1940s Paintings

Charming and bright mid century California figurative landscape with a female figure walking down a verdant and inviting path by William Hiller (America...

Signed lower left, 'Hortense M. Gordon' for Hortense Crompton Mattice Gordon (Canadian, 1886-1961) and dated 1949. Previously with: Dominion Gallery of Montreal (stamp, verso). Photo courtesy of Art Gallery of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Hamilton artist Hortense Crompton Mattice Gordon was one of Canada’s earliest non-representational painters, embracing abstraction in the 1930s. She was also an active member of Canada's first English-speaking abstract group, Painters Eleven. A scholarship recipient, Hortense Mattice first attended the Hamilton Art School and, subsequently, moved to Chatham, Ontario. Initially focusing on porcelain painting, Mattice quickly began building a portfolio of oils and, from 1908, was exhibiting both her porcelain and landscapes at what is now the Chatham Cultural Centre (1908) and the Art Gallery of Ontario (1909). During this time, Mattice frequently traveled to the United States and, in 1915, visited the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, where she would have seen early works by important modernists including Picasso and Matisse. She started her teaching career in Chatham but, having received a job offer from the artist John Sloan Gordon, returned to Hamilton to teach at the Hamilton Art School in 1918. The two artists married in 1920. In 1922, Gordon and her husband took a study trip to France and, inspired by the fervent of Modernist ideas in Paris, expanded her own approaches to art, developing an increasingly soft, loose paint handling style. It was not until the 1930’s, after a few more trips to France and her discovery of Piet Mondrian’s work, that elements of abstraction began to appear in Gordon’s work. After the death of her husband in 1940, Gordon attended the Cranbrook Academy of Art and studied with Hans Hoffmann (1941-1945) whose influence and friendship pushed her to explore non-objective painting. After her training with Hofmann and in Cranbrook, Gordon began to exhibit regularly and with success in both Canada and the United States including at the Riverside Museum (New York, 1947), Creative Gallery (New York, 1952), in Ann Arbor (Michigan, 1952), Phillips Gallery (Detroit, 1952), the Flint Institute of Arts (Michigan, 1952), Mount Allison University (New Brunswick, 1952), the Galerie Agnes Lefort in Montréal and Art Gallery of Hamilton (retrospective, 1960). She was a member of the Contemporary Artists of Hamilton (honorary president in 1948), the Ontario Society of Artists, the Hamilton Women...

Significant landscape painting of Taos, New Mexico river and buttes by Walter Alexander Bailey (American, 1894-1989). Rendered in saturated colors, a lone tree stands at the edge of a river. The river flows back into the distance, guiding the viewer's eye to a lush green plain. At the edges of the plain, large mesas rise from all sides in purple and red. Signed lower right corner. Unframed. Image size: 24"H x 30"W. Bailey studied at the Kansas City Art Institute with Thomas Hart Benton and Charles Wilimovsky. In the 1940s he worked as a scenic and motion picture artist in Hollywood. In 1927 to 1929, he taught a Master Class in Taos, New Mexico, and in 1932-1934 he taught a Master Class in landscape painting at the Kansas City Art Institute. Born Wallula, Oct. 17, 1894, Walter Bailey was a painter, illustrator, muralist, etcher, block printer, lithographer and teacher. He studied at the Kansas City Art Institute in 1920 with Charles A. Wilmovsky, Randall Davey, & Anthony Angarola. He worked on the art staff of the Kansas City Star. SOURCES: Susan Craig, "Biographical Dictionary of Kansas Art...

Swiss painter Sculptor, painter and ceramist. Landscape. Wall painting and drawing Artwork on cardboard

Artist: Paul Sieffert, French (1874 - 1957) Title: Reclining Nude Year: circa 1940 Medium: Oil on Canvas, signed l.r. Size: 15 x 24 in. (38.1 x 60.96 cm) Frame Size: 18.5 x 27.5 inches

Oil on Canvas Canvas size: 24 x 36 in. Frame Size: 33 x 39 in. "Turning them North" is an exhilarating scene of the American Old West by Gary Lynn Roberts (b. 1953, American) execut...

