“A storyteller with a brush, a custodian of the past” is how illustrator Tom Lovell once described himself. Lovell is regarded as one of the 20th century’s leading Western artists, with his work including figurative paintings of important historical events, portraits of homespun American life and thought-provoking illustrations for publications such as Life, National Geographic and The Saturday Evening Post.
Born in 1909 in New York City, Lovell spent his childhood in Nutley, New Jersey, where he developed a keen interest in art and Native American culture. He often visited New York’s American Museum of Natural History, where he would sketch Native American clothing, weapons and artifacts.
Lovell studied art at Syracuse University, where he roomed with future well-known illustrator Harry Anderson. While there, he began his illustration career by selling his work to pulp magazines. Later, he illustrated for publications such as The American, Cosmopolitan and Women’s Home Companion.
During World War II, Lovell enlisted with the Marine Corps Reserve and created illustrations for the Marine Corps’s Leatherneck magazine and the Marine Corps Gazette. He also completed several large paintings chronicling historical military events; they are now displayed at the Marine Corps headquarters in Washington, DC.
After the war, Lovell continued illustrating for magazines like Collier’s, Redbook, Ladies’ Home Journal and McCall’s, which featured “Day of Yellow Flowers,” one of his better-known illustrations. He contributed a series of historical works, including his famous Civil War painting “Surrender at Appomattox,” to National Geographic.
Throughout the 1960s, he was increasingly fascinated with the American Southwest. In 1975, Lovell and his family moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he found inspiration for his landscapes that depict Native American and Old West culture.
Lovell received numerous accolades throughout his career. In 1974, the Society of Illustrators named him a Hall of Fame Laureate. In 1992, the National Academy of Western Art and National Cowboy Museum honored him with a Lifetime Achievement Award. Lovell is the only artist to have won the National Cowboy Museum’s invitational Prix de West exhibition twice.
Lovell died in 1997. His illustrations and paintings continue to be prized by Western art and Americana collectors.
On 1stDibs, discover a range of Tom Lovell’s paintings.
"You love my island already” Story illustration for Woman’s Home Companion
By Tom Lovell
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Original magazine story illustration for “A Summer to Remember” by Marjorie Marks for Woman’s Home Companion, published January 1948, pages 20-21. The full caption reads: “‘You love ...
Canvas, Oil
Penobscot Bay Expedition
By Tom Lovell
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Medium: Oil on Board Signature: Signed Lower Right Tom Lovell was well known for his thought provoking illustrations for Life magazine, The Saturday Evening Post and National Geographic. He was the first artist to win the National Academy of Western Art's highest honor, the Prix de West, twice. This lot was painted circa 1960 just before he was commissioned to paint a series of Civil War battle...
Oil, Board
Spring in Carmel Valley Sycamores Landscape
By H. Vanderhoof
Located in Soquel, CA
Impasto oil painting of a Carmel Valley Sycamore Grove. Presented in a wood frame. Signed lower left "H. Vanderhoof." Image, 20"H x 24"L.
Canvas, Oil, Cardboard
$699
H 21.75 in W 28 in D 0.13 in
Mid Century Country Lane Figurative Landscape with Autumn Trees
Located in Soquel, CA
Quaint pastoral landscape of a figure and dog walking down a country lane amongst tall autumn trees with beautiful fall foliage by Cal Donna Zell (American, 20th Century). Signed "Ca...
Oil, Board
$20,888
H 21.26 in W 28.75 in D 0.79 in
Lively Paris street. 1973. Oil on canvas. 54 x 73cm
By Hiro Yamagata
Located in Riga, LV
Lively Paris street. 1973. Oil on canvas. 54 x 73cm Hiro Yamagata was born near Kyoto, Japan, went to Paris to study art, and considers himself an American artist. In his Los Angeles studio, Yamagata paints minutely detailed scenes of Paris streets, cafes and parks. He captures the essence of the naif style by presenting life in simple terms, and the world in the happiest light. His creative synthesis of photorealist and neo-folk techniques has won countless admirers and collectors. Yamagata's vision is unequivocally cheerful and his imagery is endlessly inventive. He works from a palette of over 100 shades of acrylic paints, and renders in exacting detail with brushes with as small as two hairs. Serigraphs of some of Yamagata's most popular paintings...
