Edward Marecak was an American painter who was born in 1919. Growing up in the farming community of Brunswick, Ohio, he showed early artistic promise, hired by the National Youth Administration to document historic barns. In 1946, Marecak came to the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center for a year and after a semester interlude at Cranbrook returned to study lithography with Lawrence Barrett. There he also met his future wife and sometime collaborator, ceramicist Theresa Madonna Fortin. Given the opportunity to teach a summer course at the University of Colorado, he decided to obtain a teaching certificate at the University of Denver and subsequently embarked on his 25-year career in the Denver Public School system. Rather than pursue fame, Edward Marecak directed his zeal toward fostering younger generations in the principles of art as well as his simple philosophies. Moreover, his teaching salary allowed him to ply his prodigious talent at whatever he pleased, instead of bending to the dictates of trends and sales. Having inherited his faith in education from his Slovakian immigrant parents, Marecak could add the shaping of lives to his mastery of art forms, including lithographs, monoprints, drawings, hooked rugs, ceramics, paintings, wood sculptures, stained-glass windows and jewelry. While exhibiting in his lifetime, he was, in his wife’s words, “his own greatest collector”, but shows and his popularity at the Kirkland Museum have positioned Marecak posthumously among Colorado’s pre-eminent modernists. As a child, Marecak was enthralled by the Carpathian tales of magic and supernatural beings told by his grandmother. As with other artists with roots in Eastern Europe, his artistic turn to folk tradition would free him from learned practices of perspective and modeling in favor of flat patterns within patterns and brilliant, throbbing color. While others ventured further into abstraction, Marecak stylized figurative elements into crowded compositions that appeared like a mosaic or stained glass. As he matured, he could declare, “I am still very much a Byzantine designer and my joy with what color can do grows all the time”. The traceries of strong outlines and bold shapes provide compartments for vibrant colors, contrasts and rough textures that can scarcely be contained. The Kirkland Museum staged a retrospective of Edward and Donna Marecak in 2007.
Edward Marecak Demeter and Persephone 1960s Mythological Modernist Oil
By Edward Marecak
Located in Denver, CO
A striking 1960s mid-century modern oil painting by Edward Marecak titled Demeter and Persephone, depicting the mythological mother-and-daughter figures through a bold modernist abst...
Oil
$2,800Sale Price|20% Off
1950 Modernist Figurative “Fertility Goddesses” by Edward Marecak
By Edward Marecak
Located in Denver, CO
This striking mid-20th century modernist figurative painting titled “Fertility Goddesses” was created circa 1950 by celebrated Denver modernist Edward Marecak (1919–1993). Executed i...
Oil
$3,100
Mid-Century Modern Triptych “Dance of Salome” – Vibrant Figurative Oil, 1967
By Edward Marecak
Located in Denver, CO
A bold and visually commanding mid-century modern triptych, The Dance of Salome (1967) by Edward Marecak transforms a dramatic biblical narrative into a vivid, color-saturated work o...
Oil
$50,000
H 40 in W 30 in D 0.75 in
"Naiad" - Textured Colorful Contemporary Abstract Expressionist Portrait Artwork
By Masri Hayssam
Located in Carmel, CA
Masri Hayssam (Lebanese, born 1965) "Naiad" 2023 Oil Paint, Acrylic Paint, Mixed Media, Canvas, Stretcher Bars "Naiad" is a stunning abstract portrait by Masri, celebrated for its v...
Canvas, Mixed Media, Oil, Acrylic, Stretcher Bars
$1,600
H 21 in W 8.5 in
"Don't Cry Long" Abstracted and Distorted Self-Portrait, One Crying Eye
Located in Detroit, MI
"Don't Cry Long" is a self-portrait of the artist and an unusual one at that in which the artist portrays herself shedding tears. Perhaps it is an expression of some grief experienced by Ms. Woodlock, but it also admonishes her to not "Cry Long" while at the same time poking fun because of her elongated face and the one lone "long" tear tracing a pattern down her face. In addition to self-portraits, Ethelyn painted commissioned portraits. In this painting her head is cocked and her famous bangs hang down her forehead. Compare two self-portraits, “Up From Under”, and “M’Eyes" to "Don't Cry Long." The major differences are the close facial view and the brilliant blood red paint that fills the entire canvas. This painting is included in the book, "Dreams Have Wings: An Artist's Journey into Magic and Mystery" printed in the United States, 1985. She describes "Don't Cry Long" as showing how funny looking we are, if we cry too long. Ethelyn Woodlock...
Oil, Masonite
$3,750
H 20 in W 17 in
"Revelation II" (2023) By Allen Williams, Original Oil Painting, Nude Portrait
Located in Denver, CO
Allen Williams' "Revelation II" is an original oil painting on board, created in 2023. This contemporary figurative work features a nude female form eme...
Oil, Board
$1,495
H 29 in W 23 in D 2 in
Vintage American Modernist Surreal Abstract Figural Signed Framed Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Vintage American modernist surreal figural painting. Oil on canvas. Signed. Framed. Provenance from a Sag Harbor, NY collection. Measuring: 23 by 29 inches overall. Handsomely frame...
