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Size: Medium
L'Atelier Mourlot by Fernand Leger
Located in New York, NY
This colorful lithographic poster was printed in 1982 at the Atelier Mourlot in Paris was printed for an exhibition of Atelier Mourlot prints in Tokyo at Seibu Department Stores, 198...
Category

1980s Modern Portrait Paintings

Materials

Lithograph

It's Five O'clock Acrylic on Canvas Lattice of Tiny Lines Squares Depth Texture
Located in Houston, TX
The Cocktail Paintings It's Five O'Clock These four cocktail paintings are completed at a certain point at which time the artist will start to add a mosaic style pattern to the en...
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic, Panel

Portrait of Madame Leblond
Located in BELEYMAS, FR
French school circa 1815 Portrait of Madame Leblond Oil on canvas H. 66 cm; W. 55 cm Named on the back Comparable to the works of painters such as Louis Hersent, our portrait, unsig...
Category

1810s French School Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

1960's French Portrait Caricature Figure
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
French Character Portrait French school, Mid 20th Century Gouache paint on unframed paper stamped Image : 25.5 x 20 inches Superbly decorative 1960's French portrait painting. Ide...
Category

Mid-20th Century Impressionist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Paper, Ink, Watercolor, Gouache

Girl with Toy Dog
Located in Edinburgh, GB
WILLIAM CROSSBIE RSA (1915-1999) Described by the Royal Scottish Academy as “one of the finest and most singular Scottish painters of the twentieth century”, am Crosby trained at Glasgow School of Art and in Paris under Ferdinand Leger...
Category

20th Century Other Art Style Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Portrait Of A British Officer, early 19th Century - Napoleonic Wars Era
Located in Blackwater, GB
Portrait Of A British Officer, early 19th Century Napoleonic wars Era Early 19th Century Napoleonic Wars Era portrait of a British military officer, oil on canvas. Excellent quality and condition portrait of the officer in his red tunic...
Category

Early 19th Century Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Black and Off-White Hand Painting on Canvas , 2024 - 'ego 108'
Located in Bruxelles, BE
Chidy Wayne (b. 1981, Spain) is an artist based in Barcelona. Over the years, he has established himself as a recognized figure in the art world, developing a personal artistic langu...
Category

2010s Contemporary Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Mixed Media, Acrylic

Portrait of a Young Woman - Pre-Raphaelite Victorian drawing girl white collar
Located in London, GB
This beautiful Victorian pencil drawing dates to around 1890 and is by an unknown hand. It is a head and shoulders portrait of a young lady gazing to her right. Her dark hair is tied...
Category

19th Century Pre-Raphaelite Portrait Paintings

Materials

Charcoal, Pencil

Nude at the Window Overlooking Sacré-Coeur
Located in London, GB
'Nude at the Window Overlooking Sacré-Coeur', oil on paper mounted on canvas, by Louis Latapie (circa 1930s). Although later in Latapie's career he embraced cubism and abstraction, t...
Category

1930s Expressionist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Paper, Oil

Portrait of a Gentleman, 17th Century English Oil on Canvas
By (Circle of) Mary Beale
Located in London, GB
Circle of Mary Beale 1633 - 1699 Portrait of a Gentleman Oil on canvas Image size: 30 x 25 inches Contemporary gilt frame Mary Beale was the daughter of a Suffolk clergyman.She married Charles Beale...
Category

17th Century Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

lovers
Located in Roma, GB
original oil paintings on canvas hand signed ready to be hanged on the wall coloured borders NO frame is required if decide to hang it on the wall as it is .
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Expressionist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

19th Century By Comte d'Houdetot Portrait of GiovanniAntonioFilippini Oil/canvas
Located in Milano, Lombardia
Frédéric-Christophe, Comte d'Houdetot (Paris, France, 1778 - 1859) Title: Portrait of Giovanni Antonio Filippini Medium: Oil on canvas Dimensions: without frame 72.50 x 42 cm - with ...
Category

19th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Lady in Purple - British 50's Impressionist oil painting portrait female artist
Located in London, GB
A vibrant portrait oil painting by female artist Pauline Glass who was educated on the continent at the Academy Julien and who exhibited throughout her career. This stunning oil is a...
Category

