American Impressionist Figurative Prints

Artist: David Rosenthal (American 1876-1949) Title: Village in France Year: c.1927 Medium: Color Etching with aquatint Image (Plate mark) size: 13.5 x 10 inches Sheet size: 14.75 x 11.25 inches Signature: Hand signed and numbered 9/50 in black ink by the artist Condition: Very good, margin slightly toned by age About the artist. David Rosenthal (1876-1949) was a Cincinnati artist...

Artist: David Rosenthal (American 1876-1949) Title: Atlantic City Year: c.1930 Medium: Color Etching Image (Plate mark) size: 9 x 13 inches Sheet s...

Artist: David Rosenthal (American 1876-1949) Title: Bay Harbor Year: c.1930 Medium: Etching Image (Plate mark) size: 6 x 8.25 inches Sheet size: 8.25 x 10.5 inches Signature: Hand signed in pencil by the artist Condition: Very good About the artist. David Rosenthal (1876-1949) was a Cincinnati artist...

Graceful abstract figurative lithograph by Jim Smyth (American, b. 1938). Numbered, titled, signed and dated "5/12", "Study 2", "Smyth 74” along the bottom edge. Unframed. Jim Smyth has studied at the Academia de Belle Arti in Fiorenza, Italy, Ecole des BeauxArts in Geneva, New York Academy, and the Art Students League. He is also a graduate of UC Berkeley with a degree in Fine Art. Although academically trained, Smyth practices and teaches a more impressionistic style of painting, focusing on the Alla Prima technique. He is particularly knowledgeable about drawing, perspective, color theory and the human figure, his passion. Smyth, with extensive academic knowledge, has a profound love of all human representations as illustrated by his humorous quick sketches from life. He also practices and teaches oil painting and pastels. When not in Provence, or Southeastern France, Smyth teaches intensely in art schools, art centers and several colleges in the Bay Area. He is a beloved instructor and his classes fill in quickly as he is very knowledgeable. On his return to the United States, he began studying with Mr. Alanson Appleton at the College of San Mateo, San Mateo, California. Smyth was a founding member of the Appletree Etchers, Inc., an etching print shop organized by Mr. Appleton and his students to develop and promote color intaglio. Smyth served as Master Printer at the studio for many years perfecting the techniques of intaglio and developing the color theories of Mr. Appleton as applied to the deeply etched plate. Smyth received his degree from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1972 and holds the California Community College Certificate and an Adult Education Certificate. Smyth was invited to teach "Anatomy for Artists" at Foothill College, Los Altos Hills, California, as a result of his many years of dissection of the cadaver and developed the course of study of Perspective for the college. During this period, he began teaching Life Drawing at the Pacific Art League of Palo Alto, Palo Alto, California. During the following thirty years Smyth has taught an average of twelve classes per week at the Pacific Art League of Palo Alto, the Palo Alto Art Center and the Burlingame Recreation Department among others in all phases of drawing and painting. He has conducted many workshops for the California Academy of Painters in many aspects of drawing and painting. Currently, he is an Adjunct Professor of Drawing at the College of San Mateo, San Mateo, California. He is an authority on the materials of painting and drawing, techniques of traditional drawing and painting, color theory, perspective and anatomy for artists. In his career in Life Drawing, Smyth has made over two hundred thousand drawings from the model. In addition to studies at Berkeley, Smyth has studied at the College of San Mateo, Foothill College, De Anza College, Mission College, and West Valley College, all in California. One of the pivotal points in his career was studying with Mr. Maynard Dixon Stewart at the University of San Jose, California. He spent a year at the New York Academy of Art where he was offered a full scholarship and at the Art Students League of New York. He concurrently attended classes at the National Academy of Design in New York. Among others, Smyth studied with M. Andrejivec, Ted Schmidt, Elliot Goldfinger, Gary Fagin, Ted Jacobs, Leo Neufeld, David Leffel, Jack Ferragasso, Jim Childs and Everett Raymond Kinstler and Kim English. Smyth has also studied with the noted painter and colorist, Ovanes Berberian...

This artwork titled "Puerto Escondido" 1992 is an original color aquatint by noted California artist Arnold A. Grossman, 1923-2016. It is signed, dated, titled and numbered 1/20 in p...

