Robert Funk Fine Art Landscape Paintings

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...

Bob Peak may be the heir to Norman Rockwell in portraying the American Scene. Yet Peak's graphic representations depart from Rockwell's tight academic style. In the present work from...

Artist Richard Erdoes is as undervalued as he is overlooked. Rarely does an artwork come on that market that combines sharp-witted originality with mind-boggling technical proficiency. In “Mid-Century Expressway,” Erodes painstakingly draws a birds-eye view of a Norman Rockwell-like town buzzing with activity. He paints far away and close up in one image. Each block has its own charming Americana story unfolding. The closer the viewer gets to each scene, the more detail is revealed. In black and white, the artist describes not only the architecture and infrastructure but also human activity - lot's of it. Erodes’s congested town is humming. Overflowing trains, packed busses, zooming cars, stuffed trucks, frenzied pedestrians and even a marching band is depicted with great whit. But do not worry. Progress is coming and all will be well. Superimposed onto this black and white clogged urban scene is a proposed new highway. It's painted in a punchy green and creates an unexpectedly distinct design. The artwork was most likely done for Fortune Magazine or the like. Notice he Esso Gasoline signs...

This painting of a classic nude at a pool, "Hilda at the Pool," is both a portrait and a landscape. Leon Kroll rejected Modernism to triumph in the beauty of Classicism. During his l...

Rooftop view of the upper West Side Manhattan as it looked in the 1930s. There is a rough indication of a billboard and a glimpse of the Hudson River. The cluster of buildings depic...

