Oliver Messel Art

British, 1904-1978

Born in London, his mother being the daughter of the Punch cartoonist Edward Linley Sambourne and his father a soldier and stockbroker. After Eton he studied art at the Slade under Henry Tonks; Rex Whistler was a fellow student. Although his studies concentrated on life drawings he also made papier mache and wax masks for student events and an exhibition of these masks at the Claridge Galleries in 1925 let to his first theatre design commission for the Diaghilev ballet production of Zeephyre et Flore. By the early 1930s had established himself as one of Britain’s principal designers for the stage. He went on to design for many theatrical, operatic, ballet and film productions becoming one of the most highly paid and sought after theatre designers in the world. His books included Stage Designs and Costumes, 1933; Designs for A Midsummer Night’s Dream, 1957 and Delightful Food, 1958. He held one-man exhibitions at the Leicester Galleries and Redfern Gallery, designed interiors and gardens of the Dorchester Hotel, Flaxley Abbey, Gloucestershire and elsewhere as well as several houses and grounds in Barbados and Mustique. The Victoria & Albert Museum hold the majority of his design archives.

Oliver MesselOliver Messel - Costume Design for a Reveller for the opera Samson, 1958

$2,390

Oliver Messel - Costume Design for a Reveller for the opera Samson

By Oliver Messel

Located in London, GB

OLIVER MESSEL (1904-1978) Costume Design for a Reveller - Samson - 1958 Signed l.r., and inscribed with title and extensive costume design notes u.r. Watercolour heightened with go...

Category

Mid-20th Century Realist Oliver Messel Art

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

Oliver Messel6 Romeo & Juliet / Lady Capulet c1936 Theatrical Costume Plates by Oliver Messel, 1936

$3,000

6 Romeo & Juliet / Lady Capulet c1936 Theatrical Costume Plates by Oliver Messel

By Oliver Messel

Located in Bristol, CT

Print Sz: 9"H x 5 1/2"W Frame Sz: 13 1/4"H x 9 1/8"W Plates: (3) Guest at the Capulet Ball/ (1) Paris/ (1) Juliet & (1) Friend To Lady Capulet Lady Capulet in Shakespeare's Romeo ...

Category

1930s Oliver Messel Art

Materials

Paper

Oliver MesselPortrait of a Young Man Oil Painting Celebrated 20th Century Artist, 1930

