Catalog: Fine Art: Paintings (89)

An original antique American Impressionist Oil Painting still life of Roses in a Vase by Julian Alden Weir. Oil on canvas signed middle left side presented in a quality contemporary gold gallery frame. Canvas size 11.25" x 15.5" overall framed size 17" x 21". Artist Biography; The youngest of sixteen children of Robert W. Weir, artist and art instructor at West Point Military Academy, J. Alden Weir became one of the leading early American Impressionists. However, his art education began with training in the traditional basic styles and methods from his father. Throughout his career subject matter included landscape, still lifes, and portraits. Although his landscapes increasingly reflected his adoption of Impressionism, his portraits and still lifes remained more realistic and conservative. Weir also completed murals including ones in the Liberal Arts Building of the 1893 Chicago Exposition. They received much acclaim, but mural painting was not a specialty for him. At 18, he enrolled at the National Academy School in New York. From 1873 to 1877, he studied in Europe, part of the time in Paris with Jean Leon Gerome at the Ecole des Beaux Arts. From Gerome, he learned much about classical figure painting and the modeling of forms. Weir also had much admiration for the Old Masters such as Frans Hals and Hans Holbein. Friendship with Jules Bastien-Lepage, French plein-aire painter, encouraged Weir to work directly from nature, which became a modification of influences of the Beaux Arts training he was receiving at the Ecole. It was also the beginning of his path to Impressionism, although when first exposed to this revolutionary style, he was highly disapproving. Of his first encounter with it at an exhibition in Paris, he wrote home to his parents: "I never in my life saw more horrible things. . . .It was worse than the Chamber of Horrors. . . .I was mad for two or three days, not only having paid the money but for the demoralizing effect it must have....."(Gerdts 105) However, increasingly painting by Weir reflected this new style, beginning when he and Bastien-Lepage painted outdoors together, concerning themselves with atmospheric light and everyday subject matter such as peasants working in the fields. Another influence was friendship with James MacNeil Whistler, known for his loosening of style and dark tonalities. In the 1880s Weir focused on still-life painting along with landscape, especially florals in a rather dark palette, which at the time of their creation were counter to his increasing interest in Impressionism. He also was a portrait painter and in 1883, married one of his models, Anna Baker. After 1883, he had a New York studio at 51 West Tenth Street and supported himself and wife with portrait painting and teaching. He became associated with the first generation of American Impressionists that included Childe Hassam and John Twachtman. He and Twachtman traveled in Holland together and also held joint exhibitions including in 1888 at the Society of Painters in Pastel and the next year at the Fifth Avenue Art Galleries. Weir's entries were still life, figure, and scenes from rural Connecticut, with obvious Barbizon School influence of Lepage and realistic tendencies of Gustave, but nothing that one could describe as Impressionism. He was part of the founding of the Society of American Artists, which was a rebellion of European-trained American artists against the constraints of those upholding the standards of the National Academy. Weir was a leading figure in the Society and became increasingly influential in promoting leading-edge French paintings including the collection in America of work by his friend Bastien-Lepage and also of Gustave Courbet and Edouard Manet. However, by 1893, exhibited paintings by Weir were being labelled Impressionistic in what was described by one critic as their "rude style of handling" (Gerdts 106) including their casual attention to detail and atmospheric qualities. Between 1893 and 1897, Weir completed factory landscape paintings that were said to reflect his full commitment to Impressionism. His summer home from 1883 was in Windham, Connecticut, and his factory paintings depicted the thread factories of nearby Willimantic, Connecticut. These realistic, industrial subjects were a departure from pervasive serene, often idealized American landscape painting. Active in art circles, Weir was an organizer of the 1913 Armory Show in New York, which introduced avant-garde European art to the American public, and he was also President of the National Academy of Design from 1915 to 1917. Five years after his death in 1919, a memorial exhibition of his work was held at the Metropolitan Museum in New York.

A very fine original antique Dutch Master School oil painting a portrait of a boy late 19th century. Oil on panel presented in the original antique period frame. Panel measures 5.75" x 8.5" overall framed size 99" x 12"

