Sailing Ship of 1850s in San Francisco Bay - WPA Mural Study for Post Office

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Otis Oldfield
Sailing Ship of 1850s in San Francisco Bay - WPA Mural Study for Post Office
1941

About the Item

"Sailing Ship of 1850s in San Francisco Bay. WPA Competition Entry for Rincon Annex Post Office, San Francisco" is a rare WPA mural study created by Otis Oldfield, one of the leaders of the Bay Area Modernist movement. The study is painted in tempera on gesso board, and is signed “Otis Oldfield” lower left. The image size is 23.5 x 23.5 inches, and the painting is in a frame measuring 27.5 x 27.5 inches. This mural study was submitted in competition for the position of muralist in the Rincon Annex Post Office in San Francisco. There has been a resurgence of interest in the Depression-era murals in Federal buildings. Many that were in storage or in disrepair are being conserved and brought back to their former grandeur for a new generation to appreciate. Similarly, the mural studies submitted by artists have become highly prized among collectors, and this is a particularly exciting example of these detailed artworks. Otis Oldfield, who developed a style that was considered both international and Modernist, is best remembered for his striking depictions of Telegraph Hill, the Embarcadero and San Francisco Bay, among some of California scene painting’s finest works. That reputation is augmented by his recognition as a forceful figural painter and portraitist. Oldfield spent ten years in Europe, where he studied and experimented with a number of emerging styles – among them Cubism, Dadaism, Fauvism, Impressionism and Surrealism. Oldfield returned to San Francisco in 1924, and in 1925 San Francisco’s Galerie Beaux-Arts presented Oldfield’s first exhibition. In 1928, Oldfield was offered a critically acclaimed one-man show in New York City. As a resident of San Francisco’s Telegraph Hill for much of his life, Otis Oldfield shared his artistic vision with such luminaries as painters Lucien Labaudt and Maynard Dixon, photographers Ansel Adams and Edward Weston, sculptors Ralph Stackpole and Beniamino Bufano, and architect Timothy Pfluger. His later work took on a highly abstract feeling by evoking expressionistic, dreamlike images.

Creator:
Otis Oldfield (1890 - 1969, American)
Creation Year:
1941
Dimensions:
Height: 27.5 in (69.85 cm)Width: 27.5 in (69.85 cm)
Medium:
Tempera,Board
Movement & Style:
American Modern
Period:
20th Century
Condition:
Gallery Location:
Beverly Hills, CA
Reference Number:
1stDibs: LU43732766923