Ralph Holmes Art

An unsigned, early twentieth century oil showing a view of an old wooden wharf with longshoremen working. A well-composed work by an anonymous but skilled hand; painted circa 1925.

Nicely framed 19th century forest interior landscape painting. Oil on canvas. Ready to hang. Image size, 13"L by 17"H inches painting alone.

Signed lower right, 'Wm. P. Krehm' for William Krehm (American, 1901-1968) and painted circa 1940. A period oil painting showing a mountainous, desert landscape at dusk, most likely a view of a Santa Ana River tributary in Southern California's Inland Empire...

Much about this late 19th-century painting remains a mystery, including the name of the artist who only left their identity in a single-letter monogram. But the work's moody embrace ...

This original circa 1910 graphite landscape drawing is a rare and intimate work by renowned Colorado artist Charles Partridge Adams (1858–1942), celebrated for his mastery of the Ame...

This serene Hudson River School painting by George Wright captures a peaceful moment of pastoral life, where three cows rest and graze under a wide, luminous sky. The composition gen...

Hudson River School, Mountain Landscape, Oil on Canvas, late 19th century, signed "A.E. Willey" lower right, giltwood frame. Image: 12.25" H x 18.25" W; frame: 16" H x 22" W. Proven...

Max Kuehne (1880 - 1968) Train Station, circa 1910 Watercolor on paper 8 1/4 x 10 1/4 inches Signed lower right Provenance: Private Collection, Illinois Max Kuehne was born in Halle, Germany on November 7, 1880. During his adolescence the family immigrated to America and settled in Flushing, New York. As a young man, Max was active in rowing events, bicycle racing, swimming and sailing. After experimenting with various occupations, Kuehne decided to study art, which led him to William Merritt Chase's famous school in New York; he was trained by Chase himself, then by Kenneth Hayes Miller. Chase was at the peak of his career, and his portraits were especially in demand. Kuehne would have profited from Chase's invaluable lessons in technique, as well as his inspirational personality. Miller, only four years older than Kuehne, was another of the many artists to benefit from Chase's teachings. Even though Miller still would have been under the spell of Chase upon Kuehne's arrival, he was already experimenting with an aestheticism that went beyond Chase's realism and virtuosity of the brush. Later Miller developed a style dependent upon volumetric figures that recall Italian Renaissance prototypes. Kuehne moved from Miller to Robert Henri in 1909. Rockwell Kent, who also studied under Chase, Miller, and Henri, expressed what he felt were their respective contributions: "As Chase had taught us to use our eyes, and Henri to enlist our hearts, Miller called on us to use our heads." (Rockwell Kent, It's Me O Lord: The Autobiography of Rockwell Kent. New York: Dodd, Mead and Co., 1955, p. 83). Henri prompted Kuehne to search out the unvarnished realities of urban living; a notable portion of Henri's stylistic formula was incorporated into his work. Having received such a thorough foundation in art, Kuehne spent a year in Europe's major art museums to study techniques of the old masters. His son Richard named Ernest Lawson as one of Max Kuehne's European traveling companions. In 1911 Kuehne moved to New York where he maintained a studio and painted everyday scenes around him, using the rather Manet-like, dark palette of Henri. A trip to Gloucester during the following summer engendered a brighter palette. In the words of Gallatin (1924, p. 60), during that summer Kuehne "executed some of his most successful pictures, paintings full of sunlight . . . revealing the fact that he was becoming a colorist of considerable distinction." Kuehne was away in England the year of the Armory Show (1913), where he worked on powerful, painterly seascapes on the rocky shores of Cornwall. Possibly inspired by Henri - who had discovered Madrid in 1900 then took classes there in 1906, 1908 and 1912 - Kuehne visited Spain in 1914; in all, he would spend three years there, maintaining a studio in Granada. He developed his own impressionism and a greater simplicity while in Spain, under the influence of the brilliant Mediterranean light. George Bellows convinced Kuehne to spend the summer of 1919 in Rockport, Maine (near Camden). The influence of Bellows was more than casual; he would have intensified Kuehne's commitment to paint life "in the raw" around him. After another brief trip to Spain in 1920, Kuehne went to the other Rockport (Cape Ann, Massachusetts) where he was accepted as a member of the vigorous art colony, spearheaded by Aldro T. Hibbard. Rockport's picturesque ambiance fulfilled the needs of an artist-sailor: as a writer in the Gloucester Daily Times explained, "Max Kuehne came to Rockport to paint, but he stayed to sail." The 1920s was a boom decade for Cape Ann, as it was for the rest of the nation. Kuehne's studio in Rockport was formerly occupied by Jonas Lie. Kuehne spent the summer of 1923 in Paris, where in July, André Breton started a brawl as the curtain went up on a play by his rival Tristan Tzara; the event signified the demise of the Dada movement. Kuehne could not relate to this avant-garde art but was apparently influenced by more traditional painters — the Fauves, Nabis, and painters such as Bonnard. Gallatin perceived a looser handling and more brilliant color in the pictures Kuehne brought back to the States in the fall. In 1926, Kuehne won the First Honorable Mention at the Carnegie Institute, and he re-exhibited there, for example, in 1937 (Before the Wind). Besides painting, Kuehne did sculpture, decorative screens, and furniture work with carved and gilded molding. In addition, he designed and carved his own frames, and John Taylor Adams encouraged Kuehne to execute etchings. Through his talents in all these media he was able to survive the Depression, and during the 1940s and 1950s these activities almost eclipsed his easel painting. In later years, Kuehne's landscapes and still-lifes show the influence of Cézanne and Bonnard, and his style changed radically. Max Kuehne died in 1968. He exhibited his work at the National Academy of Design, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Carnegie Institute in Pittsburgh, the Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester, and in various New York City galleries. Kuehne's works are in the following public collections: the Detroit Institute of Arts (Marine Headland), the Whitney Museum (Diamond Hill...

