Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 7

Henry Ernst Schnakenberg
Boys Swimming Industrial Landscape WPA Mid 20th Century Social Realism Modernism

1940s

About the Item

Boys Swimming Industrial Landscape WPA Mid 20th Century Social Realism Modernism Henry Schnakenberg (1982 - 1970) Boys Swimming Industrial Landscape 11 1/2 x 15 1/2 sight Oil on Canvas Signed lower left 14 1/2 x 18 1/2 inches, Framed Bio In many cases, American artists visited the Armory Show in New York in 1913, and returned to their studios to react to or against what they saw. However, for Henry Ernest Schnakenberg it was much more life altering. Prior to visiting this important exhibition of American and European modernist art, he had been working as an insurance sales representative for his father's firm. After seeing the Armory Show, he was inspired to go to art school. He enrolled at the Art Students League where he had the good fortune to have both John Sloan and Kenneth Hayes Miller as teachers. His fellow students at that time were Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Peggy Bacon, Alexander Brook and Niles Spencer. (1) After serving in the army, he returned to New York and began to paint independently, and in 1921, he had his first show at the Whitney Studio Club along with Joseph Stella. He taught at the Art Students League from 1923 to 1925. Schnakenberg's esteem and standing at the School were fully affirmed when he was elected president in 1932, and he was to remain a life long member. He was later awarded an honorary degree from the University of Vermont. Throughout his career, Schamberg wrote critical essays and reviews for art magazines, primarily The Arts. (2) Not surprising, as a young painter, Schnakenberg tried many directions with his art: landscapes, still lifes, portraits and genre paintings all with superb attention to detail and depth of feeling for his subject. His teachers at the Art Students League probably played the most influential role in shaping his career with their emphasis on the urban scene and realism with more or less gritty details related to Everyday City life. Early on, he caught the attention of Lloyd Goodrich, then director of the Whitney Museum of American Art. Goodrich observed of Schnakenberg's art, "Schnakenberg is a patient, steady builder rather than a brilliant improviser. His pictures are the result of careful thought and planning. Nothing is slurred over or left vague; every detail is precise." (3) During the 1920s, Schnakenberg traveled widely but spent some of most summers in Manchester, Vermont, and usually winters in New York. He was a founder of the Southern Vermont Artists Association, and later he founded an art gallery in the local library for local artists to have exhibition space when he moved to Newtown, Connecticut. He was an avid collector of pre-Columbian and Oriental sculpture, and he acquired the work of his contemporaries, such as Winslow Homer, Sloan, George Luks, William Glackens and Theodore Stamos. (4) Lloyd Goodrich, in his important text, American Art of Our Century (1961), summed up Schnakenberg's career and devoted an entire paragraph to him. He declared him to be an individualist from the first with a goal to build images of reality that are "satisfying for both their associations and forms," rather than attempt to express subjective emotion. (5) Schnakenberg won numerous awards and exhibited nationally. His work may also be found at the Whitney Museum of Modern Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Wadsworth Atheneum, Brooklyn Museum, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Yale University Art Museum and the Art Institute of Chicago.
  • Creator:
    Henry Ernst Schnakenberg (1892 - 1970, American)
  • Creation Year:
    1940s
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 15 in (38.1 cm)Width: 19 in (48.26 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    New York, NY
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU1156213941572

More From This Seller

View All
"Winter" American Modernism WPA Regionalism Landscape Mid-Century Magic Realism
By Dale Nichols
Located in New York, NY
"Winter" American Modernism WPA Regionalism Landscape Mid-Century Magic Realism. 30 x 40 inches. Oil on canvas, c. 1960s, Signed lower right. As we list the painting now, the work is currently being cleaned, restored and a hand carved frame is being built. Additional photos will be uploaded as soon as possible. Our gallery, Helicline Fine Art, just launched our new digital exhibition: American Art: The WPA and Beyond. Three dozen paintings, works on paper and sculptures which are available here on 1stDibs. In person viewings can be arranged by appointment at our midtown Manhattan gallery. Provenance: "Winter" was originally purchased by Stanley Byer. Mr. Byer owned homes in Key West, New York City, and Washington, D.C. He purchased the painting from Dunning Auction in 1984 in Elgin, Illinois. Mr. Byer was related to Abraham Weiss from Florida. Saul Babbin, now deceased was a cousin of Mr. Weiss. I purchased the painting from Joy Babbin, Mr. Babbin's wife, now living in from New Mexico. Dale Nichols (1905 – 1995) Artist, printmaker, illustrator, watercolorist, designer, writer and lecturer, Nichols did paintings that reflected his rural background of Nebraska where he was born in David City, a small town. Although he did much sketching outdoors, most of his paintings were completed in his studio and often included "numerology, magic squares...
Category

