Lee Reynolds Burr opened his Vanguard Studios in Beverly Hills, California, in 1964 to make oil paintings an attainable decoration for any American household. With seascapes, nautical scenes, still lifes, bullfights, cowboys, pastoral views, hot-air balloons, horse races and abstractions, there was a Vanguard Studios creation to match any taste and interior.
Born in Los Angeles, Burr studied art at the University of Southern California. After graduating and a stint in the U.S. Army, he worked in a local studio as a painter before becoming a home decor entrepreneur with financial support from his mother.
Only a fraction of the alleged hundreds of thousands of oil paintings produced by Vanguard were actually painted by Burr, even though they were signed “Lee Reynolds,” “Lee Burr” or just “Reynolds.” (As he would later state, those signed solely “Lee Reynolds Burr” were by his own hand, and he would sometimes include a thumbprint as proof.) Instead, a team of artists organized in an assembly line hand-painted and copied works on an eclectic range of subjects, the originals often being created by Burr while other canvases were purchased at auctions in Europe and reproduced at Vanguard. Sold in furniture stores and through interior decorators nationwide, the Reynolds-signed paintings soon became ubiquitous above couches in living rooms all over the United States.
These paintings regularly mirrored art-world trends, such as the Abstract Expressionism of the 1960s, but at prices that were much more affordable than fine art. Vanguard Studios was sold to the Kirsch Company in 1974, but Burr’s name was still used on Vanguard paintings. Burr would start East Park Gallery in 1981 and continue to produce works in a more contemporary style until his retirement in 1998.
In the collection of Impressionist and abstract paintings on 1stDibs, find a range of authentic Lee Reynolds paintings.
Red Abstract OiI Compostion by Lee Reynolds
By Lee Reynolds
Located in Pasadena, CA
Modern Abstract Year: 1960-1970 Medium: Oil on Canvas, signed lower right Size: Abstract oil on canvas by Lee Reynolds was a popular artist in the 1960s known for oversized, color...
Oil
$1,280Sale Price|20% Off
“Cityscape”
By Lee Reynolds
Located in Southampton, NY
Original oil and acrylic painting on canvas of a contemporary cityscape.. Signed Lee Reynolds lower right. Vanguard Studio label verso. Circa 1975. Condition is excellent. The pain...
Canvas, Oil, Acrylic
“Woman putting on lipstick”
By Lee Reynolds
Located in Warren, NJ
Lee Reynolds Painting Oil Canvas Original 4’x5’ “woman Putting on Lipstick”. Stunning painting in good condition. Buyer must pickup or hire shipping service
Oil
Red Abstract OiI Compostion by Lee Reynolds
By Lee Reynolds
Located in Pasadena, CA
Modern Abstract Year: 1960-1970 Medium: Oil on Canvas, signed lower right Size: Abstract oil on canvas by Lee Reynolds was a popular artist in the 1960s known for oversized, color...
Oil
Mid-Century Modern "Lee Reynolds" Marshland Sunset Oil Painting – Newly Framed
By Lee Reynolds
Located in Incline Village, NV
Presenting an exceptional, atmospheric 1970s expressionist landscape painting from Vanguard Studios, hand-signed with stylized signature under the iconic commercial trade name "Lee R...
Canvas, Paint, Mixed Media
$3,313
H 35.44 in W 51.19 in D 0.79 in
Jetty 12 January 16:02 - Modern Minimalistic Landscape Painting, See View
By Robert Motelski
Located in Hallein, AT
Robert Motelski's paintings are exceptional visions of nature, visions of space which surrounds us. They tell about being, fate and passing. They depend on the season of year, the ti...
Canvas, Oil
$683
H 21.66 in W 25.6 in D 1.58 in
Somerset Lake by Joanna Commings, Original art, landscape art, Impasto art
By Joanna Commings
Located in Deddington, GB
Somerset Lake by Joanna Commings [2021] original and hang signed by the artist Acrylics on canvas Image size: H:50 cm x W:60 cm Complete Size of Unframed Work: H:50 cm x W:60 cm ...
Canvas, Mixed Media, Acrylic
$2,800
H 51.19 in W 63 in D 0.79 in
Raventos Landscape of Vineyar Big expressionist mixed media painting
By Maria Asuncion Raventos
Located in CORAL GABLES - MIAMI, FL
landscape of vineyar - original expressionist mixed media painting RAVENTÓS Mª Assumpció – (San Sadurní d’Anoia, Barcelona 1930). Raventos trained at the elite Sant Jordi School of F...
Canvas, Mixed Media
The Archangel Gabriel
By Cristobal de Villalpando
Located in New York, NY
Provenance: Private Collection, Cranston, Rhode Island (by the 1950s?); by family descent until sold at: Bill Spicer Auction, North Kingstown, Rhode Island, 26 January 2011; where a...
