1940s Art

Rafael de Soto - Village street - Oil on canvas Oil measurements 41x33 cm. Without frame.

Medium: lithograph (after the original Edouard Vuillard lithograph). Printed on Renage wove paper in 1948 by the atelier Mourlot and published in an edition of 2500. Size: 12 3/8 x 9...

Vintage American modern abstract oil painting. Oil on canvas, circa 1960. Unsigned. Image size, 48L x 36H. Unframed.

This vintage oil painting on canvas featuring a mysterious scene was created by talented Russian artist Peter Kurbatov (1907-1985) in the mid-20th century. Kurbatov was an accomplish...

A striking 1940s modernist gouache painting by Frederick Shane titled Artists Sketching (California), depicting three artists working outdoors against a sweeping mountainous landscap...

Antique American abstract oil painting by Martin Rosenthal (1899 - 1974). Oil on board. Measuring 28 by 42 inches overall and 26 by 40 painting alone. Oil on board. Signed. In exc...

This striking black-and-white photograph captures Carmen in NY enveloped in a flowing, white gown, creating a graceful, sculptural form. Her head is elegantly tilted to the side, fra...

A mid-century, stone lithograph titled 'Angel and Harmony' by Nura Woodson Ulreich (American, 1899-1950), created in 1943 and with certification o...

Etching and aquatint on paper, edited in 1942. Limited edition, numbered as 30/50 in lower left corner. Signed on the plate in lower right corner. Plate size: 23,8 x 29,9 cm Framed ...

The Vallery of the Three Moons is an original contemporary artwork realized by Luigi Spacal (Trieste, 1907 - Trieste, 2000) in the 1940s. Original Black and White woodcut print on c...

Romantic still-life of a beautiful porcelain lady and her two dogs - perhaps Borzoi - set among a display of fresh cut lilies by listed artist Nell Walker Warner (American, 1891-1970). Signed "Nell Walker Warner" lower left. Displayed in a giltwood frame with linen liner. Image, 30"H x 36"L. Nell Walker Warner was born in Richardson County, Nebraska on April 1, 1891. She was educated in Colorado Springs, Colorado and graduated from the Lexington College in Missouri in 1910. She moved to California in 1916 where she studied and graduated from the Los Angeles School of Art and Design. After her marriage to Dr. Bion Smith Warner in 1920, the couple settled in La Canada. During the 1920's, Nell was the curator of the Tuesday Afternoon Club in Los Angeles and further studied with Nicolai Fechin, Paul Lauritz and Fritz Werner. Her floral paintings are radiant; an article in the Christian Science Monitor stated, ''California flowers...

Edward Landon 'Nocturnal Adversary', color serigraph, 1946, edition 50, Ryan 137. Signed in pencil in the image, lower right. Titled, dated, and annotated '6 COLORS EDITION 50' in th...

Original ski poster was created by the artist Vecoux and published by the SNCF to promote winter sports tourism in France. It shows a locomotive ...

The circa 1940 original poster by French designer Jean Carlu, titled V - Franklin D. Roosevelt, is a striking wartime propaganda piece aimed at rallying support and confidence in Ame...

Lorentz Kleiser (1879-1962) #142, Portrait of Mila, ca. 1940. Oil on masonite panel, 14 x 18 inches. Measuring 18 x 22 inches in antique frame that show surface loss and overpain...

To see our other original vintage 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 find the poste...

Signed lower right, 'Buk' for Eduard Buk Ulreich (American, 1889-1966), dedicated lower right, 'Made for Ruth M.' and painted circa 1945. Titled verso 'Birds in Flight', additionally...

Issued by the United States Dept. of Information during the Second World War, this poster serves as a rallying cry for all Americans to serve their country as well as they can. It cl...

Benton Spruance, 'From the Sea' also 'From the Sea — Pieta', lithograph, editions 30, 35, 1943. A superb, richly inked impression, on off-white wove paper; the full sheet, with decke...

The Show is On, 1940, oil on canvas, signed and dated lower right, 24 x 20 inches, exhibited: 30th Annual Exhibition of the Associated Artists of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Institute, Pitt...

