1940s Art

This World War II poster uses the familiar figure of Uncle Sam to deliver a powerful economic message to American citizens on the home front. In the background, a chart compares the ...

Vintage American impressionist oil painting. Oil on board. Signed. Framed. Measuring: 23 by 26 inches overall, and 19 by 22 painting alone. Excellent condition, ready to hang and en...

Landscape. 1942. Oil on cardboard, 36.5x47.5 cm Alfejs Bromults (1913.3.IV - 1991.11.I) His first professional education was at National University a...

Dinner Jazz 1949 - Slim Aarons Estate Stamped 1949: American Jazz trumpeter and singer Louis Armstrong (1898 – 1971) enjoys a plate of spaghetti in Rome. (Photo by Slim Aarons) 20 ...

Cafe De Flore (1948) - Silver Gelatin Fibre Print (Photo by John Downing/Getty Images) Horse riding on Rotten Row, in London's Hyde Park, circa 1965. ...

Stockings (1946) - Silver Gelatin Fibre Print (Photo by Kurt Hutton/Picture Post/Getty Images) 1946: Three pairs of stockinged legs. Original Publication: Picture Post. Additional...

A splendid and historical poster made by Jack Maxwell in 1948. ⛳️ The history of this legendary golf course begins in 1924: the company "Biarritz Anglet la Forêt" became the owner o...

Original poster was made in 1940 by Robert Génicot 🇫🇷 (1890-1981) for the Moroccan Office of Tourism. He was notably an artist appreciated for his drawings of Morocco. The use of ...

Rome Streets is a Modern Artwork realized by Herta Hausmann (1916 - 1998) in the first half of the 1940s. Original drawing on paper. On the back of the ...

Antique American modernist signed seascape oil painting. Oil on canvas. Signed. Framed.

Laszlo Willinger Vivien Leigh, 1940 Original vintage photograph from the original negative Hand signed, framed Sheet dimensions: 12 x 9 inches Framed dime...

This poster, very beautiful and very rare was realized in 1944, by the Americans for the liberation of Paris then occupied by the Nazis. Indeed we can appreciate this big French flag...

