American Modern Figurative Paintings

August Frederick Biehle (1885-1979) Farm in Berlin Heights, c. 1930 Oil on masonite Signed lower right 22 x 30 inches 27.75 x 36 inches, framed A versatile painter who worked in a v...

A captivating, 1930s portrait painting of a young woman by famed Chicago artist, Francis Chapin (Am. 1899-1965). A sensitive, skilled portrait of a young female model, most likely h...

A captivating, Modern 1930s portrait painting of a young woman in a black sweater by famed Chicago artist, Francis Chapin (Am. 1899-1965). A skilled and expressive portrait of a you...

At first glance, we focus on the chiseled features of the woman reclining languorously in an enveloping purple wing chair. There are refinements here. A silken fringed shawl. Delicat...

John Opper (American, 1908-1994) Ninth Avenue El (New York City), c. 1935 Oil on canvas Signed lower left and verso 30.125 x 24 inches The Ninth Avenue El was the first elevated rai...

Coney Island, Fourth of July, c. 1940s, oil on canvas applied to Masonite, signed upper right, 26 x 21 1/2 inches, presented in its original frame During the 1930s and 40s, Coney I...

A Fabulous, Abstract 1960s Mid-Century Modern Painting of a Sleeping Female Nude by Noted Chicago Artist, Rudolph Pen. A sensuous, intimate studio depiction of a sleeping nude femal...

A Charming, Colorful 1950s Mid-Century Modern Harbor Scene of Martha's Vineyard by Notable Chicago Artist, Francis Chapin (Am. 1899-1965). Painted near the artist's longtime studio ...

George Gustav Adomeit (American, 1879-1967) Summer Landscape Oil on canvas board Signed lower right 13 x 14.25 inches 18.25 x 19.5 inches, framed A major painter of American scene s...

Chicago Modernist, William Schwartz, painted this dynamic landscape of an artist painting en plein air. He studied at the Art Institute of Chicago shortly after emigrating to the Un...

A striking Modern figure painting of two bathers in a boathouse by noted Chicago Modern artist, Francis Chapin (Am. 1899-1965). Painted at the OxBow School of Saugatuck, Michigan (t...

"Paper Making" WPA Industrial Mid-Century American Scene Social Realism Workers Douglas Crockwell (1904-1968) "Paper Making" 19 x 39 inches Oil on board, c. 1936 Signed verso Framed: 28 x 47 Provenance: Estate of the Artist BIO Spencer Douglass Crockwell was born into a comfortable middle class household on April 29, 1904 in Columbus, Ohio. His father, Charles Roland Crockwell, was a mining engineer; his mother, Cora, was the daughter of an Iowa attorney. He became a commercial artist and experimental filmmaker who spent a good part of his career creating illustrations and advertisements for the Saturday Evening Post. In 1907 the Crockwell family moved to St. Louis, Missouri, where he graduated from high school and then attended from Washington University. Initially he studied engineering, but soon switched to business. While still an undergraduate, Crockwell took courses at the St. Louis School of Fine Arts and quickly realized that he wanted to be an artist. After graduating from Washington University in 1926, Crockwell continued to study at the St. Louis School of Fine Arts until 1929. The following year he relocated to Chicago and continued his studies at the American Academy of Art. In 1930 and 1931 he studied in Europe on a Traveling Fellowship. In 1932 Douglass Crockwell moved to Glens Falls, New York, which was to be his home for the remainder of his life. The following year he married Margaret Braman. They had three children, a son Douglass and two daughters, Johanna and Margaret. During the depression he created murals and posters for the Works Progress Administration including Post Office murals in White River junction, Vermont; Endicott, New York; and Macon, Mississippi. In 1934 he painted Paper Workers, Finch Pruyn & Co. (the leading Glens Falls, New York company) for the WPA. In the 1930s Crockwell developed an interest in experimental animated films that occupied him for the rest of his life. In 1936 and 1937, he collaborated with David Smith, a sculptor, to create surrealist films. Because of his interest in experimental films, his output of paintings was limited to just twenty to forty illustrations a year during this time. Crockwell painted his first of many Saturday Evening Post cover in 1933. He also worked for Life, Look, and Esquire, and numerous national advertisers including Friskies dog food, Welch’s Grape Juice, Republic Steel...

