1930s Figurative Paintings

"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 Pier in 1933 to learn direct-metal techniques, he shared the space not with artists, but with professional welders. Yet as he stated in 1964, ‘…all my early friends were painters…I never conceived of myself as anything other than a painter because my work came straight through the raised surface.’ Picasso and Cubism would be dominant influences in Smith’s work. He understood that Picasso imagined the world as a sculptor might, and not necessarily limited to the unavoidable impact of Cubism. In addition to pursuing a kind of rethinking of the world in three-dimensionality on his own terms, by the late 1920s, Picasso had shown interest in surrealism. That meant drawing not as a depiction of reality, but rather as a reconfiguration of the body in an assemblage of often precariously balanced, interconnected forms — some expressed in a three-dimensional form, others as drawings or paintings. Those processes are reflected in this work by David Smith; three fanciful totemic assemblages set within a landscape perspective of ground, mountains, and sky and whose presence is surreal enough to cast shadows under a presumed solar presence. Untitled, 1936 embraces surrealism, yet also serves to demonstrate the extent to which his thought processes are inextricably linked to sculpture and related to scale, spatial orientation, and three-dimensionality. With that in mind, it is not surprising to know that Smith saw no demarcation between sculpture and painting, or that a painting such as Untitled (1936) can exist outside of planning or design for future three-dimensional work. Provenance: Estate of David Smith, New York Hauser & Wirth Private Collection Exhibition: Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, ‘David Smith: Skulptureen, Zeichnungen [David Smith: Sculpture and Drawings]’ Dusseldorf/DE, March 14 – April 27, 1986 (travelled to: Städtische Galerie im Stäelschen Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt/DE, June 19 – September 28, 1986: Whitechapel Art Gallery...

Jim’s of Lambertville is proud to offer this artwork: Gershon Benjamin (1899 - 1985) An American Modernist of portraits, landscapes, still lives, and the urban scene, Gershon Ben...

Siamese Cat with Kittens by Orovida Pissarro (1893-1968) Egg tempera on linen 39 x 48 cm (15³/₈ x 18⁷/₈ inches) Signed lower right Orovida and dated lower left 1934 Provenance J Ankri, 8th October 1967 Literature K L Erickson, Orovida Pissarro: Painter and Print-Maker with A Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings, (doctoral thesis), Oxford, 1992, Appendices, no. 51, p. 56 (illustrated) Exhibition London, The Leicester Galleries, Paintings by Orovida, February 1935, no. 6 Women’s International Art Club, 20th February - 13th March 1937, no. 273 London, Redfern Gallery, Ten Years of Work by Orovida, 5th-28th May 1938, no. 7 London, The Royal Society of British Artists, Summer Exhibition, 1947, no. 281 (possibly the etching) London, O’Hana Gallery, Paintings, Drawings and Coloured Etchings: Orovida, 3rd-18th October 1957, no. 13 Artist biography Orovida Camille Pissarro, Lucien and Esther Pissarro’s only child, was the first woman in the Pissarro family as well as the first of her generation to become an artist. Born in Epping, England in 1893, she lived and worked predominantly in London where she became a prominent member of several British arts clubs and societies. She first learned to paint in the Impressionist style of her father, but after a brief period of formal study with Walter Sickert in 1913 she renounced formal art schooling. Throughout her career, Orovida always remained outside of any mainstream British art movements. Much to Lucien's disappointment she soon turned away from naturalistic painting and developed her own unusual style combining elements of Japanese, Chinese, Persian and Indian art. Her rejection of Impressionism, which for the Pissarro family had become a way of life, together with the simultaneous decision to drop her famous last name and simply use Orovida as a ‘nom de peintre’, reflected a deep desire for independence and distance from the weight of the family legacy. Orovida's most distinctive and notable works were produced from the period of 1919 to 1939 using her own homemade egg tempera applied in thin, delicate washes to silk, linen or paper and sometimes embellished with brocade borders. These elegant and richly decorative works generally depict Eastern, Asian and African subjects, such as Mongolian horse...

