Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 10

20th Century School Large Oil Painting by Elmo Gideon Entitled “Venice”

$18,500
£13,983.71
€16,069.77
CA$25,761.14
A$28,658.21
CHF 15,022.99
MX$350,196.31
NOK 191,299.06
SEK 180,081.60
DKK 119,954.70
Shipping
Retrieving quote...
The 1stDibs Promise:
Authenticity Guarantee,
Money-Back Guarantee,
24-Hour Cancellation

About the Item

This master Painter and Sculptor was considered almost an elemental force in 20th-century modern art and his pieces across the entire expanse of 20th-century style ideals from impressionism, abstraction, seascapes, portraiture, and sculptures becoming a master of each. He is credited with introducing paint formulas and sculptural compounds that are in some cases unknown to this day and in others essential elements used universally today. His interest and drive for art made him, even as a young boy, fond of creating images and fashioning his own brushes and paints. He entered the Chicago Academy of Fine arts as a young man with a nude drawing class but soon left when offered a substantial job. While working as a welder and even though he had received a deferment for that job from the civil lists he enlisted in the army in 1943. He saw many difficult assignments during the war and was moved deeply. Later in his career as an artist, he would paint and sculpt some of what are considered the most poignant images of the Holocaust and war-torn life of Europe. After the war, he settled in Miami and while attending some classes determined to work as an artist to feed his family and was accomplished and successful throughout his career. During the 50's and 60's he was contracted to produce art en mass for many companies and for advertising and promotion achieving a respectable place as one of America's top-selling artists. He worked for many of the finest hotel chains and for almost every major producer of goods as a one-man show of artistic output. This vast number of works many contracted in large amounts designed to be seen and to influence current tastes were produced single-handedly by him with tireless effort and direct contact with the materials and process. Of note as it relates to this painting his desire to achieve certain effects and to produce works heavy with paint lead him to develop his own materials and paints realizing that small tubes of expensive paint would never work as he intended. He finally developed synthetic paints in large quantity that did not crack or yellow over time and that remained pliable most importantly that dried quickly and suited his maverick attitudes. The great style most associated with his work is the heavy layered impasto of the paint seen here in full flower. This work of Venice is a masterpiece of his mature output and comes from the 1960s. The painting is muted and subtle, heavy with paint and yet the details of the Doges Palace, surrounding buildings, architectural elements, the steps to the sea and the gondoliers in their boats are clearly visible once you have stepped back and entered the artist visual impression. The large work is most interestingly in a frame made and decorated by the artist himself creating a unique total package. The making of frames to compliment his works was first stated in Havana Cuba were he maintained a small home and did many substantial interior sculptural element and artist painting commissions for a local grand hotel. As many artists he had numerous one man shows and worked thru galleries creating a stir with his work, success as a commercial painter and thru his dynamic personality. However, by the very early 70's he left that kind of world to focus on in his words “his serious works”. Setting up his own gallery space and dealing privately with avid collectors he never dealt with third party efforts to promote or sell his works again. In his later life, the very things and conditions he loved had taken a toll on his health. The years spent working with chemicals and epoxies damaged his lungs and eventually resulted in a diagnosis of Myasthenia Gravis. He struggled to the end to do what he had done his entire life but eventually lost muscle control, the ability of swallowing and breathing became almost impossible and he passed leaving behind an enormous body of work in 2010. His work is shown in Corporate and public collections here and abroad and is collected privately by scholars and historian of the 20th century. Condition Disclosure: While we do our best to carefully inspect and give a full report on the condition of any item we sell, pointing out any repairs or alterations that may have been done to the best of our knowledge, as is the case with any antique and vintage item, there is a possibility that at some point in the life of the piece that there may have been damaged which has been professionally repaired and as such a repair undetectable, it is therefore impossible for us to disclose... we recommend that you also read and agree to the 1st dibs user agreement, particularly sections 9,13,15,18,19 and 27
  • Creator:
    Elmo Gideon (Artist)
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 80.5 in (204.47 cm)Width: 63.5 in (161.29 cm)Depth: 1.5 in (3.81 cm)
  • Materials and Techniques:
  • Place of Origin:
  • Period:
  • Date of Manufacture:
    1960
  • Condition:
    Wear consistent with age and use. in as found condition\.
  • Seller Location:
    Hudson, NY
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU81138352743