Signed lower right, "C. Stilling" for Carl Conrad Stilling (Danish, 1874-1938) and inscribed 'Hyères'; dated lower left, '1928' and titled in Danish, verso...

Signed lower right, 'Rosemary Miner' (American, 20th century) and painted circa 1995. Previously with: Gallery Americana, Carmel, California Framed dim...

This vintage, original colored pencil drawing titled Untitled (Storm over Desert Landscape, Arizona) was created in 1924 by celebrated American artist George ...

Signed, verso, in Cyrillic, 'Leontev V.E.' for Valentin Nikolaevich Leontiev (Russian, 1912-1984) and inscribed, 'City of Yarolsavl on the River Volga. Painter, Leontev V.E. Showing Ilaskaya Church, symbol of 17th Century architecture'. Painted circa 1965. Accompanied by old framing label bearing title, 'Church of the Prophet Elijah'. Displayed in a burnished gilt-wood frame; framed dimensions: 21.5 H x 17.5 W x 1.5 D inches Valentin Nikolaevich Leontiev; painter, teacher. Honored Worker of Culture of the USSR (1973). Member of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. He was awarded a commemorative medal. Medal "For Valiant Labor. In commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of V.I. Lenin. Member of the Union of Artists of Russia (1947). Chairman of the Board of the Yaroslavl Union of Artists (1961-1964), member of the board until 1982. In 1931 he graduated from the Yaroslavl Art and Pedagogical College (teacher - S.F. Shitov) and continued his studies in Leningrad (teachers - I.I. Brodsky, A.A. Osmerkin, B.V. Ioganson). He was a Stalin scholarship holder. In 1941, from the 6th graduation course of the institute at the Academy of Arts, he volunteered for the front. Participated in battles near Narva and Kingisepp (North-Western Front). When the regiment left the encirclement, he was captured, in April 1945 he was liberated by the allied forces in Germany on the river. Elbe. After his release, he fought on the 2nd Belorussian Front, participated in the battles near Königsberg. In 1947 he graduated from the Leningrad Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. I.E. Repin of the Academy of Arts of the USSR, having defending his thesis - the monumental composition "Meeting of the Winners". After graduation, he taught at the Cheboksary (Chuvash ASSR) art school (1949-1951). In 1951 he returned to Yaroslavl and for 32 years (1951-1983) taught at an art school. There are many well-known artists among the students of Valentin Nikolaevich Leontiev. In addition to many landscapes ( " Morning in Yaroslavl " (1967), " Industrial motive " , " The Church of Elijah the Prophet " (1956), " Hoarfrost "(1979) and others), as well as chamber works in the genre of still life, V.N. Leontiev created several significant thematic canvases, including: " Weekend Morning in Cheboksary " (1950 - Chuvash State Art Museum), " Building Communism " (1951, YAHM). Participant of regional, interregional, zonal, regional, republican and all-Union exhibitions. Personal exhibitions in Yaroslavl: 1972, 1983 and 1997. V.N. Leontiev participated in the work of several congresses of the Union of Artists of the RSFSR and the Union of Artists of the USSR, in the formation of regional exhibitions. Works by V.N. Leontiev are kept in the museum collections of Yaroslavl, in Russian and foreign private collections. From the introductory article to the exhibition catalog "Valentin Nikolaevich Leontiev and his students ” , 2008 Art critic Olga Shikhanova. He was loved by both students and fellow artists. Many even now remember with a smile many funny stories associated with the name of Valentin Nikolaevich Leontiev, one of the most significant painters of Yaroslavl. Many are still grateful to him for the lessons of mastery, for patience and tolerance, for a sincere interest in their first, albeit timid, steps in art and for a personal example of passion for creativity. A native Yaroslavl, Leontiev was born on February 5, 1912. His father was a wagon coupler on the railroad and died when his son was 7 years old. Mother Alexandra Nikolaevna worked all her life as