Bill Brown Art

"Paper Making" WPA Industrial Mid-Century American Scene Social Realism Workers Douglas Crockwell (1904-1968) "Paper Making" 19 x 39 inches Oil on board, c. 1936 Signed verso Framed: 28 x 47 Provenance: Estate of the Artist BIO Spencer Douglass Crockwell was born into a comfortable middle class household on April 29, 1904 in Columbus, Ohio. His father, Charles Roland Crockwell, was a mining engineer; his mother, Cora, was the daughter of an Iowa attorney. He became a commercial artist and experimental filmmaker who spent a good part of his career creating illustrations and advertisements for the Saturday Evening Post. In 1907 the Crockwell family moved to St. Louis, Missouri, where he graduated from high school and then attended from Washington University. Initially he studied engineering, but soon switched to business. While still an undergraduate, Crockwell took courses at the St. Louis School of Fine Arts and quickly realized that he wanted to be an artist. After graduating from Washington University in 1926, Crockwell continued to study at the St. Louis School of Fine Arts until 1929. The following year he relocated to Chicago and continued his studies at the American Academy of Art. In 1930 and 1931 he studied in Europe on a Traveling Fellowship. In 1932 Douglass Crockwell moved to Glens Falls, New York, which was to be his home for the remainder of his life. The following year he married Margaret Braman. They had three children, a son Douglass and two daughters, Johanna and Margaret. During the depression he created murals and posters for the Works Progress Administration including Post Office murals in White River junction, Vermont; Endicott, New York; and Macon, Mississippi. In 1934 he painted Paper Workers, Finch Pruyn & Co. (the leading Glens Falls, New York company) for the WPA. In the 1930s Crockwell developed an interest in experimental animated films that occupied him for the rest of his life. In 1936 and 1937, he collaborated with David Smith, a sculptor, to create surrealist films. Because of his interest in experimental films, his output of paintings was limited to just twenty to forty illustrations a year during this time. Crockwell painted his first of many Saturday Evening Post cover in 1933. He also worked for Life, Look, and Esquire, and numerous national advertisers including Friskies dog food, Welch’s Grape Juice, Republic Steel...

Mural Study for "History of Water" American Scene Modernism Social Realism WPA Thomas Hart Benton (American, 1889-1975) "Water Story" (Study for The History of Water) Tempera and o...

Chess Players WPA Depression Era Mid-20th Century American Scene Realism Modern. Signed upper right and verso 8 x 10 inches oil on board. BIO The son of a men's haberdasher, Mervin ...

Red Grapes by Lu Haskew ​Oil Still Life of Grapes against a stucco wall 24x16" image size, 30x22" framed Shipping price includes the custom packing necessary for safe transport of f...

Vintage American modernist still life oil painting. Oil on board. Framed. Measuring: 14 by 17 inches overall, and 9 by 12 painting alone.. In excellent original condition. Handsomel...

This original oil painting, dated 1930, offers a rare and charming interior view of "Minglestreams," the summer home and studio of renowned artist Claire Shuttleworth in Chippawa, On...

This refined trompe-l’œil botanical still life by American painter Bruce Kurland depicts a small branch of magnolia blossoms arranged in a simple cylindrical vessel resting on a narr...

Woman reading after Henri Matisse by Claire Ragueneau Impressionist seated woman reading a book after Henri Matisse by San Francisco artist Claire Ragueneau (American, 1901-1971). Cl...

A Unique, Unusual Surrealist Interior Scene with Abstracted Figure by Notable Chicago Modern Artist, Harold Haydon (Am. 1909-1994). Depicting an abstract city apartment interior wit...

Vintage American impressionist oil painting. Oil on board. Framed. Provenance from a Sag Harbor, NY collection. Handsomely framed in a giltwood molding. Excellent condition, ready...

Mid Century Floral Still-Life in Oil on Canvas-Wrapped Illustration Board Classic mid century floral still-life with impasto in warm, autumn colors by Frances Christensen American, ...

This bright and colorful floral painting, "Subtlety in Pink, is an 8x8 still life oil painting on board by Maryann Lucas. An expressive floral study featuring a soft pink bloom emer...