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Luxembourg Gardens, Children Playing, Park Scene, Gouache
Luxembourg Gardens, Children Playing, Park Scene, Gouache

Luxembourg Gardens, Children Playing, Park Scene, Gouache

Located in Wiscasset, ME

Born in Gardner, Massachusetts in 1876, painter, writer and teacher Emma Alice (Polly) Parker Nordell studied at the Rhode Island School of Design under Stacy Tolman and Sydney R. Burleigh, Art Students League under Frank DuMond and Robert Henri, Chase School of Art with William Merritt Chase in New York City and at the Academie de la Grand Chaumiere in Paris under the tutelage of Lucien Simon and Emile Menard...

Category

Mid-20th Century American Impressionist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Paper, Gouache

Industrial Mural Study, Veterans Memorial Building, Santa Barbara WPA American
Industrial Mural Study, Veterans Memorial Building, Santa Barbara WPA American

Industrial Mural Study, Veterans Memorial Building, Santa Barbara WPA American

Located in New York, NY

Industrial Mural Study, Veterans Memorial Building, Santa Barbara WPA American Joseph Edward Knowles (1907-1980) "Study for Industry Mural, Veterans Memorial Building, Santa Barbara, CA" 19 1/2 x 50 1/2 inches Oil on board, c. 1930s. Estate stamp verso Framed: 27 x 60 inches The completed mural is currently hanging on the wall, part of the building actually, at the Veterans Memorial Building in Santa Barbara. A photo of the work insitu is included in the attached photos. BIO Joseph Edward Knowles was born in Kendall, Montana, on June 15, 1907. He grew up in San Diego, California. At age twenty, two years before the beginning of the Great Depression, he moved north to another town on the coast of California---Santa Barbara. There he began studying fine art at the Santa Barbara School of the Arts* (1927-1930), under the supervision of Frank Morley Fletcher, previously director of the Edinburgh College of Art. Fletcher, who was trained in portraiture, landscape painting, and woodblock* printing, was a great influence on young Knowles. It was there that Knowles learned the art of color woodblock printmaking, a medium in which he showed great skill. Not long after completing his studies with Fletcher, Knowles began teaching art. For a period of thirty years, from 1930 to1960, he taught at the Cate School in Carpinteria, California. In 1934-1935, Knowles traveled throughout Europe, further developing his artistic skills in England, France, and Italy. Upon his return, he continued to teach art at various schools and institutions: Cate School, Crane Country School, extension classes at the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB), and at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art (SBMA). Knowles also served as an art education consultant for the County of Santa Barbara. In addition, he was founding co-director and president of the Santa Barbara Fine Arts Institute (1969-1972), which later developed a specialization in photography and became the Brooks Institute of Photography. Knowles died at his home in Santa Barbara on September 8, 1980. Much of Knowles' watercolor work is associated with what has been termed the "California School*," a loose grouping of artists throughout the state that included such figures as Millard Sheets, Phil Dike, Dong Kingman, George Post, and the Santa Barbara painters Dan Lutz and Standish Backus, Jr. The California School artists, including Knowles, were known for their fresh, direct, spontaneous style of watercolor painting. Knowles and other members of the school found inspiration in nature and the built environment alike, emphasizing elements of design in their exuberant, boldly stated, colorful scenes from everyday life. While painting in a representational* manner, Knowles generally avoided photographic realism, preferring subjective interpretation of his subjects. In this, as well as in his experimental approach and vigorous brushwork, he displayed a strongly modern sensibility. Knowles often used the wet-on-wet watercolor technique as he painted seascapes and landscapes, mostly along the California coast. He also employed dry-brush* techniques in many of his paintings, often leaving some of the white of the watercolor paper exposed. Some of the latter depict trees and other forms in a broken and airy manner that recalls Cezanne. Knowles' colored woodblock prints are more reserved and exact in their draftsmanship than his paintings. Spare, clean, lyrical lines are drawn to illustrate floral motifs and boat scenes with a touch of asymmetry conjuring Japanese woodblock prints. His murals from the post-World War II period are considerably more modern in their approach and show an emphasis on design and color. PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS California Watercolor Society (1940 - 1955) Santa Barbara Art Association (Vice President - 1952) ONE-MAN EXHIBITIONS Golden Gate International Exposition (GGIE) - San Francisco, California San Diego Fine Arts Gallery (SDMA) - San Diego, California Santa Barbara Museum of Art (SBMA) - Santa Barbara, California Cowie Galleries - Los Angeles, California Gallery de Silva - Santa Barbara, California Bradley Galleries - Santa Barbara, California MURALS Westmont College - Ellen Porter Hall Mural - Santa Barbara, California Safeway Grocery (now Vons Grocery on West Victoria Street) - Exterior Tile Mosaic - Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara Bank & Trust - Interior Mosaic Panels, Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara Girls Club - Interior Mosaic Mural - Santa Barbara, California Ernest Righetti High School - Mosaic Mural - Santa Maria, California Shell Oil Company - Mosaic Panel - California Beckman Instruments, Corporate Headquarters - Mosaic - Fullerton, California STAINED GLASS WINDOWS, WALLS and PANELS Katherine Thayer Cate Memorial Chapel - Cate School, Carpinteria, California William S. Porter Memorial Chapel - Cottage Hospital, Santa Barbara, California La Rinconada Building - Santa Barbara, California ILLUSTRATIONS "California's Wonderful Corner: True Stories for Children from the History of the Santa Barbara Region," by Walter A. Tompkins (1962 & 1975) China Designs: Two sets of dinnerware for Winfield China...

