1940s Art

Artist Unknown "Tie and Glasses" c. 1940s Charcoal and pencil on paper 13.5"x17" site 19"x23" rustic wood frame Unsigned

Artist: Gladys Rockmore Davis, American (1901 - 1967) Title: Summer Flowers Year: circa 1940 Medium: Oil on Canvas, Signed lower right Size: 24 x 20 inches Frame: 33 x 29 inches

Signed by Artist Lower Left The present work was published on the cover of the September 4th, 1948 edition of The Saturday Evening Post. An accompanying “Keeping Posted” article about Norman Rockwell’s process behind the painting was printed on page 10 inside the issue. (Image above) The Post described, “Boston baseball fans saw a strange spectacle at Braves’ Field early this summer. As the stands filled, two respectable-looking men stood on the field staring at the spectators. Every now and then they would point to someone, run up into the stands and invite the man or woman to sit in a box above the dugout. Then the thinner of the two would contort his face into an expression of wild delight or disgust and invite the spectator to do the same, while a photographer made pictures. The explanation is on our cover. The two suspicious characters were Kenneth Stuart, the Post’s art editor and the artist, Normal Rockwell. For a detailed description of how Boston...

Rémy Duval, 'School Children, L'ile Saint Louis, Paris', photogravure, 1946. A fine, richly-inked impression in warm black ink, on cream wove B.F.K. Rives p...

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...

Lithography on paper printed in 40's, numbered 42/300, 54,5 x 75,5 x 0,1 cm - 21,4 x 29,7 x 0,04 in, printed by Moulot Editions Editions with the stamp Fernand Léger on Musee Biot pa...

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

Barbara Shermund (1899-1978). Society Satirical Cartoon, ca. 1940s. Gouache on heavy illustration paper, image measures 17 x 14 inches; 23 x 20 inches in matting. Signed lower left. Very good condition but matting panel should be replaced. Unframed. Provenance: Ethel Maud Mott Herman, artist (1883-1984), West Orange NJ. For two decades, she drew almost 600 cartoons for The New Yorker with female characters that commented on life with wit, intelligence and irony. In the mid-1920s, Harold Ross, the founder of a new magazine called The New Yorker, was looking for cartoonists who could create sardonic, highbrow illustrations accompanied by witty captions that would function as social critiques. He found that talent in Barbara Shermund. For about two decades, until the 1940s, Shermund helped Ross and his first art editor, Rea Irvin, realize their vision by contributing almost 600 cartoons and sassy captions with a fresh, feminist voice. Her cartoons commented on life with wit, intelligence and irony, using female characters who critiqued the patriarchy and celebrated speakeasies, cafes, spunky women and leisure. They spoke directly to flapper women of the era who defied convention with a new sense of political, social and economic independence. “Shermund’s women spoke their minds about sex, marriage and society; smoked cigarettes and drank; and poked fun at everything in an era when it was not common to see young women doing so,” Caitlin A. McGurk wrote in 2020 for the Art Students League. In one Shermund cartoon, published in The New Yorker in 1928, two forlorn women sit and chat on couches. “Yeah,” one says, “I guess the best thing to do is to just get married and forget about love.” “While for many, the idea of a New Yorker cartoon conjures a highbrow, dry non sequitur — often more alienating than familiar — Shermund’s cartoons are the antithesis,” wrote McGurk, who is an associate curator and assistant professor at Ohio State University’s Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum. “They are about human nature, relationships, youth and age.” (McGurk is writing a book about Shermund. And yet by the 1940s and ’50s, as America’s postwar focus shifted to domestic life, Shermund’s feminist voice and cool critique of society fell out of vogue. Her last cartoon appeared in The New Yorker in 1944, and much of her life and career after that remains unclear. No major newspaper wrote about her death in 1978 — The New York Times was on strike then, along with The Daily News and The New York Post — and her ashes sat in a New Jersey funeral...

Large Modernist Seated Nude, 1941 Oil Painting, School of Paris Figurative Work by Picasso’s Nephew Artist: Javier Vilató Ruiz Title: Seated Nude Date: 1941 Medium: Oil on canvas ...

Dancer, actor and singer Fred Astaire (1899 - 1987) performs for the camera during a photo session, circa 1940, in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by George Karger...

Original vintage travel poster Holy Week in Spain. Original color lithograph in English HOLY WEEK IN SPAIN. Linen backed and in excellent condition, ready to frame. Spanish Nat...

Frank Nelson Wilcox (American, 1887-1964) Gilbert's Camp, c. 1941 Watercolor on Whatman board Signed lower right 22 x 30 inches Frank Nelson Wilcox (October 3, 1887 – April 17, 1964) was a modernist American artist and a master of watercolor. Wilcox is described as the "Dean of Cleveland School painters," though some sources give this appellation to Henry Keller or Frederick Gottwald. Wilcox was born on October 3, 1887 to Frank Nelson Wilcox, Sr. and Jessie Fremont Snow Wilcox at 61 Linwood Street in Cleveland, Ohio. His father, a prominent lawyer, died at home in 1904 shortly before Wilcox' 17th birthday. His brother, lawyer and publisher Owen N. Wilcox, was president of the Gates Legal Publishing Company or The Gates Press. His sister Ruth Wilcox was a respected librarian. In 1906 Wilcox enrolled from the Cleveland School of Art under the tutelage of Henry Keller, Louis Rorimer...

