Items Similar to American Abstract Expressionist California Oil Canvas Painting Still Life 1937
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 15
Hans Gustav BurkhardtAmerican Abstract Expressionist California Oil Canvas Painting Still Life 1937circa 1937
circa 1937
$3,900
£2,977.63
€3,440.63
CA$5,474.86
A$6,102.30
CHF 3,201.67
MX$74,519.08
NOK 40,540.10
SEK 38,316.56
DKK 25,678.90
About the Item
A good abstract expressionist oil on canvas still life, by the Swiss-American artist Hans Gustav Burkhardt (1901-1994), Los Angeles California, 1937.
This very attractive still life is from the very begining of American Abstract Expressionism, by one of the early exponents of the style. The painting is signed lower left "H. Burkhardt", condition is very good indeed and is ready to grace your wall.
Provenance: Abbey Picture Framing, Hollywood, California, acquired directly from the artist in exchange for framing services, circa 1937
Henry Ruff and Josephine Brownson Ruff, acquired from the above in exchange for rental payments by Abbey Picture Framing, at 7857 Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles.
At Sight: 16.5" Wide x 13.5" High
Burkhardt was born in Basel, Switzerland and moved to New York when he was 20, from 1925 to 1928 he attended the Cooper Union School of the Arts, where he befriended mentor Arshile Gorky and Willem de Kooning—sharing Gorky's studio from 1928 to 1937.
Burkhardt's paintings of the 1930s are part of the genesis of American abstract expressionism. In 1937 he moved to Los Angeles and represented the most significant bridge between New York and Los Angeles. His experimental investigative approach paralleled, and in many instances anticipated, the development of modern and contemporary art in New York and Europe including the work of Mark Rothko, Jackson Pollock, and Barnett Newman.
Burkhardt held his first solo exhibition in 1939 at Stendahl Gallery in Los Angeles, arranged by Lorser Feitelson, and, in response to the Spanish Civil War, he painted his first anti-war works. From the late 1930s he began to produce apocalyptic anti-war compositions, a theme which became particularly pronounced in an abstract expressionist style after the atom bomb was dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of the Second World War. He was praised for his “willingness to confront political reality directly in his art,”and in the 1940s he embarked on a body of work that underscored the duality evident throughout his entire oeuvre—cathartic works of power and poignancy contrasted by works of celebration and hope.
In the years following an acclaimed (1945) solo exhibition at the Los Angeles County Museum, Burkhardt continued in his art to respond to WWII, and endured censorship due to the proliferation of McCarthyism, and in the aftermath of Gorky's suicide in 1948, Burkhardt delved in to his grief and celebration of Gorky's life creating several versions of “Burial of Gorky” and a series entitled “Journey into the Unknown.”
Burkhardt first visited Mexico in 1950, and spent the next decade living half of the year in and around Guadalajara. Strongly influenced by Mexican attitudes towards the dead, and by the country's colors, sensuality, and spiritual qualities, Burkhardt “painted the soul of Mexico” with Mexican themes and colors—especially those of burials and ceremonies surrounding death—permeating his abstract work. Art critics of the time considered him a "great Mexican master” alongside Orozco, Rivera, and Siqueiros, and Rufino Tamayo admired his work. Overall, in the 1950s Burkhardt held 23 solo exhibitions in Los Angeles and Mexico, and participated in group shows at over thirty museums worldwide.
In the 1960s he produced paintings in protest against the Vietnam War, some of which incorporated the human skulls he had collected from Mexican graveyards. As art historian Donald Kuspit stated, Burkhardt was “a master—indeed the inventor—of the abstract memento mori.” In 1964, for the first time in forty years, Burkhardt returned to Basel, and began making annual summer visits where he became a friend of Mark Tobey—printing linocuts for the artist and collecting his work.
