Robert Funk Fine Art

This is a painting about a man who travels back into the past and engages himself at a different stage in life. Arnold Friedman worked at the New York City Post Office for four deca...

Arnold Friedman worked as a clerk for decades at the Station Y, the branch at 3rd Avenue and East 67th Street in New York City. This present work was done two years after his retirem...

Wherever You Look, You See The Chrysler Building: Lower East Side. Beyond a 19th-century vermilion brick facade and standing proud and tall in a hazy New York City sky, we see The Ch...

Follow the light and cast away rational assumptions. It will lead you to the sublime. Street Photographer Mitchell Funk captures three statuesque Black Women in formation as they hea...

Birds Eye View - New York City Street Art with Pigeon Connoisseur Visionary Photographer Mitchell Funk takes visual concepts to new heights. In the present photo, Funk takes the p...

Framed Cuban Artist/Caricaturist Conrado Walter Massaguer presents Hollywood star Adolphe Menjou in a satirical dual portrait. In the foreground, the subject is seen in a dapper top hat, tux, fashionable cigarette and boutonnière, and is shown as being the epitome of being stylishly debonair. To make a larger point about this subject, Massaguer paints a cast shadow of Menjou as a burning red devil who studies his alter ego from above. Keeping with the artist's sarcasm, we see the good and bad in one image. Works by Massaguer are rare and this work is in keeping with his signature style. This work was most likely done on assignment for Life Magazine, Cosmopolitan, The New Yorker or Vanity Fair. Signed upper right. Inscribe lower right. Titled on verso. Unframed, Slight bend to board; toning to board; scattered faint foxing; pin point abrasions to margins, not affecting image. 19-1/2 x 15-1/8 inches board size. Conrado Walter Massaguer y Diaz was a Cuban artist, political satirist, and magazine publisher. He is considered a student of the Art Nouveau. He was the first caricaturist in the world to broadcast his art on television.He was first caricaturist to exhibit on Fifth Avenue. He was the first caricaturist in the world to exhibit his caricatures on wood. He, and his brother Oscar, were the first magazine publishers in the world to use photolithographic printing. Self portrait of Conrado Walter Massaguer, depicted on a carrousel ride, with the devil over his left shoulder and an angel over his right. (1945) He created the magazine Social with his brother Oscar to showcase Cuban artistic talent. The duo later created the magazine Carteles, which became for a period the most popular magazine in Cuba, which was purchased by Miguel Ángel Quevedo in 1953. In his life, he met and drew caricatures of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Walt Disney, Albert Einstein, the King of Spain, and many others.[ In sum total, he was the author of more than 28 thousand caricatures and drawings.Ernest Hemingway once had to refrain himself from punching Massaguer in the face after the artist drew an unflattering caricature of him. The dictator Gerardo Machado, however, did not punch Massaguer for his own unflattering caricature - he had the artist deported. He was one of the most internationally renowned Cuban artists of his day, and his art is still regularly featured in galleries across the Western Hemisphere and Europe. Early life Massaguer was born on October 18, 1889, in Cárdenas, Cuba.[In 1892, his family moved to Havana. When the Cuban War of Independence broke out, Massaguer's family escaped the country. From 1896 to 1908, he lived in Mérida, Mexico. However, during this time, his parents enrolled him in the New York Military Academy, where he stayed during school years. In 1905, after graduating the military academy, he briefly attended the San Fernando school in Havana, where he was tutored by Ricardo de la Torriente and Leopoldo Romañach. In 1906, less than a year later, he returned to the family home in Mexico. Career as artist Early career While living in Yucatán, Mexico, Massaguer published his first caricatures in local newspapers and magazines. These included La Campana, La Arcadia, and the Diario Yucateco. In 1908, he moved back to Havana. After returning to the island in 1908, Massaguer began mingling with Havana's aristocratic circles, forming close friendships with some of the city's most powerful and influential men, as well as winning the favor of many women who were quickly charmed by him. Massaguer, largely self-taught, honed his style using the avant-garde techniques he studied from the European and American magazines that were widely available in Cuba at the time. Cover of the immensely popular Cuban magazine El Figaro, drawn by Massaguer in 1909. This cover depicts two bumbling, incompetent American tourists to the island. He started drawing for El Fígaro, and was featured prominently on the cover in 1909. After two years of refining his craft, Havana announced a poster contest aimed at attracting North American tourists to stay in the city during the winter months. Notable figures like Leopoldo Romañach, Armando Menocal, Rodríguez Morey, Jaime Valls, and others also entered the competition. The jury was particularly impressed by the modern execution and creative solution of one piece, signed by Massaguer, who was relatively unknown at the time. The jury deliberations caused a great controversy.