Limited edition drypoint etching of a nude figure from a posterior view by Jim Smyth (American, b. 1938). Numbered and signed by hand "7/15 Jim Smyth" along the bottom edge. Presented in a new cream and off-white double mat. No frame. Image size: 14.75"H x 10.75"W Jim Smyth (American, b. 1938) has studied at the Academia de Belle Arti in Fiorenza, Italy, Ecole des BeauxArts in Geneva, New York Academy and the Art Students league. He is also a graduate from UC Berkeley with a degree in Fine Art. Although academically trained, Smyth practices and teaches a more impressionistic style of painting, focusing on Alla Prima technique. He is particularly knowledgeable about drawing, perspective, color theory and the human figure, his passion. Smyth, with an extensive academic knowledge, has a profound love of all human representations as illustrated by his humorous quick sketches from life. He also practices and teaches oil painting and pastels. When not in Provence, or Southeastern France, Smyth teaches intensely in art schools, art centers and several colleges in the Bay Area. He is a beloved instructor and his classes fill in quickly as he is very knowledgeable. On his return to the United States, he began studying with Mr. Alanson Appleton at the College of San Mateo, San Mateo, California. Smyth was a founding member of the Appletree Etchers, Inc., an etching print shop organized by Mr. Appleton and his students to develop and promote color intaglio. Smyth served as Master Printer at the studio for many years perfecting the techniques of intaglio and developing the color theories of Mr. Appleton as applied to the deep etched plate. Smyth received his degree from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1972 and holds the California Community College Certificate and an Adult Education Certificate. Smyth was invited to teach "Anatomy for Artists" at Foothill College, Los Altos Hills, California, as a result of his many years of dissection of the cadaver and developed the course of study of Perspective for the college. During this period, he began teaching Life Drawing at the Pacific Art League of Palo Alto, Palo Alto, California. During the following thirty years Smyth has taught an average of twelve classes per week at the Pacific Art League of Palo Alto, the Palo Alto Art Center and the Burlingame Recreation Department among others in all phases of drawing and painting. He has conducted many workshops for the California Academy of Painters in many aspects of drawing and painting. Currently, he is an Adjunct Professor of Drawing at the College of San Mateo, San Mateo, California. He is an authority on the materials of painting and drawing, techniques of traditional drawing and painting, color theory, perspective and anatomy for artists. In his career in Life Drawing, Smyth has made over two hundred thousand drawings from the model. In addition to studies at Berkeley, Smyth has studied at the College of San Mateo, Foothill College, De Anza College, Mission College and West Valley College, all in California. One of the pivotal points in his career was studying with Mr. Maynard Dixon Stewart at the University of San Jose, California. He spent a year at the New York Academy of Art where he was offered a full scholarship and at the Art Students League of New York. He concurrently attended classes at the National Academy of Design in New York. Among others, Smyth studied with M. Andrejivec, Ted Schmidt, Elliot Goldfinger, Gary Fagin, Ted Jacobs, Leo Neufeld, David Leffel, Jack Ferragasso, Jim Childs and Everett Raymond Kinstler and Kim English. Smyth has also studied with the noted painter and colorist, Ovanes Berberian. In 2002 Jim was invited to study at the Academy of Art in St. Petersburg, Russia, where he worked in Life Drawing and Life Painting. Smyth is a popular lecturer, a sought after demonstrator and juror. He is the recipient of many awards for both his painting and his teaching. In 1988 and again in 2003, he received the Kenneth Washburn...

Early 20th Century Miniature Etching, Portrait of an Old Woman by Ralph Sweet Compelling early 20th century small-scale figurative etching of an old...

