Paul Riba Landscape Paintings

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...

Mid Century Nocturnal Surrealist Oil Painting--San Francisco Unreal Dreams by Russell Tripp Dramatic and atmospheric San Francisco surrealist figurative painting by Russell R. Tripp...

Annieo Klaas Held Inside a Shaft of Light 2023 Oil on Canvas 40 x 30 inches (101.6 x 30.48 cm) Signed lower right COA provided *On stretcher frame - gallery wrapped - ready to hang ...

Foussa Itaya (Japan, France, 1919-1972) Oil on canvas. View of rooftops, European town cityscape Hand signed lower left Dimensions: H 23.5" x W 28.5" Born in Fukuoka, Foussa Itay...

Surrealist Nocturnal Hawaiian Figurative Landscape w. Blue Skirted Woman & Moon by Marguerite Louis Blasingame Striking mid century modern Hawaiian noct...

The Road is a unique oil on canvas painting by contemporary artist Valérie de Sarrieu, dimensions are 160 × 160 cm (63 × 63 in). The artwork is signed, sold unframed and comes with a...

The Lonely Road (1940) Tempera on panel 12" x 16" 19 1/2" x 23 1/2" x 1 1/2" framed Hand-signed "Palmer '40" lower center. Provenance: Midtown Galleries, New York, NY (labels verso...

An important and extremely rare pair of Italian landscapes from the Neoclassical period, painted using the refined technique of tempera. They depict views of the Tyrrhenian coast ne...

Dazed dancers are seen twirling languidly on primal rock formations. The rocks, eroded by the sands of time, are shown as cutaways and serve as a platform or outdoor stage for the d...

LEAF AND COUPLE is a superbe and vivid original painting on canvas depicting a still life of a fall leaf next to a vintage black and white photograph of a couple in a tender brace. ...

A Unique, Lively 1960s Surrealist Mid-Century Modern Abstract City Scene by Notable Chicago Artist, Harold Haydon (Am. 1909-1994). Titled "City Street with Figures", Depicting an ab...

**The actual color of this piece is a monochrome off-white and dark grey palette. Rudolf Kosow’s Instantly is a striking monochrome oil painting that blends contemporary surrealism w...