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...

Title: Interior with Fruits and Portrait Artist: Signed as J. Guinovart Attribution: Possibly a very early work by Josep Guinovart (1927–2007) Technique: Oil on canvas Dimensions: 46...

This 18 x 9 x 4 inch carved wood sculpture is unsigned and comes directly from the artist's family. Louis 'Lou' Bunin (28 March 1904 – 17 February 1994) was an American puppeteer, artist, and pioneer of stop-motion animation in the latter half of the twentieth century. While working as a mural artist under Diego Rivera in Mexico City in 1926, Bunin created political puppet shows using marionettes...

Antique impressionist still life painting by Irene ( I. Stry) Stry (1899/1904 - 1963). Oil on board, circa 1940. Signed. Image size, 24L x 20H.

HAROLD LUKENS DOOLITTLE (1873 - 1974) WESTERN PEAKS c. 1945 Aquatint signed and titled in pencil. 6 3/4 x 8 7/8 sheet 9 5/8 x 12 3/4. Good condition save for just a hint of darkening within the window and small bits if tape on the sheet edge verso. Doolittle was a renaissance man. His day job was as an engineer for the Edison Electric Co. But he produced an outstanding body of prints for 5 decades as well as photographs. His very rare arts and crafts furniture is highly sought after. He was a long time member and officer in the California Print...

"Machu Pichu" - Black and Grey Lithograph #10/200 Bold black and grey lithograph by David Alfaro Sequeiros (Mexican, 1896-1974). This piece is a high contrast, abstracted landscape....

Cosmos Color woodcut with gauffage (embossing), January 1940 Unsigned (as usual) Publisher: Takemura Hideo (active Yokohama 1926-1940) Condition: excellent Image size: 14 3/8 x 9 5/8 inches Provenance: Robert O. Muller Estate Biography Hodo Nishimura...

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...

Le Cirque (Circus) Henri Matisse (After) French (1869–1954) Portfolio: Jazz Date: Of Original: 1947 Year Printed: 1983 Lithograph Image Size: 13 x 19.75 inches Size: 15.25 x 23.5 ...

Printed signature, upper right, '池田瑞月' for Ikeda Zuigetsu (Japanese, 1877-1944). Framed dimensions: 14.75 x 20 inches. Born in Kanazawa, Zuigetsu Ikeda was a naturalist and horticu...

Henri Matisse Patitcha 1947 Aquatint on BFK Rives paper, Edition of 25 Paper size: 55.5 x 38 cms (22 x 15 ins) Image size: 34.9 x 27.6 cm (13 3/4 x 10 7/8 ins) HM15405 Selected Coll...

Title of the Artwork: Hunting Still Life Artist: Josep Serrasanta (1916-1998) Technique: Oil on canvas Dimensions: 39.37 x 31.89 in Date: 1949 Artistic Movement: Romantic Realism wit...

Ira Moskowitz, 'The Three Gods of Healing (Navajo Medicine Ceremony of the Night Chant)', lithograph, 1945, edition 30, Czestochowski 148. Signed and titled in pencil. Signed and dat...

Gabriel Strandberg (1885–1966) Sweden View of Stockholm from Västerbron, 1943 signed and dated lower left oil on board unframed 36.5 × 55 cm (14.4 × 21.7 in) framed 46.5 × 65 cm (1...

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...

Antique American modernist still life oil painting. Oil on canvas. Signed. Framed. Measuring 17 by 23 inches overall and 16 by 22 painting alone.

Work on canvas

'The Port of Algiers", original lithograph, by Albert Marquet (circa 1940s). Marquet spent five years in Algiers, between 1940-45. Due to his travelling, harbour scenes were an impor...

A beautiful signed and dated 1943 impressionist oil on board depicting a seated lady, by Belgian painter Jacques Hanot (Jacano). Excellent quality and condition work, siggned lower ...

Original 1940 Loterie Nationale Vintage Poster. Tranche de l”Historie de France. Linen-backed in very good condition – excellent, ready to frame. The team of Eddgard Derouet and C...

Ink and watercolor on cardboard realized by Alcione Gubellini in the mid-20th century. Hand signed. Includes a wooden frame cm. 53x47. Very good condition.

Adolf Dehn's, lithograph about burlesque, The Big Hearted Girls #2 (also known as The Last Veil), is filled with dancing girls and fabulous costumes. That central figure is a marvel!...

