1940s Art

“Art Shay’s photography shakes you up, sets you down gently, pats you on the head and then kicks you in the ass.” Roger Ebert “[Shay’s work] ranks with some of the greats of the 20...

Jane Russell and Gloria Green is an original b/w photograph about Hollywod '40 realized by De Wan Studios. On the back " Edward G. Robinson, Maureen O'Sullivan...

Signed, titled and dated cubist oil on canvas by French painter Andre Masson. The work depicts colourful insects. Signature: Signed lower right and titled and dated 1946 verso Dim...

To see our other original vintage 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 cannot fin...

Johann Berthelsen (Danish/ American 1883 - 1972) View From Artist's Porch; Including his Two Sons, New Milford, Connecticut', Circa 1947/48. Oil on canvas. Signed lower right. P...

UN Poster Design American Scene Mid 20th Century Modernism WPA World Peace Jo Cain (1904 – 2003) We Are All Members of the Human Race: UN Poster Proposal 21 x...

Francis Gilbert Trott (British, 20th Century) Newlyn Harbour, Cornwall Oil on canvas, signed lower right Circa 1940–1950 A charming and beautifully atmospheric harbour scene by the ...

Riders of Pigeon Hill, c. 1940s, oil on canvas, signed lower right, 24 x 36 inches, label verso with title, artist’s name and address; same information inscribed verso; ex-collection...

"Mexican Family" is a black and white lithograph by Howard Cook. The artist signed the piece lower right. It is from an edition of 250, unnumbered. This...

Madame et Monsieur is an original artwork realized by Georges Henri Tribout in about 1940. Mixed media on paper. On the lower margin is present a pencil inscription. Good Conditions...

Stamped in black ink and titled in pencil on print verso. Vintage gelatin silver print Born in Munkacs, Hungary, John Albok learned photography as a boy. He came to the U.S. in 1921...

"Savoie (Societe National des Chemins de fer Francais)" is a signed offset lithograph of a pastoral landscape created for the Societe Nationale...

Decorative Chinese school painting. Fine detail and painted with rich colors. In a wonderful carved frame painted in pastel blue.

Les Guilleries. Original acrylic canvas painting signed work Casimiro Martínez Tarrassó, a painter known simply as Tarrassó. He was trained at the La Llotja School in Barcelona. He c...

Tempera on paper, realized in 1940s. Hand signed in pencil lower left. Very good condition.

A beautifully composed 1940s Impressionist oil painting by Morgan Wagner depicting three bathing female figures set within a serene, natural landscape. The scene feels timeless—softl...

Juan Reus (1912-2003) Original Vintage Bullfighting Poster August 1947 107cm x 53cm Juan Reus was born in 1912 in Valencia, where he became a well-known pai...

An oil on canvas, applied on cardboard, made by Carlo Dalla Zorza in 1945 measuring 40x50 cm. The artist is known for his ability to capture the natural light and colors of the Venet...

Signed lower right and dated 1948 David Burliuk’s vibrant depiction of a Ukrainian countryside captures a moment of quiet resilience and rural harmony. A woman, adorned in a red ker...

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". 1944...

John Buckland Wright (1897-1954), The Virgin and the Unicorn (large version), wood engraving in colors, 1947, the original block and a proof, the...

This striking original recruitment poster, created around 1948 by the celebrated French graphic artist Bernard Villemot, boldly calls on citizens to “Engagez-vous dans la Marine” — e...

In America during WWII, every resource was poured into the war effort. With over 12 million Americans - 11% of the total population - serving in the armed forces, everything from foo...

"Sock Hop" Mid-Century American Modernism WPA Female Artist 20th Century Realism. 30 x 24 inches. Oil on canvas. Signed on stretcher, c. 1940s. Frame is likely original to the painting. Realist painter-printmaker Kyra Markham...

Painted in 1941, Quitting Time is a compelling example of Charles Ragland Bunnell's mature modernist vision and his pioneering contribution to American abstraction. Created during a ...

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...

"Coney Island" Brooklyn NYC Amusement Park Mid-century American Scene WPA Modern Ludwig Bemelmans (1898 – 1962), “Coney Island" 35 x 27 inches Oil on board Signed lower right Orig...

Free Horses is an original Modern artwork realized by Luigi Spacal (Trieste, 1907 - Trieste, 2000) in the half of the 20th Century. Original B/W woodcut on cardboard. Excellent conditions. Lojze...

