1940s Art

Original Winston Churchill Poster Lithograph 51 x 40 cm c.1940-1945 "Never in the field of human conflict have so many owed so much to so few." ...

This original 1943 World War II poster, designed by Sloan Roberts, was part of the U.S. government’s War Bonds campaign, encouraging American citizens to financially support the war effort. During WWII, War Bonds were a crucial means of raising funds for military operations, and posters like this played a significant role in mobilizing patriotic sentiment across the nation. Roberts’ artwork for this poster is a striking example of wartime propaganda, using bold imagery and compelling text to inspire action. The composition typically features heroic figures—soldiers, civilians, or symbolic American icons—set against a powerful backdrop, reinforcing themes of duty, sacrifice, and national unity. The typography is strong and direct, emphasizing the message: "Buy War Bonds", a rallying cry repeated across numerous government-issued posters during the war. As a wartime artist, Sloan Roberts was known for his ability to evoke emotion and urgency through dynamic compositions and dramatic lighting. His work exemplifies the graphic design style of the era, which combined realistic illustration with bold, patriotic color schemes—often featuring reds, whites, and blues to reinforce national pride. These original 1943 posters were distributed widely across public spaces, factories, schools, and military recruitment centers, serving as a visual reminder of the home front’s responsibility in the war effort. Today, Sloan Roberts’ War Bonds poster is a highly collectible piece of WWII history, valued for its artistic, historical, and patriotic significance. This poster remains an iconic representation of American resilience and unity, making it a prized addition for collectors of vintage military propaganda, WWII memorabilia...

Sea Shells – Blue & Gold, c. 1940s, watercolor on paper, signed upper left, 15 x 19 ¼ inches (image); title and artist’s name and address inscribed verso, presented in a newer glazed...

'Market Day in Piazza Grande, Locarno, Switzerland', oil on board, by unknown artist (1947-48). Locarno is an utterly charming Italian-speaking resort located on the northern shore o...

Circa 1945 Signed lower left Sight size 12 x 10.5 in Overall size in newly matted one inch wide black frame 25.5 x 21.5 in

Original vintage 1948 photograph by DON WHITMAN - Western Photography Guild - of popular Physique Model PAT BURNHAM. This is an early original gelatin silv...

A very good impression of this lithograph, from an edition of 250. Signed in pencil by Covarrubias. Published by Associated American Artists, New York.

Medium: collotype (after the Miro lithograph). Printed in 1947 in an edition of 1500 by Meriden Gravure and published by Curt Valentin for the rare portfolio "The Prints of Joan Miro...

This exquisite lithograph after Henri Matisse (1869–1954), titled Serie L, var. 17 (Series L, Variation 17), from the album Henri Matisse, Dessins, Themes et Variations (Drawings, Th...

Albert Heckman Woodstock Landscape Oil on board 8 x 10 inches Albert Heckman was born in Meadville, Western Pennsylvania, 1893. He went to New York City to try his hand at the art ...

Watercolor on paper of a Radio City Music Hall Rockette done in the late 1940's or early 1950's. Ruth Adele Mysel grew up in Boston and attended the New Eng...

Eve Nethercott, American (1925 - 2015) - Rockport (P6.4), Year: 1948, Medium: Watercolor on Paper, Size: 18 x 23 in. (45.72 x 58.42 cm), Description: Eve Nethercott's view of...

Mid Century Modern Burgundy Calla Lilies in Oil on Masonite Gorgeous still life of burgundy calla lilies by listed artist Helen Enoch Gleiforst (American, 1903-1997). Signed "Gleif...

Norman Rockwell was a well-known illustrator and painter who was best known for his many magazine covers created mainly for the Saturday Evening Post. During World War ll he created ...

Lawrence Nelson Wilbur (1897-1988), 'Sundown, Stonington, Maine', wood engraving, artist's proof, edition not stated but small, 1969. Signed and titled in pencil. Signed in the block...

This exquisite heliogravure after Henri Matisse (1869–1954), titled A la memoire d'Auguste Lumiere (In Memory of Auguste Lumiere), from Verve, Revue Artistique et Litteraire, Vol. IV...

Original World War II-era advertisement commissioned by Republic Steel to promote War Bonds and Stamps, published 1943. Medium: Oil on board Artwork: 20" x 30" Frame: 26" x 36" Sign...

Work on canvas with a frame; total size 80x93 cm

Intimate circumstance is a beautiful black and white linocut on ivory-colored paper, realized in 1945 by the Italian artist, Mino Maccari. Hand-signed with the pseudonym "Jean Barbe...

Lithograph on vélin paper. Paper size: 9.25 x 12.25 inches. Inscription: Signed in the plate and unnumbered, as issued. Notes: From the album, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Dessinateur,...

This exquisite etching by Henri de Waroquier (1881–1970), titled Sans titre (Untitled), from the album Alternance (Alternation), originates from the 1946 edition published by Le Gerb...

Oil on canvas Dimensions: 41 x 33 cm signed, dated and described: 'Kisling Sanary 1948' On a painting loom auction stickers Accompanied by certificate by Marc Ottavi from April 4,...