This meticulously planned, designed, and executed work depicts an ultra-wide angle view of a rock quarry/mine. The viewer looks down at close-up-stylized rock formations and then out at a horizon line with rust-colored mine trestles. Atherton hints at perspective with a broken white line that is wider in the foreground and tapers to a hairline as it recedes to the background. The work was done in 1951 at the height of America's most important art movement: Abstract Expressionism. John Atherton absorbs its influences but retains elements of representation. Atherton was an in-demand commercial artist who worked for most blue-chip clients. It is possible that this was an editorial assignment for Fortune Magazine. At the same time, Atherton was also a fine artist and the work could be an expression of pure creative pursuits. The work looks better in person and one can look at it for hours and not get bored. Look carefully and you may discover a deeper meaning in this painting of precisely arranged rocks. Signed lower right. Brooklyn Museum of Art, New York, sold to benefit the acquisitions program ____________________ From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia John Carlton Atherton (January 7, 1900 - September 16, 1952) was an American painter and magazine illustrator, writer and designer. His works form part of numerous collections, including the Museum of Modern Art,[1] Whitney Museum of American Art and the Smithsonian American Art Museum.[2][3][4] Early Years He was the son of James Chester Atherton (1868-1928) and Carrie B. Martin (1871-1909). He was born in Brainerd, Minnesota.[5] His father was Canadian born. His parents relocated from Minnesota to Washington State, with his maternal grandparents whilst he was still an infant. He attended high school in Spokane, Washington. Career During his early years he never displayed an aptitude for art; rather, his first love being nature and the activities he relished there, mainly fishing and hunting. He enlisted in 1917, serving briefly in the U.S. Navy for a year during World War I. At the end of the war, determined to get an education he worked various part-time jobs, as a sign painter and playing a banjo in a dance band to pay his enrolment fee at the College of the Pacific and The California School of Fine Arts (now the San Francisco Art Institute). Once there, he also worked in the surrounding studios developing his oil painting techniques. A first prize award of $500 at the annual exhibition of the Bohemian Club in 1929, financed his one way trip to New York City, which helped to launch his career as an artist.[6] Atherton had aspired to be a fine artist, however his first paid jobs were for commercial art firms designing advertisements for corporations such as General Motors, Shell Oil, Container Corporation of America, and Dole. However, by 1936, encouraged primarily by friends, such as Alexander Brook, an acclaimed New York realist painter, he returned to the fine arts. Atherton continued to accept numerous commissions for magazine illustrations; such as Fortune magazine, and over the years he would paint more than forty covers for The Saturday Evening Post starting with his December 1942 design, “Patient Dog.” This picture is reminiscent of his friend Norman Rockwell ‘Americana style’ and captures a poignant moment of nostalgia, where a loyal dog looks toward a wall of hunting equipment and a framed picture of his owner in military uniform. Selected One person Exhibitions Atherton accomplished his first one-man show in Manhattan in 1936. His Painting, “The Black Horse” won the $3000 fourth prize from among a pool of 14,000 entries. This painting forms part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art collection in New York.[7] Atherton achieved recognition in New York City and elsewhere during the 1930s. Having exhibited at the Julien Levy Gallery in New York,[8] his paintings began to be collected by museums; including the Museum of Modern Art[9] and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. His reputation increased with his art deco stone lithograph poster for the 1939 New York World's Fair. In 1941, his design won first place in the Museum of Modern Arts “National Defense Poster Competition”. Selected Public Collections Fleming Museum of Art, Burlington, Vermont Albright-Knox Art Gallery,[10] Buffalo, NY Art Institute of Chicago,[11] Chicago Wadsworth Atheneum,[12] Hartford, CT Brooklyn Museum of Art, New York Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York The Museum of Modern Art,[13] New York Whitney Museum of American Art,[14] New York Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts,[15] Philadelphia De Young Museum,[16] San Francisco Smithsonian American Art Museum,[17] Washington DC Butler Institute of American Art[18] Youngstown, OH The Famous Artists School Founded in 1948 in Westport, Connecticut, U.S.A. The idea was conceived by members of the New York Society of Illustrators (SOI), but due to the Society's legal status, could not be operated by it. SOI member Albert Dorne led the initiative to set up a separate entity, and recruited the support of Norman Rockwell, who was also an SOI member. For the founding faculty, Dorne recruited Atherton, as well as accomplished artists such as Austin Briggs, Stevan Dohanos, Robert Fawcett, Peter Helck, Fred Ludekens, Al Parker, Norman Rockwell, Ben Stahl, Harold von Schmidt and Jon Whitcomb.[19] He collaborated with Jon Whitcomb with the book “How I Make a Picture: Lesson 1-9, Parts 1”.[20][21] Society of Illustrators Atherton as an active member from his arrival in New York. The society have owned many of his works. Ex-collection includes: Rocking Horse (ca. 1949) [22] Atherton, as his peers had many of his works framed by Henry Heydenryk Jr.[23] Personal On November 2, 1926, he married Polly “Maxine” Breese (1903-1997).[24][25] They had one daughter, Mary Atherton, born in 1932. Atherton's often chose industrial landscapes, however found himself spending considerable time in Westport, Connecticut, with an active artistic community, and it became home for him, and his family. He then moved to Arlington, Vermont.[26] Norman Rockwell enlisted Atherton in what was to be the only collaborative painting in his career.[27] He was part of a group of artists including a Norman Rockwell, Mead Schaeffer and George Hughes who established residences in Arlington.[28] Atherton and Mead Schaeffer were avid fly fishermen and they carefully chose the location for the group,[29] conveniently located near the legendary Battenkill River. In his free time, Atherton continued to enjoy fly-fishing.[30] He brought his artistic talent into the field of fishing,[31] when he wrote and illustrated the fishing classic, “The Fly and The Fish”.[32] He died in New Brunswick, Canada in 1952,[33] at the age of 52 in a drowning accident while fly-fishing.[34] Legacy The Western Connecticut State University holds an extensive archive on this artist.[35] His wife, Maxine also published a memoir “The Fly Fisher and the River” [36] She married Watson Wyckoff in 1960. Ancestry He is a direct descendant of James Atherton,[37][38] one of the First Settlers of New England; who arrived in Dorchester, Massachusetts in the 1630s. His direct ancestor, Benjamin Atherton was from Colonial Massachusetts...

A bustling street scene of everyday life in front of the famed Marché in Cap-Haïtien is rendered in Sénèque This is a relatively early work by Obin's signature brightly colored and flat naive style. Signed lower right. Provenance: Galerie Issa - Port-Au-Prince, Haiti - Owned by Issa El Saieh of later named El Saieh Gallery Sénèque Obin...

Commercial illustration depicting happy California framers for California Prunes. The work is rendered in a charming and highly stylized manner. Unfr...

Looking Into a Neighborhood , Dear Paul This is an intriguingly charming work by an overlooked and brilliant mid-century female artist - illustrator, and educator. Lorraine Fox. ...

Most likely for a Magazine like Redbook, Cosmopolitan and Good Housekeeping, Ladies Home Journal or Woman's day Lorraine Fox is Hall of Fame member of the Society of Illustrators She...

Rarely do you come across a work of art that is vastly different than just about anything you see. This work is undeniably brilliant and a sheer pleasure to behold. Alexander Leydenfrost...

