Julian Onderdonk

"The Study" Still life. Book, Glasses, Candle, Lamp etc. Famed Texas Artist

Circa 1910

F. W. Ayers (Fred) "Still Life with Flowers and Fruit Bowl, 1939" (1884-1966) Houston Artist Image Size: 30 x 24 Frame Size: 34.5 x 28.5 Medium: oil "Still Life with Flowers and Fruit Bowl, 1939" F.W. (Fred) Ayers. Vice President of Hughes International Tool Houston Texas Biography F. W. Ayers (Fred) (1884-1966) Background Ayers, Fred Wesley was born on November 13, 1884 in Wilmington, Delaware, United States. Son of Frank Marion and Annie Elizabeth (Perry) Ayers. Education Mechanical Engineering, Scranton (Pennsylvania) Corresponding School, 1910. Career Junior executive, plant manager, works manager Éleuthère Irénée duPont Company, Wilmington, Delaware, 1911-1921. Vice president Klaxon Horn Company division General Motors Corporation, Bloomfield, Pennsylvania, 1922-1926, works manager Pontiac Motor Car Company, 1926-1928. Management engineer Auto Car Company, Ardmore, Pennsylvania, 1929-1930. Construction engineering layout, tooling for automobile plant Brandt & Associate, Moscow, The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, 1931-1932. Management, construction engineering budgetary control, cost systems, Birmingham, England, managing director Daimler Motor Car Company, Coventry, England, director Benton & Stone, Ltd., Birmingham, Chairman of the Board, director Samuel Booth & Sons, Ltd., Birmingham, 1932-1939. Senior vice president, general manager Hughes Tool Company, Houston, since 1943, also director. Director Trans World Airlines, Inc., Kansas City, Missouri, National Bank Commerce, Houston. Membership Mason.; Clubs: Petroleum, River Oaks...

F. W. Ayers (Fred) "Still Life Magnolias, 1943" (1884-1966) Houston Artist Image Size: 20.25 x15.25 Frame Size: 23.5 x 18.5 Medium: Oil "Still Life Magnolias, 1943" F.W. (Fred) Ayers. Vice President of Hughes International Tool Houston Texas Biography F. W. Ayers (Fred) (1884-1966) Background Ayers, Fred Wesley was born on November 13, 1884 in Wilmington, Delaware, United States. Son of Frank Marion and Annie Elizabeth (Perry) Ayers. Education Mechanical Engineering, Scranton (Pennsylvania) Corresponding School, 1910. Career Junior executive, plant manager, works manager Éleuthère Irénée duPont Company, Wilmington, Delaware, 1911-1921. Vice president Klaxon Horn Company division General Motors Corporation, Bloomfield, Pennsylvania, 1922-1926, works manager Pontiac Motor Car Company, 1926-1928. Management engineer Auto Car Company, Ardmore, Pennsylvania, 1929-1930. Construction engineering layout, tooling for automobile plant Brandt & Associate, Moscow, The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, 1931-1932. Management, construction engineering budgetary control, cost systems, Birmingham, England, managing director Daimler Motor Car Company, Coventry, England, director Benton & Stone, Ltd., Birmingham, Chairman of the Board, director Samuel Booth & Sons, Ltd., Birmingham, 1932-1939. Senior vice president, general manager Hughes Tool Company, Houston, since 1943, also director. Director Trans World Airlines, Inc., Kansas City, Missouri, National Bank Commerce, Houston. Membership Mason.; Clubs: Petroleum, River Oaks...

