Erik Johnsen Art

Born in Russia, the son of Friede (1878 – 1956) and Benjamin Hoffman (1878 – a. 1942). Benjamin was a dealer in mineral and seltzer water and the family resided on Snediker Avenue in Brooklyn, New York, just down the streetfrom the home where George Gershwin (1898 – 1937) was born. This area of Brooklyn, known as Brownsville, “witnessed the development of one of the largest communities of Eastern European Jewish immigrants during the last decade of the 19th century and the first two decades of the 20 th century.” Today, little remains of this once thriving Jewish section of Brooklyn, which today houses many commercial and repair businesses. Hoffman studied at the Art Students League of New York, the National Academy of Design and in the art program at Cooper Union. His work at the National Academy received praise, and in 1921 he was awarded the 2nd prize and an honorable mention from the John Armstrong Chaloner Paris Prize Foundation at the National Academy, which allowed the recipient to study in Paris, France for as long as five years. The following year he was awarded the 1 st prize in the competition (with The Reform Advocate running the headline “Young Jew Wins Art Prize”) as well as the Suydam Bronze Medal for his achievements in the Academy’s Men’s Night Class. In 1923 he was residing in Long Branch, New Jersey, when he was awarded 4th place in the Chaloner competition. Early on, Hoffman exhibited his work throughout the city, including in 1925 with the recently organized Society of Independent Artists. He also received several solo exhibitions during the first part of his career, including one at Ferargil Galleries in 1929. In the spring of 1930 a solo exhibition of his portraits, including paintings and drawings, was held at at Babcock Galleries, where a reviewer noted: “Portraiture is obviously Mr. Hoffman’s specialty… his best work is characterized by a sensitive appreciation of character set down in a vigorous decisive statement. Later that same year, in August, he participated in Babcock’s summer exhibition where reviewer Jerome Klein, writing for The Baltimore Sun, felt Hoffman’s and other artists work was already becoming old fashioned, remarking “…if an effort toward accomplishment is to be made, it must be in the language of today. It is for that reason that such contemporaries as Eugene Higgins and Nathan Hoffman, in this show, seem artists of a bygone era…” The onset of the Great Depression appears to have slowed his success, as was the case for many up-and-coming artists. By 1939 Hoffman had become a gallerist in addition to being a painter, operating the collective exhibition space “Sutton Gallery,” which was originally located at 358 East 57th Street. There Hoffman exhibited his own works as well as those created by other prominent New York artists including David Burliuk (1882 – 1967), Charles C. Curran (1861 – 1942), Louis Eilshemius (1864 – 1941), Ann Goldthwaite (1869 – 1944), Maurice Kish (1895 – 1987), Lawrence Lebduska (1894 – 1966), Bradford Perin and Ellis Wilson...

Sir Matthew Smith, CBE (British, 1879 – 1959) Still life with sculpture oil on board 21.1/4 x 23.3/4 in. (54 x 60.3 cm.) Provenance: Removed with the contents of his Aix studio, by Marion Monay, tfor the aertistin early 1940, to Beauchene, the nearby house of fellow artist Harry Morton Colvile (1905-1992) Given by the artist toColvile in January 1946 along with otherstudio effects. Given by Colvile’s only child, Professor Georgiana Colvile (1943-2018) to the present owner circa 2000 Literature: Alice Keene, ‘The Two Mr Smiths, The Life and Works of Matthew Smith’, 1995, pp.61,65,70 & 128 When in early 1940 Smith went back to Aix to pack up and close his studio there and send back to London all the paintings possible, the residue was hidden (see Literature, Keene 1995, p.61,65 &70) in various locations around Aix by Marion Monay, a good deal at Beauchene the house of his and her friend Harry Colvile who had been Monay’s lover prior to Smith (see Literature, Keene 1995, p.59) In 1946 with the war over, Smith went to Aix to retrieve all he could manage to ship back to England but what he had to leave at Beauchene he give to Colvile, including the clay female...

Grant Wiggins makes colorful paintings with dynamic compositions and clean lines. His vibrant geometric paintings draw upon the energy of contemporary graphic culture.

Marguerite Zorach ( 1887-1968 ) Original Artwork "Signs of Autumn", 1930 A Short Essay by Michael Klein Zorach was born Marguerite Thompson; raised and educated in California, ...

Compact modular domino wall sculpture in pink foam clay with embedded plastic game pieces on a black wood panel, a playful relief designed for repeatable multi-panel installation. A...

A lively and colorful winter scene oil painting depicting a snowy hill by the village with people sledding and skiing with much depth and detail. Capturing a cozy winter magic scene,...

"The Bridge upon the Sauceron at Nesles la Vallée (Val d'Oise), 1918" Maurice Walter Edmond de Lambert (French, 1873-1952) Oil on cardboard Signed and dated lower right 10 3/4 x 8 3/...

A joyous colorful floral still life painting depicting a bunch of freshly picked flowers placed effortlessly. The piece is done in a highly impressionistic manner and is a wonderful display of Reilly's more impromptu style, with bold colors of joyful yellow, deep rouge, and softer colors of light blue, hints of brown, and pops of pink. White ostrich daisies along with blue bluebells, orange, yellow and mamey flowers on a background of bright green grass and dark bushes in the background. This still life in nature, in the garden from nature. This bouquet reminds us of sunny summer days filled with the scent of flowers and nature. This piece is titled and has artist's estate stamp on the back, it comes housed in a contemporary gold leaf plain air wood frame with hanging wire on verso ready to be displayed. Art measures 30 x 24 inches Frame measures 37 x 31 inches John Reilly is a critically acclaimed and award-winning New Jersey artist, born in Brooklyn, NY in 1942. He received his early art training at the School of Art and Design, formally known as ‘The School of Industrial Art’ in Manhattan, where he studied advertising art. By the age of twenty-three, he operated a mid-town-based sales promotion agency, eventually expanding the business to service large companies such as Bacardi Rum, Johnson and Johnson, Nabisco, and KLM...

This modular domino wall sculpture is executed in foam clay and acrylic on a black painted wood panel. The composition pairs a deep matte ground with a sculpted white shell and two g...

Bernard Taurelle (French, born 1931), Les Bouleaux, oil on canvas landscape painting depicting birch trees framing a lush riverside scene. Rendered in an Impressionistic style with ...

Woodpecker Campephilus guat Contemporary Art, Sustainable Art Reclaimed Wood Limited Edition Signed About the artist The beauty of nature Davit Nava’s wo...

"Portrait of a Workhorse Standing in a Stable" Julius Paul Junghanns (German, 1876 - 1958) Oil on panel Signed lower right and dated 1925 15 1/2 x 12 1/4 (19 1/2 x 16 2/4 frame) inc...