Items Similar to WPA Mural Study 1940 American Scene Modern Social Realism Figurative Mid Century
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 8
Michael LoewWPA Mural Study 1940 American Scene Modern Social Realism Figurative Mid Century1940
1940
About the Item
WPA Mural Study 1940 American Scene Modern Social Realism Figurative Mid Century
Michael Loew (1907-1985)
Detail for Mural (Social Security Building Washington D.C.)
24 x 24 inches
oil on canvas
signed and dated 1940 verso with the inscription "Detail for mural, Social Security Building, Wash DC"
Housed in a hand carved frame.
Provenance: Estate of the artist.
BIO
Michael Loew was born in 1907 and 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 Student's League.
In 1929, he traveled to Paris, North Africa, Germany, and Italy with a group of artists, including Max Schnitzler and Alfred Jensen. 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 and, in fact, Loew met his wife Mildred through a friend of de Kooning's.
Loew had a strong interest in artists' rights and activism, and as president of the Artists' Union, he led a protest which involved artists chaining themselves to poles in Union Square. After Pearl Harbor, Loew joined the Navy and served as the battalion artist for the "Seabees" in the Pacific.
When he returned in 1946, his painting moved quickly toward abstraction. From 1947-1949, he studied post-Cubism at the Hans Hofmann School of Fine Arts. In 1948, he joined the Spiral Group, an organization of artists devoted to the exhibition of experimental art. The Artists Gallery in New York hosted his first one-man show in 1949, and one year later, he enrolled at the Atelier Leger in Paris.
In 1956, he began teaching in the United States. By 1985 he had been an instructor at the Portland Museum School, University of California at Berkeley, and the School of the Visual Arts, NYC.
His works are in the collections of prominent institutions such as the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Guggenheim Museum, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
- Creator:Michael Loew (1907-1985, American)
- Creation Year:1940
- Dimensions:Height: 34 in (86.36 cm)Width: 34 in (86.36 cm)Depth: 2 in (5.08 cm)
- Medium:
- Movement & Style:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Gallery Location:New York, NY
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU1156213004402
About the Seller
5.0
Platinum Seller
These expertly vetted sellers are 1stDibs' most experienced sellers and are rated highest by our customers.
Established in 2008
1stDibs seller since 2019
164 sales on 1stDibs
Typical response time: <1 hour
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: New York, NY
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 3 days of delivery.
More From This SellerView All
- "Old Shoemaker" Ashcan 20th Century Modernism 1924 California WPA Realism WorkerBy Otis OldfieldLocated in New York, NY"Old Shoemaker" Ashcan 20th Century Modernism 1924 California WPA Realism Worker. Signed “Otis Oldfield” lower left. 14 x 12 inches. Exhibited: Galerie des Beaux Arts, San Francisco, CA, 1925 Provenance: Estate of the Artist Born in Sacramento, CA on July 3, 1890, Otis Oldfield left high school at age 16 to work in a local print shop. In 1909 he arrived in San Francisco and enrolled at the Best Art School. After working for two years as a bellhop at the Argonaut Hotel and as a hat check boy at the Cliff House, he had saved enough money for further studies in Paris. In 1911 he sailed for France and enrolled at Académie Julian. Caught up in the activities of wartime Paris, he was an apprentice for a book...Category
1920s American Realist Figurative Paintings
MaterialsCanvas, Oil
- Chess Players WPA Depression Era Mid-20th Century American Scene Realism ModernBy Mervin JulesLocated in New York, NYChess Players WPA Depression Era Mid-20th Century American Scene Realism Modern. Signed upper right and verso 8 x 10 inches oil on board. BIO The son of a men's haberdasher, Mervin ...Category
1930s American Realist Figurative Paintings
MaterialsOil, Board
- Men Working Mural Study American Scene Social Realism Mid 20th Century ModernBy Jo CainLocated in New York, NYMen Working Mural Study American Scene Social Realism Mid 20th Century Modern Jo Cain (1904 – 2003) Men Working: WPA Mural Study 17 ½ x 10 ½ inches Oil on ...Category
1940s American Realist Figurative Paintings
MaterialsOil, Board
- "A Marro" WPA Mid 20th Century American Scene Social Realism Modernism AshcanBy Daniel Ralph CelentanoLocated in New York, NY"A Marro" WPA Mid 20th Century American Scene Social Realism Modernism Ashcan. Signed lower right. Verso, label of Walker Galleries New York and signed in pencil and titled, A Marro....Category
1930s American Realist Figurative Paintings
MaterialsOil, Board
- Industrial Mid-20th Century WPA Modern Men Working American Scene Social RealismLocated in New York, NYIndustrial Mid-20th Century WPA Modern Men Working American Scene Social Realism George Pearse Ennis (American, 1884-1936) "Forging a Gun Tube #1...Category
1910s American Modern Interior Paintings
MaterialsCanvas, Oil
- "Audience" Mid 20th Century American Figurative Theatre Performance ContemporaryBy Leon BibelLocated in New York, NY"Audience" Mid 20th Century American Figurative Theatre Performance Contemporary Leon Bibel (1912 - 1995) "The Audience," 52 ½ x 41 ¼ inches. Oil on canvas, c. 1963. Signed lower right. Framed. BIO 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
1960s American Modern Figurative Paintings
MaterialsCanvas, Oil
You May Also Like
- Light of LoveLocated in Washington, DCExhibited: National Academy of Design, New York, 1906 (as no. 101) Art Institute of Chicago, 1908 (as no. 74)Category
Early 1900s American Realist Figurative Paintings
MaterialsCanvas, Oil
- "Hooked, " back view of figure, contemporary oil paint red & black colorsBy Audrey AnastasiLocated in Brooklyn, NYOil on canvas STATEMENT by AUDREY ANASTASI: Considering myself primarily a feminist artist, painting other women, most of my work focuses on the human face, figures, animals and natu...Category
2010s American Realist Figurative Paintings
MaterialsOil, Canvas
- After DinnerBy Paul G. OxboroughLocated in Greenwich, CTPaul G. Oxborough's mastery as a painter has been firmly established over a decades-long career. His ability to render light in a room has been compared to the work of Velázquez; the...Category
2010s American Realist Figurative Paintings
MaterialsOil, Canvas
- ConspiracyBy Derek BucknerLocated in Fairfield, CTRepresented by George Billis Gallery, NYC & LA --Born in 1970, Derek Buckner at present lives in Brooklyn, NY, with his wife and their two sons. The artist graduated from LaGuardia H...Category
2010s American Realist Figurative Paintings
MaterialsCanvas, Oil
- The Pool HallBy Steven J. LevinLocated in Sag Harbor, NYA realist painting of people in a pool hall. The red pool table is the centerpiece of the painting, seemingly illuminating the space, and particularly t...Category
2010s American Realist Interior Paintings
MaterialsCanvas, Oil
- Two SistersBy Steven J. LevinLocated in Sag Harbor, NY"Two Sisters" is a contemporary realist painting of two young women sitting at a bar. One sister looks a bit reserved, her hair down, clasping her hands in...Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Realist Interior Paintings
MaterialsCanvas, Oil