Lovers - Nude Couple in Bed - Figurative Composition in Acrylic on Paper Expressive depiction of a nude couple by Byron Richard Rodarmel (American, 1932-2007). A couple is intertwin...

Ora Coltman (American, 1858-1940) House in Hudson, OH Oil on canvas Signed lower left 22 x 26 inches 27.5 x 31.5 inches, framed 21 Aurora Street is locally known as the Isham-Beebe ...

A colorful , blustery painting of a summer harbor in Saugatuck, Michigan by famed Chicago Modern artist, Francis Chapin. Dating circa 1935, oil on Masonite, the painting depicts a v...

With a studied hand, Sloan captures the human theater of a snow-covered Central Park filled with bundled-up New Yorkers, sledding, walking, chatting, and caring for children. The exp...

Albert Heckman Woodstock Landscape Oil on board 10 x 8 inches Albert Heckman was born in Meadville, Western Pennsylvania, 1893. He went to New York City to try his hand at the art ...

A large 1930s painting of standing female nude by notable Chicago Modern artist Francis Chapin, in a gold-toned frame. Artwork size: 43 3/4 x 29 3/4 inches; Framed size: 49 1/2 x...

From the estate of Jerry Opper & Ruth Friedman Opper Black Floor c. 1940-1950's Gouache on Paper 15" x 18" Unframed *Custom framing available for additional charge. Please expect framing time between 3-5 weeks. From the estate of Ruth Friedmann Opper & Jerry Opper. Ruth was the daughter of Bauhaus artist, Gustav Friedmann. San Francisco Abstract Expression A free-spirited wave of creative energy swept through the San Francisco art community after World War II. Challenging accepted modes of painting, Abstract Expressionists produced highly experimental works that jolted the public out of its postwar complacency. Abstract Expressionism resulted from a broad collective impulse rather than the inspiration of a small band of New York artists. Documenting the interchanges between the East and West Coasts, she cites areas of mutual influence and shows the impact of San Francisco on the New York School, including artists such as Mark Rothko and Ad Reinhardt. San Francisco's Beat poets...

George Gustav Adomeit (American, 1879-1967) Coastal Scene Oil on canvas Signed lower left 19 x 23 inches 21.5 x 25.5 inches, framed A major painter of American scene subjects, Georg...

Mural Study for "History of Water" American Scene Modernism Social Realism WPA Thomas Hart Benton (American, 1889-1975) "Water Story" (Study for The History of Water) Tempera and o...

"Untitled" portrays a young female nude in an intimate setting within the artist's studio. This painting is done in the classical vein of full portraiture. The model, however, is not posed quietly, but is engaged with a person or object off the frame, or, perhaps in an interior monologue with herself. Regardless of which, the viewer's attention is not only attracted to the beauty of the model's figure, but the intention of her actions. Charles Pompilius...

This mural study is part of our exhibition America Coast to Coast: Artists of the 1930s San Pedro Post Office: History of Writing Mural South, Preliminary Mural Maquette right panel...

Artist: William Harnden, American (1920 - 1983) Title: Conductor with Orchestra Medium: Oil on Masonite, signed Image Size: 15.5 x 19 inches Frame Size: 18 x 21 inches

Artist: William Harnden, American (1920 - 1983) Title: Concert Medium: Oil on Masonite, signed Image Size: 15.5 x 20 inches Frame Size: 22.5 x 27 inches

A charming, colorful 1948 Mid-Century Modern beach scene by notable Chicago artist, Harold Haydon. Depicting a sunlit beach scene with bathers and sailboats painted along the sandy ...

"Sea Cliff" Mid Century Modern Coastal Cliff Seascape in Acrylic on Masonite Expansive seascape by notable California artist Farren Jensen (American, 19...

Clarence Holbrook Carter (American, 1904-2000) Transection No. 3, 1972 Acrylic on paper Signed and dated upper right 30 x 22 inches Provenance: Collection of William H. Milliken Cl...