Oil, Canvas
$850
H 21.66 in W 18.12 in D 0.79 in
"An Urgent Man" (Abstract, Black & White, Figurative Oil Painting, Neutral Tone)
By Nicholas Evans
Located in Paris, IDF
AN URGENT MAN 2020 Paris, France Oil and acrylic on canvas portray a ‘derbyed’ man attempting to shed the weighted armor of his obligations and persona. A very loose nod to the character from René Magritte’s 1964 painting, ‘The Son of Man...
Canvas, Oil, Acrylic
$1,200
H 29.13 in W 17.25 in D 1.25 in
Small Longitudinal Dark Toned Abstract Portrait of a Pregnant Woman
By Pat Colville
Located in Houston, TX
Small longitudinal dark green and yellow toned portrait by Houston, TX artist Pat Colville depicting a young pregnant woman with short hair and a sleeveless top. The subject's striki...
Oil
$3,750
H 18 in W 12 in
"Study at Jan and John's" (2025) Original Abstract Portrait Oil Painting
By Ron Hicks
Located in Denver, CO
Ron Hicks' (US based) "Study at Jan and John's" (2025) is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts a lightly abstracted portrait of a woman against a pale white background. T...
Oil, Wood Panel
$975
H 28 in W 24 in D 2 in
Vintage American Modernist Framed Abstract Portrait Oil Painting
By Chuck Close
Located in Buffalo, NY
American modernist abstracted portrait oil painting in the style of Chuck Close. Framed. Oil on paper. Image size, 23H by 20L.
Canvas, Oil
"Classic Maiden"
By Vaclav Vytlacil
Located in Lambertville, NJ
Signed & Dated LR Vaclav Vytlacil (Vas-lav Vit-la-chil) was born in New York City in 1892 to Czech parents, but was raised in Chicago. He was an artist since boyhood, becoming the y...
Canvas, Oil
$1,800
H 28 in W 24 in D 4 in
"Retired Ballerina" Great Mid Century Modern Portrait.
By Clarice Akin Holloway
Located in San Antonio, TX
Clarice Akin Holloway (1905-1989) Port Arthur Artist Image Size: 20 x 16 Frame Size: 28 x 24 Medium: Oil Circa 1960s "Retired Ballerina" Biography Clarice Akin Holloway (1905-1989) Mrs. Richard B. Dell Holloway Port Arthur Painter, teacher. A native of Port Arthur, Holloway graduated from nearby Lamar College, Beaumont, with honors. She received instruction or criticism on various occasions from Otis Dozier, Frederic Taubes, Elliott O'hara, Henri Gasser, Ted Schuyler, Fred Samuelson, Boardman Robinson, Morris Davidson...
Oil
"Nox" (2023) By Allen Williams, Original Oil Painting
Located in Denver, CO
"Nox" (2023) by Allen Williams is an original handmade oil painting that depicts a disturbing a uncanny portrait of a man on a dim gold background. Abo...
Oil, Board
$4,300
H 25.75 in W 19.75 in
"Reminiscing" (2025) By Danny McCaw, Abstract Expressionist Oil Portrait
By Danny McCaw
Located in Denver, CO
"Reminiscing" is a beautiful original abstract expressionist oil portrait, created by American artist Danny McCaw. His highly varie...
Oil, Board
Sold
H 41 in W 30.5 in D 1.5 in
Vintage Semi-Abstract Brightly Colored Portrait, Woman with Plant and Flowers
By Edward Marecak
Located in Denver, CO
Semi-abstract oil on canvas painting by Edward Marecak (1919-1993). Composition featuring a brightly colored portrait of a woman holding flowers. Presented in an original frame measu...
Canvas, Oil
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H 33.25 in W 37 in D 2.25 in
Two Ladies Trying to Out-Mystify Each Other, Semi Abstract Figural Oil Painting
By Edward Marecak
Located in Denver, CO
'Two Ladies Trying to Out-Mystify Each Other', Original 1969 semi-abstract cubist style oil painting portraying two female figures with still life. Figural abstraction, oil paint on ...
Canvas, Oil
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H 24.75 in W 30.5 in D 0.75 in
The Three Fates Thinking Mysterious Thoughts, Semi-Abstract Cubist Female Heads
By Edward Marecak
Located in Denver, CO
The Three Fates Thinking Mysterious Thoughts, vintage semi-abstract painting by Edward Marecak (1919-1993). Three heads in a somewhat cubist style are...
Oil
Sold
H 21 in W 41.25 in D 1.75 in
Oh What a Tangled Web We Weave (Vintage Cubist Semi-Abstract Painting 3 Figures)
By Edward Marecak
Located in Denver, CO
Oh What a Tangled Web We Weave is a vintage 1983 original signed oil painting with 3 figures painted in a cubist/semi-abstract style in colors of red, blue, ...
Oil