Title: Theme D 10 Year: February 7, 1943 Medium: Collotype on vélin pur fil paper Size: 10.04 x 13.15 inches Condition: Very good Inscription: Signed in the plate, unnumbered Publish...

Gloom is an original drawing in pencil on paper realized by Simon Goldberg (1913-1985). Hand-signed in pencil on the lower right. The state of preservation is very good. aSheet dim...

Gorsline, Douglas (American, 1913-1985). ON LEAVE. Engraving, 1944. 10 7/8 x 8 1/8 inches (plate), 12 1/2 x 10 inches (sheet). Signed, titled and dated in pencil. Edition size not k...

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...

Poster. Measures 31 x 26 inches and is Unframed. Good Condition. Also available in smaller size: 18.25 x 14.5 inches.

Nice charcoal and ink drawing on paper representing the famous italian painter Ottone Rosai smoking a cigarette. Signed in pencil lower right. Good conditions.

From our collection of original designs. To see more, scroll down to 'More from this seller'. George Horace Davis (1888-1963) Design for publication in The Illustrated London News...

John Koch is a beloved American realist painter who depicted people in their everyday lives. Here we see a slightly different approach where he has put a painter out in a rural town...

Charles Quest, 'Still Life', 1947, wood engraving, edition 8. Signed, dated, and numbered '3/8' in pencil. Titled and annotated 'wood engraving' in the bottom left margin. A fine impression, on off-white wove paper, with full margins (1 to 2 inches), in excellent condition. Scarce. Matted to museum standards, unframed. ABOUT THE ARTIST Charles Quest, painter, printmaker, and fine art instructor, worked in various mediums, including mosaic, stained glass, mural painting, and sculpture. Quest grew up in St. Louis, his talent evident as a teenager when he began copying the works of masters such as Michelangelo on his bedroom walls. He studied at the Washington University School of Fine Arts, where he later taught from 1944 to 1971. He traveled to Europe after his graduation in 1929 and studied at La Grande Chaumière and Academie Colarossi, Paris, continuing to draw inspiration from the works of the Old Masters. After returning to St. Louis, Quest received several commissions to paint murals in public buildings, schools, and churches, including one from Joseph Cardinal Ritter, to paint a replica of Velasquez's Crucifixion over the main altar of the Old Cathedral in St. Louis. Quest soon became interested in the woodcut medium, which he learned through his study of J. J. Lankes' A Woodcut Manual (1932) and Paul Landacre's articles in American Artist magazine ‘since no artists in St. Louis were working in wood’ at that time. Quest also revealed that for him, wood cutting and engraving were ‘more enjoyable than any other means of expression.’ In the late 1940s, his graphic works began attracting critical attention—several of his woodcuts won prizes and were acquired by major American and European museums. His wood engraving entitled ‘Lovers’ was included in the American Federation of Art's traveling print exhibition in 1947. Two years later, Quest's two prize-winning prints, ‘Still Life with Grindstone’ and ‘Break Forth into Singing’, were exhibited in major American museums in a traveling show organized by the Philadelphia Print Club. His work was included in the Chicago Art Institute's exhibition, ‘Woodcut Through Six Centuries’, and the print ‘Still Life with Vise’ was purchased by the Museum of Modern Art in New York. In 1951 he was invited by artist-Curator Jacob Kainen to exhibit thirty wood engravings and color woodcuts in a one-person show at the Smithsonian's National Museum (now known as the American History Museum). Kainen's press release praised the ‘technical refinement’ of Quest's work: ‘He obtains a great variety of textural effects through the use of the graver, and these dense or transparent grays are set off against whites or blacks to achieve sparkling results. His work has the handsome qualities characteristic of the craftsman and designer.’ At the time of the Smithsonian exhibition, Quest's work was represented by three New York galleries in addition to one in his home town. He had won 38 prizes, and his prints were in the collections of the Library of Congress, the Chicago Art Institute, the Metropolitan Museum, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. In cooperation with the Art in Embassies program, his color woodcuts were displayed at the American Embassy in Paris in 1951. Recognition at home came in 1955 with his first solo exhibition in St. Louis. Press coverage of the show heralded the ‘growth of graphic arts toward rivaling painting and sculpture as a major independent medium’. An exhibition of his prints at the Bethesda Art Gallery in 1983 attracted Curator Emeritus Joseph A. Haller, S.J., who began purchasing his work for Georgetown University's collection. In 1990 Georgetown University Library's Special Collections Division was the recipient of a large body of Quest's work, including prints, drawings, paintings, sculpture, stained glass, and his archive of correspondence and professional memorabilia. These extensive holdings, including some 260 of his fine prints, provide a rich opportunity for further study and appreciation of this versatile and not-to-be-forgotten mid-Western American artist...

