Fabric Paintings
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Material: Fabric
Italian Abstract Expressionist Painting by Ugo Sterpini, Signed and Dated 1958
Located in Stamford, CT
Ugo Sterpini (Italian, 1927-2000)''La Lotta Sulla Duna" (The Battle On The Dune). Mixed media on canvas, signed and dated ''58'' lower right, signed, titl...
Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Fabric Paintings
Materials
Canvas
Italian 18th Century Oil on Canvas from the Piedmont Region
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
A sensational and large scale Italian 18th century oil on canvas from the Piedmont region. The beautiful painting is set in its original polychrome frame which displays a lovely carv...
Category
18th Century Italian Antique Fabric Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Wood
"Ce qu
évoquent les Livres" by Émile Aubry
1880-1964
By Louis Aubry
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
"Ce qu'évoquent les Livres"
Allegory of the Literature
Oil on canvas
Signed on the lower part beside parchment
111 x 133 x 2 cm
Framed 125 x 146 x 7 cm
Provenance: Collection Georges AUBRY, brother of the artist
Bibliography: Illustrated in catalogue «Regards de peintre» , Suzanne AUBRY-CASANOVA, 1997, p.104
After trying years of forced confinement due to the war, he composed this allegorical fresco on the theme of Literature, Science and Arts was painted by Émile Aubry for his younger brother Georges Aubry, who had intended it for his library.
This work, composed on the theme of the book it symbolizes, in its diversity by allegorical characters, he cannot help ordering the painting around Art, which he places at the top of the scale of human...
Category
1940s French Art Deco Vintage Fabric Paintings
Materials
Canvas
19th Century Genre Scene Oil on Canvas Attributed to Thomas Webster
Located in Chicago, IL
This whimsical 19th-century oil on canvas, attributed to Thomas Webster R.A (1800-1886), depicts two young boys spying inside of a sealed letter, careful not to break the seal. The s...
Category
19th Century English Victorian Antique Fabric Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Giltwood, Paint
60s Massive Lee Reynolds Abstract Mid Century Modern Wild Flowers Oil Painting
Located in St.Petersburg, FL
Monumental 1960s Lee Reynolds Mid Century Modern Impressionist Framed Oil Painting of Colorful, Detailed, Delicate Dancing Wildflowers Swept up by a Breeze.
Focal and masterfully ...
Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Fabric Paintings
Materials
Metal
Oil on Canvas "the Prohibited Reading" After Karel Ooms
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A Large Continental Oil on Canvas "The Prohibited Reading " after Karel Ooms (Belgium, 1845-1900). This beautiful executed painting depicts a historical scene of an old man and a young woman who are huddled over a bible. The pair is gazing in apparent concern or alarm, over the old man's shoulder, towards something outside of the picture. The scene is likely set in the 16th or 17th century when Protestants were prosecuted, amongst others, for reading the bible in the vernacular, a practice prohibited by the Catholic Church at the time. Signed (l/r) A. Ribas 15-12-913. Within a giltwood carved frame. circa: Probably Belgium, 1913.
Karel Ooms was born in Dessel on January 27, 1845 as the youngest son of a large peasant family. At school his extraordinary talent for drawing was discovered. When he was twelve his hometown provided financial support which allowed him to study at the Antwerp Academy of fine Arts.
One of his teachers at the Academy was Nicaise de Keyser, one of the key figures in the Belgian Romantic-historical school of painting and a painter of mainly history paintings and portraits. After graduating from the Academy 1865 Karel Ooms was welcomed with pomp in his home town Dessel. He painted two altarpieces for the local church Saint Nicolas, to express his gratitude to his city.
Karel Ooms settled as an independent artist in Antwerp around 1871. He quickly established a reputation as a portrait painter. In addition, he received commissions for religious paintings and history paintings. He gained particular recognition with two large paintings...
Category
Early 20th Century Belgian Renaissance Revival Fabric Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Giltwood
$27,880 Sale Price
20% Off
18th Century Giacomo Guardi Old Master Painting of Venetian Lagoon, Provenance
By Francesco Guardi
Located in Vero Beach, FL
18th century Giacomo Guardi old master painting of Venetian Lagoon. Provenance.
Old master painting in oil on canvas by the artist Giacomo Guardi (1764...
Category
18th Century Italian Baroque Antique Fabric Paintings
Materials
Canvas
Michael O
Connell, sunbathing, Wall Hanging, Painting on Woven Fabric, 1950s UK
Located in London, Fitzrovia
"sunbathing", a unique wall hanging.
