1940s Figurative Paintings

Artwork measures 48" x 30" and framed 56 ¼" x 38 ¼" x 3" Provenance: John Heller Gallery, NYC, circa 1975 (label verso) The artist's daughter Corbino Galleries, Sarasota, FL (1990)...

Constantin Font, born January 11, 1890 in Auch (Gers) and died in 1954 in Paris, is a French artist, painter of genre, nudes, landscapes, orientalist, sculptor and engraver. Outstand...

Fantastic magazine cartoon illustration by American Artist, Leo Nowak (1907-2001). Ink, gouache and crayon in illustration paper, image measures 7.5 x 9.5 i...

An ink drawing Judaic painting by modern artist Ben-Zion Weinman. It depicts a portrait of an old Jewish man. Coming over from Europe on a ship crossing. The work is signed "Ben-Zion". Born in 1897, Ben-Zion Weinman celebrated his European Jewish heritage in his visual works as a sculptor, painter, and printmaker. Influenced by Spinoza, Knut Hamsun, and Wladyslaw Reymont, as well as Hebrew literature, Ben-Zion wrote poetry and essays that, like his visual work, attempt to reveal the deep “connection between man and the divine, and between man and earth.” An emigrant from the Ukraine, he came to the US in 1920. He wrote fairy tales and poems in Hebrew under the name Benzion Weinman, but when he began painting he dropped his last name and hyphenated his first, saying an artist needed only one name. In 1920 he settled in America, where he found little interest in his writing. He began teaching Hebrew to support himself and then in the early 1930s returned to painting. He used his art to comment on the rise of fascism in Europe, events he felt could not be adequately explored with words. Largely self-taught, Ben-Zion visited the museums of New York City to learn his new trade. His first painting on a large scale, Friday Evening (1933, Jewish Museum, New York), depicts a Sabbath dinner table as recalled from his family home. Ben-Zion supported himself by working odd jobs until the establishment of the Works Progress Administration's Federal Art Project. Under the auspices of the wpa, Ben-Zion thrived and galleries began to show his work. In 1936, after his first one-man show at the Artists' Gallery in New York Ben-Zion was a founding member of “The Ten: An Independent Group” The Ten” a 1930’s...

Carl Frederick Gaertner (American, 1898-1952) Winter Rooftops, 1945 Oil on board Signed and dated lower right 9.5 x 13 inches 17 x 20.5 inches, framed Carl Gaertner was one of the g...

A charming painting of a quaint lake at night with the moon reflecting on calm waters. Bearing an Albright Knox Art Gallery "Art Week" label from 1941 t...

ANTONI CLAVÉ Spanish, 1913 - 2005 STILL LIFE signed "Clavé" lower right also inscribed "Ce tableau a ete peint par moi vers 1946, Clavé" on the reverse oil on ...

Shooting Gallery Mid 20th Century American Scene Social Abstract Realism Modern *William Kienbusch (1914 – 1980) Shooting Gallery, Sixth Avenue Post...

"Twilight of History" is an original oil on board painting by Frederick Shane (1906-1992), created in 1947. This captivating piece depicts a powerful scene reflecting the "twilight" ...

Summer Resort in Michigan is an exceptional work painted by the Chicago Modernist, William Schwartz. He studied at the Art Institute of Chicago shortly ...

Antique American modernist landscape painting by Marion D Freeman Wakeman (1891 - 1953). Oil on canvas. Framed. Signed. Image size, 26H x 20L

This original 1949 gouache and wax painting, titled Fetishes, is by renowned New Mexico modernist artist Howard Schleeter (1903-1976). Signed and dated by the artist on the lower rig...