In the 1970s Burkhardt continued his anti-war paintings—incorporating protruding wooden spikes into the canvas—while simultaneously painting abstractions of merging lovers and cityscapes during his summer visits to Basel. His “Small Print” (protesting smoking), “Graffiti,” and “Northridge” series demonstrate the evolution of his symbolism, and his “Desert Storms” series, in response to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, was discussed by critic Peter Selz at a presentation at the International Congress of Art Critics Conference.
In the last decades of his life, Burkhardt's work had moved from images of imbalance to a study of human tragedy—which he embraced in an attempt to discover beauty and facilitate understanding. Critic Peter Frank called Burkhardt “…one of America’s most vital abstract expressionist painters, someone who took the seed of the movement and cultivated it a rather different way in very different soil,” and historian Eugene Anderson declared Burkhardt “Goya’s spiritual heir.”
Burkhardt taught at numerous colleges and universities and retired as a professor emeritus from California State University, Northridge. In 1992 Burkhardt was honored as the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award by the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters’ Jimmy Ernst Award.Also in 1992, he established the Hans G. and Thordis W. Burkhardt Foundation. In 1993, the last year of his career, his final series “Black Rain” channeled pain and hardship, but provided poignant, symbolic beacons of hope and wishes for a better future for humanity. His unique role as an important American painter is affirmed by the constant interest and continuing reassessment afforded his work.
- Creator:Hans Gustav Burkhardt (1904-1994, American)
- Creation Year:circa 1937
- Dimensions:Height: 21 in (53.34 cm)Width: 24 in (60.96 cm)Depth: 2.75 in (6.99 cm)
- Medium:
- Movement & Style:
- Period:
- Condition:Very good condition.
- Gallery Location:Portland, OR
- Reference Number:Seller: BB-97551stDibs: LU1366212232902
Hans Gustav Burkhardt
Born in Basel, Switzerland in 1904, Burkhardt emigrated to New York in 1924. Upon his arrival to New York, he became associated with the pioneers of what was to later emerge as the New York School, Arshile Gorky and Willem De Kooning. He shared Gorky's studio between 1928 and 1937. In 1937, arriving in Los Angeles, Burkhardt represented the most direct link to the New York School. In Los Angeles, he independently pursued his Abstract Expressionist style, often anticipating the work of his contemporaries and later artists on the East Coast and in Europe. His first solo exhibition in 1939 at the Stendahl Gallery was at the suggestion of Lorser Feitelson, who was responsible for Burkhardt's inclusion in numerous national exhibitions. As Director of the L.A. Art Association, Feitelson chose Burkhardt to be the first artist afforded a solo show by the Association. Burkhardt's paintings spanned the range of human emotion, and while perhaps having painted the most provocative body of work on the subject of war, spanning the Spanish Civil War through his final works of the 1990s, his ouevre was balanced by works of celebration. While Los Angeles art in the 1960s was seduced by California Light, Hard Edge, Minimalism and Pop Art, Burkhardt, in typical independent manner, created what many now regard as some of the most powerful examples of Abstract Expressionism and is also well-known for his richly drawn pastel abstractions of the figure. Hans Burkhardt's works have in recent years increasingly been exhibited in museum exhibitions nationally and internationally. He continues to attract significant critical attention from some of the leading art historians such as Peter Selz and Donald Kuspit. Burkhardt's works are included in the collections of such major museums as the British Museum, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Guggenheim Museum, Whitney Museum, Hirshhorn Museum, Palace of the Legion Honor, Santa Barbara Museum and Los Angeles County Museum. In 1922, Burkhardt was honored in New York by the American Academy of Art for his lifetime achievement. He died in Los Angeles in 1994.
