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1940s Portrait Paintings

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Period: 1940s
Mid Century Young Blonde Girl Portrait Egg Tempera - Style of Thomas Hart Benton
By Robert Collins
Located in Soquel, CA
Gorgeous pointillist egg tempera portrait of young blonde girl by Robert Joseph Collins (American, 1922-2011), 1947. Signed "Collins" and dated "'47." U...
Category

Photorealist 1940s Portrait Paintings

Materials

Egg Tempera, Illustration Board

Retrato de una Ibicenca - Óleo sobre tela - Año 1942
Located in Sant Celoni, ES
La obra va firmada por el artista en la parte inferior y fechada del año 1942 El estado de la obra es bueno Se presenta sin enmarcar la pintura Medidas obra: 113 cm de altura x 82...
Category

Impressionist 1940s Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Portrait of a Black Woman, Maxine - Mid-Century WPA
Located in Miami, FL
A charming portrait of a Black woman with stylized hairstyle of the period - Midtown Galleries label on verso, Unframed Signed and date...
Category

Art Deco 1940s Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

"Rushelle in the Garden"
Located in Lambertville, NJ
Jim’s of Lambertville is proud to offer this artwork by: Gershon Benjamin (1899 - 1985) An American Modernist of portraits, landscapes, still lives, and the urban scene, Gershon ...
Category

Modern 1940s Portrait Paintings

Materials

Masonite, Oil

Art Journalism - War Lessons, Illustration for Collier s, Female Illustrator
Located in Miami, FL
Marta Sawyers. Illustrator Journalist. She was sent to war-ravaged countries to “Paint the Story”. What's unique here? This represents the work an Artist Journalist/War Correspondent...
Category

Post-Impressionist 1940s Portrait Paintings

Materials

Pastel

Seated Nude Model in Art Class - British 40 s Slade School portrait oil painting
Located in Hagley, England
This superb Post Impressionist Slade School female full length seated nude portrait oil painting is by female artist E A Jay. Painted in the 1940'...
Category

Post-Impressionist 1940s Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

A Vibrant, Mid-Century Modern Portrait of a Young Woman in a Yellow Blouse
Located in Chicago, IL
A Vibrant, Mid-Century Modern Portrait of a Young Woman in a Yellow Blouse by Notable Chicago Artist, Francis Chapin (Am. 1899-1965). Oil on Masonite, dating circa 1945. Artwork Si...
Category

American Modern 1940s Portrait Paintings

Materials

Masonite, Oil

Up at Bat, The Saturday Evening Post Cover, August 10, 1940
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Price on Request. The Saturday Evening Post cover, August 10, 1940
Category

American Modern 1940s Portrait Paintings

Materials

Masonite, Oil

Tribesmen with Headdresses
Located in Miami, FL
"Robert Riggs was awarded the Gold Medal for Excellence by the New York Art Directors Club for ten consecutive years and received many additional awards." He was elected to the Society of Illustrators' Hall of Fame. His work is in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Philadelphia Museum of Fine Arts and the U.S. Library of Congress. Riggs's compositons are "monumental" Walt Reed - work is unframed. - Riggs was a Gay Artist.
Category

American Realist 1940s Portrait Paintings

Materials

Tempera

Portrait of Renée
Located in London, GB
'Portrait of Renée', oil on board, by Louis Latapie (1941). When combined with the artist's passionate brush strokes, the wood panel upon which this piece is painted, creates both a ...
Category

Fauvist 1940s Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

La Nobildonna - Il Guanto Rosso (Noblewoman - The Red Glove) - Oil on Canvas
Located in Roma, IT
Signed lower left: FANTUZZI. Archived in the General Catalogue of Eliano Fantuzzi, No. A-6, order number 15/76741. Very good conditions. This artwork is shipped from Italy. Under ex...
Category

1940s Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Paratrooper, oil painting by Thomas Cantrell Dugdale
Located in London, GB
Thomas Cantrell Dugdale RA RP ROI Paratrooper Oil on canvas 44 x 46 cm Signed to bottom right (painted faintly) Thomas Cantrell Dugdale (1880–1952) was a British painter and illust...
Category

Modern 1940s Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

American WPA Jewish New York Modernist Madonna Mother and Child painting
Located in Norwich, GB
A magnificent oil on canvas by Russian American WPA artist Nahum Tschacbasov (1899-1984), dating from 1943. Depicting a Maternity scene - or possibly a m...
Category

