Water Art

"I throw myself into the water almost every day- it grounds me, the body floats and the mind drifts. The "Swimmer series" has followed me over the years, resurfacing and evolving. Pr...

It is infrequent, to say the least, that a diagnosis of tuberculosis proves fortuitous, but that was the event, in 1921, that set Paul Starrett Sample on the road to becoming a professional artist. (The best source for an overview of Sample’s life and oeuvre remains Paul Sample: Painter of the American Scene, exhib. cat., [Hanover, New Hampshire: Hood Museum of Art, 1988] with a detailed and definitive chronology by Sample scholar, Paula F. Glick, and an essay by Robert L. McGrath. It is the source for this essay unless otherwise indicated.) Sample, born in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1896 to a construction engineer and his wife, spent his childhood moving with his family to the various locations that his father’s work took them. By 1911, the family had landed in Glencoe, Illinois, settling long enough for Paul to graduate from New Trier High School in 1916. Sample enrolled at Dartmouth College, in Hanover, New Hampshire, where his interests were anything but academic. His enthusiasms included the football and basketball teams, boxing, pledging at a fraternity, and learning to play the saxophone. After the United States entered World War I, Sample, to his family’s dismay, signed on for the Naval Reserve, leading directly to a hiatus from Dartmouth. In 1918 and 1919, Sample served in the U.S. Merchant Marine where he earned a third mate’s license and seriously contemplated life as a sailor. Acceding to parental pressure, he returned to Dartmouth, graduating in 1921. Sample’s undergraduate life revolved around sports and a jazz band he formed with his brother, Donald, two years younger and also a Dartmouth student. In November 1933, Sample summarized his life in a letter he wrote introducing himself to Frederick Newlin Price, founder of Ferargil Galleries, who would become his New York art dealer. The artist characterized his undergraduate years as spent “wasting my time intensively.” He told Price that that “I took an art appreciation course and slept thru it every day” (Ferargil Galleries Records, circa 1900–63, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, available on line). In 1920, Donald Sample contracted tuberculosis. He went for treatment to the world-famous Trudeau Sanitorium at Saranac Lake, in New York State’s Adirondack Mountains for the prescribed regimen of rest, healthful food, and fresh air. Visiting his brother in 1921, Paul also contracted the disease. Tuberculosis is highly contagious, and had no certain cure before the development of streptomycin in 1946. Even for patients who appeared to have recovered, there was a significant rate of recurrence. Thus, in his letter to Price, Sample avoided the stigma conjured by naming the disease, but wrote “I had a relapse with a bad lung and spent the next four years hospitalized in Saranac Lake.” The stringent physical restrictions imposed by adherence to “the cure” required Sample to cultivate an alternate set of interests. He read voraciously and, at the suggestion of his physician, contacted the husband of a fellow patient for instruction in art. That artist, then living in Saranac, was Jonas Lie (1880–1940), a prominent Norwegian-American painter and an associate academician at the National Academy of Design. Lie had gained renown for his dramatic 1913 series of paintings documenting the construction of the Panama Canal (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; United States Military Academy, West Point, New York). Primarily a landscape artist, Lie had a particular affinity for scenes with water. His paintings, impressionistic, atmospheric, and brushy, never strayed from a realistic rendering of his subject. Sample regarded Lie as a mentor and retained a lifelong reverence for his teacher. Sample’s early paintings very much reflect Lie’s