1950s Art

Signed lower right, 'Jane Chenoweth' for Jane Chenoweth (American, 20th century). Oil botanical showing a field of vermilion poppies with white and gold daisies contrasted against ...

This exquisite lithograph by Marc Chagall (1887–1985), titled Le Dimanche (The Sunday), from the folio Derriere le miroir, No. 67–68, originates from the 1954 edition published by Ma...

Medium: original lithograph. This lithograph was printed in 1956 for the "Improvisations" portfolio, published by the Artists Equity Association of New York on the occasion of the 19...

Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) - Dans l'Atelier de Picasso Lithograph from 1957. The edition of 275. Dimensions of work: 44.5 x 33.5 cm Publisher: Fernand Mourlot Éditeur, Paris. Ref...

Firmado por el artista en la parte inferior En la parte trasera, va nuevamente firmado, fechado del año 1951 y titulado "Bailarina" Se presenta enmarcada la obra El estado de cons...

Raoul DUFY Still Life with White Pot and Pears, 1953 Original Lithograph with stencil watercolor With printed signature in the plate On Arches vellum 28 x 38 cm (c. 11 x 15 inch) E...

This exquisite heliogravure after Georges Braque (1882-1963), titled Sans titre (Untitled), from Carnets Intimes de G. Braque, Verve: Revue Artistique et Litteraire, Vol. VIII, No. 3...

Mid Century Impressionist Nagasaki Harbor Oil Painting by Takashi Matuzoe A mid-century postwar depiction of the Nagasaki Harbor features a modern trawler and a traditional Japanese...

Signed lower right, "Gordon N. Cope" (American, 1906-1999) and dated 1950. Bearing a gallery label verso with the title "Bay Shantys". Oil landscape showing a view of several age-wo...

Gorgeous mid-century still life of a vase of white lilies next to a green teapot and lemon by listed California artist Helen Enoch Gleiforst (American, 1903-1997). Signed "Gleifors...

Signed lower left, 'Ib Eisner' (Danish, 1925-2003) and dated, lower right, 1953. Displayed in a period, carved gilt-wood frame. Framed dimensions: 19 x 21.5 x 1.5 inches. A lyrica...

Medium: lithograph (after the poster). Printed in Paris in 1950 by Mourlot Freres, this lithograph faithfully reproduces the original Toulouse-Lautrec poster in a smaller-size format...

Beautiful autumn landscape by California artist Helen Enoch Gleiforst (American, 1903-1997). Signed "Gleiforst" lower right. Unframed. Image size: 16"H x 12"W. Helen Gleiforst was b...

Mid Century Modern Impasto Oil Painting -- Venice at Sunset with St. Mark's Basilica Wonderful and evocative modern painting of Venice with gondolas...

Stunning and bright mid-century abstracted Sedona desert landscape of red bluffs and Seguaro cactus by unknown artist, 1957. Signed lower left illegibly and dated "June 1957" on vers...

Very rare and well painted Formula Two racing painting. Oil on canvas. Unsigned. Nicely framed.

This exquisite lithograph after Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864–1901), titled Clownesse (Clowness), originates from the 1952 album The Circus of Toulouse-Lautrec. Published by Paris ...

Original Marilyn Monroe Photograph Original photograph of Marilyn Monroe posing in her dressing room on the film of "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" by photographer Milton Gold (American,...

Very nicely painted mid century abstract expressionist oil painting. Oil on board. Framed. Great colors and bold brush strokes.

Cafe Terrace In Nice 1957 by Slim Aarons Slim Aarons Limited Estate Edition Holidaymakers on a cafe terrace in Nice on the French Riviera, 1957. unfra...

Edward Zutrau Untitled, 1956 Signed and dated on the reverse Oil on linen 40 x 82 inches Edward Zutrau (1922–1993) was an American painter whose career spanned from the 1940s throu...

Pablo Picasso Chouette aux plumes (Owl with Feathers) Original ceramic of Picasso made of white earthenware clay, partially engraved, with colored engobe and glaze. Annoted "Edition...