Close Description Original antique painting of a native American Indian woman braiding her daughters hair. Gouache on paper signed lower right L. C. Perry. Presented in the original antique frame. Born in Boston, Lilla Cabot Perry was a key person, along with Mary Cassatt, in bringing French Impressionism* to the United States from France. "For many years, she lectured, wrote, and encouraged American patronage of the style." (Dunn, 16) She was also the artist most closely involved with the Guild of Boston Artists*, which opened its galleries in 1914 to promote accomplished painters and sculptors. She served on the board as the first secretary and worked hard to cultivate persons for financial backing. Pery had prominent Boston social credentials that included the Cabot and Lowell families. Her father was a distinguished surgeon; and her husband's great uncle, Commodore Matthew Perry, opened Japan to the world in 1853. In 1874, she married Professor Thomas Sergeant Perry, a professor of 18th-century literature, and their home became a gathering place for many Boston intellectuals including Henry James, William Dean Howells, and her brother-in-law, painter John LaFarge. She had elite private schooling and began her art studies with Robert Vonnoh and Dennis Bunker at the Cowles School in Boston. Having first traveled to Europe with her family in 1887, she studied in France privately with Alfred Stevens and at the Julian* and Colarossi* Academies. She also exhibited at the salons and expositions and in 1889, attended Claude Monet's exhibition, "Impressions", which "was a revelation for Perry, who decided to take up residence in Giverny." (Dunn, 16) In 1889, Perry and Cecilia Beaux visited Claude Monet at Giverny*, France, and she was highly intrigued with his painting. He, who never took pupils, did give Perry advice and encouraged her to put down on canvas her first impression, saying that was the truest and most pure expression. Between 1889 and 1909, she and her husband spent ten summer seasons in Giverny, where they lived next door to Monet and became close friends. Perry recorded interviews with Monet, who seemed very fond of her, and the result was Perry's book, published in 1927, Reminiscences of Claude Monet. She also successfully encouraged her wealthy friends to purchase Monet's paintings. In 1889, she returned to Boston with one of Monet's paintings, Etretat, one of the first Impressionist works to appear in that area, and she was surprised that no one was very taken with the painting. Several years later, she gave lectures on Monet to the Boston Art Students Association. In 1898, her husband, accepted a college teaching position in Tokyo, Japan as chair of English Literature, and living there until 1901, she painted the landscape and the people, completing more than eighty paintings. Of this period in her life, art historian William Gerdts wrote: "Lilla Perry was one of the most significant of the American painters who went to Japan in the late 19th century; . . . of all the Americans to work there, Perry's work is the least traditional and is the most indebted to the Impressionist aesthetic, and some of her Japanese scenes are, in color and brushwork, extremely close to Monet." (97) In her later years, she lived in the upper class Back Bay area of Boston, and spent her summers in Hancock, New Hampshire. Lilla was a founder and first Secretary of the Guild of Boston Artists. Much of her painting of that period was for her own enjoyment and focused on activities of upper class women, with her daughters frequently serving as the models. She seldom did any preliminary sketching, and pastel was a favorite medium. In very good all original condition overall size 17ʺW × 2.5ʺD × 15ʺH.

An original vintage original oil painting Portrait of a Young Woman by Guy Cambier. Oil on panel signed lower left presented in a beautiful gallery frame image measuring 8 x 10" overall framed size H 18.5" x W 16.25". In very good vintage condition. Artist Biography: Guy Cambier was born in Uccle-lez-Bruxelles in 1923. He was a painter of genre scenes, figures, portraits and still life paintings. He was self taught and studied the techniques and works of those artists he emulated, Corot and Watteau. Cambier at the age of 19 started to exhibit in 1942, first in Belgium and afterwards in France at the Cote d’Azur as well as in the United States and in Paris at the Salon des Peintres Temoins de leur Temps. In 1957, he received the Parisian award, “Le Prix de la Jeune Peintre." He moved to the South of France in 1950 and resided in Grasse, where he spent most of the rest of his life. Cambier became a favorite portrait artist of several celebrities and painted such dignitaries as Princess Grace of Monaco, Winston Churchill, Ingrid Bergman and Edward G Robinson. His paintings were acquired by the French gover

