Charles Ragland Bunnell Art

A striking early Colorado landscape by Charles Ragland Bunnell, this 1920s oil on board painting captures the expansive plains and butte formations of the Western landscape beneath a...

Oil on paper, adhered to board abstract painting in orange, red, white, black, and gold, painted in 1963 by Charles Ragland Bunnell (1897-1968). Signed and dated by the artist in the lower right corner. Presented in a custom vintage frame, outer dimensions measure 22 ½ x 26 ½ x 1 ½ inches. Image size is 16 ¼ x 20 ¼ inches. Painting is in good condition - please contact us for a detailed condition report. Provenance: Estate of the artist, Charles Ragland Bunnell About the Artist: Born 1897 Died 1968 Charles Bunnell developed a love for art at a very young age. As a child in Kansas City, Missouri, he spent much of his time drawing. When he was unable to find paper he drew on walls and in the margins of textbooks for which he was often fined. Around 1915, Bunnell moved with his family to Colorado Springs, Colorado. He served in World War I and later used his GI Training to study at the Broadmoor Art Academy (later renamed the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center) during 1922 and 1923. In 1922, he married fellow student, Laura Palmer. He studied with Ernest Lawson in 1927-1928 and, in the winter of 1928-1929, he served as Lawson’s assistant. In the late 1920’s, the Bunnell’s settled just west of Colorado Springs and 1928, they welcomed the first of their three children. Their one-acre homesite, which they referred to as “Old Home Place”, was situated between two sets of railroad tracks at the foot of Pike’s Peak. Charlie converted an old railroad boxcar into his studio, where he later gave lessons. Beginning in 1931, Bunnell spent a year and a half studying under Boardman Robinson. The two men clashed constantly due to a generation gap and markedly different philosophies. Robinson encouraged his students not to stray from realism and though Bunnell mastered Robinson’s preferred style of American Scene painting, he regularly irritated his professor with his abstract sketches. Bunnell taught at the Kansas City Art Institute during the summers of 1929, 1930, 1940, and 1941. Between 1934 and 1941, he painted and taught under federal projects which included assisting Frank Mechau on murals for the Colorado Springs Post Office. However, he did not take to mural making and, after criticism from Boardman Robinson about his use of “heavy daubs which have no place in mural work,” he abandoned mural-making altogether. By the late 1930’s, Bunnell’s work departed from the American Scene/Modernist style he was trained in towards abstraction. This is marked by his “Black and Blue” series, consisting of 83 abstracted ink and watercolors. Affected by the Second World War and the loss of his 10-year old son, Bunnell’s work of the early 1940’s took on a Transcendental and Surrealist tone. The works from this period are moody and readily reflect the political and personal turmoil experienced by the artist. In the late 1940’s, Bunnell began experimenting with Abstract Expressionism. He alone is credited with introducing Colorado Springs to the new style as it was excluded from the Fine Art Center’s curriculum by Boardman Robinson. Bunnell excelled in Abstract Expressionism and continued to evolve in the style through the 1950’s continuing to his death in 1968. He was recently recognized as a premier American Abstract Expressionist by his inclusion in the book American Abstract Expressionism of the 1950’s: An Illustrated Survey. Solo Exhibits: Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, Missouri, 1930; Santa Fe Museum, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 1947; University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois, 1948; University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky, 1949; Taos Gallery, Taos, New Mexico, 1951; Carl Barnett Galleries, Dallas, Texas, 1952; The Bodley Gallery, New York, 1955; Amarillo, Texas, 1955; Haigh Gallery, Denver, Colorado, 1955; Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, Colorado Springs, Colorado, 1956; Dord Fitz Art Gallery, Amarillo, Texas, December 1956 – February 1957, 1959, 1969 (retrospective). Group Exhibits: Carnegie Institute, 1927-1928; Colorado State Fair, 1928 (1st prize); Artists Midwestern, Kansas City, Missouri, 1929 (Gold Medal); Art Institute of Chicago, 1947 (the exhibit traveled to ten major museums in the United States); “Artists West of the Mississippi”, Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, Colorado Springs, Colorado (7 times); Denver Art Museum Western Annual, Denver, Colorado (5 times); Mid-America Annual, Kansas City, Missouri, 1958; First Provincetown Festival, 1958; Southwestern Annual, Santa Fe, New Mexico, Winter 1957-1958; Central City, Colorado; Cañon City...