Lithograph of a figure of a woman by Jim Smyth (American, b. 1938). Numbered, titled, signed and dated "3/12", "Study 8", "Smyth 74” along the bottom edge. Unframed. Jim Smyth has studied at the Academia de Belle Arti in Fiorenza, Italy, Ecole des BeauxArts in Geneva, New York Academy, and the Art Students League. He is also a graduate of UC Berkeley with a degree in Fine Art. Although academically trained, Smyth practices and teaches a more impressionistic style of painting, focusing on the Alla Prima technique. He is particularly knowledgeable about drawing, perspective, color theory and the human figure, his passion. Smyth, with extensive academic knowledge, has a profound love of all human representations as illustrated by his humorous quick sketches from life. He also practices and teaches oil painting and pastels. When not in Provence, or Southeastern France, Smyth teaches intensely in art schools, art centers and several colleges in the Bay Area. He is a beloved instructor and his classes fill in quickly as he is very knowledgeable. On his return to the United States, he began studying with Mr. Alanson Appleton at the College of San Mateo, San Mateo, California. Smyth was a founding member of the Appletree Etchers, Inc., an etching print shop organized by Mr. Appleton and his students to develop and promote color intaglio. Smyth served as Master Printer at the studio for many years perfecting the techniques of intaglio and developing the color theories of Mr. Appleton as applied to the deeply etched plate. Smyth received his degree from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1972 and holds the California Community College Certificate and an Adult Education Certificate. Smyth was invited to teach "Anatomy for Artists" at Foothill College, Los Altos Hills, California, as a result of his many years of dissection of the cadaver and developed the course of study of Perspective for the college. During this period, he began teaching Life Drawing at the Pacific Art League of Palo Alto, Palo Alto, California. During the following thirty years Smyth has taught an average of twelve classes per week at the Pacific Art League of Palo Alto, the Palo Alto Art Center and the Burlingame Recreation Department among others in all phases of drawing and painting. He has conducted many workshops for the California Academy of Painters in many aspects of drawing and painting. Currently, he is an Adjunct Professor of Drawing at the College of San Mateo, San Mateo, California. He is an authority on the materials of painting and drawing, techniques of traditional drawing and painting, color theory, perspective and anatomy for artists. In his career in Life Drawing, Smyth has made over two hundred thousand drawings from the model. In addition to studies at Berkeley, Smyth has studied at the College of San Mateo, Foothill College, De Anza College, Mission College, and West Valley College, all in California. One of the pivotal points in his career was studying with Mr. Maynard Dixon Stewart at the University of San Jose, California. He spent a year at the New York Academy of Art where he was offered a full scholarship and at the Art Students League of New York. He concurrently attended classes at the National Academy of Design in New York. Among others, Smyth studied with M. Andrejivec, Ted Schmidt, Elliot Goldfinger, Gary Fagin, Ted Jacobs, Leo Neufeld, David Leffel, Jack Ferragasso, Jim Childs and Everett Raymond Kinstler and Kim English. Smyth has also studied with the noted painter and colorist, Ovanes Berberian...

Mid-century portrait of a young girl by a window by acclaimed California artist Ben Messick (American, 1891-1981). Signed "Ben Messick" in plate, and in pencil in the lower right corner, by the estate. Presented in an off-white mat. Unframed. Paper size: 12"H x 12"W The following is submitted by Jim Lafferty whose sources include the autobiography of the artist: William Washington Messick married Sarah A. Bristow January 2,1889 and from this marriage a son, Benjamin Newton Messick was born on January 9, 1891 on a farm near Strafford, Missouri. His art talent was apparent from the time he was a child and later recognized by his commanding officer in World War I. He completed his training in Los Angeles at Chouinard in the late-1920s and is well-known for his Regionalist scenes and Modernist paintings. He was an instructor at Chouinard through the 1950s & influenced a generation of LA Modernists. Little is recorded in his autobiography about Messick's life from his teen years and service during the War. He enrolled at Chouinard Institute in the Fall of 1925, and was given a three-year scholarship by Mrs. Chouinard. In 1925 he won a cash award at the Los Angeles County Fair for a group of pen and charcoal drawings done in the parks and streets of Los Angeles. These works give the appearance of being spontaneous and fluid. In 1930 Messick left Chouinard as a full-time student and rented an apartment on West Eighth Street to use as a studio and living quarters. He had his own ideas on what he was trying to accomplish in art. "If you should ask what is the message of my drawings, I should say that they may explain themselves or may be just a technical exercise." By the mid 1940s, Messick's position in the art world had been well established as a teacher, painter, printmaker, writer and critic. Over his life time he had over 400 shows and exhibitions. Starting in 1939 he produced a number of stone lithographs that appear to the untrained eye as original drawings. To Messick the image was the most important aspect of his lithographs, and his signature in the plate was sufficient. Hand signing each lithograph did not seem necessary to him. He exhibited prints widely including the Albany Print Club and the Metropolitian Museum. To further substantiate the authenticity of Messick's prints the Eclectic Gallery under the authority of the Messick family posthumously pencil signed each estate-acquired stone lithograph. Messick had a childhood fascination with the circus and started drawing and painting the circus in 1935. His circus work, especially his clown studies, and his lithographs became his trademark work for in the 1940s and 1950s. A critic for ART REVIEW described his Big Top work this way: "His circus canvases...

