1930s Figurative Paintings

Simka Simkhovitch (Russian/American 1893 - 1949) This came with a small grouping from the artist's family, some were hand signed some were not. These were studies for larger paintings. This is a miniature watercolor and gouache vibrant, colorful bouquet of flowers in a vase. Simka Simkhovitch (Симха Файбусович Симхович) (aka Simka Faibusovich Simkhovich) (Novozybkov, Russia May 21, 1885 O.S./June 2, 1885 N.S.—Greenwich, Connecticut February 25, 1949) was a Ukrainian-Russian Jewish artist and immigrant to the United States. He painted theater scenery in his early career and then had several showings in galleries in New York City. Winning Works Progress Administration (WPA) commissions in the 1930s, he completed murals for the post offices in Jackson, Mississippi and Beaufort, North Carolina. His works are in the permanent collections of the Dallas Museum of Art, the National Museum of American Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art. Born outside Kyiv (Petrograd Ukraine) into a Jewish family who owned a small department store. During a severe case of measles when he was seven, Simcha Simchovitch sketched the views outside his window and decided to become an artist, over his father's objections. Beginning in 1905, he studied at the Grekov Odessa Art School and upon completion of his studies in 1911 received a recommendation to be admitted to the Imperial Academy of Arts. Though he enrolled to begin classes in architecture, painting, and sculpture at the Imperial Academy, he was dropped from the school roster in December because of the quota on the number of Jewish students and drafted into the army. Simchovitch served as a private in the 175th Infantry Regiment Baturyn [ru] until his demobilization in 1912. Re-enrolling in the Imperial Academy, he audited classes. Simka Simkhovitch exhibited paintings and sculptures in 1918 as part of an exhibition of Jewish artists and in 1919 placed 1st in the competition "The Great Russian Revolution" with a painting called "Russian Revolution" which was hung in the State Museum of Revolution. In 1922, Simkha Simkhovitch exhibited at the International Book Fair in Florence (Italian: Fiera Internazionale del Libro di Firenze). In 1924, Simkhovitch came to the United States to make illustrations for Soviet textbooks and decided to immigrate instead. Initially he supported himself by doing commercial art and a few portrait commissions. In 1927, he was hired to paint a screen for a scene in the play "The Command to Love" by Fritz Gottwald and Rudolph Lothar which was playing at the Longacre Theatre on Broadway. Art dealers began clamoring for the screen and Simkhovitch began a career as a screen painter for the theater. Catching the attention of the screenwriter, Ernest Pascal, he worked as an illustrator for Pascal, who then introduced him to gallery owner, Marie Sterner. Simkhovitch's works appeared at the Marie Sterner Gallery beginning with a 1927 exhibit and were repeated the following year. Simkhovitch had an exhibit in 1929 at Sterner's on circus paintings. In 1931, he held a showing of works at the Helen Hackett Gallery, in New York City and later that same year he was one of the featured artists of a special exhibit in San Francisco at the California Palace of the Legion of Honor in Lincoln Park. The exhibit was coordinated by Marie Sterner and included four watercolors, including one titled "Nudes". He is of the generation of Russian Soviet artists such as Isaac Pailes, Serge Charchoune, Marc Chagall, Chana Orloff, Isaac Ilyich Levitan, and Ossip Zadkine. In 1936, Simkhovitch was selected to complete the mural for the WPA Post office project in Jackson, Mississippi. The mural was hung in the post office and courthouse in 1938 depicted a plantation theme. Painted on the wall behind the judge’s bench, “Pursuits of Life in Mississippi”, a depiction of black workers engaged in manual labor amid scenes of white professionals and socialites, was eventually covered over in later years during renovations due to its stereotypical African American imagery. Simka painted what he thought was typical of Jackson. His impression of pre-civil rights Mississippi was evidently Greek Revival column houses, weeping willow trees, working class families, and the oppression of African Americans. He painted African American men picking cotton, while a white man took account of the harvest and a white judge advised a white family, calling it Pursuits of Life in Mississippi. Though clearly endorsed by the government and initially generally well-received, the mural soon raised concerns with locals as the climate toward racial segregation began to change. The main concern was whether depictions that show African Americans in subjugated societal roles should be featured in a courtroom. The following year, his painting "Holiday" won praise at an exhibition in Lincoln, Nebraska. In 1940, Simkhovitch's second WPA post office project was completed when four murals, "The Cape Lookout Lighthouse and the Orville W. Mail Boat", "The Wreck of the Crissie Wright", "Sand Ponies" and "Canada Geese" were installed in Beaufort, North Carolina. The works were commissioned in 1938 and did not generate the controversy that the Jackson mural had. The main mural is "The Wreck of the Crissie Wright" and depicts a shipwreck which had occurred in Beaufort in 1866. "The Cape Lookout Lighthouse and the Orville W. Mail Boat" depicted the lighthouse built in 1859 and the mail boat that was running mail during the time which Simkhovitch was there. The boat ran mail for the area until 1957. "Sand Ponies" shows the wild horses common to the North Carolina barrier islands and "Canada Geese" showed the importance of hunting and fishing in the area. All four murals were restored in the 1990s by Elisabeth Speight, daughter of two other WPA muralists, Francis Speight...