The Golden Gate Lithograph on wove paper watermarked GC, 1940 Signed in pencil by the artist (see photo) Publisher: Associated American Artists Edition: 189, unnumbered The image depicts The Golden Gate Bridge which connects San Francisco and Marin County, California References And Exhibitions: Illustrated: Adams, The Sensuous Life of Adolf Dehn, Fig. 13.17, page 324 Reference: L & O 325 AAA Index 391 Adolf Dehn, American Watercolorist and Printmaker, 1895-1968 Adolf Dehn was an artist who achieved extraordinary artistic heights, but in a very particular artistic sphere—not so much in oil painting as in watercolor and lithography. Long recognized as a master by serious print collectors, he is gradually gaining recognition as a notable and influential figure in the overall history of American art. In the 19th century, with the invention of the rotary press, which made possible enormous print runs, and the development of the popular, mass-market magazines, newspaper and magazine illustration developed into an artistic realm of its own, often surprisingly divorced from the world of museums and art exhibitions, and today remains surprisingly overlooked by most art historians. Dehn in many regards was an outgrowth of this world, although in an unusual way, since as a young man he produced most of his illustrative work not for popular magazines, such as The Saturday Evening Post, but rather for radical journals, such as The Masses or The Liberator, or artistic “little magazines” such as The Dial. This background established the foundation of his outlook, and led later to his unique and distinctive contribution to American graphic art. If there’s a distinctive quality to his work, it was his skill in introducing unusual tonal and textural effects into his work, particularly in printmaking but also in watercolor. Jackson Pollock seems to have been one of many notable artists who were influenced by his techniques. Early Years, 1895-1922 For an artist largely remembered for scenes of Vienna and Paris, Adolf Dehn’s background was a surprising one. Born in Waterville, Minnesota, on November 22, 1895, Dehn was the descendent of farmers who had emigrated from Germany and homesteaded in the region, initially in a one-room log cabin with a dirt floor. Adolf’s father, Arthur Clark Dehn, was a hunter and trapper who took pride that he had no boss but himself, and who had little use for art. Indeed, during Adolf’s boyhood the walls of his bedroom and the space under his bed were filled with the pelts of mink, muskrats and skunks that his father had killed, skinned and stretched on drying boards. It was Adolf’s mother, Emilie Haas Dehn, a faithful member of the German Lutheran Evangelical Church, who encouraged his interest in art, which became apparent early in childhood. Both parents were ardent socialists, and supporters of Eugene Debs. In many ways Dehn’s later artistic achievement was clearly a reaction against the grinding rural poverty of his childhood. After graduating from high school in 1914 at the age of 19—an age not unusual in farming communities at the time, where school attendance was often irregular—Dehn attended the Minneapolis School of Art from 1914 to 1917, whose character followed strongly reflected that of its director, Munich-trained Robert Kohler, an artistic conservative but a social radical. There Dehn joined a group of students who went on to nationally significant careers, including Wanda Gag (later author of best-selling children’s books); John Flanagan (a sculptor notable for his use of direct carving) Harry Gottlieb (a notable social realist and member of the Woodstock Art Colony), Elizabeth Olds (a printmaker and administrator for the WPA), Arnold Blanch (landscape, still-life and figure painter, and member of the Woodstock group), Lucille Lunquist, later Lucille Blanch (also a gifted painter and founder of the Woodstock art colony), and Johan Egilrud (who stayed in Minneapolis and became a journalist and poet). Adolf became particularly close to Wanda Gag (1893-1946), with whom he established an intense but platonic relationship. Two years older than he, Gag was the daughter of a Bohemian artist and decorator, Anton Gag, who had died in 1908. After her husband died, Wanda’s mother, Lizzi Gag, became a helpless invalid, so Wanda was entrusted with the task of raising and financially supporting her six younger siblings. This endowed her with toughness and an independent streak, but nonetheless, when she met Dehn, Wanda was Victorian and conventional in her artistic taste and social values. Dehn was more socially radical, and introduced her to radical ideas about politics and free love, as well as to socialist publications such as The Masses and The Appeal to Reason. Never very interested in oil painting, in Minneapolis Dehn focused on caricature and illustration--often of a humorous or politically radical character. In 1917 both Dehn and Wanda won scholarships to attend the Art Students League, and consequently, in the fall of that year both moved to New York. Dehn’s art education, however, ended in the summer of 1918, shortly after the United States entered World War I, when he was drafted to serve in the U. S. Army. Unwilling to fight, he applied for status as a conscientious objector, but was first imprisoned, then segregated in semi-imprisonment with other Pacifists, until the war ended. The abuse he suffered at this time may well explain his later withdrawal from taking political stands or making art of an overtly political nature. After his release from the army, Dehn returned to New York where he fell under the spell of the radical cartoonist Boardman Robinson and produced his first lithographs. He also finally consummated his sexual relationship with Wanda Gag. The Years in Europe: 1922-1929 In September of 1921, however, he abruptly departed for Europe, arriving in Paris and then moving on to Vienna. There in the winter of 1922 he fell in love with a Russian dancer, Mura Zipperovitch, ending his seven-year relationship with Wanda Gag. He and Mura were married in 1926. It was also in Vienna that he produced his first notable artistic work. Influenced by European artists such as Jules Pascin and Georg Grosz, Dehn began producing drawings of people in cafes, streets, and parks, which while mostly executed in his studio, were based on spontaneous life studies and have an expressive, sometimes almost childishly wandering quality of line. The mixture of sophistication and naiveté in these drawings was new to American audiences, as was the raciness of their subject matter, which often featured pleasure-seekers, prostitutes or scenes of sexual dalliance, presented with a strong element of caricature. Some of these drawings contain an element of social criticism, reminiscent of that found in the work of George Grosz, although Dehn’s work tended to focus on humorous commentary rather than savagely attacking his subjects or making a partisan political statement. Many Americans, including some who had originally been supporters of Dehn such as Boardman Robinson, were shocked by these European drawings, although George Grocz (who became a friend of the artist in this period) admired them, and recognized that Dehn could also bring a new vision to America subject matter. As he told Dehn: “You will do things in America which haven’t been done, which need to be done, which only you can do—as far at least as I know America.” A key factor in Dehn’s artistic evolution at this time was his association with Scofield Thayer...