Trees in Bloom Along the River Landscape in Oil on Heavy Cardstock Bold oil landscape by Honora Berg (American, 1897-1985). Trees with pink and white blooms line the bank of a river. The river is shown in streaks of pink, green, and yellow, reflecting the surrounding landscape. At the far edge of the river, bright green mountains sharply rise from the bank. Acquired with a collection of the artist's work. Stamp from the Larry Miller Fine Art on verso. Unframed. Board size: 14.75"H x 22"W Honora Berg (American, 1897-1985) was an Abstract Expressionist and Bay Area Figurative School artist who studied at the San Francisco Art Institute with David Park, Elmer Bischoff and James Budd Dixon...

Vintage American modernist abstract painting. Watercolor on paper. Framed. Gallery label verso. Excellent condition, ready to hang and enjoy.

Very impressive mid 20th century cubist abstract. Oil on canvas. Framed.

Raoul DUFY Bunch of Flowers, 1953 Original Lithograph with stencil watercolor With printed signature in the plate On Arches vellum 28 x 37.5 cm (c. 11 x 14.8 inch) Very good condition

Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) - Le Grand Verre Lithograph from 1957. The edition 211/275. With Arches watermark. Dimensions of work: 44.5 x 33.5 cm. Publisher: Fernand Mourlot Édite...

Costa Rica! Still Life with Guitar, Fruit, Wine, and Newsprint in Oil on Canvas Still life in a semi-cubist style by Irene Pattinson (American, 1909-1999). On a reddish-purple table, there is a plate with two apples, a bottle of wine, and an acoustic guitar. The guitar's headstock is shown extending from where the neck meets the body, implying a cubist interpretation of the scene. At the back of the still life arrangement, there is a (collage) newspaper with "Costa Rica!" in the headline. At the left of the composition, there is a curtain or cloth draped across part of the scene. Signed "Irene Pattinson" on verso. No frame. Canvas size: 32"H x 24"W Irene Pattinson (American, 1909-1999) studied at the California School of Fine Art (now The San Francisco Art Institute), San Francisco State College and The Marion Hartwell School of Design. She was President of the San Francisco Woman Artists Association 1955-56. Provenance:The Artist, Estate of Irene Pattinson: David Carlson; Estate of Larry Miller Fine Art, Robert Azensky Fine Art Solo Exhibitions: Lucien Labaudt Gallery 1955; San Francisco Museum of Art, 1961 (39 works) Selected Group Exhibitions: San Francisco Art Association Annual 1948, 54, 55; San Francisco Woman Artists, 1957-1960; Oakland Art Museum Annual, 1951, 58; California Palace of the Legion of Honor, 1960; Richmond Art Center, 1955, 56, 57, 58; San Francisco Art Institute 1959, 60. The Art Bank of the San Francisco Art Association, 1958, 59, 60, 62, 63; Winter Invitational, California Palace of The Legion of Honor, San Francisco, 1960; Fourth Winter Invitational, California Palace of The Legion of Honor, San Francisco, 1963; Awards: First Place, San Francisco Woman Artists Assoc., 1957, 1959; San Francisco Art Festival 1957;Literature: San Francisco Art Institute - A catalog of the Art Ban 1962/63; San Francisco and the Second Wave: The Blair Collection Exhibitions: 1963 The Art Bank of the San Francisco Art Association, San Francisco, CA 1963 California Palace of The Legion of Honor: Forth Winter Invitational, San Francisco, CA 1962 The Art Bank of the San Francisco Art Association, San Francisco, CA 1961 San Francisco Museum of Art, San Francisco, CA 1960 California...

Oil on canvas painting by the Italian artist, Jean Calogero. Circa 1950. Signed lower left Overall in museum quality gold leaf frame 17.5 by 15.75 inches. Condition: Good. Provenan...

This exquisite lithograph after Henri Matisse (1869–1954), titled Nu Bleu III (Blue Nude III), from Dernieres Oeuvres de Matisse 1950-1954 (Last Works of Matisse 1950-1954), Verve: R...

Vintage American modernist abstract oil painting. Oil on board. Framed. Signed. Measuring: 19 by 23 inches overall, and 17 by 21 painting alone.. In excellent original condition. H...

Charming and well painted rural New England modernist landcape by Vern Henry Smith (1927 - 2007. Oil on canvas. Framed. Signed.

This exquisite lithograph after Henri Matisse (1869–1954), titled Mademoiselle L.L. (Miss L.L.), from the album Portraits par Henri Matisse (Portraits by Henri Matisse), originates f...

