Ralph Della Volpe

Modernist Oil Painting Moody Fauvist Abstract Nude Figure Ralph Della Volpe

RALPH DELLA-VOLPE (1923-2017) Fine Art Painter, American Contemporary The Valley Oil on canvas Hand signed lower left and again to stretcher and verso 16 x 20 inches. frame dimensions: 22 1/4 x 26 inches, wood frame Provenance: The Estate of the artist Ralph Della Volpe TRAINING: National Academy of Design The Art Students League, NYC Ralph Eugene Della-Volpe's semi-abstract paintings of often simplified, minimalist, beach scenes and anonymous portraits "convey profound awareness of mood and character", and his paintings are hardly as literal as they may first appear (Arts Magazine. "New York Exhibitions". 1965). His brightly-colored, light-infused, ornamental compositions bring together aspects of many modernist art movements including Fauvism, Impressionism, Symbolism, and abstraction. Della-Volpe first studied painting at the prestigious National Academy of Design before joining the Army during World War II. As a soldier, the artist saw action on Utah Beach, winning a Purple Heart, and his experiences undoubtedly affected his later artistic style. The Fauvist "coloristic exuberance" found in the works beginning in the mid 1960's, with their vibrant fuschias and yellows, seem to offset what could be an otherwise solemn tone to many of his works at the time. Upon his return from military service, Della-Volpe’s style evolved significantly. In the years following the second world war, his work was solemn, imbued with a quiet darkness. Over time, this darkness faded: by the 1950s, influenced by his time at the Art Students League, his oeuvre was overtaken by the tenants of Abstract Expressionism. Paintings from this period boast bold brushwork, energetic compositions, and strong color. Although the next decade saw Della-Volpe trade expressionist abstraction for figuration, his love of color continued to shine through his work.Della-Volpe took a teaching position as the first artist-in-residence at Bennett College in Millbrook, New York where he remained for 28 years, serving as chairman of the Art Department for most of that time. Obviously influenced by impressionism 's preoccupation with the treatment of light, Della-Volpe's own works have a "faultless tonal quality, with its sense of failing light—the areas of silvery gray deepening into rosy tans" (Arts Magazine. "In the Galleries". 1960). Della-Volpe has exhibited widely throughout his career and has lectured on art at colleges, universities, and galleries across the country. SOLO SHOWS: Hotchkiss Library, Sharon, Conn Millbrook Library, Millbrook,NY Gregory James Gallery...

Jean Helleu (French, 1894-1985) A painter, watercolorist and designer born in Paris, France. The son of Paul-César Helleu. (a French oil painter, pastel artist, drypoint etcher, and designer, best known for his numerous portraits of beautiful society women of the Belle Époque. He conceived the ceiling mural of night sky constellations for Grand Central Terminal in New York City. He studied with Jean-Leon Gerome and was friends with John Singer Sargent, James McNeill Whistler, and Claude Monet.) Jean shared with his father a love of the sea and sailing. He studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts and the Grande Chaumière. (Kurt Seligmann, Yolande Ardissone, Balthus, Jacques Bouyssou, Gabriel Dauchot, Étienne Hajdu, Jean Helleu, Claude Lazar...

Genre: Modern Subject: Jewish Elder , Judaic Prayer Surface: Board Country: United States signed lower left Donald Roy Purdy is an American painter whose work evolved through a rang...

Michel Loeb (French, 1931- ) "Le Petit Clocher" Oil on Panel Painting Frame: 22.5" X 26" Image: 14.5" X 17.75" Hand signed bottom left Oil on board Fauve painting of a French countryside scene with trees, farmers and houses. Michel Loeb, 1930- painter, was born in Saint-Cloud. Lives and works in Luberon. Art naïf. Pointillist, Fauvist, Surrealist, Dadai artist, unclassifiable, highly original, unique art. His works radiate a light, a love of colors, of the absurd, of the funny, of the tender and of the poetic. French Naive art. Galerie Felix Vercel showed his work. Whether in color or black & white, in painting, sculpture or a lithograph print, the world of Michel Loeb is a poetic, joyful and exuberant paradise, where humor and fantasy are never far away. Extravagant works that sparkle like their iconoclastic author whose titles often say a lot. Each work is executed with great attention to detail, often under the magnifying glass, by this former jeweler, including its very large formats. Michel Loeb has drawn parallels to his masters of painting, facetious but always majestic winks and the desire for paintings in the style of Vincent Van Gogh, Paul Gauguin, Edward Hopper, Hokusai. Michel Loeb is a painter born in Saint-Cloud. He first trained as a jeweler and diamond dealer like his father and painted as an amateur. He devoted himself to painting from 1970, after his meeting with the famous art dealer Félix Vercel, who then took him under contract and exhibited him in Paris, New York and Tokyo. Galerie Felix Vercel in Paris (Avenue Matignon) and New York (Madison Avenue) showed artists as Pablo Picasso, Fernand Leger, Armand Guillaumin, Maurice Utrillo and Claude Venard. He is part of School of Paris artists that included Marcel Cosson, Jean Jansem, Claude Salomon, Michel Kouliche, Bernard Buffet, Bernard Lorjou, Jean Dufy, and others. Naive art was then in fashion and his work enjoyed great success; he has prepared no less than one exhibition per year since this period. Recently he had the opportunity to present his work in Provence, Oslo or Shanghai. Since 1988, he has settled in Oppède, in the Luberon, among vineyards, scrubland and olive groves where he draws his inspiration. His work is simimilar in its childish naive appeal and is reminiscent of Henri Maik and Gustavo Novoa. In the French tradition of Séraphine de Senlis, Ferdinand Cheval, Henri Rousseau, Louis Vivin...