American Impressionist Figurative Prints

This artwork titled "Evening Light" 1993 is a large original color lithograph on Arches paper by noted California artist Clark Mitchell, b.1951. It is hand signed, dated, titled and numbered 6/20 SI in pencil by the artist.The image size is 23.25 x 35 inches, sheet size is 29.25 x 40 inches. It is in excellent condition, has never been framed. About the artist. Born In Denver, Colorado - January 19, 1951 Growing up in the shadow of the Rockies, Clark Mitchell very early discovered a love of the natural world. Given a set of fine old German pastels by his father when quite young, he quickly embraced the medium for its ease of handling, brilliance of color and portability. He received a bachelor’s degree in art from Colorado College in the seventies and moved to San Francisco to continue his studies at the Academy of Art College. Through personal exploration as well as study with artists Albert Handell, Skip Whitcomb, Michael Lynch...

Artist: Harold Altman (American, 1924-2003) Title: Four Walking Figures Year: c.1980 Medium: Original color lithograph Edition: Inscribed Artist Proof in pencil Paper: Arches Im...

Alonzo C. Webb, 'Bridges of Florence', etching, 1929, edition 100. Signed and titled in pencil. Signed and dated in the plate, lower left. A superb, richly-inked impression, in warm ...

Vilhelmina Fjallen. Vilhelminafjällen Sverige. Original Scandinavian vintage poster lithograph. Mounted on acid-free archival linen. A city located on the edge of Lapland in the Västerbotten area.. This region has a subarctic climate, suitable for reindeer. Artist: Folke Ricklund. Printed by: Tullbergs Esselte STHLM Very good to excellent condition, linen-backed, ready to frame. Mid Century Modern. This poster advertises travel to a mountainous region of Northern Sweden, where Laplanders can live off the reindeer. A rare travel poster...

Original American work incentive poster: ‘HE IS RISEN”. Artist: Willared Frederick Elmes. This isn't actually a war/propaganda poster per se, but it was produced by Mather & Co. Elmes was an artist similar to Mather in that they were both prolific with their morale + work incentive posters in the 1930s. Elmes also created other pieces done for the early railway posters. The poster with the stained-glass panel in the back and the ray of light shining in is the last Mather & Company poster printed (1930). All others were printed in 1929 and earlier. The very last in the Work Incentive Mather’s posters...

Arthur B. Davies (1862-1928), By the Sea (aka Idyll), soft ground etching and aquatint, 1919, signed in pencil lower right. Reference: Czestochowski 72, fourth state (of 5; see disc...

This artwork titled "The Wharf" c.1980 is an original color serigraph by American artist Filastro (Fil) Mottola, 1915-2008. It is hand signed, titled and numbered 19/450 in pencil by...

Artist: Harold Altman (American, 1924-2003) Title: November 1981 III (Jardin du Luxembourg, Paris) Year: 1981 Medium: Original color lithograph Edition: Inscribed "Artist Proof" in pencil Paper: Arches Image size: 7.75 x 11.70 inches Framed size: 18.65 x 22.5 inches Signature: Hand signed and titled in pencil by the artist Condition: Excellent Frame: Custom framed in a wooden silver frame frame, with light light grey matting and brownish green fillet. About the artist. Print...

Arthur B. Davies (1862-1928), Sea Maidens (or, Sunshine; Girls on the Beach), soft ground etching and aquatint, 1919, signed in pencil lower right. Reference: Czestochoski 79, second...

Arthur B. Davies (1862-1928), Round of Summer (aka Four Figures), soft ground etching, 1919, signed in pencil lower right. Reference: Czestochowski 91, first state (of 3), trial proo...

This artwork titled "Skull" c.1990 is an original color etching and aquatint by noted California artist Arnold A. Grossman, 1923-2016. It is hand signed in pencil by the artist. The ...