A charming, colorful and quirky 1940s Mid-Century Modern Still Life, "Elephant and Red Pillow" by notable Chicago Artist, Harold Haydon Artwork size: 8 1/2 x 10 1/2 inches; Framed...

Title: French Gouache Painting of Native American Antelope Hunt in Utah by Emile GALLOIS (1882-1965, French) Signed: Yes Medium: Original gouache painting on thick unframed paper, Si...

In the tradition of Modigliani, Maurer's depictions of women are expressive and lively. America had very few modernists who painted in this manner but Maurer is famous for exactly t...

Artist: Sandu Liberman, Romanian/Israeli (1923 - 1977) Title: Declaration Year: Circa 1970 Medium: Oil on Canvas, signed lower left Size: 30 x 24 in. (76.2 x 60.96 cm) Frame Size: 38...

Donald Stacy "Eve" c.1950s Gouache and oil pastel on paper 14x17" black wood frame 14.75"x17.75" Unsigned, Eve written in paint along right margin Came from artist's estate Donald S...

Discover an original modernist portrait by acclaimed American artist Eunice Katz (1927–2008). This acrylic painting on board presents a compelling female figure rendered in a bold mo...

Modern nude study of red-haired woman reclining seated by American painter, Patricia Gren Hayes (b. 1932), 1979. Signed and dated on verso Provenance: Purchased as part of larger collection of artist's work Unframed. Canvas size: 16"H x 20"W. Patricia Gren Hayes (American, b. 1932) is a Bay Area Figurative & Feminist Art Movement artist who studied at Winnipeg Public Art School in 1950. She received early recognition in Museum and Gallery competitions and exhibitions and was awarded a Special Education in Art recognition by the Winnipeg Museum of Fine Art, and was awarded a scholarship to the Banff College of Fine Art. Further studies were at The University of Manitoba. She was a Member of Winnipeg Free Press Sketch Club and was a Cartoonist and paste-up for a French-English bi-weekly, in Eastern Canada; She studied outdoor impressionism in New York in 1960; in 1962, attended The California College of Arts and Crafts, and in 1976 B.A., U.C. Berkeley where she studied under Elmer Bischoff, David Simpson, Joan Brown, Felix Ruvolo, Yolanda Lopez and Vincent Perez. She started a freelance commercial art business in 1963; copyrighted a National Cartoon, 1976, and served as Exhibition Director for San Francisco Woman Artists Gallery and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, 1976-1978. She was a workshop instructor at the San Francisco Woman Artists Gallery, 1977-1985; and was Manager/Owner Stanton Art Gallery, Alameda, CA, 1976-1982. Solo Exhibitions: Berkeley Marina, 1974; Oakland Center for The Visual Arts, "Images of Women", 1979 Group Exhibitions: Oakland's Dept of Education, 1963, Studio One; Alameda County Fair, 1975, 1976, 1978; San Francisco Art Festival, 1969, 1970, 1976, 1977, 1978; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, 1976, 1977, 1978; San Francisco Women Artists Gallery Exhibition, award winner - 1970, 1977, 1978; Hayward Bay Fair Art Festival, award winner - 1971; Capricorn Assunder Gallery, 1973; Oakland Art Festival, 1973, 1974; Alameda Art Association, 1978; El Cerrito...

Alex Minewski, 'Dockside', gouache on paper, 1953. Signed in the image, lower left. Annotated 'April 1953, Minewski, ‘Dock Side’, verso. A fine, modernist re...

A Charming, 1950s Modern Portrait of a Girl in White Dress by Noted Chicago Artist, Francis Chapin (Am. 1899-1965). Artwork size: 6 1/2 x 5 3/4 inches; oil on Masonite; Framed si...

“The Champ, 1942” by Theodore Fried (1902-1980) This important portrait by Hungarian-American artist Theodore Fried depicts the legendary boxer Joe Louis aka “The Brown Bomber” and ...

Riders Through the Canyon, c. 1941 Oil on board Signed lower right 24 x 32.25 inches "Also, on this second trip the significant colors of the Southwest became apparent - the prep...