Rustically charming watercolor on brown paper of an impressive oak tree by German artist Karl Teodor, 1943. Unsigned. Original vintage one-of-a-kind artwork on paper displayed on a ...

American Impressionist of figures on the beach on Tuck's Point which is a famous location in Massachusetts. A top 1 % by Martha Walter .. Housed in a gold leaf custom frame

This striking 1946 oil on canvas painting, titled Deserted Street, was created by Colorado/Woodstock modernist artist Jenne Magafan (1916-1952). The artwork features a solitary figu...

A Quiet River - Oil on Canvas Oil painting depicting a river flowing through a grove of trees. Vibrant green trees surround the river, hues of deep greens make up the trees to the l...

1940s Tromp L'oeil Still Life Rose and Amaranth in Alcove Wonderful rose and amaranth still life in an alcove by Riverda Kapunas (American/Greek, 20t...

This lovely British portrait oil painting is by noted artist Lionel Ellis. Painted circa 1940, the picture is a half-length seated portrait of a smiling woman wrapped in a red shawl,...

This painting of a lush, wooden landscape with a house by a lake was painted by New Mexico, female artist Mabel Dodge Luhan in the 1940's. It signed "Mabel Dodge" in the lower left a...

Incredible early American modernist portrait by Stephen H Booker (1933 - 2016). Oil on canvas. Signed verso. Finely framed. Measuring 24 by 28 inches overall and 16 by 20 paintin...

Striking abstract acrylic painting of a nude male figure in a reclining pose and surrounded by vivid flames by Beugnet, circa 1950. Original artwork on paper displayed on a white...

Medium: Oil on Canvas Signature: Signed and Dated '1941' Upper Right This illustration was published for the interior story "Sugarfoot" by Clarence Budington Kelland in the Saturday Evening Post, February 7th, 1942. Signed and dated '1941' upper right Harold von Schmidt grew up in the West a generation after Remington...

Story illustration for "Illegitimate" by Nelia Gardner White for the Ladies' Home Journal, published June 1944, page 25. The full caption reads: "The children danced around her, cha...

White and Purple Dahlias - Floral Still Life in Oil on Illustration Board Delicate still life of dahlias in a green vase by Gertrud Stimming ...

Work on canvas Golden wooden frame 56 x 49.5 x 3 cm

Artist: George Grosz, German (1893 - 1959) Title: Aroused Year: 1940 Medium: Oil on Paper, signed l.r. Paper Size: 24 x 18 in. (60.96 x 45.72 cm) Frame Size: 36 x 30 inches Prove...

Antique American abstract mixed media painting. Oil gouache and crayon on board. Signed. Framed. Measuring 24 by 29 inches overall and 15 by 20 painting alone.

Beautiful, soft mid-century landscape of a country lane winding through the countryside of Bucks County by Pennsylvania artist Cora W. Best (American, 1874-1958). In the style of her...

Paris: Pont Alexandre III by Henri Miloch (1898-1979) signed lower right watercolour and gouache painting on artist's paper, unframed Sheet:: 13 x 9.75 inches Charming painting by ...

Antique American modernist street scene painting. Oil on canvas. Signed. In excellent original condition. Handsomely framed in a late 19th century fluted cove giltwood molding. E...

Parade Mexicaine by Jean Dufy (1888-1964) Gouache on Ingres paper 45.1 x 55.6 cm (17³/₄ x 21⁷/₈ inches) Signed Jean Dufy lower centre Executed circa 1948-1950 Provenance Galerie Kät...

"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 ...

Vivid mid-century floral still-life with anemones and statue by Marguerite Stuber Pearson (American, 1898-1978), circa 1940s. Signed lower right corner. Presented in rustic gilt-toned bamboo and wood frame. Image size: 20"H x 24"W. Framed size: 24"H x 28"W. Born in Philadelphia August 1, 1899, Marguerite Stuber Pearson was the daughter of confectioner, Arthur G...