[5] The prize was ultimately awarded to the Galician painter Mariano Miguel, who had recently married the daughter of Nicolás Rivero, the wealthy owner of the conservative newspaper Diario de la Marina. Although Massaguer received only an honorable mention, the fraud scandal caused such an uproar that his name quickly entered the public spotlight, and he became an overnight sensation. In 1910, he became co-owner of the advertising agency Mercurio, with Laureano Rodríguez Castells. At Mercurio, he led the Susini cigar campaign, and earned substantial wealth. Massaguer has been described as a restless man, in both mind and body.After earning enough money from his art to begin traveling, he was almost always doing so. He constantly traveled between New York City and Havana, Mexico and France, Europe and the Americas. In 1911, his reputation among the Havana socialites solidified when he organized his own first public caricature exhibit, and also the first Caricature Salon ever held in the Americas, hosted at Athenaeum of Havana (the Ateneo), and the Círculo de La Habana. Other exhibitors here included Maribona, Riverón, Portell Vilá, Valer, Botet, Barsó, García Cabrera, Carlos Fernández, Rafael Blanco, and Hamilton de Grau. "Messaguer Visits Broadway." Caricatures of theatrical and literary figures. Elsie Janis, Raymond Hitchcock, S. Jay Kaufman (columnist), Ibanez, author of The Four Horsemen, and Frances White In 1912, in the New York American Journal, he published his first Broadway drawings. From 1913 to 1918, he was an editor for Gráfico. Social Main article: Social (magazine) Cover of the magazine Social, July 7, 1923 In 1916, he created the magazine Social with his brother, Oscar H. Massaguer. Social's contributors included Guillén Carpentier, Chacón y Calvo, Enrique José Varona and others.Social has been described as Massaguer's great love in the magazine industry, and was the property that historians say he cared the most about. Social was an innovative magazine, being the first magazine in the world to use a modern printing process called photolithographic printing. Social set cultural trends, not only in the fashion of Cuba, but in art, politics, and Cuban identity.[11] Social catered to a certain aesthetic in Cuba - that of the sophisticated elite socialite - but Massaguer would also use this magazine to ridicule and jibe against that same class of society when he found their personalities worthy of his contempt. In Social, readers could find a variety of content, including short stories, avant-garde poetry, art reviews, philosophical essays, and serialized novels, as well as articles on interior design, haute couture, and fashion. Occasionally, the magazine also featured reports on sports such as motor racing, rowing, tennis, and horse riding.The cultural promotion efforts of both Massaguer and Emilio Roig de Leuchsenring are evident in the magazine. Notably, this period overlaps with their involvement in the Minorista Group, which was then at the forefront of the country's intellectual life.[5] Many contributors were devoted members of the group, leading some experts to consider Social as the cultural voice of the Minoristas. One of the features of Social magazine was its section called "Massa Girls," which was a play on his own name, and pronounced with a glottal 'g' in a similar fashion to the letter in Massaguer.[12] Massaguer drew women as independent and free-thinking, and never drew the woman celebrity as a caricature of herself, but as a free agent surrounded by caricatures.[11] However, Massaguer himself has been described as a womanizer in his personal life, and hesitant to fully embrace every facet of women's liberation. In 1916, he also established la Unión de Artes Gráficas and the advertising agency Kesevén Anuncios.[9] The art critic Bernardo González Barroa wrote: “Massaguer has solved the problem of working hard, living comfortably off what his art produces and not missing any artistic, sporting or social event. His broad, childish laugh, of a carefree individual who carries his luck hidden in a pocket, appears everywhere for the moment, disguising the pranks of pupils that lurk, mock and, finally, flash with satisfaction at finding the characteristic point after having analyzed a soul... Massaguer's personality is beginning to solidify now. He has been the best-known and most popular caricaturist for a long time, but his technique had not reached the security, the mastery of values that he presents in his latest works, which is very natural and explainable”[5] Carteles Main article: Carteles Cover of the magazine Carteles, November 29, 1931 In 1919, Massaguer and his brother created the magazine Carteles.[9] Carteles gained the widest circulation of any magazine in Latin America, and the most popular magazine in Cuba for a time, until that title was claimed by Revista Bohemia. Carteles remained in print until July 1960.This magazine showcased Cuban commerce, art, sports, and social life before the revolution. In 1924, Carteles took a more political turn, with articles criticizing Gerardo Machado's government. it became a prime example of the humor and graphic design employed by artists like Horacio Rodríguez Suria and Andrés García...