Julio De Diego’s Atomic Series paintings made an extraordinary statement regarding the shock and fear that accompanied the dawn of the nuclear age. In the artist’s own words, “Scientists were working secretly to develop formidable powers taken from the mysterious depths of the earth - with the power to make the earth useless! Then, the EXPLOSION! . . . we entered the Atomic Age, and from there the neo-Atomic war begins. Explosions fell everywhere and man kept on fighting, discovering he could fight without flesh.” To execute these works, De Diego developed a technique of using tempera underpainting before applying layer upon layer of pigmented oil glazes. The result is paintings with surfaces which were described as “bonelike” in quality. The forms seem to float freely, creating a three-dimensional visual effect. In the 1954 book The Modern Renaissance in American Art, author Ralph Pearson summarizes the series as “a fantastic interpretation of a weighty theme. Perhaps it is well to let fantasy and irony appear to lighten the devastating impact. By inverse action, they may in fact increase its weight.” Bibliography Art in America, April 1951, p.78 About this artists: Julio De Diego crafted a formidable persona within the artistic developments and political struggles of his time. The artist characterized his own work as “lyrical,” explaining, “through the years, the surrealists, the social-conscious painters and the others tried to adopt me, but I went my own way, good, bad or indifferent.” [1] His independence manifested early in life when de Diego left his parent’s home in Madrid, Spain, in adolescence following his father’s attempts to curtail his artistic aspirations. At the age of fifteen he held his first exhibition, set up within a gambling casino. He managed to acquire an apprenticeship in a studio producing scenery for Madrid’s operas, but moved from behind the curtains to the stage, trying his hand at acting and performing as an extra in the Ballet Russes’ Petrouchka with Nijinsky. He spent several years in the Spanish army, including a six-month stretch in the Rif War of 1920 in Northern Africa. His artistic career pushed ahead as he set off for Paris and became familiar with modernism’s forays into abstraction, surrealism, and cubism. The artist arrived in the U.S. in 1924 and settled in Chicago two years later. He established himself with a commission for the decoration of two chapels in St. Gregory’s Church. He also worked in fashion illustration, designed magazine covers and developed a popular laundry bag for the Hotel Sherman. De Diego began exhibiting through the Art Institute of Chicago in 1929, and participated in the annual Chicago Artists Exhibitions, Annual American Exhibitions, and International Water Color Exhibitions. He held a solo exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago in the summer of 1935. Though the artist’s career was advancing, his family life had deteriorated. In 1932 his first marriage dissolved, and the couple’s young daughter Kiriki was sent to live with friend Paul Hoffman. De Diego continued to develop his artistic vocabulary with a growing interest in Mexican art. He traveled throughout the country acquainting himself with the works of muralists such as Carlos Merida, and also began a collection of small native artifacts...

Burlesque Clown Bert Lahr is dipicted in a bowler hat with a wry grin. Lahr shined in the role of The Cowardly Lion in the Wizard of OZ. Here he is de...

A charming portrait of a Black woman with stylized hairstyle of the period - Midtown Galleries label on verso, Unframed Signed and date...

Abstract figurative painting on board. Carl Bredemier label on the reverse. Framed. Oil on board

Date: 1940s Medium: Oil on Canvas Dimensions: 33.00" x 37.00", Framed 42.00" x 38.00" Signature: Signed Presumably Advertising for Maxwell House Coffee ...

Signed lower right: “Irwin D. Hoffman”.

Story illustration for The Robe (People's Book Club) written by Lloyd Douglas, 1942 "Father had bought Demetrius six years ago and presented him to Marcellus on his seventeenth birt...

Le Cirque is a rare and most sought after image by the artist of the circus by collectors of Bombois. This painting shows the circus ring where the performers would perform, the audience of spectators, the ring master & the clown holding a bomb behind his back. It is a painting of GREAT detail. Bombois was a self taught artist and a strongman with the circus. Painting is in a 23 K. hand carved frame, linen mat & 23 K. gold leaf bevel & hand painted 23K. name plate. The painting & frame are in pristine condition. Photo certificate of Perls Gallery...

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 Benj...

Medium: Gouache and Tempera on Masonite Sight Size 14.50" x 11.25", Framed 20.50" x 17.25" Signature: Signed Lower Right Cover of The Saturday Evening Post, June 16, 1945

Boys Swimming Industrial Landscape WPA Mid 20th Century Social Realism Modernism Henry Schnakenberg (1982 - 1970) Boys Swimming Industrial Landscape 11 1/2 x 15 1/2 sight Oil on Canvas Signed lower left 14 1/2 x 18 1/2 inches, Framed Bio In many cases, American artists visited the Armory Show in New York in 1913, and returned to their studios to react to or against what they saw. However, for Henry Ernest Schnakenberg it was much more life altering. Prior to visiting this important exhibition of American and European modernist art...

Georges Schreiber (1904-1977) oil on canvas circus scene with Trapeze Artist. Measures 36"h x 24"w. Frame measures 41 1/4" H x 29" W. Signed and dated lower left Schreiber '48. Also ...

