American Modern Art

Original poster: Pulitura Pavimenti, Italian stone lithograph; size: 39" x 55"; archival linen backed in excellent condition; really fun poster. ready to frame. There is slight f...

Simka Simkhovitch (Russian/American 1893 - 1949) This came with a small grouping from the artist's family, some were hand signed some were not. These were studies for larger paintings. This is a miniature watercolor and gouache vibrant, colorful bouquet of flowers in a vase. Simka Simkhovitch (Симха Файбусович Симхович) (aka Simka Faibusovich Simkhovich) (Novozybkov, Russia May 21, 1885 O.S./June 2, 1885 N.S.—Greenwich, Connecticut February 25, 1949) was a Ukrainian-Russian Jewish artist and immigrant to the United States. He painted theater scenery in his early career and then had several showings in galleries in New York City. Winning Works Progress Administration (WPA) commissions in the 1930s, he completed murals for the post offices in Jackson, Mississippi and Beaufort, North Carolina. His works are in the permanent collections of the Dallas Museum of Art, the National Museum of American Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art. Born outside Kyiv (Petrograd Ukraine) into a Jewish family who owned a small department store. During a severe case of measles when he was seven, Simcha Simchovitch sketched the views outside his window and decided to become an artist, over his father's objections. Beginning in 1905, he studied at the Grekov Odessa Art School and upon completion of his studies in 1911 received a recommendation to be admitted to the Imperial Academy of Arts. Though he enrolled to begin classes in architecture, painting, and sculpture at the Imperial Academy, he was dropped from the school roster in December because of the quota on the number of Jewish students and drafted into the army. Simchovitch served as a private in the 175th Infantry Regiment Baturyn [ru] until his demobilization in 1912. Re-enrolling in the Imperial Academy, he audited classes. Simka Simkhovitch exhibited paintings and sculptures in 1918 as part of an exhibition of Jewish artists and in 1919 placed 1st in the competition "The Great Russian Revolution" with a painting called "Russian Revolution" which was hung in the State Museum of Revolution. In 1922, Simkha Simkhovitch exhibited at the International Book Fair in Florence (Italian: Fiera Internazionale del Libro di Firenze). In 1924, Simkhovitch came to the United States to make illustrations for Soviet textbooks and decided to immigrate instead. Initially he supported himself by doing commercial art and a few portrait commissions. In 1927, he was hired to paint a screen for a scene in the play "The Command to Love" by Fritz Gottwald and Rudolph Lothar which was playing at the Longacre Theatre on Broadway. Art dealers began clamoring for the screen and Simkhovitch began a career as a screen painter for the theater. Catching the attention of the screenwriter, Ernest Pascal, he worked as an illustrator for Pascal, who then introduced him to gallery owner, Marie Sterner. Simkhovitch's works appeared at the Marie Sterner Gallery beginning with a 1927 exhibit and were repeated the following year. Simkhovitch had an exhibit in 1929 at Sterner's on circus paintings. In 1931, he held a showing of works at the Helen Hackett Gallery, in New York City and later that same year he was one of the featured artists of a special exhibit in San Francisco at the California Palace of the Legion of Honor in Lincoln Park. The exhibit was coordinated by Marie Sterner and included four watercolors, including one titled "Nudes". He is of the generation of Russian Soviet artists such as Isaac Pailes, Serge Charchoune, Marc Chagall, Chana Orloff, Isaac Ilyich Levitan, and Ossip Zadkine. In 1936, Simkhovitch was selected to complete the mural for the WPA Post office project in Jackson, Mississippi. The mural was hung in the post office and courthouse in 1938 depicted a plantation theme. Painted on the wall behind the judge’s bench, “Pursuits of Life in Mississippi”, a depiction of black workers engaged in manual labor amid scenes of white professionals and socialites, was eventually covered over in later years during renovations due to its stereotypical African American imagery. Simka painted what he thought was typical of Jackson. His impression of pre-civil rights Mississippi was evidently Greek Revival column houses, weeping willow trees, working class families, and the oppression of African Americans. He painted African American men picking cotton, while a white man took account of the harvest and a white judge advised a white family, calling it Pursuits of Life in Mississippi. Though clearly endorsed by the government and initially generally well-received, the mural soon raised concerns with locals as the climate toward racial segregation began to change. The main concern was whether depictions that show African Americans in subjugated societal roles should be featured in a courtroom. The following year, his painting "Holiday" won praise at an exhibition in Lincoln, Nebraska. In 1940, Simkhovitch's second WPA post office project was completed when four murals, "The Cape Lookout Lighthouse and the Orville W. Mail Boat", "The Wreck of the Crissie Wright", "Sand Ponies" and "Canada Geese" were installed in Beaufort, North Carolina. The works were commissioned in 1938 and did not generate the controversy that the Jackson mural had. The main mural is "The Wreck of the Crissie Wright" and depicts a shipwreck which had occurred in Beaufort in 1866. "The Cape Lookout Lighthouse and the Orville W. Mail Boat" depicted the lighthouse built in 1859 and the mail boat that was running mail during the time which Simkhovitch was there. The boat ran mail for the area until 1957. "Sand Ponies" shows the wild horses common to the North Carolina barrier islands and "Canada Geese" showed the importance of hunting and fishing in the area. All four murals were restored in the 1990s by Elisabeth Speight, daughter of two other WPA muralists, Francis Speight...