Abstract oil on board signed by Charles Ragland Bunnell (1897-1968) titled 'Bull III' painted in 1963. Presented in the artist’s original frame, outer dimensions measure 27 ½ x 23 ½ ...

Abstract expressionist oil painting on board from 1955 by Charles Bunnell. Abstract shapes in layers of sage green, light blue, brown, gold, and black. Presented in a custom frame, o...

Untitled (Crucifixion, Black & Blue Series) is an original watercolor, charcoal and ink on paper from the artist Charles Ragland Bunnell's (1897-1968) Black & Blue Series from 1941. Abstract composition created in shades of red, gray, white, and black. Presented in a vintage frame, outer dimensions measure 38 ⅝ x 30 ¾ inches. Image size is 29 x 22 inches. Expedited and International shipping is available - please contact us for a quote. About the Artist: Born 1897 Died 1968...

1945 oil painting on canvas by Charles Bunnell of a Colorado mine and mountains. Modernist landscape painting done in colors of red, blue, and cream. Presented in a custom white gold frame measuring 22 ¾ x 26 ¾ inches. Image size is 16 x 20 inches. Piece is clean and in very good vintage condition - please contact us for a detailed condition report. Expedited and international shipping is available - please contact us for a quote. About the Artist: Charles Bunnell developed a love for art at a very young age. As a child in Kansas City, Missouri, he spent much of his time drawing. When he was unable to find paper he drew on walls and in the margins of textbooks for which he was often fined. Around 1915, Bunnell moved with his family to Colorado Springs, Colorado. He served in World War I and later used his GI Training to study at the Broadmoor Art Academy (later renamed the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center) during 1922 and 1923. In 1922, he married fellow student, Laura Palmer...

Abstract geometric oil on board painting by Charles Bunnell from 1960 with a black circle above an orange square with various shades of blue, pink, and yellow in the background. Signed and dated by the artist in the lower right corner. Presented in a custom white frame, outer dimensions measure 16 ⅜ x 12 ¼ x 1 inches. Image size is 16 x 12 inches. Expedited and international shipping is available - please contact us for a quote. About the artist: Charles Bunnell developed a love for art at a very young age. As a child in Kansas City, Missouri, he spent much of his time drawing. When he was unable to find paper he drew on walls and in the margins of textbooks for which he was often fined. Around 1915, Bunnell moved with his family to Colorado Springs, Colorado. He served in World War I and later used his GI Training to study at the Broadmoor Art Academy (later renamed the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center) during 1922 and 1923. In 1922, he married fellow student, Laura Palmer...

Geometric abstract oil painting on canvas-paper by Charles Bunnell circa 1960. Painting of circles and squares, orange black and white. Presented in a custom black frame, outer dimen...

1950s Abstract Expressionist oil painting Charles Bunnell painted in colors of light green, pale blue, orange, and brown. Presented in a custom f...

Oil on canvaspaper on board painting by Charles Ragland Bunnell (1897-1968) from 1956. Presented in a custom gold tone float frame, outer dimensions measure 22 ¼ x 18 ¼ x 2 inches. ...

Abstract oil on canvas paper on board painting by Charles Ragland Bunnell from 1955 painted in colors of black, white, yellow, and gray. Presented in a custom black frame, outer dime...

Black Dog, vintage 1961 original modernist painting of a dog in black, gray and white by Colorado Springs Broadmoor Academy artist, Charles Bunnell (1897-1968. Painted in oil on canvas paper, signed and dated by the artist lower right. Presented in a contemporary custom wood frame with all archival materials, outer dimensions measure 24 ½ x 28 ¼ x 1 ¾ inches. Image size is 20 x 16 inches. Provenance: Estate of Charles Ragland Bunnell Expedited and international shipping is available - please contact us for a quote. About the Artist: Charles Bunnell developed a love for art as a child in Kansas City, Missouri. Around 1915, Bunnell moved with his family to Colorado Springs, Colorado. He served in World War I and later used his GI Training to study at the Broadmoor Art Academy (later renamed the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center) during 1922 and 1923. In 1922, he married fellow student, Laura Palmer...