Anton Refregier was a painter and muralist active in Works Progress Administration Federal Art Project commissions, and in teaching art. He was a Russian immigrant to the United States. He is known, among other works, for his mural The History of California located in the Rincon Center, in downtown San Francisco, California. It depicts the state's history across 27 panels that he painted from 1940–48. The style of this historic mural had many of Refregier's key characteristics. The palette was composed of yellows, browns, and grays, punctuated by red in certain areas to evoke emotion. Earthy tones and the lack of bright colors remind viewers of the struggles and hardships he is depicting. Refregier also uses white to represent virtue in those inspired by a cause. His style is very flat and one-dimensional. Refregier uses solid blocks of color to denote shadows, along with depth and shade. His painting style appears to be very rudimentary and simple, but complex because of the way he uses color to evoke emotion and powerful images to tell a story. Refregier died in 1979 while in Moscow. Refregier was working on a mural for a medical center in his home city. The same year, his Rincon Mural was placed under the protection of the National Register of Historic Places.
$1,875Sale Price|33% Off
“Girl in the Grass”
By Anton Refregier
Located in Southampton, NY
Original oil on canvas painting by Anton Refregier of a young girl resting in the grass. Signed upper right and dated 1962. Condition is very good. The painting is in its original oa...
Canvas, Oil
Picnic, Modern Figurative Oil Painting by Anton Refregier
By Anton Refregier
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Anton Refregier Title: Picnic Year: 1959 Medium: Oil on Masonite, signed and dated l.r. Size: 24 x 44 inches (61 x 112 cm) Frame: 31.5 x 51.5 inches
Oil
$975Sale Price|35% Off
H 26 in W 20 in D 0.5 in
Conjuring Spirits (Jungle Drums)
By Thomas Hart Benton
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
Dynamic jungle drummer scene by unknown NYC American artist. Oil on canvas measuring 20 x 26 inches. Signed "T 42" in ink on verso. Anco stretchers and Grumbacher NYC store stamp con...
Oil
$2,200
H 13.75 in W 14.75 in
Seymour Remenick Still Life Table Scape Oil Painting with Bottle and Fruit
By Seymour Remenick
Located in Surfside, FL
Frame measures 13.75 X 14.75, board measures 11 X 12 inches Seymour Remenick (1923-1999) American; Philadelphia, PA. Oil on canvas painting Folk Singers and musicians.Seymour Remeni...
Oil, Board
$1,000
H 36.5 in W 36.5 in
Autumn Wind, Large American Modernist Oil Painting Woman with Flowers
By Doris Turner
Located in Surfside, FL
Nice American Modernist Oil Painting. with old label verso. not dated but estimating it to the 70s. Not sure which Doris turner this is...
Canvas, Oil
$1,600
H 15.25 in W 33 in
Rare Polish American 1930s Oil Painting Painting WPA Russian Babushka Jewish Art
By Abram Tromka
Located in Surfside, FL
Abram Tromka was born May 1, 1896 in Poland. At the age of seven he immigrated with his family to the United States, settling in New York City. It was on the boat coming to New York ...
Oil, Board
Nude
By Arthur Beecher Carles
Located in Bryn Mawr, PA
Provenance The artist; Collection of Walter Stuempfig, Philadelphia; Private collection, Massachusetts until 2022 The Philadelphia modernist Arthur B. Carles was a brilliant coloris...
Canvas, Oil
$12,000
H 33.38 in W 28.38 in D 2.5 in
“The Big City, 1948” Grand Central Station NYC Manhattan Female WPA Modernist
Located in Yardley, PA
“The Big City, 1948” by Anna Elkan Meltzer (American, 1896-1974) One of Meltzer’s finest works, this painting encapsulates the organized chaos of Grand Central Terminal in NYC in th...
Oil, Canvas
$1,800
H 16 in W 36 in
Social Realist Street Scene Modernist Landscape Oil Painting
By Paul Zimmerman
Located in Surfside, FL
Oil Painting Mid 20th century, signed P. Zimmerman Reminiscent of the Mid Century Social Realist and WPA works of Ben Shahn this captures an architectural street scape...
Oil
$600Sale Price|20% Off
H 20 in W 20 in D 1.5 in
Crying Clown Portrait in Oil on Canvas
Located in Soquel, CA
Crying Clown Portrait in Oil on Canvas Portrait of a sad clown by San Francisco artist John Peers (American, 1922-2009). This portrait is closely fra...
Canvas, Oil
$14,500
H 35 in W 29 in
"Drama Teacher" 1938 WPA Mid 20th Century American Theatre Surrealism Modernism
By Leon Bibel
Located in New York, NY
"Drama Teacher" 1938 WPA Mid 20th Century American Theatre Surrealism Modernism. 30 x 24 inches. Oil on Canvas. Signed land dated ’38 lower left. The photograph in the listing depicts the artist's friend who taught drama and about whom the painting is based Painter, printmaker and sculptor, Leon Bibel was born in San Francisco in 1913. He trained at the California School of Fine Arts and received a scholarship to study under the German Impressionist Maria Riedelstein. He worked in collaboration with Bernard Zackheim, a student of Diego Rivera, to create frescoes for the San Francisco Jewish Community Center and the University of California Medical School. In 1936 Bibel moved from California to join the Federal Art Project at Harlem Art...
