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Modern Figurative Paintings

MODERN STYLE

The first decades of the 20th century were a period of artistic upheaval, with modern art movements including Cubism, Surrealism, Futurism and Dadaism questioning centuries of traditional views of what art should be. Using abstraction, experimental forms and interdisciplinary techniques, painters, sculptors, photographers, printmakers and performance artists all pushed the boundaries of creative expression.

Major exhibitions, like the 1913 Armory Show in New York City — also known as the “International Exhibition of Modern Art,” in which works like the radically angular Nude Descending a Staircase by Marcel Duchamp caused a sensation — challenged the perspective of viewers and critics and heralded the arrival of modern art in the United States. But the movement’s revolutionary spirit took shape in the 19th century.

The Industrial Revolution, which ushered in new technology and cultural conditions across the world, transformed art from something mostly commissioned by the wealthy or the church to work that responded to personal experiences. The Impressionist style emerged in 1860s France with artists like Claude Monet, Paul Cézanne and Edgar Degas quickly painting works that captured moments of light and urban life. Around the same time in England, the Pre-Raphaelites, like Edward Burne-Jones and Dante Gabriel Rossetti, borrowed from late medieval and early Renaissance art to imbue their art with symbolism and modern ideas of beauty.

Emerging from this disruption of the artistic status quo, modern art went further in rejecting conventions and embracing innovation. The bold legacy of leading modern artists Georges Braque, Pablo Picasso, Frida Kahlo, Salvador Dalí, Henri Matisse, Joan Miró, Marc Chagall, Piet Mondrian and many others continues to inform visual culture today.

Find a collection of modern paintings, sculptures, prints and other fine art on 1stDibs.

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Style: Modern
Barche
Located in Firenze, FI
Enrico Paulucci's artwork "Barche" is a stunning painting with vibrant blue colors in the background. This piece is deeply connected to Liguria, his region in Italy, as it captures ...
Category

Late 20th Century Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Lalibela
Located in Wien, 9
Egon Hofmann war nicht nur als Maler wichtig und wegweisend, sondern auch als Netzwerker, der als Gründer und langjähriger Präsident der Künstlervereinigung „März“ eine wichtige Roll...
Category

1960s Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Wood Panel

ANGELES EN LA TIERRA
Located in San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato
This painting is unique, like all the works of art by the fascinating artist Carmen Gutiérrez; made of acrylics, oils, gold and silver inks and as a practical and sublime method of b...
Category

2010s Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Silver, Gold Leaf

SONIDO DEL AGUA
Located in San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato
This unique painting begins with her new ZIGZAG series in which we can see her surrealist airs shared with her colleague and ex-husband Pedro Friedeberg, like all the works of art by...
Category

2010s Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Acrylic

Russin
Located in Wien, 9
The extensive work of Vilma Eckl covers a period of more than seventy years. Her incomparable artistic talent and her essential contribution to the history of art can be seen in her ...
Category

20th Century Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Superman
Located in ATLANTA, GA
Carlos J. Tirado (born on April 3, 1964 in Caracas, Venezuela) is an artist, painter and sculptor who has developed a very personal and precise line of work linked to Neo-Pop art. Wi...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

Figurative landscape oil painting- The Spring
Located in Beijing, CN
Dai Xiangwen was born in Hunan in 1991 and graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts of Jianghan University, He is a member of China Artists Association, China Designers Association, a painter of Li Keran...
Category

2010s Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Isabelle and Cup, 2001
Located in ATLANTA, GA
Anthony Palliser was born in 1949 of an English father and a Belgian mother. He studied at Downside school and graduated from New College Oxford. In 1...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

Cúpulas de Salzburgo ('Domes of Salzburg')
Located in Barcelona, ES
The painting is being offered with a work and authenticity certificate
Category

2010s Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Orejas de Burro
Located in ATLANTA, GA
Graduated from the Prilidiano Pueyrredón National School of Fine Arts. He also studied set design, was a student of Osvaldo Attila and Armando Sapia, among other artists. He held so...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

Three Ages of Man, 20th Century Oil on Board Figurative Painting
Located in London, GB
Oil on board Image size: 16 3/4 x 10 1/4 inches (42.5 x 26 cm) This work depicts the three stages of life: infancy, adulthood and old age.
Category

