Charles Robert Searles

"In Front of the Store"

1971

Jim’s of Lambertville is proud to offer this artwork by: R. John Foster (1908 - 1989) R. John Foster lived all of his life in Newtown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. He studied at the...

Jim’s of Lambertville is proud to offer this artwork by: 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...

Jim’s of Lambertville is proud to offer this artwork by: Charles Searles (1937-2004) He was born in Philadelphia, PA and received his fine art education at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art (PAFA) from 1969-72. He also attended the University of Pennsylvania for liberal arts studies, where he worked in the labs beside the scientists and engineers creating technical illustrations for text books. His early paintings embraced the tumultuous 60's and also reflected his own family life and surroundings. Before graduating the PAFA, Searles received the Cresson Memorial Traveling Scholarship, and the following year, the Ware Memorial Traveling Scholarship. He was the first student to use these funds to travel to Africa. His travels in Africa marked his life and work forever -- the life, the rhythms, the patterns, and the energy. Searles returned to Philadelphia and began teaching at the Ile Ife Cultural Center. It was then that he began his "Dancer" Series. This series marked a change in his life, celebrating his new sense of renewal and the African experience. He was awarded his first mural commission at the William G. Green Federal Building. This work, entitled "Celebration" is still on view today. At that time, he was also hired as a drawing teacher at the (then) Philadelphia College of Art, where he remained a professor for over twenty years. In 1978, Searles moved to New York City. He found a large, raw space -- an old sewing factory -- on Broadway and Bleeker where he would remain for the rest of his life. He continued to commute to Philadelphia teaching part time. He met Kathleen Spicer, an art student, in 1983. They married in 1985. Together, they shared a wonderful, open, artistic, social, and creative experience. Searles gradually moved away from painting and into sculpture. His sculptures maintained the vibrant color and patterns from his paintings, but seemed to dance in three dimensions. These new works embodied a live sense of rhythm and energy -- trademarks that he maintained throughout his career, whether in wood, bronze, or aluminum. In his lifetime, Charles Searles participated in over 60 group shows, and 25 solo exhibitions. He was represented by the Sande Webster Gallery in Philadelphia for over 20 years. His paintings and sculptures can be found in innumerable public and private collections. Public commissions include the Delaware River Port Authority, the NYC Mass Transit Authority, the First District Plaza in Philadelphia, and the Amtrak station in Newark, NJ. He was the recipient of many awards, including ones from the Pollock-Krasner Foundation, the Adolph and Esther Gottleib Foundation, the Creative Arts Project Fellowship, and the National Endowment for the Arts. His wife of 23 years, Kathleen Spicer adds: "Charles was his work, and his work was him. Inseparable. Our lives were all about art. We lived each day as if it was a gift. To me, he was enchanted. His vision was clear -- he could envision something and make it come to life as easy as breathing. Genius. Charles made the world a better place. Charles speaks loud and clear." Bio courtesy of Kathleen Spicer (Searles) Selected Periodical Citations: Newhall, Edith, "Dual Celebration of Self-expression", Philadelphia Enquirer, May 2013 Fabbri, Anne, "A Farewell to Charles Searles", Art Matters, January 2005 Cornell University Review, August 2000 O'Neill, Denise I., "Black Experience Puts Soul Into the Heart of Christmas", Chicago Sun-Times, December 1996 Gleuck, Grace, Review, The New York Times, December 1996 McBride, Octavia, "An Artist Acclaimed", Philadelphia Tribune, April 1993 Fox, Catherine, "National Black Arts Festival Program Guide", The Atlanta Journal, July 1990 Wilson, William, "Black Artists in Tune with Ancestors", Los Angeles Times, January 1990 Jamusch, Ann, "Special Show-Legacy of Black Art", Dallas Times Herald, January 1990 Binkley, Barbara, "Colors, Bright and Bold", The Daily News, April 1986 Grafly, Dorothy, "Charles Searles at Neumans", ART in Focus, Summer 1978 Crittendon, Denise, "Back Home from Nigeria", The Michigan Chronicle, December 1977 Garrett, Bob, Art Section Review. Boston Sunday Herald, November 1975 Patry, Louise, "A Jubilee of Afro-American Art in Boston", New England Journal, December 1975 Wright, Charles, "Paint Art Racist", The Village Voice, April 1971 Nelson, Nells, "Black Artists Rise Above the Tempest", Philadelphia Daily News, April 1971 Canaday, John, "Black Artist on View in Two Exhibitions", The New York Times, February 1970 Collections: - Philadelphia Museum of Art - The Woodmere Art Museum - Smithsonian Institute of American Art - Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts - LaSalle University Art Museum - Howard University Gallery of Art - Dallas Museum of Art - Delaware Valley Arts Alliance - Montclair Museum of Art - Afro-American Historical & Cultural Museum - Museum of Afro-American History - 35 + corporate collections - National & international private collections 75+ Group Exhibitions, Including: - Woodmere Art Museum - Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts - Whitney Museum of American Art - Museum of American Art - Boston Museum of Fine Arts - Brooklyn Museum - Art Alliance - National Afro-American Museum - Liberty Museum - National Blacks Fine Arts Show - Institute of Contemporary Art - Ackland Arts Museum - Arnot Art Museum 30+ Solo Exhibitions, Including: - Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia PA - The State Museum of Pennsylvania, Harrisburg, PA - LaSalle University, Philadelphia, PA - Temple University, Philadelphia, PA - Montclair Art Museum, Montclair, NJ - Noyes Museum, Oceanville, NJ - Delaware Valley Arts Alliance, Narrowsburg, NY - North Carolina State University - Winston Salem State University, Winston Salem, NC - G.R. N’Namdi Gallery, New York, NY - Sande Webster Gallery, Philadelphia, PA - June Kelly Gallery, New York, NY - Noel Gallery, Charlotte, NC - Malcolm Brown...