About the Seller
5.0
Platinum Seller
Premium sellers with a 4.7+ rating and 24-hour response times
Established in 1990
1stDibs seller since 2020
57 sales on 1stDibs
Typical response time: 1 hour
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Shipping from: Portland, OR
- Return Policy
Authenticity Guarantee
In the unlikely event there’s an issue with an item’s authenticity, contact us within 1 year for a full refund. DetailsMoney-Back Guarantee
If your item is not as described, is damaged in transit, or does not arrive, contact us within 7 days for a full refund. Details24-Hour Cancellation
You have a 24-hour grace period in which to reconsider your purchase, with no questions asked.Vetted Professional Sellers
Our world-class sellers must adhere to strict standards for service and quality, maintaining the integrity of our listings.Price-Match Guarantee
If you find that a seller listed the same item for a lower price elsewhere, we’ll match it.Trusted Global Delivery
Our best-in-class carrier network provides specialized shipping options worldwide, including custom delivery.More From This Seller
View AllModernist Spanish Abstract Impressionist Oil Canvas Still Life Painting 1950
By Juan Guillermo
Located in Portland, OR
A good Spanish Modernist Abstract Impressionist painting by Juan Guillermo Rodriguez Baez (1916-1968), still life oil on canvas, circa 1950.
The painting depicts a table with a brigh...
Category
1950s Abstract Impressionist Still-life Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
American WPA Oil painting High Desert Landscape Pacific Northwest Oregon
Located in Portland, OR
A very good Impressionist oil painting of the Oregon High Desert by the celebrated Pacific Northwest WPA artist Arthur Runquist (1891-1971), circa 1942.
Arthur Runquist was at the fo...
Category
1940s Impressionist Landscape Paintings
Materials
Oil
Large Antique Italian Baroque 18th Century Still Life Fruit Oil Canvas Painting
Located in Portland, OR
An exceptional & large antique Italian baroque still life oil on canvas painting, attributed to Carlo Magini (1720-1804), a still life scene of a table setting with bowls of fruit, c...
Category
1780s Italian School Still-life Paintings
Materials
Oil, Canvas
Monumental Abstract Modernist Oil Panel Oregon Centennial Exposition Mural 1959
By Louis Bunce
Located in Portland, OR
Monumental modernist oil on panel painting by Louis Demott Bunce (1907-1983), from an installation for the Oregon Centennial Exposition, 1959.
A rare & important and monumental abstract painting by the celebrated Oregon artist Louis Bunce, the artist was commissioned to paint a mural for the 1959 Oregon Centennial & Trade Fair in Portland, the installation was titled " Gay Garden Way ", it was painted for the exterior of the Horticultural building. The mural having abstract plant abstractions, according to Bunce in his own words it was "the rounded shapes of flowers and the sun", the mural created a major furor from the conservative art public.
The painting signed and dated by the artist lower left, the work was sold in the late 1980s through the celebrated Laura Russo Gallery, this painting is featured in Roger Hull's book; "Louis Bunce, Dialogue with Modernism".
The painting is in good condition and ready to grace your wall.
Louis Bunce attended high school and the Museum Art School before leaving for the Art Students League in New York. He established a New York connection that began when he first attended classes there in 1927 and continued over the years with frequent visits. He became friends with many promising artists, including Jackson Pollock and David Smith. In 1939 he worked for the WPA Easel Project in New York and by the time he returned to Portland he was an established artist on the East Coast. He worked at the WPA art center in Salem as an Instructor and Assistant Director. His work included murals, two of which are in the Post Offices in Grants Pass and St. Johns. Their subjects, mining and orchard farming, are activities of each region. "I have always been visually drawn to the landscape, at first the desert and mountain regions of Wyoming; then the lush and gentle color of the Pacific Northwest and the urban landscape of New York." From 1942-1945 he worked as an illustrator, a tool designer, and in assembly for the Oregon Shipbuilding Corporation. After WWII, Bunce joined the faculty of the Museum Art School in Portland, where he had been a student in 1925-1926. He taught there until his retirement in 1972. He excelled at producing screen-prints and introduced this technique to Oregon. While maintaining a national reputation throughout the 1950s and 1960s, some of New York's most prestigious galleries represented him. Theater buffs will remember his murals and portraits for Portland Civic Theater's 1938 production of Pride and Prejudice. In a career that made him one of the most recognized names in Oregon's art history, Bunce had many styles: cubism, expressionism, surrealism and abstractionism. His 1958 mural in the Portland International Airport presents this abstract style: "whirling propellers and shadows of the concourse as seen from above." It was controversial at the time as being too abstract for a public art project. Louis and wife Eda opened a full-time art gallery in Portland in 1949, called the Kharouba. Located first at 1016 SE Morrison, then at SW 11th and Alder, the gallery represented many of the leading artists of the day: Josephine Cameron, William Givler, Clifford Gleason, Jack Hammack, Charles Heaney, Frederick Heidel, George Johanson, Jack McLarty, Rick Norwood, C.S. Price, Arthur Runquist, Jolan Torok, Charles Voorhies...
