Edgar Ewing Oil on Gesso Painting, 1957

Excellent example of a large oil on canvas abstraction by Fred Hocks from 1957. This painting was included in the 1976 retrospective at the Fine Arts Gallery in San Diego which later became the San Diego Museum of Art. No painter embodies San Diego’s early avant-garde more than Fred (Ferdinand) Hocks, a German-born painter who began visiting San Diego in the late 1920s after studies at the California School of Fine Art in San Francisco and the Art Students League in New York. Fellow painter Dan Dickey credited Hocks in 1947 with “opening up pathways for future, more enlightened generations (of artists),” and predicted that Fred Hocks would be “esteemed a master.” During the post-war years Hocks was assistant director of the San Diego School of Arts and Crafts, a private art school in La Jolla, and was instrumental in keeping affordable artist’s studios in Spanish Village. Along with modern architect Lloyd Ruocco, Fred Hocks co-founded the dynamic Allied Artists Council with Belle Baranceanu, Everett Gee Jackson, Dan Dickey and John Olsen. The well-travelled Hocks exhibited in San Francisco, Oakland, Los Angeles, Long Beach, Pasadena, Paris, Mallorca and Guadalajara, had several one-person shows at the Art Center La Jolla/La Jolla Museum of Art and at the Fine Arts Gallery (SDMA). The San Diego Museum of Art held a major retrospective of his painting in 1976, just a few years before his death. He brought a continental element to the local art scene and is described in Bruce Kamerling’s 100 Years of Art in San Diego as “one of the most adventurous local artists…an intelligent and articulate defender of modern tendencies in art.” Local arts and architecture writer James Britton called Fred Hocks “the dean of the San Diego moderns...

Early oil on linen landscape painting depicting a city by Steven Sles circa 1957. This example has a thick textured background and foreground with architectural and natural forms in ...

This is a wonderful example of Charles Alston's figurative work. This piece is a rare oil on masonite board. The composition features three figures that may be choir singers at churc...

A charming antique French oil on canvas of an atmospheric landscape in a period gesso and wood frame, signed “Valey”. Lovely dappled sunlight though the leaves, very serene. Canvas:...

An early 20th Century Oil on canvas by Gustave Wiegand (1870-1957). The painting depicting assorted vibrant flowers in a yellow vase. Original frame. ...

Bright and beautifully painted spring scene, depicting river flowing through trees with a farm in the background. A windmill can be seen in the background. By early American artist A...

This charming oil on canvas painting by Edgar Hunt depicts a serene farmyard scene filled with lively animals. A pair of ducks and their ducklings take center stage, showcasing their...

Painting by Swedish artist Tore Nyberg. Oil on canvas made in 1957. Signed and dated. Good condition with sign of age related wear. Tore Nyberg, 1911-1993, was a Swedish artist. B...

The oil painting on canvas, depicting a tranquil beach and sea scene, was masterfully crafted by Sixten Wiklund (1907-1986) around the 1950s. Capturing the serene beauty of the coas...

This evocative oil on board painting by Roger Hayward, an esteemed mid-century Californian artist known for his architectural prowess, portrays the impos...