1940s Paintings

Abstract Cubist oil painting on canvas from 1940s France. Moody and dynamic, the image depicts the beginnings of a town. A smoky gray sky gives the scene an industrial feeling, while...

Large and dynamic, this 1947-vintage painting depicts a shirtless man handling a high-spirited Percheron horse that won a blue ribbon at the Indiana st...

19th Century portrait of a woman painted in oil on canvas with the frame dated in 1940 Measurements with frame: 69 x 69 x 3 cm.

A remarkable statement of hope and resilience, this vivid and colorful depiction of a nude Adam seated amidst a profusion of flora and fauna was painted in the midst of World War II ...

Alpine Landscape – Georg Grauvogl Dimension: cm 110 x 78 without frame – cm 114 x 82 with frame in antique fir wood Tecnique: oil on canvas Era: 1940 circa Author: Georg Grauvogl (1...

Titled 'Tangent' - Buffalo artist James Koenig paintings reflected many phases of American painting Styles including scenes from The WPA period, abstrac...

An early work by the American realist Stephen Morgan Etnier (1903-1984) depicting the village of Harpswell, Maine were he built his home and studio in the 1940s and lived until his d...

Original acrylic on canvas Hawaiian painting by Alfonso Castricone, titled Cockatoos in Avocado Tree, features vibrant cockatoos perched in an avocad...

Brilliantly painted in a palette of canary yellow, orange-red, browns and blues, this WPA-period painting of an open-air market under the Market-Frankford elevated train line ("the El") in Philadelphia was executed by Dorothy Van Loan...

Boldly painted in vivid hues of red, deep pink, yellow and shades of blue, this abstract painting is attributed to Gino Severini, Italy's leading Modernist painter, who executed work...

French 1940s signed and numbered lithograph of a pastel drawing of a woman Original French framing.

striking oil painting from the 40s of a forest scene in strong impasto strokes and bold colour tones. Simply framed of the period by well known Swedish artist Gunnar John, who studi...

Oil on board of New Hampshire Coastal Scene. Signed on back by artist James Rostron from New Hampshire. Dated 1940 Mount Cranmore North Conway, New Hampshire. Dimensions may not be ...

Titled ‘Net Work’ buffalo artist James Koenig paintings reflected many phases of American painting styles including scenes from the WPA period, abstract...

Signed still life oil painting by unknown Swedish artist. Dated 1946.

Serving, perhaps, as a commentary on the futility and horror of war, this allegorical painting of "Two Philosophers" was made by Arthur Kampf in 1948-49, shortly after the end of World War II and toward the end of his long life. Kampf was known for his historical and allegorical paintings, including a large scene showing a group of nude soldiers...

Georg Grauvogl – Hut near Garmisch – Alpspitze Dimension: cm 70 x 80 without frame – cm 74 x 84 with frame in antique fir wood Tecnique: oil on canvas Era: 1940 circa Author: Georg ...

Well executed watercolor/gouache showing the great windjammer Kobenhaven under sail. The massive four masted barque has most sails set. Matted and framed. Titled lower left “Kobenhav...

Montague Dawson: ‘Six Metre Class boat by the Lymington Spit’, a watercolour showing a white hulled Six Metre yacht sailing away from a racing buoy, running downwind with reduced goo...

A brilliant and lively depiction of a crowded cafe scene in 1945, this painting by Adalie Margules Brent depicts a slice of Black America at the end of World War II, probably in New Orleans, complete with a waiter, fashionably dressed men and women and wafts of cigarette smoke...

Mario Carreño "Serenade" Oil Painting on Canvas, Cuba 1941, Signed Offered for sale is an important oil on canvas painting by Cuban artist Mario Carreño (1913-1999) signed and date...

C.P. Initials,Portait of African Girl,Charcoal on Paper,Signed Banzyville 1944,Framed,Signed and Dated

VENICE oil painting, featuring the Doges Palacio, Italian School, circa 1940s in its original 1940s frame. Signed M. Coloman, 20th century.  

Large-scale Folk Art Carnival game board, American, circa 1940s. This painted carnival game board came from Texas and combines wonderfully patinate...