$13,639

Portrait of a Young Man Oil Painting Celebrated 20th Century Artist

By Oliver Messel

Located in London, GB

Oliver Messel 1904 - 1978 Portrait of a Young Man Oil on canvas, signed and dated 'Oliver Messel 1930' (on the stretcher) Image size: 30 x 25 inches (76.2 x 63.4 cm) Original frame Oliver Messel was born to Leonard and Maud Messel, née Sambourne, on the 13 January 1904 and was the youngest of three children. The family moved to Nymans, the Messel family home in Sussex, from nearby Balcombe in 1915. The house remained in the family until 1953 when it was bequeathed to the National Trust, following a fire in 1947 which destroyed a large portion of the house. The Messels originated from a line of German Jewish bankers on Leonard’s side, however, both family lines boast a number of artistic influences, including Maud’s father. Maud was brought up at 18 Stafford Terrace, Kensington (now known as the Linley Sambourne House Museum), amongst collections of antique porcelain and eighteenth-century furniture, and with a host of artistic visitors such as Henry Irving and Oscar Wilde. Oliver’s own upbringing appears to be influenced by his mother's, as the Messel family were also affiliated with artists and writers and were keen collectors of art, filling their home with textiles, paintings and collections of European and Asian fans from travels abroad. It was amongst such treasures that Oliver, Anne and Linley spent their childhood, in addition to the beauty of Nyman’s extensive gardens. Oliver was schooled at Eton but rather than going up to university was encouraged by family friends, gallery owner Archie Propert and painter and sculptor Glyn Philpot, to attend art school. In 1922 he enrolled at the Slade School of Fine Art in London, where he studied under Henry Tonks. Here, he met the artist Rex Whistler with whom he remained firm friends until Whistler’s death in WW2. Upon leaving the Slade in 1924 Oliver was apprenticed to the studio of portrait artist John Wells, where he learnt various Old Master painting techniques, and met artists such as Jacob Epstein, Augustus John and William Orpen. Whilst at the Slade Oliver developed his interest in Papier Mâché masks, a pastime popular amongst many art students at the time. Whilst apprenticed to artist John Wells several of Oliver’s masks were exhibited at the Claridge Gallery, London, alongside pieces by Whistler and other young artists. These were seen by Serge Diaghilev, director of the Ballet Russes, and Charles B. Cochran, a theatrical producer, both of whom made Oliver offers of work. His first job in the theatre was creating masks for the Ballets Russes’ Zéphyr et Flore, 1925, designed by the French artist Georges Braque, followed by numerous musical revues for Cochran, including Wake Up and Dream!, 1929, with music by Cole Porter. It was during these revues, working with Porter and Noel Coward, that Oliver also began to design headdresses and costumes. In 1932 he was rewarded with his first full commission to design both costume and sets for Helen!, directed by Max Reinhardt. The production design is still celebrated today for its innovative approach and ground-breaking ‘white on white’ aesthetic, which referenced ‘Greek temples, Rococo drapes, Baroque colonnades and Louis XIV carousels’. The success of Helen! led to further offers within the theatre including Reinhardt’s version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Old Vic in 1937, starring Vivien Leigh as Titania and Robert Helpmann as Oberon, the Jean Cocteau play The Infernal Machine in 1940, and Christopher Fry’s translation of Jean Anouilh’s Ring Round the Moon, 1950. One of Oliver’s best-known productions during this period was the Russian ballet The Sleeping Beauty, performed by Sadler’s Wells Ballet in 1946 at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Encompassing over 200 costumes and four set changes, Oliver’s romantic designs were celebrated for bringing colour back to post-war London, and variations on his designs are still used today. Additional designs for the ballet included Comus in 1940, for which he was released from war duties, and Homage to the Queen, choreographed by Frederick Ashton and performed in 1953 for the Queen’s coronation. His first opera was in 1940 for Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte at the Royal Opera House, followed by a series of productions at the newly founded Glyndebourne Opera House in Sussex, for which Oliver also designed the proscenium arch. He triumphed in 1956 designing a season of four different productions for their Mozart bicentennial, also providing illustrations for the programme covers. His popularity also spread beyond theatre to film, were he worked on over eight different feature films including Romeo and Juliet, 1936, directed by George Cukor. During a three-month research trip to Italy Oliver collected over 3,000 reference images including postcards of artwork by Piero della Francesca, Giovanni Bellini and Leonardo da Vinci, along with prints and photographs of textiles and architectural features. A production of Gabriel Pascal’s Caesar and Cleopatra, 1946, starring Vivien Leigh and Claude Rains, was celebrated for Oliver’s ability to recreate the opulence and luxury of ancient Egypt under the constraints of wartime rationing. Such was his skill that Vivien Leigh in a letter to Oliver declared that “I have of course told Pascal that nobody in the world must do the costumes except you.” He was later nominated for an Academy Award for his work on his final film Suddenly, Last Summer, 1959; an adaptation of Tennessee Williams’ American Southern Gothic mystery. Having started his artistic career as a portrait apprentice, capturing the faces of family and friends, Oliver continued to develop this practice until the end of his life. His style is said to have been influenced by Glyn Philpot, the Messel’s family friend who encouraged Oliver from an early age in his pursuit of art and design. His most prolific period came in the 1950s during which he produced over 50 portraits, which were shown in exhibitions in New York, London and Barbados. The exhibitions included both well-known faces and anonymous sitters captured on Oliver’s travels, and a number of these works have entered private collections. He continued to paint after moving to the Caribbean in 1966, capturing society figures and the rich and famous including fashion designer Carolina Herrera and Bianca Jagger. His style remained unchanged throughout his career, using the same soft painterly strokes and subtle palette as in his theatre designs. By far his greatest contribution in addition to theatre and film was Oliver’s interior and architectural designs. Another, much celebrated commission included Rayne shoe shop in Old Bond Street, where he created jewel-like interiors using the same practice of scaled models as his set designs. Other notable interior designs include those for Norwich and Bath Assembly Rooms, Flaxley Abbey in Gloucestershire, Rosehill Theatre in Cumbria and the Reader’s Digest offices in Paris. However, upon moving to Barbados in 1966, Oliver embraced a new career envisioning architectural concepts for private houses, hotels and public buildings, utilising his experience with interior design to furnish them with bespoke items of furniture and textiles. His first project was Maddox, the deserted eighteenth-century plantation house bought by himself and his partner Vagn Riis-Hansen in 1964. The existing building and gardens were remodelled to Oliver’s designs embracing an inherent theatricality with views out to sea. These were framed by terraces and verandas which extended out from the living rooms creating what is often referred to as a Caribbean style of ‘indoor-outdoor’ living. For the woodwork he used a shade of green that is now known as ‘Messel green’ and often associated with the island of Barbados. Oliver was born into a wealthy family; he travelled extensively and was exposed to art and culture from a young age. A privileged youth, his name is often mentioned amongst the ‘Bright Young Things’, for whom costume parties at country houses and jaunts to Europe on a whim became a thing of fable. This informal group included people such as Cecil Beaton (a life-long friend whom Oliver first met at Eton), Lord Berners, Noel Coward, John Betjeman, Harold Acton, Nancy Mitford, Edith Sitwell, Stephen Tennant...