Paste resist painting on a thick woven fabric, by Michael O'Connell, mid century, UK.
An impressive piece.
Michael O'Connell (1898 – 1976) was an English modernist artist who worked in Australia between World War I and World War II and then in England. He is best known as a textile artist with significant works held in the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Museum of English Rural Life, the National Gallery of Australia etc... He was commissioned to produce a very large 56 meters long wall hanging...
Category
20th Century British Mid-Century Modern Fabric Paintings
Materials
Fabric
18th Century Oil on Canvas Painting of Crucifixion of Christ with Mother Mary
Located in Round Top, TX
Large original oil on canvas painting of the crucifixion of Christ hanging on the cross, with his Mother Mary and two other female figures. Unframed, just over 4.5' tall.
Beautifully...
Category
Early 18th Century Spanish Antique Fabric Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Wood, Paint
Oversized Mid Century Modern Abstract Impressionist Oil on Canvas Painting C1968
Located in Big Flats, NY
Oversized Mid Century Modern Abstract Impressionist Oil on Canvas Painting by Sharie Jones Unsigned C1968
Measures - 48.5"H x 32.25"W x 1"D
An oversized abstract impressionist oil ...
Category
20th Century Mid-Century Modern Fabric Paintings
Materials
Canvas
$960 Sale Price
20% Off
Antique Italian Landscape Oil Painting Guido Agostini 19thC
By Guido Agostini
Located in London, GB
A beautiful oil on canvas painting by Guido Agostini, Italian, 1865-1898, late 19th century in date.
The sensitively painted landscape shows a girl on a country road with the cit...
Category
1890s Italian Antique Fabric Paintings
Materials
Canvas
Abstract Painting Signed D. Filov
By Dmitry Filov
Located in Denton, TX
Abstract painting signed D. Filov. Unique frame shape and beautiful color scheme.
Dmitry Filov was born in 1953 in St. Peterburg. The age of maturity is being passed in the Crimea...
Category
Late 20th Century Russian Modern Fabric Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Wood, Paint
$1,200 Sale Price
20% Off
19th Century Spanish Oil on Canvas Painting Signed Riani
Located in Lambertville, NJ
Oil on canvas portrait of a Spanish aristocratic lady. The painting of a young woman in profile with a dark background dressed in a formal gown with pink roses, signed by the artist ...
Category
1890s Spanish Aesthetic Movement Antique Fabric Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Giltwood, Paint
Antique River Landscape Painting, Scottish Art, Oil On Canvas, Framed, Victorian
Located in Hele, Devon, GB
Our Stock # 24729
This is an antique river landscape painting. A Scottish, oil on canvas in gilt frame, dating to the late 20th century, circa 1900.
Appealing oil painting from the...
Category
Late 19th Century British Victorian Antique Fabric Paintings
Materials
Canvas
Oil Painting of Terriers Ratting in a Barn, Signed George Armfield, circa 1850
By George Armfield
Located in Atlanta, GA
An animated and richly detailed 19th-century oil on canvas depicting three terriers in the midst of a hunt, this genre scene is attributed to British painter George Armfield (c.1850)...
Category
Mid-19th Century English Antique Fabric Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Giltwood
Vladimir Aksyonov USSR 1985 Soviet Era Painting of a Welder
Located in Miami, FL
Vladimir Aksyonov USSR 1985 Soviet Era Painting of a Welder
Offered for sale is a 1985 Soviet-era painting of a Welder titled " Welder Fedya" when translated. The painting is oil...
Category
Late 20th Century Russian Modern Fabric Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Wood, Paint
Antique Italian Oil Painting of Musketeers in an Interior by Novelli
Located in Tarzana, CA
This amusing Italian genre oil painting on canvas by Novelli depicts a gallant courtship that captures the romanticized image of musketeers. Novelli illustrates four musketeers, thre...
Category
19th Century European Antique Fabric Paintings
Materials
Canvas
Midcentury Abstract Oil Painting
Located in Chicago, IL
Midcentury abstract oil painting framed in simple wood frame.
Category
1960s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Fabric Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Wood, Paint
Vintage Original Signed G Whitman Landscape Oil Painting
Located in Lake Worth, FL
For FULL item description click on More Details below.
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Offering One Of Our Recent Palm Beach Estate Fine Art Acquisitions Of A
Vintage Huge Original Signed G Whitman...
