Charles Alston Art

American, 1907-1977

Charles Henry Alston (1907-1977; Columbia College 1929, Teachers College 1931) was an influential painter during the Harlem Renaissance and the first African American supervisor for the Works Progress Administration. He supervised the WPA murals created at Harlem Hospital, leading a staff of 35 artists and assistants. Alston was also the first African American to teach at both the Museum of Modern Art and the Art Students League and, in 1969, to have been appointed the painter member of the Art Commission of the City of New York. Alston was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, and was related to renowned artist Romare Bearden through his mother's second marriage. He attended Columbia University as an undergraduate and graduate student, receiving a B.A. from Columbia College in 1929 and an M.F.A. from Columbia University's Teachers College in 1931. After graduating he worked at the Harlem Arts Workshop, and when the program required more space, he secured an additional facility at 306 W. 141st St. The space, known as "306," became a center for the Harlem art community. The influence of Mexican muralists José Clemente Orozco, Diego Rivera and David Alfaro Siqueiros, who all used murals to inspire people toward social activism, can be seen in Alston’s work. When Diego Rivera was painting his famous mural at Rockefeller Center, which was destroyed because of its political content, Alston frequently visited the Mexican artist, communicating in French, their only common language. Alston’s gift was not limited to painting. He also worked as a sculptor, and his cartoons and illustrations were published in popular magazines such as The New Yorker and Fortune. During World War II, he worked at the Office of War Information and Public Information, creating cartoons and posters to mobilize the black community to join in the American war effort. He also taught at the City University of New York from 1970 to 1977. His work is in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Detroit Institute of Arts. Excerpted from Columbia University, "Columbia Celebrates Black History and Culture"

Artist: Charles Alston

"Landscape with Hills" Charles Alston, Harlem Renaissance Modernist Landscape

By Charles Alston

Located in New York, NY

Charles Alston Landscape with Hills Signed lower right Watercolor on paper 13 1/2 x 18 1/4 inches Charles Henry Alston was an influential painter during the Harlem Renaissance and ...

Category

20th Century Modern Charles Alston Art

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

Charles Alston
"Landscape with Hills" Charles Alston, Harlem Renaissance Modernist Landscape

$7,600 Sale Price

20% Off

Gnarled Tree - African American Artist

By Charles Alston

Located in Miami, FL

Executed in 1930, this abstract yet representational biomorphic charcoal work by African American Artist Charles Henry Alston prefigures his ...

Category

1930s American Realist Charles Alston Art

Materials

Paper, Charcoal

Charles Alston
Gnarled Tree - African American Artist, 1930 circa

$15,000

Restaurant Scene, Modern Oil Painting on Canvas by Charles Alston

By Charles Alston

Located in Long Island City, NY

An original oil on canvas painting by African American artist, Charles Alston. Completed sometime in the 1930s, "Restaurant Scene" focuses on a crowded ...

Category

1930s Charles Alston Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Charles Alston
Restaurant Scene, Modern Oil Painting on Canvas by Charles Alston, ca 1930

Price Upon Request

Category

1920s Post-Impressionist Charles Alston Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil, Stretcher Bars

