Paula Melcher

'Man Playing a Banjo', American Mid-Century Cubist-Derived Figural Oil, Fifties

1956

Signed lower left, 'J.da Silveira' for Jose Da Silveira (French-American, born 1965), titled, 'The Soul is Music' and painted circa 2002. Additionally signed and titled, and with figural drawing, verso; Previously with: Chabot Gallery, Campbell, California Born in a tiny jungle village in Mozambique to a Portuguese bullfighter and the daughter of one of the leaders of the French Resistance...

Monogrammed lower right, 'DM' for David Monies (Danish, 1812-1894) and dated 1849. Provenance: By descent in the family of the sitter, Peter Andreas Löser (1834–1857). Framed in a su...

Signed and titled oil on canvas by French cubist painter Camile Hilaire. The piece beautifully depicts a man at a port beside boats coloured in reds, blues and oranges. A wonderfully...

"Spirit" a bold and thoughtful cubist oil on canvas was painted in December of 2001 by African American artist William (Bill) Cooper. William Y. Cooper was a writer, painter, muralist, illustrator, and art teacher. He moved to Western New York in 1954 from Birmingham, Alabama, to pursue work, and Buffalo has been his home ever since. In 1975, he received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University at Buffalo; he was also a state certified art teacher. Cooper woked primarily in oils and acrylics, but also creates drawings on paper. He has painted several commissioned murals and has had more than fifteen one-man shows in Western New York and Ghana, West Africa, and has participated in more than twenty-five group exhibitions since he began his professional career in 1969. His paintings and drawings address both his African heritage and his experience as an American through symbolism and metaphor. He observes, “I am an Afrocentric artist. My worldview is rooted in an African frame of reference and a deep, abiding sense of the creator from whence I draw my inspiration, strength, and a sense of who I am. The use of symbols allows me to explore literal ideas.” Among Cooper’s published works are two children’s books, 77 Jackson Street, Rear and Nakai and the Red Shoes, and a novel for adults, The Mopane Tree. Cooper founded the Afrocentric Artists’ Collective and ran the organization from 1979 to 1981. In 2013 he was designated a “Living Legacy” artist by the Burchfield Penney Arts Center, the latest in a series of honors which has also included awards from the Arts Council of Buffalo & Erie County, the New York State Council on the Arts, and Alpha Kappa Alpha...