Compelling figurative study in gouache and pencil by Joesph Capozio (American, 1928-2016). Estate stamp lower right corner with bio on verso. Presented in mahogany wood frame. Framed size: 19"H x 17"W. Capozio was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1927. After serving in World War II, he attended art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He lived and worked in San Francisco, California; New Orleans, Louisiana; Siesta Key...

Frank Nelson Wilcox (American, 1887-1964) The Wood Chopper, Brecksville, Ohio, c. 1917 Oil on masonite 33 x 24 inches "We were fortunate in that the two farms in Brecksville were still open to our visits. The urbanization of the township was then only beginning and we spent several summers there where I tried to capture something of the rural peace so soon to be erased from the countryside." - Wilcox Exhibited: “Water Colors and Oils by Frank N. Wilcox,” Cleveland Museum of Art, January 1937. Frank Nelson Wilcox (October 3, 1887 – April 17, 1964) was a modernist American artist and a master of watercolor. Wilcox is described as the "Dean of Cleveland School...

A charming, vibrant, early Mexican city street scene by famed Chicago Modern artist Francis Chapin (Am. 1899-1965). Depicting a bustling, picturesque view of the shaded, arched arcade of the Portal de Guadalupe in the historic city of San Miguel de Allende, the painting is oil on canvas and dates circa 1940. The towering pink spire of the majestic church, the Parroquia de San Miguel Arcángel...

A Vibrant, Colorful 1950s Mid-Century Modern Painting of Martha's Vineyard by Famed Chicago Artist, Francis Chapin (Am. 1899-1965). Titled "Breakfast on the Porch at the Vineyard Ho...

George Gustav Adomeit (American, 1879-1964) Barn Scene Oil on canvas mounted to masonite Signed lower right 16 x 20 inches 21.5 x 25.5 inches, framed A major painter of American sce...

Fanciful mid-century modern abstract of trapeze artists by Brooklyn artist Hilda Dora Pape Arp (b. 1909). This 1962 highly abstracted depiction of trape...

Grace Hill Turnbull Laughing Waters, 1925 Signed lower right, titled on verso Oil on canvas 26 x 37 inches Provenance The artist Catonsville Community College, Catonsville, Maryland...

Albert Heckman Woodstock Landscape Oil on board 8 1/2 x 10 1/2 inches Albert Heckman was born in Meadville, Western Pennsylvania, 1893. He went to New York City to try his hand at ...

The Demagogue or Tale in a Tub, 1952, oil on canvas, 24 x 20 inches, signed, titled, and dated verso, presented in a newer frame The Demagogue is an iconic Bendor Mark painting fro...

A Colorful, Dynamic 1930s Modern Boxing Scene by Notable Chicago Artist, Francis Chapin. Artwork size: 2 3/4 x 4 inches, oil on Masonite on original mount, framed in striking perio...

A captivating, Modern portrait painting of a female nude seated in a quiet studio interior by famed Chicago artist, Francis Chapin (Am. 1899-1965). A sensitive, skilled portrait of ...

Clarence Holbrook Carter (American, 1904-2000) Quadratic, 1979 Acrylic and collage on textured paper Signed and dated lower right 30 x 22 inches 31.5 x 23.5 inches, framed A surreal...