Family scene. Oil sketch on cardboard. This work will be recorded in the catalogue raisonné of the work of the artist currently in preparation. Jules Van Biesbroeck was the son of Jules Evariste van Biesbroeck, a painter of Ghent, but was born in Italy, in Portici, near Naples, while his parents were staying there. (In the 19th century many artists made educational trips to Italy). It was a long visit: the child was two years old by the time the family returned to Ghent.[1] After a short period of practice with his father, van Biesbroeck was enrolled in the Academy of Fine Arts in Ghent. His first painting, "The Shepherd" (French: Le pâtre), was sold at the Triennale in Ghent. In 1888, when he was only 15 years old, he made his debut at the "Salon des Champs-Elysées" in Paris with his monumental work "The Launch of the Argo" (French: Le lancement...

A fantastic modern portrait of a young boy. This work is signed what appears to be Paul Sellers and dated 1937, but we have not found information on the artist. The work dated 1936...

Figurative 1930's illustration of a just married couple in a classic car by Charles Kinghan (American, 1895-1984). Signed "Kinghan" in the lower left c...

Signed impressionist landscape oil on canvas circa 1930 by French painter Antoine Bouvard Snr. The work depicts a gondolier sailing a gondola on a Venetian Canal. The last light of t...

Carl Gustaf Simon Nelson, American (1898-1988) "Nude Musicians," 30 x 35 inches, oil on canvas Signed and dated 1938 signature lower right. Provenance: Collection of Seymour Stein Bio Carl Gustaf Simon Nelson (1898 - 1988) A painter, graphic artist and teacher whose paintingfocus was color and content landscapes, Nelson at age five immigrated with his family to Sioux City, Iowa from Sweden in 1903. He studied at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts* from 1920 to 1921, then at the Art Students League* in New York from 1923 to 1927 with Kimon Nicolaides and Kenneth Hayes Miller. He taught at the American Peoples School of New York, an adult education project; at the Cambridge School of Design from 1948 to 1952; and finally at the Boston YMCA until 1968. His work was exhibited at the Carnegie...

Gouache Estate of Samuel Esses Beautifully framed Never afraid of trying new styles, curious and opinionated, constantly engaged with the world around him, Rolph Scarlett more tha...

Study for the Mural "Westward Movement" Graphite, watercolor, gouache and paint on paper, 1936 Signed in pencil lower center (see photo) A study leading up to his mural Justice of th...

Original Painting. Colliers Cover Published American Scene Christmas Modern Antonio Petruccelli (1907 - 1994) Man with Ribbon Colliers published,...

Simka Simkhovitch (Russian/American 1893 - 1949) This came with a small grouping from the artist's family, some were hand signed some were not. These were studies for larger paintings. This is a watercolor and gouache beach scene three young men bathing...

THEODORE CHARLES BASIL HITCHCOCK Mid Century or slightly earlier scene of men working on a pathway in a French Town. He was a painter and teacher who studied at Hornsey School of Art, after attending London University, his teachers being Adrian Hill and John Charles Moody...