Artist Charles Perry Weimer employs thin black horizontal lines that intersect with thin black vertical lines. The result is a triumph of design w...

When it comes to abstract painting, the creation date is important. At the height of Abstraction Expressionism, overlooked Academic Artist John Atherton created a wonderfully complex painting that embodies many of the characteristics of what was going on in Mid-Century American Art. The work is simultaneously abstract as it is representational. Like a Bento Box, it's divided into sections by dividers. On close inspection, each section stands on it's own as a beautiful mini-painting yet coalesces as part of the whole. From a distance, it is eye-pleasing, but as the view gets closer and closer, new structures and details gloriously reveal themselves. This is an important painting and not unlike the work of Joaquín Torres-García. It was done in the last year of the artist's life. Signed lower right. Canvas is relined. Framed size: 30 x 41.25. The work is best viewed with top gallery lights to bring out color. Color will look different under different lighting conditions. Atherton exhibited at the famous Julien Levy Gallery in New York and his fine art is mainly associated with Magic Realism. He participated in the seminal 1943 Museum of Modern Art exhibition, American Realists and Magic Realists. The Museum of Modern Art has 4 Atherton paintings in its collection. As an Illustrator, Atherton did covers for the Saturday Evening Post, Fortune and Holiday Magazine...

The Mid-Century mindset As expected, 65 years ago.. people looked at art/painting a little differently. Back then, many artists were concerned with depicting simple and beautiful t...

Mid-century New York City is represented as a moment in time. The artist populates his scene with isolated figures that are more shapes of people as opposed to specific individuals....

Narrative artist Robert Riggs captures a highly-charged scene of an Indian firewalking ceremony. Firewalking is part of a religious ritual and is associated with the mystical powers...

The Board measures 13.5 x 12.5 Ernest Hamlin Baker is one of America's greatest artist that no one has ever heard of. Take a look at his full body of work. If you haven't noticed, Er...

Ernest Fiene depicts Fifth Avenue looking down from 57th Street with an unobstructed view of the Empire State Building. The absence of newer glass and steel architecture gives the painting the charm of old New York. The artist captures a dark, moody blue sky as light bounces back from the clouds. This contrasts with the somewhat haunting yellow glow given to pedestrians and street traffic. The people have somewhat of a zombie quality akin to George Tooker. Best viewed with a top and direct gallery light...

Moody blue night with rain and wind rendered in a post-impressionist style somewhat like that of Albert Marquet

The sacrificial ceremony, Freemans The Collection of Philip Desind Signed Three times Riggs l.r. A powerful account of moments a tribe member is cut open and the heart is handed over to a young brave, There is a reason why there are few contemporary painters who can paint a portrait this good. It's hard to do. It's easy to throw some paint or spray a mess of graffiti on canvas. That's easy. To execute a portrait with a great depth of anatomy and structure takes years of academic training. In Riggs's time there were teachers who knew how to pass on this knowledge. He studied at the Art Students League and the Académie Julian . Today, they are very few and far between. - Robert Riggs was a Gay Artist...

This stunning work features Mr. Dumond's trademark green. Trout Rock Signed lower left: F. V. Dumond Titled on stretcher with artist's estate stamp: Trout Rock From a Texas Estate. Frank Vincent Dumond was an artist, illustrator, and painter of the Tonalist school...

"Civil Rights." Evergood's early commentary on racial issues in the 1950s depicts four black men gagged, roped and hanging from a tree. In the background, imprisoned blacks look on through a barbed-wire fence. Whites watch in horror but do nothing to help. Meanwhile, a two-legged and three-headed serpent who symbolizes evil - wraps himself around the tree that physically and symbolically separates the races. This is an important work in the history of American art. It may be one of the very earliest examples of a major American painter doing a major work that challenges racial segregation and injustice at a time when no one else would. The title of the work is inspired by a Historic Supreme Court decision on racial segregation. The Little Rock...

Daniel Content painted in the grand tradition of the Golden Age of Illustration, in the style of Dean Cornwell, N.C. Wyeth, J.C Leyendecker ...

At a time when Abstract Expressionism was raging, realist painterJohn Atherton nods his head to the movement with a semi-abstract work. Meticulously rendered and carefully thought o...

This classic Post cover combines the vastness of the American West landscape with the intimacy of iconic Americana: two kids swimming in a rura...