Whistlers Mother by Anonymous Artist Original Oil on Canvas 1924, 1924

$695

H 17.5 in W 19.5 in D 1 in

Fine 1950's English Oil Grand Interior Room Scene Ancestral Portraits signed

Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire

The Guildhall, Worcester English School, mid 20th century indistinctly signed verso oil on canvas canvas: 20 x 24 inches provenance: private collection, UK condition: very good and sound condition The Worcester Guildhall was originally built as a meeting place for Worcester merchants around 1227. As with many other guildhalls, it became the centre for civic administration, a role it maintained after the merchant guild had disappeared. The present Worcester Guildhall is a superb Queen Anne building, begun in 1722 by Thomas White, a pupil of Sir Christopher Wren. White was badly paid for his efforts, and he died in poverty in 1738, bestowing the money he was owed on the Worcester Royal Infirmary. The city finally paid its debt in 1753. The exterior of the Guildhall is brick, dressed with stone. White himself is said to have carved the figure of Queen Anne over the entry, as well as those of Charles I and II, a reminder of the city's long history of royal support. The interior is superb, boasting exceptional period decoration. The Tourist Information Centre is now located in the Guildhall. HISTORY In 1227 Henry III granted the citizens of Worcester a royal charter granting them the right to establish a guild of merchants. The guild was responsible for controlling trade in the city, but their meeting place gradually became the main centre of administration for city government and acted as a courthouse. So, in effect, the Guildhall was the town hall, and though the city guilds have long since vanished, the Guildhall name lives on. The medieval guild merchants would not recognise the building that faces onto High Street now. Their guildhall was a large timber-framed building, occupying the same site, with a piazza for shops fronting the street, courts of justice at each end, and a prison to the north of the building. Part of the prison was a cell called 'the peephole', which gained a notorious reputation. There was a gaoler's house, and attached to it an alehouse from which the gaoler sold ale at extremely high prices to any prisoner who could afford the cost. In 1717 the city administration decided on a new Guildhall, and they knew just who to call; upon to build it. Thomas White was not an architect in the way we think of it today, but a stonemason. In 1705 he had carved a statue of Queen Anne to stand in front of the medieval Guildhall and was made a Freeman of the City. The total cost of the fashionable new red-brick building was £3727. The Corporation only put forward £800, and the rest had to be raised by public subscription. The centre section of the new Guildhall was finished by 1724 and has remained almost unchanged since then. The central facade is a wonderful example of early Georgian style, with three bays flanked by Corinthian pillars. Over the entrance is a huge carving incorporating the Hanoverian royal arms. White's earlier statue of Queen Anne was placed in a niche over the door, and on either side were statues of Charles I, depicted holding a church, and Charles II, with an orb and royal sceptre. On the rooftop are figures of Labour, Peace, Justice, Plenty, and Chastisement. North and south wings were added within a few years of the central block. The south wing was used as a judge's lodging when the assizes were taking place, but throughout the rest of the year it housed a coffee shop. The most striking external feature of the Guildhall is a set of iron gates...

Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Charles Alston Art

Materials

Oil, Canvas

English mid 20th
Fine 1950's English Oil Grand Interior Room Scene Ancestral Portraits signed

$1,177 Sale Price

$1,746 Sale Price

$630

H 16.54 in W 11.82 in D 0.04 in

Fine 18th Century Italian Oil Painting Elegant Figures Rococo Interior Setting

Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire

Elegant Figures in Interior *see notes below Italian School, mid 18th century most likely of Venetian origin oil on canvas, unframed canvas: 10.75 x 11.75 inches provenance: private ...

Category

Mid-18th Century Rococo Charles Alston Art

Materials

Oil, Canvas

18th Century Venetian School
Fine 18th Century Italian Oil Painting Elegant Figures Rococo Interior Setting

$2,208 Sale Price

30% Off

H 10.75 in W 11.75 in

Previously Available Items

"Saturday Night" Local Genre, Figurative, Dance, Harlem Renaissance, Signed

By Charles Alston

Located in Detroit, MI

"Saturday Night" is a joyful and colorful rendition of a happy pastime in the style of the Harlem Renaissance – dancing perhaps in a nightclub suggested by the drinks in the foreground. It also appears that it might be a basement speakeasy since the background shows patrons entering and leaving via stairs. This was painted after prohibition, but places operated with alcohol unable or unwilling to purchase a liquor license until well into the early 1970s. Charles Alston...

Category

1930s American Modern Charles Alston Art

Materials

Paper, Watercolor, Graphite

Charles Alston
"Saturday Night" Local Genre, Figurative, Dance, Harlem Renaissance, Signed, 1938 - 39

H 18.5 in W 17 in