Day at the Beach - Realistic Figurative Illustration in Gouache Original figurative illustration of people at the beach by Charles Ross Kinghan (American, 1895-1984). Several women are looking at someone's foot, as if there is a splinter being removed. Three of the women are closer, with their heads in the frame. Two of them have are standing with their backs to the viewer. Between the women, the viewer can catch glimpses of other activities on the beach. Possibly a sketch for Good Housekeeping Magazine. Signed "Charles Ross" in the lower right corner. (Charles Ross Kinghan) Acquired with other signed estate works by the artist. Presented in a new cream mat. Mat size: 16"H x 13"W Board size: 14"H x 11.75"W Charles Ross Kinghan (American, 1895-1984) was born in Anthony, KS on January 18, 1895. A teacher, he moved to Wichita as a teenager and did sign painting for the Western Sign Works. He studied at the Chicago Academy of Fine Art in 1916, the American Academy of Art in Chicago, the Audubon School of Art and the Art Institute of Chicago. He was a pupil of Carl Scheffler, J. Wellington Reynolds, and H.A. Oberteuffer. He taught at the Art Institute of Chicago and at the American Academy of Art in Chicago. He was an illustrator for McCalls, Good Housekeeping, Saturday Evening Post, Colliers, and many others, including American Artist magazine. He was author and illustrator of Rendering Techniques for Commercial Art and Advertising (1956) and of Ted Kautzky...

Medium: Oil on Canvasboard Signature: Signed 'Jacob Rosenberg' This piece was commissioned for the movie "Roberta" (1935), directed by William A. Seiter. Painting is by Jacob Rosenb...

Work on canvas Golden wooden frame 47.7 x 34.5 x 5 cm

Original vintage painting by early Colorado woman artist, Louise Ronnebeck (1901-1980) of a mine in the mountains of Colorado, WPA Era, circ...

Ships is an original painting realized by Bruno Croatto in 1938. Signed and datet by the Artist at bottom left. Includes a wooden frame.

Nude with Drape, c. 1937, oil on board, 24 x 17 (oval), signed lower right, provenance: Frances Lee Kent Falcone Family Trust About the Painting Fletcher Martin’s Nude with Drape ...

"Untitled" is a painting by artist David Smith. The work is signed and dated in the upper left "David Smith (symbol) 1936". When David Smith set up a workshop on the Brooklyn Navy P...

"The Vendor of Masques", 1930s modernist painting by Boardman Robinson (1876-1952) of a Mask vendors display with male and female figures (lik...

Portrait of woman is an orignal modern artwork realized by Antonio Feltrinelli in 1930s. Mixed colored oil painting. Not signed. Good conditions Antonio Feltrinelli (Milan, 1887...

BAMBINO CON BROCCA
 1930 Sanguine technique Signed down on the left PUBLICATIONS “A Roma obras de la colecciòn Farnesina” edited by Palombi Editori, pp. 80-81

Study for the Mural "Westward Movement" Graphite, watercolor, gouache and paint on paper, 1936 Signed in pencil lower center (see photo) A study leading up to his mural Justice of th...

A cute baby playing with toys is captured as he/she responds to someone outside the picture plane. Haddon Sundblom is a masterful artist in the school of An...

Watercolor on paper painting of Cameron's Cove outside of Colorado Springs, Colorado by Charles Ragland Bunnell from the 1930s. Scenic mountain landsc...

A girl and her dog This was possibly used as an advertisement. It is in a great illustrator style. 22 x 18. framed. 19.5 x 15.5 canvas. Lawrence Wilbur (1897 - 1960) was active/l...

Mural Study 1933 Depression Era Mid-Century WPA Modern American Scene Drawing. Study to Scale Mural Sketch for “Evolution of Textile Production” East. All,...

At night. Paper, mixed media, 14.5x8 cm watercolor, ink on paper. Adolfs Zardins (1890 08 II Riga, Latvia – 1967 07 II Jurmala, Latvia), painter. Only in 1990 his relatives give his...

Oil on panel by French impressionist painter Henri Duhem depicting a man in a small boat on the river, with trees and reeds on the bank in the foreground. Signed lower left and dated...

This early work by American artist Sylvia Spicuzza is an excellent example of Regionalism: in the foreground, a farmer in blue stands before a herd of cattle. Beyond the fence of the...