5-3288 Oil on board set in a gilt wood frame Image size 19.5x15.5"

Reynaldo Maya Born 1911 Texas / Mexico / Europe Artist Medium: Oil Circa 1940s Image Size: 10 x 8 Frame Size: 18 1/2 x 16 1/2 "Mexican Street Scene" with Church Biography Reynaldo Maya Born 1911 Maya, Reynaldo (1911- Mexican Artist’s Paintings...

Elmer Simms Campbell was a brilliant illustrator and cartoon artist and was also the first African American cartoonist to be nationally syndicated in major newsstand magazines such a...

Perle Fine Untitled, circa 1945 Estate stamped and numbered "#632" on the reverse Gouache and pencil on Kraft paper 12 x 20 inches Provenance The artist Estate of the artist Thomas McCormick Gallery...

A highly decorative framed color print after Vincent van Gogh, featuring his iconic still life with irises in a warm ochre vase against a vivid yellow ground. Published in Paris by E...

Italian Modern Abstract Work on Paper Color Field Non-Objective European Mid-Century - "Gonage" Dorazio completed "Gonage" in 1949 when just after the artist had been awarded a stipend by the French government and admission to the Academy Beaux Arts. There he met George Braque who became great friends but also an influence on Dorazio, of which "Gonage" is a living testament. "Gonage" actual size of the drawing measures 12 x 9 1/2 inches. It is signed on the lower right. The work is affixed to a 19 x 15 inch board which includes the artist's signature and date. There is a torn table on the lower left entitling the piece "Gonage". Provenance follows this piece as a gift in 1950 to the artist-colleague Luigi Lucioni, who then gifted it in 1955 to his friend, the uncle of the current owner who has owned the work since 1988. Bio Born in Italy, Piero Dorazio studied architecture in Rome. At the same time his first abstract works were executed. In 1947 he received a scholarship from the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux Arts in Paris, where he contacted Modern artists, who lived in Paris. He founded the galleries "Age d'Or" in Florence and Rome to represent avant-garde arts in Italy. During a one year stay in the USA he got acquainted with leading artists of Abstract Expressionism such as Marc Rothko...

The 1948 political poster "De Gaulle à Moulins" is a historical artifact that encapsulates a crucial moment in French political history. Created durin...

A historically significant 1942 American modernist oil painting by Martyl Schweig Langsdorf depicting Victor, Colorado, a high-altitude mining ghost town nestled within the Rocky Mountains. The composition captures the stark beauty and atmospheric stillness of a fading Western settlement, where abandoned structures, rugged terrain, and expansive mountain forms merge into a powerful narrative landscape. Painted in oil on masonite, the work features Schweig’s expressive plein-air brushwork and a richly grounded palette of deep greens, muted golds, earthy browns, and atmospheric grays. The paint handling is both fluid and structured, emphasizing light, elevation, and the emotional weight of the post–Gold Rush landscape rather than strict topographical accuracy. This early American modernist Western painting carries strong narrative presence while remaining visually balanced, making it highly effective in both traditional interiors and more contemporary, curated environments. Created in 1942 during Schweig’s Colorado painting trips with fellow artist Adolph Dehn...

Vintage American modernist still life oil painting. Oil on canvas. Framed. Handsomely framed in modernist wood molding. Excellent condition, ready to hang and enjoy.

Winter's Snowy Tatra Mountains with Pines and Stream by Laszlo Neogrady Beautiful post-war winter snowy scene with mountains and pine by Laszlo Neogrady (Hungarian, 1896-1962), circa...

Mid Century Still Life Painting, Fruit and Wine Jug, Signed 1948 A classic still life in the style of Cezanne with fruit, wine jug, and antique tea towel situated on a galvanized me...

Symbolic and surreal landscape with figure eminating life force by Marguerite Louis Blasingame (American; 1906-1947), circa 1940-45. Marguerite and her husband Frank Blasingame...

Antique American modernist beach town oil painting. Oil on board. Framed. Measuring: 22 by 26 inches overall, and 20 by 24 painting alone. Excellent condition, ready to hang and e...

Untitled (Surrealist Composiition) Lithograph with hand coloring, 1945 Signed and dated lower right (see photo) Numbered 10/12 lower left (see photo) fragment from 6X litho In 1945, ...

This Untitled Abstract Composition in Oil on Canvas signed Joe Stefanelli is a gem of Mid-Century American Abstraction. This painting brilliantly exemplifies the approach and movemen...

