1950s Interior Paintings

Richard Andres (American, 1927-2013) Blue Wall, c. 1959 oil on canvas signed and titled verso 42 x 60 inches Richard Andres was born in Buffalo, New York in 1927. A graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Art in 1950, he was immediately drafted and served for two years in the army as a mural painter. He received his Master of Arts from Kent State in 1961. A frequent exhibitor at galleries and museums and winner of multiple May Show prizes, Andres taught art in the Cleveland Public Schools for 28 years, as well as teaching the University of Buffalo, the Cleveland Institute of Art and the Western Reserve University. Very little in Richard Andres’ childhood would have predicted his love of classical music, mid-century-modern architecture and certainly not his lifelong passion for art and in particular abstract art. Richard’s father, Raymond, had no more than a third-grade education, and his mother, Clara, was one of thirteen children – only three of whom lived into adulthood and none of whom attended high school. They lived, when Richard was a boy, in a dingy area of Buffalo, NY in a walk-up apartment situated above a tavern. Raymond and Clara supplemented the income from their factory jobs in the bar downstairs with Raymond playing ragtime on the piano and Clara serving drinks. This often left Richard and his two older brothers at home alone to fend for themselves. The two older boys, Raymond and Russell, were - unlike Richard- rather rough and tumble and entertained themselves with stickball, boxing and the like. Richard, on the other hand, from a very young age liked to draw, or better yet even, to paint with the small set of watercolors he received for Christmas one year. Paper, however, at the height of the depression, was hard to come by. Luckily, Clara used paper doilies as decoration for the apartment and Richard would contentedly paint and then cut up doilies, gluing the pieces together to create collages. At eight-years-old, he discovered the Albright-Knox Museum (then known as the Albright Art Gallery) and spent several hours a week there studying the paintings. He was particularly fond of Charles Burchfield‘s landscapes, enamored with their ‘messiness’ and thinking that they somehow captured more ‘feeling’ than works he was previously familiar with. For his tenth Christmas, he asked for and received a ‘how-to’ paint book by Elliot O’Hare. Through this self-teaching, he assembled the portfolio needed for acceptance to Buffalo Technical High School where he studied Advertising Arts. In his Junior year, he was encouraged to enter a watercolor painting, “Two Barns,” in the national 1944-45 Ingersoll Art Award Contest and was one of twelve grand prize winners – each one winning one hundred dollars. More importantly the painting was exhibited at the Carnegie Institute Galleries, which resulted in his winning a national scholarship to the Cleveland School of Art (The Cleveland Art Institute). He flourished at the art school under the tutelage of faculty members such as Carl Gaertner, as well as that of visiting artists such as William Sommer and Henry George Keller. He would say in later years that Gaertner, in particular, influenced his attitude toward life as well as art. “Gaertner,” Andres said, “believed that there was no need to be a ‘tortured artist’, that an artist should rather enjoy beauty, family, and life in general.” Free to spend his days as he chose, he wandered the Cleveland Art Museum for most of the hours he was not attending classes or painting; the remaining time was spent drinking coffee at a local hangout with art school friends – which is where he met fellow Henry Keller scholarship winner, Avis Johnson. Richard was immediately smitten with Avis, but being rather shy, it took him the entire summer of 1948 to build up his courage to ask her out. Over that summer he ‘thought about Avis’ and worked in a diner to save money. He also used the hundred-dollar prize money won in High School to visit the first Max Beckmann retrospective in the United States at the City Art Museum in St. Louis. Over a half century later he spoke of that exhibit with a reverence usually reserved for spiritual matters, “I walked in and it was like nothing I had ever seen before... the color...It just glowed.” Returning to campus in the Fall, the first thing he did was go to the coffee shop in hopes of finding Avis. He did, and she, upon seeing him, realized that she was also smitten with him. They quickly became known as ‘the couple’ on campus, and a year later, with Richard being drafted for the Korean war, they were quickly married by a Justice of the Peace, celebrating after with family at Avis’s Cleveland home. As a gift, faculty member John Paul Miller designed and made the simple gold wedding ring Avis wore for their 65 years of marriage. During those 65 years neither wavered in their mutual love, nor in the respect they shared for one another’s art. The couple lived in a converted chicken coop in Missouri while Richard was in boot camp. At the camp, he would volunteer for any job offered and one of those jobs ended up being painting road signs. His commander noticed how quickly and neatly he worked and gave him more painting work to do - eventually recommending him for a position painting murals for Army offices in Panama. Until her dying day, Avis remained angry that “The army got to keep those fabulous murals and they probably didn’t even know how wonderful they were.” In Panama, their first son, Mark, was born. After Richard’s discharge in 1953, they moved back to the Cleveland area and used the GI bill to attend Kent State gaining his BA in education. The small family then moved briefly to Buffalo, where Richard taught at the Albright Art School and the University of Buffalo – and their second son, Peter, was born. Richard had exhibited work in the Cleveland May Show and the Butler Art Museum during his art school years, and during the years in Buffalo, his work was exhibited at the gallery he had so loved as a child, the Albright Art Gallery. In 1956, the family moved back to the Cleveland area and Richard began teaching art at Lincoln West High School during the day while working toward his MA in art at Kent State in the evenings. Avis and Richard, with the help of an architect, designed their first home - a saltbox style house in Hudson, Ohio, and in 1958, their third son, Max (after Max Beckmann) was born. Richard enjoyed the consistency of teaching high school as well as the time it gave him to paint on the weekends and during the summer months. In 1961, he received his MA and his daughter, Claire, was born. With a fourth child, the house was much too small, and Avis and Richard began designing their second home. An admirer of MCM architecture, Richard’s favorite example of the style was the Farnsworth house – he often spoke of how the concepts behind this architectural style, particularly that of Mies van der Rohe, influenced his painting. Andres described himself as a 1950’s...

