Theodore Butler

Card Players, 1910

Signed lower left: Martinique F.W.I. / NEY Provenance Private collection Lloyd Ney was an American painter and member of the “New Hope Modernist School.” Born in Pennsylvania in 18...

Like his mentor the great American Impressionist William Merritt Chase, Charles Webster Hawthorne was equally admired in his own day as both a talented painter and a highly influential instructor. Hawthorne first studied with Chase at his Shinnecock Summer School of Art, which was specifically dedicated to open-air landscape painting. Not only did Hawthorne quickly absorb all the principles of Chase’s instruction, but he also became determined to found his own school based on the same model. In 1899 Hawthorne discovered the small fishing village of Provincetown on the furthermost tip of Cape Cod, and after purchasing a large house on Miller Hill, he opened the Cape Cod School of Art, which proved to be an immediate success. While Hawthorne’s own approach as a teacher owed much to Chase, he developed a distinctly unique painting style and teaching method that defies easy categorization. He was greatly impressed with the work of Franz Hals, which he was exposed to during his trip to Holland in the summer of 1898. Hawthorne was particularly struck by Hals’ Regentesses of the Old Men’s Almhouse, and from this work he absorbed a deep appreciation for the power of human expression and an economy of technique. Hawthorne applied these lessons to his own realistic portraits of Provincetown fishermen and their families; these works have a somber, almost melancholy quality to them, and they reveal a sense of the vulnerability of the human condition. Stylistically, Hawthorne maintained a life-long commitment to the importance of color. “Beauty in art,” he said, “is the delicious notes of color one against the other.” Of equal importance to him was capturing the effects of light. He told his students: “Everything in painting is a matter of silhouettes. Hold light against shadow, not light against light.” He developed a particular technique of layering glazes and texturing the surface of his paintings, which heightens the relationship between the colors and creates a light effect that seems to emanate from within the painting. These stylistic techniques in combination with his straightforward compositions of one or more figures shown at close range create the hallmarks of Hawthorne’s best paintings. Hawthorne and his wife Ethel’s 1905-1907 trip to Italy did not result in a drastic impact on his artistic style. Nonetheless, it proved to be a transformative and enlightening voyage. The extensive trip was financed by collectors who paid in advance for a painting to be produced abroad. On the trip, Hawthorne explored the work of old masters and was struck particularly by the paintings of Titian, which to Hawthorne, demonstrated the master’s true adoration for the act of painting itself through his handling of paint and color. Where Titian’s paintings...

Provenance Private collection, New Jersey; Thomas Colville Fine Art, Guilford, Connecticut; Private collection, Connecticut, until present John Koch’s portraits of New York high soc...

Ralph Cahoon Jr.'s whimsical paintings are not only lighthearted and charming, they are also the hallmark of his creativity and imagination. His playful approach to painting and info...

Clarence Holbrook Carter (American, 1904-2000) Torre di Tiberio, 1951 Oil on canvas Signed and dated lower left 21 x 18 inches 28.5 x 26.5 inches, framed Clarence Holbrook Carter ac...

Wonderful mid century abstract figurative nude at night with red chair by Honora Berg (American, 1897-1985). A nocturnal setting adds more interest and dimension. Signed on verso "H Berg." Unframed. 36"H x 30"W. Honora Berg an early Bay Area Figurative and Abstract Expressionist painter. She studied at the San Francisco Art Institute with David Park, Elmer Bischoff, and James Budd Dixon. Berg's friend Edith Truesdell...

A highly abstracted figure emerges in fluid, elegant brush strokes, reminiscent of the works of Francis Bacon, in this striking abstract painting by Bay...

This WPA-era signed oil painting by Paul K. Smith captures a stormy summer landscape in Colorado, featuring houses and lush trees under dramatic storm clouds. Painted in rich shades ...