GLORIA STUART (1910 – 2010) WATTS TOWERS, 1971 Oil on canvas, signed lower right, 24” x 50 ½”. Gloria Stuart, an Academy Award nominated actress was also a painter, illustrator and printmaker. She most recently portrayed Rose in the blockbuster film “Titanic”. She was a Santa Monica native. In 2013 The Los Angeles Museum of Art, LACMA exhibited a nearly identical painting looking from the south, the same size and frame. Last 5 photos show the example at LACMA. One shows theirs in a distant room with a major Thomas Hart Benton painting in the foreground A VERY IMPORTANT MULTI-LEVELED DOCUMENT OF LOS ANGELES AND HOLLYWOOD CULTURAL HSTORYi The following is from her obituary in the Los Angeles Times upon her death in September 2010 at the age of 100 Gloria Stuart, a 1930s Hollywood leading lady who earned an Academy Award nomination for her first significant role in nearly 60 years — as Old Rose, the centenarian survivor of the Titanic in James Cameron’s 1997 Oscar-winning film — has died. She was 100. .......She devoted much of her time to designing and printing artists’ books (handmade, letter-press printed books in limited editions, with her own artwork and writing). Her work is in the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and other museums. Stuart, a founding member of the Screen Actors Guild who later became an accomplished painter and fine printer, died Sunday night at her West Los Angeles home, said her daughter, writer Sylvia Thompson. Stuart had been diagnosed with lung cancer five years ago. “She also was a breast cancer survivor,” Thompson said, “but she just paid no attention to illness. She was a very strong woman and had other fish to fry.” In July the actress was honored at an “Academy Centennial Celebration With Gloria Stuart” at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills. “She was a charming and beautiful leading lady in the ‘30s, and I never understood why her career didn’t go further at that time,” film historian and critic Leonard Maltin, who interviewed Stuart on stage at the event, told The Times on Monday. As for Stuart’s high-profile comeback in “Titanic”: “She was thrilled by the attention that that performance brought her and really wanted to win that Oscar. I thought she hit just the right notes in that performance. She was wry and engaging.” As a glamorous blond actress under contract to Universal Studios and 20th Century Fox in the 1930s, Stuart appeared opposite Claude Rains in James Whale’s “The Invisible Man” and with Warner Baxter in John Ford’s “The Prisoner of Shark Island.” She also appeared with Eddie Cantor in “Roman Scandals,” with Dick Powell in Busby Berkeley’s “Gold Diggers of 1935” and with James Cagney in “Here Comes the Navy.” And she played romantic leads in two Shirley Temple movies, “Poor Little Rich Girl” and “Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm.” But mostly she played what Stuart later dismissed as “stupid parts with nothing to do” — “girl reporter, girl detective, girl nurse” — and “it became increasingly evident to me I wasn’t going to get to be a big star like Katharine Hepburn and Loretta Young.” After making 42 feature films between 1932 and 1939, Stuart’s latest studio contract, with 20th Century Fox, was not renewed. She appeared in only four films in the 1940s and retired from the screen in 1946. By 1974, “the blond lovely of the talkies” had become an entry in one of Richard Lamparski’s “Whatever Happened to” books. Writer-director Cameron’s $200-million “Titanic” changed that. Stuart played Rose Calvert, the 100-year-old Titanic survivor who shows up after modern-day treasure hunters searching through the wreckage of the sunken ship find a charcoal drawing of her wearing a priceless blue diamond necklace. Stuart’s performance as Old Rose frames the 1997 romantic- drama that starred Leonardo DiCaprio as lower-class artist Jack Dawson...

A Charming, 1950s Mid-Century Modern Studio Portrait, "Young Girl in Blue" by Notable Chicago Artist, Francis Chapin (Am. 1899-1965). Artwork size: 20 x 16 inches, oil on canvas. ...

Crying Clown Portrait in Oil on Canvas Portrait of a sad clown by San Francisco artist John Peers (American, 1922-2009). This portrait is closely fra...

Neighbors, 1939, oil on canvas, signed and dated lower right, 22 x 26 inches Norman Barr was an American Scene painter and muralist known for his poignant depictions of working-clas...

A quintessential American Scene landscape painted by the Chicago Modernist, William Schwartz. Workers in tilled fields surrounding a farmstead under dramatic skies. Painted in 1935...

Clarence Holbrook Carter (American, 1904-2000) Dichotomy, 1962 Oil on paper Signed and dated upper left 20 x 25 inches Mid-century figural abstract green painting of woman swimming ...

“I’ll Be There” by Craig Greene is a compelling 20 x 16 inch oil on canvas that captures quiet strength, emotion, and human connection through a modern figurative lens. Executed in G...

A Wonderfully Stylized, 60s Mid-Century Modern Oil Painting of Standing Male Ballet Dancers by Noted Chicago Artist, Rudolph T. Pen. Painted in the 1960s, this captivating dance stu...

If you have an association with dance, yoga or working out, this unusual modernist painting might be an interesting addition to your space. Artist Albert Michini used several models ...