Category
20th Century Unknown Fabric Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Paint, Wood
$556 Sale Price
20% Off
Signed Oil on Canvas Painting by MIami Artist, Eric Alfaro "Rabbit"
Located in North Miami, FL
Eric Alfaro is an established, listed and well renowned contemporary artist known for his vibrant and colorful paintings depicting various themes. This Rabbit in soft orange tones c...
Category
2010s American Post-Modern Fabric Paintings
Materials
Canvas
18th Century Oil on Canvas Religious Italian Painting Christ and the Adulteress
Located in Vicoforte, Piedmont
Antique 18th-century Italian painting. Oil on canvas artwork inspired by Luca Giordano's famous masterpiece, Christ and the Adulteress, an original from the second half of the 17th c...
Category
1780s Italian Antique Fabric Paintings
Materials
Canvas
Irit Kalechman Colorful Acrylic on Canvas, 2 Ladies Chatting
Located in Bridgeport, CT
Signed lower left and on the stretcher. A lovely composition with two ladies seated at a cafe table chatting in an outside setting with flowers and plants. The artist is known for he...
Category
20th Century Mid-Century Modern Fabric Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Wood
19th Century Genre Beaux Arts Painting
The Ace of Spades
by J. L. Rónay
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
'The Ace of Spades' by J. L. Rónay
J. L. Rónay French /Hungarian, 19th century genre painter.
A finely painted oil on canvas of an Italian beauty seated on a stool, with tossed p...
Category
Late 19th Century French Beaux Arts Antique Fabric Paintings
Materials
Gesso, Canvas, Giltwood
$6,000 Sale Price
20% Off
17th Century Oil on Canvas Italian Bucolic Landscape with Ruins Painting, 1680
Located in Vicoforte, Piedmont
Wonderful Italian painting from the second half of the 17th century. Oil on canvas artwork depicting a splendid pastoral scene, with elements of classical arcadia that recall the tra...
Category
1680s Italian Antique Fabric Paintings
Materials
Canvas
French Giltwood Framed 19th Century Oil on Canvas Painting Depicting Fruits
Located in Atlanta, GA
A French giltwood framed oil on canvas still-life painting from the 19th century depicting a bowl of fruits. Born in France during the 19th century, this horizontal oil on canvas still-life painting depicts a delicate arrangement of mouth-watering fruits standing out beautifully on a brown-toned neutral background. Our eye is immediately drawn to the yellow and red grapes displayed...
Category
19th Century French Antique Fabric Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Giltwood, Paint
Abstract Artwork Painting
Located in New York, NY
A beautiful, relatively large, colorful abstract artwork painting, oil or acrylic, on a hand-stretched canvas finished with a modern or mini...
Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Fabric Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Wood, Paint
Antique 18th Century Madonna in Sorrow Oil on Canvas, Florentine School
Located in Doha, QA
This antique stunning portrait of Madonna in Sorrow came out from a Palazzo in Florence and an absolute eye catcher. The colors and details are incredible and very typical for an Ita...
Category
Late 18th Century Italian Baroque Antique Fabric Paintings
Materials
Canvas
Antique Oil Painting View of San Simeone Piccolo J. Vivian 19th Century
By Jane Vivian
Located in London, GB
This is a beautiful oil on canvas painting by Jane Vivian (Active 1869-1890) signed on the lower left.
The painting delightfully presents the view of a Venetian canal and a beauti...
Category
1880s British Antique Fabric Paintings
Materials
Canvas
Pair of Italian Mid-18th Century Old Master Oil on Canvas Paintings of Ruins
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
A spectacular and extremely well executed pair of Italian mid 18th century Old Master oil on canvas paintings of ruins. Each painting displays wonderful perspectives, exceptional arc...
Category
18th Century Italian Antique Fabric Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Giltwood
Framed Oil on Canvas "A Street in Montmarte" by Jean Germain-Jacob
Located in valatie, NY
Signed and dated 1924. Jean Germain-Jacob was a French artist who was born in the 20th Century. Possibly of "Rue animée" which Jacob has used as a backdrop in some of his street pain...
Category
Early 20th Century French Fabric Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Wood, Paint
Antique Signed Brandsma Belgium Oil on Canvas Painting of Young Boy Part Set
Located in West Sussex, Pulborough
We are delighted to offer for sale this lovely original circa 1930s Belgium oil on canvas of young boy in a cap which is part of a suite
I have seven of these lifestyle, natural D...
