Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 6

"Truth and the Seven Deadly Sins", Study for Queens Supreme Courthouse Mosaic

$2,900
£2,192.04
€2,519.04
CA$4,038.23
A$4,492.37
CHF 2,354.96
MX$54,895.64
NOK 29,987.42
SEK 28,229.01
DKK 18,803.71
Shipping
Retrieving quote...
The 1stDibs Promise:
Authenticity Guarantee,
Money-Back Guarantee,
24-Hour Cancellation

About the Item

Entitled "Truth and the Seven Deadly Sins" and teeming with allegory, this Art Deco study for a major mosaic was painted by Eugene Savage for the new Queens Supreme Courthouse -- a 1930s Works Progress Administration project in Queens, New York. The central figure with a hand mirror may represent Narcissus, who would personify "vanity," one of the sins, and at the bottom of the scene is a winged devil who seems to be opening a door to a fiery world below. To the right is a figure near a chest full of gold and coins, and the entire scene is surmounted by a reclining female nude. Savage is best known for a spectacular set of murals illustrating the history and lore of Hawaii commissioned by Matson Shipping Line for the S.S. Lurline, executed in the 1940s but not installed until the 1950s. The artist also painted other series of murals and paintings, include an enormous mural for the Texas Centennial Buildings in Dallas, a group for the Elks National Memorial in Chicago, and a series celebrating the Seminole Indians and their home in the Everglades, now held by the Cummer Museum in Jacksonville. He also executed works for other public buildings in Chicago and Indiana, and for Columbia and Yale Universities. This study is gouache on artist board. The reverse shows an inscription by the artist.
  • Creator:
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 14.5 in (36.83 cm)Width: 12.25 in (31.12 cm)Depth: 0.1 in (2.54 mm)
  • Style:
    Art Deco (Of the Period)
  • Materials and Techniques:
  • Place of Origin:
  • Period:
  • Date of Manufacture:
    Circa 1930s
  • Condition:
    Overall excellent; some surface grime.
  • Seller Location:
    Philadelphia, PA
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU865134950012

More From This Seller

View All
"Seven Deadly Sins", Fabulous Art Deco Mural Study by Eugene Savage
By Eugene Francis Savage
Located in Philadelphia, PA
A companion painting to another piece in our gallery, this painting -- "Truth and the Seven Deadly Sins" -- served as a study by Eugene Savage for a major mosaic proposed for the new...
Category

Vintage 1930s American Art Deco Paintings

Materials

Paint

"Justice Triumphant", Mural Study for Queens, Ny Courthouse, circa 1941-1942
By Eugene Francis Savage
Located in Philadelphia, PA
A striking example of WPA mural art, this study for one of the murals proposed for the new Queens Supreme Courthouse -- a 1930s Works Progress Administration project in Queens, New York -- was painted by Eugene Savage. Like many paintings from the period, the study is teeming with allegory and symbolism, surmounted at the top by the figure of Justice with a long sword, spurning businesspeople at her feet who offer gifts and favors. Savage is best known for a spectacular set of murals illustrating the history and lore of Hawaii commissioned by Matson Shipping Line for the S.S. Lurline, executed in the 1940s but not installed until the 1950s. The artist also painted other series of murals and paintings, include an enormous mural...
Category

Vintage 1940s American Art Deco Paintings

Materials

Paint

"Ninth Symphony", Art Deco Paean to Beethoven's Masterpiece by Renowned Muralist
By Eugene Francis Savage
Located in Philadelphia, PA
Filled with Sturm und Drang and packed with allegory and higher meaning, this remarkable Art Deco painting by Eugene Savage celebrates and interprets B...
Category

Vintage 1930s American Art Deco Paintings

Materials

Paint

"Zodiac w/ Helios and Cornucopia", Fabulous Art Deco Mural Study by Savage
By Eugene Francis Savage
Located in Philadelphia, PA
Painted by Eugene Savage -- arguably, America's most successful and prolific muralist in the Art Deco style, with important surviving paintings dating from the 1920s to the 1950s -- this study was made for a Zodiac-themed ceiling mural. The round painting features a night sky jeweled with bands of stars, and featuring several mythological figures such as Helios with his chariot and Cornucopia. Savage is best known for a spectacular set of murals illustrating the history and lore of Hawaii commissioned by Matson Shipping Line for the S. S. Lurline, executed in the 1940s but not installed until the 1950s. The artist also painted other series of murals and paintings, include an enormous mural...
Category

Vintage 1930s American Art Deco Paintings

Materials

Paint

"Children of the Crucible", Striking Art Deco Mural by Beck, T. Roosevelt quote
Located in Philadelphia, PA
This important and very rare mural study, executed in oil on canvas, was painted by Dunbar Beck in the 1930s, evidently for a project that was never completed. The painting depicts i...
Category

