Catalog: Sold Items: Fine Art (179)

Beautiful Egyptian street scene an Original oil painting on board signed lower right measuring approx. 20 x 24 in excellent condition. Biography LEONID GECHTOFF, 1883-1941 

Leonid Gechtoff was born in Odessa, Russia, in 1883, an only child of parents already in their forties and not particularly well off financially.  After his art school training in Russia, where he probably first met his close life-long friend David Burliuk, he and his parents fled from their homeland when he was in his twenties, rather than have him face possible conscription into the army. Cairo proved to be a haven for several years and Gechtoff painted many city and genre scenes of Egypt in his heavily impastoed style, bringing him acclaim in the Orientalist-enamored European art world as well.

Gechtoff always felt most influenced by the work of Vincent van Gogh, however, and this led him to travel to Holland where Dutch-born van Gogh painted in his early years, though not in the colorful later style Gechtoff most admired. There he established good connections which led to gallery shows in Amsterdam, and at one he met his future Russian-born wife Etya while she was on vacation from her pre-medical studies in Germany. Her family was well-to-do and supportive of the young couple, so they were able to wed and settle in Holland initially for about a year, around 1917. Several Alpine landscapes indicate painting trips in more mountainous parts of Europe too. Both Leonid and his wife were fluent in several languages.

The Gechtoffs soon moved to Indonesia, then a major South Pacific colony under Dutch control, hoping that the warmer climate would be better for Etya's health. The lush volcanic landscapes were strongly appealing to the artist as well. They lived in Java for about two years, in 1918 and 1919, and enjoyed traveling and collecting throughout the region during painting trips.

By 1920 they were living in Manila, and in early 1921 they planned a visit to see two of Etya's brothers in Pennsylvania later that year.  Once in America, the Gechtoffs found themselves persuaded to stay and settle in Philadelphia, with both becoming US citizens.  Leonid's major patron and benefactor was either a member of the family of Dutch-born philanthropist Edward Bok or Bok himself. Along with inclusion in various group exhibitions, his work was featured in a solo show at the Philadelphia Art Alliance in the early 1930's.

Gechtoff had achieved substantial success throughout the 1920's from his landscape paintings near his home in Philadelphia, and had also purchased a summer home on Cape May, New Jersey, where he painted many coastal scenes.  Unfortunately, he made large investments in the stock market in the latter years of the decade, and these disappeared almost overnight in the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The family now included young Sonia, born in 1926, and soon her sister, born in 1933.

With their fortunes in decline, like so many artists in the Depression of the 1930's, they sold the Cape May house but still were able find suitable rentals at the shore for their summer sojourns, and otherwise still lived in downtown apartments in Philadelphia. Gechtoff's works began to depict wintry landscapes along with his bright rocky seascapes and still lifes.

Gechtoff continued vigorously painting in his vivid and distinctive style, a blending of post-Impressionism and expressionism, until his health became a problem in 1940, with the stress of high blood pressure and complications. He died in 1941 at the age of 58. His widow later moved to San Francisco and ran an influential exhibition space in San Francisco called the East-West Gallery, while daughter Sonia became a well-known artist currently living in New York City. 
Gechtoff is listed in the Archives of American Artists, part of the Smithsonian Institution.

Original Antique Watercolor British Portrait of "The Cutty Sark" signed lower right John Whitlock image 13"L x 18"W. Overall framed size 20" L x 24" W. Provenance imported from England by J Assenheim NY.

Gustav Adolph "Dolph" Hensel was born in Germany and came to the U.S. in 1906. He was a Lutheran minister who settled in Wisconsin and later moved to San Francisco, where he was pastor of St. John's Reform Church until 1922. Hensel was also an artist who mainly painted portraits and religious genre. He spent three years as a missionary in Africa during the 1920s, and it may have been during this period that he painted this middle eastern scene. His nickname was "Dolph" and many of his paintings are signed 'D. Hensel," as in this example. Presented in the original frame canvas 12" x 14".

WILLIAM MALHERBE 1884 - 1951 A beautiful impressionist oil painting of a nude woman holding a sphere one can easily see the influence of Renoir in this example of this fine French-American artist. Oil on canvas monogramed lower right measuring Approx. 26 x 30 inches. Born in France, William Malherbe was influenced by the great Post Impressionist painters of his time, particularly Renoir and Bonnard. He is known for his still lifes, landscapes and figural paintings. In 1939, Malherbe arrived in the United States. He lived in New York City and on a farm in Vermont. He returned to France in 1948 and died there in 1951. Works by William Malherbe are in the collection of the Musee d'Art Moderne in Paris among other collections.