Category

1930s American Realist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

Don't Hurt Me

Don't Hurt Me

By Valton Tyler

Located in Dallas, TX

In The New York Times Arts in America column, Edward M. Gomez writes of Valton Tyler, "visionary seems the right word for describing his vivid, unusual and technically refined painti...

Category

1970s Surrealist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Linen

Realist Portrait, Mid-Century Oil On Card, The Babushka. Oil.
Realist Portrait, Mid-Century Oil On Card, The Babushka. Oil.

Realist Portrait, Mid-Century Oil On Card, The Babushka. Oil.

Located in Cotignac, FR

Mid-Century realist oil on card of a peasant woman, dated 1963 to the reverse. Artist unknown. Presented in gilt and painted wood frame under glass. A charming, grounded painting of...

Category

Mid-20th Century Realist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Cardboard

Antique Scottish Highlands Oil Painting River & Mountains Old Stone Bridge
Antique Scottish Highlands Oil Painting River & Mountains Old Stone Bridge

Antique Scottish Highlands Oil Painting River & Mountains Old Stone Bridge

By Francis E. Jamieson

Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire

"Allan Water" by F. E. Jamieson (British 1895-1950) signed, lower corner oil painting on canvas, framed canvas: 16 x 24 inches framed: 21 x 29 inches Fine quality antique oil painting by the much admired and celebrated British artist F. E. Jamieson (1895-1950). The painting is signed by Jamieson to the lower corner. The painting captures this beautifully romantic view of the Highlands, titled verso as being 'Allan Water', which is a very fine river in central Scotland famed for its trout and Salmon fishing today. The painting has the bonus of capturing the Bridge of Allan...

Category

Early 20th Century Victorian Landscape Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Les Jockey & La Propietaire - Post Impressionist Figurative Oil by E Grau Sala
Les Jockey & La Propietaire - Post Impressionist Figurative Oil by E Grau Sala

Les Jockey & La Propietaire - Post Impressionist Figurative Oil by E Grau Sala

By Emilio Grau Sala

Located in Marlow, Buckinghamshire

Signed, titled and dated figures in landscape oil on canvas by Spanish post impressionist painter Emilio Grau Sala. The work depicts a large group of jockeys and horse owners talking...