Category
1930s Belgian Art Deco Vintage Fabric Paintings
Materials
Canvas
Vintage Portrait of Women Painting
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Condition: Original Vintage Condition
Materials: Oil On Canvas
Style: Realism
Category
1960s American Other Vintage Fabric Paintings
Materials
Canvas
"Composition", Oil on Canvas, 1967 by Guy Roussille, born 1944
Located in Beirut, LB
An exceptional and vibrant example of early Geometric Abstraction by the notable French Postwar
Contemporary artist Guy Roussille (b. 1944).
Titled Composition and signed and ...
Category
1960s French Mid-Century Modern Vintage Fabric Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Wood
Surreal California Seascape Painting by Robert Watson, 20th Century
Located in San Francisco, CA
Framed Surrealist Seascape painting, oil on canvas with linen matting by California artist Robert Watson.
Titled #27 Shoreline.
Retains the original paper label from a San Francisco ...
Category
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Fabric Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Paint
19th Century Oil on Canvas French Signed and Dated Landscape Painting, 1899
Located in Vicoforte, Piedmont
Large French painting dated 1899. Oil painting on canvas, first canvas, depicting a view of a country village with characters and animals of good...
Category
1890s French Antique Fabric Paintings
Materials
Canvas
17th Century Oil on Canvas Italian Religious Painting Saint Francis of Assisi
Located in Vicoforte, Piedmont
Antique 17th-century Italian painting. Oil on canvas artwork with an intense depiction of Saint Francis of Assisi in ecstasy. The saint is depicted in prayer, kneeling, gazing heaven...
Category
1670s Italian Antique Fabric Paintings
Materials
Canvas
Attributed to Sadanand K. Bakre, Indian Artist, Venetian Cityscape, 1950s
By Sadanand K. Bakre 1
Located in St Annes, Lancashire
Abstract oil painting on canvas of a Venetian cityscape.
Unframed. No signature.
It is attributed to Sadanand k. Bakre.
In muted colors consistent with his early work in Europe.
...
Category
1950s British Brutalist Vintage Fabric Paintings
Materials
Canvas
Antique California Portrait Oil Painting of Sisters by Wanda Neumann
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Condition: Original Vintage Condition
Designer: Wanda S. Neumann
Manufacturer: Wanda S. Neumann
Materials: Oil On Canvas, Wood Frame
Style: California Realism
Category
1920s American Other Vintage Fabric Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Wood
Selection of Mid-Century Jazz Themed Paintings
Located in Atlanta, GA
Selection of Mid-Century jazz themed paintings, American, circa 1930s-1970s. From left to right, they are:
1) New Orleans jazz watercolor by Leo Meirsdorff...
Category
1960s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Fabric Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Paper
French 19th Century Framed Floral Oil on Canvas Painting Depicting Roses
Located in Atlanta, GA
A French framed oil on canvas floral painting from the 19th century, depicting roses. Born in France during the 19th century, this exquisite oil on canvas painting features a delicat...
Category
19th Century French Antique Fabric Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Giltwood, Paint
Set of Nine, Large Early 18th Century Oil on Canvas Paintings of Various Sibyls
Located in Brighton, Sussex
A wonderful and rare collection of nine, oil on canvas paintings of the Sibyls, early 18th century, French school, Libyan, Cumean, Lampusian, Hellespontine, Erythraean, Delphic, Pers...
Category
Early 18th Century French Classical Greek Antique Fabric Paintings
Materials
Canvas
Mogens Andersen – Nature Morte
Located in Kastrup, DK
An atmospheric still life. Painted in 1951 during Mogens Andersen’s stay in France.
The central fruits — a pear and an apple — appear both as classic still life motifs and can also be interpreted as symbols of the masculine and feminine.
Presented in a beautifully carved wooden frame in a khaki-grey color.
Signed Mogens Andersen.
About the Artist
Mogens Andersen (1916–2003) was one of Denmark’s key...
Category
Mid-20th Century Danish Modern Fabric Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Wood
Oil On Canvas Old Master Copy Of Velazquez’s “The Triump of Bacchus" c1920
Located in Big Flats, NY
Antique Oil On Canvas Laid on Board Old Master Copy Of Velazquez’s “The Triumph Of Bacchus” Unsigned C1920
Measures - 42 1/2" x 58 1/4" x 1 3/4"
Category
Early 20th Century Fabric Paintings
Materials
Canvas
$1,200 Sale Price
20% Off
L. Royer, Oil on canvas "Thwarted Love" , France, dated 1882 (?)
Located in PARIS, FR
Signed Lionel Royer and dated 1882 (?)
