David Messer Art

The Witch of Endor conjures up the specter of Samuel in front of King Saul is an old master artwork realized by a follower of Georg Andreas Wolfgang I between 18th and 19th century. Mixed colored oil painting on canvas. On the back probable signature of the author traced by brush "P. So [mita] rt [...] Fac. ". The subject of this painting, the witch of Endor, a necromancer mentioned in the Bible whose power was to evoke the spirit of the dead, is a very rare theme in painting and there are few artists who represented it. In Italy it was especially Salvator Rosa (1615-1673) who had a deep interest in necromantic subjects and, in particular, he produced many paintings of this kind when he stayed in Florence in the 1840s. Rosa's inventions were exported throughout Europe and, in particular, in the German cities of Stuttgart, Nuremberg and Augusta through the works of Johann Heinnrich Schonfeld (Stuttgart, 1627 - Habsburg, 1684), an artist who worked in Naples and who remained sensitive to figure of Salvator Rosa. In this context, in addition to Schonfeld, the Swiss Joseph Werner II (Berne, 1637-1710) was also responsible for the diffusion of this pictorial genre, introducing Rosa's works on witchcraft among his knowledge of Augsburg. He was also the inventor of the scene represented here from whose drawing (Bern, Kunstmuseum, inv. A1196), executed in 1677, the engraving made immediately after by Georg Andreas Wolfgang the Elder (1631–1716) and by which derives precisely the work examined here. The engraving, which was part of a series of biblical images, was dedicated by Wolfgang to Leonhard Weiss, probably a municipal employee of Augsburg or tis mayor. Reference bibliography: - Susan Broomhall, Gender and emotions in medieval and early modern Europe...

With a contemporary perspective on landscape painting and inspired by paintings created by old masters, German artist Katharina Husslein paints in a representational manner to captur...

"Concert" Early 20th Century WPA Modernism American City Landscape Scene Ashcan The size of the canvas 28 3/4 x 43 1/4 inches. The painting comes directly from the artist's estate. It is signed lower right as well as signed, titled and dated verso. We have available more than two dozen paintings and works on paper from the 1930s - 80s that come directly from the Loew estate. BIO Michael Loew (1907 – 1985) was the son of a New York City baker. After high school, he was an apprentice to a stained-glass maker, and from 1926-1929, he studied at the Art Students League. In 1929, he traveled to Paris, North Africa, Germany, and Italy with a group of artists. When he returned to New York City in 1931, the Great Depression hit Loew unexpectedly, and for the next two years he paid his apartment rent with his paintings. In 1935, he found work with the WPA where he painted murals and partnered up with longtime friend Willem de Kooning in 1939 on a mural for the Hall of Pharmacy at the New York World’s Fair. Their friendship lasted for the rest of their lives. In the mid-30’s he painted in Mexico and the Yucatán documenting the construction of a U.S. Naval airbase on Tinian Island. It was from this airbase that the Enola...

“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...

Albert Heckman Cubist Landscape Signed lower right Oil on canvas 21 3/4 x 30 inches Albert Heckman was born in Meadville, Western Pennsylvania, 1893. He went to New York City to tr...

Gwen Wong's work is both painterly and allegorical, caught somewhere in the middle between the representational painter and the narrator. "I am inspired by the idea of a childhood re...

Gwen Wong's work is both painterly and allegorical, caught somewhere in the middle between the representational painter and the narrator. "I am inspired by the idea of a childhood re...

Painterly scene of boats and boats being built at the docks in old Pacific Grove, California by an unknown artist (American, 20th Century). Signed"WHM" lower left. Presented in a fau...

Gwen Wong's work is both painterly and allegorical, caught somewhere in the middle between the representational painter and the narrator. "I am inspired by the idea of a childhood re...

Blue & White Oil Painting of the Mourne Mountains Ireland by Modern Irish Artist Art measures 16 x 20 inches Frame measures 21 x 25 inches

Gwen Wong's work is both painterly and allegorical, caught somewhere in the middle between the representational painter and the narrator. "I am inspired by the idea of a childhood re...

Molly Luce Fire in Tobacco Barn, 1938 Signed lower right Oil on canvas 16 x 20 inches Provenance Childs Gallery, Boston Private Collection, Massachusetts (acquired from the above) ...