Category

1970s Post-Impressionist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

18th Century by Nicola Viso The adoration of the magi Oil on canvas
18th Century by Nicola Viso The adoration of the magi Oil on canvas

18th Century by Nicola Viso The adoration of the magi Oil on canvas

Located in Milano, Lombardia

Nicola Viso, (active 1724 – 1742) Title: The adoration of the magi Medium: Oil on canvas Dimensions: without frame 63 x 100 cm – with frame 76.5 x 114.7 x 4.5 cm Signed “N. Viso. f” ...

Category

18th Century Old Masters Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

"The Laotian Fruit Seller", Léa Lafugie (1890-1972)
"The Laotian Fruit Seller", Léa Lafugie (1890-1972)

"The Laotian Fruit Seller", Léa Lafugie (1890-1972)

By Léa Lafugie

Located in Paris, FR

Léa Lafugie (1890–1972) was a painter who traveled extensively across Asia. She was renowned for her portraits. She studied at the School of Decorative Arts, followed by the École de...

Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Panel

Home Sweet Home" - Oil on Canvas Winter Cabin Landscape Painting
Home Sweet Home" - Oil on Canvas Winter Cabin Landscape Painting

Home Sweet Home" - Oil on Canvas Winter Cabin Landscape Painting

By Mark Harrison

Located in Denver, CO

Mark Harrison’s “Home Sweet Home” (2024) is a masterful oil on canvas capturing a winter forest scene steeped in quietude and solitude. Measuring 15.75 x 39.37 inches (40 x 100 cm) a...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Landscape Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Antique 19th Century English Oil Painting Countryside Golden Harvest Fields
Antique 19th Century English Oil Painting Countryside Golden Harvest Fields

Antique 19th Century English Oil Painting Countryside Golden Harvest Fields

Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire

The Harvest Workers English School, 19th century indistinctly inscribed lower front corner oil painting on canvas, framed framed: 10 x 8.5 inches canvas: 8.75 x 7 inches Provenance: ...

Category

19th Century Victorian Landscape Paintings

Materials

Oil

Mauldre au debut de Printemps - Post Impressionist Landscape Oil by Marcel Dyf
Mauldre au debut de Printemps - Post Impressionist Landscape Oil by Marcel Dyf

Mauldre au debut de Printemps - Post Impressionist Landscape Oil by Marcel Dyf

By Marcel Dyf

Located in Marlow, Buckinghamshire

Signed oil on canvas riverscape circa 1950 by French post impressionist painter Marcel Dyf. The work depicts the Mauldre - a long river in north-central France which is an estuary fo...

Category

1950s Post-Impressionist Landscape Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Landscape Mary Magdalene Bril Paint 17th Century Oil on canvas Old master
Landscape Mary Magdalene Bril Paint 17th Century Oil on canvas Old master

Landscape Mary Magdalene Bril Paint 17th Century Oil on canvas Old master

Located in Riva del Garda, IT

Fantastic Landscape with Mary Magdalene Paul Bril (Antwerp, 1554 – Rome, 1626) Workshop of First half of the 17th century Oil on canvas (76 x 96 cm - In antique frame 95 x 11...

Category

17th Century Old Masters Landscape Paintings

Materials

Oil

Flowers morning
Flowers morning

Flowers morning

By Dmitry Spiros

Located in Zofingen, AG

Acr. on canvas painting. Size of painting - 37cm x 37cm , (14,5" x 14,5") size with frame- 18,5" x 18,5" - (45,5cm x 45,5cm) The thickly applied paint vibrates wtih color, and the m...

Category

Early 2000s Impressionist Landscape Paintings

Materials

Acrylic

Summer - 21st Century Contemporary Impressionistic Painting of a Landscape
Summer - 21st Century Contemporary Impressionistic Painting of a Landscape

Summer - 21st Century Contemporary Impressionistic Painting of a Landscape

By Frank Dekkers

Located in Nuenen, Noord Brabant

Frank Dekkers Summer 100 x 120 cm oil on canvas framed in a wooden grey frame as seen on picture, it measures 104 x 124 cm Frame is included in price On the pictures we also show you the artist receiving the flowers on our opening of this exhibition september 3th 2023 in our gallery. On the wall you can see the painting behind. Just to give you an idea of size, colors and sphere. About the artist: Frank Dekkers, an outdoor painter, but not a "square painter" as we know him. His studio is located "everywhere", or at least outside where this artist is inspired by the landscape. A special way of summarizing leads in his paintings to a very strong and simplified image. These works invite you to walk into the landscape and to keep looking. A book has been published about Frank Dekkers, which is included when purchasing a painting...

