William Lester Stevens Art

This framed 19.875" x 16" oil painting on canvas by Oklahoma-based artist James Cobb depicts a strand of river birch trees in freshly fallen snow. at the he...

Born in Russia, the son of Friede (1878 – 1956) and Benjamin Hoffman (1878 – a. 1942). Benjamin was a dealer in mineral and seltzer water and the family resided on Snediker Avenue in Brooklyn, New York, just down the streetfrom the home where George Gershwin (1898 – 1937) was born. This area of Brooklyn, known as Brownsville, “witnessed the development of one of the largest communities of Eastern European Jewish immigrants during the last decade of the 19th century and the first two decades of the 20 th century.” Today, little remains of this once thriving Jewish section of Brooklyn, which today houses many commercial and repair businesses. Hoffman studied at the Art Students League of New York, the National Academy of Design and in the art program at Cooper Union. His work at the National Academy received praise, and in 1921 he was awarded the 2nd prize and an honorable mention from the John Armstrong Chaloner Paris Prize Foundation at the National Academy, which allowed the recipient to study in Paris, France for as long as five years. The following year he was awarded the 1 st prize in the competition (with The Reform Advocate running the headline “Young Jew Wins Art Prize”) as well as the Suydam Bronze Medal for his achievements in the Academy’s Men’s Night Class. In 1923 he was residing in Long Branch, New Jersey, when he was awarded 4th place in the Chaloner competition. Early on, Hoffman exhibited his work throughout the city, including in 1925 with the recently organized Society of Independent Artists. He also received several solo exhibitions during the first part of his career, including one at Ferargil Galleries in 1929. In the spring of 1930 a solo exhibition of his portraits, including paintings and drawings, was held at at Babcock Galleries, where a reviewer noted: “Portraiture is obviously Mr. Hoffman’s specialty… his best work is characterized by a sensitive appreciation of character set down in a vigorous decisive statement. Later that same year, in August, he participated in Babcock’s summer exhibition where reviewer Jerome Klein, writing for The Baltimore Sun, felt Hoffman’s and other artists work was already becoming old fashioned, remarking “…if an effort toward accomplishment is to be made, it must be in the language of today. It is for that reason that such contemporaries as Eugene Higgins and Nathan Hoffman, in this show, seem artists of a bygone era…” The onset of the Great Depression appears to have slowed his success, as was the case for many up-and-coming artists. By 1939 Hoffman had become a gallerist in addition to being a painter, operating the collective exhibition space “Sutton Gallery,” which was originally located at 358 East 57th Street. There Hoffman exhibited his own works as well as those created by other prominent New York artists including David Burliuk (1882 – 1967), Charles C. Curran (1861 – 1942), Louis Eilshemius (1864 – 1941), Ann Goldthwaite (1869 – 1944), Maurice Kish (1895 – 1987), Lawrence Lebduska (1894 – 1966), Bradford Perin and Ellis Wilson...

Acquiring a mid-20th-century Fauvist painting by Wilhelm Henning is an opportunity to own a piece of art that captures the vibrant spirit and expressive color palette of the Fauvist ...

An oil painting of a Hamptons beach, Foster's Memorial Beach in Sag Harbor. A small rosebush in the foreground. A few beach umbrellas are posted along the shoreline. Nelson H. White...

An exceptional impressionist beachside scene with figures and powerful clouds by American artist Augustus B. Koopman (1869-1914). Koopman was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, initially studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine arts, and going on to live a large portion of his short life in Paris, studying at the Academie Julian and the Ecole des Beaux Arts, painting many of his marine and figure paintings on the coast at Etaples, near Belgium. Among his teachers were William Bouguereau, Benjamin Constant, and Tony Robert-Fleury. He was well known for his genre, maritime, landscape, figure, and portrait paintings. His drypoints and etchings can be found in both the Congressional and New York Public Libraries, and his painting “Vision of the Grand Canyon” is displayed in the Santa Fe Railway...

This atmospheric painting depicts Kornhamnstorg in Gamla stan during the quiet hours of evening. The scene unfolds along the waterfront where the historic square meets the water, wit...

Pair of romantic Bavarian paintings is an old master artwork realized in 1889 by the master Karl Adolf Wilhelm Chelius (1856-1923). Mixed colored oil panting on...

A wonderful depiction of an Autumn landscape in Kent, Connecticut from the Mid-20th Century with puffed trees by the country side. For this beautiful depiction, we find distinct elements that are unique to the earlier works of George Lawrence...

Joan Parker (20th C.) "Homestead" Oil on Canvas 11 x 14 inches 13 x 16 framed Joan Parker, is a Plein Air landscape painter and a native of California. Her artistic abilities were...

A very lovey Impressionist painting depicting spring wildflowers in the desert near Palm Springs, California. In a classic, carved, gold leaf frame. Frame dimensions are 30 x 40 inch...

A lively and colorful winter scene oil painting depicting a snowy hill by the village with people sledding and skiing with much depth and detail. Capturing a cozy winter magic scene,...

Joan Parker (20th C.) "Straw Fields" Oil on Canvas Canvas Size: 10 x 20 inches Framed Size: 21 x 31 inches Joan Parker, is a Plein Air landscape painter and a native of California....