American Modern 1940s Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Self Portrait
Located in London, GB
HUGO SCHEIBER 1873-1950 1873 - Budapest - 1950 (Hungarian) Title: Self Portrait Technique: Original Signed Pastel Drawing on Paper Size: 37.7 x 30 cm. / 14.8 x 11.8 in. Additiona...
Category

Futurist 1940s Portrait Paintings

Materials

Pastel

Moments of Reflection Depicting a Woman Sitting by the Fire, Original Oil Paint
Located in Stockholm, SE
We are pleased to present a captivating painting by the artist Sam Uhrdin (1886-1964). This beautiful artwork depicts a woman from Dalarna, sitting in front of a warm, glowing fire. The entire painting is bathed in a soft, radiant light, particularly illuminating her face and traditional white/red attire. The woman appears contemplative, lost in thought, perhaps thinking of someone dear to her heart. She is depicted in a kitchen, taking a moment to relax after a day's chores in her home. Sam Uhrdin's artistic journey began in the early 1900s, he traveled to Stockholm in 1903 to further continue his studies in painting. He worked as a painter during the day and attended various evening schools in the evenings. In 1906, he journeyed to America to work as a sign painter, but he mainly ended up working as an upholsterer. Returning to Leksand in 1909 via London and Paris, his artistic talent gained recognition, and with the help of some patrons, he began studying at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in 1911, occasionally attending Althin's painting school in Stockholm. Financial circumstances cut his study time short, and his skill as a portrait painter earned him numerous portrait commissions, which further occupied his time. In 1921, Uhrdin received a scholarship from the Royal Academy, enabling him to embark on a study trip in 1922 to the Netherlands, Belgium, and France, which he had to cut short due to his wife's illness. He later visited places like Spain and Portugal. Uhrdin's breakthrough came with his portrait of the former Prime Minister Nils Edén, which he executed in 1919. In 1921, he portrayed the participants of the Swedish Academy. Among other representatives of official Sweden captured by Uhrdin were Gustav V, Manne Siegbahn, Ludvig Stavenow, and bishops Gottfrid and Einar Billing. In 1932, he held a solo exhibition at Konstnärshuset in Stockholm, and he participated in various exhibitions, including the Swedish Artists' Association in Stockholm in 1917, Swedish Art at Valand-Chalmers in Gothenburg in 1923, Dalarna Artists displayed at Liljevalchs Konsthall in 1936, and the National Museum's traveling exhibition "Barnet i konsten" (Children in Art...
Category

Realist 1940s Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Young Scandinavian Girl Oil Painting by C.Keskulla 1941
Located in Douglas Manor, NY
5118 Antique Scandinavian oil painting of a beautiful young pigtsiled beauty Framed Image size 11.5x19" Signed C.Keskulla 1941
Category

1940s Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Portrait of Bert Lahr - Circus Performer - Modernism
Located in Miami, FL
A recent Kuhn Circus Performer sold for $312,000 at Bonhams, NY Bert Lahr shined in the role of The Cowardly Lion in the Wizard of OZ. Here he is depict...
Category

American Modern 1940s Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Portrait of a Lady Arranging Flowers - British 1940 s art oil painting
By Sir Gerald Festus Kelly
Located in Hagley, England
This superb British portrait oil painting is attributed to circle of Festus Kelly. Painted circa 1940 it is a half length portrait of an elegant lady in a light blue dress, pearls an...
Category

Realist 1940s Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

The Fisherman - Mid 20th Century French Naïf Naive Portrait Oil Painting
Located in Sevenoaks, GB
A superb signed and dated 1946 French naïf oil on canvas portrait of a fisherman holding his net. Wonderful study of the fisherman wearing a white suit and standing next to typicall...
Category

1940s Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Modernist Polished Brass Frame for Painting, Drawing or Mirror, circa 1940
Located in Atlanta, GA
This stunning French polished brass frame is perfect for paintings, drawings, lithographs, mirrors, or any creative decoration. The piece was expertly crafted in France circa 1940. T...
Category