Category

20th Century Modern Oliver Messel Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Konstanty SzewczenkoPolish Jewish Chassidic Rabbi Judaica Art Oil Painting Konstantin Szewczenko, 20th Century

$1,800

H 17 in W 15.25 in

Polish Jewish Chassidic Rabbi Judaica Art Oil Painting Konstantin Szewczenko

By Konstanty Szewczenko

Located in Surfside, FL

Konstanty Szewczenko (1910-1991), signed oil Judaica Oil Painting, Chassidic Rebbe, Polish. Frame: 17 X 15.25 Image: 11.5 X 9.5 Konstantin Shevchenko studied at the Institute of Fine Arts in Warsaw in the years 1927 - 1928. Then, in 1932 he studied painting under the guidance of Kowarski and Pruszkowski at the Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts. Practiced easel painting, mostly judaic hassidic rabbi portraits, genre scenes. Among others, a portrait Moscicki, Rydz - Rydz, and after the war Rokossowski.He worked as a set designer. In the years 1934 - 1935 was production designer Variety Theatre. He collaborated with publishing houses with illustrations. He exhibited in Warsaw, Poland, Vienna, Austria and New York. In 1947 he took part in Exhibition Independent Artists Group) and abroad (solo exhibition at the Gallery G. Tomalsky in New York, 1964) . He is one of many great Jewish Polish artists that included Leopold Gottlieb, Maurycy Gottlieb, Henryk Hechtkopf, Leopold Pilichowski, Isidor Kaufmann, Lazar krestin, Alois Heinrich Priechenfried and Itshak Holtz. His works are in the collection of the Museum of the Polish Army. He was an Polish, Austro-Hungarian painter of Jewish themes...

Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Oliver Messel Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Paul Meltsner"Factory Boy with Locomotive" Paul Meltsner, 1930s Working WPA Portrait, circa 1935