influence. ` In 1925, “cured,” Sample left Saranac Lake for what proved to be a brief stay in New York City, where his veteran’s benefits financed a commercial art course. The family, however, had moved to California, in the futile hope that the climate would benefit Donald. Sample joined them and after Donald’s death, remained in California, taking classes at the Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles. In Sample’s account to Price, “I couldn’t stomach the practice of painting a lot of High Sierras and desert flowers which seemed to be the only kind of pictures that were sold here so I got a job teaching drawing and painting at the art school of the University of Southern California.” Initially hired as a part-time instructor, Sample progressed to full-time status and ultimately, by the mid-1930s, to the post of Chairman of the Fine Art Department. Sample, however, did not want to wind up as a professor. “Teaching is all right in small doses,” he wrote, “but I have a horror of drifting into being a college professor and nothing more.” At the same time as he taught, Sample began to exhibit his work in a variety of venues at first locally, then nationally. Though he confessed himself “a terrible salesman,” and though occupied with continued learning and teaching, Sample was nonetheless, ambitious. In 1927, he wrote in his diary, “I am eventually going to be a painter and a damned good one. And what is more, I am going to make money at it” (as quoted by Glick, p. 15). In 1928, Sample felt sufficiently solvent to marry his long-time love, Sylvia Howland, who had also been a patient at Saranac Lake. The Howland family were rooted New Englanders and in summertime the Samples regularly traveled East for family reunion vacations. While the 1930s brought serious hardship to many artists, for Paul Sample it was a decade of success. Buttressed by the financial safety net of his teacher’s salary, he painted realist depictions of the American scene. While his work addressed depression-era conditions with a sympathetic eye, Sample avoided the anger and tinge of bitterness that characterized much contemporary realist art. Beginning in 1930, Sample began to exhibit regularly in juried exhibitions at important national venues, garnering prizes along the way. In 1930, Inner Harbor won an honorable mention in the Annual Exhibition of the Art Institute of Chicago. That same year Sample was also represented in a show at the Albright-Knox Gallery in Buffalo and at the Biennial Exhibition of the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. In 1931, Dairy Ranch won the second Hallgarten Prize at the Annual Exhibition of the National Academy of Design, in New York. Sample also made his first appearances at the Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, and The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia. In 1936, Miner’s Resting won the Temple Gold Medal at the Pennsylvania Academy’s Annual Exhibition. Always interested in watercolor, in 1936, Sample began to send works on paper to exhibitions at the Whitney Museum, New York. While participating in juried exhibitions, Sample also cultivated commercial possibilities. His first New York art dealer was the prestigious Macbeth Gallery in New York, which included his work in a November 1931 exhibition. In 1934, Sample joined the Ferargil Galleries in New York, after Fred Price arranged the sale of Sample’s Church Supper to the Michele and Donald D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts in Springfield, Massachusetts. In 1937, The Metropolitan Museum of Art purchased Sample’s Janitor’s Holiday from the annual exhibition of the National Academy of Design, a notable honor. As prestigious as this exhibition schedule may have been, by far Sample’s most visible presence in the 1930s and 1940s was the result of his relationship with Henry Luce’s burgeoning publishing empire, Time, Inc. Sample’s first contribution to a Luce publication appears to have been another San Pedro...

