Orla Muff

'Tropical Jungle Woman', Polynesian Figural, Pacific Islands, Weimar Republic

Circa 1940

Signed lower right, 'Andre Regagnon' (French, 1902-1976) and painted circa 1935; additionally signed on label verso. A substantial and lyrical 'Intimiste' work showing an interior s...

Signed lower right 'Di Gesu' for Victor di Gesu (American, 1914-1988) and painted circa 1958. A substantial oil a young woman, (possibly Victor's wife, the artist, Janet Ament), sho...

Initialed upper right 'A.B.' for Axel Bentzen (Danish, 1893-1952) painted circa 1925. Axel Bentzen studied art as a child and, by the age of 14, was copying Old Master paintings at Copenhagen's National Museum of Art. He traveled to Italy in 1919 and, from 1923-1939, spent every second year there or in Paris, painting and furthering his understanding of the principles of Modernism. Bentzen was the recipient of numerous scholarships including the prestigious Hielmstierne-Rosencrone scholarship which he was awarded twice (1925, 1927) and the Copenhagen Akademie scholarship which he received three times (1927, 1929, 1931). He exhibited internationally with success including, from 1922, at the Charlottenborg as well as at prominent salons in Paris, Berlin, Venice, Budapest, Riga and Belgrade. The artist is listed in all relevant art reference works including both Benezit's Dictionary of Artists and Thieme-Becker's Kunstlexikon (Vollmer Supplement). We are pleased to offer this dramatic and psychologically penetrating oil study of a young man dating to circa 1925. Reference: E. Benezit, Dictionnaire des Peintres, Sculpteurs, Dessinateurs, et Graveurs, Jacques Busse, 1999 Nouvelle Édition, Gründ 1911, Vol. 2, p. 122; Vollmer Allgemeines Lexikon der Bildenden Künstler des 20. Jarhhunderts, Hans Vollmer, Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag 1992, Vol. 1, p. 173; et al. Scholarships: Hielmstierne-Rosencrone 1925, 1927; Raben-Levetzau 1926; Bielke 1926; Carlson's Pr. 1926; Akkadian. 1927, 1929, 1931; Oluf Hartmann 1928, 1930; Eckersberg Med. 1930; Kaufmann 1930; March 1931; Zach. Jacobsen 1932, 1936. Exhibitions: KE 1922-26; Charles. Spring 1925; The free Exhibition 1927-38 (inc. from 1930); Association of painters, Helsinki, 1928; Funen Spring Exhibition. 1930, 1938; Tour exhibition 1930-36; Newer Painting, Germany 1932; in Venice 1934, 1954; as exhibited in Budapest, Riga, Bucharest and Belgrade 1936-37; Nerd Mässhallen, Gothenburg 1939; Grønningen 1939-47, 1952 (commemorative issue), 1953, (commemorative issue), 1955, 1965; Icelandic, Swedish art, Mässhallen, Gothenburg 1941; Ny Carlsbergfondet Jubilee Charlottenborg and others 1952; That then buying convention, Fr. 1952 (commemorative issue); The Freeman's Memorial Exhibition, Kunstforen, Kbh 1966; Easter 1974, Skive Museum 1974; Modern art owned by Vejle, Vejle Kunstmuseum 1977; Inside, outside, Mouse at Koldinghus 1981. Solo exhibitions: Anton Hansen, Copenhagen 1917; The free Exhibition building, 1921; Kunstforen, Copenhagen 1937; Jugelsalan, Aarhus 1946-47, 1950; Storstrøm's Kunstmuseum 1953 (commemorative issue); Open Mouse, 1972. Artworks: Egyptian Woman on Balcony (1920); Self-Portrait (1925, Stat. Museum for Art); The Hospital Garden (1925); The Dreamer (1925, Storstrøm Art Museum); The Blind (1925, Carlsons Pr for 3 last names); Marsk Stig's daughters (1926, Nordjyll Kunstmuseum); Young Italian woman on a chair...

Signed upper right, 'Oda Lauritsen' for Oda Lauritsen Isbrand (Danish, 1904-1987) and dated, upper left, '1928'. A powerful oil portrait of the artist's husband-to-be, the notable D...

A beautiful woman sits at an open window, gazing down at a small bird who has landed nearby in this serene portrait by Charles Levier. Warm orange tones are played off their complements in shades of blue, the artist utilizing several different layers of oils to create a subtle and relaxed view of a spring day near the sea. Beyond the window a small chapel sits on a peninsula, surrounded tranquil blue waters. This work, like many of Levier's, belongs to the French figurative movement of the Glorious Thirty (Les Trente Glorieuses) - the golden period of thirty years after WWII which were a time of great hope and prosperity in France. Inspired by Hollywood cinema, Charles Levier sought harmony in composition and purity of color and form. His said that his creations represented "a light and delicate world, of dark and subtle shades and colors." Levier worked in a somewhat abstracted, cubist style. Additionally he often employed the French technique of "cloisonnism" (after the French for "partition"), a style of post-Impressionist painting with bold and flat forms separated by dark contours, also seen in this work. The term was coined by critic Edouard Dujardin on the occasion of the Salon des Indépendants, in March 1888 and was commonly used by artists like Émile Bernard, Louis Anquetin, Paul...

Pluie a Venice is painted in Hambourg's preferred palette of muted blue-green, grey, and gold with splashes of ruby red, deep blue, and emerald green. The soft colors work well for beach scenes and rainy days such as the ones portrayed in this painting. The impressionistic scene shows multiple pedestrians strolling down the boardwalk, shielding themselves from the rain with colorful umbrellas that provide pops of color and balance the overcast sky. The background contains a three-masted ship and Piazza San Marco's famous bell tower and Basilica. Hambourg uses the minimum number of brushstrokes necessary to portray ships, seagulls, buildings and people as well as reflections on the glistening sidewalk. The brushstrokes in the sky have an interesting texture that is controlled yet carefree and there is heavy impasto throughout. His portrayal is both realistic and romanticized. Hambourg was clearly influenced by the great Impressionist artists of earlier generations, perhaps none more than the one with a direct connection to his family. Hambourg's wife, Nicole Rachet, was born into a family with a large collection of works by Impressionist master Eugene Boudin. Rachet's grandfather was a contemporary and friend of Boudin's, and a collector of his work. In their later years, Hambourg and Rachet donated over 300 canvases by Boudin and other artists to the Eugene Boudin Museum in Honfleur, France. It was such a large and important gift that the collection bears...

Scottish artist John Maclauchlan Milne, RSA, (1885-1957) is a contemporary of Scottish Colourists Peploe, Fergusson, Cadell and Hunter. Like the...

Painting on canvas, not mounted on stretchers MAGDALENA SPASOWICZ Studied painting under prof. Jan Cybis and graphic arts with prof. Tadeusz Kulisiewicz at the Academy of Fine Arts ...