Vintage 1930s American Art Deco Paintings

Materials

Paint

"Rehabilitation", Impressive, Large Art Deco Study for Queens, NYC Courthouse
Located in Philadelphia, PA
Teeming with allegory and symbolism, this large and elaborate study by Eugene Savage for a major mural to be executed in mosaic was painted for the new Queens Supreme Courthouse -- a...
Category

Vintage 1940s Paintings

Materials

Paint

You May Also Like

"Ce qu'évoquent les Livres" by Émile Aubry '1880-1964'
By Louis Aubry
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
"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...
Category

Vintage 1940s French Art Deco Paintings

Materials

Canvas

A large French painting, featuring motifs from the Kabbalah France 1950
Located in SOTTEVILLE-LÈS-ROUEN, FR
A large French painting, featuring motifs from the Kabbalah, the dualism of yin and yang, as well as themes of seasons and the cycles of life. Dating back to the 1950s, it is a work ...
Category

Vintage 1950s French Paintings

Materials

Wood, Paper

NYC 1939 World's Fair Mural Study American Scene WPA Modern Mid 20th Century
Located in New York, NY
NYC 1939 World's Fair Mural Study American Scene WPA Modern Mid 20th Century Eugene Savage (1883 – 1978) 1939 World’s Fair Mural Study 45 x 30 inches Oil on Canvas Signed lower right The painting is part of a 1,000 piece collection of art and objects from the 1939 World’s Fair. The collection as a whole is available. Savage created the mural for the facade of the Communications Building. An image of the completed mural, along with a published postcard, is part of the listing. Note the center top female figure, she resembles the figure in the offered painting. BIO Eugene Francis Savage was born in Covington, Indiana 1883. He underwent various forms of art training in the early years. He was a pupil of The Corcoran Gallery and The Art Institute of Chicago, and was later awarded a fellowship to study in Rome at The American Academy. While under the spell of that ancient city the young artist began to render historic figures that were suitable for the classic style needed for mural painting in the traditional manor. During this period he was able to study and observe Roman and Greek sculpture, although much of the academic training was accomplished by using plaster casts along with the incorporation of live models. This method survived and was used efficiently throughout Europe and the United States. After leaving the Academy, Savage was commissioned to paint numerous murals throughout the United States and Europe. This artist received acclaim for the works he produced while under commissions from various sources. This young master was a contemporary of Mexican muralists David Alfaro Siqueiros (1896-1974), Jose Clemente Orozco (1883-1949) and Diego Rivera (1886-1957). In this period he was to show the influence of his contemporaries in formulating a modern style. Savage also played a vital role in the WPA Federal Art program, and he was a member of The Mural Art Guild.. Savage was elected an associate member of The National Academy of Design in 1924 and a full member in 1926. From 1947, he held a professorship at Yale University where he taught mural painting, and some of his students went on to significant positions. By this time the artist had painted large-scale murals at Columbia, Yale University, Buffalo N.Y., Dallas, Texas, Chicago, Indiana, along with other commissioned works. He also achieved recognition for a series of murals commissioned by the Matson Shipping Line and completed around 1940. For this commission, Savage made many exacting studies of customs and folkways of the Hawaiian natives. However, the award-winning murals were not installed as planned but were put in storage during the war years when the ships were used for troop transportation and were in danger of attack. However the mural images were reproduced and distributed by the shipping company including nine of the mural scenes that were made into lithographed menu covers in 1948. The American Institute of Graphic Arts awarded certificates of excellence for their graphic production, and the Smithsonian Institute exhibited the works in 1949. Today Savages' Hawaiian Art production is held in high regard by collectors of Hawaiian nostalgia. In later years the artist focused his attention on a theme that dealt with the customs and tribal traditions of the Seminole Indians of Florida. He produced many variations of this theme throughout his lifetime, and the pictures were usually modest scale easel paintings, precise and carefully delineated. Many of these pictures incorporate Surrealistic elements and show some minor stylistic influences of the painters Kay Sage...
Category

1930s American Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

The Model - 1930s mural design for Eltham Palace by Harry Carleton Attwood
Located in London, GB
HARRY CARLETON ATTWOOD (1907-1985) The Model - Design for Eltham Palace Coloured chalks, arched top Framed 21 by 13 cm., 8 ¼ by 5 in. (frame size 39.5 by 31.5 cm., 15 ½ by 12 ½ in...
Category

1930s Art Deco Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Chalk

Edgar Louis Yaeger World Wonders Modern Mosiac, 1986
By Edgar Yaeger
Located in Keego Harbor, MI
For your consideration is a monumental mosiac mural of world wonders made in 1986 by Michigan artist Edgar Louis Yaegar (51x74). Edgar Louis Yaeger was a...
Category

Vintage 1980s American Contemporary Art

Materials

Other

Modernist Style Painting by American Artist Raymond O'Neill, 1930's-1940's
Located in San Francisco, CA
Art Deco / Modernist style painting titled "Figures in Meditation" by American artist Raymond O'Neill (b.1893 - d.1962.) Oil on board in painted wood ...
Category

Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Paintings

Materials

Paint