Harry Finney (fl.1875-1945) Portrait of Dorothy with her Coton de Tulear, 1940. Oil on canvas, 25 x 31 inches. Signed, dated and dedicated lower left. We have an antique frame (n...

A stone lithograph titled 'David, Walter and Blake' by Nura Woodson Ulreich (American, 1899-1950), created in 1943 and with certification of authenticity stamped verso. A crisp and f...

Ian Hugo, 'Early Marshes', from the portfolio 'Ten Engravings'. engraving, 1943, edition 50. Signed, dated, titled, and numbered '37/50' in pencil. A fine impression, with delicate overall plate tone, on cream wove paper, the full sheet with margins (2 5/8 to 7 inches), in excellent condition. With the blind stamp 'madeleine-claude jobrack EDITIONS', in the bottom right margin. Matted to museum standards, unframed. Image size 5 x 5 7/8 inches (127 x 149 mm); sheet size 15 x 11 inches (381 x 279 mm). Ian Hugo originally created "Ten Engravings" in 1945 and the portfolio included a foreword by his partner and collaborator, Anais Nin. In 1978, Hugo republished the portfolio with Madeleine-Claude Jobrack, an American master printmaker who studied under Stanley William Hayter at Atelier 17, Paris, and with Johnny Friedlaender. When Jobrack returned to the States she managed the Robert Blackburn Printmaking Studio in New York before opening her own printing studio, Madeleine-Claude Jobrak Editions. “The sign of the true artist is one who creates a complete universe, invents new plants, new animals, new figures to transfer to us a new vision of the universe in which dream and reality fuse. Ian Hugo's plants have eyes, the birds have the delicacy of dragonflies, their feathers have the shape of fans. Humor is apparent in every gesture. He uses a fine spider web to give a feeling of flight, speed, lightness. The body of a woman reveals the structure of a leaf, a plant. Wings are moving in a world unified by mythological themes. This is an animated world, humorous and levitating, elusive and decorative, which by its unique forms and shapes gives us the sensation of a rebirth, a liberation from the usual, the familiar, a visit to a new planet.” —Anais Nin, from the forward to the portfolio ‘Ten Engravings’ ABOUT THE ARTIST Ian Hugo was born Hugh Parker Guiler in Boston, Massachusetts, on February 15, 1898. His childhood was spent in Puerto Rico—a "tropical paradise," the memory of which stayed with him and surfaced in both his engravings and his films. He attended school in Scotland and graduated from Columbia University where he studied economics and literature. Hugo was working with the National City Bank when he met and married author Anais Nin in 1923. The couple moved to Paris the following year, where Nin's diary and Guiler's artistic aspirations flowered. Guiler feared his business associates would not understand his interests in art and music, let alone those of his wife, so he began a second, creative life as Ian Hugo. Ian and Anais moved to New York in 1939. The following year he took up engraving and etching, working at Stanley William Hayter’s experimental printmaking workshop Atelier 17, established at the New School for Social Research. Hugo began producing surreal images often used to illustrate Nin's books. For Nin, his unwavering love and financial support were indispensable—Hugo was the "fixed center, core... my home, my refuge" (Sept. 16, 1937, Nearer the Moon, The Unexpurgated Diary of Anais Nin, 1937-!939). Fictionalized portraits of Higo and Nin appear in Philip Kaufman's 1990 film drama of a literary love triangle, Henry & June. Inspired by comments that viewers saw motion in his engravings, Hugo took up filmmaking. He asked the avant-garde filmmaker Sasha Hammid for instruction but was told, "Use the camera yourself, make your own mistakes, make your own style." Hugo embarked on an exploration of the film medium as a vehicle to delve into his dreams, his unconscious, and his memories. Without a specific plan, He would collect resonant images, then reorder or superimpose them, seeking a sense of self-connection through the poetic juxtapositions he created. These intuitive explorations resembled the mystical evocations of his engravings, which he described in 1946 as "hieroglyphs of a language in which our unconscious is trying to convey important, urgent messages." In the underwater world of his film ‘Bells of Atlantis,’ the light originates from the world above the surface; it is otherworldly, out of place, yet essential. In ‘Jazz of Lights,’ the street lights of Times Square become in Nin's words, "an ephemeral flow of sensations." This flow that she also calls "phantasmagorical" had a crucial impact on Stan Brakhage, who said that without Jazz of Lights (1954), "there would have been no Anticipation of the Night" his autobiographical film which ushered in a new era of experimental modernist filmmaking. Hugo lived the last two decades of his life in a New York apartment high above street level. In the evenings, surrounded by an electrically illuminated man...

