Walter Quirt was an American artist born on November 24, 1902, in Iron River. He studied art at the Layton School of Art in Wisconsin from 1921–23 and later at the MacDowell Colony in New Hampshire in 1928. He was one of the most vital and active figures of the New York avant-garde art world of the 1930s. He worked for the Works Project Administration painting murals in the mid-1930s. He later moved to Minneapolis and taught art at the University of Minnesota from 1956–68. Early in his career, Quirt painted the social problems of his time in a realistic style. He also involved himself in left-wing causes by illustrating political magazines, such as The Masses and by joining radical artist groups. Quirt was a member of the John Reed Club. After working with socialist themes for many years, Quirt became one of the first American artists to experiment with Surrealism. By the time the Museum of Modern Art held its landmark 1936 exhibition on Surrealism, Walter Quirt was already defining his approach to Surrealism that had been displayed first as early as 1933. Quirt's attitude was that Salvador Dali and others had not taken full advantage of the possibilities that Surrealism offered and that artists using free association to explore the language of emotions on problems the public feels but has not the means for projecting into actualities was a positive move. Quirt's painting reflects a subliminal consciousness that is based on Hegelian theories of metaphysics and psychoanalysis and James Joyce’s literature. Quirt's dreams supplied this disturbing theatrical imagery of interlacing color and distorted clown figures. Quirt's style shifted late in his New York career when he abandoned the social realist politics and imagery that had dominated his early years as an artist and activist. One possible source for this new manner of imagery after the social realism that had dominated his earlier career might have been Roberto Matta's first one-person exhibition at Julien Levy Gallery in 1940. Almost certainly, Quirt would have seen these paintings that incorporated staining, overlays, wiping, lines of straight and smeared character and multi-faceted forms. Many of Quirt's paintings of this period follow this active and colorful format. Quirt's painting shows fragmented, sometimes ‘harlequin-esque’ figures. In doing so, he makes a uniquely American Surreal picture that, at the same time, resonates with the work of many European émigrés who had recently fled to America to escape Nazi persecution. He had a retrospective exhibition of his work in 1960 through the American Federation of Arts and he showed during his career at the Art Institute of Chicago, Whitney Museum of American Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Brooklyn Museum and the Detroit Institute of Arts. Quirt died on March 19, 1968, in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
$35,000
Geometric Abstract American Oil WPA Color Field Abstraction Modern Non Objective
By Walter Quirt
Located in New York, NY
American artist Walter Quirt painted this modernist non objective geometric abstract oil color field during the WPA era in the 1930s. Abstraction, 12 x 16 inches. Oil on canvas. Sig...
Canvas, Oil
Few More
By Frank Arnold
Located in Fresno, CA
"Few More" Oil on Canvas with broad range of blues and sienna accented foreground. Frank Arnold is thought by many to be one of the foremost abstract figurative painters and sculptor...
Canvas, Oil
Oil on Canvas “BS Trust”
By Frank Arnold
Located in Fresno, CA
“BS Trust” is 36” x 36”. Frank Arnold’s paintings exhibit the highest quality materials for a truly archival piece, created to last generations. Much of Frank Arnold’s work is sourc...
Canvas, Oil
Forgot 7
By Frank Arnold
Located in Fresno, CA
"Forgot 7" Oil on Canvas features an abstract form surrounded by characters and a surreal landscape. The canvas is painted with shades of green, blue, yellow, and white. Frank Arnold is viewed as one of the foremost abstract figurative painters and sculptors of our time. He is a living master guided by a personal mission to “turn on a light in the human soul,” through his passionate creation of “Messengers” from his deeper mind connection with Carl Jung's archetypal images, the collective unconscious, and Jungian Synchronicity. These unconscious forms from his deeper mind resonate as personal messages of universal acceptance, reaching out to the viewer. Arnold has been honored as IAD Artist of the year 2018 by International Artist Day, and 2013 FAC Horizon Artist Award. He has exhibited his artwork in numerous galleries and museums and is in collections worldwide. Arnold divides his working days between oil painting in San Jose del Cabo, Baja Sur...
Canvas, Oil
Moving 5
By Frank Arnold
Located in Fresno, CA
“Moving 5” is 60”x 48”. The vibrant yellow surface tones of this piece are broken in several places allowing random glimpses of Arnold’s dreamlike underpainting for a multi-dimension...
Canvas, Oil
Z58
By Frank Arnold
Located in Fresno, CA
"Z58" Oil on Canvas with heavy impasto range of Blue pigments. Frank Arnold is thought by many to be one of the foremost abstract figurative painters and sculptors of our time. He is...
Canvas, Oil
Last Dance
By Frank Arnold
Located in Fresno, CA
Last Dance is an Oil on Canvas painting in soft, light aqua tones with red/brown accents. Frank Arnold is thought by many to be one of the foremost abstract...
Canvas, Oil
Mat 58
By Frank Arnold
Located in Fresno, CA
"Mat 58" Oil on Canvas with wide range of blue pigment and accents of yellow ochre. Frank Arnold is thought by many to be one of the foremost abstract figurative painters and sculpto...
Canvas, Oil
Pure 17
By Frank Arnold
Located in Fresno, CA
"Pure 17" is an oil on Canvas of sharply contrasting blues on a white field. Frank Arnold is thought by many to be one of the foremost abstract figurative painters and sculptors of o...
Canvas, Oil
Studio 1528
By Frank Arnold
Located in Fresno, CA
"Studio 1528" Oil on Canvas presents a bold visage in blues and white on a mixed field dominated by blues and green tone. Frank Arnold is viewed as one of the foremost abstract figurative painters and sculptors of our time. He is a living master guided by a personal mission to “turn on a light in the human soul,” through his passionate creation of “Messengers” from his deeper mind connection with Carl Jung's archetypal images, the collective unconscious, and Jungian Synchronicity. These unconscious forms from his deeper mind resonate as personal messages of universal acceptance, reaching out to the viewer. Arnold has been honored as IAD Artist of the year 2018 by International Artist Day, and 2013 FAC Horizon Artist Award. He has exhibited his artwork in numerous galleries and museums, and is in collections worldwide. Arnold divides his working days between oil painting in San Jose del Cabo, Baja Sur...
Canvas, Oil
Ruler 58
By Frank Arnold
Located in Fresno, CA
"Ruler 58" Oil on Canvas depicts a bold commanding visage in a mixed palette with dominant blues. is a bold visage Frank Arnold is thought by many to be one of the foremost abstract ...
Canvas, Oil
Oil on Canvas "OTL 8"
By Frank Arnold
Located in Fresno, CA
“OTL 8” is 60”x 60”. Central figure of Vibrant to deep reds on a split field of warm beige/coral and deep red/black. The foreground exhibits heavy strokes and Arnold’s “8” and “X” fi...
Canvas, Oil
My Other Side
By Frank Arnold
Located in Fresno, CA
“My Other Side” is 48”x 36”. This is an earlier piece by Arnold from the estate of a late collector of his work. This piece is predominantly shades of red from light to almost black....
Canvas, Oil