1940s Paintings

WPA Mural Study 1940 American Scene Modern Social Realism Figurative Mid Century Michael Loew (1907-1985) Detail for Mural (Social Security Building Washington D.C.) 24 x 24 inches ...

Lovely landscape by Tarmo Pasto. Signed and dated "1948" on the bottom right. Unframed. Image size: 25"H x 30"W. Dr. Tarmo Pasto was born on July 27, 1906 in Monessen, Pennsylvania, of Finnish descent. Tarmo Pasto was a psychologist and artist, who taught psychology and art through the 1970s at California State College at Sacramento since the schools inception. He also authored a book on art, The Space-Frame Experience in Art, published in 1964. He, however, was mainly known to the world for introducing the works of one of his psychology patients, Martin Ramirez...

Nathan Hoffman Brighton Beach, August 5, 1941 Signed, titled, dated and estate stamped on the reverse Oil on board 9 3/4 x 14 inches Born in Russia, th...

A fine example of the artist's best realistic style. A haunting landscape.

"Ole Swimmin Hole" Southern California Oil on canvas board 1930s Elegant mid century landscape depicting a lake and hillside in summer by well known and collected California artist ...

Nathan Hoffman Manhattan from the Rooftops, July 1, 1947 Signed, dated and estate stamped on the reverse Oil on board 15 3/4 x 20 inches Born in Russia...

Yellow and blue-toned abstract impressionist portrait of a boy by Danish artist Hans Christian Bärenholdt. Signed by the artist at the bottom right. Hung in a gold carved frame. Dim...

A powerful depiction of a KKK member---signed lower right A reminder of the unfortunate history of behavior that this country has not yet ridden itself of.

"Coney Island" Brooklyn NYC Amusement Park Mid-century American Scene WPA Modern Ludwig Bemelmans (1898 – 1962), “Coney Island" 35 x 27 inches Oil on board Signed lower left Origin...

Portrait of a Man Smoking a Pipe in Oil on Masonite Detailed portrait of a man with a pipe by Heinz Robert Schubert (German, 1912-2001 approx.). A man wearing a short-brimmed hat is...

4076 Italian Oil on canvas set in an antique wood frame Image size 19.5x15.5" by Alessandro Milesi

Signed lower right: Andrew / Loomis Shaw-Barton Calendar illustration

Swimmers and sun tanners at the local watering hole. Her birth name was Theresa Berney. At the time of her passing she was known as Theresa Loew. Birth place: Baltimore artist, blo...

Neutral toned abstract impressionist portrait of a man wearing a suit by Danish artist Hans Christian Bärenholdt. Signed and dated by the artist at the bottom right. Currently hung i...

Create a statement or focal piece for a room. This is a very stylized portrait of a woman dating to the 1940’s. She fills the canvas with her wholesome countenance, hair and period c...

“Graduation Day” is emblematic of mid-century American Illustration. But the real story of this storytelling work is that it embodies the lost art of portrait painting and graphic design. Alex Ross borrows on the classical tradition and flaunts his skills as a narrative painter. In “Graduation Day”, he paints a complex composition involving at least thirteen portraits. The subjects are beautifully rendered and lit. They are set against a dark grey background and jump off the surface at the viewer. The composition is complexly designed. The future graduate in the red jacket engaging with a girl photographer is a compositional device that leads the viewer's eye to the main subject - a father congratulating his son on graduating from medical school. Creating art that relies on facial expressions and body gestures is a talent absent in contemporary art. Why? It’s very hard to do and takes years and training and practice to get it right. Despite Alex Ross's folksy subject matter, this work is a high example of naturalism and representation by an important member of the Golden Age of American Illustration. Signed lower right Born in the town of Dunfermline, Scotland, Alexander Sharpe Ross (1908-1990) moved with his family to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1911. After attending Carnegie Tech (now Carnegie Mellon University), Ross moved to New York and joined the Charles E. Cooper Studio, where he worked among such notable illustrators as Ward Brackett, Stevan Dohanos, J. Frederick Smith...

