Marion Osborn Cunningham Prints and Multiples

Signed lower center, 'Marion Cunningham' (American, 1908-1948), dated 1948 and inscribed, 'SF'. Additionally stamped, verso, with certification of authenticity. Paper dimensions: 17.75 x 16 inches A masterful, mid-century Hawaiian landscape showing a view of a secluded, tropical glade with two women bathing in a pool surrounded by lush vegetation and colorful wildlife. Above a waterfall, two figures carry a canoe across a rope bridge between verdant cliffs. To realize this complex work, Cunningham used as many as one dozen, hand-drawn silkscreen layers, each of which varied in pigment, hue and opacity. Created during the extraordinary creative ferment that characterized the last year of the artist's life, this work represents a remarkable achievement for both artist and medium. Born in Indiana, Marion Osborn Cunningham moved to California in 1911. She first studied art with the American Impressionist, Ruth Heil Emerson, before continuing her education at Santa Barbara City College and receiving her Bachelor of Arts from Stanford University. She subsequently furthered her studies at the California School of the Fine Arts and at the Art Students League in New York City, where she met and married the American abstract artist Ben Cunningham. Returning to San Francisco, she opened a studio on Montgomery Street, the center of San Francisco’s art colony, where she continued to paint and create graphic works for the remainder of her life. Over the course of a distinguished career, Marion Cunningham exhibited widely and with success, including at the National Serigraph Society, the Association of San Francisco Women Artists, the San Francisco Art Association, the San Francisco Museum of Art Inaugural (1935); the Golden Gate International Exposition (1939); San Francisco Watercolor...

Stamped with Certification of Authenticity verso for Marion Osborn Cunningham (American, 1908-1948), titled 'Fisherman Casting' and created in 1948. (Paper dimensions: 12.5 x 11 inches.) A lyrical and intricately detailed, figurative serigraph by this innovative, mid-century graphic artist. The central simplicity of the iconic composition is belied by its technical complexity. To realize this ambitious work, Cunningham employed as many as one dozen, hand-drawn silkscreen layers, each varying in pigment, hue and opacity. Created during the unprecedented creative ferment that characterized the last year of her life, this work represents a visionary achievement for both the artist and the medium. Born in Indiana, Marion Osborn moved to California in 1911. She first studied art with the American Impressionist Ruth Heil Emerson before continuing her education at Santa Barbara City College and receiving her Bachelor of Arts from Stanford University. She subsequently furthered her studies at the California School of the Fine Arts and at the Art Students League in New York City, where she met and married the artist Ben Cunningham. Returning to San Francisco, she opened a studio on Montgomery Street, the center of San Francisco’s art colony, where she continued to paint and create graphic works for the remainder of her life. Over the course of a distinguished career, Marion Osborn Cunningham exhibited widely and with success, including at the National Serigraph Society, the Association of San Francisco Women Artists, the San Francisco Art Association, the San Francisco Museum of Art Inaugural (1935); the Golden Gate International Exposition (1939); San Francisco Watercolor...

Signed lower left, in screen, 'Marion Cunningham' (American, 1908-1948) and dated 1944. Paper dimensions: 9 x 6.75 inches Born in Indiana, Marion Osborn Cunningham moved to California in 1911. She first studied art with the American Impressionist, Ruth Heil Emerson, before continuing her education at Santa Barbara City College and receiving her Bachelor of Arts from Stanford University. She subsequently furthered her studies at the California School of the Fine Arts and at the Art Students League in New York City, where she met and married the American abstract artist Ben Cunningham. Returning to San Francisco...

Signed lower right in screen, 'Marion Cunningham' (American, 1908-1948) and dated 1944. Paper dimensions: 10.5 x 8 inches After receiving her B.A. from Stanford University, Marion Osborn Cunningham continued her formal training at the California School of Fine Arts (SF) and at the Art Student's League (NY). Active in the San Francisco art scene of the 30's and 40's, Cunningham produced over 20,000 serigraphs depicting the geography, architecture and culture of the Bay Area and became particularly known for her stylized prints of San Francisco cable cars. A member of the Association of San Francisco Women Artists and the National Serigraph Society, Marion Cunningham exhibited widely and with success throughout the United States and internationally. Her work is held in the permanent collections of museums world-wide, including those of New York's Museum of Modern Art and Metropolitan Museum; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Cleveland Museum of Art; St. Louis Art Museum; de Young Museum...

A panoramic view of the San Francisco docks showing a large destroyer berthed at right, with a view beyond towards Treasure Island and a luminous harvest moon hanging above the hills. Signed, in screen, lower right 'Marion Cunningham' (American, 1908-1948) and dated 1944. Paper dimensions: 10.25 x 14.5 inches Born in Indiana, Marion Osborn Cunningham moved to California in 1911. She first studied art with the American Impressionist, Ruth Heil Emerson, before continuing her education at Santa Barbara City College and receiving her Bachelor of Arts from Stanford University. She subsequently furthered her studies at the California School of the Fine Arts and at the Art Students League in New York City, where she met and married the American abstract artist Ben Cunningham. Returning to San Francisco, she opened a studio on Montgomery Street, the center of San Francisco’s art colony, where she continued to paint and create graphic works for the remainder of her life. Over the course of a distinguished career, Marion Cunningham exhibited widely and with success, including at the National Serigraph Society, the Association of San Francisco Women Artists, the San Francisco Art Association, the San Francisco Museum of Art Inaugural (1935); the Golden Gate International Exposition (1939); San Francisco Watercolor Show (1939); and her memorial retrospective at the Bakersfield Art Association (1957). She was a member of numerous professional associations including the National Serigraph Society, the Association of San Francisco Women Artists and the San Francisco Art Association. Marion Osborn Cunningham's works may be found in the permanent public collections of museums nationwide including the National Gallery in Washington, DC; New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art and Museum of Modern Art; the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts; the San Francisco Museum of Art; the St. Louis Museum of Art; the Cleveland Museum and the De Young Museum...

Artist: Marion Osborn Cunningham – American (1908-1948) Title: Cable Car, San Francisco Bay Bridge, Blimp, Airplane Year: circa 1943 Medium: S...

Born in South Bend, Indiana in 1908, Marion Osborn Cunningham studied at Stanford University, the Art Students League in New York at at the California School of Fine Arts, San Francisco Art Institute. Cunningham settled in the Bay Area and was active in San Francisco's art scene. She was commissioned to do the artwork for the SS Luraline luxury steamship and designed wallpaper for San Francisco's famed Fairmont Hotel. Working in what had been a speakeasy at 338 Clay Street in the 1930s, she turned out more than 20,000 serigraphs and 75,000 greeting card copies. Her colorful reproductions of cable cars...

Certification of authenticity verso. A colorful, mid-century Polynesian landscape showing indigenous figures gathered at a cliff's edge overlooking a tropical bay with a crimson gal...

A technically masterful, mid-century Polynesian landscape showing a view of a secluded, tropical glade with two women bathing beneath a waterfall among lush vegetation and colorful w...