A Beautiful early California impressionist oil painting of the Santa Clara Valley San Jose and Mt. Hamilton in the distance. By Charles Henry Harmon oil on canvas signed lower right and dated 1914. A panoramic painting with California oak trees and lupine and poppy wild flowers in the fore ground looking out the Mt. Hamilton and the Bay area hills in the distance. Canvas measures 12" x 40" overall framed size 18 x 46". A wonderful early painting of what is now considered silicon valley. Charles Henry Harmon Born: 1859 - Mansfield, Ohio Died: 1936 - San Jose, California Born in Mansfield, Ohio, Charles Henry Harmon moved to San Jose, California as a youngster in 1874. At a young age, he was apprenticed to Louis Lussier, a local portrait painter. He also worked in a photography studio retouching negatives. He had no formal art training but loved to visit galleries in San Francisco and began painting in the Santa Clara Valley. He also went to many other remote areas along the Monterey Coast and the Sierra Nevada Mountains. By the turn of the century, Gumps department store of San Francisco handled his work exclusively, and his reputation was well established. In 1905, he settled a studio in Denver, and began commissions for the Santa Fe Railroad, Western Pacific and Colorado Midlands to paint scenes along their route. He spent his later years in San Jose, California where he died. Exhibition venues include Mark Hopkins Institute, 1897-98; Gump's (San Francisco), 1899; California State Fair, 1902; Berkeley League of Fine Art; California Artists, Golden Gate Park Museum, 1915; Stanford Art Gallery, 1923; Rosicrucian Art Gallery, 1949; and Triton Museum, 1971 (retrospectives). Collections: San Jose Civic Auditorium; Clarke Museum (Eureka); CSL; Denver Public Library; Santa Fe Railway. Source: Edan Hughes, Artists in California, 1786-1940.

A Beautiful original vintage 1939 oil painting "Bathing Horses" attributed to Russian artist Nikolai Petrovich Bogdanov-Belsky in 1939. Oil on canvas signed and dated lower right. Presented in a quality contemporary gallery frame canvas size 20” x 23.5” overall framed size 23 3/4 x 29 1/4. Artist Biography: Nikolay Petrovich Bogdanov-Belsky was a Russian painter. He was born in the village of Shitiki in Smolensk Governorate in 1868. He studied art at the Semyon Rachinsky fine art school, icon-painting at the Troitse-Sergiyeva Lavra in 1883, modern painting at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture in 1884 to 1889, and at the Imperial Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg from 1894 to 1895. He worked and studied in private studios in Paris in the late 1890s. Bogdanov-Belsky was active in St. Petersburg. After 1921, he worked exclusively in Riga, Latvia. He became a member of several prominent societies in including the Peredvizhniki from 1895, and the Arkhip Kuindzhi Society from 1909 (of which he was a founding member and chairman from 1913 to 1918). Bogdanov-Belsky painted mostly genre paintings, especially of the education of peasant children, portraits, and impressionistic landscapes studies. He became pedagogue and academician in 1903. He was an active Member of the Academy of Arts in 1914. Bogdanov-Belsky died in 1945 in Berlin. He was a member of the Russian Fraternitas Arctica in Riga.

An original vintage circa 1930 oil painting a portrait of the Sailing Ship "The Canton Packet" by Harry Hambro Howe. Oil on canvas measuring 16 x 20" signed lower right titled and inscribed on the verso information about the ship. Presented in the original antique frame. Written on verso: "A famous ship which preceded the true clipper ships she was built at Boston in 1841 was commanded by Captain John Land and proved very fast. Her success set the builders New York, Boston and Portsmouth to turning out clipper ships. She carried cannons for protection against pirates". Artist Biography The son of Captain T Bailey Howe, master of a Nantucket whaler and painter, Harry Howe became an oil painter of marine and landscape subjects. He was born in Boston and remained based there most of his life, although he traveled widely. He took art lessons from his father. One of his favorite subjects was clipper ships such as his "John Bertram" and "Witchcraft", which were built respectively in Medford, Massachusetts in 1851 and Boston in 1850. This subject was popular in the East among persons who appreciated their importance to the history of that city. Among his landscape subjects were Mount Chocorua in New Hampshire, Gloucester in Massachusetts, Clearwater in Florida, and the Upper Kennebec River in Maine. Exhibition cities included Houston, Texas in 1940 at the Rose Room of the Rice Hotel. According to The Houston Chronicle review of that show, February 4, 1940: "Harry Howe . . .would rather paint boats than anything. . . he studied in Maine and New Hampshire" . . . His landscapes are mostly of the Maine country and scenes of the Presidential Range, Mounts Monroe, Washington, Adams, Baldface and Chocorua". In that same review, the artist was quoted as saying: "When my father taught my brother and me to paint, the darker, heavier paints were the vogue of the day. I always wanted to get into the lighter tones, and when I began to express my own ideas rather than those of my father, I developed brighter, more cheerful scenes. Today economics influences art. The modern trend of building has reduced the size of rooms, therefore, the heavy dark paintings which had to be viewed from a distance to be appreciated are becoming passe. . .Such pictures are only appropriate for museums exhibits, where there is plenty of room." When asked for an opinion on modern art, Mr. Howe's only response was that if he "were hit real hard on the head with a hammer, he might be able to produce something in the abstract, but so long as he remained normal, he just couldn't see it."