Category

2010s Contemporary Landscape Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

Parisian City Square At Night With Column and Figures French Watercolor
Parisian City Square At Night With Column and Figures French Watercolor

Parisian City Square At Night With Column and Figures French Watercolor

By Pierre Neveu

Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire

Title: Parisian City Square At Night With Column and Figures French Watercolor Artist: Pierre Neveu (French b.1929) Medium: Watercolour and Gouache on card, unframed Size (H x W): 7....

Category

Mid-20th Century Post-Impressionist Landscape Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor, Gouache

"High Noon" James Goodwin McManus, Skyscape, Connecticut Landscape, Modernist
"High Noon" James Goodwin McManus, Skyscape, Connecticut Landscape, Modernist

"High Noon" James Goodwin McManus, Skyscape, Connecticut Landscape, Modernist

Located in New York, NY

James Goodwin McManus High Noon, circa 1935 Signed lower right Oil on canvas 25 x 30 inches Provenance Private Collection Ric Serrenho, North Granby, Connecticut (acquired from the above in 2004) James McManus...

Category

1930s American Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Set of 7 Original Paintings - The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World Classical
Set of 7 Original Paintings - The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World Classical

Set of 7 Original Paintings - The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World Classical

Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire

The Seven Wonders of the Classical World English School, early 20th century set of seven (7) 7 x oil paintings on paper mounted on board, framed Glass covering framed: 22 x 14 inch...

Category

Early 20th Century English School Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

19th C Royal Couple; Pair Chinese Pith Paintings Qing Dynasty. China, Circa 1855
19th C Royal Couple; Pair Chinese Pith Paintings Qing Dynasty. China, Circa 1855

19th C Royal Couple; Pair Chinese Pith Paintings Qing Dynasty. China, Circa 1855

Located in Incline Village, NV

Lovely and authentic all original mid 19th century pair of small Chinese Pith Paintings; under glass and double matted in a single plain narrow black straight reeded trimmed wooden f...

Category

1850s Qing Figurative Paintings

Materials

Watercolor, Rice Paper

Trajan’s Column View Rome Early 19th Century Grand Tour Gouache on Paper
Trajan’s Column View Rome Early 19th Century Grand Tour Gouache on Paper

Trajan’s Column View Rome Early 19th Century Grand Tour Gouache on Paper

Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire

This charming gouache on paper painting, from the early 19th century, presents a detailed view of Trajan’s Column in Rome, a historically significant landmark dating back to ancient ...

Category

Early 19th Century Old Masters Landscape Paintings

Materials

Gouache

Antique Dutch oil painting on panel, traveler horseback with a dog, ca. 1835
Antique Dutch oil painting on panel, traveler horseback with a dog, ca. 1835

Antique Dutch oil painting on panel, traveler horseback with a dog, ca. 1835

Located in DEVENTER, NL

Painting with a traveler on a white horse and accompanied by a dog looking up at a road sign in the form of a cross. On the roadsign is ” Arnhem”. (a town at the Rhine river in the E...

Category

1830s Romantic Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Wood Panel

"Janetta Falls, New Jersey" Jasper F. Cropsey, Hudson River Wooded Landscape
"Janetta Falls, New Jersey" Jasper F. Cropsey, Hudson River Wooded Landscape

"Janetta Falls, New Jersey" Jasper F. Cropsey, Hudson River Wooded Landscape

By Jasper Francis Cropsey

Located in New York, NY

Jasper F. Cropsey Janetta Falls, New Jersey, circa 1846 Signed J.F. Cropsey Oil on canvas 12½ x 10¾ inches Provenance Private Collection, New York, 1930s Thence by descent to the pr...