20th Century Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

Imposture, 2010
Located in ATLANTA, GA
Taulé was born in 1945 in Sabadell, Barcelona. His father imparted the taste for painting to Antoni as a boy as the young artist watched him paint. After his primary studies, he began studying architecture in Barcelona and graduated in 1970. In 1965, he arrived in Paris and worked in architectural firms. It was Sartre's Paris, the construction of Unesco, the year of Le Corbusier's death and the end of Chandigarh, the French Cinematheque and Antonioni's films. Since the age of 14, he has never stopped painting and made his first personal exhibition in 1966 at the Academie de Belles Arts in Sabadell. Upon receiving his degree in architecture, he worked on the construction of l’Université autonome de Barcelone for a year. In 1971, he was asked to work on the development of a large shipyard on the small island of Formentera. There he met Laetitia Ney of Elchingen, who he would go on to marry. He devoted himself entirely to painting, and Formentera, like Paris, became one of his favorite places in both his life and to work. His first exhibition in Paris was in 1975 with Mathias Fels, presented to him by Hervé Télémaque—showing many paintings of his young daughter Djamilla, then three years old. The exhibition was titled, Espace hors temps (Space out of Time), with a foreword by Alain Jouffroy. In 1976, Taulé exhibited Contre-Jour (Against Day) at Fabien Boulakia on rue Bonaparte with a preface by Gérald Gassiot-Talabot and in Barcelona at the Aimé Maeght gallery—an exhibition visited by Joan Miró and Alexander Calder. In 1977, he exhibited at the Beaubourg gallery, with then associates Nahon and Trigano. In 1983, he met Jorge Luis Borges and Julio Cortázar, who wrote the novella Fin d’étape (End of Stage) for Taulé That same year, he was named Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters) by Jack Lang...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

Female Nude
Located in Wien, 9
The painting was created in 1987, the year of the artist's death and thus a late work. The classically modern nude is depicted with a tendency towards cubism, the colours are luminous.
Category

1980s Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Fiberboard

"Jesus y Los Pescadores", Alvar Sunol, Modern Cubist, 59x59, Original Oil
Located in Dallas, TX
"Jesus y Los Pescadores" by Alvar Sunol is an original oil on canvas painting and measures 59 x 59 inches. This painting incorporates Alvar's favorites drawing inspiration of mixing ...
Category

2010s Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Three Perspectives
Located in ATLANTA, GA
Helene and Eric Bess are a team who have been collaborating for over 20 years. Both are professional artists with extensive experience in both the commercial and fine art fields. They presently work out of their studio in Florida, creating original art for gallery display, fine art crafts and taking commissions for murals & embellishments. Helene was born in Canada in 1949. She studied art in Europe as a young adult and attended Phoenix Pratt School of Design in New York and St. Petersburg Community College in Florida. She worked for advertising agencies and freelance art projects such as theater design and t-shirt designs for several companies. She owned and operated an art studio (“Artistic Endeavors”) in Melbourne, Fl. for five years. She started doing murals and embellishments (residential and commercial) from 1992 till present. She considers her early life in Europe the major source of her artistic influence as well as the works of Modigliani. Eric was born in Missouri in 1950. He started drawing literally as an infant and has never stopped. He was taking commissions for book covers & wall designs in his teens and studied art at Auburn University and The University of Alabama. He taught art in public schools in Alabama in the ‘70s. He worked as art director at Huntsville Educational Television for 6 years, as art director at Southern Sportswear in Daytona for 9 years, at Creative Signs & Designs in Flagler, Fl. for 6 years, and as a freelance artist and co-owner (with his wife Helene) of “BessStudio” (formerly “Artistic Innovations Inc.”) since 1998. His artistic influences include Michelangelo, Vermeer, Blake, Maxfield Parish...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Mixed Media

Figura Femminile IV, 2018
Located in ATLANTA, GA
Son of painter Angelo Bonfanti, Maurizio Bonfanti attended Bergamo's Liceo Artistico and studied etching at the Accademia di Belle Arti in the same city. Though he enrolled to study ...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Mixed Media

Tengo Tiempo
Located in ATLANTA, GA
Silvana Robert was born in 1965 in Argentina. She took first row between the artists of her generation. Well-educated at the National School of Fine Arts and having gone through work...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

Kelli
Located in ATLANTA, GA
Graduated from the Prilidiano Pueyrredón National School of Fine Arts. He also studied set design, was a student of Osvaldo Attila and Armando Sapia, among other artists. He held so...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