1960s American Modern Landscape Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

"Cruise Ship Rolls In" Mid 20th Century American Contemporary Modern Realism
Located in New York, NY
"Cruise Ship Rolls In" Mid 20th Century American Contemporary Modern Realism This is one sensational painting. And we can even identify the artist, but can't find anything about the...
Category

Mid-20th Century American Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

"Concert" Early 20th Century WPA Modernism American City Landscape Scene Ashcan
By Michael Loew
Located in New York, NY
"Concert" Early 20th Century WPA Modernism American City Landscape Scene Ashcan The size of the canvas 28 3/4 x 43 1/4 inches. The painting comes directly from the artist's estate. It is signed lower right as well as signed, titled and dated verso. We have available more than two dozen paintings and works on paper from the 1930s - 80s that come directly from the Loew estate. BIO Michael Loew (1907 – 1985) was the son of a New York City baker. After high school, he was an apprentice to a stained-glass maker, and from 1926-1929, he studied at the Art Students League. In 1929, he traveled to Paris, North Africa, Germany, and Italy with a group of artists. When he returned to New York City in 1931, the Great Depression hit Loew unexpectedly, and for the next two years he paid his apartment rent with his paintings. In 1935, he found work with the WPA where he painted murals and partnered up with longtime friend Willem de Kooning in 1939 on a mural for the Hall of Pharmacy at the New York World’s Fair. Their friendship lasted for the rest of their lives. In the mid-30’s he painted in Mexico and the Yucatán documenting the construction of a U.S. Naval airbase on Tinian Island. It was from this airbase that the Enola...
Category

1920s American Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

"Glassblowers" American Scene Social Realism Mid-20th Century New York City WPA
By Ernest Fiene
Located in New York, NY
"Glassblowers" American Scene Social Realism Mid-20th Century New York City WPA Ernest Fiene (1894-1965) Glass Blowers 28 x 23 inches Oil on canvas board Signed and dated 1944 lower...
Category

1940s American Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

NYC 1939 World's Fair Mural Study American Scene WPA Modern Mid 20th Century
Located in New York, NY
NYC 1939 World's Fair Mural Study American Scene WPA Modern Mid 20th Century Eugene Savage (1883 – 1978) 1939 World’s Fair Mural Study 45 x 30 inches Oil on Canvas Signed lower right The painting is part of a 1,000 piece collection of art and objects from the 1939 World’s Fair. The collection as a whole is available. Savage created the mural for the facade of the Communications Building. An image of the completed mural, along with a published postcard, is part of the listing. Note the center top female figure, she resembles the figure in the offered painting. BIO Eugene Francis Savage was born in Covington, Indiana 1883. He underwent various forms of art training in the early years. He was a pupil of The Corcoran Gallery and The Art Institute of Chicago, and was later awarded a fellowship to study in Rome at The American Academy. While under the spell of that ancient city the young artist began to render historic figures that were suitable for the classic style needed for mural painting in the traditional manor. During this period he was able to study and observe Roman and Greek sculpture, although much of the academic training was accomplished by using plaster casts along with the incorporation of live models. This method survived and was used efficiently throughout Europe and the United States. After leaving the Academy, Savage was commissioned to paint numerous murals throughout the United States and Europe. This artist received acclaim for the works he produced while under commissions from various sources. This young master was a contemporary of Mexican muralists David Alfaro Siqueiros (1896-1974), Jose Clemente Orozco (1883-1949) and Diego Rivera (1886-1957). In this period he was to show the influence of his contemporaries in formulating a modern style. Savage also played a vital role in the WPA Federal Art program, and he was a member of The Mural Art Guild.. Savage was elected an associate member of The National Academy of Design in 1924 and a full member in 1926. From 1947, he held a professorship at Yale University where he taught mural painting, and some of his students went on to significant positions. By this time the artist had painted large-scale murals at Columbia, Yale University, Buffalo N.Y., Dallas, Texas, Chicago, Indiana, along with other commissioned works. He also achieved recognition for a series of murals commissioned by the Matson Shipping Line and completed around 1940. For this commission, Savage made many exacting studies of customs and folkways of the Hawaiian natives. However, the award-winning murals were not installed as planned but were put in storage during the war years when the ships were used for troop transportation and were in danger of attack. However the mural images were reproduced and distributed by the shipping company including nine of the mural scenes that were made into lithographed menu covers in 1948. The American Institute of Graphic Arts awarded certificates of excellence for their graphic production, and the Smithsonian Institute exhibited the works in 1949. Today Savages' Hawaiian Art production is held in high regard by collectors of Hawaiian nostalgia. In later years the artist focused his attention on a theme that dealt with the customs and tribal traditions of the Seminole Indians of Florida. He produced many variations of this theme throughout his lifetime, and the pictures were usually modest scale easel paintings, precise and carefully delineated. Many of these pictures incorporate Surrealistic elements and show some minor stylistic influences of the painters Kay Sage...
Category

