1940s Art

This evocative 1930s–1940s vintage oil painting by Denver modernist Paul K. Smith depicts a timeless New Mexico adobe church, likely inspired by the iconic San ...

3830 Oil on canvas streets of old Paris Image size 8x10"

Boy Jumping into Hudson River, NYC by Ruth Orkin is a black and white gelatin silver print of a child jumping off a building into the water below. Gelatin Silver Print 14 x 11 in. B...

This striking British Post Impressionist portrait oil painting is by noted Manchester artist Harry Rutherford. Painted circa 1940, the portrait is of a dark haired young woman in a f...

Original “The 3rd Man”, 1949, linen-backed vintage one-sheet movie poster "The 3rd Man". NSS: # 49/452. Excellent condition with restored original fold m...

This exquisite lithograph and pochoir after Pablo Picasso (1881–1973), titled Minotaur, from the folio Picasso, Fifteen Drawings, 1946, originates from the 1946 edition published by Pantheon Books, Inc., New York, and rendered and printed by Albert Carman, City Island, New York, 1946. Minotaur captures Picasso’s lifelong fascination with the ancient myth of the half-man, half-bull—a symbol of passion, violence, and the dual nature of human instinct. Through bold yet economical linework, the artist transforms the mythical figure into an expression of psychological struggle and creative power, a recurring theme in his postwar works that reconciles strength with vulnerability. Executed as a lithograph and pochoir on velin paper, this work measures 12.63 x 18.75 inches. Signed in the plate and unnumbered as issued. The edition exemplifies the exemplary standards and artistic integrity of the fine art publishing and printmaking of Pantheon Books, Inc., and Albert Carman whose next collaborative project following this edition was with Marc Chagall in the creation of his monumental suite, Four Tales from the Arabian Nights in 1948. Artwork Details: Artist: After Pablo Picasso (1881–1973) Title: Minotaur, from the folio Picasso, Fifteen Drawings, 1946 Medium: Lithograph and pochoir on velin paper Dimensions: 12.63 x 18.75 inches (32.1 x 47.6 cm) Inscription: Signed in the plate and unnumbered as issued Date: 1946 Edition: D, primary edition; L, out of commerce, hand signed by Pablo Picasso Publisher: Pantheon Books, Inc., New York Printer: Albert Carman, City Island, New York Catalogue raisonne reference: Orozco, Miguel. Picasso Interpretation Prints II - Etchings, Pochoirs & Woodcuts. Catalogue Raisonne. 2023, illustration 388–402 Condition: Well preserved, consistent with age and medium Provenance: From the folio Picasso, Fifteen Drawings, 1946, published by Pantheon Books, Inc., New York; printed by Albert Carman, City Island, New York, 1946 About the Publication: Picasso, Fifteen Drawings (1946) was one of the earliest fine art portfolios issued in the United States to feature the work of Pablo Picasso in the mediums of lithography and pochoir. Published by Pantheon Books, Inc., New York—a press renowned for its pioneering role in introducing European modernism to American audiences—the portfolio marked an important cultural bridge between postwar Paris and the emerging art scene in New York. The suite comprised fifteen images selected from Picasso’s prolific oeuvre, including depictions of mythological figures, musicians, and introspective portraits. Each work was rendered using a combination of lithography and pochoir, printed by Albert Carman at his atelier in City Island, New York, whose craftsmanship ensured a remarkable fidelity to the tonal and chromatic nuances of Picasso’s originals. The portfolio was produced in an edition of D, primary edition; L, out of commerce, hand signed by Pablo Picasso, issued unbound within a printed paper folder, and distributed primarily through Pantheon’s art book division under the direction of Kurt Wolff and Monroe Wheeler—key figures in shaping the intellectual reception of modern art in the United States. Picasso, Fifteen Drawings helped establish the artist’s postwar reputation among American collectors, scholars, and institutions, introducing a generation of viewers to the expressive immediacy and psychological depth of his draftsmanship. The publication also exemplified Pantheon’s broader mission to make modern European art accessible to an American audience, alongside their landmark editions devoted to Henri Matisse, Georges Rouault, and Marc Chagall. Technically refined and historically significant, the portfolio stands as a testament to the transatlantic exchange of modernist aesthetics during the mid-20th century and remains one of the most sought-after Picasso print editions issued in the United States before 1950. About the Artist: Pablo Picasso (1881–1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, and ceramicist whose extraordinary vision revolutionized modern art and defined the visual language of the 20th century. A child prodigy from Malaga, Spain, Picasso's career spanned more than seven decades and encompassed an astonishing range of styles and innovations—from the melancholic Blue and romantic Rose periods to his pioneering invention of Cubism with Georges Braque, which shattered conventional notions of perspective and form. Influenced by the bold expressiveness of El Greco, the structure of Cezanne, and the vitality of African and Iberian sculpture, Picasso became a central figure of the Paris avant-garde, working in creative dialogue with contemporaries such as Henri Matisse, Alexander Calder, Alberto Giacometti, Salvador Dali, Joan Miro, Wassily Kandinsky, Marcel Duchamp, and Man Ray. His insatiable experimentation extended across painting, drawing, printmaking, ceramics, and sculpture, forever expanding the boundaries of artistic expression. A master of reinvention, Picasso profoundly shaped generations of artists who followed—from Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, David Hockney, and Jean-Michel Basquiat to Jeff Koons and Banksy—cementing his status as a timeless cultural icon whose works remain among the most sought after worldwide. His landmark painting Les Femmes d'Alger (Version O) achieved a record-breaking sale of 179,365,000 USD at Christie's, New York, on May 11, 2015, affirming Picasso's enduring legacy as one of the most influential and valuable artists in history. Pablo Picasso Minotaur...