Nature bleue
Located in ATLANTA, GA
DANIEL-ANTOINE (1961) is an artist born in 1961 The oldest auction result ever registered on the website for an artwork by this artist is a painting s...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

En el Florida Garden, 2003
Located in ATLANTA, GA
Graciela Genovés was born on October 24th, 1962. She graduated from the University of La Plata (Argentina) as a Professor and Licentiate in Fine Arts and subsequently worked at the U...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

La Mer Melee au Soleil, 2009
Located in ATLANTA, GA
Taulé was born in 1945 in Sabadell, Barcelona. His father imparted the taste for painting to Antoni as a boy as the young artist watched him paint. After his primary studies, he began studying architecture in Barcelona and graduated in 1970. In 1965, he arrived in Paris and worked in architectural firms. It was Sartre's Paris, the construction of Unesco, the year of Le Corbusier's death and the end of Chandigarh, the French Cinematheque and Antonioni's films. Since the age of 14, he has never stopped painting and made his first personal exhibition in 1966 at the Academie de Belles Arts in Sabadell. Upon receiving his degree in architecture, he worked on the construction of l’Université autonome de Barcelone for a year. In 1971, he was asked to work on the development of a large shipyard on the small island of Formentera. There he met Laetitia Ney of Elchingen, who he would go on to marry. He devoted himself entirely to painting, and Formentera, like Paris, became one of his favorite places in both his life and to work. His first exhibition in Paris was in 1975 with Mathias Fels, presented to him by Hervé Télémaque—showing many paintings of his young daughter Djamilla, then three years old. The exhibition was titled, Espace hors temps (Space out of Time), with a foreword by Alain Jouffroy. In 1976, Taulé exhibited Contre-Jour (Against Day) at Fabien Boulakia on rue Bonaparte with a preface by Gérald Gassiot-Talabot and in Barcelona at the Aimé Maeght gallery—an exhibition visited by Joan Miró and Alexander Calder. In 1977, he exhibited at the Beaubourg gallery, with then associates Nahon and Trigano. In 1983, he met Jorge Luis Borges and Julio Cortázar, who wrote the novella Fin d’étape (End of Stage) for Taulé That same year, he was named Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters) by Jack Lang...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

"Girl in Pareu"
By RAD Miller
Located in Lambertville, NJ
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...
Category

1940s Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Woman in Horror and Terror at Gunpoint
Located in Miami, FL
Signed lower right. Inscribed on the reverse 'My first color illustration, Nov. 1954.' Work is unframed, Film Noir in paint
Category

1950s Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Acrylic

"Two Women"
Located in Lambertville, NJ
James Lechay was a painter of figures, landscapes, cityscapes and still lifes who played a notable role in the tradition of avant-garde painting in New York and in the Midwest. An ar...
Category

20th Century Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Judgment
Located in Miami, FL
Thin edged metal frame Philip Castle is an Irish Painter and husband to artist Barry Castle He is rarely exhibited and Prince Rainier of Monaco once pu...
Category

1960s Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Acrylic

Portrait of a Charming Seated Woman Against Maroon Drapes
Located in Miami, FL
Charming portait with Modernest colors. Provenance: Christie's Mercedes Matter, daughter of the artist, Salander-O'Reilly Galleries, New York. Private Collection. Sale: Skinner, Inc...
Category

1910s Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

The Rescue
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Exhibitions: It's a Man's World, Illustration Art by and for Men: November 14-17 2012, Illustration House NYC
Category

1940s Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Butterfly 2, 2018
Located in ATLANTA, GA
Lisa Matrundola was born the youngest of five children in Montreal, Quebec. Her parents immigrated to Canada from Italy and England in the mid 1950’s. Self-sufficiency, hard work and...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

Untitled
Located in Barcelona, ES
The painting is being offered with a work and authenticity certificate
Category

2010s Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Paper, Ink

"Milton Avery #6"
Located in Lambertville, NJ
Gershon Benjamin (1899-1985) An American Modernist of portraits, landscapes, still lives, and the urban scene, Gershon Benjamin sustained an active career for over seven decades. D...
Category

1930s Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Pastel

Untitled
Located in Barcelona, ES
The painting is being offered with a work and authenticity certificate
Category

2010s Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Paper, Ink

Untitled
Located in Barcelona, ES
The painting is being offered with a work and authenticity certificate
Category