"Shattered" WPA Mid 20th Century Modernism American Scene Surrealism Figurative Estate stamp on the stretcher, verso. Provenance: Estate of the artist. 20 x 24 inches. BIO Leon Bibel continued painting through 1941 and resumed work in both painting and especially wood sculpture by 1960. He worked until his very last day in 1995. His last series of large wood sculptures were modeled on spice boxes, which were miniature buildings...

Measures 22" x 18" and framed 27" x 24" x 3". About this artist: Born in Galatz, Romania, John Barber became a modernist painter of figures and scenes of...

Medium: Oil on Canvas Signature: Signed Upper Left Story illustration for “The Stars Look Down” by A.J. Cronin, illustrated by Cornwell and W. Smithson Broadhead...

Original Painting. Colliers Magazine Cover Published 1933 Wedding Illustration Antonio Petruccelli (1907 - 1994) The Wedding Colliers published, June 17, 1933 17 1/4 X 11 1/2 inches (sight) Framed 23 1/4 X 17 1/2 inches Gouache on board Signed lower right BIOGRAPHY: Antonio Petruccelli (1907-1994) began his career as a textile designer. He became a freelance illustrator in 1932 after winning several House Beautiful cover illustration contests. In addition to 24 Fortune magazine covers, four New Yorker covers, several for House Beautiful, Collier’s, and other magazines he did numerous illustrations for Life magazine from the 1930s – 60s. ‘Tony was Mr. Versatility for Fortune. He could do anything, from charts and diagrams to maps, illustrations, covers, and caricatures,’ said Francis Brennan, the former art director for Fortune. Over the course of his career, Antonio won several important design awards, designing a U.S. Postage Stamp Commemorating the Steel Industry and designing the Bicentennial Medal...

Medium: Oil on Canvas Signature: Signed Twice and Dated Lower Left: Harvey / Dunn 1932 Harvey Dunn's Dawn, Dawn, Dawn is a truly exceptional illustration that captures a key moment of American History. In the present work, Dunn skillfully depicts colonial soldiers...

*UK BUYERS WILL PAY AN ADDITIONAL 20% VAT ON TOP OF THE ABOVE PRICE La Rivière (The River) by PAULÉMILE PISSARRO (1884-1972) Oil on canvas 92 x 73 cm (36 1⁄4 x 28 3⁄4 inches) Signed...

Signature: Signed Lower Right Cover Illustration: Saturday Evening Post, October 3, 1931

This original 1930s watercolor painting by Charles Ragland Bunnell beautifully captures the majestic landscape of Cameron’s Cone near Colorado Springs...

She Was in the Captain's Cabin, magazine story illustration for "Captain's Boy," by Paul Deresco Augsburg, published in American Magazine, October 1938 The full caption reads: "She ...

Rivière et Saules by Paulémile Pissarro (1884-1972) Oil on canvas 46.1 x 55.2 cm (18 ¹/₈ x 21 ³/₄ inches) Signed and dated lower left Paulémile-Pissarro-1931 Titled on the reverse P...