Original 1940s grayscale watercolor painting by American artist Charles Ragland Bunnell, capturing a semi-abstracted view of the Golden Cycle Mill in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Painted in subtle shades of black and gray, this unique WPA-era landscape combines industrial subject matter with expressive, modernist style. A striking piece of American regionalist art from the mid-20th century. The work is presented in a custom black frame. Framed dimensions: 18" H x 19 ½" W x 1 ⅜" D Sight size: 8 ⅛" H x 9 ⅝" W The Golden Cycle Mining and Reduction Company, depicted in this piece, was a major part of Colorado's mining boom in the early 20th century. Located in Colorado City (now part of Old Colorado City), the mill played a significant role in the region’s gold production and industrial development. About the Artist: Charles Ragland Bunnell (1897–1968) Charles Bunnell was a pivotal figure in Colorado’s 20th-century art scene. He worked across multiple styles—from representational landscapes to fully abstract compositions—and was one of the few artists in Colorado to successfully embrace the evolving trends of Modernism, Surrealism, and Abstraction after WWII. Bunnell studied under notable artists at the Broadmoor Art Academy, including Ernest Lawson and Birger Sandzén. His early works, including regional landscapes and mining scenes like this one, showcase a mix of American Scene painting and semi-abstract structure. He later became known for his bold experimentation with color, form, and geometry, producing both expressive oils and ink-watercolor series such as Black and Blue. He participated in multiple New Deal art...

*UK BUYERS WILL PAY AN ADDITIONAL 5% IMPORT DUTY ON TOP OF THE ABOVE PRICE Jeune Fille à l'Accordéon by ISMAEL DE LA SERNA (1898-1968) Oil on masonite 88.9 x 115.6 cm (35 x 45 ¹/₂ i...

Signature: Signed Lower Right Framed Dimensions: 32.00" x 28.00" Cover of The Saturday Evening Post Magazine, March 16, 1940

Framed Size 28.5 x 21 Jaro Fabry was a brilliant illustrator with a defined style of his own. There is not a brushstroke out of place in his works that appear loosely rendered. He is best known for his depiction of Golden Age of Hollywood...

"Figures, Boats, and House - Cape May Point, NJ" is a Pennsylvania Beach Scene by American Impressionist painter Albert Van Nesse Greene. The ...

"Two Seas and a Moon" Surrealism American Scene WWII Modern WWI Denver WPA Era Arnold Ronnebeck (1885 - 1947) Two Seas and a Moon 30 x 22 1/2 inches Oil on Canvas, c. 1943 Signed u...

Wonderful 1940s figurative of paper boy reading the comics by Louise Miller Clark (American, 20th Century). Signed "Louise Miller" lower right. Unframed. Im...

Guillermo Meza (Mexican, 1917-1997) Sentada Desnuda, 1941 Oil on canvas Signed and dated lower right 23.5 in. h. x 19.5 in. w. 31 in. h. x 27 in. w., as framed He was born in México...

Old World, by 1943, oil on canvas, signed lower right, 43 ½ x 30 ½ inches, artist’s name and title inscribed verso; exhibited 1) Romantic Painting in America, Museum of Modern Art, N...

A fine figural oil painting of a mother and three children with worried looks on their faces as military planes fly overhead by American artist Hope Shipee Bunin (1908-1970). Bunin w...

Work on wood Golden wooden frame 46 x 38 x 3 cm

Donald Vogel’s paintings reflect his interest in seeking beauty in life and in sharing pleasure with his viewers. Vogel entreats us to "rejoice and celebrate each new day, knowing it...

Tempera mixed with gum arabic and alcohol on Renaissance Panel "Robert Riggs was awarded the Gold Medal for Excellence by the New York Art Directors Club for ten consecutive years and received many additional awards." He was elected to the Society of Illustrators' Hall of Fame. His work is in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Philadelphia Museum of Fine Arts and the U.S. Library of Congress. Riggs's compositons are "monumental" Walt Reed Riggs was a Gay Artist...

"Money Lender" WPA American Scene Social Realism Modernism Mid Century Mervin M Jules (1912-1994 "The Money Lender" 15 1/2 x 20 1/2 inches Oil on board, c. 1940s Signed lower left F...

This striking seascape, painted in 1943 by Jacob Löfgren, most likely depicts a view from Sandhamn, a location he frequently captured in his works. Four years earlier, he created ano...

Carl Frederick Gaertner (American, 1898-1952) Flower Garden, Cape Cod, c. 1940s Gouache on illustration board 17.5 x 29 inches 27 x 39 inches, as framed Carl Gaertner was one of the greatest painters to emerge from the Cleveland School...

Estate of Paul Roche, the Artist's partner. Unsigned. Duncan Grant was a British artist, designer and prominent member of the Bloomsbury Group. His father...

Signed J. Sureda Lloveras - Fishermen's beach - Oil on board Oil measures 33x41 cm. Frameless. Signed J. Sureda Lloveras.

This Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy illustration was used as a traveling show sign for the comedy duo. Medium: Oil on Wood Panel Signature: Unsigned

This original painting is hand signed by the artist "Scheiber H" in the lower left corner, and dated "1940" below the signature. Exhibited: Hugo Scheiber - Bela Kadar, Galerie Le Mi...

VAUTHRIN Ernest Germain Born in 1878 in Rochefort-sur-Mer (Charente-Maritime) 20th Century. French. Landscape painter, marine. He exhibited in Paris at the Salon of the National So...

In Byron Browne's "The Night Journey", 1947, Picasso meets Jackson Pollock. Brown strikes a balance between fanciful representation and gestural abstrac...

In some instances, a painting will look significantly much better in person than it does digitize. This is one instance. In-person, this painting will knock your socks off. It is...

Robert Alexander Darrah “R.A.D.” Miller (1905 - 1966) Robert Alexander Darrah Miller, called “RAD” by his friends, was born in Philadelphia. He enrolled at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts from 1923 to 1927 under the tutelage of Daniel Garber. In 1928, Miller moved to Bucks County where he would meet and marry Celia Belden Marshall, daughter of Dr. George M. Marshall, who at that time owned the Phillips Mill property. Nearly a year later, in 1929, a committee headed by artist, William Lathrop, negotiated to purchase the Mill property from Dr. Marshall for the purpose of holding art exhibitions. Thus, the Phillips Mill Art Association was formed. RAD Miller was a regular exhibitor at the Phillips Mill with the traditional New Hope Impressionists. Many of the original founders of the New Hope Art Colony, set in their ways, frowned upon the concept of modernist painting. A decision was made by the Association to not include the growing group of modernist painters in the area to exhibit with them at Phillips Mill. Although clearly not a traditional impressionist, Miller was not being excluded with the others, largely because his father-in-law formerly owned the mill and was one of the Association’s board of directors. RAD was sympathetic to his fellow modernists. In 1933, he was one of the original members of the Independents, a group formed for modernist artists who chose to embark on a more non-traditional creative path. They would exhibit in tandem with the Impressionists but at different locations. Around the time of his arrival to New Hope in 1928, Miller struck up a friendship with Thomas Hart Benton, and in 1932 he worked under Benton on a mural project. RAD’s paintings...

Work on canvas Original frame 63 x 55 x 5 cm The city - View of Geneva This work of art depicts an urban landscape at the edge of a natural area. Dominated by shades of green and gra...

This fantastic British 1940's figurative interior oil painting is by noted artist Leonard Fuller. Painted circa 1940, the colourful composition is looking into a busy Woolworths stor...

FRANCISCO BORES Spanish, 1898 - 1972 SANS TITRE signed and dated "Borès 42" (lower left) oil on panel 13-3/4 x 10-5/8 inches (35 x 27 cm.) framed: 19 x 15-3/4 inches (48 x 40 cm.) BIBLIOGRAPHY: Francisco Bores, Reasoned Catalogue, Volume I - Painting 1917-1944, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, 2003, nº 1942 / 63, reproduced in p. 494 PROVENANCE Carmen Bores Collection, Francisco Bores daughter 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...

Babies are falling from the sky and not bombs. British female artist and illustrator Noel Laura Nisbet makes a passionate twist to the reality of En...

"Femme Rousse Sur Fond Vert" is an original oil on canvas impressionistic portrait of a woman by Albert Bertalan. A red-headed lady in a purple and white striped collared coat sits in front of a green background daydreaming about something personal. The painting is framed with an ornate gold frame. From the late 19th century until World War Two, Paris was the center of the art world. Artists and intellectuals from around the globe descended on Paris, drawn by the atmosphere of creative freedom established by the French Impressionists. Because of the Impressionists’ innovations the direction of art had changed forever, the times were ripe for another Renaissance. The School of Paris, as this broad-based group of artists are referred to embodied the spirit of modernism. Albert Bertalan was born on September 21, 1899 in Jaszbereny, Hungary. He is known for painting compositions of figures in unique environments, including women by the sea, among other similar subject matters. He studied at the Nagybanyai Art School under some of the most important Hungarian artists, including Ivànyi Grünwald...

