Michael Beck Art

Follower of Antoine Calbet. French ( b.1860 - d.1944 ). Theseus and Ariadne, Circa 1890 - 1910. Mixed Media. Watercolour, Gouache & Pastel Image size 16.5 inches x 11.2 inches ( ...

Beautiful and interesting watercolor painting on paper attributed to the great Neapolitan artist Domenico Morelli. It depicts one of his favorite subjects, namely an oriental woman c...

A vibrant 1950s Modern watercolor of a standing male bather in red & orange tones by notable French artist Andre Delfau. Painted in the south of France along the Cote d' azure (...

John Frederick Kensett (1816 - 1872) Portrait of an Italian Fencer, circa 1845-47 Watercolor on wove paper 13 1/8 x 8 1/8 inches Signed with initials and inscribed lower right "J.F.K. Rome" From October 1845 through the spring of 1847, Kensett lived in Rome. He attended classes where he sketched from live models, and he sketched in the countryside outside Rome and around Florence, Perugia, and Venice, places he visited with his artist friends. He fulfilled commissions for paintings from Americans in Italy, and by 1847 his career was well established. Son of an English immigrant engraver, John Kensett lacked enthusiasm for that medium and became one of the most accomplished painters of the second generation of Hudson River School painters. His reputation is for Luminism, careful depiction of light, weather, and atmosphere as they affect color and texture of natural forms. He was particularly influenced by the painting of Asher Durand in that he focused on realism and detail rather than the highly dramatic views associated with Thomas Cole. Going to the western United States in the mid 1850s and the 1860s, he was the first of the Hudson River School painters to explore and paint the West. Kensett was born and raised in Cheshire, Connecticut, and learned his engraving from his father, Thomas Kensett with whom he worked in New Haven, Connecticut until 1829. He continued working until 1840 as an engraver of labels, banknotes and maps and was employed part of that time by the American Bank Note Company in New York City. There he met Thomas Rossiter, John Casilear, and other artists who urged him to pursue painting. In 1840, he and Rossiter, Asher Durand, and Casilear went to Europe where Kensett stayed for seven years and supported himself by doing engraving but became accomplished in landscape painting. Having sent canvases of Italian landscapes back to New York, he had a reputation for skillful painting that preceded him. When he returned to New York City in 1847, he was an "instant success" and very sought after by collectors. Two of his Italian landscapes had already been purchased by the American Art Union. By 1849, he was a full member of the National Academy of Design and was generally popular among his peers. His studio was a gathering place with travelers stopping by to see his canvases and to identify "precise locations in the Catskills or Newport or New England in the oil sketches and drawings that covered his walls." (Zellman 170). For the women, he was a popular bachelor, "romantic looking with high forehead and sensitive expression." (Samuels 262) He was also sought after by many organizations. Among his activities were serving on the committee to oversee the decoration of the United States Capitol in Washington DC, and becoming one of the founders of the Metropolitan Museum in New York. An inveterate traveler, Kensett spent summers on painting excursions away from New York City. One of these trips was a special painting excursion with fifteen other artists sponsored by the B & O Railroad from Baltimore, Maryland to Wheeling, West Virginia. Unlike many of the Hudson River painters...

Bob Peak is one of the true giants of post-war American Illustration. He is a virtuoso artist, with a heightened level of skill and talent that very few living artists today possess...

Title: Mid Century Expressionist Two Figures in Motion Ink Wash Study Dated 1946 Signed “R. G.” (indistinct) Medium: Ink wash on artists paper Size: 15.75 x 12.5 inches (height x wi...

A wonderful, vintage 1930s watercolor on artist board study for an American Veterans Remembrance Day Poster (National Poppy Day, American Legion) by Elaine Jeanne Glickman (Ginsburg)...

Martha Walter Mothers and Children, North Africa Signed lower right Watercolor on paper 6 1/2 x 7 1/2 inches Martha Walter was best known as a painter of colorful beach scenes and ...

An original graphite, oil paint and collage on canvas by American contemporary artist Joseph Piccillo.

Crash Untitled, 1989 Signed and dated lower left Watercolor and ink on paper 30 x 20 1/2 inches A contemporary of Keith Haring and a modern-day master of this present day art form o...

Title: Expressionist Studio Interior With Seated Nude And Standing Figure Ink Wash Medium: Ink wash and pencil with yellow highlight on artists paper, unframed Size: 17 x 16.25 inch...

Title: Mid Century French School Figurative Still Life Statue Vase Books Medium: Charcoal and gouache wash on artist paper, unframed Size: 19 x 12,25 inches (height x width) Provena...