Untitled is an artwork realized by Ezio Bruno Caraceni, in 1956.  Mixed media on canvas, 52 x 67 cm. Hand signed and dated bottom right. Good conditions 

This exquisite lithograph and pochoir after Marc Chagall (1887–1985), titled Le Poisson Volant (The Flying Fish), from the folio Couleur amour, 13 Aquarelles, Gouaches, Lavis (Color ...

Tully Filmus Untitled, circa 1950s Signed lower right Oil on canvas 30 x 24 inches Tully Filmus was a Russian-born American realist painter known for his figurative scenes, portrai...

Vintage b/w photograph realized by Dennis Stock in 1950. Copyright: Magnum Photos and Agenzia Contrasto. Excellent condition.

Medium: original lithograph. This lithograph is from the rare 1951 "Improvisations" portfolio, published by the Artists Equity Association of New York on the occasion of the 1951 Spr...

Medium: pochoir (after the watercolor). This charming pochoir was printed by Daniel Jacomet in a limited edition of 900 and published in Paris in 1959 by Editions XXe Siecle for "Le ...

This atmospheric Western scene may be just what a themed room or collection needs. Listed American artist Frederic Burnett is known for his depictions of the American West and this ...

Stunning surrealist painting by Bay Area Figurative artist, John Hultberg (1922-2005). War Night, 1956. Gouache on illustration board measures an impressive 30 x 40 inches; 34 x 44...

Antique American impressionist seascape beach scene oil painting. Oil on board. No signature found. Framed. Image size, 18L x 14H.

This exquisite lithograph by Marc Chagall (1887–1985), titled Les Amoureux sous la Lune (The Lovers under the Moon), from Contes de Boccace, peintures du manuscrit des ducs de Bourgogne, Bibliotheque de l'Arsenal (Ms. no. 5193) (Tales of Boccaccio, Paintings from the Manuscript of the Dukes of Burgundy, Library of the Arsenal), Lavis de Marc Chagall, from Verve, Revue Artistique et Litteraire, Vol. VI, No. 24, originates from the 1950 issue published by Editions de la revue Verve, Paris, under the direction of Teriade, Editeur, Paris, and printed by Draeger Freres, Maitres-Imprimeurs, Paris, 1950. This tender and poetic composition exemplifies Chagall’s lifelong fascination with love, dream, and transcendence. Les Amoureux sous la Lune radiates intimacy and serenity, its nocturnal palette and floating forms capturing the timeless romance between lovers united under the moon’s luminous gaze. Executed as a lithograph on velin du Marais paper, this work measures 14 x 10.5 inches. Unsigned and unnumbered as issued. The edition exemplifies the exquisite craftsmanship of the Draeger Freres atelier, celebrated for its precision and tonal richness in printing fine artworks. Artwork Details: Artist: Marc Chagall (1887–1985) Title: Les Amoureux sous la Lune (The Lovers under the Moon), from Contes de Boccace (Tales of Boccaccio), Verve, Revue Artistique et Litteraire, Vol. VI, No. 24, 1950 Medium: Lithograph on velin du Marais paper Dimensions: 14 x 10.5 inches Inscription: Unsigned and unnumbered as issued Date: 1950 Publisher: Editions de la revue Verve, Paris, under the direction of Teriade, Editeur, Paris Printer: Draeger Freres, Maitres-Imprimeurs, Paris Condition: Well preserved, consistent with age and medium Provenance: From Verve, Revue Artistique et Litteraire, Vol. VI, No. 24, published by Editions de la revue Verve, Paris, 1950 Notes: Excerpted from the album (translated from French), This Verve issue contains the lavis that Marc Chagall composed to illustrate Tales of Boccaccio's Decameron and the paintings on the same theme of the Manuscript of the Dukes of Burgundy preserved in the Arsenal Library. Marc Chagall executed the cover of this work which was completed printing on April 20, 1950 on the presses of Maitres-Imprimeurs, the Draeger Freres. About the Publication: This 1950 issue of Verve, Revue Artistique et Litteraire, titled Contes de Boccace (Tales of Boccaccio), was devoted to the great Italian humanist Giovanni Boccaccio and illuminated manuscripts from the 15th century, interpreted and revived through the eyes of modern artists. Under the artistic direction of Teriade, Marc Chagall contributed a series of lyrical paintings and lavis that reimagined these Renaissance themes with his signature dreamlike color, tenderness, and spiritual symbolism. The issue juxtaposed Chagall’s contemporary vision with the rich heritage of medieval illumination, bridging centuries of artistic imagination. Printed by the master craftsmen of Draeger Freres, the publication stands as a testament to Verve’s tradition of uniting art, literature, and history in one luxurious volume that celebrates the continuity of human creativity from the Middle Ages to modernity. About the Artist: Marc Chagall (1887–1985) was a Belarus-born French painter, printmaker, and designer whose visionary imagination, radiant color, and deeply poetic symbolism made him one of the most beloved and influential artists of the 20th century. Rooted in the imagery of his Jewish heritage and the memories of his childhood in Vitebsk, Chagall’s art wove together themes of faith, love, folklore, and fantasy with a dreamlike modern sensibility. His unique style—merging elements of Cubism, Fauvism, Expressionism, and Surrealism—defied categorization, transforming ordinary scenes into lyrical meditations on memory and emotion. Influenced by Russian icon painting, medieval religious art, and the modern innovations of artists such as Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, and Georges Braque, Chagall developed a profoundly personal visual language filled with floating figures, vibrant animals, musicians, and lovers that symbolized the transcendent power of imagination and love. During his early years in Paris, he became an integral part of the Ecole de Paris circle, forming friendships with Amedeo Modigliani, Fernand Leger, and Sonia Delaunay, and his creative spirit resonated with that of his peers and successors—Alexander Calder, Alberto Giacometti, Salvador Dali, Joan Miro, Wassily Kandinsky, Marcel Duchamp, and Man Ray—artists who, like Chagall, sought to push the boundaries of perception, emotion, and form. Over a prolific career that spanned painting, printmaking, stained glass, ceramics, and stage design, Chagall brought an unparalleled poetic sensibility to modern art, infusing even the most abstract subjects with human warmth and spiritual depth. His works are held in the most prestigious museums around the world, including the Museum of Modern Art, the Centre Pompidou, the Tate, and the Guggenheim, where they continue to inspire generations of artists and collectors. The highest price ever paid for a Marc Chagall artwork is approximately $28.5 million USD, achieved in 2017 at Sotheby’s New York for Les Amoureux (1928). Marc Chagall Les...

