Jenne and Ethel Magafan were identical twins, born in Chicago to a Greek immigrant father and a Polish mother. Due to health concerns about their father, the family moved to Colorado, living first in Colorado Springs and then in Denver. He was a proud supporter of their artistic ambitions but died suddenly in 1932, a heavy blow to both of them. They attended East High School in Denver, where they found a mentor in their art teacher Helen Perry. She had studied at the Art Institute of Chicago but had later abandoned a career as an artist, making her all the more determined to help the Magafan twins succeed artistically. While still in high school, the twins impressed artist Frank Mechau and Helen Perry paid for their lessons with him. He subsequently invited them to apprentice with him at his Redstone studio. In 1936, Jenne won the Carter Memorial Art Scholarship and shared it with her sister so that they both could attend the Broadmoor Art Academy in Colorado Springs. Once they ran out of money, Mechau, now teaching there, hired them as assistants. Through their involvement at the Academy, the twins entered into careers as muralists, working at first with Mechau and then with Peppino Mangravite. In 1939, Jenne was awarded her first commission for a mural at the Albion, Nebraska Post Office. Eventually, she won a total of seven commissions. For the work, she traveled across the country in a station wagon. Her daughter has said of her mother's experience that, “They saved up gas coupons as fuel was rationed and drove cross country on retreads or refurbished old tires”. Their federally sponsored murals could stir up exciting responses from local citizens. Jenne's favorite mural was Cowboy Dance at the Anson, Texas post office, but the local newspaper took offense to a whiskey jug painted in the lower corner, citing that, “Throughout the history of Anson there has never been an open saloon”. Meeting the artists Doris Lee and Arnold Blanch in Los Angeles, the twins learned of the art colony in Woodstock, New York and in 1945 they went to visit. That same year, their work was exhibited at the Los Angeles Museum of Art and the National Academy of Design. Marrying her longtime love, Edward Chavez, Jenne moved to Woodstock along with her sister where, for the first time, the sisters didn't live together. Ethel didn't look favorably upon her brother-in-law's dominating personality and this forced their styles to develop more independently. When Chavez won a Fulbright scholarship, the couple traveled to Italy. During this time, Jenne went to visit her sister in Greece, where Ethel was fulfilling her Fulbright. In 1952, the Magafans and their husbands returned to the States and less than a week after their return Jenne died in Albany Hospital of a cerebral hemorrhage.
$9,950
Jenne Magafan Deserted Street, 1946 WPA-Era American Modernist Oil Painting
By Jenne Magafan
Located in Denver, CO
Painted in 1946, Deserted Street is a compelling example of Jenne Magafan's mature American Modernist vision, created during the years following her nationally recognized WPA mural p...
Oil
$5,500
Jenne Magafan "Church in Leadville" 1938 WPA Colorado Watercolor & Ink Painting
By Jenne Magafan
Located in Denver, CO
Jenne Magafan (American, 1916–1952) Church in Leadville, Colorado, 1938 Watercolor and ink on paper Signed lower right Image: 12¼ × 19 inches Framed: 22½ × 28¼ × 1¼ inches A rare an...
Archival Ink, Watercolor
Back Fence with Bird. - Mid-Century - WPA Artist
By Jenne Magafan
Located in Miami, FL
The Mid-Century mindset As expected, 65 years ago.. people looked at art/painting a little differently. Back then, many artists were concerned with depicting simple and beautiful t...
Masonite, Oil
$1,651Sale Price|40% Off
H 29.34 in W 22.25 in
Portrait of a Smiling Woman, Modern Oil on Board, Framed, 1983
By Peter Robert Keil
Located in London, GB
'Portrait of a Smiling Woman', oil on board, by Peter Robert Keil (1983). A cheerful look on the painting's subject puts a smile on the face of the viewer as well. Her beautiful blue eyes express a contentedness suggesting life is good...
Oil, Board
Landscape with Orange Sky
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
James Earl Ray (1928-1998). Landscape with Orange Sky. ca. 1975. Oil on masonite panel measures 6.5 x 8.5 inches, 10.5 x 12.5 inches framed. Signed lowe...