Another delightful large painting by the post impressionist master; Emile Albert Gruppe. The landscape take you down a snow covered road by a cool icy running stream through a New En...

An amazing and impressive quality still life! Ernest Albert was a true Connecticut landscape artist, devoted to depicting the different seasons in an Impressionist manner. Albert was...

To see our other original vintage warbird aeroplane posters, photographs and paintings, scroll down to "More from this Seller" and below it click on "See all from this Seller" 1942 Army B-17E Boeing "Super Flying Fortress...

To see our other Modern British Art, scroll down to "More from this Seller" and below it click on "See all from this Seller" - or send us a message if you cannot find the artist you want. Clifford...

Still life with a bunch of flowers and apples. 1940s, cardboard, oil, 90x69 cm Harijs Veldre (Bullis till 1947) (1927.8.III – 1999.6.V) Harijs Veldre learned in Riga school of appl...

Albert Heckman Woodstock Landscape Oil on board 12 x 16 inches Albert Heckman was born in Meadville, Western Pennsylvania, 1893. He went to New York City to try his hand at the art...

Franz Rogler (1921 -1994) studied wood and stone sculpture with Wilhelm Gösser at the Graz School of Applied Arts and attended the master class for painting with Rudolf Szyszkowitz. During his studies he was drafted for military service and, together with fellow artist Hans Fronius, was deployed as a war painter in Austria, Germany, Italy, the former Yugoslavia, Greece and Russia. During this time he completed studies at the Academy in Zagreb and organised exhibitions in Austria. In 1944 he deserted and managed to escape to Switzerland, where he settled in Basel after his internment and came into contact with the Swiss Surrealists of "Group 33" and with the artists Hans Arp, Max Ernst and Meret Oppenheim through his friend Regula Weilenmann. After the end of the war, he studied at the Basel Art School with Walter Bodmer and Heinrich Müller, which introduced him to Constructivist art. In 1947 Rogler returned to Graz and became a member of the Graz Secession. From 1948 to 1950 he studied at the Vienna Academy with Albert Paris Gütersloh, before returning to Graz as a freelance artist in 1950. In 1953 he received the Art Prize of the City of Graz and his works were published in the first issue of the "Surrealist Publications" edited by Edgar Jené and Paul Celan...

Wood engraving The Battle of Berlin was the last land battle of the Second World War in Europe. Launched on April 16, 1945 by the Soviets, it ended on May 2, 1945 with the surrender of...

David Rolt was British society portrait painter who enjoyed great success as an artist, and endured a very interesting and complex life. Rolt was partially crippled at birth when the...

The King Of Jazz 1949 by Slim Aarons Slim Aarons Limited Estate Edition 1949: Photographers taking pictures of American jazz trumpeter and singer, Louis Armstrong (1901 – 1971) as...

Rockefeller Center (1945) - Silver Gelatin Fibre Print (Photo by George Enell/Hulton Archive/Getty Images) circa 1945: The Rockefeller Center in midtown Manhattan, New York City. ...

Cecil Chichester Woodstock in Winter, circa 1947 Signed lower left Oil on artist's board 12 x 16 inches Provenance Private Collection, Rhinebeck, New...

To see our other original vintage travel and propaganda posters, scroll down to "More from this Seller" and below it click on "See all from this Seller" - or send us a message if you...

Eve Nethercott, American (1925 - 2015) - Rockport (P5.48), Year: 1948, Medium: Watercolor on Paper, Size: 17 x 20 in. (43.18 x 50.8 cm), Description: This view of Rockport, M...

#5-2758a Circa 1940's oil seascape on wood plaque,signed lower right by J.Niannino

An anxious moment waiting to see the doctor is depicted by Clyde Singer in this quiet and still painting. Entitled Doctor's Office (1949), Singer paints a moment of anticipation and...