1930s American Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

"Drama Teacher" 1938 WPA Mid 20th Century American Theatre Surrealism Modernism
By Leon Bibel
Located in New York, NY
"Drama Teacher" 1938 WPA Mid 20th Century American Theatre Surrealism Modernism. 30 x 24 inches. Oil on Canvas. Signed land dated ’38 lower left. The photograph in the listing depicts the artist's friend who taught drama and about whom the painting is based Painter, printmaker and sculptor, Leon Bibel was born in San Francisco in 1913. He trained at the California School of Fine Arts and received a scholarship to study under the German Impressionist Maria Riedelstein. He worked in collaboration with Bernard Zackheim, a student of Diego Rivera, to create frescoes for the San Francisco Jewish Community Center and the University of California Medical School. In 1936 Bibel moved from California to join the Federal Art Project at Harlem Art...
Category

1930s American Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

You May Also Like

Morning Sunrise, Mid Century Laguna Hills Figurative Landscape
Located in Soquel, CA
Beautiful mid century plein air figural landscape of Laguna Niguel, California by an unknown artist (American, 20th Century). The morning sun gli...
Category

1950s American Modern Landscape Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil, Cardboard

"Pueblo Indians, Taos, New Mexico" Georgina Klitgaard, Modernist Figures
By Georgina Klitgaard
Located in New York, NY
Georgina Klitgaard Pueblo Indians, Taos, New Mexico Signed lower right Oil on canvas 18 x 24 inches Georgina Klitgaard’s art has sometimes gotten lost in the critical propensity to...
Category

Mid-20th Century American Modern Landscape Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

"Spanish Moss, Georgia" Georgina Klitgaard, Modernist Southern Flora Painting
By Georgina Klitgaard
Located in New York, NY
Georgina Klitgaard Spanish Moss, Georgia Signed lower right Oil on artist's board 12 x 16 inches Georgina Klitgaard’s art has sometimes gotten lost in the critical propensity to as...
Category

Mid-20th Century American Modern Landscape Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

"Arroyo Seco, New Mexico" Georgina Klitgaard, Modernist Southwest Oil Landscape
By Georgina Klitgaard
Located in New York, NY
Georgina Klitgaard Arroyo Seco, New Mexico Signed lower right Oil on canvas 28 x 42 inches Georgina Klitgaard’s art has sometimes gotten lost in the critical propensity to assign a...
Category

1940s American Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

"Fodder Stacks, Bearsville" Georgina Klitgaard, Modernist Country Landscape
By Georgina Klitgaard
Located in New York, NY
Georgina Klitgaard Fodder Stacks, Bearsville Signed lower right Oil on canvas 24 x 30 inches Georgina Klitgaard’s art has sometimes gotten lost in the critical propensity to assign...
Category

Early 20th Century American Modern Landscape Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

"Bearsville, New York" Georgina Klitgaard, Modernist New York Wooded Landscape
By Georgina Klitgaard
Located in New York, NY
Georgina Klitgaard Bearsville, New York Signed lower right Oil on canvas 26 1/4 x 32 inches Georgina Klitgaard’s art has sometimes gotten lost in the critical propensity to assign ...
Category

Early 20th Century American Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Recently Viewed

View All