GJ Rogers Surreal Octopus 1959 Oil on Canvas 36"x24.5" Signed and dated in paint lower right George Jay Rogers was born in Yonkers, New York on June...

This exquisite lithograph by Marc Chagall (1887–1985), titled Quai de Bercy (Bercy Quay), from the folio Derriere le miroir, No. 67–68, originates from the 1954 edition published by Maeght Editeur, Paris, and printed by Mourlot Freres, Paris, 1954. Quai de Bercy captures Chagall’s poetic vision of Paris as a dreamlike landscape where memory, color, and emotion converge. The work’s lyrical composition and radiant palette embody Chagall’s deep affection for the city that shaped his artistic identity, blending reality and reverie in perfect harmony. Executed as a lithograph on velin paper, this work measures 15 x 22 inches, with centerfold as issued. Unsigned and unnumbered as issued. The edition exemplifies the superb craftsmanship of Mourlot Freres, Paris. Artwork Details: Artist: Marc Chagall (1887–1985) Title: Quai de Bercy (Bercy Quay), from the folio Derriere le miroir, No. 67–68 Medium: Lithograph on velin paper Dimensions: 15 x 22 inches (38.1 x 55.88 cm), with centerfold as issued Inscription: Unsigned and unnumbered as issued Date: 1954 Publisher: Maeght Editeur, Paris Printer: Mourlot Freres, Paris Catalogue raisonne reference: Cramer, Patrick, and Meret Meyer. Marc Chagall: Catalogue Raisonne des Livres Illustres. Patrick Cramer Editeur, 1995, illustration 24; Mourlot, Fernand, and Marc Chagall. Chagall Lithographe I: 1922–1957. Andre Sauret, 1960, illustration 93. Condition: Well preserved, consistent with age and medium Provenance: From the folio Derriere le miroir, No. 67–68, published by Maeght Editeur, Paris; printed by Mourlot Freres, Paris, 1954 Notes: On the occasion of the ‘Paris’ exhibition, Marc Chagall created for this triple issue of Derriere Le Miroir XII pages of Lithography. About the Publication: Derriere le miroir (Behind the Mirror) was one of the most important art publications of the 20th century, created and published by Maeght Editeur in Paris from 1946 to 1982. Founded by the visionary art dealer and publisher Aime Maeght, the series served as both an exhibition catalogue and a work of art in its own right, uniting original lithographs by leading modern and contemporary artists with critical essays, poetry, and design of the highest quality. Printed by master lithographers such as Mourlot Freres and Arte, Derriere le miroir became synonymous with the artistic vanguard of postwar Europe. Each issue was devoted to a single artist or theme and published to accompany exhibitions at the Galerie Maeght in Paris, featuring works by Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Georges Braque, Joan Miro, Marc Chagall, Alexander Calder, Fernand Leger, and Alberto Giacometti, among others. The publication reflected Maeght’s belief that art should be both accessible and elevated—an ideal realized through its luxurious production values, meticulous printing, and collaboration with the greatest creative minds of its time. About the Artist: Marc Chagall (1887–1985) was a Belarus-born French painter, printmaker, and designer whose visionary imagination, radiant color, and deeply poetic symbolism made him one of the most beloved and influential artists of the 20th century. Rooted in the imagery of his Jewish heritage and the memories of his childhood in Vitebsk, Chagall’s art wove together themes of faith, love, folklore, and fantasy with a dreamlike modern sensibility. His unique style—merging elements of Cubism, Fauvism, Expressionism, and Surrealism—defied categorization, transforming ordinary scenes into lyrical meditations on memory and emotion. Influenced by Russian icon painting, medieval religious art, and the modern innovations of artists such as Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, and Georges Braque, Chagall developed a profoundly personal visual language filled with floating figures, vibrant animals, musicians, and lovers that symbolized the transcendent power of imagination and love. During his early years in Paris, he became an integral part of the Ecole de Paris circle, forming friendships with Amedeo Modigliani, Fernand Leger, and Sonia Delaunay, and his creative spirit resonated with that of his peers and successors—Alexander Calder, Alberto Giacometti, Salvador Dali, Joan Miro, Wassily Kandinsky, Marcel Duchamp, and Man Ray—artists who, like Chagall, sought to push the boundaries of perception, emotion, and form. Over a prolific career that spanned painting, printmaking, stained glass, ceramics, and stage design, Chagall brought an unparalleled poetic sensibility to modern art, infusing even the most abstract subjects with human warmth and spiritual depth. His works are held in the most prestigious museums around the world, including the Museum of Modern Art, the Centre Pompidou, the Tate, and the Guggenheim, where they continue to inspire generations of artists and collectors. The highest price ever paid for a Marc Chagall artwork is approximately 28.5 million USD, achieved in 2017 at Sotheby’s New York for Les Amoureux (1928). Marc Chagall Quai de Bercy 1954, Chagall Derriere le miroir No. 67–68, Chagall Mourlot lithograph, Chagall Maeght...

Color lithograph, circa 1950. With the artist's printed signature as issued, lower center, and numbered 84/200 in pencil, lower right. Printed and published by Mourlot, Paris. The...