Mid-century Artist Victory Kalin was too good an artist for his paperback assignments. He was as much a virtuoso graphic designer as an illustrator. The present work exemplifies his ...

Animalier and female illustrator of the Golden Age, Gladys Emerson Cook, draws a tension-filled picture of two Scottish Terriers fighting over a stick. With a few lines, the artist ...

This charming rural winter scene of ice skaters fully displays Norman Rockwell's America, but it was painted by female artist Charlotte Joan Sternberg. She combines the mid-century A...

This work clearly has homosexual overtones which in the mid-'40s was as daring as showing nudity. I am not sure if this was the artist's intention but the salesgirl and the model look identical and she signs it twice Shermond. Added to this is a strobe light effect where the model's image is partly replicated giving the impression of 2 figures. She's lost in thought pondering the notion of removing the bows and seeing the consequences. Meanwhile, the sales girls ( perhaps her alta ego - perhaps an admirer ) eggs her on. Caption: "You can always remove the bows if you think they're too fussy." Cover cartoon for unknown publication - Signed "Shermund" twice in the lower right image, dated on verso, and captioned in graphite in the lower margin. Original Matte and not framed - Barbara Shermund...

The fame, notoriety, and monetary value of an artist's work in today's market are not based on one's talent and vision. Factors such as marketing and media momentum play a defining r...

Most cities have a chaotic visual schema. However, through the lens of veteran Street Photographer Mitchell Funk, anarchy becomes order. In the present work, "Statue of Liberty on a...

Photographer Mitchell Funk shoots silver facades against a deep cobalt blue sky, emphasizing his acute sense of graphic design in street photography. He waits for the perfect light a...

Collier's Magazine Illustration From the Estate of Charles Martignette. Work is framed in a period wood frame Watercolor on board

The mid-century glamour portrait of an elegant, long-necked woman in silhouette with a straw sun hat. Signed and dated Grafstrom Palm Beach 1947 - Condition is good with some scatter...

An elegantly rendered mid-century Parisian model with a stylish hat is masterfully rendered by American female illustrator Ruth Sigrid Grafstrom ...

A wide-angle view of the Midtown skyline is captured from the top of 30 Rock at twilight. The afterglow of the setting sun combined with the self-generated light from the high-rise ...

Mid-century female illustrator/artist Gladys Rockmore Davis paints a compelling portrait of a contemplative beauty who looks like Elizabeth Taylor. Frontal and lateral forces work together in this pyramidal composition. The sitter stares down at the viewer creating a frontal tension. Her hypnotic gaze is counterbalanced by the lateral movement of her crossed hands and triggers an emotional response. Gladys Rockmore Davis is both a work-for-hire illustrator and a fine artist- She was an illustrator for clients such as Upjohn, Munsingwear, Elgin Watches, and Johnson & Johnson. Davis had a show at the prestigious Midtown Gallery and Babcock Gallery in New York. She studied at the California School of Fine Arts, Art Institute of Chicago, and Art Students League. William R. French Gold Medal...

