1930s Abstract Paintings

Pastel on paper The German-born American Abstractionist Carl Robert Holty became known for his biomorphic abstract forms as well as his geometric abstractions that he painted with a ...

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...

Charles Evans (1907-1992) Mediterranean Costal Town, 1932. Gouache and watercolor on paper. Sheet measures 8.5 x 10 inches; mounted in frame measuring 8.5 x 10 inches. Signed and dated lower left. Charles Evans was a modernist known for his abstract style of painting. He studied at New York's Art Students League and Parsons School of Design, and later in Paris with Fernand Lger at the Acadmie Moderne. In 1930, Evans and his wife spent a year living in what was Paul Cezanne's studio in Aix-en-Provence, France. The following year, Evans purchased the old silk mill in New Hope and became involved in the area's modernist movement, joining the Independents in 1932. By 1935, he began to work collaboratively with Louis Stone, whom he had met in 1929 while studying with Hans Hofman in Saint Tropez, and with Charles F. Ramsey, teaching art classes and working on the Cooperative Painting Project. Every week, the three were joined by the abstract painter, Lee Gatch, in discussions at Ledger's Inn in Lambertville. In 1948 Evans co-founded the New Hope Gazette with Walter M. Teller. The same year he created set designs for St. John Terrell's Lambertville Music Circus. He also designed sets for the Bucks County Playhouse and Philadelphia's Playhouse in the Park. He later served as Set Designer for the Fred Miller...

Pastel on paper The German-born American Abstractionist Carl Robert Holty became known for his biomorphic abstract forms as well as his geometric abstractions that he painted with a ...

Abstract Cubist Construction Collage Mid 20th Century American Modernism Cubism Vaclav Vytacil (1892 - 1984) Abstract Construction #2 Caesin on board collage 11 x 13 1/2 th inches S...

Mystery Artist Untitled, 1993 Watercolor on paper Sight: 13 x 19 1/4 in. Framed: 25 1/2 x 29 1/2 x 1 1/4 in. Signed and dated lower right

This is a beautiful oil painting by American artist Conrad Buff. It measures 15.5"x23.5" and is painted on board. Buff painted a simplified abstracted landscape by the bluffs. Born...

An original oil painting by Benjamin Benno, American (1901 - 1980). By the early 1930s he had established a reputation as a member of the international avant-garde and exhibited wit...

A beautifully painted Art Deco period oil painting by highly acclaimed American Artist Burr Singer 1912-1992 . Oil on canvas dating to the 1930s . Very good condition. Dimensions...

Giulio D'Anna è uno dei più importanti pittori del 2 Futurismo italiano Questa luminosa opera rappresenta un'aereo in volo nel cielo siciliano Colori sgargianti e cielo turchese del...

Charles Green Shaw Tabac, circa 1935 Signed on the reverse Oil on canvasboard 5 3/4 x 8 3/4 inches Provenance: Washburn Gallery, New York, 1982 Private Collection (acquired from the above) Christie's, The Collector, October 20, 2021, Lot 307 Private Collection, Scarsdale, New York (acquired directly from the above) Literature: Hilton Kramer, "Charles Shaw: In the Minimal Tradition," New York Times, February 21, 1982, Section 2, p. 25. Charles Green Shaw was born in 1892 to a wealthy New York family. He lost both his parents at a very young age; his mother died when he was just three years old. Despite the early loss of his parents, Shaw lived the whimsical life of a New York socialite. As a beneficiary to an inheritance based in part upon the Woolworth fortune, he was brought up surrounded by the well-bred, well-groomed and well-moneyed citizens of New York’s elite social class. His social status as an adolescent was cultivated while spending summers in Newport and attending Christmas balls at Mrs. W.K. Vanderbilt’s. At age six, Shaw began to take an interest in drawing, and by nine, he was known to have a fondness for sketching historical costumes. After graduating from Yale University in 1914, Shaw spent a year studying at Columbia University’s School of Architecture. Subsequently he served for eighteen months as a Lieutenant in World War I. After his service, Shaw returned to New York and tried his hand as a businessman selling real estate, but his attempt was short lived. In the early 1920s, Shaw began his career as a journalist and novelist. He achieved professional success, writing consistently for magazines such as The New Yorker, Vanity Fair and The Smart Set. Shaw’s writing was a record of his approvals and disapprovals of the social crowd to which he belonged. His profession along with his social pedigree, brought him in contact with a number of the most significant figures of the 1920s such as, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Sinclair Lewis, George Gershwin, George Jean Nathan and the American artist George Luks. Some of his profiles included celebrity caricatures used as illustrations, these were the publics’ first look at Shaw’s artistic ability. In 1928, a collection of Shaw’s articles and interviews were published in one volume titled, The Low Down. Just previous to the stock market crash and the end of the Jazz Age, Shaw left New York and traveled to Paris and London. He arrived in Paris in 1929. In an autobiographical note Shaw suggests it was on this trip when he first began to paint seriously. London also acted as a great source of motivation for the budding artist. He began to sketch everyday in St. James’s Park, making large pastels of its vistas in the style of Cezanne. When he returned to New York in 1932, Shaw considered himself a painter. Success for Shaw came quickly with his first solo exhibition mounted at the Valentine Gallery in 1934. The following year Albert Eugene Gallatin included works by the artist in an unprecedented solo exhibition at his Gallery of Living Art at New York University. Shaw further cemented his reputation as an artist through his association and friendship with fellow abstract artists Morris and Gallatin. The trio soon was regarded as ‘the Park Avenue Cubists’. As a founding member of the American Abstract Artists, Shaw became an impassioned defender of the style. His 1938 essay in the American Abstract Artists yearbook, “A Word to the Objector”, acted as a defense against those who failed to see the illustrative quality of abstract art and scolded those who disregarded American artists as serious Abstractionists. He was also an influential force at the Museum of Modern Art, where he sat on the Advisory Board from 1936 to 1941. In the later years of Shaw’s life he continued to produce abstract paintings, yet in a more private manner. He was known to be a reserved man— a ‘gentleman’; not much is known about his personal life in these later years. During this time he maintained his career as a writer, publishing the well-known children’s book, It Looked Like Spilt Milk in 1940 and two books of poems in 1959 and 1962. In 1974, Shaw died...