Canvas, Oil
$23,000
H 19 in W 24.75 in
"Dahlias and Lustre" Mary Elizabeth Price, Floral Composition, Warm Colors
By Mary Elizabeth Price
Located in New York, NY
Mary Elizabeth Price Dahlias and Lustre, circa 1925 Signed within a cartouche lower right, titled verso Oil and gold leaf on Masonite Oval 16 1/4 x 22 inches Provenance The artist F...
Gold Leaf
$2,128Sale Price|20% Off
H 18 in W 20 in D 1 in
"In Front Of The Fire" - Original 1981 Modernist Oil on Canvas
By Patricia Gren Hayes
Located in Soquel, CA
"In Front Of The Fire" - Original 1981 Oil on Canvas Modern figurative portrait of a nude woman by American painter Patricia Gren Hayes (American, 1932). The woman is laying back in...
Canvas, Oil, Stretcher Bars
$1,500
H 18.25 in W 22.25 in
Modernist Oil Painting George Schwacha Carnival Circus Big Top Ferris Wheel WPA
By George Schwacha Jr
Located in Surfside, FL
Hand signed lower left corner Oil on masonite Dimensions: Frame H 18.25" x W 22.25". Sight H 11.25" x W 15.25 This is a great scene, vintage Americana. Possibly Coney Island in Brooklyn New York City. Done in a mid century modern style with great vibrant colors and loose, adept, brushwork. George Schwacha, Jr. (1908 - 1986) New Jersey artist. Known for Landscape painting and snow scenes. He studied Arthur W. Woelfle; John Grabach; Edward Dufner and A. Schweider. George Schwacha was president of the American Artists Professional League and a past president of the Audubon Artists and Art Center of New Jersey. He belongs to the American Watercolor Society, The National Society of Painters in Casein, and the Philadelphia Watercolor Club. His paintings have been shown throughout the country at museums such as the Pennsylvania Academy, the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, DC and the Birmingham Art Museum, The Butler Art Institute in Youngstown, Ohio the Connecticut Academy of Fine Arts, as well as in leading New Jersey and New York exhibitions, including the American Society of Arts and Letters. He is listed in Who's Who in American Art and International Directory of Arts. His work is represented nationally in over 30 museums and public collections including the Newark Museum, Montclair Museum, Birmingham Art Museum, the Isaac Delgado Museum in New Orleans, and the Butler Art Institute. Worldwide he is also represented in collections in the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Canada, Egypt, England, France, Germany, Greece, Holland, Hong Kong, Israel, Scotland and Switzerland. Seymour Zayon, Bertram Hartman, Hugh Campbell, Frank Herbst, Joseph Newman, Theodore Valenkamph, Robert John McClelland, Nicolai S (Nicola) Cikovsky, Ben Benn, George Howell Gay, Robert Brackman, Vernon Wood...
Masonite, Oil
Sold
H 37 in W 29 in D 2 in
"Hop Scotch" Mid 20th Century Social Realism WPA Modern American Scene 1950s SF
By Anton Refregier
Located in New York, NY
"Hop Scotch" Mid 20th Century Social Realism WPA Modern American Scene 1950s SF, .30 1/4 x 22 1/4 inches. Signed and dated 1951 lower right. Provenance: ACA Gallery label verso. BIO Anton Refregier was born March 20, 1905 in Moscow, Russia. He immigrated to the United States in 1920. He received his artistic training from the Rhode Island School of Design*, Providence, Rhode Island, 1921-1925; studied abroad with the sculptor Nicolai Vassilief in Paris in 1920; and with Hans Hofmann in Munich, 1927. From 1934 to 1940, Refregier, living in New York City, worked on various WPA Federal Art Projects* as a teacher, supervising artist, and mural supervisor. His most famous work is arguably the mural project at San Francisco's Rincon Center, the costliest and one of the most controversial of all the WPA commissions. It is a multi-scene panorama* that sparked national debate because of its inclusion of controversial events in California history. Refregier found inspiration in tragic events, which is reflected in his Depression Era-WPA work...
Masonite, Oil
“Flowers and Radishes”
By Anton Refregier
Located in Southampton, NY
Original oil pastel on archival paper drawing by Anton Refregier of flowers and radishes in a still life. Signed upper right. Circa 1965. Condition is good. Overall measurements fra...
Oil Pastel, Archival Paper
Sold
H 27 in W 10 in D 2 in
LUMBERJACKS Hanging Sculpture Painting Ceramic Mid-Century Woodstock Men Working
By Anton Refregier
Located in New York, NY
LUMBERJACKS Hanging Sculpture Painting Ceramic Mid-Century Woodstock Men Working Anton Refregier (1905-1979) "Lumberjacks," Ceramic embedded plaster on masonite. 26 x 9 inches. Sign...
Ceramic, Plaster, Wood, Masonite
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H 42 in W 52 in D 2 in
"Coulee Dam Construction" WPA Precisionist Industrial Figurative American Scene
By Anton Refregier
Located in New York, NY
Anton Refregier painting "Coulee Dam Construction, " a WPA era industrial American Scene oil painting, The figurative work is signed on the upper right Born in Moscow, Refregier stu...
Canvas, Oil