Catalog: Sold Items: Fine Art (179)

A fine antique portrait of a Horse in a stable with saddle. Oil on canvas signed lower left in original birds eye maple frame. Measuring approx. 26 x 34 inches a fine decorative original painting.

Amazing original watercolor by Stan Glover of Bowen's Wharf Newport Rhode Island painted with incredible detailed realism. Signed on verso and dated 1980 with original bill of sale from NY gallery. Image measuring 15" x 20" Matted size 20" x 25". In excellent condition unframed.

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.

A charming oil on copper panel of young street boys playing dice with a dog and another eating scraps. Measuring 8x10 inches framed in a quality antique frame 13 x 14 overall size. A charming painting would enhance any collection.

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".

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.

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 Dutch old master style antique watercolor and ink painting of wrestlers signed lower righ.t Langelaan Dr J.J. Langelaan (1851-1919) Amsterdam Holland studied at the Royal Academy Amsterdam Netherlands. Image 9"L x 7"W. Framed overall size 14.5" L x 12.5" W.

Vintage abstract painting of boats in a harbor by award winning artist Audrey Salkind. Salkind graduated from the Moore College of Art and Design in Philladelphia and continued her studies in Maryland as well. She has exhibited extensively throughout the Mid Atlantic and NY.

James E. Stuart Yosemite Valley indian camp with El Capitan and Bridal veil falls A fine original oil painting on canvas 20 x 24 inches painted 1914 by in excellent all original condition in a quality gallery frame. James Everett Stuart 1852 - 1941 Eight year old James Everett Stuart arrived in California with his parents in 1860. He attended school in San Francisco and studied art with Thomas Hill and William Keith. His early work reflected the mood and mystery of the French Barbizon school. He painted plein air throughout the west and Alaska. He held a special fascination with Yellowstone. Prior to his death at age 88, he maintained a studio in San Francisco near Union Square for nearly thirty years. He was a member of the Bohemian Club, and many of his paintings were hung on the walls of fellow member's homes. His work also adorned the walls of the White House. His work has been exhibited by the historical societies of Oregon, Washington, and Montana.

A beautiful still life painting of fruit and a copper pot oil on board signed lower right and noted Southwest art association. In excellent condition measuring 17 x 25 inches framed size 22 x 30 inches. A beautiful original painting would make a fine decorative piece for any interior.

Biography

Quince Rudolph Galloway was born on August 16, 1912 in Alma, Arkansas. He was known for his realist, and sometimes impressionist, landscape, portrait and still life works. Galloway attended college in Arkansas. He moved to Oakland, California in 1931 where he studied art at the Fox-Morgan School. Soon after his move to Oakland he married fellow artist Janice Webster and settled in nearby San Leandro. For several years he studied in the San Leandro area with Robert Rischell and Van Waldron. Working in pastels, oils, acrylics, and watercolors he often painted realistic images of the landscape using strong light and shadows. Galloway was a member of the Oakland Art Association, San Leandro Art Association, and the Southwestern Art Association. He died in Oakland, California on September 21, 2003.

A fine original watercolor by James David Smillie of a street view in Nice France signed lower right and titled and dated Nice Feb. 1893 lower left. On the reverse is an exhibit label from a exhibit at the American Watercolor Society. A fine example of this important American Artist. Measuring approx 8 x 12 image and framed in a fine gold leafed period frame overall 16 x 20. Provenance Hirschel Adler Gallery New York