F. W. Ayers (Fred) "Still Life with Flowers and Asian Figurines, 1938 " (1884-1966) Houston Artist Image Size: 24 x 16 Frame Size: 26.5 x 18.5 Medium: oil Dated 1938 "Still Life with Flowers and Asian Figurines, 1938 " F.W. (Fred) Ayers. Vice President of Hughes International Tool Houston Texas Biography F. W. Ayers (Fred) (1884-1966) Background Ayers, Fred Wesley was born on November 13, 1884 in Wilmington, Delaware, United States. Son of Frank Marion and Annie Elizabeth (Perry) Ayers. Education Mechanical Engineering, Scranton (Pennsylvania) Corresponding School, 1910. Career Junior executive, plant manager, works manager Éleuthère Irénée duPont Company, Wilmington, Delaware, 1911-1921. Vice president Klaxon Horn Company division General Motors Corporation, Bloomfield, Pennsylvania, 1922-1926, works manager Pontiac Motor Car Company, 1926-1928. Management engineer Auto Car Company, Ardmore, Pennsylvania, 1929-1930. Construction engineering layout, tooling for automobile plant Brandt & Associate, Moscow, The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, 1931-1932. Management, construction engineering budgetary control, cost systems, Birmingham, England, managing director Daimler Motor Car Company, Coventry, England, director Benton & Stone, Ltd., Birmingham, Chairman of the Board, director Samuel Booth & Sons, Ltd., Birmingham, 1932-1939. Senior vice president, general manager Hughes Tool Company, Houston, since 1943, also director. Director Trans World Airlines, Inc., Kansas City, Missouri, National Bank Commerce, Houston. Membership Mason.; Clubs: Petroleum, River Oaks...

Edward Chalmers Leavitt (1842 - 1904) Rhode Island Artist Image Size: 36 x 28 Frame Size: 42.5 x 34.5 Newcomb Macklin Frame. Medium: Oil Dated 1889 "Duck Hunt" Mergansers Edward Chalmers Leavitt (1842 - 1904) Edward Chalmers Leavitt, artist, was born in Providence, Rhode Island, March 9, 1842, the son of Rev. Jonathan and Charlotte Esther (Stearns) Leavitt. His paternal ancestor was John Leavitt, who came to Massachusetts Bay in the first ship and settled in Hingham. On the maternal side, he is descended from John Alden and Priscilla Mullens, who came to Plymouth in the Mayflower. Leavitt was educated in private schools in Providence, and at Kimball Union Academy, Meriden, New Hampshire. During the Civil War in 1862 and 1863, he served in the navy on the U.S.S. Galena. In his profession of artist, Mr. Leavitt is especially noted as a painter of fruit, flowers and still life. He exhibited in the National Academy for several years and has made many successful exhibitions in Providence and Boston. He was a member of the Boston and Providence art clubs, and the Providence Press Club. He was also a member of the Grand Army of the Republic. In politics his proclivities are mainly Republican. He has been twice married: first, May 19, 1877, to Ellen M. Fuller; and second, April 22, 1880, to Elizabeth S. Chace. Submitted November 2004 by Edward Bentley, Art Collector and Researcher from Lansing, Michigan. Source is the publication "Men of Progress: Biographical Sketches and Portraits of Leaders in Business and Professional Life from the State of Rhode Island." New England magazine. 1896. Edward C. Leavitt, born in 1842, has been described as "Providence, Rhode Island's leading still-life painter" in the late 19th Century. (Zellman 324) His teacher, James Morgan Lewin, was a prominent still-life painter in Fall River, Massachusetts, a neighboring town. Leavitt, a detailed, sharp-focused, realistic painter, was in love with texture and light, and was prolific and successful, painting a variety of still life subjects including flowers, fruit and even fish and dead game animals. His objects, including costly antiques and household decorative items, were often placed on ornamental, gleaming surfaces. He was a frequent exhibitor at the National Academy of Design in the 1870s and 1890s. The artist, who died in 1904, moved from a position of success and popularity to being ignored for many years until the publication of William H. Gerdts and Russell Burke's American Still-Life Painting in 1971. It is uncertain whether this disastrous loss of respect took place because Leavitt's work declined in quality during the last decade of his life, or because he was a victim of the periodic shifts in taste and fashion that afflict the arts. Sources: Michael David Zellman, 300 Years of American Art Peter Hastings Falk, Editor, Who Was Who in American Art Biography from Roger King Fine Art Edward Leavitt was one of the leading still life artists of nineteenth century New England. He lived and worked in Providence, and studied with James Morgan Lewin, a leading painter of the Fall River School, which, in the late 19th Century, was one of the most important centers of still life painting. While Lewin branched out into other types of painting, Leavitt remained devoted to the art of the still life. His paintings are sharply focused, realistic, and carefully finished. Ornate objects such as urns, ewers, platters, cut glassware...

Michael Frary "THE PITCHER" Mid Century Modern (1918 - 2005) Austin Artist Image Size: 20 x 16 Frame Size: 27 x 23 Medium: Oil Circa 1940s "The Pitcher" Biography Michael Frary (1...