Leon Dolice: 1892-1960. Well listed American artist with Auction results as high as $6000 for a pastel of the Chrysler building. This is exactly what you want in a Dolice. A tonalist...

#5-3176b Surrealistic Figures in blues vintage acrylic on board, displayed in a wood frame, signed by Sannoro. Image size 15.5 H x8.5" W

Signed & Dated Lower Right by Artist

Antique American modernist signed abstract oil painting. Oil on canvas. Signed. Framed. Image size, 42L x 24H.

Signed "George Garland" Lower Left by Artist "To melt this frigid beauty required the services of an expert, someone with a wicked-and-compelling-way with women." Illustration for "...

Love Honor Obey? Lon Megargee ca. 1940 Oil on Board Size: 19.75 x 26.75 inches Frame: 26.75 x 33.75 inches signed lower right Painting is framed Creator...

This is a very stylized Southwest landscape that appears to document a small church that existed at one time, perhaps in the Palm Springs or Santa Fe area. It is very reminiscent of...

This elegant and sophisticated oil painting was realized by an underrecognized (but extraordinary) Flemish painter named F.V. Sliches in 1946. Entitled Les Masons (or the masons), th...

1-4086 A large scale vintage figurative painting, original oil on canvas in shades of blue .Unframed. Signed on verso G.Pascal Rocca

Advertisement for the Interwoven Stocking Company, New Brunswick, NJ.

Signed Lower Right by Artist The Saturday Evening Post Cover, September 23, 1944 A proponent of simplicity as a virtue, Stevan Dohan...

Mixed Media on Paper Never afraid of trying new styles, curious and opinionated, constantly engaged with the world around him, Rolph Scarlett more than once proved to be at the arti...

Antique American modernist abstract signed oil painting. Oil on canvas. Signed illegibly. Framed. Image size, 36L x 16H.

Beautiful oil on canvas still life painting of fruit in a wicker basket by Nicolai Cikovsky. Signed lower right. Condition is very good. Circa 1945. The painting is housed in a contemporary gold leaf gallery frame. Overall measurements are 24.25 by 28.25 inches. Provenance: A Southampton, New York estate. The well known and highly regarded landscape and figure painter Nicolai S. Cikovsky was born in Russia in 1894. He studied at the Vilna Art School, 1910-1914; the Penza Royal Art School, 1914-1918; and Moscow High Tech Art...

Signed lower left by Artist The Saturday Evening Post cover, April 16, 1949

Signed Lower Right by Artist “I therefore reversed the mop, placed the soft end of it gently against the colonel’s face, and pushed him politely backward” Magazine story illustratio...

Signed by Artist Advertisement for the Interwoven Stocking Company, New Brunswick, NJ. (Reverse also signed with Philadelphia address of artist)