Oil on panel, inscribed and dated '1946' bottom right Image size: 19 1/2 x 15 1/2 inches (49.5 x 39.5 cm) Period frame This painting stands out for its use of full-bodied brushstrokes and thick impasto application of paint. It depicts an Italian harbour in the 1940s, probably on one of the islands in the bay of Naples, such as Procida. The Artist Ezelino Briante was born and trained in Naples and he traveled around Italy and abroad (France, Switzerland, Sweden, Brazil, United States of America) looking for naturalistic subjects that he preferred. This celebrated painter studied at the Accademia di Bella Arti di Napoli and his scenes of Italy won him great support and fame in Italy and internationally. His paintings of Italian piers, in particular those of Campania; well known are also his marine landscapes of Sorrento, Capri, Maiori, Amalfi Coast and Sorrento Coast...

Henri Matisse (After), French (1869-1954) Le Tobogan (Toboggan) Portfolio: Jazz Year: Of Original: 1947 Year Printed: 1983 Medium: Lithograph Image Size: 11.5 x 10.5 inches Size: 15...

By Gustav Likan 7" x 7" Ink on Paper 1944 Framed Size: 16" x 15.5" This intimate piece depict a mother nursing her infant. This piece is part of Likan's portrayals of his wife Barb...

A charming portrait of a Black woman with stylized hairstyle of the period - Midtown Galleries label on verso, Unframed Signed and date...

Date: 1944 Medium: Oil and Graphite on Paperboard Sight Size 14.00" x 11.00", Framed 22.00" x 19.00" Study for cover of The Saturday Evening Post, May 27, 1944 Norman Rockwell disc...

Waterfront by Toni Frissell Street dancers perform on the coastline of Portugal, 1946. (Toni Frissell) Limited signature stamped edition print 30 x 30" inches / 76 x 76 cm paper si...

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". 1943 Army Cantiere "Z-1007 bis" - World War II Italian medium bomber aeroplane Original aeroplane recognition poster (1943) 63x47cm A particularly unusual style of aeroplane identification poster, owing to the very arty images. Most such posters rely on very plain silhouettes; this series - and we have many in this series - takes a much more arty approach to the task with shading and an interesting angle view. The Cantiere Z-1007 Alcione (Kingfisher) was an Italian three-engined medium bomber with wooden structure. It was regarded by some as "the best Italian bomber of World War II" although its wooden structure was easily damaged by the climate, as experienced in North Africa and in Russia. It was used by the Italian Regia...