Modern 1940s Portrait Paintings

Materials

Brass

Self-portrait signed and dated 1945 (Annotated on the back: night portrait)
Located in Genève, GE
Work on canvas - Self-portrait signed and dated 1945 (Annotated on the back: night portrait) Original frame, Dimension with frame 100 x 80 x 6 cm This striking self-portrait captiva...
Category

1940s Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

Antique American Modernist Forsyth Georgia Street Scene Southern Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Antique American modernist street scene with two women. Rare oil painting by John Melza Sitton (Born 1907). Oil on canvas. Signed. Framed. In excellent original condition. Handsome...
Category

Modern 1940s Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

"Modernist Portrait" Mid-20th Century Spanish Oil Painting on Canvas Framed
Located in New York, NY
A strong modernist oil painting depicted in the 1940's by Spanish painter Julio Moises. Mostly known for his abstract figures on canvas, this piece is a w...
Category

Modern 1940s Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Portrait of the grand daughter of the artist. Oil on panel. Signed.
Located in Paris, FR
Portrait study of the grand daughter of the artist. Oil on panel. Signed. Unframed. This work will be recorded in the catalogue raisonné of the...
Category

1940s Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Mongols
Located in Miami, FL
Tempera mixed with gum arabic and alcohol on Renaissance Panel There is from frame burn and scattered surface abrasions but they are minor. Additionally, there are a 3 or 4 very fine hair line scratches not visible unless you look very closely. The work is varnished and has a reflective quality to it that makes it hard to photograph. In person the viewing experience is much better. You can see more detail in the shadow areas. The colors are rich, deep and saturated. Riggs was very particular in researching the tribal costumes...
Category

American Realist 1940s Portrait Paintings

Materials

Tempera

Mongols
Mongols
$26,000 Sale Price
23% Off
The Lady in Yellow, Impressionist Portrait, Signed Oil Painting
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
The Lady in Yellow, Impressionist Portrait, Signed Oil Painting By French artist Claude Benard, (1926 - 2016) Signed by the artist on the lower right ha...
Category

Impressionist 1940s Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Earring Portrait of Ludmilla Barta
Located in Genève, GE
This captivating portrait shows a woman in profile, captured with timeless elegance. The deep red background accentuates the figure, highlighting her fair complexion and refined fea...
Category

Modern 1940s Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Judaica Pastel Portrait Rabbi Painting WPA Era Artist, Social Realist
Located in Surfside, FL
Bernard Gussow 1881 -1957 Bernard Gussow was active/lived in New York, New Jersey / Russian Federation. Bernard Gussow is known for genre, landscape, figure, interior paintings. Ber...
Category

American Realist 1940s Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil Pastel

Mischievous Child French Impressionist Portrait, Signed Oil Painting
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Mischievous Child, Impressionist Portrait, Signed Oil Painting By French artist Claude Benard, (1926 - 2016) Signed by the artist on the lower right hand corner Oil painting on board...
Category

Impressionist 1940s Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Mosaïc style by Charles Auguste Humbert - Oil on canvas 80x100 cm
Located in Geneva, CH
Oil on canvas sold with original frame Total size with frame 110x90 cm Charles Auguste Humbert, born in 1891 in Geneva and died in 1958, was a Swiss artist, mainly known for his w...
Category

Pointillist 1940s Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

"The Lamp Lighter" Texas Mid-Century Modern Everett Spruce (1908-2002) EXHIBITED
Located in San Antonio, TX
Everett Spruce (1908 - 2002) Austin Artist Image Size: 18 x 15 Frame Size: 28 x 25 Medium: Oil on paper / Mixed Exhibited at a University of Texas Faculty art show in 1947 Unsigned Biography Everett Spruce (1908 - 2002) The following, submitted by a researcher of the Ashworth Collection of Native American and Western Art, is from the artist's obituary in the Fort Smith, Arkansas "Times Record" newspaper, October 20, 2002. Everett F. Spruce, well-known artist, teacher, professor emeritus, died Friday, Oct. 18, 2002, at age 94. Everett Spruce was born on a farm in Conway to William E. and Fannie McCarty Spruce. He came to Dallas, at age 17, on a scholarship to study at the Dallas Art Institute, under Olin Travis and Thomas M. Stell Jr. In 1931, he became gallery assistant at the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts and in 1934 married Alice V. Kramer, a fellow art student. He was one of the "Dallas Nine" group of Southwest artists...
Category