Graceful abstract figurative lithograph by Jim Smyth (American, b. 1938). Numbered, titled, signed and dated "5/12", "Study 2", "Smyth 74” along the bottom edge. Unframed. Jim Smyth has studied at the Academia de Belle Arti in Fiorenza, Italy, Ecole des BeauxArts in Geneva, New York Academy, and the Art Students League. He is also a graduate of UC Berkeley with a degree in Fine Art. Although academically trained, Smyth practices and teaches a more impressionistic style of painting, focusing on the Alla Prima technique. He is particularly knowledgeable about drawing, perspective, color theory and the human figure, his passion. Smyth, with extensive academic knowledge, has a profound love of all human representations as illustrated by his humorous quick sketches from life. He also practices and teaches oil painting and pastels. When not in Provence, or Southeastern France, Smyth teaches intensely in art schools, art centers and several colleges in the Bay Area. He is a beloved instructor and his classes fill in quickly as he is very knowledgeable. On his return to the United States, he began studying with Mr. Alanson Appleton at the College of San Mateo, San Mateo, California. Smyth was a founding member of the Appletree Etchers, Inc., an etching print shop organized by Mr. Appleton and his students to develop and promote color intaglio. Smyth served as Master Printer at the studio for many years perfecting the techniques of intaglio and developing the color theories of Mr. Appleton as applied to the deeply etched plate. Smyth received his degree from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1972 and holds the California Community College Certificate and an Adult Education Certificate. Smyth was invited to teach "Anatomy for Artists" at Foothill College, Los Altos Hills, California, as a result of his many years of dissection of the cadaver and developed the course of study of Perspective for the college. During this period, he began teaching Life Drawing at the Pacific Art League of Palo Alto, Palo Alto, California. During the following thirty years Smyth has taught an average of twelve classes per week at the Pacific Art League of Palo Alto, the Palo Alto Art Center and the Burlingame Recreation Department among others in all phases of drawing and painting. He has conducted many workshops for the California Academy of Painters in many aspects of drawing and painting. Currently, he is an Adjunct Professor of Drawing at the College of San Mateo, San Mateo, California. He is an authority on the materials of painting and drawing, techniques of traditional drawing and painting, color theory, perspective and anatomy for artists. In his career in Life Drawing, Smyth has made over two hundred thousand drawings from the model. In addition to studies at Berkeley, Smyth has studied at the College of San Mateo, Foothill College, De Anza College, Mission College, and West Valley College, all in California. One of the pivotal points in his career was studying with Mr. Maynard Dixon Stewart at the University of San Jose, California. He spent a year at the New York Academy of Art where he was offered a full scholarship and at the Art Students League of New York. He concurrently attended classes at the National Academy of Design in New York. Among others, Smyth studied with M. Andrejivec, Ted Schmidt, Elliot Goldfinger, Gary Fagin, Ted Jacobs, Leo Neufeld, David Leffel, Jack Ferragasso, Jim Childs and Everett Raymond Kinstler and Kim English. Smyth has also studied with the noted painter and colorist, Ovanes Berberian...

G. Harvey’s "The Flower Cart" is a luminous celebration of urban charm and human tenderness, set in a time when the pace of life moved slower and beauty bloomed on every corner. In this atmospheric piece, Harvey channels his signature warmth and glowing light to turn an everyday moment—a street-side flower vendor’s cart...

G. Harvey’s "On the Streets of New Orleans", released in 1981, is a moody, rain-washed tribute to the romance and rhythm of one of America’s most storied cities. Set in the early 20t...

Harold ALTMAN New York : Break in Central Park MEDIUM : Stone lithograph SIGNATURE : Handsigned LIMITED : Artist Proof PAPER : Arches vellum SIZE : 56 x 76 cm (c. 22 x 30 in) INFORMATION : Bears the blind stamp of the printer "Atelier Desjobert...

Wonderful woodblock print titled "Weaving" by Aptos, California artist Virginia J Hughins (Virginia Brubaker DeWolf) (American, 1923-2004), circa 1990. Signed "Virginia" bottom rig...

Some of his prints were published by the WPA. it is a wood engraving signed in pencil. From a small edition. Albert Abramovitz (1879-1963), born in Riga, Latvia, on January 24, 187...

Original vintage poster: FRENCH LINE cruise line. Archival linen-backed original travel by cruise line vintage poster. "Greet Europe Relaxed & Refreshed by France- Afloat." Frenc...