FRANCISCO BORES Spanish, 1898 - 1972 JOURNÉE CLAIRE signed and dated "Borès 34" (lower left) oil on canvas 18 x 15 inches (46 x 38 cm.) framed: 26 x 23 inches (66 x 58 cm.) BIBLIOGRAPHY: Francisco Bores, Reasoned Catalogue, Volume I - Painting 1917-1944, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, 2003, nº 1934 / 15, reproduced in p. 231 PROVENANCE Private Collection, Madrid Francisco Bores López (Madrid, May 5, 1898 - Paris, May 10, 1972) was a Spanish painter of the so-called New School of Paris. His artistic training originated both in the Cecilio Pla painting academy, where he met Pancho Cossío, Manuel Ángeles Ortiz or Joaquín Peinado, and in the literary gatherings in Madrid related to ultraism. At this time he made engravings and woodcuts for a large number of magazines such as Horizonte, Cruz y Raya, Index, Revista de Occidente. In 1922 he participated in the National Exhibition of Fine Arts. In 1925 he participated in the first exhibition of the Iberian Artists Society. The limited success of this exhibition pushes him to go to Paris. In this city he shared a studio with the Spanish painter Pancho Cossío and also met Picasso and Juan Gris. In 1927 he held his first solo exhibition in Paris. From this moment on, Bores integrates himself into the Parisian artistic environment where he will live practically his entire life. In 1928, his first exhibition in a gallery in the United States, in 1930 he exhibited again, within a group exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. In the following years, he continued exhibiting in different galleries in Paris, such as the Georges Petit Gallery, the Bernheim Gallery and the Vavin Raspail Gallery. He also participates in several group exhibitions, highlighting the Exhibition of Contemporary Spanish Art...

Street Scene WPA American Scene Mid-20th Century Modern Coin Tower California SF Victor Arnautofff (1896 – 1979) City Street 12 x 14 inches Oil on board, c. 1930s Signed lower left BIO Born in the Ukraine of Russia, Victor Arnautoff became one of the most influential muralists in San Francisco in the 1930s and worked for the Federal Arts Project, WPA, in the expressive, social protest...

John Opper (American, 1908-1994) Ninth Avenue El (New York City), c. 1935 Oil on canvas Signed lower left and verso 30.125 x 24 inches The Ninth Avenue El was the first elevated rai...

'Piazza di Spagna, Roma' oil on canvas, by Yves Brayer (1933). At the bottom of the Spanish Steps, is one of the most famous squares in Rome. It owes ...

Story illustration for “Appearance and Reality” by W. Somerset Maugham, published in Cosmopolitan, November 1934, pages 22-23. Described as "A masterfully witty story of manners and...

Among the many accolades I would grant Dean Cornwell, the one that rises to the top would be that he is one of America's greatest portrait painters. With a few strokes, he captures h...

'Portrait of the Nephew of the Artist', oil on canvas, by René Seyssaud (circa 1930s). Known for his use of vivid colours in his landscapes and depictions of workers in their fields,...

Medium: Oil on Pencil on Paper Sight Size 22.00" x 17.50;" Framed 30.00" x 25.50" Signature: Unsigned Study for Cover of Saturday Evening Post Magazine, December 18, 1937 Exhibitio...

"Study for Long Beach" WPA Mid 20th Century American Scene Social Realism Modernism Ashcan Daniel Ralph Celantano (1902-1980) "Study for Long Beach" 8 x 10 inches Oil on artist bo...

Beautiful nude female portrait boudoir scene by Cynthia Kleinmeyer. Watercolor on paper measures 8 x 12 inches. Framed measurement: 12 x 16 inches. Signed and dated 1932 by artist...

Lying Woman is an original modern artwork realized by the artist Nino Bertoletti beetween 1930 and 1940. Mixed colored oil on canvas. Hand signed by the artist on the lower margin Nino Bertoletti (Rome, October 26...

Three Young Men California WPA Figurative Modern Art Gay American Scene 1930s An artist on the WPA mural project, Deutsch was born in Lithuania and died in Los Angeles. Works of Boris Deutsch are housed in Carnegie Institute, National Museum of American Art, Los-Angeles County Museum of Art, Scribal Museum, Pomona College...

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

"The Faces We Wore" WPA Family American Scene Figurative Abstract Woman Artist Juanita Guccione (1904 - 1999) The Faces We Wore 20 x 16 inches Oil on...

An early work by Julio De Diego embodies the deep love he had for his homeland of Spain, combined with his strong emotions against war. The peacefulness of the couple holding hands l...

Maurice Asselin (1882-1947) A Bouquet of anemones Signed lower left (partially hidden by the frame) Oil on canvas In good condition 21 x 28 cm Framed : 27 x 34cm Maurice Asselin ...