Neon Lighting WPA Mid 20th Century Social Realism American Scene Modern Figures MAURICE BECKER (1889-1975) 'Neon Lighting 17 1/4 x 13 3/4 inches Oil on masonite Signed, dated 1936 and titled on verso BIO Maurice Becker, painter, political cartoonist and social reformer, was born in 1889 either in Gorky or Niznij Novgorod, in Russia. His family came to the United States in 1892, to New York City. After high school, Becker worked in a clothing factory. He studied with Ash Can School artist Robert Henri in 1908, and exhibited in the famous 1913 Armory Show in New York City when he was only twenty-four years of age. At the Armory show, Becker showed a drawing of a dog's head...

"NY Street Signs" Mid-20th Century WPA 1938 Modernist Abstract Realism Pop Art Stuart Davis (American, 1892-1964) "Street Signs" Modernist gouache and traces of pencil on paper in t...

Lower Manhattan American Modernism NYC Cityscape Social Realism WPA 20th Century Jo Cain (1904 - 2003) Lower Manhattan 34 1/4 x 42 ½ inches Oil on canvas c. 1...

THOMAS HART BENTON (1889-1975) PLOUGHING IT UNDER (aka Ploughing) 1934 (Fath 8) Original lithograph, signed in pencil. Edition of 250 as published by Associated American Artists (AA...

Wire Haired Girl and Cat Pen and ink with watercolor, c. 1930 Signed with the Estate stamp "B" Provenance: Estate of the Artist By descent to his son Edward ...

Untitled (Study for The Aerialists) Graphite on paper, 1932 Signed lower right in pencil: "John Steuart Curry" Dated: 1932 in pencil Exhibited: Schroeder Romero & Shredder, NYC (la...

Circus Elephants American Modernism WPA Regionalism Mid-Century Modern Oil. Signed lower left. Not much is known about Marco de Marco, but just look at...

Getting Ready for the Revolution - Learning How to Ride in the Subway Litho crayons on illustrator’s board, c. 1932 Signed: Adolf Dehn (VED) lower right corner (signed by Virginia De...

WPA Landscape American Scene Social Realism Mid 20th Century Modern Farm Rural James McCracken (1875 – 1967) WPA Landscape 28 x 36 inches Oil on canvas, c. 1930s Signed lower right ...

Preliminary Study for a Sculpture Project Graphite, charcoal and wash on tracing paper, c. 1930-1940 Signed upper left and lower left (see both photos) Created while the artist was l...

"History of US Postal Service" American Scene Social Realism WPA Modern Chicago Harold Haydon "History of the U.S. Postal Service" 21 x 25 1/2 inches Oil on canvas, c. 1938 Estate s...

Juniper, Lake Tenaya Gelatin silver print, 1937 Unsigned Edward Weston Estate stamp verso (see photo) A lifetime printing by Brett Weston, supervised by his father Edward, printed in...

Artist: Robert Cronbach, American (1908 - 2001) Title: Construction & Garment Worker Year: 1938 Medium: Bronze sculpture with Brown Patina, signature and date in the cast Size: 18 ...