John Steuart Curry "Sketching Wisconsin," 1946 oil on canvas 31.13 x 28 inches, canvas 39.75 x 36.75 x 2.5 inches, frame Signed and dated lower right Overall excellent condition Presented in a 24-karat gold leaf hand-carved wood frame John Steuart Curry (1897-1946) was an American regionalist painter active during the Great Depression and into World War II. He was born in Kansas on his family’s farm but went on to study art in Chicago, Paris and New York as young man. In Paris, he was exposed to the work of masters such as Peter Paul Rubens, Eugène Delacroix and Jacques-Louis David. As he matured, his work showed the influence of these masters, especially in his compositional decisions. Like the two other Midwestern regionalist artists that are most often grouped with him, Grant Wood (American, 1891-1942) and Thomas Hart Benton (American, 1889-1975), Curry was interested in representational works containing distinctly American subject matter. This was contrary to the popular art at the time, which was moving closer and closer to abstraction and individual expression. Sketching Wisconsin is an oil painting completed in 1946, the last year of John Steuart Curry’s life, during which time he was the artist-in-residence at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. The painting is significant in Curry’s body of work both as a very revealing self-portrait, and as a landscape that clearly and sensitively depicts the scenery of southern Wisconsin near Madison. It is also a portrait of the artist’s second wife, Kathleen Gould Curry, and is unique in that it contains a ‘picture within a picture,’ a compositional element that many early painting masters used to draw the eye of the viewer. This particular artwork adds a new twist to this theme: Curry’s wife is creating essentially the same painting the viewer is looking at when viewing Sketching Wisconsin. The triangular composition of the figures in the foreground immediately brings focus to a younger Curry, whose head penetrates the horizon line and whose gaze looks out towards the viewer. The eye then moves down to Mrs. Curry, who, seated on a folding stool and with her hand raised to paint the canvas on the easel before her, anchors the triangular composition. The shape is repeated in the legs of the stool and the easel. Behind the two figures, stripes of furrowed fields fall away gently down the hillside to a farmstead and small lake below. Beyond the lake, patches of field and forest rise and fall into the distance, and eventually give way to blue hills. Here, Curry has subverted the traditional artist’s self-portrait by portraying himself as a farmer first and an artist second. He rejects what he sees as an elitist art world of the East Coast and Europe. In this self-portrait he depicts himself without any pretense or the instruments of his profession and with a red tractor standing in the field behind him as if he was taking a break from the field work. Here, Curry’s wife symbolizes John Steuart Curry’s identity as an artist. Compared with a self-portrait of the artist completed a decade earlier, this work shows a marked departure from how the artist previously presented and viewed himself. In the earlier portrait, Curry depicted himself in the studio with brushes in hand, and with some of his more recognizable and successful canvases behind him. But in Sketching Wisconsin, Curry has taken himself out of the studio and into the field, indicating a shift in the artist’s self-conception. Sketching Wisconsin’s rural subject also expresses Curry’s populist ideals, that art could be relevant to anyone. This followed the broad educational objectives of UW’s artist-in-residence program. Curry was appointed to his position at the University of Wisconsin in 1937 and was the first person to hold any such position in the country, the purpose of which was to serve as an educational resource to the people of the state. He embraced his role at the University with zeal and not only opened the doors of his campus studio in the School of Agriculture to the community, but also spent a great deal of time traveling around the state of Wisconsin to visit rural artists who could benefit from his expertise. It was during his ten years in the program that Curry was able to put into practice his belief that art should be meaningful to the rural populace. However, during this time he also struggled with public criticism, as the dominant forces of the art market were moving away from representation. Perhaps it was Curry’s desire for public acceptance during the latter part of his career that caused him to portray himself as an Everyman in Sketching Wisconsin. Beyond its importance as a portrait of the artist, Sketching Wisconsin is also a detailed and sensitive landscape that shows us Curry’s deep personal connection to his environment. The landscape here can be compared to Wisconsin Landscape of 1938-39 (the Metropolitan Museum of Art), which presents a similar tableau of rolling hills with a patchwork of fields. Like Wisconsin Landscape, this is an incredibly detailed and expressive depiction of a place close to the artist’s heart. This expressive landscape is certainly the result of many hours spent sketching people, animals, weather conditions and topography of Wisconsin as Curry traveled around the state. The backdrop of undulating hills and the sweeping horizon, and the emotions evoked by it, are emphatically recognizable as the ‘driftless’ area of south-central Wisconsin. But while the Metropolitan’s Wisconsin Landscape conveys a sense of uncertainty or foreboding with its dramatic spring cloudscape and alternating bands of light and dark, Sketching Wisconsin has a warm and reflective mood. The colors of the foliage indicate that it is late summer and Curry seems to look out at the viewer approvingly, as if satisfied with the fertile ground surrounding him. The landscape in Sketching Wisconsin is also revealing of what became one of Curry’s passions while artist-in-residence at UW’s School of Agriculture – soil conservation. When Curry was a child in Kansas, he saw his father almost lose his farm and its soil to the erosion of The Dust Bowl. Therefore, he was very enthusiastic about ideas from UW’s School of Agriculture on soil conservation methods being used on Wisconsin farms. In Sketching Wisconsin, we see evidence of crop rotation methods in the terraced stripes of fields leading down the hillside away from the Curry’s and in how they alternate between cultivated and fallow fields. Overall, Sketching Wisconsin has a warm, reflective, and comfortably pastoral atmosphere, and the perceived shift in Curry’s self-image that is evident in the portrait is a positive one. After his rise to favor in the art world in the 1930’s, and then rejection from it due to the strong beliefs presented in his art, Curry is satisfied and proud to be farmer in this self-portrait. Curry suffered from high blood...