Title: Fountain Valley Medium: Oil on canvas Size: 27.75 x 27.5 inches Frame: Framing options available! Condition: The painting appears to be in excellent condition. Note: Thi...

Slim Aarons - Mara Lane - Estate Stamped Austrian actress Mara Lane posing by the pool at the Sands Hotel, Las Vegas, in a red and white striped bathing costume. Gorgeous print mea...

"Bridge Over the Neckar, Town of Heidelberg" - Original Oil Painting on Canvas A beautiful German landscape, by American painter, Betty Brenner (1922-2016), captures the Karl Theodor Bridge and its reflection. Commonly known as the Old Bridge (Alte Brücke), it is an arch bridge in Heidelberg that crosses the Neckar river. It connects the Old City with the eastern part of the Neuenheim district of the city on the opposite bank. The current bridge, made of Neckar sandstone and the ninth built on the site, was constructed in 1788 by Elector Charles Theodore, and is one of the best-known landmarks and tourist destinations in Heidelberg. Brenner, Betty (American, 1922-2016) - Raised in Washington, Brenner attended Cornish School...

Printed on archival Moab Lasal Exhibition Luster Editions of 12 SILHOUETTES Humans have always adorned both themselves and their surroundings—even the earliest cave drawings are ev...

English Title: "Noble Pleasant Building" Beautiful Proof, showing the apparatus for firework designed and built in occasion of the Feast of S. Peter and Paolo (1776) by Giuseppe Pal...

Hanna Seidel (1925 to 2005) lived and worked in Argentina for many years. She was a world traveller, journeying to South America in the 1950s and to Central America, Japan, India, an...

Gelatin silver print Stamped and numbered, verso 11 x 14 inches, sheet 5 x 7 inches, image (Edition of 15) 16 x 20 inches, sheet 11.5 x 16 inches, image (Edition of 15) From the s...

Serene landscape of athe Merced river and El Capitan by California Artist Marjorie Russell (20th Century). A calm river winds through the bottom portio...

JOERG DRESSLER "Elemental I" Acrylic on Panel 14 x 11 inches _____________________________________ Joerg was born in Hanau, Germany. He received his MFA from the Hochschule für Gest...

Vibrant miniature seascape by Kathleen Murray (American, b. 1958). Signed in lower right corner. Unframed. Image, 8"H x 6"W. Kathleen Murray (American, b. 1958) was born in Los Ange...

This attractive oil painting depicts an estuary location near the coastal village of Walberswick. A single figure can be seen resting at the end of the wooden jetty, taking in the im...

Signed limited edition photographic print of Kurt Cobain, Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic of Nirvana by photographer Kirk Weddle. Outtakes from photograph...

Janusz Kokot was born in Kalisz in 1960. He studied at the Pedagogical University in Częstochowa at the Art Institute. He practices painting and drawing. In the years 1988 - 2020 he ...

The Return from Fishing (Original Title: Il Ritorno dalla Pesca), is an original oil painting realized by Giovan Battista Filosa in 1908. Some fishermen seen from behind, in the blue light of the sky, with the vesuvius in the background, are the protagonists of the painting in "Il ritorno dalla pesca" by Giovan Battista Filosa (Castellamare di Stabia 1850 - Naples 1935) student of the famous Neapolitan painter...

A peasant washes a cow in the pond of Mudichur, a village in south east India. Original Publication: Picture Post – 4325 – Peace Of An Indian Village: How Long Will It Last? – pub. 1...

Glacial Silt from the Alaska Portfolio. Signed and dated on the front of the mount.

An iconic image. Beams of sunlight streaming through the windows at Grand Central Station, New York City, circa 1930. (Photo by Hal Morey/Getty Images) As ...

William Fisher (1891 - 1985) William Fisher was born in Brooklyn, NY in 1891. He studied at the Brooklyn Institute of Art and Science and at Pratt Institute. Following service as an ambulance driver in WWI, he remained in Europe after the war and studied painting in Rome, Italy for one year. Upon his return from Rome, to New Jersey, he pursued his painting and began to teach small art classes. In the 1920's Fisher became a successful illustrator. His work appeared in Saturday Evening Post, Mc Calls, Harpers and other popular magazines. He later did pen and ink sketches for the Villager, a weekly Greenwich Village newspaper. Microfilmed pages of the Villager are preserved in New York University's Washington Square Library. His sketches also appeared on the cover of the Gotham Guide, which was sold Fridays at news stands in Manhattan. In partnership with Margaret Kilburn, an artist and crafts person, Fisher opened an art gallery and school at 33 West 8th St in NYC during the 1930s. They also opened a summer art gallery and school in 1949 in Kennebunkport, Maine, which ran for many years, and, after the NY gallery closed (around 1952), they made a full time commitment to living and working in Kennebunkport, Maine. Fisher was the recipient of over 100 awards. His work was widely exhibited in Philadelphia, Pa., Montclair, Trenton, and Newark, NJ, the Currier Gallery in New Hampshire and the Brick Store Museum in Kennebunk, Maine. William Fisher and Margaret Kilburn were familiar and beloved figures in Kennebunkport. They taught generations of local children, and they participated in numerous exhibits with other artists, both in the Kennebunkport area and throughout Maine. Mr Fisher always insisted on marching in the local Memorial Day parade, until he was well in his 90's, because he didn't want to ride in a car provided for older veterans. Many homes in the Kennebunks have his works, including members of the Bush family, and they were purchased by numerous out of state and Canadian summer visitors. There are several examples of his works in the Kennebunkport Town Offices and in local churches. Fisher loved to paint "big" canvases, usually local Maine scenes...