Artist: LeRoy Neiman, American (1921 - 2012) Title: Million Dollar Strike (Earl Anthony) Year: 1982 Medium: Serigraph, Signed by the artist and Earl Ant...

Gymkhana Umbrella Races Rockaway Hunting Club is from the portfolio entitled Sporting Incidents: Being a Collection of sixteen plates done in color..representing the most important events of the track...

Artist: LeRoy Neiman, American (1921 - 2012) Title: Interference Year: 1972 Medium: Etching, signed and numbered in pencil Edition: 54/150 Image Size: 7.5 x 8.4 inches Size: 9 x 9.25...

Four etchings 1) Washing Wool. etching, 3 x 2 inches Signed in pencil on the reverse 2) The Ragpicjer's Daughter, etching, 3 1/2 x 2 3/8 inches Signed and titled in pencil ...

Skier Allan Mardon, Canadian (1931) Date: Circa 1980 Lithograph, signed and numbered in pencil Edition of 300 Size: 29 in. x 21 in. (73.66 cm x 53.34 cm)

Arthur B. Davies (1862-1928), By the Sea (aka Idyll), soft ground etching and aquatint, 1919, signed in pencil lower right. Reference: Czestochowski 72, fourth state (of 5; see disc...

This original, limited edition etching, was realized by the esteemed American artist John E. Costigan, who is represented in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum, the Philips Memorial Gallery in Washington and the Brooklyn Museum, to name only a few of the many institutions that feature his work. This print, with its highly considered composition and its loose style of figuration- deftly balances realism and abstraction- helps to explain his acclaim. This etching features a mother walking with her child and two goats in a forested glen. It is a Classic pastoral scene rendered in Costigan's inimitable style- somewhere between Theodore Rousseau and Thomas Hart Benton. These offer a beautiful glimpse of a bygone American pastoral...

This original, limited edition etching, was realized by the esteemed American artist John E. Costigan, circa 1930. He is represented in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum, th...

This artwork titled "Pine Cones" c.1990 is an original etching by noted California artist Arnold A. Grossman, 1923-2016. It is signed with initials in pencil by the artist. The artwo...

This artwork titled "The Old House" c.1980 is an original etching by noted California artist Arnold A. Grossman, 1923-2016. It is hand signed in pencil by th...

This artwork titled "Keukenhof" 2000 is an original color wood block print by noted California artist Arnold A. Grossman, 1923-2016. It is signed, dated, titled and numbered 1/25 in...

Arthur B. Davies (1862-1928), Against Green (also Three Figure Composition, Figures Against Green), soft ground etching and aquatint, 1918, signed in pencil lower right; also titled ...