Antique American modernist still life oil painting by Victor Thall (American, 1902-1983). Oil on canvas. Framed in a very nice period American frame. Great color and thick impast....

Antique American modernist still life signed oil painting. Oil on canvas, circa 1940. Unframed. Signed. Image size, 30L x 26H

Untitled (Fabric Design) Annotated on the verso with the studio address of the artist Signed in ink lower right corner: “Marguerite Gross” Gouache on heavy paper, 1930-1939 In 1930 ...

Irving Lehman was a New York School artist whose work was influenced by constructivism and cubism. He exhibited at the Whitney, the Brooklyn Museum, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art, and many other institutions. This work shows an abstracted view of New York rooftops...

Early geometric ala Kandinsky Oil on paper Estate of Sam Esses Never afraid of trying new styles, curious and opinionated, constantly engaged with the world around him, Rolph Scarle...

Oil on artist board Collection of Samuel Esses, then by descent in the family Never afraid of trying new styles, curious and opinionated, constantly engaged with the world around hi...

Oil on artist board Collection of Samuel Esses, then by descent in the family It is possible that this is an early modernist stage design Never afraid of trying new styles, curious...

Modernist painting by Vaclav Vytlacil of "City Scene with Faces". Signed and dated "Vytlacil 32" lower right. Provenance: Estate of the artist #1584; Martin Diamond Fine Art Exhibi...

This painting is part of our exhibition America Coast to Coast: Artists of the 1930s Abstract Street (Untitled), 1939, oil on canvas, signed and dated lower right, 12 x 32 inches; provenance includes a private collection in Venice, California; presented in what is likely the artist's original handmade frame About the Painting The present work is the culmination of a series of mainly horizontal urban abstractions Harari completed between 1937 and 1939. Deeply influenced by Stuart Davis, Harari’s New York streetscapes began with clearly recognizable objects and landmarks as in Into New York (1937 - Collection of the Whitney Museum of American Art), New York Harbor (1937), Up and Downtown (1938), and his other mural proposals for the Nurses Home on Welfare Island (1937) and the Williamsburg Housing Project (1938). At the end of the series, Harari’s vistas became increasingly abstract with broad planes of color representing buildings and streets, the slightest cross-hatching forming a bridge or elevated train track and the vague suggestion of a streetlight looping in the right center of the composition. Figures, birds, and a street vendor’s cart are reduced to pictograms scratched into the surface of the canvas. Abstract Street (Untitled) is among Harari’s most spare works of the 1930s and 1940s and calls to mind the seemingly childlike, but deeply sophisticated works of Paul Klee from the 1920s. It serves as an excellent reminder of why Harari was heralded as one of the earliest members of the American Abstract Artists. About the Artist Hananiah Harari was an artistic polyglot who was equally at home working in styles as diverse as Cubism, Constructivism, Expressionism, Hard Edged Abstraction and trompe l’oeil Realism. A native of Rochester, New York, Harari initially studied as a child at the Memorial Art Gallery in his hometown and later as a scholarship student at the College of Fine Arts at Syracuse University. In 1932, Harari left for Paris where he befriended Nahum Tschacbasov, Benjamin Benno and John Graham and studied at the ateliers of Lhote, Leger and Gromaire. He also studied fresco painting at the Ecole de Fresque. By 1933, Harari had completed enough work and gained a sufficient reputation to have a solo exhibition at the American Club in Paris. The following year, Harari and his childhood friend and fellow artist Herzl Emanuel traveled to Palestine, where the artists worked hard in the orchards and fields of Kibbutz Deganiah, but produced little art. After returning to New York, Harari married Emanuel’s sister, Freda, and set out on the development of what noted scholar Gail Stavitsky has called an “original synthesis of the old and new." Harari became an early member of the American Abstract Artists (AAA), an organization formed to give modernists exhibition opportunities. Harari was also a member of the socially conscious Artist’s Union and the American Artist’s Congress. From 1936 through 1942, Harari worked on the Federal Art Project and assisted Marion Greenwood on a project as part of the Mural Division, but to his disappointment did not lead his own project. During the late 1930s and early 1940s, Harari completed a series of paired paintings with the same subject matter depicted in a Cubist manner and in trompe l’oeil Realism. Harari was acclaimed by Clement Greenberg and six of the artist’s works were selected for the Museum of Modern Art’s important 1943 exhibition American Realists and Magic Realists. During World War II, Harari served in the US Army Air Corps. Following the war, Harari continued to produce fine art while also producing commercial art. During the McCarthy Era, Harari’s progressive politics and leftist leaning art...