Signed lower right, "V. Di Gesu" for Victor Di Gesu (American, 1914-1988), dated 1946; additionally signed verso and titled "Blue Teapot". A vibrant still-life showing a bouquet of ...

Recently, women artists have been soaring in price to millions of dollars. In many cases, many of these women were quite obscure. For example, recently acknowledged Gertrude Abercrombie, a naive surrealist artist, has recently seen her paintings rise to the area of $400K. Lorraine Fox, who is a consummate female artist/ illustrator whose work rivals any of the recently anointed female stars is still an unknown quantity. She has exhibited at the Brooklyn Museum and is in the collection of the Smithsonian Archives of American Art, and she is a member of the Famous Artists School in Westport, Connecticut along with Norman Rockwell, Today she is relatively unknown and completely off the radar of the so-called art establishment. Wedding Day is a wonderful example of her mid-century, somewhat naive style. The work is signed lower right and was exhibited at the Brandywine River...

"Day of Rest" San Pedro Harbor Fishing Boats Oil on Linen 1948 Oil on linen of San Pedro fishing docks, Los Angeles, California by California artist Harry (Harris) Mishkin (American/...

A "Thumb Box" (or diminutive) painting of sailors in Hanover, NH by Harold Haydon. Harold Emerson Haydon was born in Fort William, Ontario, Canad...

Beautiful oil on canvas painting with aerosol spray paint of two reclining figures by the well known Russian/American artist, Nahum Tschacbasov. Signed upper right and dated 1949. ...

Original oil on artist canvas board of a sunset on a rural country lane by the American artist, Margaret E. Nugent. Signed lower left and verso as well. Circa 1940. Condition of pain...

Emma Richardson Cherry (1859 - 1954) Houston Artist Size: 20 x 16 Frame: 22.5 x 18.5 Medium: Oil on Board "Magnolias" Biography Emma Richardson Cherry (1859 - 1954) Emma Richardson Cherry, known as the "Dean of Houston Art," is credited with introducing many Houstonians to fine art. Emma Richardson was born in Aurora, Illinois in 1860. She was recognized as an artist by the age of 18. She met her husband, Dillon Brooke Cherry, while teaching art in Nebraska. Mrs. Cherry studied in New York, Paris, and Italy before moving to Houston in 1892. Cherry began teaching art in her home, and continued to do so for half a century. Cherry organized the Houston Public School Art League* in 1900 with four other art advocates: Mrs. Robert S. Lovett, Miss Lydia Adkisson, Miss Roberta Lavender and Miss Cara Redwood. The group would obtain examples of fine art masterpieces and bring them to the schools. One attempt was not favorably received- a replica plaster of Paris nude Venus de Milo was offered to Central High School; the School Board thought it would corrupt students morals and refused to accept it. The League gave the statue to the public library instead (today it can be seen on the second floor of the Julia Ideson Building). According to one newspaper account, parents would warn their children: "You may go down to the library, my dears, but don't go near that Venus." (Houston Post 4-12-1953) The independent spirit was recognized in a 1923 Houston Chroniclearticle: "Mrs. Cherry's work has always been characterized by an independent spirit and forward-looking attitude." In 1913, the group she had organized shortened their name to the Houston Art League*, setting its sights on raising money to open a fine arts museum in the city. The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston opened in 1924. Emma Richardson Cherry was the first woman to have a solo exhibit at the museum. Cherry worked in oil, watercolors, pastels, pencil and charcoal, and considered herself a modernist, but she painted a number of traditional portraits while living in Houston. She is known for her paintings of flowers, and in 1937 did a study of oleanders to be presented to President Franklin Roosevelt during his visit to Galveston. Her four most popular works are of the Texas Republic...