A nice American modernist landscape painting, dating from the 1940s. This work is on the manner of E. Oscar Thalinger, but does not appear to be signed. The work is unframed, as it...

Paris, France: A City Street Scene by Henri Miloch (1898-1979) unsigned watercolour and gouache painting on artist's paper, unframed sheet 9.75 x 12.25 inches Very nicely execu...

A unique oil painting on canvas signed by Paul Lambert (1910–1970), a renowned French artist celebrated for his evocative portrayals of Parisian landscapes. This rare piece exemplifi...

A ca. 1940 etching of a view of the Manhattan skyline by artist Nat Lowell. Signed and titled in pencil, ca. 1940. Artworks size: 4 1/4" x 5 1/4". Arc...

Antique American modernist abstract expressionist painting. Oil on board, circa 1940. Image size, 24L x 20H.

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

Dorothy Rivo Untitled (Bridge Tower), c. 1960s–70s Acrylic on paper, floated in a mat Framed dimensions: 30 in. H × 24 in. W Contemporary walnut or black wood frame with white archiv...

5-3536 Chinese Landscape reverse oil Painting on glass with gilt detailing Set in a gilt wood frame Image size 9.5x7.5"

Medium: original etching. Printed in 1946 at the atelier Lacouriere on BFK Rives paper and published in a limited edition of 300 for the "Alternance" portfolio (a collective art and ...

Wheeler Williams (American, 1897-1972) Study for Dawn, 1947 Pencil on paper 9 1/4 x 12 1/4 in. Signed lower right: Wheeler Williams, 1947 Inscribed: Study fo Dawn [illegible] "Dawn & Twilight" A native of Chicago, Wheeler Williams is known for his allegorical, narrative work including "Tablets to Pioneers" on the Michigan Avenue bridge in Chicago, and "Settlers of the Seaboard" in Fairmount Park in Philadelphia. He graduated with honors...

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...

Impressive early American modernist opera view interior oil painting by Dorothy Van Loan (1904 - 1999). Framed. Oil on canvas. Signed. Image size,...

Original Mosaic on cement panel. Ref.: Domus 1948, p. IX and p. 29. An awesome and beautiful example on Campigli's Art of creating imaginative characters following his creativity,...

A stylish, vintage, 1940s fashion study featuring an elegant design for women's evening wear. Artwork size: 11 x 8 1/2 inches. Archivally matted to 16 x 12 inches. Provenance: Co...

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 impressionist beach scene oil painting. Oil on canvasboard. Framed. No signature found.

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. Image size: 14 1...

Very nicely painted American school modernist painting. Oil on canvas. Signed. Nicely framed. Image size, 16L x 20H.

This striking original 1949 gouache and wax painting, titled "Fetishes", is a powerful work by acclaimed New Mexico modernist Howard Schleeter (1903–1976). Rich with symbolic abstrac...

A stylish, vintage, 1940s fashion study featuring an elegant design for a woman's white ermine wrap. Likely an illustration study for a print advertisement for the famed Chicago dep...

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: ...

This gorgeous porcelain sculpture from Hutschenreuther porcelain is of two galloping horses, sculpted in exquisite detail and signed by the sculptor, Max Hermann Fritz...