Byron Browne (1907 - 1961) Nude by a Mirror, 1958 Oil on canvas 26 x 20 inches Signed lower right Provenance: Doyle New York, Doyle + Design, June 7, 2017, Lot 20 Born in Yonkers,...

Signed lower right, 'S. L. Kramer' (American, 20th century) and painted circa 1960. A mid-century, oil still-life showing a bouquet of spring flowers informally arranged in a glass ...

Classic mid century still-life of a green drape with vase, by W. Gray (American, 20th Century). Dated and signed by the artist lower right, "57 W. Gray." ...

Gorgeous American Impressionist still life oil painting of a basket of vibrant vegetables with a white curtain background by Monterey, California artist Genevieve Rogers (American, 1...

Wonderful old Hollywood portrait of a middle aged Peter Lorre (1904-1964) by Charles Kingham (American, 1895-1984), circa 1955. Unsigned. Acquired with oth...

Gestural impasto painting of flowers in a vase. 23.5" x 17.5" sight size , 22" x 28" framed hand signed lower right. Born in 1899, Belle Golinko is a listed Jewish mid...

Casein on board In American art circles in the second decade of the twentieth century, Cramer was an early emissary of European modernism. Born in Wurzburg, Germany, in 1888, Cramer...

Untitled Geometric Abstraction, an original oil on masonite by Juliette Steele, is a piece for the true collector. Steele's use of color and patterns immediately captivates the viewe...

Artist: John Hultberg, American (1922 - 2005) Title: Untitled - Artist's Studio Year: circa 1960 Medium: Acrylic on Board, signed l.r. Size: 24 x 29.5 in. (60.96 x 74.93 cm) Frame: 2...

Signed lower left with monogram 'P/N' for Poul Nielsen (Danish, 1920-1998) and dated 1954. A vibrant and light-filled still-life by this well-listed Danish Modernist and disciple o...

A large and elegant still life with grapes and pears on a table which also features a pristine white bowl and a candle stick. Painted with simplicity, clarity of structure, and restrained emotion, this is a superb modernist work by Jean Chauffrey (1911-) dating from circa 1950. At the time, Chauffrey had a contract with mythical Paris art dealers...

Beautiful mid century still-life of authentic Hopi Indian relics including terracotta pottery, an ear of corn, and colorful moccasins on a traditional patt...