"Eternal Problem" - 1924 Etching on Paper Etching on paper titled "Eternal Problem" by Elias M. Grossman (American, 1898-1947). A bearded rabbi is portrayed thinking with his hand p...

Original vintage Badajoz Fiesta de San Juan linen backed poster. Very good condition, ready to frame. Printed: Lit. Ortega, Valencia. Archival linen backed. No tears, no stain...

Original vintage poster: Very rare original 1923 vintage archival linen backed poster: This Way Out! Pick your Exit - Now. Which way out will you take should a fire occur here today? Don't wait for the emergency and then start to run. Decide how and where to get out now. The poster is in B condition and has had restoration on the lower left border. Wear consistant with its age in the lower left as well. See images for more detail.. Original work motivaton or incentive poster. Mather Work...

Original, WHAT WILL YOUR ANSWER BE when your boy asks you -- "Father, - what did you do to help when Britain fought for freedom in 1916?" horizontal, linen-backed, excellent condition ENLIST NOW. Poster showing, in silhouette, a boy in scout uniform addressing his father. This poster was also printed with the same text but using "Ireland" in the text. Iconic British World War 1...

This artwork titled "Family Reunion" 1992 is an original color serigraph on heavy Coventry paper by noted American artist Donald (Don) Hatfield, b.1947....

Lon Megargee 1883-1960 "The War Bonnet" Wood block print Signed: original pencil signature, lower right Image size: 11 x 11 inches Frame size 22 x 22 inches Creator of Stetson's hat logo "Last Drop from his Hat" Lon Megargee 1883 - 1960 At age 13, Lon Megargee came to Phoenix in 1896 following the death of his father in Philadelphia. For several years he resided with relatives while working at an uncle’s dairy farm and at odd jobs. He returned to Philadelphia in 1898 – 1899 in order to attend drawing classes at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Back in Phoenix in 1899, he decided at the age of 16 to try to make his living as a cowboy. Lon moved to the cow country of Wickenburg, Arizona where he was hired by Tex Singleton’s Bull Ranch. He later joined the Three Bar R. . . and after a few years, was offered a job by Billy Cook of the T.T. Ranch near New River. By 1906, Megargee had learned his trade well enough to be made foreman of Cook’s outfit. Never shy about taking risks, Lon soon left Cook to try his own hand at ranching. He partnered with a cowpuncher buddy, Tom Cavness, to start the El Rancho Cinco Uno at New River. Unfortunately, the young partners could not foresee a three-year drought that would parch Arizona, costing them their stock and then their hard-earned ranch. Breaking with his romantic vision of cowboy life, Megargee finally turned to art full time. He again enrolled at the Pennsylvania Academy of Art and then the Los Angeles School of Art and Design during 1909 – 1910. The now well-trained student took his first trip to paint “en plein air” (outdoors) to the land of Hopi and Navajo peoples in northern Arizona. After entering paintings from this trip in the annual Territorial Fair at Phoenix, in 1911, he surprisingly sold his first oil painting to a major enterprise – the Santa Fe Railroad . . . Lon received $50 for “Navajos Watching the Santa Fe Train.” He soon sold the SFRR ten paintings over the next two years. For forty years the railroad was his most important client, purchasing its last painting from him in 1953. In a major stroke of good fortune during his early plein-air period, Megargee had the opportunity to paint with premier artist, William R. Leigh (1866 – 1955). Leigh furnished needed tutoring and counseling, and his bright, impressionistic palette served to enhance the junior artist’s sense of color and paint application. In a remarkable display of unabashed confidence and personable salesmanship, Lon Megargee, at age 30, forever linked his name with Arizona art history. Despite the possibility of competition from better known and more senior artists, he persuaded Governor George Hunt and the Legislature in 1913 to approve 15 large, historic and iconic murals for the State Capitol Building in Phoenix. After completing the murals in 1914, he was paid the then princely sum of roughly $4000. His Arizona statehood commission would launch Lon to considerable prominence at a very early point in his art career. Following a few years of art schooling in Los Angeles, and several stints as an art director with movie studios, including Paramount, Megargee turned in part to cover illustrations for popular Western story magazines in the 1920s. In the 1920s, as well, Lon began making black and white prints of Western types and of genre scenes from woodblocks. These prints he generally signed and sold singly. In 1933, he published a limited edition, signed and hard-cover book (about 250 copies and today rare)containing a group of 28 woodblock images. Titled “The Cowboy Builds a Loop,” the prints are noteworthy for strong design, excellent draftsmanship, humanistic and narrative content, and quality. Subjects include Southwest Indians and cowboys, Hispanic men and women, cattle, horses, burros, pioneers, trappers, sheepherders, horse traders, squaw men and ranch polo players. Megargee had a very advanced design sense for simplicity and boldness which he demonstrated in how he used line and form. His strengths included outstanding gestural (action) art and strong figurative work. He was superb in design, originality and drawing, as a study of his prints in the Hays collection reveals. In 1944, he published a second group of Western prints under the same title as the first. Reduced to 16 images from the original 28 subjects, and slightly smaller, Lon produced these prints in brown ink on a heavy, cream-colored stock. He designed a sturdy cardboard folio to hold each set. For the remainder of his life, Lon had success selling these portfolios to museum stores, art fairs and shows, and to the few galleries then selling Western art. Drawing on real working and life experiences, Lon Megargee had a comprehensive knowledge, understanding and sensitivity for Southwestern subject matter. Noted American modernist, Lew...