Signed lower center, 'by Buk' for Eduard Buk Ulreich (American, 1889-1966), dedicated lower center, 'for Ruth' and painted circa 1945. Additionally signed and titled verso 'Navajo Fa...

Bernard Brussel-Smith, 'Sailor and His Girl', wood engraving, 1941, edition 35. Signed, titled, and numbered '21/35' in pencil. Signed in the block, lower right. A superb, richly-in...

This interesting British landscape oil painting is by noted artist Laurence Henry Irving. Painted circa 1940 it is a Kent harvest landscape of the Rother Valley from Prospect Hill, W...

A vintage herbarium / botanical display collected and created by S. Lindwald in June 1946 in Sweden. This botanical specimen is preserved behind glass in a new custom-made frame. The...

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

Bernard Gussow 1881 -1957 Bernard Gussow was active/lived in New York, New Jersey / Russian Federation. Bernard Gussow is known for genre, landscape, figure, interior paintings. Ber...

Nicely painted Flamenco dancer portrait. Framed. Oil on board. Signed. Image size, 20H by 16L.

Henri Matisse (1869-1954) Woman face, 1946 Original lithograph Unsigned Edition of 200 copies On Rives vellum size 25 x 18 cm REFERENCE : Catalog raisonné Duthuit 25 Very good con...

Landscape signed lower left beautiful original gold leaf frame. ​ Frank Peyraud earned a lasting reputation for rural landscapes, especially snow scenes in broadly defined forms and glowing colors. Excepting a trip from 1921 to 1923 to Italy and Switzerland, he was based in Chicago, where a Registrar of the Chicago Art Institute in materials for a traveling exhibition, described him as the "dean of Chicago landscape artists." (Richter) Peyraud was one of the first American painters to focus on the Midwestern landscape and did many river and farm scenes including his signature snowscapes. Many of his paintings reflected Impressionism, an abstract style executed with rapid technique and broken brushstrokes brought over from France towards the end of the 19th Century. Impressionism received much attention in Chicago in some of the artwork exhibited at the 1893 Exposition. Of Peyraud and Impressionism, it was written that "he was the most successful of the progressive Chicago painters who experimented with impressionist approaches in the years following Exposition." He was credited with more discipline of execution than many of his peer impressionists and with a "valid impressionism", (Greenhouse) that conveyed poetic interpretations to what many persons regarded as very ordinary rural Illinois landscape. His snow scene haystack painting, Winter Light on the Farm, in the Marshall Collection of Peoria and exhibited at the Terra Museum, shows "crystalline atmosphere and fleeting light of a waning winter afternoon". (Greenwood) and seems to reference the serial haystack paintings by Claude Monet. Many of Peyraud's works had luminous back-lighting, and careful arrangement of contrasting shapes, and a tone inviting the viewer into a "slightly enchanted world into which quotidian human elements rarely intrude." (Richter) Peyraud was born in Bulle, Switzerland, and enrolled as an architecture student at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. In 1881, at age 22 and an established architect in France, he emigrated to Chicago where he spent the remainder of his career. He found employment there as a cyclorama painter, which meant creating huge panoramic paintings in the round, "forerunner of the wide-screen motion picture." (Richter). In 1891, he became involved in retouching Paul Phillipoteaux's panorama, The Battle of Gettysburg, when it came to Chicago for exhibition He continued to work on panoramic and cycloramas spectacles including The Creation for the 1903 Louisiana Exposition. Spring Painted Desert in the Santa Fe Railroad Collection shows at least one trip West. Peyraud also did mural painting, several of them in Peoria, Illinois including a series of allegorical murals with Hardesty Maratta in the Peoria at the newly-built Public Library. In Peoria, he also taught classes and gave lectures. In 1906, he married Elizabeth Krisher, a portrait painter, and illustrator. Sources include: Marianne Richter, Union League Club of Chicago Art Collection, "Frank Charles Peyraud...

Pablo PICASSO Carmen, The Man in the Square, 1949 Original burin engraving (Atelier Lacourière, Paris) Unsigned On Montval wove paper 33 x 26 cm (12.9 x 10.2 in) REFERENCES : - Cat...

Beautiful mid century impressionist landscape of Colorado River and hills by Wilfred A. Readio (American, 1895-1961), c.1940. Unsigned; purchased as part of collection of artist's wo...

This rare 1941 work by American modernist Charles Ragland Bunnell (1897–1968), titled Quitting Time, is a compelling example from the artist’s important Black and Blue Series, a body...