Born in Russia, the son of Friede (1878 – 1956) and Benjamin Hoffman (1878 – a. 1942). Benjamin was a dealer in mineral and seltzer water and the family resided on Snediker Avenue in Brooklyn, New York, just down the streetfrom the home where George Gershwin (1898 – 1937) was born. This area of Brooklyn, known as Brownsville, “witnessed the development of one of the largest communities of Eastern European Jewish immigrants during the last decade of the 19th century and the first two decades of the 20 th century.” Today, little remains of this once thriving Jewish section of Brooklyn, which today houses many commercial and repair businesses. Hoffman studied at the Art Students League of New York, the National Academy of Design and in the art program at Cooper Union. His work at the National Academy received praise, and in 1921 he was awarded the 2nd prize and an honorable mention from the John Armstrong Chaloner Paris Prize Foundation at the National Academy, which allowed the recipient to study in Paris, France for as long as five years. The following year he was awarded the 1 st prize in the competition (with The Reform Advocate running the headline “Young Jew Wins Art Prize”) as well as the Suydam Bronze Medal for his achievements in the Academy’s Men’s Night Class. In 1923 he was residing in Long Branch, New Jersey, when he was awarded 4th place in the Chaloner competition. Early on, Hoffman exhibited his work throughout the city, including in 1925 with the recently organized Society of Independent Artists. He also received several solo exhibitions during the first part of his career, including one at Ferargil Galleries in 1929. In the spring of 1930 a solo exhibition of his portraits, including paintings and drawings, was held at at Babcock Galleries, where a reviewer noted: “Portraiture is obviously Mr. Hoffman’s specialty… his best work is characterized by a sensitive appreciation of character set down in a vigorous decisive statement. Later that same year, in August, he participated in Babcock’s summer exhibition where reviewer Jerome Klein, writing for The Baltimore Sun, felt Hoffman’s and other artists work was already becoming old fashioned, remarking “…if an effort toward accomplishment is to be made, it must be in the language of today. It is for that reason that such contemporaries as Eugene Higgins and Nathan Hoffman, in this show, seem artists of a bygone era…” The onset of the Great Depression appears to have slowed his success, as was the case for many up-and-coming artists. By 1939 Hoffman had become a gallerist in addition to being a painter, operating the collective exhibition space “Sutton Gallery,” which was originally located at 358 East 57th Street. There Hoffman exhibited his own works as well as those created by other prominent New York artists including David Burliuk (1882 – 1967), Charles C. Curran (1861 – 1942), Louis Eilshemius (1864 – 1941), Ann Goldthwaite (1869 – 1944), Maurice Kish (1895 – 1987), Lawrence Lebduska (1894 – 1966), Bradford Perin and Ellis Wilson...

oil on canvas signed by the artist. This work will be included in “Volume IV and Additives to Volumes I, II and III” of the Catalogue Rasionne currently in preparation by Marc Ottavi...

Pablo PICASSO Carmen, The Small Moon, 1949 Original burin engraving (Atelier Lacourière, Paris) Unsigned On Montval wove paper 33 x 26 cm (12.9 x 10.2 in) REFERENCES : - Catalog ra...

Date: 1945 Medium: Oil on Canvas Board Dimensions: 22.00" x 17.75" Signature: Unsigned A sweet WWII-era illustration for a Cashmere Bouquet Soap camp...

Jacques Villon - Woman - Original Etching Circa 1949 Signed in pencil and numbered Dimensions : 34.8 x 25 cm

To see our other Home Front British World War 2 posters scroll down to 'view all from this seller' and search for propaganda. Anonymous Ox...

"Fashionable Boulevard Montmartre" is an original lithograph poster by Pierre Laurent Brenot. This piece depicts four figures in fashionable costumes in a variety of dynamic poses. T...

Alexander Calder (American, 1898-1976) “Untitled, 1947” (from Le Surrealisme) Signed in the plate, lower left Lithograph in Colors on Wove Paper Sheet Size: 9 7/16 x 8" (24 x 20.3 cm...

JOAQUIM TERRUELLA I MATILLA (Barcelona, Spain, 1891–1957). "Costa Brava Harbor with Fishing Boats by Joaquim Terruella, 1942." Oil on canvas. Signed and dated 1942 lower right. Artwo...

PABLO PICASSO (1881-1973) "Quatre profils enlacés" (A.R. 88) stamped “Madoura Plein Feu / Empreinte Originale de Picasso” (on the reverse) ceramic Diameter: 10-1/4 inches (26 cm.) Co...

To see our other original vintage 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 cannot fin...

Eduard Houbolt (Hof van Delft, 1885 – The Hague, 1954) Iris Numerata Signed, dated and inscribed “Eduard Houbolt / fecit. ad vivum / 10. Juni. 1947 / IRIS N...

La Corderie et le Pain de Sucre by Paulémile Pissarro (1884-1972) Oil on canvas 65 x 54 cm (25 ⁵/₈ x 21 ¹/₄ inches) Signed lower left, Paulémile- Pissarro- Signed and titled on the r...

Created in 1940 by the French artist Tahon, Il veille... Souscrivez ("He Keeps Watch... Subscribe") is a striking example of French wartime propaganda, produced during the early months of the Second World War. Combining stark photography...

Greta Allen (1881-after 1961) Bridgton Mill (Saunders Mill on Stevens Brook, Cumberland County, Maine) c. 1940-1950 Unsigned Provenance: Estate of the Artist Inscribed by the artist ...

Jacques Villon - Man- Original Etching 1949 Signed in the plate Dimensions : 44.5 x 32.5 cm