Canvas, Oil
Portrait of George and Edward Finch-Hatton in Van Dyck Dress
By David Martin
Located in New York, NY
Appointed Portrait Painter to the Prince of Wales in Scotland in 1785, David Martin was the leading Scottish portrait painter of his generation. The artist is best known in the United States for his portrait of Benjamin Franklin, which is in the White House collection, Washington, D.C. The sitters depicted in this double portrait were the sons of the British diplomat Edward Finch-Hatton. George (1747-1823), later of Eastwell Park, Kent, is shown seated, reading an ancient charter or medieval manuscript...
Canvas, Oil
$2,150
H 40 in W 40 in
Monstera 6, Vibrant Abstract Expressionist Foliage Original Mixed Media Painting
By Giuseppe Beddru
Located in Los Angeles, CA
In the realm of vibrant expressions, Italian artist Giuseppe Beddru masterfully brings to life abstracted flora in a spectacular fusion of color and form. The canvas dances with an o...
Canvas, Mixed Media
Ezekiel in the Valley of Dry Bones
By Philip Burne-Jones
Located in New York, NY
Provenance: Christie’s, London, 3 March 1922, lot 46 (with The Tower of Babel); James Nicoll Private Collection Sotheby’s, London, 29 March 1983, lot 157 Private Collection, New Yo...
Canvas, Oil
$3,337
H 21.46 in W 31.5 in D 0.99 in
After the rain. Paris. Oil on canvas, 54, 5x80 cm
Located in Riga, LV
After the rain. Paris. Oil on canvas, 54,5x80 cm Street in Paris with people Gennady Bernadsky (1956) - Soviet and Russian artist. Gennady Bernads...
Canvas, Oil
$5,799
H 47.25 in W 31.5 in
Untitled Jacques Rouby (1953-2019) Contemporary abstract art painted cardboard
By Jacques Rouby
Located in Paris, FR
Painted sculpted cardboard Unique work Coming from the artist's studio Jacques ROUBY, the aesthetics of mystery "Experimental dreamer, passionate about graphic adventures, delibera...
Oil, Cardboard
$1,920
H 20 in W 24 in D 2 in
Abstract Landscape Painting entitled Broken Ground by Fauvist British Artist
By Steve Capper
Located in Preston, GB
Abstract Landscape Painting entitled Broken Ground by Fauvist British Artist, Steve Capper Art measures 16 x 12 inches Frame measures 24 x 20 inches (approx.) Presented in a whit...
Canvas, Paint, Cotton Canvas, Mixed Media, Acrylic, Board
Head of Medusa
Located in New York, NY
Provenance: David Davis, Los Angeles, California. Toni Lynn Russo, Los Angeles, California; her estate until 2024. Exhibited: Münchener Glaspalast Jahres Ausstellung, 1902, no. 1071...
Oil, Canvas
$2,600
H 39.38 in W 39.38 in D 0.79 in
Raventos Square Poppies original abstract mixed media painting
By Maria Asuncion Raventos
Located in CORAL GABLES - MIAMI, FL
"AMAPOLAS" original abstract mixed media painting RAVENTÓS Mª Assumpció – (San Sadurní d’Anoia, Barcelona 1930). Raventos trained at the elite Sant Jordi School of Fine Arts in Barce...
Canvas, Mixed Media
Sold
H 31.5 in W 88.19 in
Extra-large 1990 abstract contemporary oil painting in pastel colors
By Lee Reynolds
Located in Frederiksberg C, DK
This extra-large contemporary oil painting by American artist Lee Reynolds Burr from 1990 hangs as a relaxing and joyful interior element. In this co...
Canvas, Oil
Large Red and Orange Abstract Painting
By Lee Reynolds
Located in Houston, TX
Large Lee Reynolds abstract painting that incorporates hues of Red, Orange, and White. The painting is framed and signed in the bottom right corner. Dimensions Without Frame: H 48 in. x W 60 in. x D 1.5 in. Artist Biography: Born in Los Angeles, Lee Reynolds Burr has a BFA from the University of Southern California. He has served as Chairman, Board of Directors of East Park Gallery in Los Angeles. Lee was born in Los Angeles, CA in 1936 to Hazel Stuart Burr and Charles Reynolds Burr. He attended Los Angeles High School and received his fine arts degree at USC. Lee enlisted in the US Army and was honorably discharged in 1956. Upon his return to Los Angeles Lee worked for a local studio as a painter. He quickly realized he wanted to start his own art business and in the 1960’s used a small loan from his mother to found Vanguard Studios in Beverly Hills, CA. He was the director for Vanguard Studios in Beverly Hills, California in the late sixties and many thousands of artworks bear the signature "Lee Reynolds" or "Lee Burr...
Canvas, Oil, ABS
Sold
H 30.25 in W 60.25 in
Lee Reynolds Vanguard Studios Mid Century Abstract Oil Painting c.1960s
By Lee Reynolds
Located in San Francisco, CA
Lee Reynolds Vanguard Studios Mid Century Abstract Oil Painting c.1960s Fabulous sixties abstract painting created at Vanguard Studios in Beverly Hills, California. Original oil on...
Canvas, Oil