A fine vintage bronze bust of a boy with green marble base signed G. Martin and with foundry mark genuine bronze. In excellent condition some minor chips to marble base measuring 8 inches or 20 centimeters tall without base. A quality art work would make a fine addition to any collection.

An original portrait of a beautiful woman oil on canvas signed lower right and dated 1929 in excellent condition.

Biography

Charles Ward Traver was a painter born in Ann Arbor MI on Oct 10 1880. Traver was a resident of Los Angeles in the late 1890's. In 1927 he was in New York City and visited Los Angeles again in 1932. He also lived in Wuanita Hot Springs, Colorado. He was an illustrator for Land Of Sunshine magazine and did covers for Saturday Evening Post. He studied in Germany at the Royal Academy of Munich with Carl Von Marr and Henry Snell. Exhibition venues include the Society of Independent Artists in 1917. There is discrepancy in his birth date information, with both 1880 and 1889 given.

Original antique oil painting view of a Spanish Interior with islamic influence Seville Spain. Signed lower right A. Liger titled Seville. Oil on canvas image 9"L x 7"W. overall 12 x 10 inches in excellent condition.

A beautiful Will Sparks original oil on canvas signed lower left provenance Karges Gallery Carmel Ca. The scene depicting adobes along a river in the evening. Measuring 16 x 24 in good condition some age craquelure.

Biography

Painter, etcher, and muralist, Will Sparks became one of California's premier artists, known for his mission and nocturnal adobe scenes. He was highly prolific, completing about three-thousand oil paintings. He was born in St. Louis, Missouri, and showed art talent as a youngster, selling his first painting when he was age twelve. He became a doctor, but his love of art prevailed. He attended the St. Louis School of Fine Arts and then went to New York and then Paris to the Academies Julian and Colarossi where he studied with Gerome, Harpignies, and Bouguereau. In Paris he earned money as an assistant to biologist Louis Pasteur for whom he made anatomical drawings. He was also much influenced by the Barbizon painters and Cezanne. He returned to St. Louis and in 1886 exhibited in the St. Louis Expo where he met Mark Twain whose stories of California inspired him to head West. He stayed briefly in Cincinnati and Denver and then California, where he did newspaper illustrations in Stockton and Fresno. In 1891, he settled in San Francisco, establishing a studio at 163 Sutter Street. He combined illustration work and writing for the San Francisco Evening Call with easel painting including all of the California missions. He was a member of the Bohemian Club, a free-spirited, fun loving group that lived "hand-to-mouth" for their art. He also painted in Arizona, and a painting Tucson was done in 1894. In 1904, he joined the faculty of the University of California, doing anatomy drawings for medical classes, and in 1907, he was a founder of the Del Monte Art Gallery. He died in San Francisco on March 30, 1937. His paintings are in the collections of the Huntington Library in San Marino and the Crocker Museum in Sacramento. Source: Edan Hughes,

A beautiful original watercolor painting of a New York landscape by Harry Roseland signed lower right in excellent condition in quality frame site approx. 10x 14 inches. An investment quality work. Harry Roseland 1868-1950 Genre painting enjoyed tremendous popularity in nineteenth-century America. It was a style that allowed a painter to tell a story, evoke an emotion, tell a joke, or educate. Largely superseded in the twentieth century by changes in popular taste and improvements in photographic technology, genre painting nevertheless remains a strong sub current in popular taste. One of the most notable painters in this mode was Harry Roseland. Roseland, born in Brooklyn, New York in 1868, matured as an artist while waves of change were sweeping over the art world. Largely self-taught, he chose to paint what he saw. He received some education in art under J.B. Whittaker in Brooklyn, and at first painted some landscapes and still lifes, but his natural flair was for telling a story in his paintings. His subject matter was at first highly sentimental and heavily influenced by fashionable taste: smartly turned-out young women, old folks, and idealized farm scenes. He abandoned the mawkishness that is the downfall of so many self-educated artists when he found a topic that was close to home and yet largely unnoticed: the post-Civil War blacks who formed the underpinning of Northeastern society. Roseland's clever, skillful scenes of homely activities - such as checkers or letter-reading, were remarkably dispassionate and candid for the time, though to modern eyes they may seem condescending and dated. They capture with gentle humor of a way of life that existed through the first half of the twentieth century and has now vanished. Harry Roseland never left his native Brooklyn, dying in New York in 1950, but enjoyed a remarkable success as an artist in his chosen specialty, improving and maturing continually. The archetype of the independent American artist, he never traveled to Europe to study or observe, choosing to carve his own path. During his career as an artist he exhibited:Brooklyn Art Club, 1888 (gold),Boston, Mass., 1900 (medal), 1904 (gold),Charleston Expo, 1902 (medal), National Academy of Design, 1898 (prize),Brooklyn Society of Artists, 1930 (prize), American Art Society, Philadelphia, 1902 (medal), 1907 (gold),Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Art Institute of Chicago. His memberships include: Brooklyn Arts Club,Brooklyn Society of Artists, Brooklyn Painters Society, Salmagundi Club. Public Collections representing the work of Harry Roseland: Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Science, Brooklyn Museums,Charleston Art Museum,Heckscher Museum, Long Island, New York.