Modern 1940s Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil, Mixed Media

Suzanna and the Elders
Located in Miami, FL
A modern interpretation of the biblical story Suzanna and the Elders. Signed lower right Ink and wash on paper The Downtown Gallery Felix Landau Gallery Ernest Brown & Phillips, Ltd...
Category

American Modern 1940s Portrait Paintings

Materials

Ink, Watercolor, Gouache, Archival Paper

General Douglas MacArthur
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Medium: Oil on Canvas Signature: Signed Lower Right In the Timken War Bond campaign, JC Leyendecker completed more than a dozen paintings that were rep...
Category

1940s Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

"Le Baiser d apres Boucher", Impressionist Portrait, Oil Painting, Signed
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
"Le Baiser d'apres Boucher", Impressionist Portrait, Oil Painting, Signed By French artist Claude Benard, (1926 - 2016) Signed and dated '1947' by the artist on the lower left hand c...
Category

Impressionist 1940s Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Lady in creation
Located in Genève, GE
Work on canvas
Category

1940s Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Young blonde woman posing in profile
Located in Genève, GE
Work on cardboard Golden wooden frame 51 x 43.5 x 4 cm
Category

1940s Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Jean Burkhalter, Saint Claire of Assis, 1944, gouache on panel
Located in PARIS, FR
Jean BURKHALTER (1895-1982) Saint Clare of Assisi, 1944 Gouache and white chalk cardboard glued on panel ; mis au carreau Dated "1944" and located “Saint-Etienne” on an old label on ...
Category

1940s Portrait Paintings

Materials

Chalk, Gouache

Mid Century Portrait of Two Children in Traditional Dress
By M. Ray Stancliff
Located in Soquel, CA
Mid century portrait of two children, a young boy and girl in traditional dress, set in a rustic interior by M. Ray Stancliff (American, b. 1925). Si...
Category

American Impressionist 1940s Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil, Fiberboard

Cubist American Modernist Opera Box Seat Theatre Interior Framed Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Impressive early American modernist opera view interior oil painting by Dorothy Van Loan (1904 - 1999). Framed. Oil on canvas. Signed. Image size,...
Category

Cubist 1940s Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Portrait of a Woman
By Emily Elizabeth Guthrie Smith
Located in Austin, TX
Portrait of a Woman by Emily Elizabeth Guthrie Smith Signed upper right 30 x 24 Framed Pastel on paper
Category

1940s Portrait Paintings

Materials

Parchment Paper, Pastel

Man with tie
Located in Genève, GE
Work on canvas Golden wooden frame 75 x 64 x 4.5 cm
Category

1940s Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Ernest Burnett Hood, British Artist (1932-1988) Oil on canvas painting, Portrait
Located in Palm Coast, FL
Up for sale is an interesting original vintage oil painting on canvas by Famous British Artist Ernest Burnett Hood, (1932 to 1988), depicting a portrait of a man in costume. Ernest...
Category

Impressionist 1940s Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

"A Song"
Located in West Hollywood, CA
Premiering for the first time in three decades, the original paintings of American artist Maurice Green. Born in 1908 in Latvia, Maurice Green studied with prominent artists of the day before settling in Los Angeles in the 1930’s. The artist continued his art education and began exhibiting throughout galleries in Southern California. As with many artists, his earliest style was more academic realistic imagery, transitioning due to his intense fascination with the cubist avant garde movement, into cubist imagery which became the trademark style of painting for the remainder of his life. This is the first presentation of the paintings of Maurice Green since his death in 1993. “The Serenade”, is original mixed media watercolor on artist board, signed, e very early work c.1945, this is a painting which clearly defines his talent as a fine cubist artist.
Category

Cubist 1940s Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Portrait of Ursula Stauffacher at the Red Book
Located in Genève, GE
Portrait of Ursula Stauffacher at the Red Book Oil on canvas signed lower left Dimension with frame : 103.5 x 93 x 7 cm This masterpiece depicts a young woman seated, dressed in a da...
Category

Impressionist 1940s Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

"Testing the Water" American Modernist Interior Scene Still Life Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Incredible and rare early American modernist interior scene still life. So finely painted and a very rare and provocative subject for its time. Signed lower left. Handsomely fram...
Category

Modern 1940s Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Self Portrait - Mid 20th Century French Impressionist Oil on Panel Painting
Located in Sevenoaks, GB
A beautiful signed and dated 1943 French impressionist oil on panel self portrait by Charles Picart le Doux, who was friends with Picasso, Pissarro and many other Paris based artists...
Category

