Marjorie May Blake

White Roses Still Life

circa 1960s

Yellow chrysanthemums in a black vase with a deep blue backdrop come together in a beautiful midcentury still life oil painting by Central Valley and Los Angeles, California artist A...

Classic mid century still-life of a green drape with vase, by W. Gray (American, 20th Century). Dated and signed by the artist lower right, "57 W. Gray." ...

Still life "Wine with Orange" by Claude (Charles Claude) Buck (1890-1974). Signed lower left. Artist's notes and color scheme on verso. Displayed in rustic giltwood frame. Image, 14"...

Red Geraniums and Yellow Curtain Original Paul Schmitt California Impressionist Geraniums in an interior setting with a yellow curtain or drape behind by Paul A. Schmitt (American, 18983-1983). Oakland, California artist. Size 23.5"H x 16.5"W Signed lower left "Paul A. Schmitt" Exhibition label on verso, "Alameda Art Association, Paul A. Schmitt Oil Still Life No 10" Painter, watercolorist, illustrator and teacher, Paul Schmitt was born in Philadelphia, in 1893 and moved to San Francisco in 1898 where he lived until the 1906 earthquake took his family home. He then moved to the Fruitvale district of Oakland. He died of natural causes at the age of 90 in San Leandro, California. Paul Schmitt studied under Perham Wilhelm Nahl, at the California College of Arts and Crafts. He also learned various crafts, woodworking and carving skills from his father, Herman Schmitt, a German wood carver working in San Francisco. Herman's works are still found in various San Francisco public buildings including the city hall chambers and the garden court of the Palace Hotel. Schmitt joined twelve other local San Francisco artists to form the group called "The Thirteen Watercolorists", a group that eventually evolved into the Society of Western Artists. Their early members included Alfred Owles, Will Cameron, Maurice Logan, Maynard Dixon and many others. Paul worked with engineers and architects doing models of many projects. He was versatile in that he also did illustrations for various publications and advertisers. He fathered thirteen children. In the late 1930's he decided to accept a teaching position in the local adult schools where he retired in his eighties. Paul was very fond of the Sierra Nevada Mountains and yearly took his large family there on camping /sketching trips. He did a series of oils of the California missions. He also traveled extensively on sketching trips including Mexico where he did a series of Mexican churches...