Canvas, Oil
$1,740
H 22.25 in W 30.71 in
Antique maritime oil painting, "Sailors in the backlight" by W. L. Range
Located in Berlin, DE
Antique maritime oil painting, "Sailors in the backlight" by W. L. Range This captivating oil painting by W. L. Range is a loving tribu...
Canvas, Oil
$800
H 15.75 in W 19.1 in D 0.79 in
Girls and Ponies: naive surrealist outsider Alice in Wonderland style painting
Located in Norwich, GB
Step into a dreamlike pastoral paradise with this enchanting mid-century oil on canvas by French artist Denise Collet. Titled "Girls and Ponies," this wo...
Canvas, Oil
$1,508
H 15.75 in W 19.69 in D 0.79 in
A Small Port On Turtle Island Near Oslo. Boats, yachts, fjord, Norway, nature
By Anna Shesterikova
Located in Oslo, NO
This painting takes the viewer to one of the secluded islands of the Oslo fjord zone - a place where time seems to stand still. In a small port on Turtle Island (Malmöya), harmony be...
Canvas, Oil
$432
H 5.91 in W 11.82 in D 1.19 in
Pocket White Anemone (c) and Pocket Juicy Red Strawberry diptych, Original Art
By Dani Humberstone
Located in Deddington, GB
This is a diptych ofPocket White Anemone (c) and Pocket Juicy Red Strawberry. Both art works are the same size. Pocket Juicy Red Strawberry is an original oil painting by Dani Humb...
Canvas, Oil
$495,000
H 37.88 in W 47.25 in
Football by Fedor Ivanovich Zakharov
By Fedor Zakharov (b.1882)
Located in New Orleans, LA
Signed in Cyrillic "F. Zakharov" (lower right) and signed again and inscribed "Fedor Zakharov/Football" (on reverse) Oil on card laid down on panel Undoubtedly, football, or socc...
Oil, Panel, Cardboard
$33,753
H 28.5 in W 38 in D 2.5 in
Earthy Brown & Green Abstract Expressionist Art - a Unique Original Painting
By Angela Wakefield
Located in Preston, GB
Earthy Brown & Green Abstract Expressionist Art - a Unique Original Painting - an extremely rare early work from leading British Contemporary Artist, Angela Wakefield. This colou...
Gesso, Canvas, Cotton, Paint, Varnish, Cotton Canvas, Mixed Media, Oil, ...
$432
H 5.91 in W 12.8 in D 1.19 in
Pocket Cabbage and Pocket Peas In A Pod Diptych, Original Painting, Veggies
By Dani Humberstone
Located in Deddington, GB
This is a diptych of Pocket Cabbage and Pocket Peas In A Pod. Please note that the sizes are different Pocket Cabbage is an original oil painting by Dani Humberstone as part of he...
Canvas, Oil
$2,565
H 24.81 in W 24.81 in D 1.38 in
Long Meadow, Original painting, Landscape, Floral Art, Impressionist
By Elaine Kazimierczuk
Located in Deddington, GB
This work comprises a pair of paintings of a meadow called Long Mead, which create a diptych. Although the paintings could be available separately, they compliment one another when h...
Canvas, Oil
$864
H 11.82 in W 11.82 in D 1.19 in
Quadtych of Pocket Selection: 2 Tulips, Strawberry and Bumble bee, Floral Nature
By Dani Humberstone
Located in Deddington, GB
A quadtych of 4 original paintings all created in 2024 by Dani Humberstone. When placed directly beside one another in square formation: 30 H x 30 W x 3 D cm (11.81 x 11.81 x 1.18 in) SIZE OF EACH INDIVIDUAL PAINTING: Image size: Height: 5cm (1.97 in) Width: 5cm (1.97 in) Complete size of unframed painting Height: 5cm (1.97 in) Width: 5cm (1.97 in) Depth: 1cm (0.39 in) Framed Size: Height: 15cm (5.91 in) Width: 15cm (5.91 in) Depth: 3cm (1.18 in) Please note that insitu images are purely an indication of how a piece may look. ____ Pocket Striped Bellona Tulip Pocket Striped Bellona Tulip is an original oil painting by Dani Humberstone as part of her Pocket Painting series featuring small scale realistic oil paintings, with a nod to baroque still life painting. The paintings are set in a black wood layered frame...
Canvas, Oil