William Frederick Foster was an American artist, painter and sculptor, born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1883. He became a noted figure painter and illustrator, living the last 21 years of his career in Los Angeles, California. At the age of 12 years, he moved with his family to Colorado, but in 1898, he returned to Cincinnati and enrolled at the Art Academy, where he studied with Joseph Henry Sharp and Frank Duveneck. Foster's early ambition was to be a violinist, but he was re-focused on fine art, when he saw a painting by Albert Beck Wenzell. In 1902, he went to New York City, where he painted scenery for theaters, auditoriums and large department stores. He also studied at the New York School, with Robert Henri and William Merritt Chase.
From 1903–31, Foster worked as an illustrator and had a brief teaching stint, in 1919, at the Art Institute of Chicago. In 1903, he sold his first illustration, a depiction of high society, to Life magazine, with the style very similar to Wenzell. From that time onwards, he worked for most of the major magazines, including Collier's, The Saturday Evening Post and Harper's Monthly. In 1926, he won the National Academy of Design's Thomas B. Clarke Prize, for the best figure composition painted in the United States by a non-academician. The following year, Foster was voted an Associate Member, based on his recognition for a figure work titled, The Girl in Brown.
During World War I, Foster operated his own ambulance in France, as a member of the American Volunteer Motor Ambulance Corps and also received mention as a camoufleur artist. Returning to the U.S., he resumed his illustration work and moved to Chicago, where he taught at the Art Institute. He moved to Los Angeles, in 1932 and devoted his energy to painting, exhibiting and teaching. He taught at the Chouinard School of Art, in Los Angeles and gave private classes in his studio. Foster also worked on a mural project at the Hearst estate, in Wyntoon, California and was an active member of the California Art Club.
“Show me the mystery of this lock...” Story illustration for Cosmopolitan
By William Frederick Foster
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Story illustration for “The Illustrious Prince: The Ball at Devenham House” by E. Phillips Oppenheim for Cosmopolitan, published February 1910, page 355. The full caption reads: ...
Oil
Untitled, Harper's Monthly 1917
By William Frederick Foster
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Medium: Oil on Canvas Signature: Signed Lower Left Harper's Monthly, 1917.
Canvas, Oil
$1,059
H 35.04 in W 35.04 in D 0.4 in
Swan Lake: large art deco period French post impressionist landscape painting
By Marius Petit
Located in Norwich, GB
A stunning and atmospheric painting by Marius Petit (1882-1960). It dates from the 1920s, the height of the art deco period. Glorious, scintillating and beautifully coloured; it is a...
Canvas, Oil
The Solemn Morris Dancer
By Yosl Bergner
Located in London, GB
Oil on board Image size: 5 3/4 x 7 inches (14.5 x 17.75 cm) As can be seen in this painting, Surrealism served as a source of inspiration for Bergner, though he did not consider himself a surrealist but a lover of stories, and indeed narrative elements appear frequently in his work. He uses the “displacement” element, as the Surrealists did, and that is detaching the figures, objects or landscapes from the logical context and into a poetical-magical climate. Nissim Aloni noted in 1983 He paints as though to install stabilizers against the turbulence of the dream, and perhaps these stabilizers serve him in time as a touchstone'. The Artist Yosl Bergner was born in Vienna, Austria, in 1920 and grew up in Warsaw, Poland. With rampant anti-Semitism in Europe, the Freeland League for Jewish Territorial Colonization was formed in the United States in July 1935, to search for a potential Jewish homeland. Soon afterwards a pastoral firm in Australia offered the League about 16,500 square kilometres (6,400 sq mi) in the Kimberleys, stretching from the north of Western Australia into the Northern Territory. As history showed, the plans went nowhere. But for a time, the Australian idea was at least worth considering. Bergner's father, Melech Ravitch, became involved in a serious investigation of the Kimberley Plan. In this way the Bergner family moved to Australia. Yosl emigrated to Australia in 1937 and studied in the National Gallery School in Melbourne. During World War II he served for four and a half years in the Australian Army, and later continued his studies at the Art School. In Melbourne from 1937–48, Bergner befriended many of the local artists who now epitomize modern Australian art: Sidney Nolan, Albert Tucker...
Oil, Board
$68,647
H 25 in W 20.5 in
The Distraction, Late 19th Century Oil Painting, Orientalist
Located in London, GB
Walter Charles Horsley 1855 – 1921 The Distraction Oil on canvas, signed lower left Image size: 25 x 20 1/2 inches (63.5 x 52 cm) Orientalist ha...
Canvas, Oil
$1,766Sale Price|40% Off
H 21.26 in W 25.2 in
French academic painter - 18th-19th century neoclassical reclining nude
Located in Varmo, IT
French painter (18th–19th century) - Reclining Female Figure. 44 x 54 cm (without frame) - 54 x 64 cm (with frame). Oil on canvas laid on panel, in a carved and gilded wooden frame...
Canvas, Oil
$875
H 21 in W 25 in D 2 in
Impressionist Water’s Edge Tropical Landscape with Banyan Tree
Located in San Francisco, CA
On offer is an idyllic, tropical waterside landscape featuring a traditional thatched-roof hut tucked beneath an expansive, dense banyan tree. The unknown artist utilized a rapid, co...