1940's Surrealist oil painting on masonite board by Thelma Salter - deceased 1954 - North Rose, NY ( beloved wife of Leon Salter - aka Zoute ) mysterious female figures in landscape...

1950 Albert Eugene Gallatin Signed Abstract Oil Painting on Board Offered for sale is a nice Albert Gallatin (1882 - 1952) oil painting on board signed on verso September 1950. ...

"Horses Running", a bold abstract impressionist oil painting with heavy impasto. By Sheila Hedricks. Oil on board. In a period hand...

Belgium / 1940 / Painting / canvas, wood / Rococo / Baroque A Belgium oil painting signed Jos Pas, 1944 of a vase with orange flowers, grapes and a painting in the background. The ...

Original 1940s Pink Hibiscus Watercolor Painting on Paper Signed by Shirrell Graves. The painting features its original white wood frame with a white mat. Shirrell Graves is an Impr...

Original 1940s White/Pink Magnolia Watercolor Painting on Paper Signed by Shirrell Graves. The painting features its original white wood frame with a white mat. Shirrell Graves (188...

Outstanding 1940's oil on board painting in original custom shadowbox wood frame with distressed finish. The figural painting depicts an indigenous people...

Helga Kai-Larsen, Swedish artist. Oil on canvas. Still life with bowl and fruits. Modernist style. Signed and dated 1949. In excellent condition. Dimensions: W 39.5 cm x H 31.5 cm. O...

Absolutely winning and full of charm, this book illustration depicts a bunny rabbit running across the land, the hilly landscape rich with browns and greens, and the sky a perfect blue. Painted in gouache on illustration board, the Sphinx mark -- one of the brands of the Weber company -- is visible on the reverse. This would make a perfect addition to the walls of a children's room, or a collection of American illustration art.

Axel Salto (1889-1961) for Royal Copenhagen. Large and impressive ceramic sculpture of a deer. Art Deco style. Model number 20697. Approximately from 1940. Marked. Perfect condition....

Pär Lindblad (1907-1981), Sweden. Oil on canvas. Modernist landscape. Man on a bicycle along the coast. 1940s. The canvas measures: 64 x 31 cm. The fr...

Large and arresting, this stylized depiction of the great hunter in Greek mythology, Actaeon, resting on a slab of marble with his bow and quiver of arrows, was painted by Leon Dusso...

This pale, almost ghostly painting by John Winters depicts a tall, lithe young man with a yellow swimsuit and towel on the beach along Lake Michigan in...

This portrait of a young man with vivid red hair, blue eyes and a ruddy complexion was painted by John C. Menihan, one of the most renowned portraitists and watercolorists of his day...

This brilliant Surrealist composition, with the stylization and exaggerated plant forms of Art Deco, was painted by Jan Matulka in 1944. Both Surrealism and "Moderne" decorative arts thrived in the 1940s, and here the artist draws from both styles. Matulka was born in Prague and came to America as a young man, and trained here and in Paris, where he became exposed to Cubism. He exhibited in New York, created illustrations for New Masses which advanced the interest of American workers...

Émile François Jacques Compard (1900-1977), French artist. Oil on woodwork. Abstract composition. Dated 1949. Measures: 46 x 32 cm. In very good condition. Signed and dated. Ém...

Antique framed oil painting on canvas by Walthere Jamar (1866-1950) is a panoramic landscape that captures the glory of nature in all her splendor! Jamar has used varying brush techn...

Vintage Nantucket Watercolor of "Old North Slip" on Nantucket, by Doris and Richard Beer, circa 1940, a watercolor on paper view of mooring slips along the end of Old North Wharf, signed in pencil lower right, titled on the reverse. Doris and Richard Beer (1898-1967 and 1893-1959 respectively) produced a well-known series of watercolor miniatures featuring popular Nantucket scenes. Working at their Wharf Head Studio on Old North Wharf for 18 years, the couple worked together on these copyrighted creations, photo-duplicating Doris's line sketch and Doris and Richard completing the watercolor. A native New Yorker, Doris studied at the Art Students League, Cooper Union, and with Arthur Dow at Columbia University. She developed a successful career designing theatrical scenery and costumes in New York, Newport, and later for the Straight Wharf Theater on Nantucket. Richard spent the summers of his childhood in ’Sconset. A graduate of Hamilton College, he served for ten years as American consul in posts in Budapest, England, Havana, and Canada. A self taught painter, he also was a talented writer who contributed to the Saturday Evening Post, Yankee Magazine, and Art News...