1980s Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Paper

Seated Nude
Located in Nutfield, Surrey
An oil on board painting by Belgian Modernist painter Emiel Creado. Framed - 60 x 38 Inches Unframed - 53 x 31 Inches
Category

20th Century Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

Museum Quality, Nude with Pink Towel
Located in Miami, FL
Walkowitz creates a powerful composition with the tightly cropped nude figure pushed up-close to the viewer and occupying half of the picture plane. Smaller figures lead the eye back...
Category

1920s Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

Vintage Mid-Century Semi-Abstract Figurative Framed Oil Painting - Seated Trio
Located in Bristol, GB
SEATED TRIO Size: 45 x 48 cm (including frame) Oil on Canvas A brilliantly executed semi-abstract figurative oil composition, painted in 1964 by the established Swedish artist Ivar ...
Category

1960s Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

Parisian Model
Located in Palm Desert, CA
"Parisian Model" is an oil on canvas painting by Max Weber painted in 1908. The work is signed and dated, lower right, "Max Weber Paris 1908". The painting size is 35 1/2 x 19 5/8 inches. The framed size is 43 x 27 x 2 1/4 inches. "Parisian Model" was painted in 1908, when Weber participated in a life class in Matisse's studio in Paris and painted several nudes. Weber was influenced toward a more Cubist styler after seeing Cezanne's work in the 1906-07 Salon in Paris, and he consorted within avant-garde circles in Paris as early as 1905. After returning to the US in 1909, Weber was credited with showing American audiences Cubism based on his firsthand knowledge of the key players and the style. Several drawings of Weber's from this time are in museum collections at The Met, the Smithsonian, and MoMA and show a similar style and stocatto gesture. Parisian paintings by Max Weber are extremely rare as there are hardly any that have sold publicly. Provenance: Estate of the Artist Gerald Peters Gallery...
Category

Early 20th Century Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

The Old World
Located in Los Angeles, CA
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...
Category

1940s Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Beach Walk
Located in Atlanta, GA
Sharon Paster is a distinguished San Francisco Bay-area artist Sharon Paster creates her paintings using oil sticks and brushes, a technique that allows her to both draw and paint at...
Category

2010s Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Wood Panel, Canvas

What Gets Seen
Located in Atlanta, GA
Sharon Paster is a distinguished San Francisco Bay-area artist Sharon Paster creates her paintings using oil sticks and brushes, a technique that allows her to both draw and paint at...
Category

2010s Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Wood Panel

'The Blue Scarf', 1960's African American Oil, Study of a Black Woman, Phoenix
Located in Santa Cruz, CA
An elegant and psychologically penetrating, American School portrait of a woman, shown in three-quarter profile wearing a blue headscarf and contrasted against a terracotta backgroun...
Category

1980s Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Untitled (Elevated Platform)
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This painting is part of our current exhibition - America Coast to Coast: Artists of the 1940s Untitled (Elevated Platform), 1950, oil on canvas, signed and dated lower right, 30 x...
Category

1950s Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Untitled (Transcendental Composition)
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This work is part of our exhibition - America Coast to Coast: Artists of the 1940s Untitled (Transcendental Composition), oil on board, 1947, oil on board, signed and dated lower r...
Category

1940s Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

Riders of Pigeon Hill
By Jon Corbino
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Riders of Pigeon Hill, c. 1940s, oil on canvas, signed lower right, 24 x 36 inches, label verso with title, artist’s name and address; same information inscribed verso; ex-collection...
Category

1940s Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

"History of US Postal Service" American Scene Social Realism WPA Modern Chicago
Located in New York, NY
"History of US Postal Service" American Scene Social Realism WPA Modern Chicago Harold Haydon "History of the U.S. Postal Service" 21 x 25 1/2 inches Oil on canvas, c. 1938 Estate s...
Category

1930s Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Marching
Located in Atlanta, GA
Sharon Paster is a distinguished San Francisco Bay-area artist Sharon Paster creates her paintings using oil sticks and brushes, a technique that allows her to both draw and paint at...
Category

2010s Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Wood Panel

20th Century French Modernist Gouache Painting Pink Roses In White Jug
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
by Paul-Louis Bolot (French 1918-2003) signed original gouache painting on thick paper/ card unframed condition: very good and sound; the edges have a few curls and scuffs/ edge tear...
Category

20th Century Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Gouache

On the Sea (På havet, 1911) by Swedish Carl Wilhelmson
Located in Stockholm, SE
The painting På Havet (On the Sea) by Carl Wilhelmson, created in 1911, stands as a remarkable testament to the artist's profound connection with the sea and its influence on his wor...
Category