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...

Medium: Lithograph and stencil on vélin paper Year: 1945 Paper Size: 13 x 17 inches Inscription: Signed in the plate and unnumbered, as issued Notes: From the folio, Degas, Ten Balle...

ANTONI CLAVÉ Spanish, 1913 - 2005 STILL LIFE signed "Clavé" lower right also inscribed "Ce tableau a ete peint par moi vers 1946, Clavé" on the reverse oil on ...

Lawrence Kupferman, 'European Landscape', drypoint, edition 50, 1942. Signed, dated, titled, and numbered '7/50' in pencil. A superb, finely nuanced impression, on cream wove paper; the full sheet with margins (1 to 1 3/4 inches); in excellent condition. Image size 10 7/8 x 13 3/8 inches; sheet size 13 1/8 x 16 1/2 inches. Archivally matted to museum standards, unframed. An impression of this work is included in the permanent collection of the Syracuse University Art Museum. ABOUT THE ARTIST Lawrence Kupferman (1909 - 1982) was born in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston and grew up in a working-class family. He attended the Boston Latin School and participated in the high school art program at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. In the late 1920s, he studied drawing under Philip Leslie Hale at the Museum School—an experience he called 'stultifying and repressive'. In 1932 he transferred to the Massachusetts College of Art, where he first met his wife, the artist Ruth Cobb. He returned briefly to the Museum School in 1946 to study with the influential expressionist German-American painter Karl Zerbe. Kupferman held various jobs while pursuing his artistic career, including two years as a security guard at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. During the 1930s he worked as a drypoint etcher for the Federal Art Project, creating architectural drawings in a formally realistic style—these works are held in the collections of the Fogg Museum and the Smithsonian American Art Museum. In the 1940s he began incorporating more expressionistic forms into his paintings as he became progressively more concerned with abstraction. In 1946 he began spending summers in Provincetown, Massachusetts, where he met and was influenced by Mark Rothko, Hans Hofmann, Jackson Pollock, and other abstract painters. At about the same time he began exhibiting his work at the Boris Mirski Gallery in Boston. In 1948, Kupferman was at the center of a controversy involving hundreds of Boston-area artists. In February of that year, the Boston Institute of Modern Art issued a manifesto titled 'Modern Art and the American Public' decrying 'the excesses of modern art,' and announced that it was changing its name to the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA). The poorly conceived statement, intended to distinguish Boston's art scene from that of New York, was widely perceived as an attack on modernism. In protest, Boston artists such as Karl Zerbe, Jack Levine, and David Aronson formed the 'Modern Artists Group' and organized a mass meeting. On March 21, 300 artists, students, and other supporters met at the Old South Meeting House and demanded that the ICA retract its statement. Kupferman chaired the meeting and read this statement to the press: “The recent manifesto of the Institute is a fatuous declaration which misinforms and misleads the public concerning the integrity and intention of the modern artist. By arrogating to itself the privilege of telling the artists what art should be, the Institute runs counter to the original purposes of this organization whose function was to encourage and to assimilate contemporary innovation.” The other speakers were Karl Knaths...

Merio Ameglio Italian, 1897-1970 Notre Dame, Autonne Oil on Canvas 18 by 21 ½ in. W/frame 26 by 29 ½ in. Signed lower left & titled on reverse Merio noted impressionist painter p...

Just discovered within the archives of American artist Robert McIntosh(1916-2010), we present for the first time, a magnificent mixed media painting, Table de Miro. Table de Miro, i...

Oil on canvas. Framed. Image size, 18H x 24L.

This exquisite lithograph after Francois Auguste Rene Rodin (1840–1917), titled Sans titre (Untitled), from the folio La Varende, Rodin (La Varende, Rodin), originates from the 1944 ...

Louis PASTOUR (1876-1948) A delightful painting depicting a vase of cyclamens by the French post impressionist artist Louis Pastour. Painted using a heavy impasto, with a rich kal...

Eve Nethercott, American (1925 - 2015) - Rockport (P5.52), Year: 1948, Medium: Watercolor on Paper, Size: 15.5 x 21 in. (39.37 x 53.34 cm), Description: Moored along the wate...

Rare 1940s Original Vintage Gelatin Silver Photograph by DOUGLAS JULEFF - also known as DOUG OF DETROIT - of model BOB GIBE. Photograph is an excellent example of Juleff's masterful ...

Signed lower left, 'F. Laval' for Fernand Laval (French, 1886-1966) and dated 1948. Born in Dordogne, Fernand Laval arrived in Paris at the age of 26 to study art and, during the e...

In addition to his very well-respected career as a major Fauve and Post -Impressionist, André Derain’s skill as a ballet set decorator also emerged, beginning in 1919 and continuing ...

Accompanied by a lantern, an elderly man sits alone, engrossed in a newspaper. Benton used a lithographic process to draw and produce this image. He renders the face and paper well-l...

Post Office WPA Mural Study American Scene Social Realism Modern 20th Century Carlos Lopez (1910-1953) "Bounty" WPA Mural Study for Michigan Post Office 19 ½ x 22 ½ inches Oil on B...