Antique American modernist flower still life painting. Oil on canvas. Signed. In excellent original condition. Handsomely framed in a period silver leaf molding. Excellent condi...

Vintage Italian oil painting. Oil on board. Framed. Measuring: 14 by 16 inches overall, and 12 by 14 painting alone. Unsigned. Excellent condition, ready to hang and enjoy.

East River (Untitled), c. 1940s, oil on canvas signed lower right, 18 x 24 inches Isabella Markell was a painter, etcher, and sculptor, who is best known for her New York City scen...

Step into the serene charm of southern France with this captivating watercolor landscape artwork by François Pascal (France, 19th century–1948). Expertly painted on paper, this work ...

6001 San Martino Hill ,Naples Italy, a 1940's oil on canvas applied on board,displayed in a gilt wood frame.Signed by Ferrara

Terry Haass, 'Quintet', etching and aquatint, edition 20, c. 1948. Signed, titled, and numbered '12/20' in pencil. A superb, richly-inked impression, on off-white wove paper, with fu...

Stephen DENISON 1909 - 1965 Canvas Size: 20 x 24" (50 x 60cm) Outside Frame size: 27 x 31" (69 x 79cm) Signed and dated 1948 A wonderful example of Modern British art. This Englis...

UNION SQUARE Depression Era Oil Painting WPA Realism American Scene Realism NYC Jo Cain (1904 – 2003) "Union Square" 24 x 36 inches Oil on canvas, c.1940s S...

Dick Ruhl (American, 1926-1991) Original Gouache Painting of Goofy, one of three images created specifically for Disney Interview portfolio, Los Angeles 1943. (see reference in bio below). Image measuring 12 x 18 inches. Signed & dated 1943 lower right. Framed measurement: 19 x 25 inches. Dick Ruhl was the grandson of German immigrants who settled in Nebraska as farmers brought to the US by the federal government to raise food for a growing population after the Civil War. On his mother’s side, his family dates back to Nathan Hale. Her father was in the Union Army and given a small farm by the government near Guthrie, Oklahoma. Dick’s parents, John and Lucille, were married in Chandler in 1902, and his dad got a job with the Frisco Railroad. Since the main yard and a hub were in Sapulpa, they moved here, initially settling at Elm and Lee street, but later they bought five acres at 1300 Cleveland and built a simple home with a water well, outdoor toilet, and coal oil lamps. Dick is a Sapulpa native who left his hometown at 16 to become an animator during the “golden age” of Disney Studios. Photo courtesy of Sapulpa Historical Society. Dick finally came along in 1926 and was born in the Sapulpa City Hospital at Division and Cleveland Streets. According to Dick, his doctor, William Polk Longmire—a famous Sapulpan in his own right—named Dick after himself on his birth certificate, listing Dick’s name as “Polk Knox Ruhl.” It wasn’t until 1937 that it was discovered and changed to James Richard Ruhl. Dick was doing farm chores at 5 years old, mostly feeding the animals and milking the cow. Every evening, he delivered milk to his last customer, a cousin named “Nellie,” whom Dick says was a bootlegger. Dick recalls one evening as he put Nellie’s milk in her icebox, a handsome gentleman named Charlie took him up on his lap. “He was wearing a gun, which impressed me,” Dick said, adding that Charlie gave him a shiny half dollar as a gift. “Each evening I rushed to Nellie’s, hoping to meet Charlie again, until one evening, she told me he would never be back.” Nellie showed Dick the evening Sapulpa Herald announcing that Charles “Pretty Boy” Floyd had been killed. Dick started school at 5 years old and said his teacher “loved and whipped me through first grade.” It must have done some good because he was able to skip the 2nd grade. In 3rd grade, his teacher, Miss Giles, had her students draw a house. “I don’t know why, but I drew my house in perfect perspective,” Dick said. “She bragged about my talent and it was then I decided to become a great artist.” Dick turned a small chicken house at his parents’ farm into his first studio and gallery. “My clients were ducks, chickens, and an occasional pig,” he said. As the country fell into the Great Depression, Dick said “it didn’t mean anything to me. We raised our food and Dad eked out a small wage on the railroad. Mom made our clothes from feed sacks purchased at Lee Nevin’s Feed Store, and we had credit at Bodkin’s Grocery, House’s Grocery, and Katz Department Store.” It was in High School that Dick began to really pursue his creative talents again. “The WPA sponsored an art class at the library in the basement,” he said. “My algebra teacher let me attend the art class instead of algebra.” Dick said his art teacher was Henry Simpson—a retired Western artist from Ft. Worth— and another teacher named Mrs. Casteel, whom Dick said “gave me the greatest advice I have ever learned: ‘Don’t think you’re all that good! You’ll meet artists who are better than you, but don’t get discouraged, keep doing your thing.’” Disney comes calling Dick was working at the Criterion Theatre in Sapulpa when Disney released “Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs...

