Michael Kotasek Paintings

"Pay Day" American Scene Social Realism WPA Era Mid 20th Century Modern Workers Don Freeman (1908-1978) Pay Day 20 x 30 inches Oil on board, c. 1940s Signed lower right BIO Illustr...

Patrick Nevin's (US based) "Vanitas with Marine Corps Coin" is an oil painting that depicts a human skull situated with an orange, a Marine Corps coin, ...

This mural study is part of our exhibition America Coast to Coast: Artists of the 1930s Industry and Commerce, 1936, tempera on panel, 16 ½ x 39 ½ inches, signed verso “John Ballator, Portland Ore.” provenance includes: J.C. Penney Company, represented by Russell Tether Fine Arts Assoc.; presented in a newer wood frame About the Painting Industry and Commerce is a prime example of WPA Era muralism. Like a Mediaeval alter, this mural study is filled with icons, but the images of saints and martyrs are replaced with symbols of America's gospel of prosperity through capitalism. Industry and Commerce has a strong narrative quality with vignettes filling the entire surface. Extraction, logistics, design, power generation, and manufacturing for printing, chemicals, automobiles and metal products are all represented. To eliminate any doubt about the mural's themes, Ballator letters a description into the bottom of the study. Ballator also presents an idealized version of industrial cooperation, as his workers, lab-coated technicians and tie-wearing managers work harmoniously toward a common goal in the tidy and neatly designed environments. Although far from the reality of most industrial spaces, Ballator's study reflects the idealized and morale boosting tone that many mural projects adopted during the Great Depression. About the Artist John R Ballator achieved success as a muralist, lithographer, and teacher during the Great Depression. Born in Oregon, he studied at the Portland Museum Art School, the University of Oregon and at Yale University where he received a Bachelor of Fine Art. In 1936, Ballator was commissioned to paint a mural panel for the new Department of Justice Building in Washington DC, an important project that spanned five years with several dozen artists contributing a total of sixty-eight designs. Ballator completed murals for the St. Johns Post Office and Franklin High School, both in Portland, Oregon. He also contributed to the 1938 murals at Nathan Hale School in New Haven, Connecticut. During the late 1930s, Ballator taught art for several years at Washburn College in Topeka, Kanas, where he completed a mural for the Menninger Arts & Craft Shop before accepting a professorship at Hollins College...

China Cup with Pitcher Egg Tempera Realism Strawberries Marbles Framed by realist painter Mark Thompson is 10.5" x 9.75" Notice the figure of the art...

Post Office WPA Mural Study American Scene Social Realism Modern 20th Century Carlos Lopez (1910-1953) "Bounty" WPA Mural Study for Michigan Post Office 19 ½ x 22 ½ inches Oil on B...

Under the Viaduct American Scene Social Realism WPA Era Mid-20th Century Modern Syd J. Browne (1907-1991) Under the Viaduct 22 x 30 inches Oil on canvas. c. 1930s Signed lower left ...

Industrial Railroad WPA Mid 20th Century American Scene Rural Modern Realism Large oil on canvas genre painting depicting laborers working on a railroad, with rural landscape in the...

This painting is part of our exhibition American Coast to Coast: Artists of the 1930s Knight’s Lodging, 1941, oil on canvas panel, signed and dated lower left, 16 x 20 inches, exhi...

UNION SQUARE Depression Era Oil Painting WPA Realism American Scene Realism NYC Jo Cain (1904 – 2003) "Union Square" 24 x 36 inches Oil on canvas, c.1940s S...

Reflections Egg Tempera Realism Framed 8.5" x 12.5" Reflections Egg Tempera Realism Framed 8.5" x 12.5" is painted with egg tempera by realist painter Mark Thompson . Eg...

Fred Wessel's "Dahlia Icon" is a stunning egg tempera painting on gold leaf with coral cabochons. Created in 2022, this piece features a freshly bloomed stem of an orange Dahlia flow...

Three Young Men California WPA Figurative Modern Art Gay American Scene 1930s An artist on the WPA mural project, Deutsch was born in Lithuania and died in Los Angeles. Works of Boris Deutsch are housed in Carnegie Institute, National Museum of American Art, Los-Angeles County Museum of Art, Scribal Museum, Pomona College...