This artwork titled "Arch Beach, California" c.1910 is an original etching on Wove paper by American artist Harley DeWitt Nichols, 1859-1939. It is hand signed and titled in pencil by the artist. The plate mark (image) size is 6.5 x 9.5 inches, framed size is 13 x 17 inches. it is custom framed in a wooden silver frame, with off white matting. It is in excellent condition, especially considering the age. About the artist: Born in the small rural Wisconsin town of Barton, Harley lived a peripatetic life. As a young child, he accompanied his family to Lincoln, Nebraska where he found great excitement in the roaming herds of buffalo and Native Americans. It was in these years that a talent for drawing was discovered. In 1870, after several years of hardship, his father moved the family back to Wisconsin. At the age of 11 he became a water boy...

This artwork titled "The Old House" c.1980 is an original etching by noted California artist Arnold A. Grossman, 1923-2016. It is hand signed in pencil by th...

"Study 6" - 1975 Figurative Lithograph on Paper Abstract figurative lithograph by Jim Smyth (American, b. 1938). The nude figure is seen with one hand above her head, holding a cloth, as she gazes down. Numbered, titled, signed and dated along bottom. "5/12", "Study 6", "Smyth 75." Presented in a brown mat. Mat: 16"H x 12"W Paper: 10 1/2"H x 8"W Image:9 1/4"H x 6 1/2"W Jim Smyth has studied at the Academia de Belle Arti in Fiorenza, Italy, Ecole des BeauxArts in Geneva, New York Academy, and the Art Students League. He is also a graduate of UC Berkeley with a degree in Fine Art. Although academically trained, Smyth practices and teaches a more impressionistic style of painting, focusing on the Alla Prima technique. He is particularly knowledgeable about drawing, perspective, color theory and the human figure, his passion. Smyth, with extensive academic knowledge, has a profound love of all human representations as illustrated by his humorous quick sketches from life. He also practices and teaches oil painting and pastels. When not in Provence, or Southeastern France, Smyth teaches intensely in art schools, art centers and several colleges in the Bay Area. He is a beloved instructor and his classes fill in quickly as he is very knowledgeable. On his return to the United States, he began studying with Mr. Alanson Appleton at the College of San Mateo, San Mateo, California. Smyth was a founding member of the Appletree Etchers, Inc., an etching print shop organized by Mr. Appleton and his students to develop and promote color intaglio. Smyth served as Master Printer at the studio for many years perfecting the techniques of intaglio and developing the color theories of Mr. Appleton as applied to the deeply etched plate. Smyth received his degree from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1972 and holds the California Community College Certificate and an Adult Education Certificate. Smyth was invited to teach "Anatomy for Artists" at Foothill College, Los Altos Hills, California, as a result of his many years of dissection of the cadaver and developed the course of study of Perspective for the college. During this period, he began teaching Life Drawing at the Pacific Art League of Palo Alto, Palo Alto, California. During the following thirty years Smyth has taught an average of twelve classes per week at the Pacific Art League of Palo Alto, the Palo Alto Art Center and the Burlingame Recreation Department among others in all phases of drawing and painting. He has conducted many workshops for the California Academy of Painters in many aspects of drawing and painting. Currently, he is an Adjunct Professor of Drawing at the College of San Mateo, San Mateo, California. He is an authority on the materials of painting and drawing, techniques of traditional drawing and painting, color theory, perspective and anatomy for artists. In his career in Life Drawing, Smyth has made over two hundred thousand drawings from the model. In addition to studies at Berkeley, Smyth has studied at the College of San Mateo, Foothill College, De Anza College, Mission College, and West Valley College, all in California. One of the pivotal points in his career was studying with Mr. Maynard Dixon Stewart at the University of San Jose, California. He spent a year at the New York Academy of Art where he was offered a full scholarship and at the Art Students League of New York. He concurrently attended classes at the National Academy of Design in New York. Among others, Smyth studied with M. Andrejivec, Ted Schmidt, Elliot Goldfinger, Gary Fagin, Ted Jacobs, Leo Neufeld...

