Elliot Orr

“Untitled”

1934

Oil on heavy card stock laid down on masonite by the French artist, Raymond Jean Verdun. Signed lower right. Circa 1895. Condition: Good. Overall framed 7 by 11 inches. The frame has been restored. Born 1873, in Nogent-le-Rotrou; died 1954...

Very well executed oil on masonite painting of a sunset in Topeka, Kansas by the American artist, Pauline Haynes Shirer. Signed lower right. Circa 1950. Condition is excellent. Recently professionally cleaned. Newly framed in a custom gallery frame. Overall framed measurements are 17.5 by 20.5 inches. Provenance: A Long Island, New York collector. Pauline Haynes Shirer (1894 - 1975), American Born in Topeka in 1894, Pauline is said to have been at least partially raised by her aunt, Hannah Haynes Headlee (Pauline’s mother died when she was 8 years old). By 16, she was living as a ward in the Topeka home of Elizabeth Cunningham, a dressmaker. After graduating from Topeka High School, she attended the New York School of Fine and Applied Art (later Parsons School of Design), completing a two-year course in one year (1913-1914). At the same time, she took weekend classes at the Art Students League. Returning to Topeka, she studied and taught at Washburn College (now University) from 1914 to 1915 and instructed summer sessions at Kansas State Teachers College, Pittsburgh, during the same period. Afterward, she returned to the New York School of Fine and Applied Art, where she taught and took classes (1915-1918). She spent the summer of 1916 as an instructor at the Skidmore School of Art, Saratoga Springs, New York. In 1917, Pauline married Hampton F. Shirer, an architect from MIT, who was also an artist and came from a prominent Topeka family. The couple later settled in Wellesley, Massachusetts in 1921, living in a house which they built and decorated themselves. During the next 16 years, they raised two children and Pauline also found time to illustrate promotional brochures and primary school texts. During the early years of her career, Pauline focused on the applied arts – such as watercolor designs for curtains, silk fabrics, wallpaper as well as poster designs, theater backdrops and book covers. Later she would transition into creating her own representational works of art. Shirer returned to Topeka in 1937. During her career as a painter in oils and watercolors, she sketched in Europe four times and did paintings of New England subjects. However, most of her paintings were of the West. She executed Kansas views first, and they continued to hold her interest throughout her life. Typical were her studies of rustic buildings on the plains, glimpses of the prairie country, and the historic buildings of Topeka. She also painted New Mexico landscapes and Colorado mountain scenes. Among her exhibitions, mostly solo but occasionally with her husband, were those held at the Harlow and Harland’s Gallery, Boston (1922); The Scattery, Wellesley, MA (1925); Vose Galleries, Boston (1931); Topeka Art Guild (1952); Copley Society...

Hal Frater's "Pink Sky" is a moody landscape that masterfully captures the play of light at dusk. Dominated by a majestic mountain under a vast, dusky sky, the painting is steeped in warm shades of pink and red that wash across the canvas, lending a dreamlike atmosphere to the scene. The dark silhouette of the mountain anchors the composition, while the reflections on the water's surface add a dynamic contrast to the softness of the sky. Frater's brushwork is loose and expressive, allowing the colors to blend and creating a sense of movement within the stillness of the landscape. This work evokes a quiet reflection and the serene beauty of nature, emphasizing the grandeur of the natural world as it succumbs to the tranquil blanket of night. About the Artist: Hal Frater was not just an artist, but a storyteller who left us on February 3, 2008, on the cusp of his 99th birthday. His fifty-year tenure as a commercial artist was a testament to his adaptability and appeal. Yet it was in his private studio where Frater’s true passion lay — painting not for clients, but for his own soul's expression. His work, always striving to capture the nuances of the human spirit, reflected his sharp observational skills. His artistry was honed not in formal schools, but alongside his peers in spontaneous gatherings, painting from life, sharing techniques and critiques that fueled their collective growth. Influenced by the likes of Jack Levine, Raphael Soyer, John Sloan, Thomas Hart Benton, Reginald Marsh, and Phillip Reisman...

Great Wall Street piece by John R. Grabach (March 2, 1886 – March 17, 1981) with expressive colors and figures. Grabach was a renowned American painter, best known for his evocative...