Still life oil painting ca. 1940s depicting a 'duck' figurine amid vessels by Elaine Plishker Auchmoody (b. NYC 1910 - d. Massachusetts 1976). Auchmoody was a highly-regarded lecture...

Painting of a Gypsy, Bohemian woman drawing the cards. Representation of a Cartomancer and Fortune Teller. Oil on canvas. Very well represented. fine and pleasant features. Delicate work. Signed lower right by M. Callewaert circa 1940 Maurice CALLEWAERT is a Belgian artist born in Belgium in 1900 and died in France in Paris in 1986. Belgian painter from West Flanders...

A very interesting and unusual Cornwall Iron Banks Original Oil Painting by artist J. Earle Pfoutz. The painting is produced on canvas and comes complete wit...

American regionalist oil on canvas depicting a dock scene in Sag Harbor, NY, circa 1940s, in a gilded and handcarved frame.

"Ce qu'évoquent les Livres" Allegory of the Literature Oil on canvas Signed on the lower part beside parchment 111 x 133 x 2 cm Framed 125 x 146 x 7 cm Provenance: Collection Georges AUBRY, brother of the artist Bibliography: Illustrated in catalogue «Regards de peintre» , Suzanne AUBRY-CASANOVA, 1997, p.104 After trying years of forced confinement due to the war, he composed this allegorical fresco on the theme of Literature, Science and Arts was painted by Émile Aubry for his younger brother Georges Aubry, who had intended it for his library. This work, composed on the theme of the book it symbolizes, in its diversity by allegorical characters, he cannot help ordering the painting around Art, which he places at the top of the scale of human...

Lovely and ethereal, reminiscent of the pale, ideal compositions of Puvis de Chavannes in France and America, this utopian vista depicts a series of figures gathering fruit and grain, all in formal classical poses like an ancient, early Renaissance painting...

Original Post War Framed Paintings with red hibiscus, by Tip Freema Featuring a red floral Hibiscus against a light background in its original wood frame. Tip Freeman...

Rare Mid-Century Modern signed 1949 cubist gouache painting of skyscrapers, rooftops and skyline of the City of New York including The Chrysler building by painter Theodore "Theo" Ha...