Former Salon exhibition label at the top right, n°538
Indication of an exhibition in Lyon on the back of the frame, n°163
Beautiful painting ...
Category
1880s French Romantic Antique Fabric Paintings
Materials
Canvas
1975 Hard Edge Square Oil Painting on Canvas, in the Manner of Josef Albers
By Josef Albers
Located in Las Vegas, NV
Oil on canvas painting signed on verso "B. Raab 5/75"
After the famed "Homage to the Square" by Josef Albers
Measures 30-1/4" X 30-1/4" square. Original aluminum frame.
Colors are b...
Category
1970s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Fabric Paintings
Materials
Aluminum
Oil Painting "The Man in the Gold Helmet" Rembrandt van Rijn
Located in Berlin, DE
Oil painting "The Man in the Gold Helmet" Rembrandt van Rijn
Portrait copy of the famous Dutch painter Rembrandt van Rijn, overpainted print, signed. Fr...
Category
20th Century Dutch Fabric Paintings
Materials
Canvas
19th Century Continental School Painting
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Continental, likely German, 19th century. Oil on canvas, housed in a gilt oval frame. A town scene, unsigned.
Category
19th Century German Aesthetic Movement Antique Fabric Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Wood, Paint
18th Century Large Original Painted Canvas Of French Country Side
Located in Charleston, SC
This rare large painted unframed canvas from the mid 18th century portrays the image of an idyllic pastoral scene in Southern France.
Featuring a group of herons and swans in the di...
Category
Mid-18th Century French Antique Fabric Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Paint
19th Century Antique Portrait of Virginia Gentleman, Oil on Canvas, Framed
Located in San Francisco, CA
Antique oil on canvas portrait of an unknown 19th Century Virginian Gentleman, beautifully framed to retain its sense of time and place. Rich brush strok...
Category
Late 19th Century American American Classical Antique Fabric Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Wood
Antique Oil on Canvas by French Master Painter Edmond Petitjean
Located in New Orleans, LA
Antique Oil on Canvas by French Master Painter Edmond Petitjean. Signed lower right.
Category
Late 19th Century French Antique Fabric Paintings
Materials
Canvas
Bold Astract Painting with Overlapping Rectangles and Squares
By Fay Sciarra
Located in Hopewell, NJ
Striking large abstract painting with multiple layers of rectangles that overlap and blend in a textural melodic interplay. Colors are muted and earthy with brown, navy, black, celad...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Fabric Paintings
Materials
Canvas
Painted Pompeii Fresco Panel on Canvas
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Painted Pompeii fresco panel depicting scene VIII from the "Sala di Grande Dipinto" in the Villa de Misteri at Pompeii on canvas. This is in the style of painted on canvas. Measures ...
Category
1950s Italian Other Vintage Fabric Paintings
Materials
Canvas
19th Century Alpine Landscape Oil Painting with Tyrolian Mountain Village
Located in Berghuelen, DE
19th Century Alpine Landscape Oil Painting with Tyrolian Mountain Village
The antique oil painting captures the charm of an Alpine landscape, featuring a picturesque Tyrolean mounta...
Category
Late 19th Century German Biedermeier Antique Fabric Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Wood
Early 19th Century Italian School Memento Mori Oil on Canvas Welcome Death
Located in Lowestoft, GB
A almost life size depiction of a human skeleton holding a length of chain, with a banner at the base.
We believe the piece to be Italian from the language used within the banner, ...
Category
19th Century Italian Antique Fabric Paintings
Materials
Canvas
Vintage Italian Capriccio Framed Oil on Canvas Painting of Landscape With Ruins
Located in Elkhart, IN
A gorgeous Grand Tour style framed oil painting of an Italian Capriccio landscape with ruins
Italy, Mid-20th Century
Oil on canvas, gilt frame
Measures: 9.5"W x 1"D x 9.5"H.
Exce...
Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Grand Tour Fabric Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Giltwood, Paint
Ralph Pallen Coleman (American 1892-1968) A Monumental Painting of Jesus Christ
Located in Long Island City, NY
Ralph Pallen Coleman (American 1892-1968) A Monumental Painting of "The Resurrection of Jesus Christ", circa 1940.
Measuring 102" high x 77" wide (framed), this massive oil on canv...