Impressive early American impressionist cityscape painting. Oil on canvas. Framed. Apparently not signed. Image size, 20H x 24L.

This captivating work is a remarkable canvas depicting a serene landscape, where nature is the main protagonist. The painting depicts a majestic view of a mountain range reflected in...

Very finely painted American modernist street scene painting. Oil on canvas board. In excellent original condition. Handsomely framed in a giltwood molding. Excellent condition, ...

Sweeping mid-century landscape of a lake and snow-capped mountains by Lillian Josephine Heath (American, 1864-1961). A gigantic, snow-covered mountain dominates the upper portion of the composition, rising above the rest of the landscape. In the shadow of the mountain is a valley lake, filled with snowmelt, with several smaller mountains in between. Signed "Lillian Heath" lower left. Displayed in a giltwood frame. Image, 20.5"H x 28"L. Lillian Heath was one of the Jolly Daubers at the turn of the 19th-century and as a young student, married the senior artist and instructor, Frank Heath in Santa Cruz, California. Artists Frank and Lillian [Heath] by Margaret Koch [transcribed from Santa Cruz Public Library website]….Frank L. Heath courted Lillian Dake Storey during painting trips around Santa Cruz County back in the 1890s. Those were the years when Lillian was riding a saddle horse daily from Santa Cruz to the Powdermill where she taught school. Today [1974] the Powdermill is Paradise Park. Frank's actual proposal of marriage was delivered at Rocky Falls, a beautiful scenic place on Carbonero Creek. There he had constructed a painting platform with a perfect view of the rushing waters, and it was there that he asked Lillian in that formal day and age, to be his bride. Frank was nearly 40 years old at the time, and Lillian was about 32. She had always been interested in art and had talent to a large degree. She took a year's leave of absence from teaching school to travel alone to New York where she visited relatives and stayed to study china painting and the painting of miniatures which is an art in itself. ‘When I returned from New York I enrolled in the art classes of a Santa Cruz artist who was making a name for himself,’ she once said with a smile. The artist was Frank L. Heath, and that was the start of their romance, she told me in 1959. She accepted Frank's proposal at Rocky Falls. At the Heath home on Third Street, Beach Hill, Frank added a wing with a large studio workroom downstairs and several bedrooms upstairs. That was his wedding gift to his bride. ‘The Studio’ had a fireplace and big bay windows that looked out over the town of Santa Cruz and back to the mountains they both loved and painted many times. Lillian painted a set of tiles for the fireplace; they showed darting swallows in the clouds above a stream where song birds perched on tulles and water lilies floated. In 1897 Lillian and Frank were married in the First Methodist Church and they moved into the home on Beach Hill, a house she continued to live in for 64 years. Frank's father, Lucien Heath, was the first Secretary of State of Oregon. He came to Santa Cruz from Oregon in 1866 with his wife, Jane, and sons, Frank and Henry. A daughter, Lina, had died in Michigan where the Heaths lived before crossing the plains to Oregon in 1852. [?] In Santa Cruz Lucien Heath opened one of the early hardware stores on Pacific Avenue in partnership with John Byrne...

Antique American school abstract expressionist painting. Oil on board. Signed. In excellent original condition. Nicely framed in a period wood molding. Excellent condition, read...

This is a lovely oil on board landscape by noted Midland, Texas artist Alpha Johnson Lanham. It is a view of old stone steps within a landscape. The painting is an essay in paint a...

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...

To see our other Modern British Art, including others by Hennes, scroll down to "More from this Seller" and below it click on "See all from this Seller" - or send us a message if you...

Paris: A Collection of Three Paintings of Paris Scenes by Henri Miloch (1898-1979) the Eiffel Tower painting is signed front lower right and also inscribed to the back, the Versailles painting...

Antique signed Canadian fishing oil painting. Oil on board. Signed. Framed. Image size, 24L x 30H.