1950s Impressionist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Shellfish Harvester in the Albufera of Valencia Spain oil on canvas painting
By Juan Gonzalez Alacreu
Located in Barcelona, Barcelona
Title: Shellfish Harvester in the Albufera of Valencia Artist: Juan González Alacreu Technique: Oil on canvas Style: Luminist costumbrism Dimensions without frame: 31.89 x 23.62 in D...
Category

1990s Impressionist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Blue , American Realist painter, Representational Figurative art, Portrait
Located in Houston, TX
Blue is painted in the style of American Realism. The painting is Representational Figurative art which is a time consuming process especially with portraits and figurative art. T...
Category

2010s American Realist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

Vague
Located in Ibadan, Oyo
No room for doubt come out to the light, flee from that past that keeps hunting you down. You don’t need to hide anymore, you’re a precious jewel. Painting Ships in a well-protected...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Charcoal, Acrylic

The Red Beard
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Joseph Solman, American (1909 - 2008) Title: The Red Beard Medium: Oil on Canvas, signed Size: 20.25 x 12 inches Frame Size: 30 x 22 inches
Category

1960s Color-Field Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Clifford Hanley (1948-2021) - Framed 1992 Oil, To The Park
Located in Corsham, GB
A striking action portrait of a young male motorist looking in his rear view mirror, whilst driving in heavy Bristol traffic. Signed and dated to the lower right-hand corner. Present...
Category

1990s Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

19th Century Oil on Canvas German Noblewoman Portrait Painting, 1880
Located in Vicoforte, IT
German painting from late 19th century. Framework oil on canvas depicting a copy of a famous painting by Veronese, portrait of a young noblewoman of good pictorial quality. Modern fr...
Category

1880s Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

"Lady in Mantillia" Unsigned Tobin Collection. Exibited in recent Museum shows
Located in San Antonio, TX
Jose Arpa (1858-1952) San Antonio Artist Image Size: 25 x 20 Frame Size: 29 x 24 Medium: Oil "Lady in Mantilla" From the Robert Tobin Collection. Robert Tobin (deceased) San Antonio, Texas Developer and Philanthropist. Details This painting was exhibited in 2016-2017 at Several Texas Museums including the Panhandle Plains Museum.  Exhibition tag on verso. Biography Jose Arpa (1858-1952) Born in Carmona, Spain, José Arpa y Perea was known as "The Colorist Painter" of figures and landscapes, especially in Texas where he brought a fresh approach to San Antonio painting in his bright, sunlit local scenes.  He was also an etcher, illustrator, and muralist as well as an art teacher, and he started and ended his career in Spain.  His subjects include the Grand Canyon of Arizona. He began his art study as the pupil of Eduardo Cano de la Pena at the Academy of Fine Arts in Seville and then spent six years in Rome followed by extensive travel through Africa and Europe.  His reputation was solid enough that the Spanish government sent four of his paintings as part of the exhibition to the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. In 1894, as an illustrator, he accompanied a Spanish army expedition to Morocco where the Spanish had been defeated by Rifi tribesmen.  In the mid-1890s, he was brought to Mexico City, reportedly by a special Mexican naval vessel, to head the Academy of Fine Arts, but declined the position once he understood the responsibilities.  Instead he joined one of his Spanish schoolmates and went to his home in Puebla, Mexico, where his use of bright colors earned him the name of "Sunshine Man."  He became close to the children of this man, and in 1903, accompanied them as a guardian to school in San Antonio.  After twenty years of traveling in Spain, Mexico, the Southwest, and South America, Arpa settled in 1923 in San Antonio, Texas, where he became Director of the San Antonio Art School and painted bright, sun-filled landscapes.  He taught landscape and portrait painting and was exceedingly prolific, and several San Antonio collectors accumulated large numbers of his works.  Among his close artist friends were Robert and Julian Onderdonk, Tom and Joe Brown, and Charles Simmang.  They were members of a San Antonio group who painted together and called themselves the "Brass Mug...
Category

1880s Realist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Bauernkinder
Located in Wien, 9
The extensive work of Vilma Eckl covers a period of more than seventy years. Her incomparable artistic talent and her essential contribution to the history of art can be seen in her ...
Category

1920s Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

After Théophile Steinlen (1859-1923) - 20th Century Acrylic, Milk From Vingeanne
Located in Corsham, GB
A crisp and well rendered copy of the famous poster design from 1894. The painting is unsigned. On canvas.
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Portrait Paintings