Early work of figures moving along the street in Cuernavaca to the Cathedral in Mexico by Goldie Anita Powell Harding (American, 1892-1974). Circa 1935. Tempera on Masonite. In a per...

Industrial Mural Study, Veterans Memorial Building, Santa Barbara WPA American Joseph Edward Knowles (1907-1980) "Study for Industry Mural, Veterans Memorial Building, Santa Barbara, CA" 19 1/2 x 50 1/2 inches Oil on board, c. 1930s. Estate stamp verso Framed: 27 x 60 inches The completed mural is currently hanging on the wall, part of the building actually, at the Veterans Memorial Building in Santa Barbara. A photo of the work insitu is included in the attached photos. BIO Joseph Edward Knowles was born in Kendall, Montana, on June 15, 1907. He grew up in San Diego, California. At age twenty, two years before the beginning of the Great Depression, he moved north to another town on the coast of California---Santa Barbara. There he began studying fine art at the Santa Barbara School of the Arts* (1927-1930), under the supervision of Frank Morley Fletcher, previously director of the Edinburgh College of Art. Fletcher, who was trained in portraiture, landscape painting, and woodblock* printing, was a great influence on young Knowles. It was there that Knowles learned the art of color woodblock printmaking, a medium in which he showed great skill. Not long after completing his studies with Fletcher, Knowles began teaching art. For a period of thirty years, from 1930 to1960, he taught at the Cate School in Carpinteria, California. In 1934-1935, Knowles traveled throughout Europe, further developing his artistic skills in England, France, and Italy. Upon his return, he continued to teach art at various schools and institutions: Cate School, Crane Country School, extension classes at the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB), and at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art (SBMA). Knowles also served as an art education consultant for the County of Santa Barbara. In addition, he was founding co-director and president of the Santa Barbara Fine Arts Institute (1969-1972), which later developed a specialization in photography and became the Brooks Institute of Photography. Knowles died at his home in Santa Barbara on September 8, 1980. Much of Knowles' watercolor work is associated with what has been termed the "California School*," a loose grouping of artists throughout the state that included such figures as Millard Sheets, Phil Dike, Dong Kingman, George Post, and the Santa Barbara painters Dan Lutz and Standish Backus, Jr. The California School artists, including Knowles, were known for their fresh, direct, spontaneous style of watercolor painting. Knowles and other members of the school found inspiration in nature and the built environment alike, emphasizing elements of design in their exuberant, boldly stated, colorful scenes from everyday life. While painting in a representational* manner, Knowles generally avoided photographic realism, preferring subjective interpretation of his subjects. In this, as well as in his experimental approach and vigorous brushwork, he displayed a strongly modern sensibility. Knowles often used the wet-on-wet watercolor technique as he painted seascapes and landscapes, mostly along the California coast. He also employed dry-brush* techniques in many of his paintings, often leaving some of the white of the watercolor paper exposed. Some of the latter depict trees and other forms in a broken and airy manner that recalls Cezanne. Knowles' colored woodblock prints are more reserved and exact in their draftsmanship than his paintings. Spare, clean, lyrical lines are drawn to illustrate floral motifs and boat scenes with a touch of asymmetry conjuring Japanese woodblock prints. His murals from the post-World War II period are considerably more modern in their approach and show an emphasis on design and color. PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS California Watercolor Society (1940 - 1955) Santa Barbara Art Association (Vice President - 1952) ONE-MAN EXHIBITIONS Golden Gate International Exposition (GGIE) - San Francisco, California San Diego Fine Arts Gallery (SDMA) - San Diego, California Santa Barbara Museum of Art (SBMA) - Santa Barbara, California Cowie Galleries - Los Angeles, California Gallery de Silva - Santa Barbara, California Bradley Galleries - Santa Barbara, California MURALS Westmont College - Ellen Porter Hall Mural - Santa Barbara, California Safeway Grocery (now Vons Grocery on West Victoria Street) - Exterior Tile Mosaic - Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara Bank & Trust - Interior Mosaic Panels, Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara Girls Club - Interior Mosaic Mural - Santa Barbara, California Ernest Righetti High School - Mosaic Mural - Santa Maria, California Shell Oil Company - Mosaic Panel - California Beckman Instruments, Corporate Headquarters - Mosaic - Fullerton, California STAINED GLASS WINDOWS, WALLS and PANELS Katherine Thayer Cate Memorial Chapel - Cate School, Carpinteria, California William S. Porter Memorial Chapel - Cottage Hospital, Santa Barbara, California La Rinconada Building - Santa Barbara, California ILLUSTRATIONS "California's Wonderful Corner: True Stories for Children from the History of the Santa Barbara Region," by Walter A. Tompkins (1962 & 1975) China Designs: Two sets of dinnerware for Winfield China...

