Sally Smith Art

Set of six doll head molds and set of eight bronze doll torsos constructed o f bronze. The molds were used in the manufacturing process in the 1920s for making plastic dolls, are mou...

Richard Andres (American, 1927-2013) Naval Occurrence, c. 1963 oil on canvas signed and titled verso 24 x 32 inches Richard Andres was born in Buffalo, New York in 1927. A graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Art in 1950, he was immediately drafted and served for two years in the army as a mural painter. He received his Master of Arts from Kent State in 1961. A frequent exhibitor at galleries and museums and winner of multiple May Show prizes, Andres taught art in the Cleveland Public Schools for 28 years, as well as teaching the University of Buffalo, the Cleveland Institute of Art and the Western Reserve University. Very little in Richard Andres’ childhood would have predicted his love of classical music, mid-century-modern architecture and certainly not his lifelong passion for art and in particular abstract art. Richard’s father, Raymond, had no more than a third-grade education, and his mother, Clara, was one of thirteen children – only three of whom lived into adulthood and none of whom attended high school. They lived, when Richard was a boy, in a dingy area of Buffalo, NY in a walk-up apartment situated above a tavern. Raymond and Clara supplemented the income from their factory jobs in the bar downstairs with Raymond playing ragtime on the piano and Clara serving drinks. This often left Richard and his two older brothers at home alone to fend for themselves. The two older boys, Raymond and Russell, were - unlike Richard- rather rough and tumble and entertained themselves with stickball, boxing and the like. Richard, on the other hand, from a very young age liked to draw, or better yet even, to paint with the small set of watercolors he received for Christmas one year. Paper, however, at the height of the depression, was hard to come by. Luckily, Clara used paper doilies as decoration for the apartment and Richard would contentedly paint and then cut up doilies, gluing the pieces together to create collages. At eight-years-old, he discovered the Albright-Knox Museum (then known as the Albright Art Gallery) and spent several hours a week there studying the paintings. He was particularly fond of Charles Burchfield‘s landscapes, enamored with their ‘messiness’ and thinking that they somehow captured more ‘feeling’ than works he was previously familiar with. For his tenth Christmas, he asked for and received a ‘how-to’ paint book by Elliot O’Hare. Through this self-teaching, he assembled the portfolio needed for acceptance to Buffalo Technical High School where he studied Advertising Arts. In his Junior year, he was encouraged to enter a watercolor painting, “Two Barns,” in the national 1944-45 Ingersoll Art Award Contest and was one of twelve grand prize winners – each one winning one hundred dollars. More importantly the painting was exhibited at the Carnegie Institute Galleries, which resulted in his winning a national scholarship to the Cleveland School of Art (The Cleveland Art Institute). He flourished at the art school under the tutelage of faculty members such as Carl Gaertner, as well as that of visiting artists such as William Sommer and Henry George Keller. He would say in later years that Gaertner, in particular, influenced his attitude toward life as well as art. “Gaertner,” Andres said, “believed that there was no need to be a ‘tortured artist’, that an artist should rather enjoy beauty, family, and life in general.” Free to spend his days as he chose, he wandered the Cleveland Art Museum for most of the hours he was not attending classes or painting; the remaining time was spent drinking coffee at a local hangout with art school friends – which is where he met fellow Henry Keller scholarship winner, Avis Johnson. Richard was immediately smitten with Avis, but being rather shy, it took him the entire summer of 1948 to build up his courage to ask her out. Over that summer he ‘thought about Avis’ and worked in a diner to save money. He also used the hundred-dollar prize money won in High School to visit the first Max Beckmann retrospective in the United States at the City Art Museum in St. Louis. Over a half century later he spoke of that exhibit with a reverence usually reserved for spiritual matters, “I walked in and it was like nothing I had ever seen before... the color...It just glowed.” Returning to campus in the Fall, the first thing he did was go to the coffee shop in hopes of finding Avis. He did, and she, upon seeing him, realized that she was also smitten with him. They quickly became known as ‘the couple’ on campus, and a year later, with Richard being drafted for the Korean war, they were quickly married by a Justice of the Peace, celebrating after with family at Avis’s Cleveland home. As a gift, faculty member John Paul Miller designed and made the simple gold wedding ring Avis wore for their 65 years of marriage. During those 65 years neither wavered in their mutual love, nor in the respect they shared for one another’s art. The couple lived in a converted chicken coop in Missouri while Richard was in boot camp. At the camp, he would volunteer for any job offered and one of those jobs ended up being painting road signs. His commander noticed how quickly and neatly he worked and gave him more painting work to do - eventually recommending him for a position painting murals for Army offices in Panama. Until her dying day, Avis remained angry that “The army got to keep those fabulous murals and they probably didn’t even know how wonderful they were.” In Panama, their first son, Mark, was born. After Richard’s discharge in 1953, they moved back to the Cleveland area and used the GI bill to attend Kent State gaining his BA in education. The small family then moved briefly to Buffalo, where Richard taught at the Albright Art School and the University of Buffalo – and their second son, Peter, was born. Richard had exhibited work in the Cleveland May Show and the Butler Art Museum during his art school years, and during the years in Buffalo, his work was exhibited at the gallery he had so loved as a child, the Albright Art Gallery. In 1956, the family moved back to the Cleveland area and Richard began teaching art at Lincoln West High School during the day while working toward his MA in art at Kent State in the evenings. Avis and Richard, with the help of an architect, designed their first home - a saltbox style house in Hudson, Ohio, and in 1958, their third son, Max (after Max Beckmann) was born. Richard enjoyed the consistency of teaching high school as well as the time it gave him to paint on the weekends and during the summer months. In 1961, he received his MA and his daughter, Claire, was born. With a fourth child, the house was much too small, and Avis and Richard began designing their second home. An admirer of MCM architecture, Richard’s favorite example of the style was the Farnsworth house – he often spoke of how the concepts behind this architectural style, particularly that of Mies van der Rohe, influenced his painting. Andres described himself as a 1950’s...