Rare and well executed modernist wall plaque by Richard Kuehne. Paint on gesso plaque. Signed. Silver leaf incorporated frame as photographed.

ANTONI CLAVÉ Spanish, 1913 - 2005 STILL LIFE signed "Clavé" (lower right) inscribed and signed "Ce tableau a ete peint par moi vers 1946. / Clavé" (on the reve...

Rudolf Nehmer (1912 Bobersberg - 1983 Dresden), The fruitless tree, 1948. Woodcut on yellowish wove paper, 15 cm x 14.6 cm (image), 45 cm x 30 cm (sheet size), signed “Rud.[olf] Nehm...

Work on wood

Impactful abstract painting of triangular shapes in hues of blue floating on a black background, circa 1950. Original artwork on paper displayed on a white mat with a gold border. ...

Medium: collotype (after the etching). Printed in 1947 and published by The Museum of Modern Art in an edition of 2000 for a scarce Paul Klee portfolio. Image size: 3 1/2 x 5 1/2 inc...

An original modernist oil painting by American female artist Esther Rollick.

Eve Nethercott, American (1925 - 2015) - Flowers (P6.47), Year: 1948, Medium: Watercolor on Paper, Size: 22 x 15 in. (55.88 x 38.1 cm), Description: Comprised of various flow...

Medium: collotype (after the lithograph). Printed in 1947 and published by The Museum of Modern Art in an edition of 2000 for a scarce Paul Klee portfolio. Image size: 9 1/2 x 5 1/4 ...

Nathan Hoffman Manhattan from the Rooftops, July 1, 1947 Signed, dated and estate stamped on the reverse Oil on board 15 3/4 x 20 inches Born in Russia...

A Timely and Prescient, 1940s WWII Era Political Cartoon / Illustration Ink Drawing by Notable Chicago Modern Artist, Harold Haydon (Am. 1909-1994). Titled "USA No Admittance". A p...

Medium: collotype (after the lithograph). Printed in 1947 and published by The Museum of Modern Art in an edition of 2000 for a scarce Paul Klee portfolio. Image size: 4 1/4 x 6 1/4 ...

Medium: collotype (after the lithograph). Printed in 1947 and published by The Museum of Modern Art in an edition of 2000 for a scarce Paul Klee portfolio. Image size: 6 3/4 x 9 1/2 ...

Charcoal drawing realized by Mino Maccari in 1946 ca. Hand signed lower right. Very good condition.

Medium: collotype (after the etching). Printed in 1947 and published by The Museum of Modern Art in an edition of 2000 for a scarce Paul Klee portfolio. Image size: 7 x 5 3/8 inches ...

Figurative Cubist Surrealist Abstraction Mid 20th Century American Modern Large O. Louis Guglielmi (1906 - 1956) OBSESSIVE THEME 44 x 33 inches Oil on canvas Signed and dated '48 lo...

Max Bucaille ( 1906-1996 ) " collage IV- 47 " : collage on paper , signed Max Bucaille and dated IV 1947 . framed Original vintage velvet : 40,5 x 35,5 cm x 3 cm . paper : 24 x ...

A family sitting around a dinner table. Ladies Home Journal interior illustration Signed lower right. Harold Anderson studied at the Fenway Art School in his native Boston. Among his instructors were Chase Emerson, Harold Brett, and Arthur Spear...

Impressive early American modernist cityscape oil painting. Framed. Oil on canvas. Image size, 30H by 26L.

Monsieur Loyal Henri Matisse (After) French (1869–1954) Portfolio: Jazz Date: Of Original: 1947 Year Printed: 1983 Lithograph Size: 15.25 x 11.75 in. (38.74 x 29.85 cm) Frame Size...