Jim’s of Lambertville is proud to offer this artwork. Oil on canvas Joseph Barrett (b. 1936) Joseph Barrett was born in Midland, North Carolina, in 1936 and studied at the Massac...

> > Painter George Melville Smith (1879-1979) Painter, illustrator born in Chicago. Smith began formal art studies at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago at the age of seventeen, after first studying as an architect's apprentice. In 1925-26 he studied in Paris under Andre Lhote, then worked as a painter in France, Spain, England and Italy. He exhibited at the Art Institute of Chicago four times during the 1930s, and was included in the Whitney Museum's 1933 exhibit which also featured Grant Wood...

Artist: George Cecil Carter (1908–1993) Medium: Oil on board Size: Image: 16 ⅞ x 9 ⅞ in Framed: 20 ⅝ x 13 ½ x 1 ⅞ in Style: Mid-Century Modern, Abstract Figurative This striking 1950s oil painting by celebrated Colorado abstract expressionist George Cecil Carter presents a modernist portrayal of a couple, believed to depict Alfred Stieglitz and Georgia O’Keeffe. Rendered in bold brushstrokes and a rich color palette, the piece showcases Carter’s unique ability to merge abstraction with figurative expression, creating a sense of movement and emotion. Housed in a custom frame, this original mid-century artwork is a must-have for collectors of modernist and abstract figurative art. Provenance: From a private collection in Denver, Colorado. About the Artist – George Cecil Carter Born in Oklahoma in 1908, Carter became a leading figure in Colorado’s abstract expressionist movement, working alongside artists like Al Wynne, Mary Chenoweth...

Wonderful Bay Area Figurative by unknown artist (signature marred), circa 1955. In style of Nathan Oliveria and Norman Bluhm. Image size 16"H x 23"W. Presented in rustic frame. Frame...

Artist: Lester Johnson Title: Street Scene 4 Medium: Lithograph Signed: Hand Signed Edition: Edition of 175 Measurements: 29" x 21" Year: 1978 Note: This piece is sold UNFRAMED Con...