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Werner Drewes
American modernist oil painting

1935

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  • Subway Construction
    Located in Los Angeles, CA
    This painting is part of our exhibition American Coast to Coast: Artists of the 1930s Subway Construction, c. 1928, oil on board, 19 x 15 ¾ inches, signed upper left, artist and tit...
    Category

    1920s American Modern Figurative Paintings

    Materials

    Oil

  • Gold Mine, Central City, Colorado
    By Joseph Meert
    Located in Los Angeles, CA
    This painting is part of our exhibition America Coast to Coast: Artists of the 1930s Goldmine, Central City, Colorado, oil on canvas, 36 x 28 inches, c. 1936, signed lower right, ex collection of Platt Fine Art, Chicago, Illinois (label verso). About the Painting Joseph Meert’s painting, Goldmine, Central City, Colorado, depicts the short-lived resurrection of a once prominent city just outside Denver. Central City was founded in 1859 soon after John Gregory struck gold in the area. As word spread, thousands of miners converged into “Gregory’s Gulch” and its surroundings became known as the “richest square mile on earth.” Mining production quickly increased resulting in Central City to becoming Colorado’s largest city in the early 1860s. Despite some technical difficulties transitioning to lode mining and the rise of competition from Leadville, Central City remained an economic boom town through the turn of the century. But, with every boom, there is a bust. World War I marked the end of Central City’s prominence as ore production ground to a halt and by 1925, the town’s population shrank to only 400 people. The desperation of the Great Depression and a nearly 100% increase in the price of gold lured labor and capital back to Central City. Meert painted in Colorado during the mid-1930s, a time when he created his most desirable works. It is during this period of renaissance that Meert captures one of Central City's outlying dirt streets bordered by 19th century wooden houses from the town's heyday and the more recently installed electric lines leading to a distant gold mine. A lone figure trudges up the hill, a mother with a baby in her arms, putting us in mind of the rebirth of the town itself. Meert had solo exhibitions at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center in 1936 and the Denver Art Museum. Although it is not known whether Goldmine, Central City was included in either of these exhibitions, it seems likely. Moreover, the painting is closely related to Meert’s painting, The Old Road, which was painted in 1936 and exhibited at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, DC and at the Dallas Museum of Art. About the Artist Joseph Meert was a well-regarded painter and muralist, who initially made a name for himself in the American Scene and later as an abstract expressionist. Although initially successful, Meert struggled financially and with mental illness later in life. He was born in Brussels, Belgium, but moved with his family to Kansas City, Missouri. As a child, a chance encounter at the Union Pacific Railyard changed his life. Meert happened upon a worker repainting and stenciling a design on a railroad car. Meert later recalled that this experience introduced him to the idea of being a painter. Without support from his father, Meert obtained a working scholarship to the Kansas City Art Institute. After four years at the Kansas City Art Institute, Meert studied seven years at the Art Students League and in Europe and Los Angeles. At the Art Students League, Meert fell under the spell of Thomas Hart Benton and Stanton MacDonald-Wright. In 1931, he befriended Jackson Pollock. By 1934, Meert was part of the Public Works of Art Project when he met his wife, Margaret Mullin...
    Category

    1930s American Modern Landscape Paintings

    Materials

    Canvas, Oil

  • Winter on the Farm
    By Dale Nichols
    Located in New York, NY
    Signed and dated lower left: DALE NICHOLS ∙ 1961
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    20th Century American Modern Landscape Paintings

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  • Fields and Mountains
    Located in Salt Lake City, UT
    Cornelius Salisbury (Utah, 1882-1970) Oil on board 34 x 24 in.
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    Mid-20th Century American Modern Landscape Paintings

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    Oil, Board

  • Claire Mahl Moore, Big Sur, California
    Located in New York, NY
    Claire Mahl Moore (who also used the names Clara and Millman) was a native New Yorker who studied at the Art Students League, made prints on the NYC ...
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  • Red House (The Hoffman House)
    By Harry Leith-Ross
    Located in Saratoga Springs, NY
    Harry Leith-Ross (American, 1886 - 1973) Red House (Hoffman House) Oil on canvas, weathered wood 20th century frame 35” x 30” Signed lower right, ‘Leith-Ross’ Exhibition sticker v...
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    Mid-20th Century American Modern Landscape Paintings

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