Materials

Acrylic

Portrait of a Girl, Impressionist Oil Painting on Canvas by Lajos Rezes Molnar
By Lajos Rezes Molnar
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Lajos Rezes Molnar, Hungarian (1896 - 1989) Title: Portrait of a Girl Year: circa 1950 Medium: Oil on Canvas, signed l.r. Size: 24 x 20 in...
Category

1950s Impressionist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Devil Drive /// Contemporary Painting Canvas Funny Pop Street Art Car Driving
Located in Saint Augustine, FL
Artist: Dan May (American, 1955-) Title: "Devil Drive" *Signed and dated by May upper right Year: 1998 Medium: Original Acrylic Painting on heavy wove paper Sheet size: 28.13" x 21.6...
Category

1990s Contemporary Portrait Paintings

Materials

Paper, Acrylic, Paint

20th Century Oil - Girl In Pink And Blue
Located in Corsham, GB
A striking 20th Century portrait of a young girl in a pink and blue dress. The painting is unsigned and presented in a 20th Century gilt frame with white inner window. On canvas board.
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Clifford Hanley (1948-2021) - 1993 Oil, Sonombre
Located in Corsham, GB
A striking profile depiction of a man in the driver's seat of a car. Painted in an expressive style in a vibrant colour palette. Signed and dated to the lower left. Titled to the rev...
Category

1990s Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Italian genre portrait Middle Eastern beauty at a well 19th century oil painting
Located in Stockholm, SE
Bedouin girl posing for the painter in late sunlight (sunset). Was painted by Cavaliero Antonio Scognamiglio ca. 1870-1880, most likely in Cairo as similar work of smaller size was i...
Category

Late 19th Century Realist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Antique oil paining, A laughing man with an upturned glass, Dutch golden age
Located in DEVENTER, NL
Anonymous, 18th century Inspired by a painting by Petrus Staverenus (1610/1612 – 1654-07-28/1664-07-28) from a series of Five Senses 'Taste: A laughing man...
Category

18th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

At work. 1950, oil on cardboard, 49x69 cm
Located in Riga, LV
At work. 1950, oil on cardboard, 49x69 cm Socrealist artworks, women are sorting sprats Alfejs Bromults (1913.3.IV - 1991.11.I) His first professional education was at National Uni...
Category

1950s Realist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Cardboard

Romantic Portraits, Herman Richir, Brussels 1866 – 1942, Belgian Painter
Located in Knokke, BE
Romantic Portraits Richir Herman Brussels 1866 – 1942 Belgian Painter Signature: Attributed to Richir Herman Medium: Oil on canvas Dimensions: Image size 67,50 x 62,50 cm, frame size 69,50 x 64,50 cm Biography: Richir Herman Jean Joseph was born in Ixelles (Brussels), on November 4, 1866. He was a Belgian painter of portraits, still lifes, genre paintings, nudes and landscapes. He made decorative paintings to fit into private homes. Richir mainly painted portraits. His clients usually belonged to the higher circles. He portrayed amongst others King Albert and Queen Elisabeth, Cardinal Mercier and Countess d’Oultremont. Less known are the landscape paintings he made Limburg and Kempen, where he regularly stayed with befriended artist Emile Van Doren (1865 – 1949). Herman Richir first studied at the Sint-Joost-ten-Node Academy with Gustave Biot and Charles Hermans, continued his education at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels (1884-1889) with the master teacher and artist Jean-Francois Portaels (1818 – 1895). In 1886, during his studies, he won second Prize of Rome for Painting. Richir lived in Schaarbeek. In 1900 he became a teacher of drawing and in 1905 first teacher of painting after nature at the Brussels Academy. He was director there several times 1906-1907, 1910, 1911, 1915-1919, 1925-1927. He was retired in 1927. His pupils included Albert Alleman (1892 – 1933), Éliane de Meuse (1899 – 1993), Paul Hagemans (1884 – 1959), Maurice Mareels (1893 – 1976), Guy Onkelinx (1879 – 1935), Georges Rogy (1897 – 1981), José Storie (1899 – 1961), Charles Swyncop (1895 – 1970), Maurice Schelck...
Category