New York, published and copyrighted 1939 by Robert B. Strawbridge, Jr. Numbered limited edition 53/ 60 Art Sz: 17 1/2"H x 26"W Frame Sz: 25 1/2"H x 33 1/2" In French matt w/ original pencil remarque to Charles H. Jackson Jr. Very sincerely Paul Brown w/ 16 vignette polo teams (bottom left to right): Wanders/ Ranelagh/ Cooperstown/ Meadow Brook Magpies/ Meadow Brook/ Great Neck/ Argentine/ Midwick/ Orange County/ Sands Point/ Hurricanes/ Santa Paula/ Templeton/ Aurora/ Greentree & Old Westbury Charles Hervey "Pete" Jackson Jr. (1898 - 1978) was an American rancher, investor and polo player. Early life Charles H. Jackson Jr. was born on April 12, 1898, and grew up in Albany, New York. He was the grand-nephew of U.S. President Chester A. Arthur. Ranching Jackson, briefly a banker, was interested in agriculture and became a rancher when he journeyed west and bought the Alisal ranch in the Santa Ynez Valley at auction in 1943. He built it up as a guest ranch, opening to the public in 1946. For a period of time the ranch was known for attracting celebrity visitors; Clark Gable married Lady Sylvia Ashley there in 1949. Under the management of his son it became more popular as a family destination. Equestrian interests Jackson was a co-founder of the Santa Barbara Riding and Hunt Club, in the suburb of Hope Ranch, alongside Amy DuPont, Charles E. Jenkins, Harold S. Chase, Dwight Murphy, C.K.G. Billings, John Mitchell, George Owen Knapp, Peter Cooper...

Woman in pink is an original artwork realized by the Italian artist Antonio Feltrinelli in the 1930s. Original oil on plywood. Beautiful and representative work of a female figure...

Jim’s of Lambertville is proud to offer this artwork by: Vaclav Vytlacil (1892-1984) He was born to Czechoslovakian parents in 1892 in New York City. Living in Chicago as a youth, he took classes at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, returning to New York when he was 20. From 1913 to 1916, he enjoyed a scholarship from the Art Students League, and worked with John C. Johansen (a portraitist whose expressive style resembled that of John Singer Sargent), and Anders Zorn. He accepted a teaching position at the Minneapolis School of Art in 1916, remaining there until 1921. This enabled him to travel to Europe to study Cézanne’s paintings and works of the Old Masters. He traveled to Paris, Prague, Dresden, Berlin, and Munich seeking the works of Titian, Cranach, Rembrandt, Veronese, and Holbein, which gave him new perspective. Vytlacil studied at the Royal Academy of Art in Munich, settling there in 1921. Fellow students were Ernest Thurn and Worth Ryder, who introduced him to famous abstractionist Hans Hofmann. He worked with Hofmann from about 1922 to 1926, as a student and teaching assistant. During the summer of 1928, after returning to the United States, Vytlacil gave lectures at the University of California, Berkeley, on modern European art. Soon thereafter, he became a member of the Art Students League faculty. After one year, he returned to Europe and successfully persuaded Hofmann to teach at the League as well. He spent about six years in Europe, studying the works of Matisse, Picasso, and Dufy. In 1935, he returned to New York and became a co-founder of the American Abstract Artists group in 1936. He later had teaching posts at Queens College in New York; the College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland, California; Black Mountain College in North Carolina; and the Art Students League. His paintings exhibit a clear inclination toward modernism. His still lives and interiors from the 1920s indicate an understanding of the art of Cézanne. In the 1930s, his works displayed two very different kinds of art at the same time. His cityscapes and landscapes combine Cubist-inspired spatial concerns with an expressionistic approach to line and color. Vytlacil also used old wood, metal, cork, and string in constructions, influenced by his friend and former student, Rupert Turnbull. He eventually ceased creating constructions as he considered them too limiting. The spatial challenges of painting were still his preference. During the 1940s and 1950s, his works indicated a sense of spontaneity not felt in his earlier work. He married Elizabeth Foster in Florence, Italy, in 1927 and they lived and worked in Positano, Italy for extended periods of time. Later on, they divided their time between homes in Sparkill, New York and Chilmark, Massachusetts, where Vyt, as he was affectionately called, taught at the Martha's Vineyard Art...