Woodcut on wove paper. Inscription: Unsigned and unnumbered, as issued. Good Condition. Notes: From the folio, The Documents of Modern Art. Arp: On My Way, Poetry And Essays 1912 - 1...

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: ...

This exquisite lithograph after Feliks Topolski (1907–1989), titled This England, S.P.19., originates from the School Prints Ltd. series, published by School Prints Ltd., London, und...

"Snowy Landscape, Italian Alps Village, 1944" Giuseppe Sobrile (Italy 1879-1956) Oil on board Signed lower right and dated "1944" in Roman numerals Dedication on back to Lina Sobrile...

What could be more dangerous than an enraged rattlesnake with blood dripping from its fangs? The answer according to this WWII poster is the ramifications from careless talk about tr...

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: ...

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...

This exquisite lithograph by Andre Derain (1880–1954), titled Les Baigneuses (The Bathers), from Verve, Revue Artistique et Litteraire, Vol. II, No. 8, originates from the 1940 issue...

“The Big City, 1948” by Anna Elkan Meltzer (American, 1896-1974) One of Meltzer’s finest works, this painting encapsulates the organized chaos of Grand Central Terminal in NYC in th...

Hudson River School Style - The Homestead and Grist Mill 1942 In the Hudson River School style by A (K) Mathieu (American, 19th-20th C). Harvest time at the Homestead with a hay wago...

A Charming, 1940s American Scene study of a Man Seated at a Table by Notable Chicago Modern Artist, Harold Haydon (Am. 1909-1994). A delightful sketch ("Dinner at the Windermere Hot...

Medium: original etching. Printed in Paris by Lacourière and published by Pierre à Feu and Maeght Editeur for the Marcel Duchamp / André Breton project Surréalisme en 1947. Issued in...

Signed lower right 'Muff' for Orla Muff (Danish, 1903-1984) and painted circa 1940. Orla Muff received his first formal art instruction at the Copenhagen Technical School from 1917-...

This exquisite lithograph by Hans Jean Arp (1886–1966), titled Rouge, bleu, brun (Red, Blue, Brown), from the folio Derriere le miroir, L’art abstrait, No. 21-22, originates from the...

Wonderful painting of the Maine coast in Ogunquit. Oil on Canvas, signed lower right. Titled on reverse, A Fair Day - Ogunquit. 24" by 30" sight. George Franklin Wing (1869–1961) ...

Oil on canvas by Louis BERTHOMME SAINT-ANDRE, France, 1940s. Young Red-haired Woman. with frame: 74x63 cm - 29.1x24.8 inches ; without frame: 61x50 cm - 24x19.7 inches. Format 12F. ...

Beautiful impressionistic landscape of Shongum Lake, New Jersey countryside in Spring with Stream and blossoms by Rudolph J. Eicher (1884 - 1958), Circa 1940s. Bright springtime fo...

This vintage 1940s oil on canvas painting by Colorado artist Irene Fowler (1884–1969) beautifully captures the vibrant autumn landscape of Boulder Canyon. With a masterful eye for color and atmosphere, Fowler presents majestic mountain peaks framed by glowing Aspen trees in their fall brilliance, their leaves shimmering in radiant shades of gold, orange, and red. The scene reflects both the serenity and dramatic character of Colorado’s rugged wilderness, offering a timeless vision of the Rocky Mountains. Fowler’s keen observation of light and painterly brushwork bring the landscape vividly to life, evoking the crisp mountain air and golden glow of a Colorado autumn day. Her ability to balance natural grandeur with intimate detail makes this work an exceptional example of early 20th-century Western American painting. The painting itself measures 22 ¼ x 18 ¼ inches and is presented in a custom gilded frame with outer dimensions of 25 ¼ x 21 ¼ x 1 ½ inches, enhancing its elegance and making it ready for display. Signed by the artist in the lower right corner. About the Artist: Irene Fowler (1884–1969) was a pivotal figure in Denver’s early 20th-century art community. Born in Illinois, she later settled in Colorado, where she became both a respected public school teacher and a founding member of the Denver Artists Guild (now the Colorado Artists Guild). Best known for her en plein air landscapes, Fowler captured the beauty of Colorado’s mountains, Aspen groves, and mining towns with an extraordinary sensitivity to light, color, and atmosphere. She exhibited widely throughout her career, including at the Schlier Gallery, Chappell House, University Club...

Medium: original etching. Printed in 1946 at the atelier Quesneville on BFK Rives paper and published in a limited edition of 300 for the "Alternance" portfolio (a collective art and...

A fine impression with good margins published by Associated American Artists.