20th Century Romantic Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Rabbi with a Fur Hat, Oil Painting by Jeno Gussich
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Jeno Gussich, Hungarian (1905 - ??) Title: Rabbi with a Fur Hat Medium: Oil on Canvas, signed lower right Size: 24 x 20 inches Frame Size: 30.5 x...
Category

Mid-20th Century Realist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Margaret McClean - 20th Century Oil, Portrait on Blue
Located in Corsham, GB
A portrait of a man wearing a blue polka-dot bow tie sat against a blue background. Presented in a substantial painted and distressed frame with a linen slip. Signed to the lower-lef...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

"Unemployed" WPA American Scene Social Realism Mid 20th Century Modern
Located in New York, NY
"Unemployed" WPA American Scene Social Realism Mid 20th Century Modern William Gropper (1898 - 1977) Unemployed 20 x 16 inches Oil on canvas, 1937 Signed lower right Provenance: Estate of the artist Bio Throughout his life, William Gropper used his artistic talents to protest social injustice. Born in New York City, he grew up there in poverty and left high school to work as a dishwasher and delivery boy. He eventually began a career in art and was able to study with Robert Henri and George Bellows from 1912 to 1915. He adopted their realistic painting style, and his own work expressed sympathy for common laborers and outrage at society's ills. In 1919 Gropper established a reputation as a political cartoonist working for the New York Tribune. His blunt, forceful style attracted the attention of other publications, and he provided illustrations and cartoons for a variety of magazines, from the left-wing New Masses to mainstream Vanity Fair. Like many social realist artists of the 1930s, Gropper supported liberal political causes, depicting subjects such as the plight of migrant laborers and striking factory workers. In his first gallery exhibition in 1936 at ACA Galleries, Gropper's work was so well received by critics, collectors, and artists that the following year he had two one-man exhibitions at ACA Galleries. In 1937, Gropper traveled west on a Guggenheim Fellowship and visited the Dust Bowl and the Hoover and Grand Coulee Dams, sketching studies for a series of paintings and a mural he painted for the Department of the Interior. That same year he had paintings purchased by both the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art. Gropper exhibited at the 1939 New York World's Fair, Whitney Museum of American Art (1924-55), Art Institute of Chicago (1935-49), Carnegie International (1937-50), Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (1939-48), and National Academy of Design (1945-48). He was a founder of the Artists Equity Association and member of the National Institute of Arts and Letters. From 1940 to 1945 William Gropper was preoccupied with anti-Nazi cartoons...
Category

1930s American Realist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

'Together in Prayer' by Joseph Meganck ( 1807 – 1891 ), signed and dated 1845
Located in Knokke, BE
Joseph Meganck 1807 – Aalst – 1891 Belgian Painter 'Together in Prayer' Signature: signed lower right and dated 1845 'Meganck 45'
 Medium: oil on panel
 Dimensions: image 46 x 37 c...
Category

Mid-19th Century Romantic Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil, Panel

Trumpet Player, 1960's Oil Painting by Marshall Goodman
Located in Long Island City, NY
Trumpet Player Marshall Goodman, American (1916–2003) Date: circa 1960 Oil on Canvas Size: 30 in. x 24 in. (76.2 cm x 60.96 cm) Frame Size: 32 x 26 inches
Category

1960s American Modern Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Handsome Men at Race Track , Horse Racing
Located in Miami, FL
Done most likely for Look Magazine, Sports Illustrated and Playboy or perhaps an advertising agency. Work is framed in a simple metal frame
Category

1970s Art Deco Figurative Paintings

Materials

Acrylic

Anne Hathaway and Brooklyn Fish
Located in Greenwich, CT
The intention of this work is to generate conversations about values and identity by assembling unlikely pairs, Hollywood film icons and nostalgic comic book environments. Each entit...
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Portrait of Grandmother and Grandson titled "Peeling Apples"
Located in Fredericksburg, VA
John George Brown (1831–1913) was a prominent British-born American painter, renowned for his genre paintings that vividly depict the everyday life of chi...
Category

Late 19th Century Hudson River School Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Anwen Roberts - 2009 Oil, A Moment Of Melancholy
Located in Corsham, GB
An emotive contemporary oil showing a solemn old man sitting on the front steps of a house with the front door opening onto a darkened interior. The artist has signed and dated to th...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