"The Potter" is an interior portrait of a young man working on a vase at his potter's wheel by Philadelphia born Expressionist painter Bernard Harmon. The 24.25" x 14" oil on cardboard painting is signed "Harmon" in the lower left and it is framed in a new black wood frame. Figurative expressionism in the style of Alice Neel. Bernard Harmon was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1935. Harmon was primarily a portrait painter and a well loved teacher in the Philadelphia area. A graduate of the Philadelphia Museum School and Temples Tyler School of Art, Harmon traveled extensively in Europe and South America. Beloved by many, Harmon taught in the Philadelphia School District for 32 of his 54 years of life. Beginning his career as an art teacher at West Philadelphia High School, in the early 1960s he became one of the district's artists in residence, traveling from school to school to demonstrate for students how an artist works. Returning to the classroom, Harmon joined the art department at Central High School where he taught for 14 years and became an innovator in art curriculum, developing a program offering advanced placement art classes to gifted students. In his final years Harmon became a supervisor, mentoring teachers and overseeing programs in the Philadelphia school systems District #1. During his short life Harmon taught collage preparatory art classes at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, summer classes at the University of the Arts, and a Saturday program for gifted children at Drexel University. Among Harmon's portraits were commissioned by Philadelphia Jazz organist Jimmy Smith and Mayor Richardson Dilworth. Bernard Harmon was active in promoting African American Artist throughout his life time. He organized many early shows such as the "Afro American Artists 1800 - 1969" at the Museum of the Philadelphia Civic Center in 1969. He was considered a Renaissance man by friends and colleagues for his interests not only in art but music and theater as well. He was familiar and friends with many other African American artists such as Doc Thrash, Selma Burke, Paul Keene...

Gorgeous mid-century still life of a vase of white lilies next to a green teapot and lemon by listed California artist Helen Enoch Gleiforst (American, 19...

"Snap Peas" is an interior portrait of a young woman working at her kitchen table, painted by Philadelphia born Expressionist painter Bernard Harmon. The 24" x 36" oil on board painting from 1955 is signed "Harmon" in the lower left and it is framed in a new black wood frame. Figurative expressionism in the style of Alice Neel. Bernard Harmon was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1935. Harmon was primarily a portrait painter and a well loved teacher in the Philadelphia area. A graduate of the Philadelphia Museum School and Temples Tyler School of Art, Harmon traveled extensively in Europe and South America. Beloved by many, Harmon taught in the Philadelphia School District for 32 of his 54 years of life. Beginning his career as an art teacher at West Philadelphia High School, in the early 1960s he became one of the district's artists in residence, traveling from school to school to demonstrate for students how an artist works. Returning to the classroom, Harmon joined the art department at Central High School where he taught for 14 years and became an innovator in art curriculum, developing a program offering advanced placement art classes to gifted students. In his final years Harmon became a supervisor, mentoring teachers and overseeing programs in the Philadelphia school systems District #1. During his short life Harmon taught collage preparatory art classes at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, summer classes at the University of the Arts, and a Saturday program for gifted children at Drexel University. Among Harmon's portraits were commissioned by Philadelphia Jazz organist Jimmy Smith and Mayor Richardson Dilworth. Bernard Harmon was active in promoting African American Artist throughout his life time. He organized many early shows such as the "Afro American Artists 1800 - 1969" at the Museum of the Philadelphia Civic Center in 1969. He was considered a Renaissance man by friends and colleagues for his interests not only in art but music and theater as well. He was familiar and friends with many other African American artists such as Doc Thrash, Selma Burke, Paul Keene...

Mid-Century Floral Still Life with Yellow and White Irises Gorgeous mid-century floral still life of a bouquet of Irises painted in 1959, by Pacific Grove and Santa Cruz, Californi...

Beautiful oil on hardboard from the middle of the 20th century representing a still life with all the symbolic elements which are a modern transposition on the theme of vanities. The...

"New Hat" is a figurative, interior portrait painting by Philadelphia born Expressionist painter Bernard Harmon from 195. The 20" x 16" oil on board portrait features a young African...

Approximate Date: 1957 Medium: Oil and Pencil on Board Signature: Signed Lower Left Sight Size 23.50" x 20.75", Framed 29.50" x 26.50" Original cover illustration for The Saturday E...

Mid Century Naturaleza Muerta Con Mangoes (Still Life w. Mangoes) by Francisco Dosamantes Substantial and brilliant modernist still-life painting mangoes by Francisco Dosamantes (Mexico, 1911-1986) Exhibition label on verso (circa 1957), "Salon De Plasticas Mexicana - Instituto Nacional De Bellas Artes - Francisco Dosamantes, Naturaleza Muerta Con Mangoes." Image 24"H x 31.5"W. "Francisco Dosamantes was born in Mexico City on October 4, 1911. His father was Daniel Dosamantes who was a builder, interior decorator and painter. Since its founding in 1949, the Hall of Plastic Mexican SPM, has accommodated the most representative work of the national art. Throughout its existence they have been part of hundreds of painters, sculptors, engravers, designers, ceramists and photographers of all tendencies and generations. Jut names: Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siqueiros, Gerardo Murillo "Dr. Atl" Frida Kahlo, Rufino Tamayo, Francisco Dosamantes, Jorge González Camarena, Leopoldo Mendez...