Painting, oil on canvas, measuring 102 x 142 cm (canvas only) and 115 x 158 cm (with frame) depicting a landscape with fishermen by the painter Henri Place (Paris 1812-1860), signed ...

"I throw myself into the water almost every day- it grounds me, the body floats and the mind drifts. The "Swimmer series" has followed me over the years, resurfacing and evolving. Pr...

'Scottsdale Home' Guests by the pool at the home of Wayne Beal in Scottsdale, Arizona, January 1973. Guests relax around the beautiful turquoise waters of the swimming pool of Wayn...

In Aground, a small fishing boat sits high and dry on an immense tidal flat streaked with red algae, its flag still up and the sea reduced to a thin bright line at the top of the fra...

Artist Comments
This is Who Are These Angels CIX, an original oil painting on gallery wrapped canvas.

About the Artist
Naoko Pal...

“People sometimes ask me how I start a painting. Starting a painting is easy. I just put down two strokes of color. The interaction between these two marks is the beginning of the di...

Scenic winter oil on board landscape of a frozen river winding through snowy countryside by Alex Mclaren (Portugal/Canadian, 1892-1959). Signed "Alex Mclaren" bottom left. Unframed. ...

Palermo is a  hand colored lithograph realized in 1864. Good conditions. The artwork belongs to the Suite Uses and customs of all the peoples of the universe, or History of the gov...

“These works present my abiding interest in the thresholds that divide and connect the sea to land. I am fascinated with the quality of light and the spatial immensity of the ocea...

Beautiful Big Sur stream landscape by California Plein air artist Weaver (American, 20th Century). Signed "Weaver" lower right. Unframed. ...

Medium: Etching with aquatint Year: 2021 Edition: 45 Image Size: 35.5 x 23.75 inches A Birds-eye view of a sea gull sailing over the California surf. Werger has received over 250 a...

This serene landscape, attributed to the circle of Alexander Nasmyth, presents a tranquil lakeside scene framed by majestic mountains rising on either side. In the foreground, three ...

Inspired by the north coast of Cornwall, Crashing Waves is an evocative painting of Ocean Waves including abstract sea swimmers and beach walkers. It looks beautiful in a home, with ...

"Pacific Grove Glory" - Rocky Seascape Signed and dated "Coraly '06" in the lower right corner. Titled, dated, and signed "Pacific Grove Glory 2006 Coraly Hanson...

MAGDALENA SPASOWICZ Studied painting under prof. Jan Cybis and graphic arts with prof. Tadeusz Kulisiewicz at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw. She received her diploma in 1953. He...

'Towboat At Hotel Du Cap-Eden-Roc' 1969 Slim Aarons Limited Estate Edition Print A motorboat, used to tow waterskiiers, moored at the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc in Antibes on the French...

Silver Gelatine Print by Erich Andres, ca 1950. Andres was born 1905 in Germany and passed away 1992. He started his career as a photographer in 1920. He was one of the first photogr...

A gorgeous mid century landscape of boats sailing along the Monterey, California coastline by Virginia Shackles (American, 1921-2020). Boats on the w...

Victoria Veedell captures the essence of nature by examining the effects of light on form in the natural world in her softly glowing landscape paintings. Inspired by her travels thr...

Original Oil painting by Ukrainian artist Evgeny Chernyakovsky "Beach" 70.0 X 80.0 CM / 27.5 X 31.4IN HIGH QUALITY oil on canvas Signed on the front and back Dated 2022 Good ...