"Emeka", Muscular Bare-Chested Bald Man with Bent Knee
Located in Clermont-Ferrand, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
This piece is not framed. Raluca Vulcan is a French-Romanian artist who likes to express the life and sensitivity of the human body, mostly through nudes and portraits.
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Mixed Media, Acrylic

Portrait, Abstract Acrylic and Mixed Media on Paper Painting by David Stern
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: David Stern Title: Portrait Year: 1997 Medium: Acrylic & Mixed Media on Paper, signed l.r. Size: 30 x 22 inches (76.2 x 55.88 cm)
Category

1990s Abstract Portrait Paintings

Materials

Acrylic, Mixed Media, Archival Paper

Gouache Mädchen mit Katze ( Girl with a Cat ) by Werner Reifahrt 1948
By Werner Reifarth
Located in Berlin, DE
Gouache on paper, 1948 by Werner Reifarth ( 1919-1977 ) , Germany. Monogrammed and dated top right: R48. Framed. Height: 26.38 in ( 67 cm ), Width: 16.93 in ( 43 cm ) This captivati...
Category

Mid-20th Century Aesthetic Movement Portrait Paintings

Materials

Gouache, Paper

Isabelle Mulvany - Contemporary Gouache, Home Sweet Home
Located in Corsham, GB
An incredibly vibrant and eye catching painting in gouache showing a young woman, hunched on the floor of her new home. The painting throws a humorous spin on the realities of a new home in the treacherous property market. She smiles a joyless smile whilst holding up her house key...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Portrait Paintings

Materials

Gouache

Large Modernist Paris Street Scene Wine Shop Montmartre Cafe Ladies Lithograph
Located in Surfside, FL
Framed 32 x 26 image 22 x 16 Charles Levier (1920-2004) He was born in 1920 of a French father and American mother in Corsica. He held a fascination with color and form that led him...
Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Figurative Prints

Materials

Lithograph

Minimal Abstract Impressionist Recling Nude Painting
Located in Houston, TX
Modern abstract female nude painting in neutral tones. The work has Oris Robertson's signature textured surface that creates an uneven painting surface. ...
Category

1970s Abstract Nude Paintings

Materials

Gesso, Oil

The Naiad and the Swan - Painting 19th Century
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
Albert Auguste FOURIE (1854-1937) The Naiad And The Swan Oil on Wood signed low left New golden and invory stick frame Dim wood panel : 35 X 27 ...
Category

Late 19th Century Symbolist Nude Paintings

Materials

Oil

Portrait Of A Lady In A Grey Jacket, circa 1900 - Sir John Lavery (1856-1941)
Located in Blackwater, GB
Portrait Of A Lady In A Grey Jacket, circa 1900 signed Lavery - circle of Sir John Lavery (1856-1941) Large 19th / early 20th century portrait of a lady...
Category

19th Century Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

"Lila 11", Back View of a Young Woman with a Bun in a White Top or Dress
Located in Clermont-Ferrand, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
This piece is not framed. Raluca Vulcan is a French-Romanian artist who likes to express the life and sensitivity of the human body, mostly through nudes and portraits.
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Mixed Media, Acrylic

Phalbourne - 20th Century Oil, Italian Gypsy
Located in Corsham, GB
A fine 20th Century portrait in oil showing a striking looking Italian woman with a furrowed brow. She is wearing a red shawl around her shoulders and has a regal posture and stare, ...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Clifford Hanley (1948-2021) - Framed 1998 Oil, Morning On The Front
Located in Corsham, GB
A eye-catching female portrait by Clifford Hanley, set on a stripy red and green background. Signed and dated to the upper right-hand corner. Well presented in a light wooden frame. ...
Category

1990s Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

The Family - Oil Paint by Sirio Pellegrini - 1969
Located in Roma, IT
Oil on plywood realized by Martin Bradley in 1974.  Hand signed and dated in top right corner; hand signed and titled on rear. Very good condition.
Category