Large Surrealist Abstract, Yellow, Original Oil Painting By French artist, Sophie Danielle Rubinstain 1922-2018 The painting is stamped with the artis...

"Young Man" is an oil on canvas portrait painting by Philadelphia born Expressionist painter Bernard Harmon. The painting is 26" x 36" in size, signed on the lower right. Figurative ...

Artist: Harry Lane Title: Art Shipping and Receiving Year: Circa 1950 Medium: Oil on Board, signed lower right Size: 30 in. x 24 in. (76.2 cm x 60.96 cm) ...

An original oil on canvas by listed New York female artist Enid Smiley.

Medium: Oil on Canvas with an Element of Collage Signature: Signed Lower Left Original cover illustration for The Saturday Evening Post, February 27th, 1954. The Post described, “...

ISMAEL GONZÁLEZ DE LA SERNA Spanish, 1898 - 1968 HARLEQUIN AND HIS DOG Signed and dated I. de la Serna, 1955 Oil on cardboard 42 X 27-1/2 i...

Ruth Todd (1909-2006, American Woman Artist) one of Colorado’s most prominent avant-garde artists and played a significant role in Colorado’s art history. Known for painting and collage. Still life with lemon and banana on kitchen table. Ruth Thomas Todd was born in 1909 in Sanford, North Carolina. She arrived in New York City in the 1930s where she began her career as a fashion model supporting herself as she attended classes at the Art Students League. For reasons of health she moved to Colorado Springs to treat her condition. During her recuperation she started to draw and studied under famous American abstract painter Robert Motherwell, who was teaching at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at the time. By the 1950s, her career as an abstract expressionist painter was blooming. She was one of Colorado’s most visible and avant-garde artists. Ruth married Littleton Todd, a poet and a woodworker. In 1953, Todd traveled to Europe (Paris, France) to study art and to paint. Littleton Todd opened a design studio in Denver where he manufactured and sold modern furniture. She would incorporate sawdust and other found materials from the workshop imbued with oil paint into her abstract work to create unique topographies and patterns. She showed at numerous Gilpin County Art Exhibitions, the Denver Art Museum, the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, Colorado Women’s College, the University of Colorado, Boulder, the Colorado State Fair, and the Jewish Community Center. Among the Colorado Modernists that she exhibited with were Vance Kirkland, Frank Vavra...

Medium: Oil on Canvas Signature: Signed Lower Left Original cover illustration for The Saturday Evening Post, October 22, 1955. The Post described, “Mother is making rapid progress...

Medium: Oil on Board Signature: Signed Lower Left Sight Size 27.00" x 23.75;" Framed 34.50" x 37.50" Original cover illustration for The Saturday Evening Post, September 12, 1959. ...

Medium: Tempera Painting Signature: Signed Lower Left Cover of The Saturday Evening Post Magazine, December 5, 1953

Medium: Oil on Board Signature: Signed Lower Left Sight Size 26.00" x 24.00", Framed 32.00" x 20.00" Original cover illustration for The Saturday Evening Post, December 12, 1959. T...

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...

Medium: Oil on Masonite Signature: Signed Lower Right, with Title and Registration Marks in Chalk "Tom pleaded, 'Does one misstep have to ruin our marriage?'" Cover illustration for...

A watercolor painting by Clarence Holbrook Carter from 1956. Carter's modernist style utilizes strong structural lines and architectural aesthetics to form almost surreal-like scenes. Signed on lower right corner, framed in elegant silver wooden frame. Artist: Clarence Holbrook Carter, American (1904 - 1998) Title: House Key...

Sombre Gentlemen, Male Portrait, Original Impressionist Oil Painting British School, Mid 20th Century Oil painting on board, unframed Board size: 18 x 24 inches Incredibly stylish p...

Portrait of a Young Boy, Titled "Boy", Original Impressionist Oil Painting By the British artist, JM Green, Mid 20th Century Signed and titled 'Boy' verso Oil painting on board, unfr...

An interesting and colourful classic 1950s English Interior. Jack Griffin was an English painter of interiors, landscapes and riverside scenes. He mostly painted in England, but was ...

Nativity scene on an architrave of a cathedral, done in the style of Hummel figurines by Helen Gleiforst (American, 1903-1997). Signed "Gleiforst" in t...

Charming, warm still life of a vase bursting with flowers on a table with a dish of apples, a carafe of wine, and a small picture frame next to an antique pink chair...