Young Blonde Girl is an original painting realized by Lucie Navier in the 1930s. Original oil painting on cardboard. Hand-signed by the artist on the lo...

Medium: Oil on Canvas Signature: Signed Lower Right Sight Size 28.00" x 23.00", Framed 34.00" x 29.00" Cover of The Saturday Evening Post, February 2, 1935

Frederick William Becker (1888-1974) American Artist Well represented and listed. Oil on board, signed lower left c. 1930s 8.5” x 11.5”,...

Medium: Oil on Canvas Signature: Signed Lower Left January 27, 1934 Liberty Magazine Cover

Herbe was a Dutch painter from the early 20th century. He painted landscapes and seascapes mostly in oils. His work was exhibited in London during the 1930s-50s with Mitchell’s the i...

Medium: Oil Painting Signature: Signed Lower Left Hide Rack

Date: 1932 Medium: Oil on Canvas Sight Size 30.00" x 22.00", Framed 38.00" x 30.00" Signature: Signed Lower Right Saturday Evening Post Cover, October 1, 1932. Exhibitions: Christi...

Medium: Oil on Canvas Signature: Signed Woman with suitor/explorers wearing pith helmets Publication Information: Story Illustration for "A Marriage of Concenience" by Comerset Mau...

Baby caring a horse shoe on his shoulders reminiscent of the famous J. C. Leyendecker Baby covers for the Saturday Evening Post. This is a cover illustration/ painting for Collie...

Medium: Oil on Canvas Signature: Initialed Lower Right Sight Size 30.00" x 40.00;" Framed 40.50" x 50.50"

An original oil painting on paper by Benjamin Benno, American (1901 - 1980) measuring 25 x 19.25 inches. Framed to 28.5 x 25 inches. By the early 1930s he had established a reputat...

Rare WPA era original painting by Colorado/Woodstock modernist, Jenne Magafan (1916-1952). Church in Leadville, 1938 is presented in a custom frame with all archival materials, oute...

Medium: Oil on Board Signature: Signed Lower Right Maclean's Magazine Cover, September 15th, 1930

ISTVÁN CSÓK 1865-1961 Pusztaegres 1865-1961 Budapest (Hungarian) Title: Portrait of a Girl Playing Cards, ca. 1930's Technique: Original Signed Oil Painting on Panel size: 60 x 5...

Medium: Oil on Canvas Sight Size 36.00" x 28.25;" Framed 42.50" x 34.50" Signature: Signed Lower Right This Week magazine cover, May 1937

A view of a landscape with a young woman shown seated and bathing her bare foot in a pool of water with white doves flying in a clouded, blue sky. Signed verso 'Nura' for Nura Wood...

Medium: Oil on Canvas Siganture: Signed Lower Right Sight Size 31.75" x 24.75;" Framed 36.00" x 28.00"

Medium: Oil on Canvas Signature: Signed Lower Right Dimensions: Sight Size 36.00" x 31.00;" Framed 43.00" x 38.00" Cover of The Saturday Evening Post, April 7th, 1934

Medium: Oil on Canvas Signature: Unsigned Study for the Saturday Evening Post Cover, December 1, 1934

Signature: Signed and Dated Lower Left

Medium: Oil on Canvas Signature: Unsigned 'Goin' South' Saturday Evening Post Cover Study

Medium: Oil on Canvas Signature: Signed Lower Center August 8, 1931 Saturday Evening Post Cover

Cherry Dancer Marcel Vertes French, 1895-1961 Beautiful girl juggling cherries Work is round but is shown in a square frame and some of the artworks edge is exposed Description: ...

Signature: light pencil signature lower left in the artwork Front Cover Art Judge Magazine December 1933 In a departure from their typical flapper cov...

Signature: Signed Lower Left Medium: Tempera and Watercolor on Board Contemporary Art Deco style frame; art exhibition entry label from Hudson Valley Art...

Signature: Signed Lower Left Medium: Oil on Canvas Outdoor Life Magazine Cover, August 1933