Porfirio Salinas (1910-1973) San Antonio Artist Image Size: 30 x 40 Frame Size: 39 x 49 Medium: Oil on Canvas Dated 1957 "Bluebonnet Creek" Texas Hill Country Biography Porfirio Salinas (1910-1973) Porfirio Salinas was a self-taught artist who painted landscapes of Central Texas with an emphasis on the vast bluebonnet fields that grow there in the springtime. Born in 1910 in Bastrop, Texas, he attended public schools in San Antonio. He also observed works in progress by the director of the San Antonio Art School, Jose Arpa, as well as landscape painter, Robert Wood. Wood is said to have paid Salinas five dollars a picture to paint bluebonnets because "he hated to paint bluebonnets". Salinas served in the military from 1943 to 1945. Although he was assigned to Fort Sam Houston, he was allowed to live at home. At the fort, Colonel Telesphor Gottchalk assigned him to paint murals for the officer's lounge and various other projects, and Salinas continued to be able to paint during his entire conscripted period. Even before he achieved notoriety among galleries, dealers, and museums, Salinas was widely followed and appreciated by many Texans, including former President Lyndon B. Johnson, who may be considered responsible for launching Salinas popularity beyond the boundaries of Texas. In 1973, Texas capital, Austin, honored Salinas for having "done much to bring the culture of Mexico and Texas closer together with his paintings". Salinas died in April 1973 in San Antonio, Texas. From the years of the Great Depression through President Lyndon Johnson's Great Society of the 1960s, Texan Porfirio Salinas (1910-1973) remained one of the Lone Star State's most popular artists. Today, his works remain popular with Texas collectors and those who love landscapes of the beautiful "Hill Country" that lies in the center of the state. One of the first Mexican American painters to become widely recognized for his art, Salinas was a favorite of President Lyndon Johnson and his wife, Lady Bird Johnson, as well as of Sam Rayburn, the longest-serving Speaker of the House of Representatives, and Texas Governor John Connelly. In fact, President Johnson was so enamored with his Salinas paintings that the artist will forever be associated with America's first Texas-born President. Works by Porfirio Salinas are in a number of museum collections, grace the halls of the Texas State Capitol and the Governor's Mansion in Austin, and are included in virtually every major private collection of Early Texas Art. Porfirio Salinas was born on November 6, 1910, near the small town of Bastrop, Texas, about thirty miles from Austin. His father, Porfirio G. Salinas (1881-1967), and his mother, Clara G. Chavez, struggled to make a hardscrabble living as tenant farmers, but eventually were forced to give up farming. The family moved to San Antonio, where Salinas' father was able to get a job working as a laborer for the railroad, but the scenic area around Bastrop, with its pine trees and the wide expanse of the Rio Grande River, would forever remain a touchstone for the artist. For the rest of his life, Salinas and his brothers went back frequently to visit their grandmother in her little farmhouse. When in Bastrop, Porfirio painted on the banks of the Rio Grande or in the groves of pine trees. The Salinas family was close-knit and Porfirio was the middle child of five children, so he had an older brother and sister as well as a younger brother and sister. His mother was a native of Mexico, so throughout his childhood the family made the long drive to Mexico to visit Clara Salinas' family. As a child growing up in the bi-lingual section of San Antonio, Salinas drew and painted incessantly and by the time he was ten, he was already producing work that was mature enough to sell to his schoolteachers. Many years later in an article in the New York Times he was described as a "boy whose textbooks were seldom opened and whose sketchbook was never closed." Instead of studying, the young artist spent his spare time watching artists paint in and around San Antonio. As an aspiring painter, Salinas was fortunate to grow up in the historic city, which had the most active art scene in Texas. It was his exposure to older, professional painters that encouraged the precocious young painter to leave school early in order