Category

1840s Hudson River School Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Night Riders, Mid-20th Century Surrealist Landscape w/ Horse & Riders
Night Riders, Mid-20th Century Surrealist Landscape w/ Horse & Riders

Night Riders, Mid-20th Century Surrealist Landscape w/ Horse & Riders

Located in Beachwood, OH

Hugh M. Poe (American, 1902-1973) Night Riders, 1962 Oil on artist's board Signed lower right 20 x 25 inches 26.75 x 31.75 inches, framed Condition: Craquelure throughout. There are...

Category

1960s Surrealist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

Farm Tragedy (Untitled)
Farm Tragedy (Untitled)

Farm Tragedy (Untitled)

Located in Los Angeles, CA

Farm Tragedy (Untitled), c. 1930s, mixed media on plaster on panel, unsigned, 22 1/8 x 32 inches; label verso reads: "New York Artists Equity Association, New York, NY," provenance i...

Category

1930s American Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Mixed Media

From a Balcony, French Quarter, New Orleans
From a Balcony, French Quarter, New Orleans

From a Balcony, French Quarter, New Orleans

By Wayman Adams

Located in Wilton Manors, FL

Wayman Elbridge Adams (1883-1959). From a Balcony, New Orleans, French Quarter, ca.1930. Oil on masonite panel, 12 x 16 inches; 17.5 x 21.5 inches framed. Excellent condition. ...

Category

1930s Figurative Paintings

Materials

Masonite, Oil

Vintage 1970's Harbour Scene with Moored Boats & Figures by British Artist
Vintage 1970's Harbour Scene with Moored Boats & Figures by British Artist

Vintage 1970's Harbour Scene with Moored Boats & Figures by British Artist

Located in Preston, GB

Vintage 1970's Harbour Scene with Moored Boats & Figures by British Artist, William Stockman (1935-2021) Art measures 31 x 15 inches Frame measures 36 x 20 inches Professionally cleaned and re-framed in a high quality contemporary black moulding with a white insert 20th Century Vintage Original...

Category

1970s Modern Landscape Paintings

Materials

Board, Oil

"Sunset West" (2025) Oil Painting, Colorado Landscape
"Sunset West" (2025) Oil Painting, Colorado Landscape

"Sunset West" (2025) Oil Painting, Colorado Landscape

By Michael Magrin

Located in Denver, CO

Michael Magrin's ( US based) "Sunset West" is an original, handmade oil painting of a sunset above Colorado plains. This piece is framed in a "barn wood" frame and is ready to hang. ...

Category

2010s Realist Landscape Paintings

Materials

Linen, Oil, Wood Panel

Still Life of Black Leather Shoes, Oil on Panel, Framed, 1993
Still Life of Black Leather Shoes, Oil on Panel, Framed, 1993

Still Life of Black Leather Shoes, Oil on Panel, Framed, 1993

Located in Beachwood, OH

Eric Kunde (American b. 1969) Shoes, 1993 Oil on panel Signed and dated upper right 12 in. h. x 16 in. w. 17 in. h. x 21 in. w., as framed Eric Kunde, born in 1969, has established...

Category

1990s Still-life Paintings

Materials

Oil

Untitled abstract expressionist oil painting by Cleveland School artist
Untitled abstract expressionist oil painting by Cleveland School artist

Untitled abstract expressionist oil painting by Cleveland School artist

By Richard Andres

Located in Beachwood, OH

Richard Andres American, 1927-2013 Untitled, c. 1984 acrylic and ink on paper mounted on canvas signed lower right 19 x 16 inches Richard Andres was born in Buffalo, New York in 192...

Category

1980s Abstract Expressionist Abstract Paintings

Materials

Ink, Acrylic

Mid 20th Century Oil on Canvas View of Grenada
Mid 20th Century Oil on Canvas View of Grenada

Mid 20th Century Oil on Canvas View of Grenada

Located in Cotignac, FR

Mid 20th Century oil on canvas view of a street in Grenada, Spain by J Georges. The painting is signed and titled bottom right. Presented in a deep patinated and gilt wood frame. A ...

