Robert Elsocht

Opalescence

Signed lower right 'F.H. Cutting' and dated '1932-1948'. Born in Iowa in 1872, Francis Harvey Cutting moved to San Jose, California in 1893 where he st...

Initialed lower right, 'K.W.' for Katherine Westphal (American, 1919-2018) and painted circa 1965; additionally bearing label, verso, inscribed with artist's name and titled 'Venice'. Framed Dimensions: 33.25 x 2 x 29 Inches A large, Post-Impressionist oil showing a view of the Basilica of Santa Maria della Salute on the Punte della Dogana with half-a-dozen gondolas rocking on the gentle swell of the Guidecca. A vibrant modernist vedute by this well-listed California woman artist who shows the iconic Baroque church as if suspended in golden light, both reflecting the sunset and, itself, reflected in the shimmering waters. Born in Los Angeles, Katherine Westphal first attended Los Angeles City College and, subsequently, the University of California at Berkeley where she studied painting and art history and received both her Bachelor and Master of Arts degrees. In 1943, she was awarded the Phelan Travelling Scholarship which funded her travel to Mexico where she visited the studios of both David Siquieros and Diego Rivera, an experience that confirmed her lifelong preference for Modernist principles in her work. Over the course of a long and multi-faceted career, Westphal exhibited widely and with success and was the recipient of numerous prizes, medals and juried awards. In addition to her career as a fine artist, Westphal wrote extensively on art theory and also became a beloved teacher at the University of California, Davis, becoming a tenured faculty member in 1968, a full professor in 1975. She retired in 1979 as Professor Emeritus. Katherine Westphal’s work is held in the permanent collections of prominent American museums including the Smithsonian Museum...

Zygmund Jankowski (1925–2009) painted traditional subjects with exuberant irreverence for traditional rules of color, composition, and perspective. He disparaged imitation and deligh...

Zygmund Jankowski (1925–2009) painted traditional subjects with exuberant irreverence for traditional rules of color, composition, and perspective. He disparaged imitation and deligh...