Biographical information on Maurice Robert Dey is hard to find. He was born on 1899 (or maybe 1900), in Switzerland. As an adult he lived and worked in Woodstock, the NY artists' c...

An Eagle Ceremony at Tesuque Pueblo Woodcut printed in two colors, 1932 Unsigned as usual; initialed in the plate lower left (see photo) As published by Elmer Adler in "The Colophon:...

Dated and titled on stretcher: "'37/ Mr + Mrs Chas. Coolidge/ Allison/ -Belmont". In 1929 Molly Luce and her husband, Alan Burroughs, moved from Garden Street on Beacon Hill in Bos...

St. George Hotel Searchlight Lithograph, 1930 Signed in pencil lower right (see photo) Titled lower left (see photo) Edition: 30 Printed by Meister Schulz, Berlin The image depicts t...

Two Women and a Child on the Beach at Provincetown Unsigned. Watercolor on paper, c. 1934 A beautiful Provincetown beach scene, included in the catalogue raisonne. Please see Babcoc...

A ca. 1931 delightful watercolor still life at a table; a study in yellow by artist Harold Haydon. Harold Emerson Haydon was born in Fort William, Ont...

A graphite on paper, study of a classical drapery by artist Jan Matulka. The image is drawn on the back of a typewritten, folded sheet of stationery, from Dyer, Hudson & Co., New Yo...

A ca. 1931 charming watercolor forest scene; a study in yellow by artist Harold Haydon. Harold Emerson Haydon was born in Fort William, Ontario, Canad...

A ca. 1931 charming watercolor interior scene; a study in yellow by artist Harold Haydon. Harold Emerson Haydon was born in Fort William, Ontario, Can...

A ca. 1931 delightful watercolor still life at a table; a study in yellow by artist Harold Haydon. Harold Emerson Haydon was born in Fort William, Ont...

A ca. 1931 delightful still life at a table; a study in yellow by artist Harold Haydon. Harold Emerson Haydon was born in Fort William, Ontario, Canad...

Plombiers Les Bains (Bosges . Original vintage French travel poster: Artist: Adrien Senechal. Travel from Paris in 5 Hours. Note ...

Leon Bibel, 'Archway', color serigraph, 1939, edition 25. Signed, dated, titled, and numbered ' /25' in pencil. A rich, painterly impression, with fresh colors, on buff wove paper; ...

Otto Kuhler, 'Cargo Carriers', etching and drypoint, c. 1932, edition 10, Kennedy 44. Signed in pencil. A superb, atmospheric impression with rich burr and selectively wiped overall plate tone, in dark brown ink, on Arches cream laid paper; wide margins (2 to 2 3/4 inches), in very good condition. Printed by the artist. Original Kennedy Galleries mat and label. Scarce. "On my trips up and down N.Y. harbor on the Weehawken Ferry, the late evening sun playing on the side of the big liners has always intrigued me... The liner shown I believe to be the Vaterland of the North German Lloyd...

Leon Bibel, 'Food Not Cannon', etching, 1937, edition 12 (an early state, probably unique). Signed in pencil. A fine impression, on cream wove paper, with full margins (7/8 to 2 1/8 ...

Leon Bibel, 'Abstract Boats', color serigraph, 1938, edition 12. Signed, dated, and numbered ' /12' in pencil. A fine, painterly impression, with fresh colors, on buff wove paper; t...

A fantastic modern portrait of a young boy. This work is signed what appears to be Paul Sellers and dated 1937, but we have not found information on the artist. The work dated 1936...