Category

Mid-20th Century Post-Impressionist Landscape Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

A Rare 1930s Modern, American Scene, Midwestern Summer Country Landscape
A Rare 1930s Modern, American Scene, Midwestern Summer Country Landscape

A Rare 1930s Modern, American Scene, Midwestern Summer Country Landscape

Located in Chicago, IL

A rare and special 1936 Modern American Scene country landscape painting with figures by important Chicago artist (William) Davenport Griffen. Oil on canvas, signed and dated "Griffen ‘36", lower right. Image size: 18 x 20 inches. Framed size: 22 x 24 inches. (William) Davenport Griffen was born in 1894 in Millbrook, NY. He graduated from Iowa State College in Ames, IA in 1918 with a B.S. in Civil Engineering; however, Griffen’s true love was painting. In 1919, he enrolled in the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts and subsequently studied at the Art Institute of Chicago from 1923-1928. In 1926, he was awarded the American Travel Scholarship and began painting in Provincetown, MA. In 1928, he was awarded the John Quincy Adams Scholarship and spent six months painting in Paris, France. Griffen also painted in the U.S. Virgin Islands for 11 months between 1930-1931. Griffen had one-man exhibitions of his Virgin Islands paintings...

Category

1930s American Modern Landscape Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

Nude Woman (Pop Art painting)
Nude Woman (Pop Art painting)

Nude Woman (Pop Art painting)

By Tom Wesselmann

Located in Wilton Manors, FL

Beautiful ca. 1970s Pop Art painting of a reclining nude woman based on Tom Wesselmann's 1968 screenprint, Nude with Still Life. Oil on canvas, 30 x 36 inches. Custom welded stee...

Category

Mid-20th Century Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Inside a Cloud (Window, Skyscape, Warm, Bluesy, Dreamy, ~36% OFF)
Inside a Cloud (Window, Skyscape, Warm, Bluesy, Dreamy, ~36% OFF)

Inside a Cloud (Window, Skyscape, Warm, Bluesy, Dreamy, ~36% OFF)

By Annieo Klaas

Located in Kansas City, MO

Annieo Klaas Inside a Cloud 2024 Oil on Canvas 40 x 30 inches (101.6 x 30.48 cm) Signed lower right COA provided *On stretcher frame - gallery wrapped - ready to hang Annieo Klaas’...

Category

2010s Surrealist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil, Stretcher Bars

18th Century by Antonio Mercurio Amorosi Portrait Little Girl with Cat
18th Century by Antonio Mercurio Amorosi Portrait Little Girl with Cat

18th Century by Antonio Mercurio Amorosi Portrait Little Girl with Cat

By Antonio Mercurio Amorosi

Located in Milano, Lombardia

Artist: Antonio Mercurio Amorosi (Comunanza, Italy, 1660 - 1738) Title: Portrait of a little girl with cat Medium: Oil on canvas Dimensions: without frame 42 x 31.5 cm – with frame 5...

Category

Early 18th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Ego 160 - Chidy Wayne Coffee and vanish on paper
Ego 160 - Chidy Wayne Coffee and vanish on paper

Ego 160 - Chidy Wayne Coffee and vanish on paper

By Chidy Wayne

Located in Bruxelles, BE

Exclusive piece made for the exhibition at Rish Lab, Brussels. Chidy Wayne (b. 1981, Spain) is an artist based in Barcelona. Over the years, he has established himself as a recogniz...