Masonite, Oil
$890
H 23.4 in W 28.2 in D 0.5 in
1869 Romantic Alpine Landscape Oil Painting Monk Meeting at Wayside Cross Signed
Located in Stockholm, SE
This atmospheric antique oil painting, signed and dated 1869 by E. Dahlberg, captures a picturesque mountain landscape, likely in the Alps. The composition focuses on a quiet narrati...
Canvas, Wood, Oil
$1,150
H 24 in W 12 in
"Lovely Day" (2025), Original Contemporary Acrylic Barn Painting on Canvas
By Justin Wheatley
Located in Denver, CO
Justin Wheatley's "Lovely Day" is an original, handmade acrylic painting depicting a macro of a white barn. Justin Wheatley was born and raised in Clinton, Utah. He holds a Bachelor...
Canvas, Oil
Farm in the Mist, Giverny
By Theodore Earl Butler
Located in Milford, NH
An exceptional impressionist landscape of a farm in the mist in Giverny, France by American artist Theodore Earl Butler (1891-1936). Butler was born in Co...
Canvas, Oil
Young girl portrait
By Jacob Ferdinand Voet 1
Located in BELEYMAS, FR
Circle of Jacob Ferdinand Voet Portrait of a Little Girl Oil on canvas H. 44 cm; W. 38 cm Unsigned This delicate portrait of a child, from the circle of Jacob Ferdinand Voet, demons...
Canvas, Oil
$19,000
H 14 in W 22.5 in D 1 in
Twin Calves, San Rafael looking to Mt. Tamalpais -Turn of the Century Landscape
By Gordon Coutts
Located in Soquel, CA
Twin Calves, San Rafael looking to Mt. Tamalpais -Turn of the Century Landscape by Gordon Harrower Coutts Charming and significant turn of the century landscape painting of two calv...
Canvas, Oil
Head Study
Located in London, GB
Joseph-Auguste Rousselin French 1841 - 1916 Head Study Oil on board, signed with initials and signed verso Image size: 12 x 11 inches This head study provides an unbelievably moving portrait of an androgynous sitter. Employing incredible technique, the artist has achieved the highly finished porcelain skin, thoughtful eyes and pink lips of the sitter with incredible softness. The unfinished quality of the background make the composition of the work particularly satisfying to the modern eye. Loosely sketched dashes and brushy swoops outline the model's head. The mix of finished and more expressive elements reveals the artist's brilliant eye, technique and personality. Artistically, Rousselin does not seem to be influenced by the friendships that he forged with the Impressionists but rather he has remained rather faithful to the academic technique of William Bouguereau, whose studio he also used to frequent. This study is certainly comparable to the work by Bouguereau, specifically his graceful portraits of women. Bouguereau championed the traditional academic style and his methods were taught to him by a pupil of Ingres. Similar academic inspiration is apparent in this work, from the conscious posing of the subject to the evenly laid colours. Indeed, alike the work of Bouguereau this follows the same classical approach to composition, form and subject matter. The Artist Born in Paris in 1841, Rousselin grew up to be a French painter and art collector. From a young age he studied in the workshops of Charles Gleyre and Thomas Couture, here he met the young impressionist generation. His studio peers included Auguste Renoir, Alfred Sisley and Édouard Manet, with whom he forged strong bonds of friendship. It was at his invitation that his two friends Renoir and Sisley exhibited at the Salon of the Society of Friends of the Arts in Pau, a region where Rousselin had family ties. Manet invited him to his family home in Boulogne-sur-Mer where he had him pose in the summer of 1868 for 'Le Déjeuner dans l'Atelie'. Rousselin can be seen in the background of the painting as the man with the cigar, wearing a grey hat...
Oil
$3,500
H 26.75 in W 12 in
Daisy Floral Still Life, Early 20th Century Cleveland School Artist
By August Biehle
Located in Beachwood, OH
August Biehle (American, 1885-1979) Flower Still Life, c. 1907 Oil on board Signed lower right 23.25 x 15.5 inches 26.75 x 18.5 inches, framed A versatile painter who worked in a v...
Oil
Sold
H 49.75 in W 35.75 in D 1.5 in
"Mary on the Bath" Impressionist Peach-Toned Nude Female Portrait Painting
By William Frederick Foster
Located in Houston, TX
Peach-toned nude female portrait oil painting titled "Mary on the Bath". The painting is signed by the artist on the back of the canvas. The painting is currently framed. Dimensions Without Frame: H 44 in. x W 30 in. Artist Biography: As a child William Frederick Foster and his family moved to Colorado, but he returned to Cincinnati in 1898 and enrolled at the Art Academy. He studied with Joseph Henry Sharp and Frank Duveneck. he was also an amateur musician. In 1902, he went to New York City where he painted scenery and studied at the New York School with Robert Henri and William Merritt Chase. From 1903 to 1931 he worked as an illustrator, with a brief teaching stint in 1919 at the Art Institute of Chicago. He sold his first illustration to "Life" magazine in 1903. After that he worked for most of the major magazines including "Collier's", "The Saturday Evening Post", and "Harper's Monthly". He won the National Academy of Design's Clark Prize (1926) for the best figure composition painted in the United States by a non-academician. The following year, he was voted an Associate Member based on recognition for "The Girl in Brown." After the War he moved to Los Angeles and devoted his energy to painting, exhibiting, and teaching. He taught at the Chouinard School of Art in Los Angeles and gave private classes in his studio. He also worked on a mural project at the Hearst estate...
Canvas, Oil
Before the Ball
By William Frederick Foster
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Oil, Canvas