A very interesting and unusual Lancaster Covered Bridge Original Oil Painting by artist J. Earle Pfoutz. The painting is produced on artist board and comes complete with what appears to be an original artist decorated/painted frame. The painting is signed on the front by the artist and is dated 1936 on the rear. Overall frame Size approximately 28″ wide x 2″ deep x 22″ high J. Earle Pfoutz had a long and distinguished career as a self trained artist. More can be learned about him from reading this article produced by Gary Hawbaker at askART Earle Pfoutz Born: 1891 – Lancaster, Pennsylvania Died: 1957 Known for: Landscape, figure, still life painting An image of J Earle Pfoutz Biography from the Archives of askART J. Earle Pfoutz (John Earle Pfoutz) – (Oct 23, 1891-Nov 9, 1957) “A seventh generation descendant of a Swiss family which arrived in America early in the 17th Century, J. Earle Pfoutz was born in Lancaster, PA, son of John Bachman and Susan Allison Pfoutz. He painted houses for a living and pictures for a life. A self-taught artist, described as a primitive, he was distinctive for his vivid imagination and bold color application. He painted hundreds of Lancaster County scenes. Pfoutz traveled through the hills near his home and along the Susquehanna River in search of scenes. He began painting with a brush when he was fourteen, but added a palette knife after suffering an eye injury. He completed eighth grade in the Lancaster Public Schools and there his formal education ended. However, the Department of Public Instruction of the State of Pennsylvania thought so highly of his work as an artist that officials certified him as an art instructor and he taught for a year in the York (PA) public schools. He also was an art instructor under the program for disabled veterans, sponsored by the Veterans Administration, when he gave private instruction to veterans in their homes. In 1947, J. Earle Pfoutz finally earned national recognition as an artist. His painting, Opalescent October, was chosen by the Museum of Art of Dayton Ohio, to travel all over the country for a year with its Group Exhibition. Described as a “very colorful, calm scene, iridescent in color, sweeping in design,” the painting started on its journey around the country early in 1948. In an interview with the Sunday News (Lancaster, PA – Nov 2, 1947), Pfoutz stated that he didn’t know whether he was a “primitive” or an “impressionist.” No master taught him, no school channeled his style. “Sometimes I didn’t eat, but I always managed to paint,” he recalled. Many of his hundreds of canvases -most of them not sold, but given away to friends – found their way to other parts of the country. “I never remember the day when I did not love color,” Pfoutz said. “I was about 12 years old when I saw my first palette – a string of different colored paint paddles that graced the stores of that day. As a boy I had two great desires. One was to be able to eat all the strawberry jam I could, and the other to possess a string of those beautiful paint paddles. Well, I’ve got my fill of jelly, but I’ve never yet got my fill of beautiful colors.” In 1950, Pfoutz’s one man show of paintings made front page headlines in the Lancaster Intelligencer Journal: “Most of the twenty oil paintings on exhibition are landscapes, although there are several interesting figure studies. Colors again, as in all Pfoutziana are rich and full-bodied, but for the most part not as startlingly as in some of the earlier work. Most of the paintings were done during the past year, and also reveal the painter’s characteristic heavy impasto technique, in which the rich swirls of paint carry their own message. Among the figures, The Banjo Picker, and The Magician, are the most provocative. Both are character studies; the first being of a tramp musician whose drab clothing is set-off by a luminous aqua blue background. Modern in feeling and treatment is The Magician, a clown-faced wizard whose spinning ball in the air suggests the fourth dimension – space. The use of the primary colors in this picture serves to emphasize the theme effectively. A large colorful landscape, Opalescent October, depicting rolling hills against a late afternoon sky is new to Lancastrians, as it has just returned from Dayton, Ohio, where it hung in the Dayton Art Institute. Another landscape with soft dreamy colors is Fantasie D’Autumne, and one of the loveliest pictures in the show. Pennsylvania Dutch Country is another with eye appeal, and was one of the works which was hung in the Old Customs House in Philadelphia during Pennsylvania Week, and before that in a collection of Pfoutz work in the same place. In deep contrast to the sunny skies and brilliant foliage of many of the pictures, is the somewhat morbid Worry, in which the center of interest is a tremendous rat. This, the painter explains, was symbolic of 1948 in China, which was ‘The Year of The Rat’ in the Chinese calendar. Background material for the picture was furnished to Pfoutz by author Pearl Buck. Other pictures include Autumn Prelude, Miners Village, painted at Cornwall, PA; Humid Day, Saint Peters Kierch, at Middletown, PA; Lady Pfoutz, inspired by the painter’s wife; Sun Flowers, Sentimental Journey, Gyne, Luzon Woman, Old Bridge, The Cow Path. Lemures, based on Roman mythology, and Ethiopian, painted from an ebony wood carving from Kenya Province, S. Africa.” In 1953, Pfoutz was installed as President of the Lancaster County Art Association. A. Z. Kruse, New York City artist, writer and member of the