Biography

A native of New York and the son of an engraver, James David Smillie earned his early reputation for his etching skills but later for watercolor landscapes. He began etching at age 8, learning from his father, James Smillie (1807-1885). At age 14, he did a set of plates illustrating John Milton's epic poem, Paradise Lost. He had a job as a bank note engraver, and then he and his father had a business, collaborating as engravers with a specialty of bank-notes. They also did the engravings for the 1857 Mexican Boundary Survey Report. James David Smillie helped organize the New York Etching Club, and he was the U.S. representative to supply examples of American etchers' work to the Painters-Etchers Society of London. Although he continued working with etching, drypoint, aquatint and lithography, in 1865, he began doing landscape painting and was especially interested in mountain scenery. Smillie traveled in California in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, in Colorado in the Rocky Mountains, and in the eastern United States in the Catskills and Adirondacks. From these trips he did illustrations that were published in 1872 in the magazine Picturesque America. In 1881, Smillie got married, and the couple had two sons. By 1884, he was in France, and spent much time there doing prints of landscapes, figures, portraits and cityscapes. Between 1888 and 1896, he produced a set of drypoint floral still-life prints. James David Smillie founded the American Watercolor Society and served as president and treasurer. He also taught classes at the National Academy of Design in 1868 and from 1894 to 1903.

English 19th century oil painting portrait of a Thoroughbred race horse in a paddock. Oil on canvas signed and dated indistinctly lower left. A fine quality painting measuring approx. 24x30 inches overall and framed in a quality contemporary gallery frame. The condition is excellent the canvas has been relined and there is some areas of in painting. A beautiful painting and a great decorative equestrian artwork.

Serge Ivanhoff Ink and watercolor figural studies signed and and noted Paris. image 8"x10.5" framed 17" x 19". Serge Petrovitch Ivanoff was born in Moscow in 1893 and showed artistic ability from a young age. On the family’s move to St. Petersburg, he took the opportunity to further his artistic studies by enrolling at the Imperial Academy of Arts in 1917, at the height of the Russian Revolution. The turmoil of the aftermath of these events prompted Serge Ivanoff, with his wife and two young children, to move permanently to Paris in 1922. A talented portraitist, he quickly established himself in Paris and soon had the celebrities of the day commissioning him to paint their portraits, including Pope Pius XI, the dancer and choreographer Serge Lifar, poet Paul Valery, composer Arthur Honegger, and many notable Russian exiles now making their home in Paris. Between 1930 and 1950, he also regularly provided illustrations for the French journal L’Illustration, and painted a series of luminous and lyrical nudes. In 1950 Serge Ivanoff moved to the U.S.A., again specialising in portraiture, including Eleanor Roosevelt and the diplomat Jefferson Caffery amongst his subjects. However, by the 1960s he had returned to Paris where he continued to exhibit regularly at the Salon des Indépendants, receiving a Gold Medal from the Minister of Cultural Affairs, André Malraux, in 1966. Serge Ivanoff died in Paris in 1983.

A beautiful abstract composition oil on paper by Harold Christopher Davies singed lower center and on reverse. a well listed California modernist Provenance is from the estate of the artist and Hoover Gallery of San Francisco. Measuring approx. 24 x 20 inchesA fine example of this artists work. Harold Christopher Davies was a painter with whom art came first and commercialism last. Though he was a remarkably passionate and somewhat prolific artist, he resisted gallery representation until the age of eighty-four, just one year before his death. Davies began his formal art education at the age of fourteen, enrolling in the Corcoran Art Institute in Washington, D.C. Later he continued his studies at the San Francisco Institute of Art. An abstract expressionist, his style was directly influenced by Cezanne, Gorky and de Kooning. Being a man of intense dedication to his art, he kept extensive notebooks and sketchbooks in which he developed his own artistic and aesthetic philosophy, often through his candid critiques of other artist’s works. Painting, for Davies, was not a means of earning his living. Though he exhibited frequently at various local colleges and museums, he never sought public recognition of his talent. He believed fame compromised the integrity of an artist’s work. Davies earned his living as a businessman, eventually owning and operating his own chemical company. He lived a life of balancing his monetary obligations with the true love of his life: painting. After living in a variety of cities around the United States, Davies moved to Inverness, California in 1969 where he was free to devote all his time to his art. MEMBER: Oakland Art League San Francisco Art Association Huntsville (Ala.) Art Association EXHIBITED: San Francisco Art Association, 1921-1931 Oakland Art Gallery, 1931 Birmingham Museum, 1951 Southampton Museum, 1959 University of Long Island Museum, 1964 Parrish Art Museum, 1964, 1966, 1967 Hoover Gallery (San Francisco), 1975 Fresno Art Center, 1976 (Solo) Haggin Museum 1982 Huntsville Museum, 1982

A beautiful impressionist painting of a view from the Schuylhill river docks in Philadelphia Pa, showing ships moored in the foreground and factories in the background. Oil on board circa 1920 oil signed lower right. This painting just recently discovered is directly from a Great Grandfather who was a friend of Wagner and an artist himself the two shared a studio. Measuring 8x10 inches framed in a contemporary gallery frame. A great example of this artists work a fine addition to any collection.