"Twilight of History" is an original oil on board painting by Frederick Shane (1906-1992) from 1947. Shane's reflection of the twilight of our existence is shown with three creatures...

Signed Lower Right by artist

Signed Lower Right by Artist

Original, oil-on-canvas painting by French artist, Albert Andre'. "Jardin a Bagnols-sur-Ceze". Signed lower right. Period, gilt wood frame.

A "Thumb Box" (Diminutive) painting of Vermont by Harold Haydon. Harold Emerson Haydon was born in Fort William, Ontario, Canada in 1909. Haydon came ...

This oil on canvas painting, signed by Paul Lambert (1910-1970), is stunning. Paul Lambert is a French painter known for his depiction of Parisian scenes. This artwork is typical of his Paris cityscapes, done with sharp black lines and muted colors, and depicts the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris view from the Ile Saint Louis. Paul Lambert regularly illustrated images of life in Paris. Lambert's hand-written signature is on the bottom left corner and reads P Lambert. The painting still has its original frame in carved wood with gesso application and aged off-white and gilded matte. Good condition, with some minor wear on the original wood frame. Measurements: With frame: 15.38 in. high (39 cm) x 18.94 in. wide (48 cm). Opening view: 8.88 in. high (22.5 cm) x 12.44 in. wide (31.5 cm). Note: Paul Lambert (1910 - c. 1970) was active/lived in France. He is known for Post Impressionist Parisian street painting...

Everett Spruce (1908 - 2002) Austin Artist Image Size: 18 x 15 Frame Size: 28 x 25 Medium: Oil on paper / Mixed Exhibited at a University of Texas Faculty art show in 1947 Unsigned Biography Everett Spruce (1908 - 2002) The following, submitted by a researcher of the Ashworth Collection of Native American and Western Art, is from the artist's obituary in the Fort Smith, Arkansas "Times Record" newspaper, October 20, 2002. Everett F. Spruce, well-known artist, teacher, professor emeritus, died Friday, Oct. 18, 2002, at age 94. Everett Spruce was born on a farm in Conway to William E. and Fannie McCarty Spruce. He came to Dallas, at age 17, on a scholarship to study at the Dallas Art Institute, under Olin Travis and Thomas M. Stell Jr. In 1931, he became gallery assistant at the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts and in 1934 married Alice V. Kramer, a fellow art student. He was one of the "Dallas Nine" group of Southwest artists...

Vintage signed large abstract oil painting. Oil on canvas. Signed.

Signed lower left 'Moessel' for Julius Moessel (American, 1872-1960) and dated 1943; additionally titled verso, 'In the Artist's Garden'. A substantial, mid-century horticultural oi...

A "Thumb Box" (diminutive) painting of the Gospel Hall in Calais, VT by Harold Haydon. Harold Emerson Haydon was born in Fort William, Ontario, Canada i...

Expressionist style self portrait of the artist, Cornelis Ruhtenberg (1923-2008), oil on board painted in 1949. Signed by the artist on verso. Interior scene of the artist painted in...

Antique American modernist signed still life oil painting. Oil on board. Signed. Framed. Image size, 21L x 18H.

Josep Castellanas Garrich (Barcelona, 1896 - Majorca, 1980) Born in Barcelona in 1896, and in 1919 he moved to Mallorca following in the footsteps of Santiago Rusiñol...

This lovely watercolor painting on Arches paper features a landscape view in Provence. This typical Mediterranean country house in the south of France has a veranda and the Saint Vic...

Bathers 1940s Mid 20th Century American Scene Social Realism WPA Modern Ashcan Marion Gilmore (1909-1984) Bathers 15 1/2 x 19 1/2 inches oil on canvas boar...

Original oil on masonite painting of Fleet Week with sailors flirting with young women on the dock by the American artist, Sarah Pace Carothers Rhode. ...

This tribute painting to Flemish art by an unknown artist portrays figures inside a mansion with a yellow and black checkerboard floor and a stained-glass window with brilliant color...