Michael Beck Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

'Chinatown, San Francisco', gouache on fine art paper, by Edward Wilson Currier (1903). Spofford Alley in San Francisco's Chinatown is best known for an address (number 36) where Dr. Sun Yat-Sen plotted the overthrow of China's last dynasty. During Prohibition, it was the site of turf battles over local bootlegging and protection rackets. Today it is lined with seniors' community centres. However, the quiet alley livens up in the evenings when a Chinese orchestra strikes up a tune, mah-jongg games begin with a cascade of clicking tiles, and barbers and florists use the pretence of sweeping their doorsteps to gossip. In this artist's depiction, a man smokes a long-stemmed Chinese pipe under the awning and colourful lanterns hanging from the wooden supports while a child looks on. The artwork is interesting from several standpoints including architectural, cultural and historical. Shortly after this work was painted, the neighbourhood was completely destroyed in the 1906 earthquake that levelled most of the city. From 1910 to 1940, Chinese immigrants were detained at the Angel Island...

Viktor Schreckengost (American, 1906-2008) Mayan Watercolor heightened with gouache over pencil on paper Signed lower right 39 x 29 inches 45.5 x 35.5 inches, framed Registered with The Viktor Schreckengost foundation, stock no. 6891 The son of a commercial potter in Sebring, Ohio, Viktor Schreckengost learned the craft of sculpting in clay from his father. In the mid-1920s, he enrolled at the Cleveland School of Art (now the Cleveland Institute of Art, or CIA) to study cartoon making, but after seeing an exhibition at the Cleveland Museum of Art he changed his focus to ceramics. Upon graduation in 1929, he studied ceramics in Vienna, Austria, where he began to build a reputation, not only for his art, but also as a jazz saxophonist. A year later, at the age of 25, he became the youngest faculty member at the CIA. In 1931, Schreckengost won the first of several awards for excellence in ceramics at the Cleveland Museum of Art, and his works were shown at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Panama-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco, and elsewhere. By the mid-1930s, Schreckengost had begun to pursue his interest in industrial design. For American Limoges...

'Sacré-Coeur, Montmartre at Willette Square, Paris', gouache on art paper (circa 1930s), by Lucien Génin. Created by the Director of Public Ways and Promenades under Napoleon III, Sq...

'Emile's Tavern', gouache on paper (circa 1930s), by Lucien Génin. A tavern in French is called a 'guinguette'. With the rise in living standards from the 1860s along with the develo...

Ramon Unzueta (Cuban/Spanish, 1962-2012), "Orlando", Gouache on Paper, 2009, signed and dated lower right, black lacquered wood frame. Image: 16.25" H x 11.25" W; frame: 27" H x 22.5...

A vintage watercolor capturing a statue of an ascetic in a garden by Theodore Ernest Langguth (German-American, 1861-1952). 1915-20. Signed "T. Langguth" in lower left. Presented in ...

'The Church of Saint-Nicolas du Chardonnet, Paris', gouache on art paper by Lucien Génin (circa 1930s). In Paris' 5th Arrondissement the site in which Saint-Nicolas du Chardonnet is ...

Illustrated for the 1949 Four Seasons Calendar, published by Brown and Bigelow. A young girl holds a freshly-picked bouquet of flowers as she strolls alongside a boy who carries he...

'Paris, la Bourse', gouache on paper, by Lucien Génin (circa 1930s). Created at the beginning of the 19th century by Napoleon, la Bourse, or the Stock Exchange, was intended to assert and encourage France’s prosperity in industry and trade. In 1826 the Stock Exchange was installed in the palace that the architect Brongniart had begun in 1808. Surrounded by a large peristyle of Corinthian columns, the rectangular structure reflects the official neo-classicism of the Empire Period. The artist, Génin, depicts a typically lively 1930s day in front of the building with cars of the period zooming by pedestrians on the walkway and others on the stairs leading to the entrance. He has an extremely charming, almost childlike style particularly the way he renders the people and the vehicles. The building, on the other hand, is accurate in its detail and more seriously presented. Our gallery has held and has sold over a dozen of Genin's paintings but this one stands out for its pure stylish appeal and ability to captivate while inducing a smile in the viewer. The artwork is in good overall condition - there are some minor blemishes not on the artwork itself but on the edges of the mount to which it is attached. The frame is in fair condition showing some nicks and scratches. Please enjoy the many photos accompanying the listing. Upon request a video can be provided. Signed by the artist in the lower right hand. About the Artist: After the devastation of the First World War, Lucien Génin (1894 - 1953) left his provincial home in the autumn of 1919 to find his fortune among the lively Parisians in the heart of Montmartre. Génin befriended the painters Frank Will, Gen Paul, Émile Boyer...

Drawing of a naked woman, French mid century pencil and watercolour on paper study by famous French sculptor Raymond Martin. The drawing is signed bottom left and is presented in a s...

'International Bar, pencil, ink and gouache on card stock by an unnamed artist of the French School (20th Century). This appears to be a fantastical port visit of the artist's imagination. It is very lively in colour and in subject. The artwork was discovered in Paris along with several others of the same character, most likely by the same person. It depicts the entryway of a brightly lit Asian bar...

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