to help his family and pursue a career as a professional artist, despite his father's inability to see art as a career with any future for his son. When Salinas was about fifteen he came to know the artist Robert W. Wood (1889-1979). He met Wood while he was employed in an art supply store and he soon began to work as an assistant to the English-born painter, who had moved from Portland to San Antonio in 1924. Although the diminutive Englishman was already an established professional artist, he did not have a great deal of formal art training and so he was then studying with the academically trained Spanish painter Jose Arpa (1858-1952) in order to augment his knowledge and give his work a more polished look. Salinas was an eager young man, and while working in Wood's downtown San Antonio studio he learned to stretch canvases, frame paintings and to sketch in larger compositions from small plein-air studies for the English artist. He began to accompany Wood and Arpa to the hills outside San Antonio, where they painted small Plein-air studies of fields of blue lupin - the state flower, the famous "Bluebonnets" of Texas - in the springtime and scenes of the gnarled Red Oaks as they changed color in the fall. He was soon assisting Wood in the tedious work of painting the tiny blue flowers that collectors wanted to see in the landscapes they purchased of central Texas. According to a 1972 newspaper story, "Legend has it that one day in the 1920s artist Robert Wood decided he could not bear to paint another bluebonnet in one of his landscapes. He hired young Porfirio Salinas to paint them in for him at five dollars a painting." Whether this story is accurate or apocryphal isn't clear, but the ambitious and independent young Salinas wasn't destined to be anyone's assistant for very long. The formative event of Porfirio Salinas' teenage years was the Texas Wildflower Competitive Exhibitions, a Roaring-Twenties dream of the eccentric oilman Edgar B. Davis (1873-1951). These competitive shows of paintings of wildflowers and Texas life were mounted in San Antonio from 1927 to 1929. Held at the newly opened Witte Museum each spring, the exhibition featured large cash prizes donated by the philanthropic Davis, which were an inducement for artists to travel from all over the United States to paint in the Hill Country of Texas. The "Davis Competitions," as they were known, helped to cement San Antonio's reputation as an art center, a legacy that remains with the "River City" today. The shows generated a great deal of excitement in the area, helping to make celebrities of the some of the artists who had already settled there and encouraging others to make San Antonio their home. Over the three years that the wildflower competitions were held, more than 300 paintings were exhibited, and many thousands of viewers saw the paintings at the Witte Museum and on tours throughout the state and in New York. Each year Davis would generously purchase the winning paintings and then donate them to the San Antonio Art League. Young Porfirio Salinas would have been able to not only watch his two mentors - Robert W. Wood and Jose Arpa - paint the works that they entered in the Davis Competitions, he would have been able to see Arpa take several of the major prizes, receiving the judge's accolades for "Verbena," "Cactus Flower" and "Picking Cotton," works that are still on view at the San Antonio Art League Museum today. Unfortunately, Davis eventually put his donations to work in other charitable endeavors, bringing to an end the wildflower events, but only after they inspired Salinas and other young painters and had helped to make wildflower paintings the most sought-after subject for traditionalist Texas collectors. In 1930, when he was only twenty, Salinas hung out a shingle and began to paint professionally, augmenting the sales of his easel paintings with what little business he could garner by painting signs for local concerns. It was a struggle for the young artist to make a living, as the effects of the Great Depression were settling in. His early works are very similar to those of Robert Wood's, both in subject matter and treatment. Salinas did small paintings of Bluebonnets for the tourists who visited San Antonio to see the famous Alamo as well as paintings of the Texas missions...