Category
19th Century North American Antique Fabric Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Paint
$24,000 Sale Price
50% Off
17th Century Oil-on-Canvas "The Archangel Raphael with Tobit"
Located in NICE, FR
The Archangel Raphael and Tobias, 17th-Century School
Oil on canvas
This 17th-century painting depicts one of the most renowned episodes from the Book of Tobit: the young Tobias, ac...
Category
Mid-17th Century Italian Baroque Antique Fabric Paintings
Materials
Canvas
Fabulous Large original oil painting of maidens by Hans Zatzka 1859-1945
By Hans Zatzka
Located in Long Island City, NY
Large original painting of maidens by Hans Zatzka
A Fabulous And All Original Oil Painting On Canvas By Hans Zatska.(Austrian1859-1945) In untouched condition this painting is top q...
Category
Late 19th Century Austrian Antique Fabric Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Giltwood, Paint
Pair of French 18th Century École Française Oil on Canvas Portraits
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
An extraordinary and monumental pair of 18th century École Française Oil on Canvas portraits of Marie-Josèphe of Habsbourg of Austria (1699-1757), wife of Frederick Augustus II of Saxony, Elector of Saxony, and of their son Frederick IV of Saxony (1722-1763), bearing the Imperial and Royal Order...
Category
18th Century French Antique Fabric Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Giltwood
John David Rigsby Abstract Mixed Media on Canvas, American 1960
Located in Hudson, NY
A handsome and sophisticated mixed media on canvas by American artist John Rigsby. Found in a original state of preservation. His works are few and far between.
The following biography was submitted by John David Rigsby, Jr., son of the artist. The author is Lisa Rigsby Peterson, daughter of the artist, and owner of the copyright of the biography.
John David Rigsby was born on October 10, 1934, the seventh child of an Alabama Depression-era sharecropper's son. He and his family moved frequently, from one one-room structure to another, often with no running water, no plumbing, no heat but the stove. His father was killed in a car accident when Rigsby was just 9 years old. Life for the remaining eight family members proved tumultuous and difficult -- food wasn't plentiful, nor money. The family moved from place to place, following work -- Rigsby attended 30 different schools before graduating from high school. Despite living in poverty, Rigsby demonstrated academic and artistic aptitude at a young age. Two oil paintings on covers ripped off of old books that he painted when he was eight years old show the promise of an imaginative and gifted eye.
Rigsby was drafted by the U.S. Army in 1953. As he later wrote, "When basic training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, was over, I was told to go out and find a job. Jasper Johns was painting visual aids for the 28th Regimental Headquarters. He suggested the Band Training Unit." Rigsby played the clarinet in that unit, and after 2 years of service, he enrolled at the University of Alabama on the G.I. Bill to study art. After just two years, he left school and followed his mentor (and one of the greatest and longest-lasting influences on his art), Japanese artist and U of A art instructor Tatsu Heima, to New York City. Heima introduced him to Isamu Noguchi and suggested that Rigsby work as Noguchi's assistant. Instead, Rigsby chose a job as a guard at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, since "the notion of seeing all of that art appealed more to me than the boring task of studio assistant." The opportunity was a rich one for Rigsby. He had a chance to study the masters, and cited Rembrandt with his simplicity and elegance as another of the most important influences on his work.
In the years between 1957 and 1963, when Rigsby eventually earned his BFA in sculpture, the artist traveled back and forth between New York and Tuscaloosa, alternating study with forays into the fertile New York art scene. Rigsby exhibited some of his early sculpture work in 1958 at a small New York gallery, which was also exhibiting the work of Willem and Elaine de Kooning and Theodore Stamos. Shortly thereafter, searching for an educational venue closer to New York City, Rigsby visited New Haven, Connecticut, and spent an afternoon speaking with Josef Albers at Yale. Albers agreed to accept Rigsby into the Yale program on the condition that he take freshman drawing all over again. A brilliant opportunity, but, in Rigsby's words, "When it was time to register, I was hitchhiking back to Alabama, looking for food and shelter."
Rigsby had his first one-man show at the University of Alabama in 1959. A visiting critic from New York, J.F. Goosen, reviewed the show and wrote "here is a talent which produces art because that is the thing for a gifted person to do. In his effortless ease of conception and execution, he has already achieved a goal that eludes many artists for a lifetime." Finally, in 1963, Rigsby received his degree in sculpture, dissolved a short-lived marriage, visited his family, packed up his car and headed permanently for New York. That year, his work was included in a group show at the Delgado Museum in New Orleans - which led to a one-man exhibit at the Delgado in 1964. During 1964, Rigsby took drawing classes at Columbia University, and worked at the General Post Office at night. He met his future wife, Linda Palmieri, and married. In 1965, his daughter Lisa was born, followed in 1966 by the birth of his son, John David Jr.