This artwork titled "Paris, Le Pont Neuf" c.1990 is an original etching by noted California artist Arnold A. Grossman, 1923-2016. It is signed with initia...

Male Figurative Study - Original Lithograph on Paper Original lithograph on paper depicting a male nude in pose. The male figure is depicted sitting, ...

Blossom Time in Tokyo Color woodcut, 1914 Signed by the artist in pencil on the image (see photo) Signed in the block with the artist red stamp and her initials (see photo) Condition...

Hand signed and numbered by the artist. From Tom Sawyer Portfolio. Sheet size 25.5 x 19.5 inches. Image size approx 17 x 13 inches. Frame size approx 30 x 26 inches. From the editi...

Artist: David Rosenthal (American 1876-1949) Title: Atlantic City Year: c.1930 Medium: Color Etching Image (Plate mark) size: 9 x 13 inches Sheet s...

Artist: David Rosenthal (American 1876-1949) Title: Bay Harbor Year: c.1930 Medium: Etching Image (Plate mark) size: 6 x 8.25 inches Sheet size: 8.25 x 10.5 inches Signature: Hand signed in pencil by the artist Condition: Very good About the artist. David Rosenthal (1876-1949) was a Cincinnati artist...

This artwork titled "Warming Up" c.1990 in an original color serigraph by American artist John Asaro, b.1937. It is hand signed and numbered 147/195 in penc...

Artist: David Rosenthal (American 1876-1949) Title: Village in France Year: c.1927 Medium: Color Etching with aquatint Image (Plate mark) size: 13.5 x 10 inches Sheet size: 14.75 x 11.25 inches Signature: Hand signed and numbered 9/50 in black ink by the artist Condition: Very good, margin slightly toned by age About the artist. David Rosenthal (1876-1949) was a Cincinnati artist...

This artwork titled "Paris, Le Pont Neuf" c.1990 is an original color aquatint by noted California artist Arnold A. Grossman, 1923-2016. It is signed with...

This artwork titled "Keukenhof" 2000 is an original color wood block print by noted California artist Arnold A. Grossman, 1923-2016. It is signed, dated, titled and numbered 1/25 in...

This artwork titled "Pine Cones" c.1990 is an original etching by noted California artist Arnold A. Grossman, 1923-2016. It is signed with initials in pencil by the artist. The artwo...

G. Harvey’s “When Bankers Wore Boots” transports viewers to a bygone era where the heartbeat of a snow-covered town pulses beneath the golden glow of gas lamps. A horse-drawn streetc...

Arthur B. Davies (1862-1928), Against Green (also Three Figure Composition, Figures Against Green), soft ground etching and aquatint, 1918, signed in pencil lower right; also titled ...

