Renaissance Man Antiques

Vivid and powerful, this large Art Deco mural study was painted by Elsa Jemne for the Northern States Power Building in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1930-31. The painting shows a nude mal...

Although both sides of this drawing show male figures from different viewpoints, indicating Paul Goadby Stone's use of the paper to think out his ideas and capture the moment, each i...

Extremely rare, perhaps unique, this 1937 cast iron footed urn was made to celebrate the Schützenfest or marksmanship competition which took place in Zurich and nearby Uster, Switzer...

This bold and vivid lamp from the late 1920s captures a phenomenon that started in the late 19th century and continued into the Art Deco period -- female figures dancing with flowing veils and fluttering fabrics. Loïe Fuller began the trend in the 1890s and early 1900s, and later Ruth St. Denis danced with veils and diaphanous fabrics in America. Here, the body of the lamp -- produced by Muncie pottery...

Like so many WPA sculptures from the 1930s and 40s which valorized and celebrated the American worker, this classic wall-mounted work depicts a lumberjack at rest, his ax at his feet...

This scene of a nude young knight riding a pale horse, his left arm raised high with an olive branch, surrounded by nude courtiers and putti all hand painted in a jewel-toned array o...

A superb example of Sweden's elegant take on Art Deco -- sometimes referred to as Swedish Grace -- this cup or beaker was designed by Erik Fleming and made by Norrahammars Bruk for t...

Sleek and sensual, this large, extraordinary porcelain sculpture was created by Kai Nielsen, Denmark's leading figurative sculptor in the first decades of the 20th century. Nielsen w...

Rare and stunningly detailed, this brass box covered with low-relief scenes illustrating swells enjoying the high life of the late 1920s was made by the Aerozon company in Berlin. O...

A masterpiece of figural, Mid Century drawing, this depiction of a nude male figure leaning forward was made by Paul Goadby Stone, who was active in ...

Moody and atmospheric, this surrealist painting by James Owen Mahoney depicts a pair of heavily robed figures walking by a white, stuccoed building with a tower overhead -- no doubt ...

Designed by Buckley MacGurrin and woven by Atelier Pinton, one of Aubusson's renowned weavers, this large tapestry depicts a noble Aztec leader, arrayed in a splendid headdress and holding symbols of his office. The colors of the wool yarn used for this piece are still vibrant and vivid, and the tapestry virtually glows 60 years after it was made. MacGurrin studied and exhibited in Paris for years, but had roots in the Midwest and is strongly identified with California as well. He served as a Hollywood set designer in the 1920s before going to Paris, and again for Paramount Studios when he returned to California in the 1930s, but he also exhibited at the Stendahl Art Galleries and Dalzell Hatfield Gallery in Los Angeles. MacGurrin worked with the Federal Art Project during the Depression, eventually becoming the supervisor for Los Angeles County and Santa Barbara, and executed a number of murals in Southern California, including a set for the Los Angeles County Art Museum. Dalzell Hatfield worked with an array of artists -- including Jean Goodwin Ames, Reynold Arnould, Mary Bowling, Russell Cowles, Edgar Ewing, Michael Frary, Richard Haines, Jean Lurcat, Dan Lutz...

This highly important study -- entitled "Calvarymen Crossing a River" -- was made for the 1939 WPA mural by Jared French installed in the main Richmond post office, one of his first ...

Brilliantly conceived and executed by one of Sweden's masters of the modern style we now call "Art Deco", this watercolor and gouache painting consists of a body of text offering wor...

One of the rarest, and finest, 20th century images of nude male figures in the open air, this print by Georg Jahn depicts a pair of young men taking their horses to the edge of a lak...

This stunning depiction of Diana with her bow and arrow, a black deer behind her, was painted by Arthur Crisp on wood panel. Crisp first cut into the gessoed panel with shallow incis...

This quiet and lovely depiction of a mother and child reading an alphabet book is charming for good reason -- it is a close variant of a well-known circa 1905 painting entitled "The ...

This bold, strong view of a blonde youth -- his name was Daniel Orrick -- was made by Johan Hagemeyer, an important California photographer who was encouraged to pursue his work by n...

This brilliant depiction of Leda and the Swan, a nude female figure and outstretched black swan illustrating the classic mythological story, was painted by Arthur Crisp on wood panel...

Bold and monumental, this remarkable depiction of a nude Prometheus, kneeling and with his arms chained to the rock, was sculpted by Pierre-Alfred-Noël Cazaubon in the 1930s, probabl...

This important architectural rendering captures one of the most significant 1930s Moderne designs coming out of France and North Africa -- Dar es Saada, now known as Villa Majorelle ...

Painted by Hans Erni, one of Switzerland's most celebrated painters in the years after World War II, this oil on canvas picture from 1965 depicts a kneeling nude male figure overlapp...

This bold and vivid portrait of boxer Umberto Pittori, painted during the 1936 Olympics in Germany, is a striking view of an Italian athlete painted by a Swedish artist in Germany. ...

A superb example of Swedish Grace design, this 3-candle bronze candelabra features, at its center, a childlike figure holding a laurel branch above her head, and a swag of Classical ...

These elegant and high-style Art Deco pierced sculptural panels, very rare, depict two tall, slender, impossibly elegant figures on the beach: a tall, athletic young man in a swimsui...

A lively and vivid example of high style Art Deco design, this lidded urn features a smiling satyr, his face and cap laced with leaves and flowers in a primary palette of blue, red a...

Early and important in the oeuvre of Gaston Goor, this beautifully considered drawing of two male nudes sealing a sarcophagus was clearly influenced by the work of Michelangelo and o...