Signed lower right in Kanji 'Sanzo' for Wada Sanzō 和田三造 (Japanese, 1883-1967) and dated 'Year 34' of the Showa Era, 1959 in the Gregorian calendar. Artist, teacher and costume designer, Sanzo Wada worked during a turbulent time in avant-garde Japanese art and cinema. A multi-talented artist who gained early fame as a Western-style oil painter, his career spanned the late Meiji-era through the mid-twentieth century. In addition to numerous prizes and medals for his painting, he received the 1955 Academy Award for costume design for his work in the movie Gates of Hell. He also received awards for his pioneering work on color theory, which he researched and published in the 1920s and is still in use today. Sanzo Wada graduated from the Western-style painting division of Tokyo School of Fine Arts. Studied in Europe 1907-1915; traveled to India and Burma. He was appointed a member of the Imperial Arts Academy in 1927 and taught at Tokyo School of Fine Arts from 1927. According to Shinagawa Kiyoomi, editor-in-chief of the book of paintings in print "Dia Nihon Gyorui Gashuu" by Ohno Bakufu...

Louis Toffoli (1907-1999) Small Orange Room in Italy Original oil painting on panel Signed bottom right On canvas 41 x 31 cm (c. 16 x 12 inch) Presented in a golden wood frame 62 x ...

Wonderful earth-toned mid century kitchen still life by Frances Robbins (American, 20th Century). Signed "Frances Robbins" and dated 1958 lower rig...

Approximate Date: 1958 Medium: Oil on Board Signature: Signed Lower Right Size: 25.00" x 22.00" The Progressive Farmer magazine cover, January 1958 Exhibited: Masters of the Golden Age: Harvey Dunn and His Students South Dakota Art Museum, Brookings, South Dakota May 5, 2015 - September 13, 2015 Norman Rockwell Museum...

Artist: Paul von Ringelheim, Austrian/American (1933 - 2003) Title: Sanford Beresofsky's Bathroom Year: 1958 Medium: Oil on Canvas, signed and dated Size: 44 x...

A modern surreal oil painting on linen depicting a vase with one yellow flower and a mysterious almost figural black design. This midcentury work is unsigned and comes housed in a pe...

Interior with African statue, cubist guitar,Gray, black, taupe Giulio DA MILANO (Nizza, 1895 - Torino, 1990) Giulio Da Milano was a Giacomo Grosso's di...

Victor Di Gesu (American, 1914-1988) estate stamp, verso, and painted circa 1955. Winner of the Prix Othon Friesz, Victor di Gesu first attended the Los Angeles Art Center and the C...

A substantial, mid-century oil still-life comprising various items arranged on a platter set on a table beside a red bird in a cage. Unsigned and painted circa 1950. The anonymous h...

Man on Floor Illustration ca. 1950–1959 Paintings, gouache on board 8 x 26.25 in. (20.3 x 66.7 cm.) Modern Magazine Story Illustration Heritage, Morris Weiss CollectionSunning work w...

Di Gesu estate stamp verso and painted circa 1955. Winner of the Prix Othon Friesz, Victor di Gesu first attended the Los Angeles Art Center and the Chouinard Art School before movi...

Signed lower left 'Jais' for Jais Nielsen (Danish, 1885-1961) and dated "51". Born in Denmark, Jais Nielsen initially studied at Kunstnernes Frie Studieskoler under Kristian Zahrtma...

Excellent gouache of the interior of a Parisian cabaret filled with vivid, feminine furnishings and decor by AM. Rémy, circa 1950. Unsigned. Original one-of-a-kind artwork on paper...

Approximate Date: 1955 Medium: Oil on Board Signature: Signed Lower Left Size: 18.70" x 27.00" A Native American finding a Raggedy Ann doll on a...

Oil on hardboard, 1955 by Walter Wellenstein ( Dortmund 1898-1970 Berlin ). Signed and dated lover right: Wellenstein 55. Framed. Height: 31.1 in ( 79 cm ), Width: 40.94 in ( 104 cm ...

Oil on hard board, 1953 by Walter Wellenstein ( Dortmund 1898-1970 Berlin ), Signed and dated lower right: Wellenstein 53. Framed. Height: 33.46 in ( 85 cm ), Width: 41.34 in ( 105 ...

Poetically inspired piece of a small top floor room in Paris filled with paintings, birds and and a lively scarecrow made of clothing, 1950. Signed lower right, artist unknown. Orig...

Oil on canvas. Framed. Very finely painted interior scene.