1940s Figurative Paintings

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...

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)...

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.” Exhibited 1950 University of Illinois at Urbana "Contemporary American Painting" 1964 Marion Koogler McNay Art Institute, San Antonio, Texas This work retains its original frame which measures 54" x 36" x 2". About this artist: 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...

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...

WILLIAM DIDIER - POUGET French, 1864 - 1959 BRUYÈRES EN FLEURS signed and dated “Didier-Pouget / 1949” (lower right) inscribed, located and signed ““Le Malin dans la vallée du Lot.”...

Frame size 42 x 52.5 inches ELISABETH RONGET "AU CAFE” OIL ON CANVAS, SIGNED FRANCE, C.1940 Elisabeth Ronget 1886-1962 Elisabeth Boehm Ronget was born in 1896 in Conitz, Polan...

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...

"Riggs openly identified as gay to his friends in the Philadelphia art community, but did not disclose his orientation to his employers." - Woodmere Art Museum 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...

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

Medium: Oil on Canvas Signature: Signed Lower Right

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...

Two Maidens by a Stream after Narcissus Diaz de La Pena Original l Oil on Linen Idyllic painting of two girls walking along a path towards a stream in the Barbizon style of Narcisse ...

Caption: "He proposed this morning right after the alarm clock went off." From the Estate of Charles Martignette Signed lower center unframed

Original cover illustration for The Saturday Evening Post, November 13, 1948 The Post described, “Artist Stevan Dohanos felt like a baseball coach who had everything he needed excep...

Clarence Holbrook Carter (American, 1904-2000) Still Life with Apples, 1940 Oil on canvas Signed and dated upper right 18 x 24 inches Clarence Holbrook Carter achieved a level of national artistic success that was nearly unprecedented among Cleveland School artists of his day, with representation by major New York dealers...

Medium: Gouache on Board Signature: Signed Lower Right

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...

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...

Magazine story illustration for “Hero Come Home” by Ruth Burr Sanborn for The Saturday Evening Post, published September 12, 1942, page 24. This sentimental illustration, accompany...

Medium: Oil on Illustration Board Signature: Unsigned This piece was produced as the cover art for the box containing a die-cut color lithograph manger set...

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

W.C. Gibbs Graphis International Poster Gouache 30 x 23 cm Signed bottom right Provenance: The family of A. E. Halliwell Graphis is a renowned international journal of visual commu...

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...

We are pleased to present a captivating painting by the artist Sam Uhrdin (1886-1964). This beautiful artwork depicts a woman from Dalarna, sitting in front of a warm, glowing fire. The entire painting is bathed in a soft, radiant light, particularly illuminating her face and traditional white/red attire. The woman appears contemplative, lost in thought, perhaps thinking of someone dear to her heart. She is depicted in a kitchen, taking a moment to relax after a day's chores in her home. Sam Uhrdin's artistic journey began in the early 1900s, he traveled to Stockholm in 1903 to further continue his studies in painting. He worked as a painter during the day and attended various evening schools in the evenings. In 1906, he journeyed to America to work as a sign painter, but he mainly ended up working as an upholsterer. Returning to Leksand in 1909 via London and Paris, his artistic talent gained recognition, and with the help of some patrons, he began studying at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in 1911, occasionally attending Althin's painting school in Stockholm. Financial circumstances cut his study time short, and his skill as a portrait painter earned him numerous portrait commissions, which further occupied his time. In 1921, Uhrdin received a scholarship from the Royal Academy, enabling him to embark on a study trip in 1922 to the Netherlands, Belgium, and France, which he had to cut short due to his wife's illness. He later visited places like Spain and Portugal. Uhrdin's breakthrough came with his portrait of the former Prime Minister Nils Edén, which he executed in 1919. In 1921, he portrayed the participants of the Swedish Academy. Among other representatives of official Sweden captured by Uhrdin were Gustav V, Manne Siegbahn, Ludvig Stavenow, and bishops Gottfrid and Einar Billing. In 1932, he held a solo exhibition at Konstnärshuset in Stockholm, and he participated in various exhibitions, including the Swedish Artists' Association in Stockholm in 1917, Swedish Art at Valand-Chalmers in Gothenburg in 1923, Dalarna Artists displayed at Liljevalchs Konsthall in 1936, and the National Museum's traveling exhibition "Barnet i konsten" (Children in Art...

American Still life of Sea Shells A totally unique scene of seashells and objects painted Late 20th Century by an American Painter. Original driftwood influenced frame and in com...

5042 French Can Can dancer Oil on artist board Framed Signed on Jean Galmett

Gorgeous watercolor depiction of the Liberty Class Dry Cargo Ship "Charles Scribner" docked in Torre Annunziata, Italy, with a portrait of a man in pencil in the upper left corner, by Giovanni Gallo...

Signed on plate. Edition of 450 prints, belonging to the suite “Miserere”, considered as the most important religious graphic work of XX century. The single prints, realized with a s...

Medium: Oil on Board Signature: Unsigned "Defense on the sea begins on the shore." Study for a World War II propaganda poster for the "Industr...

"High School Dance" WPA Mid-20th Century Modern American Scene Social Realism Heusing (20th Century) "High School Dance" 27 x 32 inches Oil on canvas Signed and dated '47 Lower Righ...