A classic example of fine, beautifully-crafted Art Deco design, this sculpture depicts a golden, streamlined diver plunging toward a circular pool with stepped-back edges and steps t...

Showing the influence of Cubism and Art Deco, this lovely drawing of a female nude in a topsy-turvy interior -- with a curvy lamp echoed by turned wood posts for bed or stairway -- w...

This powerful and sensitive sculpture of a nude male archer -- presenting a classic Art Deco motif in a convincing new way -- was sculpted by Margit Csizmadia...

Bold and handsome, this five-light wrought iron candelabra features two rampant dragons in silhouette at its center, surrounded by leaves and tendrils as if the dragons were in their...

Designed, no doubt, in 1947 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the first United States postage stamp, this lovely porcelain letter rack made by the famed Rookwood pottery is bathe...

Bold and substantial, this high style Art Deco low bowl, glazed in sky blues and golden yellows, features a stylized, rearing deer below an arching tree with oversized foliage. This ...

Important both artistically and historically, this extremely rare, large sculptural rondel by Arthur Lee depicts a long, lean nude Mercury figure floating in the cosmos -- suspended ...

This depiction of a seated male dancer, his dark eyes looking intently into the distance, was made by Emlen Etting, a Philadelphia artist who was active in the decades after World Wa...

Extremely rare and striking, this large and beautiful caviar server, surmounted by a sculpted figure of Athena holding her shield, was designed and sculpted by Jaroslav Horejc for Sa...

A remarkable and arresting later work by Larry Rivers, one of America's most important post-War Modernists, this drawing (entitled "Picasso's Choice" by Rivers) depicts Pablo Picasso...

Important and beautifully painted, this depiction of the handsome god Adonis, weak and stumbling after a wild boar attack, was made by Erik Stæhr-Nielsen, a Danish artist, in 1921. ...

Painted by an important Spanish artist depicting a likely Swedish gentleman living in France, this portrait was made in 1929 at the height of the Jazz Age, just before the Depression...

Monumental and bold, this Mid Century charger or low bowl was made by the Helré pottery works in Vallauris, the same small French town that is kno...

This stunning, Art Deco portrait of Two Guns White Calf, a chief of the Piegan Blackfeet tribe in Montana, exemplifies the stylized, bold drawings of Winold Reiss, who portrayed a se...

Sensitively and beautifully painted, this portrait of a young man, blond-haired, ruddy-complexioned and nude, was painted in the 1950s by Vito Tomasello. The subject is looking down...

Stunning in conception and execution, this unique set of wine/liqueur carafe and nine glasses in a smoky hue are all hand decorated with sporting and mountaineering scenes in enamel....

An extraordinary example of Art Deco painting, all alacrity and speed, this work by Harry Spanner depicts the 5th-century B.C. Athenian courier who was the central figure in the stor...

Many a Baby Boomer will recall growing up with a bookshelf lined with classic novels issued by The Heritage Press with newly-commissioned illustrations by celebrated artists of the d...

A brilliant example of Stile Littorio or Italian Rationalist design promulgated by Mussolini in 1930s Italy, this original drawing by Armando Bernabiti depicts his proposal for a str...

Painted in a rich, deep palette of ruddy browns and grays, this 1929 masterpiece by Paul Tchelichew (or Tchelichev) depicting a nude male torso, the figure's hand on his hip, was exe...

Large, rare and spectacular, this Art Deco vase by Rometti depicts four scenes with female nudes: one figure is holding theatrical masks representing comedy and tragedy; another is ...

Superbly conceived and executed, this Mid Century drawing of a young man, probably African American and/or Hispanic, shows the artist's ability to create a mood, capturing the subjec...

Unusual in size and shape, this large Art Deco pitcher-form vase features pine boughs with extravagant sprays of pine needles and pinecones, all expressed in rich, emerald-hued green...

Although Louis Comfort Tiffany is world-renowned for his works in glass and bronze influenced by the Art Nouveau style -- including his stained glass lamps and windows, and his many ...

Elegant and very modern, this 1920s dish by the famed Molaroni ceramic works in Pesaro, just east of San Marino on the Adriatic coast, is further proof of the movement of many Italia...

Soft and ghostly, yet tangible and sensual, this exquisite drawing of a nude male boxer was made by Cecil de Blaquiere Howard in preparation for an important bronze sculpture (offere...

Widely admired for has mastery of the human figure and his ability to draw the nude male in particular, Alexander (or Alejandro) Cañedo here depicts a male figure sitting high on a h...

At a time when painters were increasingly drawn to the grit, emotion and drama of boxing in America -- witness famous paintings and prints by George Bellows and Robert Riggs, for exa...

Full of light and color, this highly evocative watercolor painting by Porter Woodruff depicts a group of Tunisian youth swimming off the beach along Hammamet Gulf in Tunisia, near hi...

Drawn with great economy, yet highly sensual, this depiction of two nude male figures in tight embrace was made by Jacques Azéma, the French artist who spent most of his artistic lif...

Large, bold and provocative, this very rare bronze sculpture depicts a powerful, muscled nude male figure endeavoring to lift an enormous rock, his legs splayed and his body tensed t...

Vividly painted in a palette of orange-red, pink, forest green and scarlet, this WPA-period painting of a group of circus performers relaxing between performances was executed by Dor...

Done with confidence and bravura, this trio of pen-and-watercolor paintings showing male nudes, singly and in pairs, was clearly executed by a skilled artist. They are not signed, b...