More From This Seller

View All
19th Century Italian Oil Painting in the Manner of Antonio Panini
Located in Hudson, NY
This fine old painting is a typical pastiche of the kind popular throughout Italy and the world in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. The most commonly associated artist who really m...
Category

Antique 19th Century Italian Baroque Revival Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Wood

Two 19th Century Oil on Board Paintings After Pompeian Fresco
Located in Hudson, NY
These two paintings, considered tourist art produced in Naples Italy in the late 19th century, are reinterpretations of the frescos found in the excavations of Pompei. The painting i...
Category

Antique Late 19th Century Italian Paintings

Materials

Wood

A Monumental Roman Painting of Ancient Ruins and People
Located in Hudson, NY
This very large painting features as its main element ancient ruins, but also contains the bucolic elements and rusticated features so often associated w...
Category

Antique Late 18th Century Italian Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Paint, Wood

Untitled Walter Clark Pastel
By Walter Clark
Located in Hudson, NY
Walter Clark (Born 1848- died 1917) was born in Brooklyn. He was educated as an engineer at the Mass. Institute of Technology. After graduation, he was motivated to travel extensivel...
Category

Early 20th Century American Drawings

Materials

Oil Pastel, Paper

A late 18th Century Italian Painting
Located in Hudson, NY
This lovely and decorative painting of peasants in a bucolic setting with numerous farm animals is typical of the period and is designed to illustrate happier moments and a getting b...
Category

Antique Late 18th Century Italian Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Wood

Abstract 20th Century School Oil Painting, Rudolf Forst Entitled “Green Fields"
Located in Hudson, NY
The work done circa mid-late 1960s is subtle in execution but vivid and almost wet with moment and shading. The colors are not cold and mod but warm and inviting creating a deeply hy...
Category

Mid-20th Century American Paintings

Materials

Canvas

You May Also Like

Large Vintage Venetian Painting, Continental School, Oil on Canvas, Venice, 1980
Located in Hele, Devon, GB
This is a large vintage Venetian painting. A Continental, oil on canvas study of Venice, dating to the late 20th century, circa 1980. A Venetian treat - captured in wonderful colour...
Category

Late 20th Century European Mid-Century Modern Paintings

Materials

Canvas

Original Venice Canal Oil Painting by Edward Barton
By Edward Barton
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
Lovely original impressionistic oil painting of a Venice Canal scene at dusk by Edward Barton (1926-2012).
Category

20th Century American Paintings

Materials

Canvas

20th Century Venice Painting Tempera on Canvas by Armando Santi
Located in Milan, IT
Armando Santi (1925 - 2015) Venice Tempera on canvas, 87 x 77 cm Frame 105.5 x 95.5 cm Signed lower left: A. Santi "A pulsating, incisive, dynamic painting, sometime...
Category

Late 20th Century Italian Paintings

Materials

Canvas

19th Century Oil on Cardboard Painting "Venice" by Paul Ortiou
Located in Sofia, BG
Colourful landscape of Venice by Paul Ortiou, oil on cardboard made in mid 19th century. France, circa 1850.  
Category

Antique Mid-19th Century French Paintings

Materials

Canvas

1990s Italian Venetian Framed Oil on Canvas Painting with Craquelure
Located in Marbella, ES
1990s Italian Venetian framed oil on canvas painting with craquelure.
Category

Late 20th Century Italian Paintings

Materials

Wood, Canvas

1990s Italian Venetian Framed Oil on Canvas Painting with Craquelure
Located in Marbella, ES
1990s Italian Venetian framed oil on canvas painting with craquelure.
Category

Late 20th Century Italian Paintings

Materials

Canvas