Impressionist 1940s Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil, Wood Panel

Young Girl with Horse Illustrations Original Oil on Linen by John Turner 1941
Located in Soquel, CA
Young Girl with Horse Illustrations Original Oil on Linen by John Turner Impressionist painting of a young horse enthusiast by John Turner (American, 19th,20th C). Exceptional detai...
Category

1940s Portrait Paintings

Materials

Linen, Oil

Portrait of a woman with a green headscarf
Located in Genève, GE
Work on canvas Gray wooden frame 56 x 48 x 5.5 cm
Category

Modern 1940s Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Charles Ragland Bunnell 1940 Surrealist Oil Painting of Man with Eye Orb
Located in Denver, CO
This original vintage painting by American artist Charles Ragland Bunnell presents a captivating example of his surrealist vision during the mid-20th century. Painted in 1940, the co...
Category

Surrealist 1940s Portrait Paintings

Materials

Wood, Oil

Girl Reading Card-American Realist Portrait-Mid-Century Original Oil Painting
Located in Marco Island, FL
Clyde Singer was a master of capturing the small and significant moments of everyday life. This painting, titled Girl Reading Card, 1948, is one of those perfect scenes that he docu...
Category

American Realist 1940s Portrait Paintings

Materials

Masonite, Oil

Auto Portrait
Located in West Hollywood, CA
Jirayr Zorthian(1911-2004), went through two Turkish massacres before age eight. He left Turkey at age nine with his family and spent a year in Padua, Italy, waiting for his visa to ...
Category

Modern 1940s Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

"Water horses", Irene Lagut, Picasso s lover, Woman Artist, Painting 1940
Located in New York, NY
Irène Lagut (1893-1994) Water horses, 1940s Oil on canvas Artwork: 13 x 18 1/8 in. l 33 x 46 cm Framed: 15 1/3 x 20 1/2 in. l 39 x 52 cm Signed lower right Irène Lagut (1893–1994) w...
Category

Post-Impressionist 1940s Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Self Portrait
Located in Douglas, Isle of Man
Robert Buhler R.A. 1916-1989, was a Swiss landscape and portrait painter born in England, lived in Chelsea and painted cityscapes and the portraits of a number famous painters, and ...
Category

1940s Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

Pedro Gasto Vilanova - Modernist painting of a family, dated 44
Located in New York, NY
Pedtro Gasto Vilanova (Spanish, 1908-1997) Untitled (Family), 1944 Oil on canavas 21 7/8 x 18 3/8 in. Framed: 24 3/4 x 21 1/3 in. Signed and dated on left side. Inscribed verso: PAG...
Category

Abstract Geometric 1940s Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Portrait of a Girl, 1949 Watercolor Painting by Roger Etienne
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Roger Etienne, French/American (1922 - ) Title: Portrait of a Girl Year: 1949 Medium: Gouache On Paper, signed and dated Size: 20 x 16 in. (50.8 x 40.64 cm) Frame Size: 29 x ...
Category

Fauvist 1940s Portrait Paintings

Materials

Gouache

Beautiful Woman watercolor painting by Robert Philipp
Located in Surfside, FL
A sensitive portrait beautifully rendered in watercolor and gouache. Mid century. I am guessing from the 1940s it is not dated. Robert Philipp (February 2, 1895 – November 22, 1981)...
Category

1940s Portrait Paintings

Materials

Watercolor, Gouache

Surrealist Oil Portrait by John F. Leonard
Located in Long Island City, NY
Portrait (38) John F. Leonard American (1921–1987) Date: circa 1965 Oil on Board Size: 17 in. x 14 in. (43.18 cm x 35.56 cm)
Category

American Modern 1940s Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

Portrait of William James, 1949 Oil on Board by John F. Leonard
Located in Long Island City, NY
Portrait of William James (39) John F. Leonard American (1921–1987) Date: 1949 Oil on Board Size: 16 in. x 12 in. (40.64 cm x 30.48 cm)
Category

American Modern 1940s Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

Antique Figurative Gouache"My Itaian Nonna" 1940 s
Located in Douglas Manor, NY
6035 Antique portrait watercolor of my Italian Nonna 1940's In an elaborate wood frame Image size 10x7.5" Signed lower right
Category