The etching "Running the Rapids" was created by Frank Benson in 1927. Printed in an edition of 150, this impression is signed in pencil, lower left. The image size is 5 13/16 x 7 7/8" (14.8 x 20 cm) and sheet size 8 1/16 x 10 5/16" (20.3 x 26.2 cm). Frank Weston Benson (1862-1951), well known for his American impressionist paintings, also produced an incredible body of prints - etchings, drypoints, and a few lithographs. Born and raised on the North Shore of Massachusetts, Benson, a natural outdoorsman, grew up sailing, fishing, and hunting. From a young age, he was fascinated with drawing and birding – this keen interest continued throughout his life. His first art instruction was with Otto Grundman at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and then in 1883 in Paris at the Academie Julian where he studied the rigorous ‘ecole des beaux arts’ approach to drawing and painting for two years. During the early 1880’s Seymour Haden visited Boston giving a series of lectures on etching. This introduction to the European etching...

Arthur B. Davies (1862-1928), Tartessians, soft ground etching with aquatint, 1919-20, signed in pencil lower right. Reference: Czestochowski 96, second state (of 2), total printing ...

This original, limited edition etching, was realized by the esteemed American artist John E. Costigan, circa 1930. He is represented in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum, th...

Collotype in colors on paper. Unsigned. Title and copyright info in typeset lower margin. Artwork is in excellent condition. All reasonable offers will be considered.

A superb, richly-inked impression of this very scarce lithotint on Japan paper. Edition of approximately 55. Signed with the artist's cypher in pencil, lower right.

"The Bridge" is a drypoint by Frank Benson created in 1923. Printed in an edition of 150 this impression is signed in pencil, lower left. The image size is 13 1/2 x 10 5/8" (34.2 x 26.8 cm) and sheet size 16 1/2 x 13 1/16" (41.8 x 33.3 cm). FRANK W. BENSON (1862-1951) Frank Weston Benson, well known for his American impressionist paintings, also produced an incredible body of prints - etchings, drypoints, and a few lithographs. Born and raised on the North Shore of Massachusetts, Benson, a natural outdoorsman, grew up sailing, fishing, and hunting. From a young age, he was fascinated with drawing and birding – this keen interest continued throughout his life. His first art instruction was with Otto Grundman at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and then in 1883 in Paris at the Academie Julian where he studied the rigorous ‘ecole des beaux arts’ approach to drawing and painting for two years. During the early 1880’s Seymour Haden visited Boston giving a series of lectures on etching. This introduction to the European etching...

"Twilights Last Gleaming" - Vintage 1980's Etching Vintage etching depicting the characters from the 1977 movie "Twilights Last Gleaming" by Claudett...

This original, limited edition etching, was realized by the esteemed American artist John E. Costigan, who is represented in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum, the Philips Memorial Gallery in Washington and the Brooklyn Museum, to name only a few of the many institutions that feature his work. This print, with its highly considered composition and its loose style of figuration- deftly balances realism and abstraction- helps to explain his acclaim. This etching features a mother walking with her child and two goats in a forested glen. It is a Classic pastoral scene rendered in Costigan's inimitable style- somewhere between Theodore Rousseau and Thomas Hart Benton. These offer a beautiful glimpse of a bygone American pastoral...

Arthur B. Davies, Up-Rising, soft ground etching and aquatint on a cream laid paper, 1919, signed in pencil lower right margin. Reference: Czestochowski 78, second state (of 3). In g...

Reginald Marsh (1898-1954), Two Models on a Bed, lithograph, 1928, signed and inscribed “15 proofs” [also initialed and dated in the plate]. Reference: Saso...