1960s Contemporary Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Plywood

Portrait of a Young Man Oil Painting Celebrated 20th Century Artist
By Oliver Messel
Located in London, GB
Oliver Messel 1904 - 1978 Portrait of a Young Man Oil on canvas, signed and dated 'Oliver Messel 1930' (on the stretcher) Image size: 30 x 25 inches (76.2 x 63.4 cm) Original frame Oliver Messel was born to Leonard and Maud Messel, née Sambourne, on the 13 January 1904 and was the youngest of three children. The family moved to Nymans, the Messel family home in Sussex, from nearby Balcombe in 1915. The house remained in the family until 1953 when it was bequeathed to the National Trust, following a fire in 1947 which destroyed a large portion of the house. The Messels originated from a line of German Jewish bankers on Leonard’s side, however, both family lines boast a number of artistic influences, including Maud’s father. Maud was brought up at 18 Stafford Terrace, Kensington (now known as the Linley Sambourne House Museum), amongst collections of antique porcelain and eighteenth-century furniture, and with a host of artistic visitors such as Henry Irving and Oscar Wilde. Oliver’s own upbringing appears to be influenced by his mother's, as the Messel family were also affiliated with artists and writers and were keen collectors of art, filling their home with textiles, paintings and collections of European and Asian fans from travels abroad. It was amongst such treasures that Oliver, Anne and Linley spent their childhood, in addition to the beauty of Nyman’s extensive gardens. Oliver was schooled at Eton but rather than going up to university was encouraged by family friends, gallery owner Archie Propert and painter and sculptor Glyn Philpot, to attend art school. In 1922 he enrolled at the Slade School of Fine Art in London, where he studied under Henry Tonks. Here, he met the artist Rex Whistler with whom he remained firm friends until Whistler’s death in WW2. Upon leaving the Slade in 1924 Oliver was apprenticed to the studio of portrait artist John Wells, where he learnt various Old Master painting techniques, and met artists such as Jacob Epstein, Augustus John and William Orpen. Whilst at the Slade Oliver developed his interest in Papier Mâché masks, a pastime popular amongst many art students at the time. Whilst apprenticed to artist John Wells several of Oliver’s masks were exhibited at the Claridge Gallery, London, alongside pieces by Whistler and other young artists. These were seen by Serge Diaghilev, director of the Ballet Russes, and Charles B. Cochran, a theatrical producer, both of whom made Oliver offers of work. His first job in the theatre was creating masks for the Ballets Russes’ Zéphyr et Flore, 1925, designed by the French artist Georges Braque, followed by numerous musical revues for Cochran, including Wake Up and Dream!, 1929, with music by Cole Porter. It was during these revues, working with Porter and Noel Coward, that Oliver also began to design headdresses and costumes. In 1932 he was rewarded with his first full commission to design both costume and sets for Helen!, directed by Max Reinhardt. The production design is still celebrated today for its innovative approach and ground-breaking ‘white on white’ aesthetic, which referenced ‘Greek temples, Rococo drapes, Baroque colonnades and Louis XIV carousels’. The success of Helen! led to further offers within the theatre including Reinhardt’s version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Old Vic in 1937, starring Vivien Leigh as Titania and Robert Helpmann as Oberon, the Jean Cocteau play The Infernal Machine in 1940, and Christopher Fry’s translation of Jean Anouilh’s Ring Round the Moon, 1950. One of Oliver’s best-known productions during this period was the Russian ballet The Sleeping Beauty, performed by Sadler’s Wells Ballet in 1946 at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Encompassing over 200 costumes and four set changes, Oliver’s romantic designs were celebrated for bringing colour back to post-war London, and variations on his designs are still used today. Additional designs for the ballet included Comus in 1940, for which he was released from war duties, and Homage to the Queen, choreographed by Frederick Ashton and performed in 1953 for the Queen’s coronation. His first opera was in 1940 for Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte at the Royal Opera House, followed by a series of productions at the newly founded Glyndebourne Opera House in Sussex, for which Oliver also designed the proscenium arch. He triumphed in 1956 designing a season of four different productions for their Mozart bicentennial, also providing illustrations for the programme covers. His popularity also spread beyond theatre to film, were he worked on over eight different feature films including Romeo and Juliet, 1936, directed by George Cukor. During a three-month research trip to Italy Oliver collected over 3,000 reference images including postcards of artwork by Piero della Francesca, Giovanni Bellini and Leonardo da Vinci, along with prints and photographs of textiles and architectural features. A production of Gabriel Pascal’s Caesar and Cleopatra, 1946, starring Vivien Leigh and Claude Rains, was celebrated for Oliver’s ability to recreate the opulence and luxury of ancient Egypt under the constraints of wartime rationing. Such was his skill that Vivien Leigh in a letter to Oliver declared that “I have of course told Pascal that nobody in the world must do the costumes except you.” He was later nominated for an Academy Award for his work on his final film Suddenly, Last Summer, 1959; an adaptation of Tennessee Williams’ American Southern Gothic mystery. Having started his artistic career as a portrait apprentice, capturing the faces of family and friends, Oliver continued to develop this practice until the end of his life.  His style is said to have been influenced by Glyn Philpot, the Messel’s family friend who encouraged Oliver from an early age in his pursuit of art and design. His most prolific period came in the 1950s during which he produced over 50 portraits, which were shown in exhibitions in New York, London and Barbados. The exhibitions included both well-known faces and anonymous sitters captured on Oliver’s travels, and a number of these works have entered private collections. He continued to paint after moving to the Caribbean in 1966, capturing society figures and the rich and famous including fashion designer Carolina Herrera and Bianca Jagger. His style remained unchanged throughout his career, using the same soft painterly strokes and subtle palette as in his theatre designs. By far his greatest contribution in addition to theatre and film was Oliver’s interior and architectural designs. Another, much celebrated commission included Rayne shoe shop in Old Bond Street, where he created jewel-like interiors using the same practice of scaled models as his set designs. Other notable interior designs include those for Norwich and Bath Assembly Rooms, Flaxley Abbey in Gloucestershire, Rosehill Theatre in Cumbria and the Reader’s Digest offices in Paris. However, upon moving to Barbados in 1966, Oliver embraced a new career envisioning architectural concepts for private houses, hotels and public buildings, utilising his experience with interior design to furnish them with bespoke items of furniture and textiles. His first project was Maddox, the deserted eighteenth-century plantation house bought by himself and his partner Vagn Riis-Hansen in 1964. The existing building and gardens were remodelled to Oliver’s designs embracing an inherent theatricality with views out to sea. These were framed by terraces and verandas which extended out from the living rooms creating what is often referred to as a Caribbean style of ‘indoor-outdoor’ living. For the woodwork he used a shade of green that is now known as ‘Messel green’ and often associated with the island of Barbados. Oliver was born into a wealthy family; he travelled extensively and was exposed to art and culture from a young age. A privileged youth, his name is often mentioned amongst the ‘Bright Young Things’, for whom costume parties at country houses and jaunts to Europe on a whim became a thing of fable. This informal group included people such as Cecil Beaton (a life-long friend whom Oliver first met at Eton), Lord Berners, Noel Coward, John Betjeman, Harold Acton, Nancy Mitford, Edith Sitwell, Stephen Tennant...
Category

