Mary Spain was born in Raleigh, North Carolina, in 1934. She studied art at Syracuse University and moved to Ohio in the 1960s to teach art at Chagrin Falls High School. She was a frequent exhibitor in the May Show at the Cleveland Museum of Art during the 1970s and early 1980s, where she won several Juror’s mentions for her paintings. Characteristic of her work is a flattened frontal gaze or a total profile view of her figures that recall Renaissance portraiture. Additionally, most of her characters are seen wearing odd or unusual hats. Spain believed that these hats identify the figures much like they do for professions such as chefs, clergy or law enforcement. The hats also act to contain the characters. While her figures often appear cute or innocent, Spain felt they were filled with mischief. Without their hats, she imagined that they might just explode. Spain’s interest in antique dolls and toys lends insight into the construction of her figures. Many figures have marionette-like qualities with blocky, out of proportion limbs, suggesting that perhaps they are not entirely in control of their actions. During her struggle with cancer, Spain used these figures to express her feelings of pain and sadness. While her deeply personal vocabulary and symbolism might be lost to the viewer, the narratives and embedded emotional substance remain.
$880Sale Price|20% Off
Sphinx and Moon (Self Portrait) 1980s Pastel, Cleveland School Artist
By Mary Spain
Located in Beachwood, OH
Mary Spain (American, 1934-1983) Sphinx and Moon (Self Portrait), c. 1980 Pastel on paper 9 x 16.5 inches 17. 5 x 25 inches, framed Set in a realm of fantasy, Mary Spain’s work ex...
Pastel
Surrealist Flying Fantasy Figure, Cleveland Woman Artist
By Mary Spain
Located in Beachwood, OH
Mary Spain (American, 1934–1983) Flying Figure, 1970s Oil on canvas Signed lower right 17.5. x 21.5. inches 22 x 26 inches, framed Set in a realm of fantasy, Mary Spain’s work exhib...
Oil
Janet and Bill, Surrealist Painting of Woman and Cat w/ Party Hats
By Mary Spain
Located in Beachwood, OH
Mary Spain (American, 1934–1983) Janet and Bill, 1970s Oil on canvas Signed middle right, titled verso 26 x 30 inches 32.5 x 36.5 inches, framed Set in a realm of fantasy, Mary Spai...
Oil
$1,200Sale Price|20% Off
Man with Feather in His Cap 20thc Figural Abstract Cleveland School Woman Artist
By Mary Spain
Located in Beachwood, OH
Mary Spain (American, 1934-1983) Man with Feather in His Cap Mixed media Signed lower right, signed and titled verso 11.5 x 7.75 inches 19.25 x 15.25 inches, framed Set in a realm o...
Oil
untitled (Woman and Cat)
By Mary Spain
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Unsigned Graphite on paper
Graphite
VI Rose Nose Cat
By Mary Spain
Located in Fairlawn, OH
VI Rose Nose Cat Colored chalks on black paper, 1977 Signed and dated lower right (see photo) Titled lower left (see photo) Part of a series entit...
Chalk
Woman with Bouquet (Lady Liberty by Moonlight)
By Mary Spain
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Woman with Bouquet (Lady Liberty by Moonlight) Oil on canvas, 1974 Signed and dated by the artist lower center (see photo) Titled in pencil on stretcher, verso Housed in the original...
Oil
Quicksand (Small) #18
By Mary Spain
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Quicksand (Small) #18 Colored pencil on raw sienna laid rag paper, 1980 Signed and dated by the artist on the image upper right (see photo) Titled and described by the artist verso C...
Color Pencil
Two Boys (one standing, the other seated and drawing)
By Mary Spain
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Two Boys (one standing, the other seated and drawing) Graphite and colored pencils on wove paper, 1975 Signed and dated lower left center (see photo) Condition: Excellent Slight waviness visible only on reverse Image size: 11 1/2 x 13 3/4 inches Sheet size: 14 x 17 3/4 inches Provenance: Estate of the Artist By descent Mary Spain (Colie) (1934-1983) Mary Spain was born in Raleigh, North Carolina. She taught art in Chagrin Falls...