This beautiful semi-abstract harbor scene of a flock of birds is rendered in Martin's signature style

Signature: Signed lower left and on the reverse Provenance: Shannon's Auctions D. Wigmore Fine Art Krushaar Galleries Christie's East October 3, 2000 Hand Carved Period Frame fr...

This work embodies a beautiful color scheme that is evident in the treatment of the sky and the huge cloud structure. that Signed and Dated lower right Original Period Frame On Vers...

Saturday Evening Post interior illustration Signed lower right

American Scene Painting - Social Realism. The present work is a Depression Era account of working-class men and women. Philip Howard Francis Dixon Evergood (born Howard Blashki; 190...

Blueprints into Reality - Full-page ad for United Engineers that ran in Fortune Magazine, March 1958, and other business magazines. As Fred Taraba stated, this image is symbolic of optimism and potential. Work includes the original issue of Fortune Magazine with the ad in which United Engineers mentions Stanley Meltzoff. "Here Stanley Meltzoff dramatizes with tools and massive concrete forms...

Understated town-scape in grays and muted blues. It's a painting that looks better as you get closer to it. Koch brings the same serene intimacy to an outdoor scene as his interiors....

Squares is a bridge between Mondrian and the Hard-edge abstraction movement. Clearly, this is a very early work because the artist has not yet found his mature style. The flat squares of uneven proportion, are in a formal but off-axis vertical /horizontal grid structure. Perhaps it's the artists take on a "drunk Mondrian" where the squares stumble to align themselves. Each square shape is different in shape and color and with visible brushstrokes and light impasto. Look carefully at the gray squares. They all have a slightly different hue. The squares are all unique individuals and not a repetition To Goodnough this was his departure from his influencer. Squares show the influence of his teachers including Hans Hofman...

Steinberg's Holiday Magazine Cover, " The North of Jersey " is similar to his famous New Yorker Cover "View of the World from 9th Avenue”. ...

"Civil Rights." Evergood's early commentary on racial issues in the 1950s depicts four black men gagged, roped and hanging from a tree. In the background, imprisoned blacks look on through a barbed-wire fence. Whites watch in horror but do nothing to help. Meanwhile, a two-legged and three-headed serpent wraps himself around the tree that physically and symbolically separates the races. This is an important work in the history of American art. It may be one of the very earliest examples of a major American painter doing a major work that challenges racial segregation and injustice at a time when no one else would. The title of the work is inspired by a Historic Supreme Court decision on racial segregation. The Little Rock...

Saturday Evening Post sticker and editorial and production marks on verso. This is more than just a simple semi-silhouette. It's a carefully crafted and wonderfully composed image. T...

An early example of Abstract Expressionism executed in 1955 during the movement's heyday and it's period of peak inventiveness. However, this work is still rooted in representation. The dark area the runs along the base of the picture is the ground and to the left, right and center there are black structures that represent trees. The work is very tactile and is composed of globs of paint that grow out from the surface and form a thick impasto. Rich vibrant saturated blues, reds and oranges create optical drama. The work look better in person. frame: 29 x 39 1/2 inches , Provenance: Kennedy Galleries The Currier Gallery of Art...

Signed lower right. Work is unframed. Very Slight fading commensurate with time but presents very well Biography Walt Louderback Walt Louderback (1887-1941) The illustrations of W...

Film noir crime drama painted in a single frame. In narrative art, telling a story in a single image is harder than doing it in episodes. "'That police officer...

Quick and confident brush strokes describe the gritty forms of perhaps steam engines or railroad yards. Luks bravura style of putting paint to canvas anticipates action painting of ...

Oil on Board painting for American Weekly Magazine November 15, 1953. The decisive moment of a Cowboy and Horse is captured. As a determined team, t...

Most likely for a magazine like Saturday Evening Post interior editorial spread. The empty space to the right was for the art director to surprint type. The empty space acts as a com...

Woman in Surreal Landscape Illustration Published: Woman's Home Companion December 1939, "How to Pray" By Ralph Sadler Meadowcroft Work is Unframed

"The Great Man Comes to Take His Oath" Life Magazine Spread, July 4th, 1960, This epic narrative depicts the celebration of George Washington's inauguration, en route to Federal Hall...

Mid Century Americana "For a horrible instant Carter thought the jet was going to crash in the street." Saturday Evening Post Work is unframed

Before there was Photorealism, there was Austin Briggs. Done in 1951, this work has all the hallmarks of the 1970's fine art movement and more. Briggs is using photographs as a refer...