Antique American modernist surreal oil painting. Oil on canvas. Framed. Signed illegibly.

Signed and dated "Biederman 4-35" lower right. About this artist: Charles Joseph Biederman was a twentieth century abstract American artist best known for his constructivist, cubist...

Louis Schanker was an important early American modernist painter. He was best known for his work of the 30's and 40's done in a semi-abstract mode that was influenced by European m...

Antique American modernist signed interior oil painting. Oil on board. Signed. Framed. Image size, 9L x 10H. Provenance from the San Francisco Museum of Art.

Vintage American modernist abstract interior painting. Oil on canvas, circa 1930. No signature found. Image size, 20L x 16H. Framing available.

Antique American modernist nude signed drawing. Pencil on paper. Unsigned. Framed. Image size, 9L x 12H.

Signed and dated "Vytlacil 38" lower left, and signed and dated verso. Provenance: Estate of the artist #1602; Martin Diamond Fine Art About this artist: Born in 1892 to Czechoslov...

Early geometric ala Kandinsky Oil on paper Estate of Sam Esses Never afraid of trying new styles, curious and opinionated, constantly engaged with the world around him, Rolph Scarle...

Antique American modernist landscape signed painting. Watercolor and gouache on paper. Signed. Framed.

Antique American abstract signed oil painting. Oil on canvas. Signed. Framed. Image size, 50L x 36H.

Jim's of Lambertville Fine Art Gallery is proud to present this piece by Burgoyne Diller (1906 – 1965). Born in New York City in 1906, Burgoyne Diller began drawing when he was stri...

Antique American school seascape oil painting. Oil on canvas. Framed. Signed. Image size, 30L x 24H.

Antique impressionist signed landscape oil painting. Oil on canvas. Signed illegibly. Framed. Image size, 13L x 9.5H.

Antique American school cubist abstract oil painting. Oil on canvas. Signed.

Rare and interesting original drawing. Charcoal and penicl on paper. Signed. Framed. Image size, 15L x 13H.

Jim's of Lambertville Fine Art Gallery is proud to present this piece by Eve Drewelowe (1899 - 1988). Landscape painter, Eve Drewelowe, was the eighth of thirteen children born in ...

An oil painting by artist Benjamin Benno depicting the main characters from the novel “Don Quixote” in a cubist style. Don Quixote and Sancho Panza...

The Amazon Benjamin Benno, American (1901–1980) Date: 1938 Oil and montage on canvas, signed and dated lower left Size: 31.75 x 26.13 in. (80.65 x 66.36 cm) Frame Size: 33.5 x 27.5 i...

Vintage American modernist chicken still life oil painting. Oil on board, circa 1930. Housed in a vintage frame. Image size, 30L x 24H. Signed on verso.

"Untitled Abstract" is a 30 x 22 inches, oil on canvas painting by American modernist and surrealist, female artist Peter Miller. The work is painted in a vibrant color palette and estate stamped #202163 on verso. The painting has been conserved and inspected by conservation specialist, Gratz Gallery & Conservation Studio, Inc. Exhibition history: Forgotten Woman of American Modernism, Gratz Gallery & Conservation Studio, Doylestown, Pennsylvania, 2022. Provenance: Estate of the Artist; Private Collection, Saugerties, New York; Gratz Gallery & Conservation Studio, Doylestown, Pennsylvania. Image: Peter Miller in Her Studio Julien Levy Gallery...