Anna Althea Hills California Impressionist view of Laguna Beach sunset oil on canvas c. 1925. A beautiful plein air painting by this highly regarded California artist. Oil on canvas signed lower left measuring 10x14 inches framed in a hand carved and 24k gold leaf quality frame overall size 16x20 inches. Provenance; From the estate of Anna Hills stamped on reverse stretcher with the estate stamp and catalogue number in addition attached is an accompanying letter from the Robert Beck Gallery as to the provenance of this painting. The condition is excellent the painting has been relined and cleaned and is in fine condition. A quality investment piece of California art. An Anna Hills 10x14 painting of Laguna sold for $23,000 at John Moran auction on 6/21/05.

Biography

Anna Althea Hills was born January 28, 1882 in Ravenna, Ohio. She studied at the Chicago Art Institute; Cooper Union Art School in New York City; she worked with Arthur Dow (1857-1922) and later studied at the Academie Julian in Paris. While in Europe she studied with John Noble Barlow (1861-1917). In 1912 she moved to Laguna Beach, California becoming a leading member of the Laguna Beach art community. She was an active member of the California Art Club, held a membership at the Washington Watercolor Club and served at the Laguna Beach Art Association as president from 1922 to 1925 and from 1927 to 1930. Hills was highly regarded as an art teacher and encouraged the study of the visual arts at the local public schools. Captivated and inspired by her new surroundings, she created atmospheric impressionist landscapes showing a reverence and appreciation of nature. The subjects of her plein-air landscapes varied from treescapes, the Laguna Beach coastline, Mission San Juan Capistrano, the vast Southern California and Arizona deserts, Santa Ana Canyon, arroyos and interior scenes. Hills won the Bronze Medal at the Panama-California Exposition, San Diego in 1915; the Bronze Medal at the California State Fair, 1919; and the Landscape Prize at the Laguna Beach Art Association, 1922, 1923. She died at the early age of forty-eight on June 13, 1930 in Laguna Beach, California.

Harriet Whitney Frishmuth (American, 1880 to 1980), Playdays: A Fountain, modeled 1925, bronze with greenish brown patina. Signed and dated on base: HARRIET W FRISHMUTH 1925. Foundry mark: GORHAM CO FOUNDERS QFED. 25 inches tall. An Exquisite piece.

Harriet Whitney Frishmuth was born on September 17, 1880 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A student of such renowned artists as Auguste Rodin and Gutzon Borglum, Frishmuth's reputation and career grew steadily throughout the first several decades of the twentieth century, with exhibitions at the National Academy of Design, the Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia, the Salon in Paris, the Golden Gate International Exposition (1939-1940) and the National Association of Women Painters and Sculptors. Her favorite models were dancers, especially Desha Delteil - immortalized in Frishmuth's most famous work, The Vine - a model particularly popular with artists for her ability to hold difficult poses for long periods of time. The final exhibits of Frishmuth's work took place in New York City in 1929, but she remained active in the art world for many years following. Frishmuth passed away in 1980 at the age of 99. A proponent of the Beaux Arts style - Frishmuth was exceptionally critical of modern art, often calling it "spiritless" - her works can now be seen in some of the world's leading museums and collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, the Dallas Museum of Art, and Ohio University's Kennedy Museum of Art.

