Mid-20th Century Paintings

MOTEL SUITCASE SERIES 6034 by JORGE FICK Born in 1932 and passing in 2004 in the vibrant artistic community of Santa Fe, New Mexico, this artist was a prominent figure in the world of high color abstraction. His unique approach to abstract expressionism was deeply influenced by the teachings and mentorship of renowned artists Franz Kline, Jack Tworkov, Phillip Guston, and Joseph Fiore...

In a superb example of Art Deco decorative painting influenced by Medieval motifs, this frieze painting by famous muralist Dunbar Beck is saturated wit...

Midcentury abstract oil painting framed in simple wood frame.

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...

A dark-blue, red vintage Mid-Century Modern French abstract oil on wood painting of a color field, painted by Daniel Clesse in good condition. Signed on the lower right. Wear consist...

This is an original vintage watercolour drawing by Danish artist Albert Elmstedt (1895-1976). It is made in aquarelle and tusch on paper in the colors purple and green with black dis...

Custom framed cubist/ abstract painting by Havers. circa 1960's This amazing piece has vivid coloring and rich texture. Professional framing selected by Gustavo Olivieri Antiques...

One of the most fanciful and dramatic depictions of the St. George and the Dragon story we have ever seen, this painting by Manne Östlund shows a shirtless, modern St. George slaying...

This collectible painting is by Mary Blair, legendary animator for Walt Disney Studios, is of a pair of dancing rabbits in coat tails. The unframed...

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...

Subdued in palette but gorgeous in subtle detail, this painting of a seated male nude from behind captures the sensuality and beauty of the human figure. The painter, Roberto Lupetti...

Important abstract painting by Ingemar Callenberg (1926-1973). Title : Branning, circa 1960. Beautiful colours en effects.

A beautiful, relatively large, colorful abstract artwork painting, oil or acrylic, on a hand-stretched canvas finished with a modern or mini...

A fabulous vintage Boho Original oil painting on board. A chic Abstract composition in bright, clear colors. Signed by the artist. Acquired from a Palm Beach estate.

Vintage watercolor on paper nautical painting depicting a marina / harbour filled with boats. Faint signature in lower right corner - possibly F. Evans. Speckled giltwood frame with ...

Early to mid 20th century oil on board landscape painting depicting an Apline mountain lake viewed from a pine covered hilltop. Signed Enzmann in lower right - attributed to Eduard E...

Condition: Original Vintage Condition Materials: Oil On Canvas Style: Realism

“Big Sister Dance”: an oil on masonite painting by artist Åke Tügel (1925 - 2002), signed and dated, 1949. This stunning piece showcases extraordinary texture and boasts tones of bor...

Mid-20th Century Wooden Wall Decoration With Porcelain Painting A porcelain painting depicting a genre scene, set in a decorative wooden frame. A repaired crack is visible at the bo...

A striking Cubist French painting, dated 1968, that embodies the dynamic energy of postwar European abstraction. The composition is dominated by bold geometric forms, intersecting li...

"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...

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. ...

Oil on panel. Signed and dated. This early work by Rolf Wertheimer was executed in 1954, during his studies at the Royal Institute of Art in Stockholm under Ragnar Sandberg (1951–57...

Vintage original Danish still life oil on canvas painting with vibrant red, yellow and pink tulips in a classy vase. Two (note)books are arranged next to the vase and placed on a tab...

Two Lacquer panels on wood Japanese inspiration soft colors , floral theme. Style Art Nouveau// Art Deco. French origine. Could fit perfectly above a pair of Art Deco or art Nouveau ...

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...

Michael Qvarsebo (born 1945), listed Swedish artist. Oil on board. Abstract composition with impasto brushstrokes. In perfect condition. Signed and d...

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 ...

Oil on canvas, signed and dated in the lower right. Measures 28" x 32" including the frame. A view of the village of Ceret in France. Pinchus Kremegne was a Latvian painter and ...

An original signed pencil and watercolor of a nude figure entering a bathtub, circa 1960. Depicted in the pop art style with bold colors and patterns of the period including gaudy pi...

Mid-century abstract expressionist oil on canvas by the noted Massachusetts artist Martha Moore (1907-1982). Moore was perhaps best known for her much rep...

Unknown artist. Oil on board. Pointillistic landscape. Coloristic palette. Impasto brushstrokes. Dating: ca. 1960s. Signed illegible. Perfect condition. Dimensions: 34.0 cm. x 33.0 c...

Charming painting of 2 female farm labourers Unsigned. In the style of Jack Kampmann Oil on board. Possibly Faroe Islands Presented in an antique whi...