20th Century Modern Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Devil Emerges from Surrealist Voodoo Drum - Sans titre (Diable)
Located in Miami, FL
An image of a horned devil with pointy claws and bat-like wings emerges from a Voodoo drum. He has with arms stretched out like a Christ figure. The drum grows out of a yellow plant-...
Category

1970s Surrealist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Masonite, Oil

"Crossing", Oil Painting
Located in Denver, CO
Elizabeth Zanzinger's (US based) "Crossing" is an oil painting that depicts an elderly man crossing the high water of a river with a young child on...
Category

2010s Academic Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Panel

African Tribal Celebration: Alex Haley Roots for Readers Digest
Located in Miami, FL
Complex and detailed epic scale history painting of an African tribal celebration with an on-looking king. The work has an abundant amount o...
Category

1970s American Realist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Gouache

Akari. Holiday. Girl, Japan, Kimono
Located in Oslo, NO
The painting “Akari. Holiday” continues the series of paintings “Children of the World”. "Akari is the most popular girl's name in Japan today." said Anna about this portait. "The g...
Category

2010s Realist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil, Acrylic

Woman expressionist portrait mixed media painting
Located in Barcelona, Barcelona
Frame size 79x64 cm.
Category

1980s Expressionist Mixed Media

Materials

Mixed Media

1950's Mid Century modern oil portrait of a Black nude woman seated on a chair
Located in Woodbury, CT
Well painted 1950's mid-century modern English portrait of a black nude woman seated on a chair. The artist was a portrait and figure painter active during the 1950s-1960s Oils on ...
Category

1950s Abstract Impressionist Nude Paintings

Materials

Oil, Panel

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