faculty of the Brooklyn College and the Cartoonists and Illustrators School, Manhattan, was the guest speaker. In January of 1953, thirty-five Pfoutz oils were exhibited at the Old Custom House in Philadelphia, PA under the sponsorship of the Carl Schurz Memorial Foundation. Several Lancaster County landscapes and covered bridges were included as well as Katy, a Pennsylvania Dutch scene. Symbolic paintings included End of the Second Day, the artist’s visualization of the second coming of Christ, and Twilight, typifying the grief of mothers of all lands for sons lost in battle. In June of 1953, a Pfoutz oil made history in Lancaster. From the Lancaster New Era: “For the first in local art history, a painting has been withdrawn from an exhibition because of objections from viewers and hostesses serving at the show. The painting, Jeune Fille, a standing nude done by Pfoutz, was one of the paintings in the annual spring exhibition of the Art Association and had become the center of the controversy. Pfoutz said he took the painting down… ‘graciously but reluctantly.’ ‘From an artistic standpoint, there is nothing offensive about the painting,’ Pfoutz said. ‘This community just wants its nudes with clothes on.’ “It is most brilliant in color, and because it is so brilliant I thought it would make a nice lively spot for the show. This is the first time I’ve had to take a picture off the walls. I substituted a seascape for it.’ Pfoutz said he felt the painting brought a lot of viewers to the show because it was so controversial. It had never been exhibited before. ‘If this had been shown in a metropolitan city,’ he commented, ‘people wouldn’t have given it a second glance. But the viewpoint here is more conservative, even though I don’t think moderns would have minded.’ He said he felt the painting was neither ‘objectionable nor pornographic,’ but had complied with the wishes of fellow members of the Art Association who telephoned him to relay the protests they had received. The art controversy was the first to arise here publicly since the showing of Amish Grandmother, an oil by William Gropper which was part of the Gimbel Pennsylvania exhibit at the Griest Building several years ago. — Numerous viewers of Amish Grandmother, [a painting showing an Amish woman holding a white goose], expressed themselves quite vocally, calling it an affront to the Plain Folk. But it stayed on exhibit throughout the length of the Gimbel show. Pfoutz expressed no rancor, implying that if Gropper could take it so could he.” After his death, there were several shows of Pfoutz’ work organized by his son J. Earle, Jr. J. Earle, Jr. also saw to it that President Eisenhower would receive an oil called The Cow’s Path. The president first saw the painting in 1950 when, as president of Columbia University, he visited Lancaster to address a student assembly at Franklin and Marshall College. After his address was over, the then Gen. Eisenhower stopped at the Fackenthal Library on the campus to view an exhibition of Pfoutz’s paintings. The Cow’s Path intrigued him. For some time, as his aides fumed to get him back on his time schedule, Eisenhower and Pfoutz talked, as artist to artist. Prior to his death, Pfoutz requested that The Cow’s Path be given to the President if he wanted it. The painting was presented to Ike at the White House in November of 1959. Mrs. Eisenhower owned a Pfoutz painting titled, In the Manor. Though house painting was his livelihood, he worked for Millersville State Teachers College (now a university) for a time during World War II, and called himself “the Chimney Sweep of MSTC.” During that period he knocked out a dizzying canvas in the surrealist style (he thought it was terrible) and got into the campus newspaper when one of the students spotted it. Earle Pfoutz was not the humble, downtrodden artist, not the Douanier Rousseau type at all. As he developed his skill and style through the years, he also fashioned a resilient confidence in himself as an artist. Whether he was building his own home (he built two) or painting one for somebody else, he never lost faith in his ultimate recognition—though he was never sure he would live to see it. Whether he was working as a rigger for a hoisting company, in the Stehli Silk Mill of Lancaster, carving Cloister-style chairs, decorating old chests, cementing bricks from the old Safe...

Maj Hemberg, Swedish artist. Oil on board. Abstract composition. Painted with thick brushstrokes. ”Bombning av Dresden” - ("Bombing of Dresden"). 1945-1952. Signed on the back. In ex...

Montague Dawson: Gliding Along, The Deb, circa 1949 This is a framed oil painting on canvas and shows the first 5.5 metre day boat built by George Nicholson sailing past Newtown Cre...

Colorful and impressionist depiction of a woman with hat and scarf. A friend of the artist in Paris. Unframed.

Falcucci Robert (1900-1989). A large oil on board depicting a nude bathing female figure, circa 1940s, signed lower left Falcucci.

Painted in vivid, glowing colors by Robin Artine Smith, this depiction of a 1940-era blonde in a tangerine-hued swimsuit striding into the surf is a...

Still life of flowers. Oil on canvas. GARCÍA-OCHOA IBÁÑEZ, Luis (San Sebastián, 1920-Madrid, 2019). 1949. Signed and dated towards the lower left corner. Label on the back. Still life that shows a round table covered...

Clearly influenced by Raoul Dufy, Marie Laurencin and Hollywood set designs, this striking depiction of two nude female figures around a table with a bowl of fruit was painted in 194...