A softly atmospheric harbor scene rendered in delicate pastel tones, this 20th-century oil painting captures sailboats resting in still water beneath a pale, cloud-filled sky. Painte...

Fiocchetto is an artwork realized by Elica Balla (Rome,1914 - 1993) Hand signed lower right. Hand signed and titled o rear. Good conditions!

Harry Shokler used serigraphy to great advantage in this landscape. It's colorful and detailed. It is signed in the image at the lower left. When printmakers began making serigraphs...

This exquisite lithograph after Henri Matisse (1869–1954), titled Serie I, var. 5 (Series I, Variation 5), from the album Henri Matisse, Dessins, Themes et Variations (Drawings, Them...

Medium: collotype (after the Miro lithograph). Printed in 1947 in an edition of 1500 by Meriden Gravure and published by Curt Valentin for "The Prints of Joan Miro" portfolio. Size: ...

Antique American modernist bridge landscape oil painting. Oil on canvas. Signed. Framed. Measuring: 28 by 36 inches overall, and 20 by 28 painting alone.. In excellent original cond...

Artist: A. Colucci Title: Village Market Year: circa 1940 Medium: Oil on Board, Signed l.r. Size: 32 x 53 inches (81.28 x 134.62 cm) Frame: 38 x 60 inches (96.52 x 152.4 cm)

6015 Impressionist gouache on board of a farmer plowing his field Set in a 19th century frame Image 10x11.5"

Lithograph on vélin paper. Paper size: 12.25 x 9.25 inches. Inscription: Signed in the plate and unnumbered, as issued. Notes: From the album, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Dessinateur,...

This captivating artwork by Carl Gunne, dated July 10, 1945, portrays a serene archipelago landscape. The painting, executed with a delicate blend of pastel hues, captures the essenc...

Medium: Lithograph on vélin Hamilton Kilmory paper Year: 1947 Paper Size: 9.5 x 12.5 inches Inscription: Unsigned and unnumbered, as issued Notes: From the folio, Rembrandt, Drawings...

5042 French Can Can dancer Oil on artist board Framed Signed on Jean Galmett

This exquisite lithograph after Henri Matisse (1869–1954), titled Serie L, var. 10 (Series L, Variation 10), from the album Henri Matisse, Dessins, Themes et Variations (Drawings, Th...

William Ross Abrams, 'The Green Sugarbowl', color woodcut, 1949, edition 24. Signed, titled, dated, and annotated 'Artist’s proof' in pencil. A fin...

Medium: lithograph (after the painting). Published by Louis Carré in 1948 for "L'Art Glorieux" in an edition of 1800. Printed in Paris by Mourlot Frères. Image size: 8 1/2 x 11 3/4 i...

'The Artist's Garden' by Julius Moessel, 1943. Munich Academy, Art Institute of Chicago, Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts, Corcoran ----- Signed lower left 'Moessel' for Julius Moe...

Lithograph and stencil on vélin Foreign Affairs paper mounted on Foreign Affairs museum board, as issued . Unsigned and unnumbered, as issued. Good Condition. Notes: From the folio, ...

Gene Kloss: 1903-1996. Well listed and very important female American artist. She has Auction results up to $34,000 for an etching. She was born in Oakland California and died in Taos New Mexico, where she did a lot of her work. This fabulous etching is titled hunters in the snow...

(after) Raoul Dufy Lithograph after a watercolor, published in the book "Lettre à mon peintre Raoul Dufy." Paris, Librairie Académique Perrin, 1965. Printed signature Dimensions: ...

Original poster: Original World War II poster: Strong in the Strength of the Lord (L) Note that this is the large version of this poster. Acid-free archival linen-backed original WWII, U. S. Government printed vintage poster. A factory worker and a soldier all played a key part in the U.S. war effort. Published by the War Information Office in an attempt to foster greater cooperation between some different segments of society. AMERICANS SUFFER WHEN CARLESS TALK KILLS! Original 1943 U.S. Government (military propaganda) poster. Archival linen backed in A- - B+ condition, ready to frame. Note that WW2 U. S. Government posters were folded prior to being distributed. This is not considered a defect. The fold marks were restored during linen backing. Tiny chips along the bottom border. This poster promoted cooperation among various segments of American society- a woman, a soldier, and a factory worker. It is a mixture of crusading, religious, and industrial symbolism. The text quotes Henry Wallace, then Vice-President. Artist: Martin, David Stone...

Elegant, brightly-colored floral still life by Massachusetts artist Marion Huse. Oil on board measures 21 3/8 x 17 3/8; framed dimensions are 29 5/8 x 25 5/8 x 1 5/8. Painting is sig...

Artist Harold Haydon called his tiny paintings "Thumb Box" paintings. This 1943 oil on paper painting depicts the Racine Ravine (Wisconsin Lakefront Beach). This is the perfect ser...

Medium: pochoir (after the pastel). A soft and delicate impression, printed in Paris in 1948 and published in an edition of 1200 by Braun et Cie. Size: 6 1/2 x 4 1/2 inches (164 x 11...