Airacuda Fighter Planes Art Deco Machine Age 20th Century American Modernism Arthur Rosenman Ross (1913 - 1981) Bell YFM-1 Airacuda Fighter Planes 17 1/2 x 26 1/2 inches Gouache, Airbrush and Ink on Illustration Board, 1938 Signed A. Ross lower right Provenance: Estate of the artist. BIO Arthur Rosenman Ross was a key figure in automotive design at General Motors during America's "Golden Age" of auto design, the 1930's through the 1950s. He attended the Art Institute of Chicago from age 17, exhibiting a special interest for automotive renderings and the female figure. In 1934, he changed his name from Rosenman to Ross, fearing his Jewish ancestry could prejudice his career prospects. At age 20, he turned down job offers from MGM Studios in Hollywood and Duesenberg to work at General Motors alongside the Legendary Harley Earl in 1935. He was hand picked by Mr. Earl and assigned to GM's War and Camouflage Division in 1937 through WW2. It was during this pivotal period in which he executed some extraordinary military aircraft artworks, likely used between GM and America's military aeronautics companies in design preparation for WW2. General Motors played an important role in helping America's aircraft manufacturers preceding and during the war. Just after the war in 1945, Mr. Ross was rewarded by GM, being made Chief Designer of Cadillac, then two years later becoming Chief at Oldsmobile until his retirement in 1959. He was in large part responsible for some of GM's classic Cadillac designs such as the Cadillac Sixty Special, Fleetwood, LaSalle and GM's first concept car, the extraordinary Buick Y-Job. Mr. Ross was an exceptionally charismatic and vivacious man who quite by chance, befriended His idol, Salvador Dali at GM in 1955. They talked about art, cars and girls late into the evening, according to his son, Carter Ross. He had a gift in rendering the erotic arts...

Trees Over the Vineyard Watercolor on heavy paper, c. 1930 Signed with the estate stamp verso (see photo) Sheet size: 16 1/2 x 19 1/8 inches Condition: Excellent Illustrated: Marbell...

A wonderful study for an American Veterans Remembrance Day Poster Study (National Poppy Day, American Legion) by Elaine Jeanne Glickman (Ginsburg), created at Ferry Hall in Lake Fore...

This drawing is part of our exhibition Charles Goeller: A Wistful Loneliness. Crayon on paper, 10 ½ x 9 inches (image), 14 x 11 inches (sheet), Signed...

Max Kalish (American, 1891-1945) Nude Walking, 1930 Bronze Signed and dated on base 17 x 9 x 4 inches Born in Poland March 1, 1891, figurative sculptor Max Kalish came to the United...

This drawing is part of our exhibition Charles Goeller: A Wistful Loneliness. Crayon on paper, 11 5/8 x 9 inches (image), 14 x 11 inches (sheet), Signed lower right, Matted, but no...

This sculpture is part of our exhibition Charles Goeller: A Wistful Loneliness. Carved and painted wood and gesso, 23 x 15 3/4 x 3 inches, Signed verso "Carved by Charles L. Goeller...

A tonal, watercolor of a steel mill by artist Harold Haydon. Harold Emerson Haydon was born in Fort William, Ontario, Canada in 1909. Haydon came to Chicago with his family in 191...

This drawing is part of our exhibition Charles Goeller: A Wistful Loneliness. Crayon on paper, 11 ½ x 9 inches (image), 14 x 11 inches (sheet), Signed...

Hans Burkhardt The Artist's Wife (1930) Oil on canvas, 20" x 16" 24" x 20 ½" x 1 ½" framed Dated 1930 lower right recto. Annotated "To Elsa HB Louise Burkhardt 1930. HB" verso. ...

Ohio-born Walter DuBois Richards (1907-2006) was educated at the Cleveland School of Art. He re-located to New York around 1933 where he had a successful career as a commercial artis...

Original. LOECHE-LES-BAINES (a.k.a. Leukerbad) vintage travel poster. Mounted on acid free archival linen. Very good condition. Suisse, Switzerland original travel poster. Loeche...

A tonal, watercolor of a steel mill by artist Harold Haydon. Harold Emerson Haydon was born in Fort William, Ontario, Canada in 1909. Haydon came to Chicago with his family in 191...

Fritz Eichenberg, 'The Aquarium', wood engraving, 1933, edition 200. Signed and titled in pencil. Initialed in the block, lower right. A superb, richly-inked impression, on pale yel...

A tonal, watercolor of a steel mill by artist Harold Haydon. Harold Emerson Haydon was born in Fort William, Ontario, Canada in 1909. Haydon came to Chicago with his family in 191...

A tonal, watercolor of a steel mill by artist Harold Haydon. Harold Emerson Haydon was born in Fort William, Ontario, Canada in 1909. Haydon came to Chicago with his family in 191...