1910s Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Wood Panel, Oil

Circus Jumpers #2 (Equestrians) mixed media painting by Jon Corbino
By Jon Corbino
Located in Hudson, NY
Signed "Corbino" lower left Inscribed on frame by artist with artist's address in Rockport, MA Titled by artist on inscription verso. Provenance: Oelschlaeger Gallery, Chicago, IL. ...
Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Mixed Media, Paper

Rabbit Hunters
By Roger Medearis
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Rabbit Hunters, egg tempera on Masonite, 12 x 9 inches, 1947, signed and dated lower left, signed, titled and dated verso “Rabbit Hunters Egg Tempera Roger Medearis 1947,” exhibited ...
Category

1940s Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Tempera, Board

Dystopian MALE NUDE ATHLETE Surreal
Located in New York, NY
Here we have a partial male nude by admired American artist John Brock Lear, Jr. He was able to contrast the earthy reality of the flesh with vividly c...
Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Watercolor

1950's Modernist/ Cubist Painting - Figures Celebrating Life
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
French Figures by Bernard Labbe (French mid 20th century) original gouache on card size: 19.5 x 13 inches condition: very good and ready to be enjoyed ...
Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Gouache

Simka Simkhovitch WPA W/C Painting Gouache American Modernist Bouquet of Flowers
Located in Surfside, FL
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...
Category

1930s Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Gouache, Board, Watercolor

Walking Home, Contemporary Figurative Cityscape Painting, Landscape Park Art
Located in Deddington, GB
Walking Home [2023] original Oil on Canvas Image size: H:8.5 cm x W:10 cm Complete Size of Unframed Work: H:46 cm x W:55 cm x D:1.5cm Frame Size: H:60 cm x W:79 cm x D:5cm Sold Fram...
Category

2010s Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

20th Century German Modernist Oil Painting Three Figures In Washed Out Tones
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Artist: Elisabeth Hahn (German 1924-2021), Elisabeth Hahn was born in Dortmund, Germany, where she began her artistic studies. In 1953, she moved to Paris. She continued her studie...
Category

20th Century Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

Huge Portrait of a Lady after Modigliani, Oil Painting on Canvas
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Portrait of a Woman after Modigliani (see details verso) oil on canvas, unframed canvas: 36 x 24 inches provenance: private collection, England condition: a few minor scuffs but over...
Category

20th Century Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

Boy in Wonderland
Located in Ibadan, Oyo
With this piece, I’m projecting a young man in his prime to buttress the fact that Adulthood is a stage of life filled with possibilities and a phase where one can pull all resources...
Category

19th Century Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Mixed Media, Oil, Acrylic, Photographic Paper

NYC Subway Mid 20th Century Modern American Scene Social Realism Contemporary
Located in New York, NY
NYC Subway Mid 20th Century Modern American Scene Social Realism Contemporary David Atkins (1910 – 2012) Subway Train Departure 30 x 24 inches Oil on canvas, c. 1960s Signed lower r...
Category

1960s Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

First Car (Figurative, Cozy, Coupe, Yellow, Orange, Green, Car)
Located in Kansas City, MO
Kelley Carman First Car (Figurative, Cozy, Coupe, Yellow, Orange, Green, Car) Acrylic and Oil Stick Year: 2022 Size: 12x12x1.5in Signed COA provided Ref.: 924802-2037 Tags: Figurat...
Category

2010s Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil Pastel, Acrylic

Modern figurative paintings for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Modern figurative paintings available for sale on 1stDibs. Works in this style were very popular during the 21st Century and Contemporary, but contemporary artists have continued to produce works inspired by this movement. If you’re looking to add figurative paintings created in this style to introduce contrast in an otherwise neutral space in your home, the works available on 1stDibs include elements of blue, orange, yellow, purple and other colors. Many Pop art paintings were created by popular artists on 1stDibs, including Antonio Feltrinelli, Sunil Das, Suhas Roy, and Clarence Holbrook Carter. Frequently made by artists working with Paint, and Oil Paint and other materials, all of these pieces for sale are unique and have attracted attention over the years. Not every interior allows for large Modern figurative paintings, so small editions measuring 1 inches across are also available. Prices for figurative paintings made by famous or emerging artists can differ depending on medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $1 and tops out at $743,750, while the average work sells for $2,376.

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