Paris: Pont Alexandre III and Place de la Concorde by Henri Miloch (1898-1979) signed lower right on Place de la Concorde, the other is unsigned watercolour and gouache painting on a...

Signed, verso, 'A Heinsbergen' for Antoon Heinsbergen (Dutch-American, 1894-1989), inscribed 'Painted in Paris from the top floor of the Grand Hotel Paris' and dated 1941. A panoramic view of early twentieth-century Paris with early automobiles, charabancs and pedestrians filling the boulevards converging on the Paris Opera beneath sunny blue skies. Painter and theatrical designer, Antoon Heinsbergen immigrated to Los Angeles as a small boy and first studied at the Chouinard Art School and the Otis Art Institute. He subsequently became sought after as a decorator of theaters and, working with a crew of 185, designed and painted wall and ceiling decorations...

A picturesque ca. 1940s, horizontal farm scene with a barn & silo, created in oil on Masonite, by Artist Francis Chapin. Painting likely depicts Wisconsin or Michigan. Painting is ...

Antique Canadian modernist landscape oil painting. Oil on board. Framed. Measuring 15 by 17 inches overall and 10 by 12 painting alone.

Initialed lower right, 'A.F' (American, 20th century) and painted circa 1940. A tonalist study of a young woman with bobbed brown hair, shown gazing to the ...

Signed lower right, 'Mogens Hertz' (Danish, 1909-1999) and dated 1949. A large, Post-Impressionist figural oil showing a pregnant young woman, draped from the waist down, with her hands resting serenely in her lap. Seated beside a garden door, she is gently dappled by golden sunlight that filters in through verdant foliage. Painted when the artist was forty years old, Hertz has accomplished a lyrical, light-suffused study of his beautiful and enigmatic young subject. Mogens Hertz first studied with the Academician, Laurits Ring and, subsequently, with the Danish Impressionist, Rostrup Boyesen. In 1930, after an influential study trip to Paris, Hertz continued his formal studies at Copenhagen's Charlottenborg Academy before moving to the countryside outside Gudhjem. There, he became a co-founder of the Bornholm School. His work there came to exemplify the group's lyrical portrayal of idyllic landscapes, painted in a loose and painterly, Impressionist style that often borders on abstraction. From 1930-1941, Hertz traveled and studied widely, including to France, Holland, Germany, Norway and Sweden. He was the recipient of numerous medals, prizes and juried awards including the August Schiøtt scholarship (1948) and the Frederik Sødring prize (1939). Over the course of a long and distinguished career, he exhibited widely and with success including, from 1937, at the Royal Danish Academy's Charlottenborg Spring Exhibition, at the Bornholm Art Museum and the Vejen Art Museum, among others. Mogens Hertz is well-listed in relevant art biographical reference works including Benezit's definitive dictionary of artists. We are pleased to offer a major work from the artist's middle period. Reference: E. Benezit, Dictionnaire des Peintres, Sculpteurs, Dessinateurs, et Graveurs, Jacques Busse, 1999 Nouvelle Édition, Gründ 1911, Vol. 6, p. 954; Weilbach, Dansk Kunstnerleksikon, the Castle and Cultural Agency, Copenhagen; Chr. F. Beck i: Da. Kunst, nr. 90, maj 1950; Helge Ernst...

Marc Mouclier (1866-1947) Le Drapeau à la fenêtre, 1942 (The Flag in the window) signed and dated lower right oil on cardboard panel 41 x 32,8 cm framed 62 x 54 cm This magnificent...

Oil on canvasboard. Framed. Image size, 20H x 30L. Signed.

