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Dean Cornwell
Art Deco Painting Romantic Couple on Rocks

1931

$84,000
£63,800.07
€73,381.75
CA$117,364.46
A$130,874.66
CHF 68,284.82
MX$1,605,881.39
NOK 869,156.94
SEK 823,507.32
DKK 547,675.13
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About the Item

Fact: There is no one alive today who can paint and draw as good as Dean Cornwell. Why? It takes a lifetime of training, work and commitment to be a great academic artist. Unfortunately, the artistic skills Cornwell learned and perfected are almost non-existent in today's art training. Hence, most contemporary art is rehashed 5th generation abstract painting, poorly conceived concept art, naive art. finger painting type art or plagiarist art. Couple on Rocks is executed in a post-impressionist style but has the underpinnings of sound academic knowledge. Notice how structurally sound his figures are. Dean Cornwell was Norman Rockwell's favorite illustrator. Signature: Signed lower left, Oil on board, Framed - Slight desaturation of color due to old varnish and slight bowing to the support. Color may vary from monitor to monitor. The work is best viewed when lit by a top gallery-like light to bring out color.
  • Creator:
    Dean Cornwell (1892 - 1960, American)
  • Creation Year:
    1931
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 28 in (71.12 cm)Width: 29 in (73.66 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
    Best viewed under a top key light to bring out color. Bowing to board visible mostly with raking light. Condition is good some very light surface grim commensurate with age. - Slight desaturation of color due to old varnish.
  • Gallery Location:
    Miami, FL
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU38531208703

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Ernest Hemingway. The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber He Lay Face Down
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A complex composition of interlocking pyramids defines Cornwell not only as a great storyteller but a master of painting fundamentals and design. There exists no living artist today who can paint and draw on a level as Dean Cornwell. Published in Cosmopolitan magazine: "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber" by Ernest Hemingway Reproduced in Dean Cornwell, Dean of Illustrators (Broder) The work is rendered in the painterly style of a school of impressionism. Dean Cornwell was Normam Rockwell's favorite Illustrator. He was a student of Harvey Dunn, he in turn taught artists and developed talents for a generation. Oils for Cosmopolitan, Redbook, True, American Weekly, Life, Good Housekeeping. Book art for Man from Galilee and others. Ad contracts for GM, Eastern, Pennsylvania Railroad, Paul Jones Whiskey, Aunt...
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1930s Post-Impressionist Figurative Paintings

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Portrait of Chinese Couple. Pearl S. Buck Tiger Tiger Illustration Cosmopolitan
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Among the many accolades I would grant Dean Cornwell, the one that rises to the top would be that he is one of America's greatest portrait painters. With a few strokes, he captures h...
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Embracing Couple on Sailboat , Art Deco Style Romantic
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Love at sea. A nautical romance is captured as a handsome couple embrace. The big splash of water at the peak moment of drama symbolizes passion and defines Falter's creativity in communicating a romantic narrative. This is a companion piece to a romance story. Most likely done on assignment for a major newsstand magazine. Hand-signed by artist, sticker label, Magazine Illustration circa 1940 Oil on board Signed lower right h: 28.5 x w: 30 in / h: 72.4 x w: 76.2 cm Morris Weiss collection...
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Stoic and Soulfully Strong Women - All Women Composition Euphorbia -
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One of Cornwell's hallmarks is that he paints stoically soulful faces that express the subject's trials and hardships. In this only-woman composition, he depicts a scene of two women who are strong, unafraid, and self-confident and can weather the storm despite the challenges. In this regard, it is similar to "A Strange Sound Drifted Down to Kit from the Top of the Range—A Man’s Voice, Singing" by Cornwell, which sold at Christie's USD $163,800 on 18 Apr 2024. Caption: "Are you making little things?" questioned Lucy. 'No ,' said Marge. 'If this one happens to live, there will be many long years ahead of us for that." Morris Weiss collection...
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Kindred of the Dust, Frontier Town Cosmopolitan Magazine
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A somewhat similar Cornwell featuring a strong woman at the center of a the composition just sold at Christie's for $164,000. In this work we also see a strong woman at the center of the composition. Here she surrounded by men. More than 20 beautifully rendered post-impressionist portraits in character, define Dean Cornwell as one of America's great artists. In his time, he was a famous as Norman Rockwell and was Norman Rockwell's favorite illustrator. "One thing puzzled Dirty Dan extremely. That was the perfectly frank, friendly manner in which his employer and this outcast woman greeted each other, the earnestness with which they conversed, and the effect of the woman's low-spoken words upon the color of Hector McKaye's face." Morris Weiss collection...
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If there ever were a perfect work in the canon of art history, this masterpiece study by Dean Cornwell would be it. Every line has meaning and not a line out of place, as Cornwell d...
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Medium: Oil on Canvas Signature: Signed Lower Left Sight Size 36.00" x 34.00; Framed 43.75" x 41.75" "The Great Things of Life—Travel, Edison Mazda Lamps/General Electric advertisement" Signed and dated lower left: Dean / Cornwell / 21 Dean Cornwell's advertisements for companies like Coca-Cola, Palmolive Soap, and Philadelphia Blended Whiskey are as chock full of atmosphere and narrative drama as his magazine story illustrations. The present work graced one of eleven advertisements in ""The Great Things of Life"" series, commissioned by General Electric, which ran in monthly 1921 editions of The Saturday Evening Post. Each of these ads, designed by a different artist - among them, Arthur I. Keller, Elizabeth Shippen Green, Clarence F. Underwood, and Sarah Stillwell Weber -- suggested that the warmth of the Edison Mazda Lamp, or incandescent light bulb, went hand in hand with middle-class virtues and opportunities, including ""Reverence,"" ""Contentment,"" ""Gratitude,"" and ""Chums."" For ""Travel,"" Cornwell imaged a honeymooning couple disembarking from a car, about to enter a brightly illuminated inn: ""The Honeymoon Trail is a trail of Light -- Soft lights, orange blossoms, and solemn vows - A handful of confetti, laughing goodbyes and a porch--light smiling its happy farewell -- Bright headlights throwing their radiance over the road; and the lights of welcome in an old-fashioned inn -- So another couple sets forth on the honeymoon trail -- a trail that lingers in memory as long as life lasts, indelibly etched by the magic of light. We speak of life as a journey; have you ever stopped to think how much Edison Mazda Lamps contribute to the pleasure of the journey?"" (General Electric advertisement, The Saturday Evening Post, 1921). The present work is accompanied by three copies of the advertisement as featured in The Saturday Evening Post. " Dean Cornwell, born in 1862, was an American artist who was best known as a muralist and for his famous illustrations in national magazines including Harper's Bazaar, Redbook, and Cosmopolitan. He was born in Louisville, Kentucky and as a child observed his civil engineer father do industrial drawings, which led to his interest in art. Cornwell studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and built his career as a cartoonist for the Lousiville Herald and the Chicago Tribune. Cornwell illustrated the works of some of the most famous names in the literary world, including Edna Ferber, Ernest Hemingway, Pearl S. Buck, and Somerset Maugham. He also created murals for the 1939 World's Fair, Bethlehem Steel, and the General Motors Building in New York City. Cornwell's spectacular murals grace buildings...
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