Heavy impasto pained in alla prima ( Wet-on-wet ) technique. Layer of damar varnish. Frame burn, On Masonite. Unframed Signature: Signed Max Weber upper left.

Birds by Jankel Adler (1895-1949) Oil and ciment on canvas 61.4 x 46.4 cm (24¹/₈ x 18¹/₄ inches) Signed lower right, Adler Executed in 1948 Provenance Galerie Charles Lienhard, Zürich, 1959 Gimpel Fils Gallery, London Denham Gallery, UK Exhibitions John Denham Gallery, Jankel Adler, June 9th - June 23rd 1996 Jankel Adler was born in Lodz, Poland and lived a life of wandering. In 1912 he moved to Belgrade where he began training as an engraver with his uncle and then went to Germany in 1914 where he lived for a time with his sister in Barmen. There he studied at the college of arts and crafts with Professor Gustav Wiethücher. Between 1918 and 1921 he moved between Lodz and Germany until in 1922, he settled in Düsseldorf where he became a teacher at the Academy of Arts, and became acquainted with Paul Klee, who influenced his work. A painting by Adler received a gold medal at the exhibition “German art Düsseldorf” in 1928. In 1933, with the rise of Hitler’s Nazi regime, he left Germany for Paris. With the outbreak of World War II in 1939, he volunteered for the Polish army...

Josef Presser (Poland, United States, 1907 - 1967) “Pair of African American Portraits” 9 x 7” each, Gouache on paper (One signed) circa 1945 About Josef Presser was born in Lublin, Poland. He studied at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts School, in Europe, and with Bryant Baker...

Early naturalistic nautical painting by Danish painter Niels Peter Bolt. Known for his still life paintings of large floral bouquets, this work is a testament to his artistic range. ...

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...

Jordi Freixas Cortés (1917-1984) - Banyoles - Oil on canvas Oil measures 46x65 cm. Frameless. Jordi Freixas Cortés (1917-1984) Jordi Freixas Cortés is a Catalan painter with a colo...

Signed lower right 'Muff' for Orla Muff (Danish, 1903-1984) and painted circa 1940. Orla Muff received his first formal art instruction at the Copenhagen Technical School from 1917-21, where he studied with the theatrical painter, Carl Lund. He subsequently traveled, studied and painted throughout Europe including in France, Germany, Sweden and Holland. In the early years of his career, Muff was celebrated as a designer of sophisticated Art Deco sets and costumes for prominent theatrical productions and revues throughout Europe. These included productions for Max Reinhardt...

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...

Monumental, important WPA painting by Percy Albee. The painting is oil canvas measuring 36" x 48". Titled verso "New Americans", this WPA painting was exhibited at the Carnegie Insti...

Amoco Gas Advertisement

Vilhelm Bjerke-Petersen (1909-1957 Sunset Hill, 1941 Oil on canvas 31 1/2 × 22 in 80 × 56 cm 36 2/3 x 27 1/8 l 93 x 69 (Frame included) Exhibition history: Nordic Surrealism 1930-1...

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...

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...

There is a reason why there are few contemporary painters who can paint a portrait this good. It's hard to do. It's easy to throw some paint or spray a mess of graffiti on canvas. ...

Medium: Watercolor Painting Signature: Signed Lower Right Cover of The Saturday Evenign Post, May 25th, 1940

5187 Oil on canvas of Leidseplein in Amsterdam Image size 20x16"

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...

Classic o/c 'pastel colours' horse-racing c1930s scene depicting four jockeys turning for home! Art Sz: 11 1/4"H x 8 1/2"W Frame Sz: 16"H x 12"W

Medium: Gouache on Board Signature: Signed Lower Right Saturday Evening Post magazine cover, October 25, 1941

Atul Bose - Squatting Man-2 & 4 Pencil on Paper 4.5 x 3.5 inches & 4.5 x 5.4 inches, 1943 (Set of 2 Works) (Unframed & Delivered) His poignant sketch captures the quiet vulnerabilit...

The present mid-century work features two taboos in one painting. In 1949, it was verboten to glamorize gay life and even more prohibited to show interracial love. This work by Dan A...

Medium: Oil on Masonite Signature: Signed Upper Left Original Use: Interior Illustration for The American Magazine Excellent Condition This luminous, expressive oil on masonite wa...

Hendrik (Henry) J Glintenkamp Clowns: Aren't We All?, 1942 Signed lower left; signed, titled and dated on the reverse Oil on Masonite 20 x 16 inches The painter and illustrator Henr...

Date: July 1942 Medium: Oil on Canvas Dimensions: 36.00" x 26.00" Signature: Signed Lower Left Illustration for Cosmopolitan magazine. Tom Lovell’s illustrations range from adventur...

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...

Signed lower right: Albert W. / Hampson

Ex Voto; Holy Tribute for the Return of Good Health. Oil on tin with ink, February 9, 1944, anonymous Mexican artist with a contemporary custom frame hand-carved by artisan Michael B...

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...

Medium: Oil on Canvas Signature: Signed Monogram Lower Left Sight Size 20.00" x 45.00", Framed 26.00" x 51.00" This piece was used for at least two separate Amoco advertisements. "A Real Happy New...

Signed & Dated