Julio De Diego’s Atomic Series paintings made an extraordinary statement regarding the shock and fear that accompanied the dawn of the nuclear age. In the artist’s own words, “Scientists were working secretly to develop formidable powers taken from the mysterious depths of the earth - with the power to make the earth useless! Then, the EXPLOSION! . . . we entered the Atomic Age, and from there the neo-Atomic war begins. Explosions fell everywhere and man kept on fighting, discovering he could fight without flesh.” To execute these works, De Diego developed a technique of using tempera underpainting before applying layer upon layer of pigmented oil glazes. The result is paintings with surfaces which were described as “bonelike” in quality. The forms seem to float freely, creating a three-dimensional visual effect. In the 1954 book The Modern Renaissance in American Art, author Ralph Pearson summarizes the series as “a fantastic interpretation of a weighty theme. Perhaps it is well to let fantasy and irony appear to lighten the devastating impact. By inverse action, they may in fact increase its weight.” Exhibited 1950 University of Illinois at Urbana "Contemporary American Painting" 1964 Marion Koogler McNay Art Institute, San Antonio, Texas This work retains its original frame which measures 54" x 36" x 2". About this artist: Julio De Diego crafted a formidable persona within the artistic developments and political struggles of his time. The artist characterized his own work as “lyrical,” explaining, “through the years, the surrealists, the social-conscious painters and the others tried to adopt me, but I went my own way, good, bad or indifferent.” [1] His independence manifested early in life when de Diego left his parent’s home in Madrid, Spain, in adolescence following his father’s attempts to curtail his artistic aspirations. At the age of fifteen he held his first exhibition, set up within a gambling casino. He managed to acquire an apprenticeship in a studio producing scenery for Madrid’s operas, but moved from behind the curtains to the stage, trying his hand at acting and performing as an extra in the Ballet Russes’ Petrouchka with Nijinsky. He spent several years in the Spanish army, including a six-month stretch in the Rif War of 1920 in Northern Africa. His artistic career pushed ahead as he set off for Paris and became familiar with modernism’s forays into abstraction, surrealism, and cubism. The artist arrived in the U.S. in 1924 and settled in Chicago two years later. He established himself with a commission for the decoration of two chapels in St. Gregory’s Church. He also worked in fashion illustration, designed magazine covers and developed a popular laundry bag for the Hotel Sherman. De Diego began exhibiting through the Art Institute of Chicago in 1929, and participated in the annual Chicago Artists Exhibitions, Annual American Exhibitions, and International Water Color Exhibitions. He held a solo exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago in the summer of 1935. Though the artist’s career was advancing, his family life had deteriorated. In 1932 his first marriage dissolved, and the couple’s young daughter Kiriki was sent to live with friend Paul Hoffman. De Diego continued to develop his artistic vocabulary with a growing interest in Mexican art. He traveled throughout the country acquainting himself with the works of muralists such as Carlos Merida, and also began a collection of small native artifacts...

Work on canvas Gilded wooden frame 60 x 71 x 4,5 cm

Oil on canvas sold with original frame Total size with frame 110x90 cm Charles Auguste Humbert, born in 1891 in Geneva and died in 1958, was a Swiss artist, mainly known for his w...

This is a very stylized and powerful portrait by the noted artist Frank Anderson Trapp. It is dated 1940, and is very much in the modern style of French painters Ferdinand Leger...

Oil on canvas. Framed. Image size, 18H x 24L. No signature found. Very nicely painted.

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. ...

This original 1949 gouache and wax painting, titled Fetishes, is by renowned New Mexico modernist artist Howard Schleeter (1903-1976). Signed and dated by the artist on the lower rig...

Beautiful mid century figurative landscape of a contemplative woman in Cotswold village, England by David L. Ghilchik (b. 1892 Romania; d. 1972 London), c.1945. Signed lower right "Ghilchik." Presented in rustic wood frame. Image measures: 14.5"H x 17.5"W. With frame, measures: 21"H x 25"W x 2"D. David Louis Ghilchik was a painter, and cartoonist for Punch Magazine and the Daily Sketch. He was the son of Abraham Josef Ghilchik, who traded in lace and linen, and his wife Sali. The family settled in Salford in 1920, where David enrolled at the Manchester School of Art and studied under Adolphe Valette...