A tonal, watercolor of a steel mill by artist Harold Haydon. Harold Emerson Haydon was born in Fort William, Ontario, Canada in 1909. Haydon came to Chicago with his family in 191...

A tonal, watercolor of a steel mill by artist Harold Haydon. Harold Emerson Haydon was born in Fort William, Ontario, Canada in 1909. Haydon came to Chicago with his family in 191...

A tonal, watercolor of a steel mill by artist Harold Haydon. Harold Emerson Haydon was born in Fort William, Ontario, Canada in 1909. Haydon came to Chicago with his family in 191...

Fritz Eichenberg, 'The Steps', wood engraving, 1933, edition 200. Signed, titled, and annotated 'Ed. 200' in pencil. Initialed in the block, lower right. A superb, richly-inked impr...

"Bathers" American Scene Social Realism 20th Century Modernism Ashcan Fauvism Charles Demuth (1883-1935) "Bathers" 10 1/2 x 8 1/4 inches watercolor on paper, c. 1930 Signed lower le...

Quick Change Watercolor on paper, 1930-1931 Signed lower right: Honore Guilbeau Illustrated in American Art Review, August 2014, page 84 in an article by Dr. M...

Laurence Edwardson (1904-1995) was a prolific artist born in New Orleans He painted modernist landscape, figures and portraits. His work includes many Louisiana landscapes, portrai...

WPA Scene American Modernism 20th Century Workers Strike Realism Industrial "Pawns" 16 x 20 inches,. Oil on board, c. 1930’s. Signed lower left. Stowell Sherman...

Lynd Ward, 'Madman's Drum, Plate 41', wood engraving, 1930, edition small. Signed in pencil. A fine, black impression, on off-white tissue-thin Japan paper; the full sheet with margins (1 5/8 to 2 1/2 inches); a small paper blemish in the upper right margin, away from the image, otherwise in excellent condition. Scarce. Matted to museum standards, unframed. Image size 5 1/2 x 3 3/4 inches (140 x 95 mm); sheet size 9 5/8 x 7 1/8 inches (244 x 181 mm). From Lynd Ward’s book of illustrations without words, 'Madman’s Drum', Jonathan Cape and Harrison Smith, New York, 1930. Illustrated in 'Storyteller Without Words: The Wood Engravings of Lynd Ward', Harry Abrams, New York, 1974. Reproduced in 'Storyteller Without Words, the Wood Engravings of Lynd Ward', Harry N. Abrams, New York, 1974. ABOUT THE ARTIST Lynd Ward is acknowledged as one of America’s foremost wood engravers and book illustrators of the first half of the twentieth century. His innovative use of narrative printmaking as a stand-alone storytelling vehicle was uniquely successful in reaching a broad audience. The powerful psychological intensity of his work, celebrated for its dynamic design, technical precision, and compelling dramatic content, finds resonance in the literature of Poe, Melville, and Hawthorne. Like these classic American writers, Ward was concerned with the themes of man’s inner struggles and the role of the subconscious in determining his destiny. An artist of social conscience during the Great Depression and World War II, he infused his graphic images with his unique brand of social realism, deftly portraying the problems that challenged the ideals of American society. The son of a Methodist preacher, Lynd Ward, moved from Chicago to Massachusetts at an early age. He graduated from the Teachers College of Columbia University, New York, in 1926, where he studied illustration and graphic arts. He married May Yonge McNeer in 1936 and left for Europe for their honeymoon in Eastern Europe. After four months, they settled in Leipzig, where Ward studied at the National Academy of Graphic Arts and Bookmaking. Inspired by Belgian expressionist artist Frans Masereel's graphic novel ‘The Sun,’ and another graphic novel by the German artist Otto Nückel, ‘Destiny,’ he determined to create his own "wordless" novel. Upon his return to America, Ward completed his first book, ‘God's Man: A Novel in Woodcuts,’ published in 1929. ‘Gods’ Man’ was a great success for its author and publisher and was reprinted four times in 1930, including a British edition. This book and several which followed it, ‘Madman’s Drum,’ 1930, ‘Wild Pilgrimage...

Standing Male Nude, Arms upraised (Kouros) Graphite on wove paper, c. 1930 Signed lower right (see photo) Possibly exhibited in May 8-June 1,1973 at Alan Stone Gallery entitled Eroti...