Signed oil on canvas riverscape circa 1940 by popular French impressionist painter Alexandre Louis Jacob. The piece depicts a springtime scene of an old mill on the bank of the Grand...

A stylish, vintage, 1940s woman's fashion study featuring an elegant graphic design for a portfolio cover featuring ladies resort clothes by Hattie Carnegie. Artwork size: 11 x 8...

Artist: Pablo Picasso Title: Round Head of a Man with Mismatched Eyes (Plate XVI) Portfolio: Carmen Medium: Etching on Montval wove paper Year: 1949 Edition: 289 Frame Size: 21" x 18...

This original painting by Sigismond Kolos-Vary, dated 1982, reflects the artist’s distinctive abstract visual language. The composition is built around a dynamic interplay of geometr...

A stylish, vintage, 1940s fashion study featuring an elegant design for a woman's dress. Inscribed "Nettie Rosenstein at Marshall Field". Most likely a design study for a print adv...

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...

A Large, Colorful 1940s Vermont Landscape Painting by Famed Chicago Modern Artist, Harold Haydon. A wonderful and quirky self portrait of t...

Color cliché print after Pablo Picasso, titled “Composition”, edited by Editions du Chêne, Paris, France, 1943. This rare color cliché print presents a striking composition that ref...

A wonderful 1941 Urban Realist watercolor of Chicago's Old Town neighborhood that features an old car, titled "Wells & Eugenie" by Albert Rudin. Image size: 11 1/2" x 15 1/2". Fra...

Large Vintage American modernist interior scene dog portrait oil painting. Oil on canvas. Signed. Framed. Measuring: 49 by 40 inches overall, and 40 by 32 painting alone. Excellent...

Signed lower right 'F.H. Cutting' for Francis Harvey Cutting (American, 1872-1964) and dated '1932-1948'. Born in Iowa in 1872, Francis Harvey Cutting ...

Against The Tide - Oil On Linen Oil painting of the California coastline at sunset in the style of Edgar Alwin Payne (American, 1883-1947). Deep grey clouds pose in the top corners with hues of pink light shining through. Choppy waves crash against deep red and brown rocks, as the whites of the wave hurl upward. The ocean shows tones of green, blue and yellow as the sunlight shines from above. Condition: professionally restored, previous reline onto Masonite with edge and corner wear. New UV resisting, non yellowing varnish applied. Unsigned. Unframed. Oil on linen on masonite. Image: 16"H x 30"W Edgar Alwin Payne was an American painter known for his landscapes, seascapes and western paintings. He was born in Washburn, Missouri on March 1, 1882, and began painting at the age of 14. He began his career by designing and painting scenery for the stage, and murals for homes and theaters. Primarily a self taught artist, he did though study briefly at the Art Institute in Chicago. Recognized as one of California's leading landscape artists, Payne earned the respect of his peers and art critics for his Impressionistic landscapes painted in the plein-air style. Possessing a reverence for nature, he especially loved the mountains. Frequently he took pack horses in the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range to the upper lakes to sketch and paint, there he glorified the areas majestic peaks and cobalt blue lakes. Payne Lake was named in his memory. Drawn to Europe, Payne trekked to and painted the elevated heights of the Swiss Alps, the colorful fishing boats of Concarneau Harbor and Brittany, France and the picturesque sailing vessels of Chioggia, Venice, Italy. He spent time capturing on canvas Arizona's Canyon De Chelly and Navajo horsemen traversing the region's arid tablelands. He painted California...

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...