This photograph by Araquém Alcântara offers a luminous testament to Brazil's untamed beauty, rendered with the masterful clarity and profound sensitivity that define his celebrated b...

Inspired by weekends on the beach in Cornwall, in particular Polzeath and Daymer Bay! Each tiny figure has a story to tell. Lenny Cornforth original art paintings for sale...

This artwork titled " Coastal Scene with Cypress" c.1950 is an oil painting on canvas by noted California artist Clifford Holmes 1876-1963.Signed at the lower right corner by the art...

Details 21 x 26 inches (54 x 66 cm) edition of 7 Medium: Archival Pigment Print Mounted and framed Available sizes and editions: 21 x 26 inches, edition of 7 32 x 40 inches, editi...

A dynamic, refined, and freshness-filled watercolor work capturing two sailing yachts from an extraordinary perspective — a bird's-eye view. The snow-white hulls and taut sails of th...

This photograph by Araquém Alcântara offers a luminous testament to Brazil's untamed beauty, rendered with the masterful clarity and profound sensitivity that define his celebrated b...

Artist: Vincent Manago, French (1880 - 1936) Title: Two Fishermen Year: 1926 Medium: Oil on Board, signed l.l. Size: 29 x 36 inches (73.66 x 91.44 cm) Frame Size: 33 x 40.5 inches

Title: Notre Dame Cathedral Paris River Seine French Watercolour Cityscape Artist: Pierre Neveu (French b.1929) Medium: Watercolour on artists pa...

Dennis was a landscape painter based in Nottingham, England. Known for his impressionistic, pastoral landscape paintings, Dennis painted mostly in oil, capturing rural scenes around ...

Blago (Blagojce Stojanovski) is a leading contemporary artist of the USA and the world, one of few elite artists of past and present whose ability and talent are of a level at which ...

Artist Comments
A classic, soft focus view of a small stream flowing through the woods. "On a summer day, when the sun hits the golden leaves and a nice cool breeze moves abo...

This coastal seascape limited edition print captures a cropped view of rolling ocean waves. Highly detailed and realistic, it balances the deep blues and sea greens of the ocean with...

Beautiful early 20th century Bay Area landscape attributed to California artist Florence Bugbee Banham (American, 1856-1934). This small scale horizontal landscape depicts a peaceful...

This photograph by Araquém Alcântara offers a luminous testament to Brazil's untamed beauty, rendered with the masterful clarity and profound sensitivity that define his celebrated b...

Betina Samaia (b. 1964, São Paulo, Brazil) is a Brazilian photographer whose work explores the porous boundary between reality and imagination. Holding a degree in Psychology from th...

Very rare view of Ponza Island from the part of the Molo. This is a very rare and fine work of art because until 1900 it was not usual to choose Ponza as a tourist destination or as...

An oil painting of a winter scene. White snow covers trees and rocks alongside a river. Soft short brushstrokes create a sense of movement in the icy water. White snow is painted thickly to accentuate the heavy snowfall. Painting dimensions: 24 x 18 inches Framed dimensions: 30.5 x 24.5 x 1 inches Framed in a traditional-style frame (see pictures). Artist Bio Rachel Personett was born in Hawaii, but raised in Colorado. Being the daughter of a pilot she has always traveled extensively. She has studied part time at the Savannah College of Art and Design, The Angel Academy of Art, and finally settled on the Florence Academy of Art, graduating in 2015. In January 2016 she apprenticed the painter Odd Nerdrum...

 The Mountain and the Rose is a Vintage Offset Print by Douglas Prince in 1980. Good conditions.

C-Print on Argentic paper Others sizes are available upon simple request Shipping of the artwork will be done in a tube or flat in a crate with or without American box frame. Additio...

Marina is an original lithograph realized by Nicola Simbari in 1977. Hand-signed on the lower right. Edition of 29/50 prints. The artwork represents the marina with an abstract mu...