Color Pencil
Flower Studies
By Mary Spain
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Unsigned Graphite and colored pencils on laid paper
Color Pencil, Graphite
$1,850
H 27.5 in W 37.5 in D 1.75 in
Lloyd Moylan 1930s Western Watercolor Horses & Foal Southwest Landscape
By Lloyd Moylan
Located in Denver, CO
A charming 1930s Western watercolor painting by American artist Lloyd Moylan, depicting a tender scene of horses and a foal set within a softly rendered Southwestern landscape. This...
Watercolor, Gouache
$7,500
H 14.5 in W 8.5 in
Eskimo Fairy Tales Watercolor on Cardboard, Surrealist, 1960s
By Gianni Benvenuti
Located in Miami, FL
A young Eskimo child is depicted at the precise moment before he/she launches an arrow to the sun. According to Eskimo lore, the concept has deep symbolic meaning. To the viewer, t...
Tempera, Watercolor, Cardboard, Pencil
$10,307
H 29.14 in W 29.14 in
Marcel Delmotte – Young Woman with a Sphere Against a Surrealist Landscape.
Located in Wien, AT
This museum-quality artwork perfectly embodies the unique and signature style of the prominent Belgian surrealist Marcel Delmotte, whose works are highly sought after by discerning a...
Masonite, Oil
José Manuel Capuletti, Las damas
Located in Madrid, ES
JOSÉ MANUEL CAPULETTI Spanish, 1925 - 1976 LAS DAMAS signed "Capuletti" (lower right) oil on cardboard 21-1/4 x 25-5/8 inches (54 x 65 cm.) framed: 22-5/8 x 27 inches (57.5 x 68.5 cm...
Oil, Cardboard
The Cliche, Oil Painting
By Keith Thomson
Located in San Francisco, CA
Artist Comments
Mr. and Mrs. Anderson commissioned a formal family portrait, insisting their beloved pet elephant, Elbert, be included. Elbert is family, after all. When the co...
Oil
$8,750
H 59.06 in W 47.25 in D 0.79 in
LOYALTY (Surrealist Oil Painting on Canvas, monochrome, blue grey, lion, animal)
By Rudolf Kosow
Located in Quebec, Quebec
Rudolf Kosow’s Loyalty is a haunting contemporary surrealist and monochrome painting that places a small female figure beside a monumental sleeping lion on the edge of a high and dra...
Canvas, Oil
$25,000
H 12 in W 14 in
"Fish" Milton Avery, Mid-Century, Modernist Fish, Blue, Gray, Maine Artist
By Milton Avery
Located in New York, NY
Milton Avery Fish, 1952 Signed and dated twice lower left Crayon on paper 3 1/2 x 10 inches Milton Clark Avery was born in 1885 in Altmar, New York. Largely self-taught, Avery is t...
Paper, Crayon
$1,900
H 12 in W 16 in D 0.1 in
Post War Bay Area Figurative - Original Watercolor Painting Three Horses Signed
By Omer Ferdi Sahingil
Located in Soquel, CA
Post War Bay Area Figurative - Original Watercolor Painting Three Horses on a Rolling Hill, Signed Vibrant watercolor of three horses in the Bay Area rolling hills with California P...
Paper, Watercolor
"To the Place I Dream Of" Oil Painting
By Claudia Griesbach-Martucci
Located in Denver, CO
To the Place I Dream Of
Oil
$887
H 15.75 in W 11.82 in
Cubist Portrait Drawing on Paper, Mid-Century Inspiration, Modern Graphite Study
By Menachem Gueffen
Located in NANTES, FR
Created in 2003, this graphite drawing on paper perfectly illustrates Menachem Gueffen's exceptional command of line and his enduring dialogue with Cubism. The frontal female portrai...
Paper, Graphite
$5,200
H 24.5 in W 33.5 in D 1.25 in
“Reclining Nude, c. 1930” American Modernist Female Drawing Lady African Mask
By Louise Nevelson
Located in Yardley, PA
“Reclining Nude, c. 1930” by Louise Nevelson (1899-1988) This wonderful original ink drawing highlights Nevelson’s interest in the early 20th century avant-garde. Inspired by Picass...
