Catalog: Sold Items (421)

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".

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.

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

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.

Antique sterling silver overlay art nouveau perfume bottle. A beautiful example measuring approx. 4 inches tall in excellent condition some minor scratches to sliver clear glass nice heavy overlay. A fine addition to any collection.

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.

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.

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 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". ...

Impressionist oil painting of an Italian coastal village signed lower right "Luigi Bertolingrande" (1912-1965), a highly regarded 20th-century Italian Impressionist artist. Oil on canvas laid on masonite board in excellent condition. Unframed.

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.

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 Chinese silk embroidered robe circa 1900-1920 This amazing robe is composed of a deep cobalt blue silk ground embroidered on both sides with extensive use of the forbidden stitch technique featuring butterflies, peonies, and other flora. The collar and edges of the garment is overlaid with decorative collars further embroidered with urns vases and flowers. The garment is fastened on the front with silk buttons. The robe is in excellent condition a few minor loose threads on the embroidery overall a fairly large robe measuring 59 inches across and 44 inches long.

Romona Valencia

A beautiful oil of an early California landscape of wild flowers lupine and poppies. Oil painting on canvas board signed lower right measuring approx. 12 x 16 inches. Framed in a contemporary gallery frame overall 20x24 inches. In excellent condition a fine early piece would be a fine addition to any collection.

Biography

Born in Oakland, California, Ramona Froyland, known as Mona, was a painter of still lifes, portraits, landscapes, marines and later in her life, Madonnas. Her parents were Mabel and Manuel Valencia, both artists who gave Ramona her early instruction. She later attended the California School of Fine Art and the Art Institute of Chicago. Ramona Valencia was a paternal descendant of General Gabriel Valencia, the first governor of Sonora, Mexico under Spanish rule, and the great granddaughter of a man who arrived in California in 1774 and became administrator of the Presidio in San Francisco where the family received many land grants. When she was six years old, in 1906, she and her family moved to San Jose because of the destruction of the San Francisco earthquake and fire. However, the family kept close ties to San Francisco where her father kept his studio. Beginning in the 1960s, Ramona Valencia taught art classes to children and adults from her studio in Castro Valley, California, and she died there on September 22, 1988. She was a member of the Hayward art Association and exhibited at Alameda County Fairs.

An original conte crayon drawing of a male nude by Couse framed in a quality 24k gold leaf frame. Provenance the estate of the artist with estate stamp on the reverse. Eanger Irving Couse (1866–1936) was an American artist and a founding member and first president of the Taos Society of Artists. He is noted for paintings of Native Americans, New Mexico, and the American Southwest. His house and studio in Taos have been preserved as the Couse/Sharp Historic Site, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and the New Mexico Register of Cultural Properties. In 1911 Couse was elected to the National Academy of Design.[3] He also became active in the Taos art colony. In 1915, Couse was one of the six founding members of the Taos Society of Artists, and was elected first president. Another founding member was the artist J. H. Sharp, who adapted a chapel near Couse's house as a studio. Later Sharp built a combined house and studio on the land. The adjacent properties are recognized jointly as the Couse/Sharp Historic Site, and are preserved and operated by the Couse Foundation. Among Couse's works in public galleries are Elkfoot (National Gallery, Washington); The Forest Camp (Brooklyn Museum of Art); The Tom-Tom Maker (Lotos Club, New York); Medicine Fires (Montclair Gallery, New Jersey); and Shapanagons, a Chippewa Chief (Detroit Museum of Art).

Connecticut landscape by Henry Hammond Ahl, signed lower right. Born in East Hartford, Connecticut, Henry Ahl was a portraitist, muralist and landscape painter whose work reflected his exposure to the Tonalist style of the Barbizon painters. He studied at the Royal Academy of Munich with Alexander Wagner and Franz Von Stuck, and in Paris with Jean Leon Gerome. He exhibited with the Munich Royal Academy. Image 25"L x 30"W. Displayed in original 24k Taos giltwood frame.

A fine Japanese Ivory netsuke of a Noh Drama character artist signed measuring approx. 2.5 inches 6 cm. tall in excellent condition.