Miçao Kono was a Japanese artist who came to Paris in the early 1920s. He painted in oils and watercolors, and also did a number of etchings. Micao Kono became famous with his nude p...

Signature: Signed Lower Right Cover Illustration: Saturday Evening Post, November 6, 1937

Italian artist Renzo Gori (1911 - 1998) designed this oil on canvas painting which features an animated urban street scene in France. The artist's signature is in the bottom right co...

Frederick Lester Sexton White Horse Signed lower right Oil on canvas 25 x 30 inches Provenance Part of a Collection received from the Lyme Art Association. Frederick Lester Sexton received a lot of reviews and exhibitions in the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, when he was at the height of his career. Because it captured the personal view of many people's wish to ignore national issues and simply live their lives in their homes, his work was favorably welcomed. The rise of modernist styles like Abstract Expressionism, which started to take over the American art scene in the 1950s, also contributed to Sexton's fall in popularity. As collectors and regular spectators discover once more that realism is a valid component of American art because it speaks directly and clearly to the beauty they perceive in their surroundings, many artists, like Sexton, are experiencing a renaissance. Cheshire, Connecticut, was the birthplace of Frederick Sexton in 1889. His father, J. Frederick Sexton, was the Rector of St. Peter's Church in Cheshire and a well-known Episcopal clergyman. The mother, Mary Louise Lester, was an amateur painter and came from a pretty well-known Hartford family. Frederick was killed in an open-hearth fire when he was eighteen months old. His right hand was badly burned and was never to be opened again. The father kept the family together after his mother passed away when he was nineteen. Sexton's mother taught him art, and he went to public schools in New Haven. He received the prestigious Winchester Prize for a year of study in Spain while attending the Yale School of Fine Art, where he studied under Augustus Tack...

*UK BUYERS WILL PAY AN ADDITIONAL 20% VAT ON TOP OF THE ABOVE PRICE Les arbres by Paulémile Pissarro (1884 - 1972) Oil on canvas 60 x 72 cm (23 ⁵/₈ x 28 ³/₈ inches) Signed and dated...

Medium: Watercolor & Acrylic on Board Signature: Signed May 20, 1939 Saturday Evening Post Cover John LaGatta - Women on a Rainy Day Painting Original Art (c. 1940). LaGatta's work...

Date: 1937 Medium: Oil on Canvas Dimensions: 36.00" x 24.00" Signature: Signed Upper Left The original painting for the 1937 Heidi movie poster.

Study for the Cover illustration for The Saturday Evening Post, June 30th, 1934 LITERATURE: C.D.B. Bryan, Mort Walker and the Art of Illustration, Architectural Digest, July 1988, ...

Medium: Oil on Canvas Signature: Signed Lower Right Literature: Laurie Norton Moffatt, Norman Rockwell: A Definitive Catalogue, Norman Rockwell Museum...

It is a work by Edgar Degas? A stunning and beautiful study of three members of a fair in an off moment. Dramatic underlighting creates a dramatic mood. Deftly rendered in the ...

Nude is an orignal modern artwork realized by Antonio Feltrinelli in 1930s. Mixed colored oil painting on canvas. Not signed. Antonio Feltrinell...

