Forrest Bess Paintings

Jim’s of Lambertville is proud to offer this artwork by: Vaclav Vytlacil (1892-1984) He was born to Czechoslovakian parents in 1892 in New York City. Living in Chicago as a youth, he took classes at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, returning to New York when he was 20. From 1913 to 1916, he enjoyed a scholarship from the Art Students League, and worked with John C. Johansen (a portraitist whose expressive style resembled that of John Singer Sargent), and Anders Zorn. He accepted a teaching position at the Minneapolis School of Art in 1916, remaining there until 1921. This enabled him to travel to Europe to study Cézanne’s paintings and works of the Old Masters. He traveled to Paris, Prague, Dresden, Berlin, and Munich seeking the works of Titian, Cranach, Rembrandt, Veronese, and Holbein, which gave him new perspective. Vytlacil studied at the Royal Academy of Art in Munich, settling there in 1921. Fellow students were Ernest Thurn and Worth Ryder, who introduced him to famous abstractionist Hans Hofmann. He worked with Hofmann from about 1922 to 1926, as a student and teaching assistant. During the summer of 1928, after returning to the United States, Vytlacil gave lectures at the University of California, Berkeley, on modern European art. Soon thereafter, he became a member of the Art Students League faculty. After one year, he returned to Europe and successfully persuaded Hofmann to teach at the League as well. He spent about six years in Europe, studying the works of Matisse, Picasso, and Dufy. In 1935, he returned to New York and became a co-founder of the American Abstract Artists group in 1936. He later had teaching posts at Queens College in New York; the College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland, California; Black Mountain College in North Carolina; and the Art Students League. His paintings exhibit a clear inclination toward modernism. His still lives and interiors from the 1920s indicate an understanding of the art of Cézanne. In the 1930s, his works displayed two very different kinds of art at the same time. His cityscapes and landscapes combine Cubist-inspired spatial concerns with an expressionistic approach to line and color. Vytlacil also used old wood, metal, cork, and string in constructions, influenced by his friend and former student, Rupert Turnbull. He eventually ceased creating constructions as he considered them too limiting. The spatial challenges of painting were still his preference. During the 1940s and 1950s, his works indicated a sense of spontaneity not felt in his earlier work. He married Elizabeth Foster in Florence, Italy, in 1927 and they lived and worked in Positano, Italy for extended periods of time. Later on, they divided their time between homes in Sparkill, New York and Chilmark, Massachusetts, where Vyt, as he was affectionately called, taught at the Martha's Vineyard Art...

" Arroyo 14" is 72” x 60”. A rich sienna and ochre figure centered on a textured field of light yellows and beige. Frank Arnold’s paintings exhibit the highest quality materials for ...

Puglia II is an abstract oil painting with an aerial viewpoint by Artist & Musician John Illsley. It focuses on the landscape & coastal lines of the Southern Italian region which for...

Last Dance is an Oil on Canvas painting in soft, light aqua tones with red/brown accents. Frank Arnold is thought by many to be one of the foremost abstract...

"Studio 1528" Oil on Canvas presents a bold visage in blues and white on a mixed field dominated by blues and green tone. Frank Arnold is thought by many to be one of the foremost ab...

Frank Arnold is thought by many to be one of the foremost abstract figurative painters and sculptors of our time. He is a living master whose work is considered to be both personal and universal. He divides his time between working studios in California, San Jose del Cabo and Mexico City. Arnold has exhibited his unique and expressive abstract-figurative style in multiple galleries and museums and is in numerous collections, worldwide. Red 8...

"236 Found" is 72” x 60”. The sienna, umber and yellow figures on a neutral field are criss-crossed with chaotic, incised strokes through the impasto surface. Arnold’s paintings exhi...

“OTL 8” is 60”x 60”. Central figure of Vibrant to deep reds on a split field of warm beige/coral and deep red/black. The foreground exhibits heavy strokes and Arnold’s “8” and “X” fi...

“Moving 5” is 60”x 48”. The vibrant yellow surface tones of this piece are broken in several places allowing random glimpses of Arnold’s dreamlike underpainting for a multi-dimension...

"850" is 72” x 60”. The smokey greens, greys and blues are combined in the heavy hand, brush and knife strokes which characterize much of this artist’s work. Frank Arnold’s paintings...

"Pure 17" is an oil on Canvas of sharply contrasting blues on a white field. Frank Arnold is thought by many to be one of the foremost abstract figurative painters and sculptors of o...

" Arroyo New" is 72” x 60”. Shades of sea green with shocks of coral and orange create a solo figure on a frosty field of white and light grey. Frank Arnold’s paintings exhibit the h...