Jose Vives-Atsara (1919-2004) San Antonio Artist Image Size: 36 x 55 Frame Size: 46 x 65 Medium: Oil Applied by Palette Knife "Flowers" Biography Jose Vives-Atsara (1919-2004) San An...

Oil on panel, signed and dated 2018. Classic French black wooden frame with gold leaf. Unframed size: 19.69 inches high x 19.69 inches wide. Framed size: 25.2 inches high x 25.2 inches wide x 1.25 inches deep. Sold framed. Inspired by the modest works of the French painter, Chardin, this classic composition focuses on the simple, zen-like qualities of the gustatory delights of Stefaan’s locale, where bread and cheeses are freshly made and sold at his favorite outdoor market. Interposed with a large knife and antique glass wine bottle...

Oil on panel, signed and dated 2000. Unframed size: 15.7 inches high x 23.6 inches wide x 0.25 inches deep. Sold unframed. Reverse side with older, faded Eyckmans' painting and artist's label. Created in 2000, and much inspired by the Old Masters, this painting combines many “vanitas” symbols—reminders that change and death are inevitable. The skull, aging books, extinguished candle, fallen cup, and stopped watch are beautifully composed in close-up, utilizing a minimum of negative space. One can see the fuzzy and unrecognizable reflection of the painter, quite rare for him, in the silver incense holder. Note the complex composition, the strong use of chiaroscuro, and the masterful depiction of the human skull, the threads of the unravelling books, and the smoke of the candle. Please note that the last photo is of the reverse side of the painting, indicating that the panel was reused. Unlike Stefaan’s other works, this painting is sold unframed. This painting is available for viewing at The Elemental Garden...

Oil on panel, signed and dated 2009. French handmade wooden Delf frame, red bolus ground with gold leaf. Unframed size: 11.8 inches high x 19.7 inches wide. Framed size: 21.3 inches high x 29.1 inches wide x 1.25 inches deep. Sold framed. This striking and animated combination of plums with a 15th Century earthenware bowl placed atop a worn plank table hearkens back to the Old Masters while remaining present-day through its geometric composition and use of negative space. Chosen for the pictorial qualities…their shape, color, scale, and satiny skin, a true representation of plums is difficult to capture, as their essence changes and degrades in a matter of hours. As such, the artist focused on including their essential details in the first layer, a practice that is unusual for him. Note the exceptional detailing in the fine variations of color and shape of the fruit, particularly the stems, and the progressive feel attained through the balance of light and color. This painting is available for viewing at The Elemental Garden in Woodbury, CT, the exclusive U.S. representative for the artist. Stefaan...

Oil on panel, signed and dated 2012. French handmade wooden Delf frame, raised layered frame with tortoise-shell patina. Unframed size: 23.38 inches high x 19.63 inches wide. Framed size: 32.5 inches high x 28.625 inches wide x 2.75 inches deep. Sold framed. This whimsical example of “vanitas” plays with the unexpected elements that represent the feline life cycle. The cat skull was found by Stefaan’s dog, who loves to retrieve animal bones from the corners of their French property and present them to the artist for consideration. Fond of natural materials, particularly skulls, Stefaan sees striking, sculptural, and even mathematical characteristics in such subjects. The kitten postcard depicts a painting by Henriette Ronner-Knip, a famous cat painter. Mickey Mouse is there as an antagonist to the cat, although the amber bottle is tagged “mouse poison” in Latin, for a bit of playful schadenfreude. This painting is available for viewing at The Elemental Garden...

Oil on panel, signed and dated 2007. Classic French black wooden frame with raised panel and gold leaf. Unframed size: 18.11 inches high x 14.96 inches wide. Framed size: 25.6 inches high x 22.4 inches wide x 1.25 inches deep. Sold framed. Inspired by 17th century Masters, Davidz De Heem and Willem Heda...

Oil on panel, signed and dated 2012. French handmade wooden Delf frame, raised panel with dark gold/bronze patina and gold leaf. Unframed size: 19.09 inches high x 15.75 inches wide. Framed size: 29.5 inches high x 25.125 inches wide x 1.63 inches deep. Sold framed. Stefaan’s tribute to the great French neoclassical painter stems from first seeing Gericault’s horses...