Paper, Pencil, Graphite
Unavailable|$303,492
H 25.04 in W 18.55 in
Joan Miró. Untitled. 1934. Pastel and ink on paper. 63.6 x 47.1 cm.
By Joan Miró
Located in Barcelona, CT
Joan Miró (Barcelona, 1893 – Palma, 1983) Untitled. 20/03/1934. Pastel and ink on paper. 63.6 x 47.1 cm. (134 x 110 cm). Signed on the reverse. Provenance: - Pierre Matisse...
Pastel, Ink
$18,000
H 21 in W 51 in
WPA Post Office Mural Study American Scene Regionalism Social Realism Modern Art
By Louise Ronnebeck
Located in New York, NY
WPA Post Office Mural Study American Scene Regionalism Social Realism Modern Art Louise Emerson Ronnebeck (1901 - 1980) Oil Riggers, Mural Study Image: 6 1/2 x 37 inches Watercolor ...
Paper, Watercolor, Cardboard
$6,000
H 46.46 in W 70.08 in D 0.79 in
Case (XL) (Surrealist Oil Painting on Canvas, Banana peel, Unframed)
By Rudolf Kosow
Located in Quebec, Quebec
In "Case", banal, everyday things meet in this painting to create an unusual, strange, absurd and ironical situation derived by the disproportional scale size of things. Rudolf Kos...
Canvas, Oil
Untitled
By Wifredo Lam
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Wifredo Lam, Cuban (1902 - 1982) Title: Untitled - I Year: 1957 Medium: Crayon and Pastel on Paper, signed and dated l.r. Paper Size: 22 in. x 26.5 in. (55.88 cm x 67.31...
Paper, Crayon, Pastel
Sold
H 22 in W 26 in
The Happy Couple, Mid Century Surrealist Fantasy Landscape by Ohio artist
By Mary Spain
Located in Beachwood, OH
Mary Spain (American, 1934-1983) The Happy Couple Oil on canvas Signed middle right, signed and titled verso 22 x 26 inches Set in a realm of fantasy, Mary Spain’s work exhibits oddly distorted figures in a child-like manner with an underlying sense of absurdity. Through her toylike and primitive style, Spain created surrealistic dramas that puzzle and entrance the viewer. Born in Raleigh, North Carolina, Mary Spain studied art at Syracuse University and moved to Ohio in the 1960s to teach art at Chagrin Falls...
Oil
Pink Lady
By Mary Spain
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Pink Lady Oil on canvas, c. 1968 Signed upper right (see photo). Housed in the original frame made by the artist Titled on the reverse on the stretcher bar Inspired by DeKooning Prov...
Canvas, Oil
Profile of a Young Woman Looking Right
By Mary Spain
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Profile of a Young Woman Looking Right Ink and colored pencil on gray Canson Ingres paper Unsigned Sheet size: 112 3/4 x 9 3/4 inches Condition: Excellent Mary Spain (Colie) (1934-1983) Mary Spain was born in Raleigh, North Carolina. She taught art in Chagrin Falls...
Ink
Young Woman Facing Forward
By Mary Spain
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Unsigned from the noted collection of Joseph M. Erdelac, Cleveland.
Ink, Color Pencil
Old Shoe
By Mary Spain
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Signed and titled in pencil by the artist; Watermark: Strathmore Charcoal
Graphite
Untitled (Sheep on Wheels with Shadow-Shepherdess)
By Mary Spain
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Graphite and colored chalk on brown Ingres Fabriano paper
Chalk, Graphite
untitled (Winged Girl with Cardinal)
By Mary Spain
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Unsigned graphite on paper
Graphite
untitled (Female Dancer)
By Mary Spain
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Signed and dated by the artist in pencil lower right
Charcoal
Sold
H 12.5 in W 19 in
Sinking Moon being Kissed at the Window while Smelling a Geranium. (And the night is very Black.)
By Mary Spain
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Signed and titled in pencil by the artist