Midcentury American Dorothy Draper-esque Hollywood Regency bedroom design painting, in oil or acrylic on paper. Gilt wood frame. Dimensions: width 77.5cm, height 58.5cm

A large, Mid-Century Modern abstract painting featuring beautiful brown, yellow, and beige hues in varying intensities. This piece has a dark brown wood frame with a gold trim. Sign...

Extremely rare and important, this painting by Eugene Savage served as the preparatory study for one of six monumental Art Deco murals commissioned by the Matson Shipping company in ...

Colorful Post-Cubist oil painting still life with guitar By Serge Magnin, born in France, 1934. Framed. Size of the frame: H 67 cm x L 81 cm x W 2 c...

This watercolour on paper is framed under glass and signed in the left corner. It shows the East Indiaman sailing downwind under full canvas. The rever...

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...

Sitting Man Oil and Tempera Paint on Canvas Belgium 1964. A large and very well painted portrait of a sitting man framed in solid oak - dated 1964. Beautiful pose and very well cra...

A Baroque style oil painting from the first third of the 20th Century. This beautiful painting depicts a duck with plants, painted on a plywood panel in brown, green, and yellow ton...

Beautiful Swedish abstract oil on canvas artwork with a pine wooden frame by Bertil Berntsson from the 1962. In good vintage condition with patina from aging. Signed and dated lowe...

Mid-Century 20th Century Oil Painting of Flowers in Vase by Gerald Cooper (1898-1975). Lovely painting of poppies, hibiscus, Nicotiana an...

Thorvald Hagedorn-Olsen, Danish artist. Oil on artist's board. Modernist Danish landscape with grazing cattle and a fjord. Signed and dated '47. In excellent condition. Image size: ...

Mid century figural study painting on paper by Ezio Martinelli (American, 1913-1980). It has been professionally framed in a clean lined black lacquer wood gallery frame under UV res...

Whimsical small oil on board painting of a European town. Signed Spinola. Out of. Southampton, NY estate.

Very Nice, Old, Painting of Industrial Landscape Scene signed Duff, 1942 couple small repairs as seen on canvas back small "puncture" along the left side of the painting small "crea...

Abstract Impressionist Mixed Media Drawing by Lynough, Framed, C1975. 18 1/4" x 24 1/4" x 7/8". An abstract impressionist mixed media drawing signed by Lynough, created around ...

Large 1945 John Sennhouser Abstract Oil Painting On Canvas, Framed and Signed Offered for sale is a large 1945 John Sennhouser ((Swiss-American 1907-1978) abstract oil painting on ...

For your consideration a Chinese figurative ink wash painting after the Tang Dynasty fresco: The Mural of Playing Polo. Artwork appears as carbon, pa...

Created over 50 years ago, the painting is an artwork of great historical significance. Charles Hinman was a Pioneer of shaped canvases and a leader in abstract art in the 20th centu...

Pair of rare and exceptional "Classical Plaques" in patinated and engraved bronze and pewter with mythological scenes incorporating hand-applied enamels in shades of blue and green b...

Gotthard Sandberg (1890-1961), Swedish artist. Oil on board. Modernist landscape with horses in a meadow. Titled "Sommar" (Summer). Signed and dated 1960. In perfect condition. Visi...

Sophisticated and playful at the same time, this important painting by Eduard Buk Ulreich returns to one of his favorite themes: a group of frolicking horses in the landscape, overflowing with high spirits. Ulreich came to fame as one of the muralists who decorated the lounges and public rooms of Radio City Music Hall...

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...

1-128 large Italian frames with elaborate cast detailing. Overall size 40 x 34 x 1" Inside rabbit 30 x 24"  

Drenched with sun and full of optimism, this depiction of a shirtless farm worker, with scythe in hand, is a high-spirited paean to the American laborer, at a time when the Works Progress Administration and other institutions were commissioning murals that celebrated industry, agriculture and commerce. Here, the worker is lean and strong, and his face shows signs of sunburn from his hours in the open. The painter was Allyn Cox, son of the famous muralist Kenyon Cox...

Signed lower left P. Fiordalisi (1904-?). Peter Fiordalisi was born in Union City, NJ and produced this fine abstract oil paint on canvas circa 1969. The artist uses segmented color,...

1930s original painting on paper of a conch shell. Would be great for your beach house. Framed under glass.

Just in, this 20Th. Century Paris Night Scene in Montmartre. This is an Oil On Canvas, signed Carol on the lower right. French school, this is very much an post impressionist painti...