In 1966, Rigsby had a successful one-man show at the Pietrantonio Gallery in New York. Shortly thereafter, he and the family moved to Tunis, Tunisia at the suggestion of a colleague, who urged him to "come paint by the light of Klee." Rigsby worked for the United States Information Agency as a teacher, and he spent the next year and a half painting over ninety paintings inspired by the smells, light, and Phoenician and Roman art surrounding him. He also executed a number of character and landscape drawings, capturing the Tunisian way of life. During his time in Tunisia, Rigsby's work was shown there in two major exhibits.
Upon the family's return to the U.S. in 1968, Rigsby once again exhibited at the Pietrantonio Gallery. Later that year, Rigsby enrolled in Southern Connecticut State College's Urban Studies program, earning a master's degree in 1970. During his time at SCSU, Rigsby worked as the city of Bridgeport's Curator of Exhibits, driving a mobile art gallery from schools to neighborhood fairs and housing projects. After completing his degree, Rigsby had an exhibit at the Telfair Museum in Savannah, Georgia. This exhibit caught the attention of a member of the search committee looking to hire an artist for a newly-developed program in neighboring South Carolina.
In 1970, Rigsby was selected as the first Artist-in-Residence in the state of South Carolina for the National Endowment for the Arts Artists in Schools program. His work with the newly-integrated students at Beaufort (SC) High School over the term of his residency precluded substantial work on his own art. He did, however, set up a studio in downtown Beaufort, and was able to create a modest number of paintings, which were included in exhibits at the Columbia Museum in South Carolina in 1971 and Yale University in 1973.
At the end of his residency in 1974, Rigsby was named the National Visual Arts Coordinator of the Artists in Schools program for the NEA, a post he held for two years. In this position, Rigsby traveled the country, reviewing grant applications, meeting with state leaders in government, education and the arts to promote program concepts and explore local opportunities. The message he repeated over and over again echoed that of one of the other major influences on Rigsby as an artist - Ruth Asawa Lanier, whose words taught him that all of the work that the artist does is the artist's work, not simply the paintings he creates. In his capacity as National Coordinator, as well as many times in the future, Rigsby stressed that artists function in the same way as any other person in society, and deserved the same respect and place for their work as did all other professions. After two years traveling the country, Rigsby was ready for a change, saying "for the first time in my adult life, there was not a body of paintings to show for the years put into my work."
In 1976, a summer retreat to the mountain community of Central City, Colorado, led to a permanent relocation. Eventually settling in the small town of Evergreen, Rigsby followed his own advice about artists becoming actively involved in their communities, and he established the Evergreen Visual Arts Center. The Center provided working space for artists, classes for adults and children, and, most importantly, a place for Rigsby to create his own work. Buoyed by the opportunity to concentrate once again on his art, and inspired by his new surroundings, Rigsby entered an extremely prolific period in his career. In 1977, he organized a traveling exhibition of his paintings, which showed at the Kimball Arts Center in Utah, the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and the Arvada Center in Colorado.
1978 brought more exhibits, notably in Aspen and Denver, as Rigsby's work continued. He took an extended trip to visit his mentor, Tatsu Heima, in Japan, where he climbed Mt. Fuji, followed by travels to Tehran, Delhi, and several European countries. He chronicled his impressions from his travels in a small collection of paintings upon his return to the U.S. - the beginning of a practice which would continue through the rest of his life. In 1979, Rigsby's marriage failed, and at the same time he lost the lease to his Evergreen studio to redevelopment plans. In response to the personal chaos around him, Rigsby began a series of what he called "hard-nosed process paintings," the watercolor paintings of dots which marked his work from this period. The paintings gained him an NEA Individual Artist grant in 1980, as well as a Yaddo fellowship in 1981. The polka dot paintings were followed by a series of cupcake-like images, again examining space and color.
During the early 1980s, Rigsby lived in a suite of old dentists' offices in a rundown part of Denver, with a studio in an area that reminded him of the Bowery in New York. In 1984, Rigsby founded the Progreso Gallery in the building where he lived, using the space both to show his own work and also to mount shows of the work of many Colorado artists. The gallery also served as a focal point for Denver's local arts community, hosting weekly discussion groups and classes. In 1984, Rigsby traveled to the Baja Peninsula and then in 1985 to Yugoslavia. After each sojourn, Rigsby returned to create vibrant and explosive paintings based on his experiences, showing them at his Progreso gallery and another alternative gallery in Denver, the Edge Gallery. The economic recession of the mid-eighties hit the art market and Rigsby hard, however, and although he continued to create new works of art, major exhibitions were difficult to come by.