The selection of a perfect day with crisp light and a deep cobalt blue sky provides the ideal setting for Photographer Mitchell Funk to create a precisely designed photograph of East...

Long shadows from early morning light create an abstract pattern in a New York City park. In the right-hand corner, you will see a single figure in the final position of a jump shot,...

With Abstract Expressionist painting, one could argue that the earlier, the more historically important. This stunning non-objective action painting is characterized by vast swaths o...

"Wherever You Look, You See the Chrysler Building: Brooklyn Heights " is captured by Photographer Mitchell and is part of his exhibition, Mitchell Funk Photographs The Chrysler Build...

Funk's highly stylized composition exaggerates the one-point perspective of the Manhattan street grid. It pushes the viewer's eye towards the horizon, where one's focus is on the flo...

"Wherever You Look, You See The Chrysler Building: 2nd Avenue Highrise" is part of a new epic exhibition, Mitchell Funk Photographs The Chrysler Building for 50 Years. The Chrysler B...

Taken from Long Island City, this tightly cropped composition emphasizes bold silhouettes while revealing the interplay of two of New York City's most iconic buildings. The horizonta...

"Wherever You Look You See the Chrysler Building: Tribeca" is captured by Photographer Mitchell and is part of his exhibition, Mitchell Funk Photographs The Chrysler Building for 50 ...

Giraffe Man. A man's acute inquisitive nature creates an unexpected physical change. Initialed R. T. lower left . Framed under glass. Framed size 13.5 x 10.38 Source: Biography f...

Wherever You Look You See The Chrysler Building: United Nations. The present work is part of an exhibition that spans 51 year and is epic in its scope and inventiveness. The work is ...

Tug with Club Street Violence rendered in high contrast dayglow like red and inky black black. Untitled, 2018 Acrylic on canvas 36 x 24-1/4 inches (91.4 x 61.6 cm) Signed and dated ...

Mitchell Funk takes skyscraper photography to new heights in his current exhibition: Mitchell Funk Photographs the Chrysler Building for 50 Years. The present work reimagines the m...

" Wherever You Look You See The Chrysler Building: Third Avenue and 38th St." was photographed looking uptown from the rooftop of a building on Third Avenue and 38th St. In the for...

"Wherever You Look You See The Chrysler Building: The High Line" - It may take a moment, but its presence always seems to be in the picture. At least, that was the case in the past. ...

The Chrysler Building is not only ever-present, but its uniquely shaped spire attracts the eye unlike any other structure. "Wherever You Look, You See The Chrysler Building: Central...

For your consideration, we have a pen and ink drawing of an interpretation of The Three Graces, who strike a pose for a 1930s fashion ad. In Greek mythology, they were goddesses w...

Warm late afternoon light illuminates a view of Mid-Town Manhattan from Brooklyn Heights. The supertalls of New York are lined up like soldiers at attention and are framed by the glo...

Photographer Mitchell Funk demonstrates the link between minimalism and street photography, which is usually associated with a loose snapshot style. The present image fuses differen...

Famed Disney artist Mary Blair was also an illustrator for assignments outside Disney. The present work appears to be for a Gelolo Mchugh children's book called Baby's House. There i...

Saturday Evening Post, Story Illustration Depicts Connecticut train station with possible drunk commuter being assisted by good samaritan Signed lower left Provenance: Illustration ...

Grosset & Dunlap, Illustration, Art Seiden was a top children's book illustrator in the 1950' - 1060's Work comes in two parts that are butted together by the artist

O MARA'S MUNICIPAL TAVERN - Saturday Evening Post Illustration Supreme technical skill allows the artist to realistically capture an...

Flapper Fanny - Female Cartoonist of the Golden Age Sylvia Sneidman was originally a fashion illustrator, but assumed the helm of the famous jazz-age panel cartoon "Flapper Fanny Sa...