Lon Megargee 1883-1960 "The Bronc" Wood block print Signed in plate, lower right Image size: 9 x 10 inches Frame size 21 x 21.5 inches Creator of Stetson's hat logo "Last Drop from his Hat" Lon Megargee 1883 - 1960 At age 13, Lon Megargee came to Phoenix in 1896 following the death of his father in Philadelphia. For several years he resided with relatives while working at an uncle’s dairy farm and at odd jobs. He returned to Philadelphia in 1898 – 1899 in order to attend drawing classes at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Back in Phoenix in 1899, he decided at the age of 16 to try to make his living as a cowboy. Lon moved to the cow country of Wickenburg, Arizona where he was hired by Tex Singleton’s Bull Ranch. He later joined the Three Bar R. . . and after a few years, was offered a job by Billy Cook of the T.T. Ranch near New River. By 1906, Megargee had learned his trade well enough to be made foreman of Cook’s outfit. Never shy about taking risks, Lon soon left Cook to try his own hand at ranching. He partnered with a cowpuncher buddy, Tom Cavness, to start the El Rancho Cinco Uno at New River. Unfortunately, the young partners could not foresee a three-year drought that would parch Arizona, costing them their stock and then their hard-earned ranch. Breaking with his romantic vision of cowboy life, Megargee finally turned to art full time. He again enrolled at the Pennsylvania Academy of Art and then the Los Angeles School of Art and Design during 1909 – 1910. The now well-trained student took his first trip to paint “en plein air” (outdoors) to the land of Hopi and Navajo peoples in northern Arizona. After entering paintings from this trip in the annual Territorial Fair at Phoenix, in 1911, he surprisingly sold his first oil painting to a major enterprise – the Santa Fe Railroad . . . Lon received $50 for “Navajos Watching the Santa Fe Train.” He soon sold the SFRR ten paintings over the next two years. For forty years the railroad was his most important client, purchasing its last painting from him in 1953. In a major stroke of good fortune during his early plein-air period, Megargee had the opportunity to paint with premier artist, William R. Leigh (1866 – 1955). Leigh furnished needed tutoring and counseling, and his bright, impressionistic palette served to enhance the junior artist’s sense of color and paint application. In a remarkable display of unabashed confidence and personable salesmanship, Lon Megargee, at age 30, forever linked his name with Arizona art history. Despite the possibility of competition from better known and more senior artists, he persuaded Governor George Hunt and the Legislature in 1913 to approve 15 large, historic and iconic murals for the State Capitol Building in Phoenix. After completing the murals in 1914, he was paid the then princely sum of roughly $4000. His Arizona statehood commission would launch Lon to considerable prominence at a very early point in his art career. Following a few years of art schooling in Los Angeles, and several stints as an art director with movie studios, including Paramount, Megargee turned in part to cover illustrations for popular Western story magazines in the 1920s. In the 1920s, as well, Lon began making black and white prints of Western types and of genre scenes from woodblocks. These prints he generally signed and sold singly. In 1933, he published a limited edition, signed and hard-cover book (about 250 copies and today rare)containing a group of 28 woodblock images. Titled “The Cowboy Builds a Loop,” the prints are noteworthy for strong design, excellent draftsmanship, humanistic and narrative content, and quality. Subjects include Southwest Indians and cowboys, Hispanic men and women, cattle, horses, burros, pioneers, trappers, sheepherders, horse traders, squaw men and ranch polo players. Megargee had a very advanced design sense for simplicity and boldness which he demonstrated in how he used line and form. His strengths included outstanding gestural (action) art and strong figurative work. He was superb in design, originality and drawing, as a study of his prints in the Hays collection reveals. In 1944, he published a second group of Western prints under the same title as the first. Reduced to 16 images from the original 28 subjects, and slightly smaller, Lon produced these prints in brown ink on a heavy, cream-colored stock. He designed a sturdy cardboard folio to hold each set. For the remainder of his life, Lon had success selling these portfolios to museum stores, art fairs and shows, and to the few galleries then selling Western art. Drawing on real working and life experiences, Lon Megargee had a comprehensive knowledge, understanding and sensitivity for Southwestern subject matter. Noted American modernist, Lew Davis...

Arthur B. Davies (1862-1928), Round of Summer (aka Four Figures), soft ground etching, 1919, signed in pencil lower right. Reference: Czestochowski 91, first state (of 3), trial proo...

Arthur B. Davies (1862-1928), Resurrection (aka Flying Figures; Border of the Lake), drypoint and aquatint on zinc, 1916, signed with the estate stamp lower right. Reference: Price 2...

Arthur B. Davies, Up-Rising, soft ground etching and aquatint on a cream laid paper, 1919, signed in pencil lower right margin. Reference: Czestochowski 78, second state (of 3). In g...

Arthur B. Davies (1862-1928), Sea Maidens (or, Sunshine; Girls on the Beach), soft ground etching and aquatint, 1919, signed in pencil lower right. Reference: Czestochoski 79, second...