In 1987, Rigsby decided to leave Denver and spent six months in Barcelona, Spain. It was an electrifying trip for him. Rigsby wrote of that time:
"The streets alone are a visual feast, and the additions of museums from Saarinen, Picasso and Miro to 12th century icons produced artistic indigestion. My paintings are always about the way things look and feel. Barcelona was a time machine extending those sensory and emotional concerns back to the Middle Ages. I felt the need to reduce my work to essential elements of color, scale, drawing and format. The [resulting] color studies speak eloquently for themselves, and in doing so, redefine all of the work I've done in the past 35 years of painting."
Rigsby completed over a hundred paintings while in Barcelona - color studies, street portraits of the characters he encountered on a daily basis, and a number of dark landscape paintings. He found time to run with the bulls in Pamplona, and began writing stories about his adventures that were later published.
Upon his return to Denver in 1988, Rigsby continued to explore the alter egos of the color studies - he concentrated on a series of dark paintings, all prominently featuring back. He commented about these black paintings that he " decided it was time to explore the perception of the eye and physical space as defined by low -light conditions…I find these paintings elegant, joyous and light-filled, with no feeling of heaviness at all." In mid-1988, Rigsby moved permanently to Houston, Texas, where he would spend the last five years of his life.
Once in Houston, Rigsby made a discovery that would serve as the inspiration and material for some of the last works of his career. In 1989, he discovered a salvage yard filled with scrap rubber, and he began working on black rubber sculptures, as well as paintings with rubber elements incorporated. He made strong connections in the Houston alternative arts scene, and became a regular contributor and art critic for a local weekly newspaper, The Public News. From 1989 through 1992, he exhibited his sculptures and paintings at Houston's Brent Gallery, Fountainhead Gallery, and Blaffer Gallery. He also produced an installation of his rubber sculptures on the roof of the Diverse Works Gallery in Houston. 1992 also marked Rigsby's return to Denver when he exhibited his sculptures at the Payton-Rule Gallery in Denver, leading to an Absolut Rigsby commission by Carillon Importers.
The 1990s were a tremendous struggle for Rigsby, with financial crises compounded by physical trauma (he accidentally sawed off the top joint of the index finger of his left hand while working in his studio). Although his work was being shown, it wasn't selling, and the tremendous financial pressure he felt weighed heavily upon him. He spent an increasing proportion of his time going to flea markets and garage sales, rehabilitating and repairing the things he bought there, and then re-selling them simply to raise enough money to keep a roof over his head. He had little time to paint or sculpt, the things in life that had always, no matter what the circumstances, brought him joy.
Rigsby's final works were a series of intricate paintings and drawings on used books that he purchased at the flea market. Most of these drawings, which he referred to as sculptural form drawings, were executed on page after page of science texts, music books, and a Korean bible and fill hundreds of pages. Additionally, Rigsby created an exquisite book he titled 28 de los Angeles, in which his twenty-eight simple and elegant drawings of angels resonated with the influence of Rembrandt he had so admired in his early days. In a sense, Rigsby's final works, art created on used books which were the only materials he could afford, brought his work and life full circle from his childhood days. Rigsby's life, though begun and ended in adversity, was nonetheless illuminated and enriched by the irresistible impulse he had to create art and beauty.
John David Rigsby was killed in a one-car accident in Colorado in August, 1993.
Biography from the Archives of askART
Following is a review by Michael Paglia of the artist's July 2004 retrospective at the Denver Museum of Contemporary Art. It was submitted by John Rigsby, Jr., son of the artist.
There's a magnificent retrospective at Denver's Museum of Contemporary Art devoted to the work of the late John David Rigsby, who was a major powerhouse in Colorado's art scene. "Dots, Blobs and Angels" surveys more than forty years' worth of the remarkable artist's paintings and sculptures.
The year 1993 was strange, and by that I mean terrible. Many of the city's galleries closed because of bad economic times, and then the artists started dying. In a matter of a few months, Denver lost three significant artists: Rigsby, experimental photographer Wes Kennedy...
Category
1960s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Fabric Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Paint