Lon Megargee 1883-1960 "The Sheepherder" Wood block print Signed in plate, lower right Image size: 10 x 10 inches Frame size 22 x 22 inches Creator of Stetson's hat logo "Last Drop from his Hat" Lon Megargee 1883 - 1960 At age 13, Lon Megargee came to Phoenix in 1896 following the death of his father in Philadelphia. For several years he resided with relatives while working at an uncle’s dairy farm and at odd jobs. He returned to Philadelphia in 1898 – 1899 in order to attend drawing classes at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Back in Phoenix in 1899, he decided at the age of 16 to try to make his living as a cowboy. Lon moved to the cow country of Wickenburg, Arizona where he was hired by Tex Singleton’s Bull Ranch. He later joined the Three Bar R. . . and after a few years, was offered a job by Billy Cook of the T.T. Ranch near New River. By 1906, Megargee had learned his trade well enough to be made foreman of Cook’s outfit. Never shy about taking risks, Lon soon left Cook to try his own hand at ranching. He partnered with a cowpuncher buddy, Tom Cavness, to start the El Rancho Cinco Uno at New River. Unfortunately, the young partners could not foresee a three-year drought that would parch Arizona, costing them their stock and then their hard-earned ranch. Breaking with his romantic vision of cowboy life, Megargee finally turned to art full time. He again enrolled at the Pennsylvania Academy of Art and then the Los Angeles School of Art and Design during 1909 – 1910. The now well-trained student took his first trip to paint “en plein air” (outdoors) to the land of Hopi and Navajo peoples in northern Arizona. After entering paintings from this trip in the annual Territorial Fair at Phoenix, in 1911, he surprisingly sold his first oil painting to a major enterprise – the Santa Fe Railroad . . . Lon received $50 for “Navajos Watching the Santa Fe Train.” He soon sold the SFRR ten paintings over the next two years. For forty years the railroad was his most important client, purchasing its last painting from him in 1953. In a major stroke of good fortune during his early plein-air period, Megargee had the opportunity to paint with premier artist, William R. Leigh (1866 – 1955). Leigh furnished needed tutoring and counseling, and his bright, impressionistic palette served to enhance the junior artist’s sense of color and paint application. In a remarkable display of unabashed confidence and personable salesmanship, Lon Megargee, at age 30, forever linked his name with Arizona art history. Despite the possibility of competition from better known and more senior artists, he persuaded Governor George Hunt and the Legislature in 1913 to approve 15 large, historic and iconic murals for the State Capitol Building in Phoenix. After completing the murals in 1914, he was paid the then princely sum of roughly $4000. His Arizona statehood commission would launch Lon to considerable prominence at a very early point in his art career. Following a few years of art schooling in Los Angeles, and several stints as an art director with movie studios, including Paramount, Megargee turned in part to cover illustrations for popular Western story magazines in the 1920s. In the 1920s, as well, Lon began making black and white prints of Western types and of genre scenes from woodblocks. These prints he generally signed and sold singly. In 1933, he published a limited edition, signed and hard-cover book (about 250 copies and today rare)containing a group of 28 woodblock images. Titled “The Cowboy Builds a Loop,” the prints are noteworthy for strong design, excellent draftsmanship, humanistic and narrative content, and quality. Subjects include Southwest Indians and cowboys, Hispanic men and women, cattle, horses, burros, pioneers, trappers, sheepherders, horse traders, squaw men and ranch polo players. Megargee had a very advanced design sense for simplicity and boldness which he demonstrated in how he used line and form. His strengths included outstanding gestural (action) art and strong figurative work. He was superb in design, originality and drawing, as a study of his prints in the Hays collection reveals. In 1944, he published a second group of Western prints under the same title as the first. Reduced to 16 images from the original 28 subjects, and slightly smaller, Lon produced these prints in brown ink on a heavy, cream-colored stock. He designed a sturdy cardboard folio to hold each set. For the remainder of his life, Lon had success selling these portfolios to museum stores, art fairs and shows, and to the few galleries then selling Western art. Drawing on real working and life experiences, Lon Megargee had a comprehensive knowledge, understanding and sensitivity for Southwestern subject matter. Noted American modernist, Lew Davis...

From Poor Richard's Almanac portfolio. Hand signed and numbered by the artist. Lithograph on arches. Sheet size 25.5 x 19.5 inches. Image size approx 16.75 x 13.5 inches. From t...

Hand signed and numbered by the artist. From Tom Sawyer Portfolio. Sheet size 25.5 x 19.5 inches. Image size approx 17 x 13 inches. Frame size approx 30 x 26 inches. From the editi...