1940s Portrait Paintings

Materials

Gouache

Itzhak Holtz (Judaica Master) Oil Painting Portrait John Sloan Ashcan Artist WPA
By Itshak Holtz
Located in Surfside, FL
Oil Painting Portrait of Ashcan Artist John Sloan. Signed I. Holtz. The youngest of four children, Holtz was born and spent his early childhood in Skierniewice, Poland, a small town near Warsaw. His father was a hat maker and a furrier. In 1935, prior to World War II, when Holtz was ten years old, his family moved to Jerusalem, Israel, where they settled in the Geula neighborhood near Meah Shearim. Itzhak Holtz's passion for art began early. When he was five years old, in Poland, his father first drew a picture of a horse and sled in the snow for him. The young Holtz looked at the drawing and studied it in wonderment. From that moment on, Holtz remembers, he constantly begged his father to draw for him. His enthusiasm for art grew and Holtz longed to study art. In 1945, he enrolled at the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem, where he primarily studied lettering and poster work in a program geared toward commercial art Holtz became interested in painting, prompting him to move to New York City in 1950 to study at the Art Students League of New York under Robert Brackman and Harry Sternberg, and then at the National Academy of Design under Robert Philipp. Holtz has stated that his artwork, which primarily but not exclusively, depict scenes of Jewish spirituality and tradition, is driven by his Orthodox Jewish beliefs: "You have to live that religious life to fully capture it on canvas." He has been classified in the school of genre painting, often depicting street scenes of ordinary people in everyday Jewish life in the back alleys and markets of Jerusalem neighborhoods such as Me'ah Shearim and Geula; and in New York neighborhoods and hamlets such as Monsey, Boro Park and Williamsburg. Along with street scenes, his work includes portraits of scribes, tailors, cobblers and fishmongers, and images such as shtetls, lighthouses, and wedding scenes. He started out painting mostly portraits in order to support his family, before expanding to include street scenes. His beloved subject matter is painting scenes of Jewish life, his childhood memories when his mother took him along shopping for the Sabbath to the markets of Meah Shearim, has left a deep impression on him and influenced many of his works. Holtz has experimented in the abstract, but then reverted to representational and figurative art to which he devoted himself exclusively. His Israeli street scenes are said to combine “an affectionate recollection of the past with the brilliance of the color of modern Israel.” Holtz has stated that he struggled at first when he arrived to the USA because of financial reasons and because he only knew Polish, Yiddish and Hebrew, but then made good ties with his instructor who greatly influenced him Robert Philipp who helped him make friends and referred him to paint portraits. Examples of Holtz's work throughout the years include: Yerusalem Wedding (2010), depicting a Chuppa in Jerusalem on early evening, oil on canvas; The Funeral(1966), depicting five stoic Hasidim carrying a body on a bier over to a gravesite, with the people behind them crying, in charcoal on paper and oil on canvas; Rejoicing (1974), an image of religious men dancing, in felt pen and marker on paper; and the oil painting Shamash Learning in Shul (2003), a portrait of a pious Jew studying the Talmud inside a claustrophobic synagogue scene. Throughout the years Holtz has created hundreds of works in many art mediums, including, genre scenes, portraits, still lifes and landscape scenery, his works are sought after by art collectors worldwide, and he has been called the greatest living Jewish artist. It is said that no artist ever explored the Jewish subject like Holtz. Today some of his oil paintings have been commanding over $100,000. Holtz creates his scenes after researching locations, and often uses locals as models. He paints slowly and with great care, but with a swift Impressionistic style. The people in his portraits and scenes are generally more cheerful and optimistic than standard portraits of Hassidic individuals. He paints oils and watercolors, and also does felt pen, pastel, marker, ink and charcoal drawings, as well as woodcuts. His oil paintings typically have a brown hue, while his work with felt pen is often in sepia tones, and on some of his works he used very bright colors, with a strong emphasis on the interplay of light and shadow. He is heavily influenced by the ancient staircases and alleyways of Jerusalem, with its modest religious population, which has made a strong impression on him in his youth, the streets of Tzfat, and the works of Rembrandt, Johannes Vermeer and Peter Bruegel, as well as Jewish artists Moritz Daniel Oppenheim...
Category

Realist 1940s Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil