Theresa Bernstein

"Woodland and Stream" Theresa Bernstein, Red Green Yellow Abstracted Landscape

circa 1980

George Picken Playground, Carl Schurz Park, 1938 Signed and dated lower left Oil on canvas 28 x 36 inches Provenance: Estate of the artist A native New Yorker, George Picken was born in 1898. His father, an artist and photographer, emigrated from Scotland; his mother came from Wales. They joined other European immigrants settling in New York City’s Hell’s Kitchen. Picken enlisted in the army during World War I and saw action at Verdun. After the war, he stayed in France and like many Americans returning from the vibrant Paris art scene, was inspired by the radical movement known as Impressionism. Upon his return Picken decided to follow in his father’s footsteps and become an artist. George began his studies in 1919 at the Art Students League during Robert Henri, Max Weber, and John Sloan’s tenure. There he took classes in studio art, illustration, and etching through 1923 studying extensively with George Bridgman. The writings of French philosopher Henri Bergson were widely circulated among the artistic community and looking at Picken’s early paintings one cannot help but wonder if as a young artist he was influenced by Bergson’s ideas. Bergson said, "[There are] two profoundly different ways of knowing a thing. The first implies that we move round the object; the second that we enter into it. The first depends on the point of view at which we are placed and on the symbols by which we express ourselves. The second neither depends on a point of view nor relies on any symbol. The first kind of knowledge may be said to stop at the relative; the second, in those cases where it is possible, to attain the absolute.” Picken’s recognition came early with showings of his work while he was a student. His drawings were published in the New Masses, a significant left-wing publication. The New York Public Library honored him with one-man shows in 1924 and 1928 and his work was included in group exhibitions at the Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation, the Whitney Studio Club, Montross Gallery, and the Art Students League. During this time Picken married Viola Carton, one of Reginald Marsh’s models, and they lived in Westchester. Later they moved to Yorkville in Manhattan between 82nd street and East End Avenue where they began their family. Picken’s grandson Niles Jaeger recalled that, “Grandpa’s home and studio were in a five-story walk-up apartment, heated only by a coal stove. But there were wonderful views of the East River and the Queensborough Bridge...

Arthur Clifton Goodwin Park Street, Boston Signed lower right Oil on canvas 25 x 30 inches A painter especially known for street and waterfront scenes of Boston, Arthur Clifton Goo...

Henry Charles Hannig (1883 - 1948) The Green Parasol Oil on canvas mounted on board 6 x 7 3/4 inches Provenance: R.H. Love Galleries, Chicago, Illinois Private Collection, Lake Orion, Michigan Hannig, born in Hirschberg, Germany on 27 February 1883, came to America with his parents at the age of seven. He attended school in the southwest suburbs before the family settled in Chicago. Young Henry enrolled in the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts where Lawton Parker became his mentor. He made ends meet by working in industrial design and illustration. By 1908 he was a pupil in the School of the Art Institute of Chicago where students followed the traditional European drawing curriculum, beginning with the copying of master engravings and drawing after plaster casts, then concentrating on the nude figure. Students worked toward the goal of winning various academic prizes. One of Hannig's fellow students was Louis Ritman...

Theodore Earl Butler Farmhouses in Autumn, Giverny Signed "T.E. Butler" lower right Oil on canvas 21 1/4 x 25 1/2 inches Provenance The artist. Estate of the above. By descent throu...

This oil painting features a calm lake where eleven black ducks swim. The artist painted a water pipe on the lake's left bank while a palm tree stands alone at the center. John Mit...

French Expressionist Mid Century Modern View of Paris on the Seine, bridge Very much influenced by the work of Bernard Buffet this is a very decorative example of French city paintings...

Parisian Street Scene. Oil on canvas, 32x46 cm

The Triumph of Love weaves symbolism with uplifting imagery. The painting is woven with free flowing brush strokes overlaying the canvas to create a stunning piece that is imbued wit...