This painting by Bernhard Oscarsson (1894-1977) is a captivating visual narrative of Stockholm's serene beauty. Oscarsson, a student of Caleb Althin's painting school and the Royal S...

Antique American modernist New York City dock scene. Oil on canvas. In excellent original condition. Handsomely framed in a period modern molding. Excellent condition, ready to...

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...

Original story illustration for “The Moon’s Our Home” by Faith Baldwin for Cosmopolitan magazine, published December 1935, illustrated pages 66-67. The full caption reads: “‘Darling...

Léon Pierre FÉLIX (Périgueux 1869 - 1940) The coast at Ploumanac'h - Bretagne Oil on canvas H. 46 cm; L. 55 cm Signed lower left, dated 1901 Provenance: Private collection, Burgundy...

Miriam Story Hurford was a prolific and major American female illustrator in the 1930s to the 1950s. Her work was for cover art for women's magazines and home magazines and religious magazines. This work depicts t the wise men being guided by the star of Bethleham to the birth of the Christ child for a Christmas magazine...

Jim’s of Lambertville is proud to offer this artwork by: Gershon Benjamin (1899 - 1985) An American Modernist of portraits, landscapes, still lives, and the urban scene, Gershon ...

Oil on paper by Edouard Goerg (1893-1969), France, 1937-1938. Two young Spanish girls. Measurements : with frame: 61.3x51.8 cm - 24.1x20.4 inches, view: 39x28.6 cm - 15.4x11.25 inche...

Date: 1934 Medium: Gouache on Pencil on Board Dimensions: 19.25" x 19.75" Signature: Inscribed and Signed Illustrated for "The Sea Remembers" by Gordon Malherbe Hillman, American Ma...

The painting in question depicts a Bedouin woman walking along a desert road with mountains in the background. She carries a water jug on her head. Signed Daforno (Renzo Daforno), lo...

Tlaloc and the Tiger (1939) Oil on panel 16" x 12" 23 ¾" x 18 ¾"x 2 ½" framed Signed and dated (and inscribed) "de Diego 39" lower left. Provenance: The artist; private collection Ch...

Original oil on canvas folk art painting by the well known Mexican artist, Agapito Labios. Signed lower right. Circa 1935. Condition is very good. ...

Frida Gugler Building the Westside Highway (Near the George Washington Bridge), circa 1935-37 Signed lower right Oil on canvas 20 x 28 inches Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the pain...

American Scene Painting - Social Realism. The present work is a Depression Era account of working-class men and women. Philip Howard Francis Dixon Evergood (born Howard Blashki; 190...

FRANCISCO BORES Spanish, 1898 - 1972 LES FUMEURS signed & dated "Borès 35" (lower right) titled in pencil "Les Fumeurs", unfinished sketch (head), signed & dated "Bores 36" (on the reverse) oil on cardboard 10-5/8 x 13-3/4 inches (27 x 35 cm.) framed: 15-1/2 x 18-1/2 inches (39.5 x 47 cm.) NOTE: THIS WORK IS ACCOMPANIED BY A CERTIFICATE OF AUTHENTICITY ISSUED BY “ARCHIVO FRANCISCO BORES”. BIBLIOGRAPHY: Francisco Bores, Reasoned Catalogue, Volume I - Painting 1917-1944, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid, 2003, n° 1935 / 49, reproduced in color p. 281 PROVENANCE Carmen Bores Collection, Francisco Bores daughter Francisco Bores López (Madrid, May 5, 1898 - Paris, May 10, 1972) was a Spanish painter of the so-called New School of Paris. His artistic training originated both in the Cecilio Pla painting academy, where he met Pancho Cossío, Manuel Ángeles Ortiz...

Sign by Artist in Lower Right The present work was published as an illustration for Elizabeth Goudge's short story "A Crock of Gold" in the August 1938 issue of Woman's Home Companion. The story follows a family of five children on their summer vacation in Scotland. The kids set...