Modern California Houses by Esther McCoy

Highly collectible, 1950s Eames Giant House of Cards for Tigrett Enterprises. This scarce first-edition deck contains the original 20 large cards ...

Brilliant and uniquely constructed, artisan free-standing wrought iron screen. Acquired from the original owner, this stunning decorative arts piece was purchased back in the early 1...

American Modern presents a fresh look at The Museum of Modern Art’s holdings of American art made between 1915 and 1950, and considers the cultural preoccupations of a rapidly changing American society in the first half of the twentieth century. Organized thematically and featuring paintings, drawings, prints, photographs and sculpture, the publication brings together some of the Museum’s most celebrated masterworks, contextualizing them across mediums and amidst lesser-seen but revelatory works. The selection of works by artists such as Edward Hopper, Georgia O’Keeffe, Charles Sheeler, Charles Burchfield and Stuart Davis includes urban and rural landscapes, scenes of industry, still-life compositions and portraiture. Although varying in style and specifics, they share certain underlying visual and emotional tendencies. Cityscapes and factories are shown eerily emptied of the crush of residents that flocked to them, becoming both a celebration of clean modern forms and technological advances, as in Sheeler’s paintings and photographs, and a reflection of anxiety about increasingly urban lifestyles and their consequences for the American individual, as in Hopper’s iconic “Night Windows.” Equally silent rural scenes are no less haunting, but perhaps reflect a nostalgia for seemingly simpler times, and a celebration of early American traditions and values. Featured still lifes are as diverse: Stuart Davis’ bright, angular compositions marry fractured form with logos and patterns taken from modern advertising...

California Illustrated by J. M. Letts Published New York: R. T. Young, 140 Fulton Street. Later edition, published 1853. Rebound in 3/4 blue calf with marbleized boards and end paper...