Title: Hopi ca. 1920s Artist: Lon Megargee Medium: Block Print Size: 11 x 11 inches (Sight Measurement) SHIPPING CHARGES INCLUDE SHIPPING, PACKAGING & INSURANCE Creator of Stetson's hat logo "Last Drop from his Hat" Image of Lon Megargee not included in purchase. Lon Megargee 1883 - 1960 At age 13, Lon Megargee came to Phoenix in 1896 following the death of his father in Philadelphia. For several years he resided with relatives while working at an uncle’s dairy farm and at odd jobs. He returned to Philadelphia in 1898 – 1899 in order to attend drawing classes at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Back in Phoenix in 1899, he decided at the age of 16 to try to make his living as a cowboy. Lon moved to the cow country of Wickenburg, Arizona where he was hired by Tex Singleton’s Bull Ranch. He later joined the Three Bar R. . . and after a few years, was offered a job by Billy Cook of the T.T. Ranch near New River. By 1906, Megargee had learned his trade well enough to be made foreman of Cook’s outfit. Never shy about taking risks, Lon soon left Cook to try his own hand at ranching. He partnered with a cowpuncher buddy, Tom Cavness, to start the El Rancho Cinco Uno at New River. Unfortunately, the young partners could not foresee a three-year drought that would parch Arizona, costing them their stock and then their hard-earned ranch. Breaking with his romantic vision of cowboy life, Megargee finally turned to art full time. He again enrolled at the Pennsylvania Academy of Art and then the Los Angeles School of Art and Design during 1909 – 1910. The now well-trained student took his first trip to paint “en plein air” (outdoors) to the land of Hopi and Navajo peoples in northern Arizona. After entering paintings from this trip in the annual Territorial Fair at Phoenix, in 1911, he surprisingly sold his first oil painting to a major enterprise – the Santa Fe Railroad . . . Lon received $50 for “Navajos Watching the Santa Fe Train.” He soon sold the SFRR ten paintings over the next two years. For forty years the railroad was his most important client, purchasing its last painting from him in 1953. In a major stroke of good fortune during his early plein-air period, Megargee had the opportunity to paint with premier artist, William R. Leigh (1866 – 1955). Leigh furnished needed tutoring and counseling, and his bright, impressionistic palette served to enhance the junior artist’s sense of color and paint application. In a remarkable display of unabashed confidence and personable salesmanship, Lon Megargee, at age 30, forever linked his name with Arizona art history. Despite the possibility of competition from better known and more senior artists, he persuaded Governor George Hunt and the Legislature in 1913 to approve 15 large, historic and iconic murals for the State Capitol Building in Phoenix. After completing the murals in 1914, he was paid the then princely sum of roughly $4000. His Arizona statehood commission would launch Lon to considerable prominence at a very early point in his art career. Following a few years of art schooling in Los Angeles, and several stints as an art director with movie studios, including Paramount, Megargee turned in part to cover illustrations for popular Western story magazines in the 1920s. In the 1920s, as well, Lon began making black and white prints of Western types and of genre scenes from woodblocks. These prints he generally signed and sold singly. In 1933, he published a limited edition, signed and hard-cover book (about 250 copies and today rare)containing a group of 28 woodblock images. Titled “The Cowboy Builds a Loop,” the prints are noteworthy for strong design, excellent draftsmanship, humanistic and narrative content, and quality. Subjects include Southwest Indians and cowboys, Hispanic men and women, cattle, horses, burros, pioneers, trappers, sheepherders, horse traders, squaw men and ranch polo players. Megargee had a very advanced design sense for simplicity and boldness which he demonstrated in how he used line and form. His strengths included outstanding gestural (action) art and strong figurative work. He was superb in design, originality and drawing, as a study of his prints in the Hays collection reveals. In 1944, he published a second group of Western prints under the same title as the first. Reduced to 16 images from the original 28 subjects, and slightly smaller, Lon produced these prints in brown ink on a heavy, cream-colored stock. He designed a sturdy cardboard folio to hold each set. For the remainder of his life, Lon had success selling these portfolios to museum stores, art fairs and shows, and to the few galleries then selling Western art. Drawing on real working and life experiences, Lon Megargee had a comprehensive knowledge, understanding and sensitivity for Southwestern subject matter. Noted American modernist, Lew Davis...