A beautiful portrait of a beautiful young lady in an interior. Oil on Canvas signed lower right in excellent condition measuring 31 x 39 inches overall framed size 38 x 46 inches. Van Belle is a highly regarded Belgian - French painter this painting is illustrated in the book Figurative Paintings Paris and the Modernist Spirt by. Martin Wolpert pubilshed by Schiffer.

Classical romantic allegorical painting by James Korn oil on canvas signed and dated Los Angeles 1928 lower left. A beautiful painting by listed California artist James Korn born 1873 at Braila Romania died in Los Angeles in 1961. James Korn is listed in Hughes artists in California he worked in Hollywood as artists. The painting is nicely framed has an old varnish that gives a antique look to the painting but if preferred it could be cleaned one minor touch up in the canvas. Overall a very nice decorative painting would be a nice addition to any interior.

A beautiful painting by this highly recognized early California painter depicting a wooded landscape with cows and oaks. Done in a impressionist style oil on board signed lower left. Measuring approx. 10x12 inches framed in a one of a kind custom carved and gilt frame 16.5 x 19 inches overall. A fine example would make a nice addition to any collection.

Biography

Carl Henrik Jonnevold (1856-1955) was born in Norway on June 1, 1856. He immigrated to the United States in the 1880s and is known to have painted in the Northwest before moving to California in 1887. Settling in San Francisco, he maintained a studio at 1617 California Street. He was a self-taught painter except for brief study in the galleries of Paris in 1908. While in France, he was greatly influenced by the Barbizon painters and their dark palette. Returning to California, he continued to paint the beauty of northern California in the Barbizon style. Often working in late afternoon when shadow prevails, he produced hundreds of attractive tree and meadow scenes which he exhibited in local galleries. By the time of the stock market crash in 1929, Jonnevold was poverty stricken and living alone at his small studio at 560 Kearny Street. In that year he was sentenced to two months in jail for aiming a gun at his landlord. Jonnevold disappeared from San Francisco about 1930. A letter at the Oakland Museum gives his date of death as June 9, 1955 but does not state where. Member: San Francisco Art Ass'n. Exhibited: Alaska-Yukon Expo (Seattle), 1909 (bronze medal); California State Fairs (premiums). Works held: Oakland Museum; California Historical Society; De Young Museum. Courtesy Edan Hughes

A beautiful original oil on canvas board by Renowned Laguna artist signed lower right and dated measuring 20 x 24 framed in a quality 24k gold leaf frame by Sean Speck of Los Angeles.

Biography>Born in Ravenna, Ohio, Anna Althea Hills was a prominent California landscape painter who was also remembered as a civic leader in Laguna Beach. In addition to painting in her native state, she was active in Arizona. She was raised in Olivet, Michigan, and attended Olivet College. She studied at the Art Institute of Chicago, Cooper Union in New York, and privately with Arthur Dow. After further study at the Academie Julian in Paris and traveling throughout Europe for four years, she moved to Laguna Beach in 1913 and was painting in Arizona as early as 1914. The landscape of the West inspired her to adopt a light, colorful Impressionist palette. In spite of a severe spinal injury, she took adventurous painting trips into remote mountain areas. She also supervised a Sunday School for ten years, and was a six-year president of the Laguna Beach Art Association and helped raise funds to build the existing museum. Her early works of genre and interiors were much darker than her later California landscapes and marine scenes. She combined watercolor and oil and painted in a decorative style. Sources: Edan Hughes, Artists in California, 1786-1940

A beautiful landscape of a clearing storm over the French country side. A fine impressionist painting contrasting the storm clouds with the sunlight on the landscape. Oil on board signed lower right measuring approx 13 x 19 inches framed in a quality gallery frame 17 x 23 inches overall. A fine painting by a listed and highly regarded French and Belgian painter.

Biography

Painter of landscapes and marines. inspired by the landscapes of Brabant Wallon. Deceased about 1945. Exhibited at the Triennial "Exposition of Antwerp "in 1901 ("Mill in Dordrecht"). Lived in Saint-Gilles at that time. Listed in BOTTOM II and "Two Centuries of Signatures of Artists of Belgium". ...

A fine figural nude bronze by Hans Dietzsch-Sachsenhausen signed and dated 1921. measuring 17 inches tall in excellent condition. Sachsenhausen (1810-1926) a noted German sculpture with many important public statuary in city centers in Germany and other Countries.

Fred Wagner Pastel of a bay landscape with sail boats in the distance. Archival framed.