Category
1950s Modern Abstract Paintings
Materials
Oil
Large American Abstract Expressionist Oil Painting "Blue Landscape" Oregon 1955
Located in Portland, OR
A large American Abstract Expressionist oil on canvas painting by Pacific Northwest artist Frederick Heidel ( 1915-2000), "Blue Landscape", Oregon, circa 1955.
This is a large & earl...
Category
1950s Abstract Abstract Paintings
Materials
Oil
Chinese Impressionist Oil Painting on Board Hong Kong Landscape Hu Shanyu, 1950s
Located in Portland, OR
Important, Impressionist original oil painting on artist's board, a landscape of Hong Kong circa 1950s, by the renowned Chinese Artist Hu Shanyu (1909-1993).
Hu Shanyu was born in G...
Category
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Landscape Paintings
Materials
Oil
You May Also Like
Large Antique American Modernist Still Life 1940s Nicely Framed Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Antique American modernist interior still life oil painting. Oil on canvas. Framed. In excellent original condition. Handsomely framed in a modernt wood molding. Excellent cond...
Category
1940s Modern Interior Paintings
Materials
Oil, Canvas
California Expressionist Still Life Painting signed Frank Lenfest
By Frank Lenfest
Located in San Francisco, CA
Still life painting in original wood frame, signed Lenfest.
Oil on canvas.
Frank Alger Lenfest (1909 - 1968) was active/lived in California. Frank Lenfest is known for Painter, com...
Category
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Paintings
Materials
Canvas
Still Life - Original Oil on Canvas by Arturo Tosi - 1936
By Arturo Tosi
Located in Roma, IT
Still Life is a beautiful original oil on Canvas realized by Arturo Tosi in 1936.
Signed lower right "A. Tosi".
Includes a beautiful coeval wooden frame cm...
Category
1930s Modern Figurative Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Antique American Modernist Abstract Still Life Nicely Framed Signed Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Impressive early American modernist still life oil painting. Framed. Oil on board. Signed.
Category
1950s Modern Abstract Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
$396 Sale Price
20% Off
Still Life - Oil on board - Mid-20th Century
Located in Roma, IT
Still Life is an original modern artwork realized by an Unknown Artist in the mid-20th Century.
A mixed colored oil on board.
Hand signed on the lower left margin J. Meamier.
Incl...
Category
Mid-20th Century Modern Figurative Paintings
Materials
Oil
Mid-Century Modern American Oil Painting Abstract cubist still life fruit
Located in Buffalo, NY
Anita Johnson
Untitled (Still Life with Pitcher and Basket of Fruit), c. 1950s
Oil on canvas
Framed dimensions: 30 in. H × 27 in. W
Original vintage frame in silver gilt
In Still Li...
Category
Mid-20th Century Cubist Abstract Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
More Ways To Browse
Anti War
Gorky Arshile
Dead Body
Tobey Mark
Mexican Skull
Peter Storm
Lorser Feitelson
Still Life Painting Pears
Victorian Flower Painting
Vintage Wine Paintings
Hyperrealism Paint
Green Apple Painting
Dutch Woman Oil
Figs Paintings
Oil Painting Pear
Italian Fruit Painting
Impressionist Purple Flowers Painting
Antique Rose Oil Paintings