a painter at one of the oldest paint and varnish enterprises in the country - the Victory of Workers plant. An inquisitive and active boy at the age of ten joined the first pioneer detachment on Krasny Perekop and from that time became addicted to drawing. Valentin received his initial art diploma in the then popular working studios of fine arts, and in the Yaroslavl Art School, where he entered in 1928, his teachers were wonderful teachers Sergei Fedorovich Shitov and Pyotr Nikolaevich Shadrikov, who stood at the origins of the Yaroslavl art school. In 1931, after defending his diploma, Leontiev received a referral to the Victory of Workers factory, where he conscientiously performed the usual work for a factory artist: he wrote slogans, drew wall newspapers, designed stands with the results of socialist competitions. Such work could not give real creative satisfaction to a person with his pictorial possibilities. In 1933, Valentin first entered the preparatory classes of the All-Russian Academy of Arts, and in 1935 became a student. Art and creative work carried away, and the names of the teachers I. Brodsky, A. Osmyorkin, B. Ioganson, E. Serov, R. Frentz, A. Zaitsev, who had already entered the history of Russian art, turned their heads. In 1940, for excellent progress, Vadentin was awarded the highest student award - a state scholarship. Even then, Leontiev's leadership qualities appeared, and in 1938 he was elected a member of the Student Youth Council under the Central Committee of the Komsomol. For the diploma, he painted a large-scale painting "Children on the Volga" (headed by A.I. Savinov). These few Leningrad years were the happiest in Leontiev's life. After all, it was there, within the walls of the Academy, that he met a friend for life - Evsey Moiseenko, and there he met his only love, Tanya Edelson. The wedding was played in a student hostel in January 1941. But June 1941, like many young people of his generation, dramatically changed the life that had begun so wonderfully. The terrible word "War!" Leontiev and Moiseenko, academic scholarship holders, on whom great hopes were placed, were completely exempted from military service, but both made the only choice possible for them at that time: instead of defending their diploma, in July 1941 they signed up as volunteers in the people's militia. On a memorable day, a large group of students gathered at the Academy - future historians, artists, musicians - all of whom the slogan "Leningrad is in danger!" also did not leave indifferent. From there, everyone went first to the militia, and then to the front. Private of the 4th Volunteer Division, Leontiev participated in the construction of defensive fortifications around Leningrad. The militias dug the ground, constructing anti-tank ditches and pillboxes. After heavy fighting near Narva and Koenigsberg, some colonel undertook to take them out of the encirclement. And so it happened that led untrained soldiers directly to the Germans. So Leontiev was captured, and soon ended up in Germany. Repeated attempts to escape each time ended in raids and brutal reprisals. Finally, he was given as free slaves to a German farm, where he stayed until the arrival of the Red Army. It was a difficult time for Leontiev's wife, Tatyana: in November 1941, their son Vladik was born in Anapa. She survived nine months of occupation and the inability to learn anything about the fate of her husband. Freed from captivity, Leontiev served in the 128th separate communications battalion of the 24th Army of the Belorussian Front until October 1945, and all this time he tried to contact his relatives. He was considered missing. Finally, Valentin was reunited with his family, and then a wonderful portrait of his son appeared, which the artist painted on the same day - “Vladik. Meeting with my son. Leontiev's graduation work was lost during the war years. Having written under the guidance of B.V. Ioganson and V.A. Serov's new large painting "Meeting of the Winners" (280x350), Valentin in 1947 defended his diploma. The high commission rated...