Chiura Obata Dahlias, 1940 Signed, dated and stamped lower right Watercolor on paper 15 x 9 5/8 inches Born in the Okayama prefecture of Japan, Chiura Obata was adopted by his uncle, an artist. As a child he was trained in ink painting, and at 14 he was apprenticed to the painter Murata Tanryo in Tokyo. He also studied with Kogyo Terasaki and Goho Hasimoto. In 1903, Obata moved to San Francisco and began working as an illustrator for The New World and The Japanese American, two of the city's Japanese newspapers. He also did work as a commercial designer. Obata helped establish the East West Art Society in San Francisco in 1921, which sought to promote cross-cultural understanding through art. This goal was reflected in his embrace of the Nihonga style, which fused traditional Japanese sumi-e ink painting with the conventions of western naturalism. He spent much of the 1920s painting landscapes throughout California, and among his favorite subjects were mountain landscapes. In 1927, he visited Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada, creating over a hundred paintings and sketches of the high country. Obata stayed in the USA until the death of his father in 1928. Between 1928 and 1932, he worked in Tokyo as a painter and transformed his California landscape watercolors...

Bird #2 is a striking vintage black-and-white monotype print by celebrated Colorado modernist Edgar Britton (1901–1982), created in 1949. This original mid-century work presents a bo...

Henry Rox (1899–1967) Art Critic (Standing Before Monumental Framed Post War Abstraction) c. 1948 Vintage silver gelatin print 8 × 10 inches Printed c. 1948 Estate stamp verso This ...

Cobwebs and Rocks Watercolor, 1940 Signed, dated, and copyrighted lower right Exhibited: Zimmerli Art Museum, Benjamin Benno: Retrospective Exhibition, 1988 Illustrated: Gustafson, Zimmerli Museum: Benjamin Benno: Retrospective Exhibition, 1988 Color Plate 14 copy copy of the catalog accompanies the watercolor Condition: excellent Image size: 14 3/4 x 21 inches Provenance: Estate of the Artist Ruth O...

Artist: Pablo Picasso Title: The Eye (Plate XXXVIII) Portfolio: Carmen Medium: Etching on Montval wove paper Year: 1949 Edition: 289 Sheet Size: 13" x 10 3/16" Signed: No (signed and...

Coreen Mary Spellman (1905 - 1978) Dallas Artist Image Size: 20 x 14 Frame Size: 25 x 19 Medium: Oil Bio: Exhibited in the Ninth Annual Student Art show at the State University of Iowa Coreen Spellman Biography Coreen Mary Spellman (1905 - 1978) Coreen Mary Spellman was a fine-art teacher as well as a painter, designer, illustrator, lithographer and muralist. Many of her paintings depicted human-made structures and industrial landscapes in a style combining realism, precisionism and abstraction. Often the central subject such as in "Railroad Signal" was the only suggestion of humanity against a backdrop of stark Texas landscape. Of her painting these isolated subjects she said: "I enjoy taking some rather obscure or unimportant subject or theme and making something fine and important out of it . . . It always gives me great pleasure to discover something which has been passed over as being inadequate material". (Trenton 199) Spellman was born in Forney, Texas in 1905. At an early age she moved to Dallas, Texas and studied under Vivian Aunspaugh before attending the College of Industrial Arts (Texas Woman's University). She received a Master of Arts degree from Columbia University and a Masters Degree from the University of Iowa, Iowa City in 1942. In addition, Spellman received a Carnegie Scholarship for study at Harvard University, followed by studies with Kenneth Hayes Miller, Vaclav Vytlacil, and Charles Wheeler...

This piece is an original photograph shot by George Hurrell in 1941 and printed at a later date. This image depicts Rita Hayworth, an American actress an...

Portrait of Pierre Vérité by Marcel GIMOND (1894-1961) Bronze sculpture with a dark brown patina signed on the neck "M. Gimond" cast by "Bisceglia, cire perdue" (with the foundry st...

Antique American modernist mixed media sculpture painting by Duayne Hatchett (1925 - 2015) . Mixed media metal sculpture . Signed on verso.

Sitting in an armchair, the woman with a heart-shaped torso is rendered with simple rectangular shapes outlined by cobalt blue and bright yellow. Set against a soft pastel background...

Corralled Horse is a rare WPA-era modernist etching by acclaimed American artist Ethel Magafan, created in the 1940s. This artist’s proof depicts a lone dark horse within a wooden co...