Category

2010s Contemporary Portrait Paintings

Materials

Gesso, Canvas, Mixed Media, Acrylic

'Sketching Wisconsin' original oil painting, Signed
'Sketching Wisconsin' original oil painting, Signed

'Sketching Wisconsin' original oil painting, Signed

By John Steuart Curry

Located in Milwaukee, WI

John Steuart Curry "Sketching Wisconsin," 1946 oil on canvas 31.13 x 28 inches, canvas 39.75 x 36.75 x 2.5 inches, frame Signed and dated lower right Overall excellent condition Presented in a 24-karat gold leaf hand-carved wood frame John Steuart Curry (1897-1946) was an American regionalist painter active during the Great Depression and into World War II. He was born in Kansas on his family’s farm but went on to study art in Chicago, Paris and New York as young man. In Paris, he was exposed to the work of masters such as Peter Paul Rubens, Eugène Delacroix and Jacques-Louis David. As he matured, his work showed the influence of these masters, especially in his compositional decisions. Like the two other Midwestern regionalist artists that are most often grouped with him, Grant Wood (American, 1891-1942) and Thomas Hart Benton (American, 1889-1975), Curry was interested in representational works containing distinctly American subject matter. This was contrary to the popular art at the time, which was moving closer and closer to abstraction and individual expression. Sketching Wisconsin is an oil painting completed in 1946, the last year of John Steuart Curry’s life, during which time he was the artist-in-residence at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. The painting is significant in Curry’s body of work both as a very revealing self-portrait, and as a landscape that clearly and sensitively depicts the scenery of southern Wisconsin near Madison. It is also a portrait of the artist’s second wife, Kathleen Gould Curry, and is unique in that it contains a ‘picture within a picture,’ a compositional element that many early painting masters used to draw the eye of the viewer. This particular artwork adds a new twist to this theme: Curry’s wife is creating essentially the same painting the viewer is looking at when viewing Sketching Wisconsin. The triangular composition of the figures in the foreground immediately brings focus to a younger Curry, whose head penetrates the horizon line and whose gaze looks out towards the viewer. The eye then moves down to Mrs. Curry, who, seated on a folding stool and with her hand raised to paint the canvas on the easel before her, anchors the triangular composition. The shape is repeated in the legs of the stool and the easel. Behind the two figures, stripes of furrowed fields fall away gently down the hillside to a farmstead and small lake below. Beyond the lake, patches of field and forest rise and fall into the distance, and eventually give way to blue hills. Here, Curry has subverted the traditional artist’s self-portrait by portraying himself as a farmer first and an artist second. He rejects what he sees as an elitist art world of the East Coast and Europe. In this self-portrait he depicts himself without any pretense or the instruments of his profession and with a red tractor standing in the field behind him as if he was taking a break from the field work. Here, Curry’s wife symbolizes John Steuart Curry’s identity as an artist. Compared with a self-portrait of the artist completed a decade earlier, this work shows a marked departure from how the artist previously presented and viewed himself. In the earlier portrait, Curry depicted himself in the studio with brushes in hand, and with some of his more recognizable and successful canvases behind him. But in Sketching Wisconsin, Curry has taken himself out of the studio and into the field, indicating a shift in the artist’s self-conception. Sketching Wisconsin’s rural subject also expresses Curry’s populist ideals, that art could be relevant to anyone. This followed the broad educational objectives of UW’s artist-in-residence program. Curry was appointed to his position at the University of Wisconsin in 1937 and was the first person to hold any such position in the country, the purpose of which was to serve as an educational resource to the people of the state. He embraced his role at the University with zeal and not only opened the doors of his campus studio in the School of Agriculture to the community, but also spent a great deal of time traveling around the state of Wisconsin to visit rural artists who could benefit from his expertise. It was during his ten years in the program that Curry was able to put into practice his belief that art should be meaningful to the rural populace. However, during this time he also struggled with public criticism, as the dominant forces of the art market were moving away from representation. Perhaps it was Curry’s desire for public acceptance during the latter part of his career that caused him to portray himself as an Everyman in Sketching Wisconsin. Beyond its importance as a portrait of the artist, Sketching Wisconsin is also a detailed and sensitive landscape that shows us Curry’s deep personal connection to his environment. The landscape here can be compared to Wisconsin Landscape of 1938-39 (the Metropolitan Museum of Art), which presents a similar tableau of rolling hills with a patchwork of fields. Like Wisconsin Landscape, this is an incredibly detailed and expressive depiction of a place close to the artist’s heart. This expressive landscape is certainly the result of many hours spent sketching people, animals, weather conditions and topography of Wisconsin as Curry traveled around the state. The backdrop of undulating hills and the sweeping horizon, and the emotions evoked by it, are emphatically recognizable as the ‘driftless’ area of south-central Wisconsin. But while the Metropolitan’s Wisconsin Landscape conveys a sense of uncertainty or foreboding with its dramatic spring cloudscape and alternating bands of light and dark, Sketching Wisconsin has a warm and reflective mood. The colors of the foliage indicate that it is late summer and Curry seems to look out at the viewer approvingly, as if satisfied with the fertile ground surrounding him. The landscape in Sketching Wisconsin is also revealing of what became one of Curry’s passions while artist-in-residence at UW’s School of Agriculture – soil conservation. When Curry was a child in Kansas, he saw his father almost lose his farm and its soil to the erosion of The Dust Bowl. Therefore, he was very enthusiastic about ideas from UW’s School of Agriculture on soil conservation methods being used on Wisconsin farms. In Sketching Wisconsin, we see evidence of crop rotation methods in the terraced stripes of fields leading down the hillside away from the Curry’s and in how they alternate between cultivated and fallow fields. Overall, Sketching Wisconsin has a warm, reflective, and comfortably pastoral atmosphere, and the perceived shift in Curry’s self-image that is evident in the portrait is a positive one. After his rise to favor in the art world in the 1930’s, and then rejection from it due to the strong beliefs presented in his art, Curry is satisfied and proud to be farmer in this self-portrait. Curry suffered from high blood...