Lon Megargee 1883-1960 "The Sheepherder" Wood block print Signed in plate, lower right Image size: 10 x 10 inches Frame size 22 x 22 inches Creator of Stetson's hat logo "Last Drop from his Hat" Lon Megargee 1883 - 1960 At age 13, Lon Megargee came to Phoenix in 1896 following the death of his father in Philadelphia. For several years he resided with relatives while working at an uncle’s dairy farm and at odd jobs. He returned to Philadelphia in 1898 – 1899 in order to attend drawing classes at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Back in Phoenix in 1899, he decided at the age of 16 to try to make his living as a cowboy. Lon moved to the cow country of Wickenburg, Arizona where he was hired by Tex Singleton’s Bull Ranch. He later joined the Three Bar R. . . and after a few years, was offered a job by Billy Cook of the T.T. Ranch near New River. By 1906, Megargee had learned his trade well enough to be made foreman of Cook’s outfit. Never shy about taking risks, Lon soon left Cook to try his own hand at ranching. He partnered with a cowpuncher buddy, Tom Cavness, to start the El Rancho Cinco Uno at New River. Unfortunately, the young partners could not foresee a three-year drought that would parch Arizona, costing them their stock and then their hard-earned ranch. Breaking with his romantic vision of cowboy life, Megargee finally turned to art full time. He again enrolled at the Pennsylvania Academy of Art and then the Los Angeles School of Art and Design during 1909 – 1910. The now well-trained student took his first trip to paint “en plein air” (outdoors) to the land of Hopi and Navajo peoples in northern Arizona. After entering paintings from this trip in the annual Territorial Fair at Phoenix, in 1911, he surprisingly sold his first oil painting to a major enterprise – the Santa Fe Railroad . . . Lon received $50 for “Navajos Watching the Santa Fe Train.” He soon sold the SFRR ten paintings over the next two years. For forty years the railroad was his most important client, purchasing its last painting from him in 1953. In a major stroke of good fortune during his early plein-air period, Megargee had the opportunity to paint with premier artist, William R. Leigh (1866 – 1955). Leigh furnished needed tutoring and counseling, and his bright, impressionistic palette served to enhance the junior artist’s sense of color and paint application. In a remarkable display of unabashed confidence and personable salesmanship, Lon Megargee, at age 30, forever linked his name with Arizona art history. Despite the possibility of competition from better known and more senior artists, he persuaded Governor George Hunt and the Legislature in 1913 to approve 15 large, historic and iconic murals for the State Capitol Building in Phoenix. After completing the murals in 1914, he was paid the then princely sum of roughly $4000. His Arizona statehood commission would launch Lon to considerable prominence at a very early point in his art career. Following a few years of art schooling in Los Angeles, and several stints as an art director with movie studios, including Paramount, Megargee turned in part to cover illustrations for popular Western story magazines in the 1920s. In the 1920s, as well, Lon began making black and white prints of Western types and of genre scenes from woodblocks. These prints he generally signed and sold singly. In 1933, he published a limited edition, signed and hard-cover book (about 250 copies and today rare)containing a group of 28 woodblock images. Titled “The Cowboy Builds a Loop,” the prints are noteworthy for strong design, excellent draftsmanship, humanistic and narrative content, and quality. Subjects include Southwest Indians and cowboys, Hispanic men and women, cattle, horses, burros, pioneers, trappers, sheepherders, horse traders, squaw men and ranch polo players. Megargee had a very advanced design sense for simplicity and boldness which he demonstrated in how he used line and form. His strengths included outstanding gestural (action) art and strong figurative work. He was superb in design, originality and drawing, as a study of his prints in the Hays collection reveals. In 1944, he published a second group of Western prints under the same title as the first. Reduced to 16 images from the original 28 subjects, and slightly smaller, Lon produced these prints in brown ink on a heavy, cream-colored stock. He designed a sturdy cardboard folio to hold each set. For the remainder of his life, Lon had success selling these portfolios to museum stores, art fairs and shows, and to the few galleries then selling Western art. Drawing on real working and life experiences, Lon Megargee had a comprehensive knowledge, understanding and sensitivity for Southwestern subject matter. Noted American modernist, Lew Davis...

Hand signed and numbered by the artist. From Tom Sawyer Portfolio. Sheet size 25.5 x 19.5 inches. Image size approx 17 x 13 inches. Frame size approx 30 x 26 inches. From the editi...

Hand signed and numbered by the artist. From Tom Sawyer Portfolio. Sheet size 25.5 x 19.5 inches. Image size approx 17 x 13 inches. Frame size approx 30 x 26 inches. From the editi...

From the 'American Family' portfolio. Hand signed and numbered by the artist. Lithograph on arches paper. Printed by Atelier Mourlot, Paris. Published by Raymond & Raymond, Inc. in ...

From Poor Richard's Almanac portfolio. Hand signed and numbered by the artist. Lithograph on arches. Sheet size 25.5 x 19.5 inches. Image size approx 16.75 x 13.5 inches. From t...

From Poor Richard's Almanac portfolio. Hand signed and numbered by the artist. Lithograph on arches. Sheet size 25.5 x 19.5 inches. Image size approx 16.75 x 13.5 inches. From t...

Arthur B. Davies (1862-1928), Tartessians, soft ground etching with aquatint, 1919-20, signed in pencil lower right. Reference: Czestochowski 96, second state (of 2), total printing ...

Reginald Marsh (1898-1954), Two Models on a Bed, lithograph, 1928, signed and inscribed “15 proofs” [also initialed and dated in the plate]. Reference: Saso...