This work is part of our exhibition - America Coast to Coast: Artists of the 1940s Army Poker, c. 1943, probably tempera on board, signed upper right, 16 x 20 inches, inscribed verso a) “Army Poker / Mervin Honig / 421 W 42 St. N.Y.C.,” b) “Mervin Honig / US Army Air Force – Seymour Johnson Field – Goldsboro, NC / Circa 1943,” and c) “(This painting was done before men was (sic) shipped off to the Mariana Islands (Saipan) The Second World War.” Note: four pencil sketches for this work included Mervin Honig was a New York-based painter and illustrator who is best known for his realistic depictions of everyday life and sports themes. Honig was raised in Brooklyn and recalled almost never being without a paintbox in hand from the time he started elementary school. Honig had a deep reverence for the Old Master painters, Vermeer and Bellini, as well as the Americans Winslow Homer and Thomas Eakins. He initially studied art from 1939 through 1941 with Francis Criss. At the outbreak of World War II, Honig worked as a mechanic for Republic Aviation, but in August 1942, he enlisted in the US Army Air Corps and was stationed at Seymour Johnson Field in Goldsboro, North Carolina. During the war, Honig began to exhibit nationally, including as part of the Portrait of America exhibitions which originated at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and traveled around the country, as well as at the Carnegie Institute in Pittsburgh. He painted Army Poker in 1943 while stationed at Johnson Field. In this work, Honig draws inspiration from Paul Cezanne's The Card Players (Metropolitan Museum of Art), with a similar placement of the four figures, but Cezanne's table is replaced with an Army cot, the pipe rack with a soldier's mess kit and the drapery in the right background with a heap of discarded uniforms. Unlike the vibrancy of Cezanne's composition, the limited palette of Honig's work suggests the drabness and monotony of stateside Army life. After being discharged from military service, Honig furthered his studies with Amadee Ozenfant in 1946 and Hans Hoffman from 1947 through 1950. Additional exhibitions included the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Brooklyn Museum, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the National Academy of Design, the Wadsworth Atheneum, the Provincetown Art Association, and the National Academies Galleries of the Allied Artists Association. He was represented by the venerable Frank Rehn...

Barbara Shermund (1899-1978). Society Satirical Cartoon, ca. 1940s. Gouache on heavy illustration paper, image measures 17 x 14 inches; 23 x 20 inches in matting. Signed lower left. Very good condition but matting panel should be replaced. Unframed. Provenance: Ethel Maud Mott Herman, artist (1883-1984), West Orange NJ. For two decades, she drew almost 600 cartoons for The New Yorker with female characters that commented on life with wit, intelligence and irony. In the mid-1920s, Harold Ross, the founder of a new magazine called The New Yorker, was looking for cartoonists who could create sardonic, highbrow illustrations accompanied by witty captions that would function as social critiques. He found that talent in Barbara Shermund. For about two decades, until the 1940s, Shermund helped Ross and his first art editor, Rea Irvin, realize their vision by contributing almost 600 cartoons and sassy captions with a fresh, feminist voice. Her cartoons commented on life with wit, intelligence and irony, using female characters who critiqued the patriarchy and celebrated speakeasies, cafes, spunky women and leisure. They spoke directly to flapper women of the era who defied convention with a new sense of political, social and economic independence. “Shermund’s women spoke their minds about sex, marriage and society; smoked cigarettes and drank; and poked fun at everything in an era when it was not common to see young women doing so,” Caitlin A. McGurk wrote in 2020 for the Art Students League. In one Shermund cartoon, published in The New Yorker in 1928, two forlorn women sit and chat on couches. “Yeah,” one says, “I guess the best thing to do is to just get married and forget about love.” “While for many, the idea of a New Yorker cartoon conjures a highbrow, dry non sequitur — often more alienating than familiar — Shermund’s cartoons are the antithesis,” wrote McGurk, who is an associate curator and assistant professor at Ohio State University’s Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum. “They are about human nature, relationships, youth and age.” (McGurk is writing a book about Shermund. And yet by the 1940s and ’50s, as America’s postwar focus shifted to domestic life, Shermund’s feminist voice and cool critique of society fell out of vogue. Her last cartoon appeared in The New Yorker in 1944, and much of her life and career after that remains unclear. No major newspaper wrote about her death in 1978 — The New York Times was on strike then, along with The Daily News and The New York Post — and her ashes sat in a New Jersey funeral...

Medium: Oil on Canvas Signature: Signed Lower Left This work was featured on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post, June 11, 1949 The Post described the cover as follows: "Having found the setting he wanted for his circus-theme cover painting - on the Brotherton farm near Westport, Connecticut- Stevan Dohanos began rigging up a beam for the farm boy...

Klett was an in-demand illustrator in the post-war period of the late 1940's and 1950's. and . His work appeared in many of the newsstand magazines at the time. This work is a pers...

Very large ca. 1940s painting of a female rower holding oars by artist Francis Chapin. Image size: 65" x 44". Framed size: 65 1/2" x 44 1/2". Provenance: Estate of the artist....