"Labor in a Diesel Plant" Machine Age American Scene Industrial Mid 20th Century Letterio Calapai (American 1902-1993) ''Labor in A Diesel Plant'' Wood engraving, 1940 17 x 10 1/2...

Bill Crawford (1913-1982). Original illustration artwork depicting teams as they advance to the World Series. Depicted are representations of the St. Louis Cardinals and The Brooklyn...

This exquisite engraving after Marie Laurencin (1883-1956), titled Sans titre (Untitled), from the folio Dialogue sur la Danse (Dialogue on the Dance), originates from the 1949 editi...

This exquisite engraving after Marie Laurencin (1883-1956), titled Sans titre (Untitled), from the folio Dialogue sur la Danse (Dialogue on the Dance), originates from the 1949 editi...

This exquisite engraving after Marie Laurencin (1883-1956), titled Sans titre (Untitled), from the folio Dialogue sur la Danse (Dialogue on the Dance), originates from the 1949 editi...

This exquisite engraving after Marie Laurencin (1883-1956), titled Sans titre (Untitled), from the folio Dialogue sur la Danse (Dialogue on the Dance), originates from the 1949 editi...

This exquisite engraving after Marie Laurencin (1883-1956), titled Sans titre (Untitled), from the folio Dialogue sur la Danse (Dialogue on the Dance), originates from the 1949 editi...

This exquisite engraving after Marie Laurencin (1883-1956), titled Sans titre (Untitled), from the folio Dialogue sur la Danse (Dialogue on the Dance), originates from the 1949 editi...

This exquisite engraving after Marie Laurencin (1883-1956), titled Sans titre (Untitled), from the folio Dialogue sur la Danse (Dialogue on the Dance), originates from the 1949 editi...

This exquisite engraving after Marie Laurencin (1883-1956), titled Sans titre (Untitled), from the folio Dialogue sur la Danse (Dialogue on the Dance), originates from the 1949 editi...

Medium: lithograph with pochoir coloring (after the 1885 watercolor). Printed in 1948 on Johannot paper for the rare "Seize Aquarelles et Sanguines de Renoir" portfolio and published...

Vintage American impressionist seascape oil painting. Oil on canvas. Signed. Framed. Provenance from a Sag Harbor, NY collection. Measuring: 22 by 28 inches overall. Handsomely fram...

Ruth Ford - American actress and model - Original Photography by Cecil Beaton Photo taken in 1940s Sir Cecil Beaton (1904-1980) is considered one of the mo...

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...

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

Born in New York, Julian Levi spent his early years in Philadelphia. He began his art studies art at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts under Arthur B. Carles, Daniel Garber, and Henry McCarter. On graduation, Levi was awarded a scholarship which he used to travel to Italy and Paris. During his stay in Europe, which lasted five years, from 1920 to 1925, Levi was influenced by Cubism. He was especially drawn to the art of Juan Gris, adopting the gentle color harmonies and precise linear treatments of forms found in Gris's works. In 1924, Levi participated in an important show of Philadelphia modern artists which included works by Charles Demuth, Hugh Breckinridge, Franklin Watkins...

Alexander Sharpe Ross - or Alex Ross. This mid-century masterpiece is a perfect artistic statement with every formal element in perfect harmo...

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...

Very well done and interesting vintage Italian impressionist painting. Oil on canvas. Framed. Signed.

Female Figures is an original artwork, pastel, gouache on paper. Is not signed and dated but we can attribute the period early 20th Century. Two female figures under an intimate vi...

Professionally archival linen-backed vintage French poster: pour L'An II COMPAGONS Tous Unis Celebrons, Notre Pain, Notre Sang, Notre Terre. This full lithograph antique poster fe...

'Row of Plane Trees In Winter - Maussane-les-Alpilles', Provence, watercolour and pencil on art paper, by Yves Brayer (1946). A line of Plane trees greets visitors to almost every vi...

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...

Lake Tarryall, a 1941 lithograph by Adolf Dehn (1895-1968) was made while he was teaching in Colorado. A native of Waterville, Minnesota, Dehn attended the Minneapolis School of Art ...

Kawase Hasui (Japanese, 1883-1957) Snow at Hie Shrine, circa 1946 -1957 (dated in the publisher's seal) Woodblock Sheet size 37.5 x 26.0 cm (vertical oban) Frame size 51.3 x 38.5 x 2...

Oil on board, signed and dated '44 lower right Image size: 15 x 19 inches (38 x 48.25 cm) Contemporary style hand made frame This portrait of an unknown man certainly captures the personality of the chosen sitter. With hat tilted to the side, eyebrow lifted and a half smile of the man's face, one gets the impression that he is finding the whole process of having his portrait painted rather amusing. Still in Ireland at this time, the sitter is likely to have been a friend of the artist, from Belfast. In 1944 there was a group exhibition in Belfast held at the textile business of William Ewart & Sons on Bedford Street. Here Smith showed his works alongside the artists Colin Middleton...