Continental School Abstract Paintings

"Spirit" a bold and thoughtful cubist oil on canvas was painted in December of 2001 by African American artist William (Bill) Cooper. William Y. Cooper was a writer, painter, muralist, illustrator, and art teacher. He moved to Western New York in 1954 from Birmingham, Alabama, to pursue work, and Buffalo has been his home ever since. In 1975, he received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University at Buffalo; he was also a state certified art teacher. Cooper woked primarily in oils and acrylics, but also creates drawings on paper. He has painted several commissioned murals and has had more than fifteen one-man shows in Western New York and Ghana, West Africa, and has participated in more than twenty-five group exhibitions since he began his professional career in 1969. His paintings and drawings address both his African heritage and his experience as an American through symbolism and metaphor. He observes, “I am an Afrocentric artist. My worldview is rooted in an African frame of reference and a deep, abiding sense of the creator from whence I draw my inspiration, strength, and a sense of who I am. The use of symbols allows me to explore literal ideas.” Among Cooper’s published works are two children’s books, 77 Jackson Street, Rear and Nakai and the Red Shoes, and a novel for adults, The Mopane Tree. Cooper founded the Afrocentric Artists’ Collective and ran the organization from 1979 to 1981. In 2013 he was designated a “Living Legacy” artist by the Burchfield Penney Arts Center, the latest in a series of honors which has also included awards from the Arts Council of Buffalo & Erie County, the New York State Council on the Arts, and Alpha Kappa Alpha...

"Abstracted Letter Sunset" is an abstract painting by Spanish artist Natalia Roman. These color field paintings are inspired by both modernist shapes of ...

This abstracted figure painting by Juniper Briggs is made with mixed media on Arches paper with deckle edges. It features a vibrant, contrasting palette...

This abstracted figure painting by Juniper Briggs is made with mixed media on cold pressed paper with deckle edges. It features a warm contrasting yellow-gold and pink palette with a...

This abstracted figure painting by Juniper Briggs is made with mixed media on cold pressed paper with deckle edges. It features an abstracted woman in a patterned brown and blue dres...

You don't have to be a Catholic, or a medievalist, or a Catholic medievalist (Tolkien?) to appreciate this striking image of St. George taking on the dragon. In style it falls somewhere between Cubism and Guernica, to my eye. The limited color palette, with the bold red, gives it the energy of early 20th-century Russian poster...

Signed lower right, 'Paula Melcher' (American, 20th century) and dated 1956.

From the estate of Jerry Opper & Ruth Friedmann Opper Yellow Cubist FIgure c. 1940-1950's Gouache 15" x 18", silver wood frame 16"x19" Unsigned This striking gouache painting featur...

Charles Liberte (XX), Cubist Seated Female Nude, Oil on Canvas, signed to verso, unframed. 33" H x 25" W. Provenance: From the Allen Tucker Memorial Collection.

Eva Bouzard-Hui (American, 1936-2023), Abstract Figural Composition, Oil on Canvas, apparently unsigned, wood frame. Image: 24" H x 30" W; frame: 25" H x 30.75" W. Provenance: Eva Bo...

This abstracted figure painting by Juniper Briggs is made with mixed media on Arches paper with deckle edges. It features a vibrant, contrasting palette...

Very finely executed modernist ballet scene. Pastel and gouache on paper. Handsomely framed. Image size, 12H by 16L.