A simple yet complex structure always characterizes Mitchell Funk's work. In present work, the first concept is that old New York City icons emerge above new construction. The secon...

The Artist captures a "caught moment" of cloths blowing in the wind. It's being witnessed by an inquisitive bird, while be ducklings and a cute kitty cat accompany her. Signed lower...

Signed lower left: Seymour Ball Inscribed upper left: To Morris E Weiss with best wishes Seymour Ball" Matted not framed

Framed Size 28.5 x 21 Jaro Fabry was a brilliant illustrator with a defined style of his own. There is not a brushstroke out of place in his works that appear loosely rendered. He is best known for his depiction of Golden Age of Hollywood...

Quick and loose expressionist portrait of stage and screen actress Paula Laurence Portrait of Paula Laurence (1916-2005). Oil and graphite on linen. Signed top right. Exhibited: "Lil...

Famed female illustrator and satirical caricaturist depicts a scene of three figures in a landscape, seen searching in the tall grass. It appeared on page 96 of Number 5, Hackberry ...

An unobstructed view of lower Manhattan from the observation deck of 30 Rock is obstructed by a figure in a solid red hooded jacket. The figure becomes a dominant abstract shape in ...

A sadistic laughing Devil grinning a big smile is pictured hovering over a Hellfire. He is reveling while witnessing tiny ant-like sinners engage in eternal torture, torment, and co...

One of the hallmarks of great art is recognizing the artist's style instantly. This is the case with Richard Erdoes. His highly stylized comic figures are expressive and communicate the story delightfully and joyfully. Even though this work is rendered in flat, minimalistic two colors, the inventive shape relationships and positive and negative areas convey a very high level of artistic skill. The present work was done on assignment for the prestigious Standard Oil ( Exxon's predecessor ) corporation's company magazine, The Lamp. Although not a newstand magazine, The Lamp had the highest editional and artistic content. Work is unsigned and unframed. Richard Erdoes (Hungarian Erdős, German Erdös; July 7, 1912 – July 16, 2008) was an American artist, photographer, illustrator and author. Early life Erdoes was born in Frankfurt,to Maria Josefa Schrom on July 7, 1912. His father, Richárd Erdős Sr., was a Jewish Hungarian...

Street Photographer Mithcell Funk captures the Chrysler Building as it stands between two neighbors. Compositional exactitude adds to the overall visual appeal of Funk's formal compo...

Brilliant Italian Illustrator Gianni Benvenuti paints a moody fantasy that illustrates an Australian Fairy Tale. A young and fit Aboriginal man is scene chasing a beautiful Aborigin...

Famed American Illustrator Paul Davis of 1968 Che Guevara poster fame illustrates an article about Whisky from Ireland, Scotland, Canada, and the United States. He executes the wor...

Wherever you look, you see the Chrysler Building, which is particularly true from the Lower East Side. Street Photograph Mitchell Funk isolates a red pre-war parking sign from a busy...

Wherever You Look, You See The Chrysler Building. A Third Avenue bus creates a blur of color as it passes in front of the Chrysler Building. Photographer Mitchell Funk took the pres...

In a continuing project, "Mitchell Funk Photographs the Chrysler Building for 50 years," the present work is a stellar example of how Funk takes one of the most photographed world i...

A transformative photograph with emotive color emerges from the lens of Photographer Mitchell Funk. For him, it's about capturing extreme light as it strikes form. In the present i...

A typical street scene in New York City's Tribeca neighborhood is photographed unexpectedly. Pedestrians are depicted walking in front of a reflective surface, which results in a typ...

Famed Illustrator Isadore Seltzer paints a fantasy folk guitar in a surreal setting. The viewer looks down at the guitar as it rests in bold red space where foreground and sky blend ...

This Mid-Century illustration/painting is rendered in a Neo-Classical style and showcases young lovers in a morning embrace. The man is holding a small bouquet as the woman leans int...