he dedicated his spare time to drawing and sketching various views of the city and countryside surrounding Paris. Largely ...

"A Pleasing Bloom" by Colin Wilson, a captivating still life masterpiece that brings the essence of nature to life. This original oil painting, skillfully rendered on board, showcases Wilson's mastery in contemporary realism, inviting viewers to savor the beauty of simplicity. At the heart of the composition, three luscious plums take center stage, their rich, velvety hues of pink exuding a sensuous allure. Each plum is meticulously painted, capturing the subtle variations in color and texture, making them almost palpable. The play of light on the plums creates a dynamic interplay of shadows and highlights, adding depth and dimension to the scene. The plums rest upon a bed of leaves, their verdant greens providing a harmonious contrast to the vibrant pinks. The leaves, delicately detailed with veins and subtle variations in color, contribute to the overall realism of the piece. Positioned on a dark 3D boxed...

As one of the first, and most important, American Impressionists, Theodore Robinson helped to introduce the French style to American artists and audiences.

framed 36 X 28 board 30 X 21.75 Sandu Liberman (Romanian-Israeli) was born in Yasi, Romania in 1923. between 1946 and 1953 he took part in the state art shows in Bucharest. in 1952 ...

This exquisite watercolor by Swedish artist Olle Hjortzberg is a testament to the beauty that lies in simplicity. Depicting a modest bouquet of summer flowers, this piece evokes a se...

Roman master (c. 1650) - The Fall of Phaeton. 40.5 x 52.5 cm without frame, 56.5 x 59.5 cm with frame. Oil on copper, in carved and gilded wooden fra...

Two Cooked Fish with Garnish - Still Life in Oil on Artist's Board Still life of two fish by an unknown artist (20th Century). This piece is executed in a classical, painterly style...

This piece is one of the most recent in the "Exchange Currency Series" created by Natasha Lelenco in 2024, inspired by the concept of the "face" on coins. It is a unique work consist...