UNION SQUARE Depression Era Oil Painting WPA Realism American Scene Realism NYC Jo Cain (1904 – 2003) "Union Square" 24 x 36 inches Oil on canvas, c.1940s S...

Very nicely painted American school abstract landscape painting. Framed in a period modernist wood molding. Oil on board. Image size, 24H by 29L.

Pond Reflections, a mid century impressionist watercolor painting by California artist C.G. Standeford (American, 20th Century). Presented in a giltwood frame. Circa 1940's. Signed o...

Antique American modernist flower still life oil painting by Samuel Brecher (1897 - 1982). Oil on board. Signed. Framed. Measuring 28 by 30 inches overall and 22 by 24 inches painti...

This captivating 1945 oil painting by American artist Hayes Lyon portrays Bessy Lyon, the artist’s wife, in a warm and intimate portrait. The piece features soft yet vivid tones and ...

Nice modernist American school painting. Oil and watercolor and gouache on board. Signed. Framed. Image size, 18L x 23H.

Symbolic and surreal landscape with figure eminating life force by Marguerite Louis Blasingame (American; 1906-1947), circa 1940-45. Marguerite and her husband Frank Blasingame...

A strong modernist oil painting depicted in the 1940's by Spanish painter Julio Moises. Mostly known for his abstract figures on canvas, this piece is a w...

Beautiful mid-century winter landscape of the sun rising over a forest stream covered in fresh snow by Genevieve Clibborn (American, 1892-1982). Presented in a rustic ornate, faux wood frame. Image, 12"H x 16"W. Genevieve Idell Booth Clibborn was born in Washington on January 6, 1896. She lived most of her life in Salinas, California (East of the Monterey Peninsula). She painted and exhibited widely in that area. An award-winning artist, she was primarily self-taught and was known for her tree studies. She was a member of the Santa Cruz Art League. She was also a famous evangelist who preached at revivals in the United States, Canada and Australia. Her husband was William Booth-Clibborn, grandson of the founder of the Salvation Army...

Industrial Railroad WPA Mid 20th Century American Scene Rural Modern Realism Large oil on canvas genre painting depicting laborers working on a railroad, with rural landscape in the...

Oil painting on Masonite realized by the Artist in 1948. Includes a coeval wooden frame. Artist paints the Hotel where he used to live in Paris during those years. Note, title, date ...

This original vintage painting by Charles Ragland Bunnell (1897-1968), titled Quitting Time from Bunnell's Black and Blue Series from 1941, exemplifies his unique Abstract Structure ...

Early original oil on canvas painting of sailboats in stormy seas by the American artist, Nahum Tschacbasov. Artist signed lower right and dated 1945. Condition is very good. Prese...

Very finely painted realist still life oil painting. Oil on canvas. Signed. Framed. Image size, 20H by 23L.

Work on canvas Golden wooden frame 57 x 74 x 3 cm Paul GAGARIN (1885-c.1980), Pavel Konstantinovich GAGARIN. Russian painter, emigrated to France in 1921 then worked in Brazil where...

Super rare World War Two period scene of St Pauls's Cathedral, London during the Blitz. Very few scenes of the Blitz were painted and this piece dated August 1945 was painted a few ...

Colliers Magazine 1947 American Scene Social Realism Modern Families in the Snow Katherine Wiggins (American 20th Century) "The Shrimp" 20 x 24 inch...

"Time Remembered" Mid 20th Century NYC Modern American Scene WPA El Railway 1940 A view of the Third Avenue El (elevated railway) at 28th Street, New York. Signed lower left. Titled verso. c. 1940. oil on board c. 1940, 27.875 h × 21.75 w inches. BIO Staats Cotsworth...

Mid-century oil on masonite modern painting by the well known Russian/American artist, Nahum Tschacbasov. Signed top left and dated 1949. Titled verso. Condition is fair. Provenanc...

Nathan Hoffman Brighton Beach, July 31, 1946 Signed, dated, and estate stamped on the reverse Oil on artist's board 10 x 13 1/2 inches Provenance: Esta...