Maud Humphrey Paintings

The work is mostly black and white to indicate that this is a night scene. On closer inspection, you will see areas of magenta and ivory throughout The publisher's label on verso ide...

Adolf Arthur Dehn Haitian Scene A, ca. 1951 Watercolor gouache on board Signed on the front Frame included: held in vintage modern frame Measurements: Framed: 11 inches vertical by 13 inches horizontal by .75 Painting 4.5 inches by 6 inches Watercolor gouache, hand signed; framed with AAA Gallery label verso Signed on the front bearing the original label on the verso of Dehn's longtime gallery, the prestigious Associated American Artists Gallery, New York City. Provenance Associated American Artists Frame included: held in vintage frame with original label as provenance Dehn, an influential artist and teacher (and author of the definitive textbook of his era on watercolor painting) joined Associated American Artists gallery in 1941. Although this painting is undated, it is likely circa early 1950s, as in 1951 Dehn won a Guggenheim Fellowship, which enabled him to travel to Haiti -- the subject of this work. It was part of a series inspired by Dehn's visit to Haiti. Dehn, an influential artist and teacher (and author of the definitive textbook of his era on watercolor painting) joined Associated American Artists gallery in 1941. Although this painting is undated, it is likely circa early 1950s, as in 1951 Dehn won a Guggenheim Fellowship, which enabled him to travel to Haiti. ADLOF DEHN Adolf Dehn, American Watercolorist and Printmaker, 1895-1968 Adolf Dehn was an artist who achieved extraordinary artistic heights, but in a very particular artistic sphere - not so much in oil painting as in watercolor and lithography. Long recognized as a master by serious print collectors, he is gradually gaining recognition as a notable and influential figure in the overall history of American art. In the 19th century, with the invention of the rotary press, which made possible enormous print runs, and the development of the popular, mass-market magazines, newspaper and magazine illustration developed into an artistic realm of its own, often surprisingly divorced from the world of museums and art exhibitions, and today remains surprisingly overlooked by most art historians. Dehn in many regards was an outgrowth of this world, although in an unusual way, since as a young man he produced most of his illustrative work not for popular magazines, such as The Saturday Evening Post, but rather for radical journals, such as The Masses or The Liberator, or artistic "little magazines" such as The Dial. This background established the foundation of his outlook, and led later to his unique and distinctive contribution to American graphic art. If there’s a distinctive quality to his work, it was his skill in introducing unusual tonal and textural effects into his work, particularly in printmaking but also in watercolor. Jackson Pollock seems to have been one of many notable artists who were influenced by his techniques. Early Years, 1895 - 1922 For an artist largely remembered for scenes of Vienna and Paris, Adolf Dehn’s background was a surprising one. Born in Waterville, Minnesota, on November 22, 1895, Dehn was the descendent of farmers who had emigrated from Germany and homesteaded in the region, initially in a one-room log cabin with a dirt floor. Adolf’s father, Arthur Clark Dehn, was a hunter and trapper who took pride that he had no boss but himself, and who had little use for art. Indeed, during Adolf’s boyhood the walls of his bedroom and the space under his bed were filled with the pelts of mink, muskrats and skunks that his father had killed, skinned and stretched on drying boards. It was Adolf’s mother, Emilie Haas Dehn, a faithful member of the German Lutheran Evangelical Church, who encouraged his interest in art, which became apparent early in childhood. Both parents were ardent socialists, and supporters of Eugene Debs...

Gouache and watercolour on corrugated cardboard after the famous self portrait by Vincent van Gogh with his fur hat, bandaged ear and pipe. This painting is by Jean Ducel who has pla...

“Graduation Day” is emblematic of mid-century American Illustration. But the real story of this storytelling work is that it embodies the lost art of portrait painting and graphic design. Alex Ross borrows on the classical tradition and flaunts his skills as a narrative painter. In “Graduation Day”, he paints a complex composition involving at least thirteen portraits. The subjects are beautifully rendered and lit. They are set against a dark grey background and jump off the surface at the viewer. The composition is complexly designed. The future graduate in the red jacket engaging with a girl photographer is a compositional device that leads the viewer's eye to the main subject - a father congratulating his son on graduating from medical school. Creating art that relies on facial expressions and body gestures is a talent absent in contemporary art. Why? It’s very hard to do and takes years and training and practice to get it right. Despite Alex Ross's folksy subject matter, this work is a high example of naturalism and representation by an important member of the Golden Age of American Illustration. Signed lower right Born in the town of Dunfermline, Scotland, Alexander Sharpe Ross (1908-1990) moved with his family to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1911. After attending Carnegie Tech (now Carnegie Mellon University), Ross moved to New York and joined the Charles E. Cooper Studio, where he worked among such notable illustrators as Ward Brackett, Stevan Dohanos, J. Frederick Smith...

When a husband catches his wife with another man, it's no joke, except if it's a Gilbert Bundy mid-century cartoon for Esquire Magazine. Caption: "You'd better introduce us – I disl...

There is plenty of B-movie-like pulp illustration art out there to consider. This work, however, is fundamentally different. The main point about the Harry Barton...

Hugo Scheiber (1873-1950) was a Hungarian painter of Jewish origins. He started as a self-taught artist. He was initially inspired by Impressionism before evolving towards Expression...

Where to begin? First, how many couples find stratospheric success sharing both careers and marriage? As comedians? For decades? Perhaps the closest today might be Steve and Nancy Ca...

The old west depicted in a graphic and dramatic manner. Paperback Novel Cover Painting Original Art (Avon, 1963). Work has a matted image area of 12.5" ...

Antique illustration of a golfer getting out of a sand trap by well listed illustrator Leslie Saalburg whose work appeared in Vanity Fair and Esquire.

Sex and violence take center stage in this mid-1960s men's magazine interior story illustration. This action-packed narrative of a G.I. close-up gun battle incorporates five peak m...

Mario Zamparelli served as the chief designer for the reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes' empire, creating his promotional images and designing many of its products. In the present...