Bible Verve Marc Chagall, Russian (1887–1985) Date: 1956 Lithograph Poster Size: 24.25 x 16.5 in. (61.6 x 41.91 cm) Printer: Editions Verve Publisher: Mourlot, Paris

This exquisite lithograph after Georges Braque (1882-1963), titled Sans titre (Untitled), from Carnets Intimes de G. Braque, Verve: Revue Artistique et Litteraire, Vol. VIII, No. 31-...

This exquisite linocut by Joan Miro (1893–1983), titled Personnage, Oiseau, Etoile (Figure, Bird, Star), from the album XXe Siecle, Nouvelle serie, XXIe Annee, No. 13, originates fro...

Medium: lithograph. This lithograph (after the Vlaminck painting) was printed in Paris in 1958 by the Mourlot atelier and published in an edition of 2000. The image size is 6 3/4 x 8...

Lucien Boucher 🇫🇷 (1889 - 1971) was a French painter, engraver, poster artist and draftsman. He studied ceramics at the Sèvres school before being sent to the front in 1914. Taken ...

Antique American modernist abstract oil painting. Oil on canvas. Signed.

A substantial, mid-century Post Impressionist oil still-life comprising a fish on a platter with four lemons, a raffia-wrapped bottle of Italian chianti, a wine glass and a slab of c...

Jean Cocteau "L'Homme Fleur" 7/50 from an edition of 50 Ceramic pitcher, conceived in 1958 Hand signed and inscribed on the base, " Edition originale de Jean Cocteau, Atelier Madelin...

American jazz trumpeter and bandleader Louis 'Satchmo' Armstrong (1900 - 1971), shouts after clarinettist Edmund Hall's solo, on stage during the band's British tour, May 19, 1956. A...

Valnere Rita 1929 - 2015 Rita Valnere was born on September 21, 1929, was a Latvian painter and art teacher. In 1949, she graduated from the Janis Rozentals Riga Art Secondary Scho...

A Walk Through Town California Gold Country An old town in the California Gold Country, depicting green and blue buildings with brown rooftops and gree...

Antique American modernist abstract oil painting. Oil on paper. Framed.

In 1950, Jean Cocteau, the renowned French artist, poet, and filmmaker, designed an original exhibition poster for Affiches des grands peintres (Posters of Great Painters), a show he...