Antique American modernist landscape painting. Monogrammed. "E" lower right. Framed. Image size, 12L x 9.5H.

Antique American abstract cubist table top still life oil painting. Oil on canvas, circa 1930. No signature found. Image size, 20L x 16H. Framing available.

Antique American impressionist seascape signed oil painting. Oil on canvas. Signed. Framed. Image size, 15L x 12H.

#90 Strange Creature Oil and pencil on board, 1932 Signed and dated in the image lower right (see photo) Provenance: Joseph M. Erdelac, Cleveland, OH Condition: excellent Archival framing Image size: 10 1/2 x 11 3/4 inches Frame size: 25 x 24 inches Painter, illustrator and commercial artist Norbert Lenz was born in Norwalk, Ohio and received his artistic training at both the Huntington Polytechnic Institute and the Cleveland School of Art. During his career Lenz exhibited his paintings and drawings at such institutions as the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Cleveland Museum of Art and the Butler Institute of American Art. Today the art of Norbert Lenz is held by the Columbus Museum of Art, the Cleveland Museum of Art and the Butler Institute of American Art. Lenz was also a very highly regarded commercial designer of stamps. He worked for a number of years at the House of Farman, a leading vendor of first day covers...

Work is matted but not framed. Painter, Designer, Illustrator born on July 18, 1903 in Warren Arkansas. Studied at the Chicago Art Institute; Northwestern University; Vienne, Austria; with Eliot O’Hara and Hubert Ropp. Member of the following organizations: Dallas Art Association; Texas Fine Arts Association; National Association of Watercolor Artists; and the Texas watercolor Society. Smith exhibited at: American Watercolor Society in 1945, 1948 and 1952; with National Assn. of Watercolor Artists in 1945, 1946, and 1948; Artists Alliance in Dallas in 1943 (awarded prize), in 1944 (awarded prize), in 1945-46 and 1948-1950, 1952-53 with prizes awarded in 1948 and 1953; the Texas General Exhibition from 1943 through 1946, 1948-49; with the Texas Watercolor Society from 1950-52 with prizes won in 1950 and 1951, 1957; with the Southern States Arts League in 1944 and 1945; Texas Fine Arts Association in 1945 and awarded prize and with the Texas Artist Group consecutively from 1945.Smith’s work is in the collection of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts. Her one-man shows were in Austin, Texas in 1948; in San Antonio in 1951 and Dallas in 1951. Smith’s work is in the collection of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts. Original pastel and gouache on paper by Robin Artine Smith...

Set against a deep green background of layered paint and wavy lines, Benjamin Benno’s textured composition features an array of unidentifiable figures of varying sizes and shapes. Th...

An original cubist gouache painting by American artist Benjamin Benno. This surreal teal composition does little to resemble anything from its title, i...

Antique American impressionist signed still life oil painting. Oil on board. Signed. Framed. Image size, 25L x 19H.

A small-scale oil painting by Benjamin Benno, executed in 1934. A large boulder perches precariously on a tiled slab of earth, echoing a sense of stillness. A Rock and a Hard Place...

Antique American modernist abstract pastel and watercolor painting. Signed illegibly. Framed. Image size, 14L x 18H.

Antique large modern interior scene oil painting. Oil on canvas, circa 1920. Unsigned. Image size 35.5L x47.5H.

Antique American modernist street scene painting. Oil on board, circa 1930. Unsigned. Image size, 24L x 20H. Housed in a period modern frame.

Signed lower left, 'Gregory Deane' (American, born 1938) and painted circa 1985. Framed dimensions: 15 H x 31.5 W x 1.5 D inches This contemporary California Expressionist incorpora...

Nice quality modernist painting. Oil on canvas. Framed. Image size, 16L x 12H.

Antique American school surreal composition painting. Oil on board, circa 1950. Unsigned. Image size, 8L x 12H. Housed in a period modern frame.

A Judaica painting with Hebrew Calligraphy by noted Chicago Modernist. Alexander Raymond Katz (his Hungarian first name, Sandor, was anglicized to A...

"The Vendor of Masques", 1930s modernist painting by Boardman Robinson (1876-1952) of a Mask vendors display with male and female figures (lik...

Antique European modernist landscape painting. Oil on board, circa 1930. Unsigned. Image size, 20.5L x 17.5H. Housed in a period giltwood frame.