Alexander R. Richardson Art

Gouache painted on cardstock, intended for a greeting card design, painted circa 1970. Unsigned. Displayed in a red archival mat. Cellophane tape on board.

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...

White and Purple Dahlias - Floral Still Life in Oil on Illustration Board Delicate still life of dahlias in a green vase by Gertrud Stimming ...

Two Cooked Fish with Garnish - Still Life in Oil on Artist's Board Still life of two fish by an unknown artist (20th Century). This piece is executed in a classical, painterly style...

Still Life with Lemons and Chianti Wine still life on table with wine bottle and lemons by California artist Harold F. Porter (American, 19th-20th Century). A muted mauve and blue wall paper sets the table for this classic still life of a glass of wine and a Chianti bottle with lemon bowl...

Contemporary floral still life figurative gouache on cardboard painting by Polish artist Bozena Lesiak. Painting is in a small format. Bozena Lesiak's art embodies beauty of nature a...

Bold, colorful abstract cityscape of Tel Aviv 15 X 19 inches including mat (needs new mat). painting is 10.5 X 14.5 Provenance: prominent South Florida art...

Contemporary floral still life figurative gouache on cardboard painting by Polish artist Bozena Lesiak. Painting is in a small format with glossy varnish. Bozena Lesiak's art embodie...

Bold and angular composition with cannas by Claire Weist (American, 1930-2014). Bright red flowers jump out from a saturated green background. Large leaves act as a background, covering the majority of the composition, intertwined with other foliage. This piece is executed on top of a previous composition and the artist has left part of it visible around the edges to act as a border. Signed "Weist" in the lower left corner. Title and artist's info on verso. No frame. Board size: 20"H x 16"W Claire Weist (American, 1930-2014) was an artist known primarily for her watercolor compositions. She won several awards throughout her career, including the jury award for graphics from the Illinois Watercolor Society. Weist was originally from the Boston area and studied at the Massachusetts College of Art and then Harvard. After spending time teaching art and as an illustrator, Weist moved to Crete, Illinois and opened her own studio, where she spent the remainder of her professional career. Education: 1949-50 Lomma, Sweden 1951, Massachusetts College of Art, Boston, MA 1953, B.F.A. Degree, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA Work: 1953, Commercial Artist, Vincent Edwards Art Agency, Boston, MA 1954-1957, Art Editor and Illustrator, Baby Post Magazine, New York, NY 1960-1964, Painter and Art Teacher, Lynchburg, VA 1965-1971, Book and Magazine Illustrator, Delafield, WI 1972, Studio, Crete, IL Exhibitions and Memberships: 1971 - Alverno Art Fair, Milwaukee, WI 1971 - Elmwood Plaza Art Fair (Best in Show), Racine WI 1971 - Brookfield Square Winter Art Show (First Place, Watercolors), Waukesha, WI 1973 - Marathon County Historical Museum, Wausau, WI 1982 - Park Forest Art Fair, Park Forest, IL Member, Wisconsin Watercolor Society Member, Kettle Moraine...

Artist: Moshe Rosentalis, Lithuanian (1922 - 2008) Title: Standing Nude Year: 1991 Medium: Gouache on Board, signed and dated Size: 27.5 x 19.5 inches

Art Deco Movie Set 20th Century American Modernism Hollywood WPA Social Realism Arthur Rosenman Ross (1913 - 1981) Art Deco Movie Set, Probably MGM Studios, 1937 17 x 27 inches Gouache on illustration Board Signed Art Ross, ‘37 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...

Contemporary floral still life figurative gouache on cardboard painting by Polish artist Bozena Lesiak. Painting is in a small format with glossy varnish. Bozena Lesiak's art embodie...