Biography

Fred Wagner was born in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania in 1864. He received a scholarship to study art at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts under Thomas Eakins and in 1884 was made chief Demonstrator of Anatomy there. In 1885, Wagner left the Academy to make a painting tour of San Antonio, Texas, and then went on to Los Angeles, California, where he painted a number of landscapes and portraits. He returned to Philadelphia as an illustrator for the Philadelphia Press until 1902, and then moved to Norristown, Pennsylvania to paint full time. In 1912, Wagner opened a Philadelphia studio and taught classes in outdoor painting at Addingham, and later, at the Pennsylvania Academy's summer school in Chester Springs. His reputation grew, and he took on additional classes at his studio in the Fuller Building. In 1913, Wagner exhibited in the now famous Armory Show in New York City. He exhibited frequently at the Pennsylvania Academy's annual exhibitions, and in 1914, was awarded the Fellowship Prize. He was awarded Honorable Mentions from the Pittsburgh International, the Philadelphia Art Club, and the Carnegie Institute in 1922. His paintings are in the collections of the Cleveland Museum; St. Louis Museum, MO; Fort Wayne Museum, IN; Kalamazoo Museum, MI; Rochester Museum, NY; Worcester Art Museum, MA, and the Reading Museum, PA. Fred Wagner died in Philadelphia in 1940.

A beautiful modernist composition oil on paper by Harold Christopher Davies a well listed California modernist The Provenance is from the estate of the artist and Hoover Gallery of San Francisco. Measuring approx. 12 x 15 inchesA fine example of this artists work. Harold Christopher Davies was a painter with whom art came first and commercialism last. Though he was a remarkably passionate and somewhat prolific artist, he resisted gallery representation until the age of eighty-four, just one year before his death. Davies began his formal art education at the age of fourteen, enrolling in the Corcoran Art Institute in Washington, D.C. Later he continued his studies at the San Francisco Institute of Art. An abstract expressionist, his style was directly influenced by Cezanne, Gorky and de Kooning. Being a man of intense dedication to his art, he kept extensive notebooks and sketchbooks in which he developed his own artistic and aesthetic philosophy, often through his candid critiques of other artist’s works. Painting, for Davies, was not a means of earning his living. Though he exhibited frequently at various local colleges and museums, he never sought public recognition of his talent. He believed fame compromised the integrity of an artist’s work. Davies earned his living as a businessman, eventually owning and operating his own chemical company. He lived a life of balancing his monetary obligations with the true love of his life: painting. After living in a variety of cities around the United States, Davies moved to Inverness, California in 1969 where he was free to devote all his time to his art. MEMBER: Oakland Art League San Francisco Art Association Huntsville (Ala.) Art Association EXHIBITED: San Francisco Art Association, 1921-1931 Oakland Art Gallery, 1931 Birmingham Museum, 1951 Southampton Museum, 1959 University of Long Island Museum, 1964 Parrish Art Museum, 1964, 1966, 1967 Hoover Gallery (San Francisco), 1975 Fresno Art Center, 1976 (Solo) Haggin Museum 1982 Huntsville Museum, 1982

A original oil painting of the The Copenhagen (København) was a Danish sailtraining vessel rigged as a five-masted steel auxiliary barque(1921–1929). It was, according to Alan Villiers, the largest and finest sailing vessel in the world at the time it vanished. Oil on canvas signed lower right indistinctly and titled measuring 17 X 25 image framed size approx. 23 X 31. In good antique condition some age cracking. A nice historical decorative painting.