Category

1940s American Realist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Topkapi Pullman (based on Mural for Lobby, Suburban Train Station, Philadelphia)
Topkapi Pullman (based on Mural for Lobby, Suburban Train Station, Philadelphia)

Topkapi Pullman (based on Mural for Lobby, Suburban Train Station, Philadelphia)

By Joyce Kozloff

Located in New York, NY

Joyce Kozloff Topkapi Pullman, 1985 Watercolor and acrylic on paper (bears original gallery labels: Barbara Gladstone Gallery, Gallery Camino Real, Boston University Art Gallery) Sig...

Category

1980s Contemporary Figurative Paintings

Materials

Acrylic, Watercolor

Aquarium, circa 1935, oil on panel
Aquarium, circa 1935, oil on panel

Aquarium, circa 1935, oil on panel

By Lydia Radda

Located in PARIS, FR

Lydia Radda (1891-1967) Aquarium, circa 1935 Oil on panel Signed “Radda” lower right 13 x 16 inch Painter born in Corbeil-Essonnes in 1891, Julie Florent was active in Paris at the ...

Category

Early 20th Century Modern Landscape Paintings

Materials

Paint, Oil

Traditional English Oil Painting Rural Crafts Portrait Lady with Bobbins Lace
Traditional English Oil Painting Rural Crafts Portrait Lady with Bobbins Lace

Traditional English Oil Painting Rural Crafts Portrait Lady with Bobbins Lace

By John Edwards 2

Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire

The Lace Maker by John Edwards (1940 - 2020) signed oil on canvas, framed framed: 29 x 23.5 inches board : 23 x 18 inches Provenance: private collection, UK Condition: very good cond...

Category

Mid-20th Century English School Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

The Interference of Light

The Interference of Light

By Gwen Wong

Located in Atlanta, GA

Gwen Wong's work is both painterly and allegorical, caught somewhere in the middle between the representational painter and the narrator. "I am inspired by the idea of a childhood re...

Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Wood Panel

Worse than Ghosts - figurative, contemporary, dystopian, acrylic on paper
Worse than Ghosts - figurative, contemporary, dystopian, acrylic on paper

Worse than Ghosts - figurative, contemporary, dystopian, acrylic on paper

Located in Bloomfield, ON

John Scott’s contemporary graphic paintings are reminiscent of street art. Art critics admired the provocative, bold artwork of John Scott, whose imagery is informed by his working-...

Category

1980s Contemporary Figurative Paintings

Materials

Paper, Acrylic