$3,500

$9,500

H 39 in W 28 in

Large French Figurative Expressionist Oil Painting Seated Figure Claude Weisbuch

By Claude Weisbuch

Located in Surfside, FL

WEISBUCH, Claude. Oil on Canvas Framed size: 39” H x 28” W Canvas, without frame: 32” high x 21 ¼” wide. Carved wooden frame with antique gold-leaf finish Claude Weisbuch, 1927-2014 French painter, draftsman and engraver. He studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts (School of Fine Arts) in Nancy and upon graduation became a professor of engraving at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts de of St. Etienne. His first solo exhibition was in 1957. In 1968 , he became a full member of the Society of French Painters-Engravers . In 1997 he was awarded the Legion of Honor His work is essentially devoted to engraving, by which he likes to translate, thanks to the line, the life, movement and character of his characters: Punchinels, harlequins, musicians or equestrian scenes. He practices various techniques ( lithography, drypoint etching etc.) that he puts to use in the illustration of bibliophile books. Claude Weisbuch is also a painter and draftsman. His favorite colors are ochres, browns and whites, with which he seeks to introduce the effects of light by compositions where the line and finesse of the drawing preserve the life found in his engravings. His precise and dynamic line delivers a moving and swirling work on themes he loves: theater, opera, equestrian, musicians, card players, Kabuki dancers and many portraits. His works have the appearance of unfinished sketches mixing few colors but a great vivacity of the line. He illustrated many limited edition signed fine art books. Alon with Christo, Arman and Cesar he is considered among the great post war French artists of the last generation. Exhibitions 1957: Saint Placide Gallery, paintings and engravings 1958: Galerie de Presbourg, Paris, paintings - Saint Placide Gallery, Paris, paintings - Galerie des Arts, Nancy, etchings 1960: Galerie Hervé, "Extraordinary Pantomimes", Paris, paintings 1961: Salon of the young painting and painters witnesses of their time 1962: O'Hanna Gallery, London , paintings 1963: Galerie Hervé, "Portrait Of Man", Paris, Paintings - Nichido Gallery, Tokyo, Paintings 1965: Hervé Gallery, "100 Drawings", Paris Dresdener Gallery, Toronto, paintings 1966: Dantesca Gallery, Turin , paintings, engravings, drawings 1968: New Vision Gallery, Paris, engravings 1969: Galerie Hervé, Paris, paintings - Galerie Reflets, Brussels , prints, paintings - Galerie Dresder, Montreal , paintings 1970: Taménaga Gallery, Tokyo, paintings - Sagot Gallery - The Garrec, Paris, etchings - Museum of Modern Art of the City of Paris ARC, Paris, prints 5 1971: War Gallery, Avignon , etchings Biennial of Engraving, Epinal 1972: Dantesca Gallery, Turin Festival, Sarlat , paintings 1973: Wayss Gallery, Nancy , paintings, engravings, drawings Auguste Comte Gallery, Lyon , paintings, engravings, drawings Taménaga Gallery, Tokyo, paintings - New Vision Gallery, "Homage to Rembrandt", Paris, etchings 1974: Esthetika Gallery, Kortrijk, engravings - Galerie Hervé Odermatt, Paris, paintings Ésthetika Gallery, Kurne, prints - Galerie Wayss, Nancy, engravings, drawings, pastels Dietesheim Gallery, Neuchâtel , engravings - Grafikhuset Gallery, Stockholm , prints, drawings 1975: Schwarzer Gallery, Vienna , engravings, paintings, drawings Fogola Gallery, Turin, drawings, pastels Sotheby-Parke Benett, Munich, engravings, drawings Hervé Odermatt Gallery, Paris, drawings Joly Gallery, Washington , engraving 1976: Taménaga Gallery, Tokyo, paintings - Wayss Gallery, Nancy, engravings, drawings - Tabula Gallery, Tübingen, engravings, drawings - New Vision Gallery, "The horse-The painter and his model", Paris, drawings, engravings 1977: Grafikhuset, Futura, Stockholm - Jivô Gallery, Vänersborg Pigalle Gallery, Norrköping Celsius Gallery, Uppsala Möbius Gallery, Gothenburg - New Vision Gallery, Jerusalem - Cultural Center of Sainte-Menehould Castle, retrospective, engravings 1978: David Barnett Gallery, Milwaukee , engravings, drawings Orangery Gallery, Cologne , engravings, drawings, pastels Grafikhuset Futura, Stockholm, paintings, drawings Les Cordeliers, Châteauroux, engravings, drawings, paintings House of Culture, Montbéliard, engravings House of Culture, Chelles , engravings, paintings, drawings 1979: L'Empreinte Gallery, Strasbourg, prints, drawings - Galerie Reflets, Brussels, prints, drawings - Galerie Bon à tirer, Los Angeles , prints, pastels 1980: Hervé Odermatt Gallery, Paris, "Calligraphy of the figure", paintings - E. Gollon Gallery, Saint-Paul-de-Vence 1981: European Biennale of Engraving, Baden-Bade Galerie The Art Shop, Nice Galerie Hélène Trintignant, Montpellier Martine Remy Gallery, Strasbourg 1982: Vallen Gallery, Stockholm - Sagot Gallery - The Garrec, Paris - Taménaga Gallery, Tokyo, paintings - New Vision Gallery, Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka, etchings 1983: Hélène Trintignant Gallery, Montpellier 1984: Perrine Museum, Laval , etchings - Music Festival, Quimper , etchings Etchings, Moscow - Presence Gallery, Brussels, paintings, etchings 1985: Galerie Moyon-Avenard, Nantes, paintings - Taménaga Gallery, Paris, paintings - New Otani Hotel, Ōsaka, realization of murals 1986: Taménaga Gallery, Tokyo, paintings - Greenhouse of the School of Fine Arts, Saint-Étienne , paintings, engravings 1988: Retrospective paintings, Château de Chenonceau Retrospective engravings, Artothèque Museum Montpellier Taménaga Gallery, Paris, drawings, pastels New Vision Gallery, Tokyo, engravings 1989: Galerie Taménaga, Paris, paintings Exit of the book Weisbuch , texts of Jean-Denis Bredin of the French Academy, preface by Jean-Marie Tasset. 1990: Taménaga Gallery, Paris, paintings 1992: Retrospective, Sarlat - Taménaga Gallery, Paris, drawings 1993: Taménaga Gallery, Tokyo and Osaka 1994: Paintings for the second international meetings of the cello ensemble, Beauvais - Elegance Gallery, Taipei - Sanbi Gallery, Tokyo, graphic works - Mitsukoshi, Tōkyō 1995: Taménaga Gallery, Ōsaka - Exhibition of the Gobelins Municipal Circle, Paris 13 th 1996: 2nd Music Trades Fair, Premonstratensian Abbey , Pont-à-Mousson , paintings - Ginza Spring, Tokyo, paintings - New Otani Museum, Tokyo, paintings 1997: Galerie Raugraff, Nancy, paintings, pastels, drawings, engravings, lithographs - Theater Gallery, Besançon, paintings, drawings, engravings, lithographs 1999: A retrospective "Weisbuch, 50 years of prints", 230 works exhibited in Strasbourg under the direction of its publisher, L'Estampe Éditions 3 - Taménaga Gallery, Paris, Tōkyō 2000: Retrospective Château de Vascœuil , by L'Estampe - Theater Gallery, Besançon , paintings, drawings, engravings, pastels, lithographs - Retrospective Chamber of Commerce, Strasbourg - engravings (retrospective), Jacques Brel cultural center, Thionville - engravings (retrospective ), chamber of commerce, Nancy 2001: Retrospective Orangerie of Madame Élisabeth, Versailles , paintings 2002: Taménaga Gallery "Movements", Paris 2003: L'Estampe Gallery, in partnership with the Theater Gallery - prints and paintings, Besançon 2004: Taménaga Gallery "Prometheus presenting the secret of fire to humans", Paris Crid'Art Gallery, L'Estampe Gallery, Amnéville-les-Thermes , paintings, prints, drawings, prints - Galerie des Arts, Nîmes , paintings 2010: Galerie125, Argancy , recent works, exhibition of 100 recent works by the artist. 2012: Exhibition at the Château de Malbrouck . More than 150 works by the artist. Organized by the General Council of Moselle and L'Estampe (editor Claude Weisbuch). 2012: Print, Strasbourg, paintings, engravings, drawings 2012: Exhibition at the House of wines of Graves de Podensac in Gironde. 150 works by the artist Event organized by Course N ° 3. 2013: Galerie125, Argancy, "Weisbuch, major works", exhibition of drawings, engravings, lithographs and oils on canvas 2014: Galerie125, Argancy, "Weisbuch, from 1947 to 1960", exhibition of 100 ancient engravings...

Category

20th Century Modern Oliver Messel Art

Materials

Materials

Watercolor, Gouache

Oliver Messel art for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Oliver Messel art available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by Oliver Messel in paint, watercolor, fabric and more. Not every interior allows for large Oliver Messel art, so small editions measuring 10 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of John Sergeant, Margaret Sweet Johnson, and Hubert Hennes. Oliver Messel art prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $750 and tops out at $3,185, while the average work can sell for $1,910.