Masonite, Oil
$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
$508Sale Price|20% Off
H 12.75 in W 15.75 in D 0.25 in
"this is not a place" (IV) - Fauvist Landscape in Acrylic on Canvas
By Devon Brockopp-Hammer
Located in Soquel, CA
Abstracted landscape by California artist Devon Brockopp-Hammer (American, b. 1986). The red and yellow underpaint has been allowed to peek through the ...
Charcoal, Acrylic, Masonite
$7,595
H 28 in W 22 in D 0.25 in
Summer Afternoon Stroll Watercolor Lower Eastside - Urban Modernist 1936 Signed
By Bernard Von Eichman
Located in Soquel, CA
Summer Afternoon Stroll Watercolor Lower Eastside - Urban Modernist 1936 Signed Stunning New York City urban modernist watercolor titled "Summer Afternoon Stroll" by Society of Six...
Archival Paper, Watercolor
A Summer's Sunset
Located in San Francisco, CA
In this abstract landscape, artist Geneva Cross conveys the mood of a dreamlike summer evening that might be remembered by any of us in its universality. Blending the basic elements ...
Masonite, Oil
$3,500Sale Price|30% Off
H 31.25 in W 47.5 in D 4 in
Harbor abstract in Deep Blues
By Donald Roy Purdy
Located in New York, NY
Signed lower left: Purdy A very cool example of mid-century 50"s abstraction. Harbor is done in a style that was being experimented with particularly in the New York and California ...
Oil, Masonite
$880Sale Price|20% Off
H 15.5 in W 13.5 in D 1.5 in
Autumn Trees - Mid Century Small-Scale Landscape, Signed Oil Painting
By Helen Enoch Gleiforst
Located in Soquel, CA
Autumn Trees - Mid Century Small-Scale Landscape, Signed Oil Painting Vivid mid century landscape of autumn trees blurring into colorful abstraction by Helen Gleiforst (American, 19...
Masonite, Oil
$1,156Sale Price|30% Off
H 29.73 in W 24.22 in
'Feminine Forms: Harmony in Curves', German School (circa 1980s)
Located in London, GB
'Feminine Forms: Harmony in Curves', oil on board, German School (circa 1980s). Two nude figures portrayed in the abstract posture differently. Both are curvaceous and Rubenesque. Re...
Oil, Board
$1,275
H 16 in W 18 in D 2 in
Antique American New England Fall Impressionist Framed Signed Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Impressive early American impressionist landscape painting by Will S. Taylor (Born 1882). Oil on board. Framed. Signed. Image size, 12 by 13 inches.
Oil, Masonite
$2,000Sale Price|20% Off
H 25.6 in W 36.23 in D 0.4 in
Landscape 127 by Jean Krille - Oil on masonite 65x92 cm
By Jean Krille
Located in Geneva, CH
Jean Krillé’s paintings are known for their expressive use of color and dynamic, abstract forms, blending realism with abstraction in his depictions of nature. His landscapes often f...
Masonite, Oil
Boats Near Shore - Abstracted Seascape
By Robert Canete
Located in Soquel, CA
Abstracted seascape of three boats near the shore with broad, painterly strokes of blue, turquoise, and neutrals by Robert Canete (American, b. 1948). Signed lower right. Image: 16"H...
Masonite, Oil
Untitled (Wash Day)
By Jenne Magafan
Located in Denver, CO
Woman hanging laundry. Watercolor and ink on paper. Housed in a custom frame; outer dimensions are 17 x 12.75 x 1.25 inches; image measures 11.5 x 7.5 inches. About the artist: Jenne Magafan and her family settled in Colorado Springs in 1919, where she and her twin sister, Ethel, began painting western landscapes. Jenne received the Carter Memorial Art Scholarship which she shared with her sister, and they attended the Broadmoor Academy (later named the Colorado Springs Fine Art Center). There, they worked under Peppino Mangravite, Frank Mechau...
Mixed Media