Vintage American modernist abstract painting titled "Praying Mantis". Oil on canvas, circa 1970. Signed. Image size, 12L x 16H. Housed in a period wood frame.

"Lively Movements on Pastel Pink" is an abstract painting by Spanish artist Natalia Roman. It is a beautiful series of rhythmic brushstrokes combined with subtle tones and unique sha...

An original acrylic on linen canvas by American artist Martica Miguens. The artist's estate was recently unearthed and acquired by Benjaman Gallery. ...

Metaphysical landscape. 2018, canvas, oil. 80x120 cm Abstract composition in earth colors Igor Leontiev (1957) - one of the leading independent painters in Latvia Born in Riga, Latvia. Studied in the Art School of Rozental, the Latvian Academy of Arts and private studios of the famous painters and teachers Abram Bikov and Vitaly Karkunov. Participates in exhibitions since 1987. Awards: 1991 – One of the main grants at the International Art Project «Golden Brush» at the Central Painters' House, Moscow, Russia Solo Shows: 2008- Gallery "Antonia", Riga. exhibition "Dream City" 2002 – Open exhibition “Genesis” Austria, Vienna 2002 - «Painting», Blackhead's House, Riga (printed brochure) 2000 - Personal exhibition in Austria, Vienna “Gallery Atelier T” 2000 – Personal exhibition in Riga, Latvia 2000 - Institute of Practical Psyhogy, Riga (printed brochure) 2001 - Gallery «AtelierT», Vienna, Austria 1998 – Joined exhibition with N.Bessonova «Garant», Vienna, Austria 1998 - Gallery «Nelliya», Riga 1998 - Co-project with N.Bessonova «Birds and Fish», Gallery «Nelliya», Riga 1997 - Gallery «Dzintars», Riga 1997 - Insurance Company «New Re» Gallery, Geneva, Switzerland 1997 - Gallery «Rigas Vini», Riga 1997 - Gallery «Goldshidhaus», Gilzenkirken, Germany, with N.Bessonova 1996 – Personal exhibition in “Rigas vini” Gallery, Riga 1996 - Gallery «Sofia», Gilzenkirken, Germany 1991 - Russian Culture Fund, Riga 1991 – Last personal exhibition in Riga Group Shows: 2007 - Museum der stad Bad Ischl”Genesis2000” 2007 -“Art Innsbruck” International Messe. 2004 - Showcase of Latvian painters dedicated to Latvia joining the EU, museum «Horst Shloss», Germany 2004 - «Hungary by the Latvian Painters», Moscow House, Riga 2003 - «Autumn-2003», Latvian State Art Museum 2003 - Autumn exhibitions of Latvian Painters, Gallery «Nelliya», Riga 2003 - «Abstract Art in Latvian Painting», Latvian State Art Museum 2000-2006 - International Project dedicated to the Book «Genesis», Austria 2002 - «Autumn», Latvian State Art Museum 1999 - Participation in exhibition “Gold of Russian Art” Austria, Vienna, “Gallery Atelier T” 1999 – Participation in projects “Genesis” Austria, Vienna, “Gallery Atelier T” 1997 - «Art Expo» New York, USA 1996 - «Art of the Chosen Ones», Latvian State Art Museum «Arsenal» 1995 - «Surrealism in Works of Latvian Painters», Russian Culture Fund, Riga 1994 - «Christmas Exhibition», Embassy of Poland in Latvia, Riga 1993 - «Art of the Russian Painters», Embassy of Russia in Latvia, Riga 1993 - «Golden Brush», Central Painters' House, Moscow, Russia 1993 - «Latvian Painters», Gallery «Sofia», Germany 1992 – sept.,Oct. – exhibition in Baad Goseberg, Germany 1992 - «Artmyth», International Art Festival, Manezh, Moscow, Russia 1992 - «Latvian Art», Berlin, Germany 1991 – «Reshaping», exhibition in Moscow 1991 - «Golden Brush», Central Painters' House, Moscow, Russia 1991 - «Transformation», Youth Palace, Moscow, Russia 1991 - «Latvian Painters», Belver, Germany 1989 - «Artcontact» National Art Project, Culture House of Railroad workers, Riga 1989 - «Artist and Religion», Riga - Moscow 1988 - «Free Art», Rigas Modes, Riga 1987 - First exhibition with painters A.Alekperov and G.Huckivadze in the Culture House of Railroad workers, Riga Auctions: 2002 - «Doroteum» Vienna, Austria - paintings «Russian Art» and «Portrait of Olga...

Fine Group of Sculptures in Bronze after Jean de Boulogne (Giambologna) The torturously twisting Rape of the Sabine Women is one of the finest and most technically difficult sculpt...

A figurative vertical form with two protrusions on top constructed of melt pressed bronze (heated numerous times, squeezed, and shaped. Includes provenance and hand-signed COA from t...

Important work by the artist, were exhibited at Kunsthalle Recklinghausen, Radical Innovations, 2024-25. Signed lower right. Natalia Dumitresco (or Dumitrescu) was born in Buchare...

This is an outstanding bronze statue of Eutrope Bouret, signed on the base, by the very well-known French artist Eutrope Bouret (1833-1906). French antique bronze sculpture by Eutro...

CARLO RAMPAZZI (b. 1949) Seating Group 2007 Sofa covered in green mohair velvet, supported by a bronze structure slide; Armchairs with shell artisan decoration, with green Haute Cout...

An original acrylic on linen canvas by American artist Martica Miguens. The artist's estate was recently unearthed and acquired by Benjaman Gallery. ...