A beautiful vintage set of three Chinese paintings on silk Muses of Music with Deer and Tiger with musical instruments. Presented beautifully framed and matted. Each measuring 16.5" W x 26.5" H x 0.75" D. Each artist signed with exquisite details.

A beautiful original antique oil painting of a young woman with flowers by Emile Eisman-Semenowsky Paris circa 1900. Oil on wood panel signed lower left and noted Paris. Presented in the original antique ornate picture frame with name plaque on center bottom. Panel measures 9.5" x 13" overall framed size 21.0" W x 24.5" H x 3.0" D. Emile Eisman-Semenowsky was born in Poland and was of Jewish descent. Little is known about his childhood and education. In the 1880s and 1890s, he spent several years in Paris, where he created the majority of his oeuvre. Semenowsky was influenced by oriental subjects, a widespread phenomenon in French 19th century art. His favorite subjects were depictions of women in oriental and antique-style costumes and genre scenes. His works were very popular among Parisian bourgeoisie, and many of his works were purchased by American collectors.

An original vintage circa 1950 oil painting of a Colorado Rocky Mountain Landsape of Aspen trees titled "Flaming Autumn" in Estes Park. Oil on 24" x 30" panel signed lower left Stirling and titled on verso. Presented in a quality contemporary gallery frame overall size 30.5" x 36.5". David Stirling was born in 1887 in Corydon, Iowa to a pioneering family, and his father was a newspaper publisher. He died in Longmont, Colorado after a short illness in 1971 and was buried there in a family plot. There were 8 children in the family, of which he was the youngest, being 7 years younger than the next youngest son, and he was the first of the family to graduate from high school. He went on to the Cummings Art School in Des Moines, Iowa in 1906-07, and also attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Chicago in 1908-09. After traveling to the North West where his older brother had a logging business, in which he worked, he discovered that he wasn't too interested in that kind of work. He passed through Estes Park, Colorado on this trip in 1916. He married Kitty Wolf in Corydon, and in 1918 they moved to Estes Park for the summer months, and this became a standard trek that lasted for many years. He alternated his time between Corydon in the winter, where he maintained a studio over the local bank, and Estes Park, where his studio was variously inside the Rocky Mountain National Park and on the main street. He painted the Rocky Mountain National Park and environs as well as other parts of the country but was most well known for his colorful aspen paintings. He worked exclusively in oils and painted on board for the most part. In the 1920s the Stirlings lived in Denver and Dave worked for the well known Meininger's Art Materials store there. While working there he could afford canvas and did produce a number of pieces on canvas during that time. In 1919 in the Rocky Mountain National Park, they built a studio called "Bugscuffle Ranch" along with an adjacent home where they lived in the summers. This structure was replaced in 1930 with the gallery and studio that remained until a few years after Dave's death. He became well known for his "cultural lectures on art" which were given in the gallery on a daily basis, and were attended by thousands of visitors. His line was, "Everyone goes away smarter than when they stumbled into the joint". He was also fond of quoting Will Rogers, on his first exposure to abstract art, when he said, "When you ain't nothing else you're an artist--it's one thing you can claim to be and no one can prove you ain't." Dave was an author as well and wrote several books of stories, myths and lies about the mountain west. His pen name was Pye-Eyed Pete Dave's wife contracted cancer, and he remained her sole care giver until her death. His daughter Hattie later also had cancer and died, and his son who was diabetic died on the dance floor of the Riverside Ballroom in Estes Park. He is survived by 4 grandchildren and 1 great grandchild (to date). His eldest grandson lives and works in Estes Park. Dave was famous as "The Youngest of the Old Masters", a title given him in an article, which he was quick to adopt. He painted the Rocky Mountain National Park and environs as well as other parts of the country but was most well known for his colorful aspen paintings.

Original American oil painting portrait of a western horse by John Jones 2004. Oil on canvas signed lower left paint in grasaile gray tones measuring 16" x 20" presented in a quality gallery frame overall size 22" x 26". A very fine decorative painting. Artist Biography. John Jones born at Hobbs, New Mexico, in 1940. Hobbs was a fairly new oil boom town, moving into the modern world when World War II came along. My folks were raised in Oklahoma and Texas, and their folks were part of the homesteading and settling, and farming and ranching of the West. Some of my earliest memories are of making my toys out of clay. Then drawing all the time on what ever kind of paper I could get. I got hold of a roll of butcher paper when I was about 9, and remember drawing whole scenes right down the roll laid out on a cement floor. I remember making a lot of my own toys, whittling and carving them out of wood. I was sort of in different fantasy worlds, in that I made a lot of model airplanes and dressed in my western chaps and hat at the same time. And naturally I did adventure comic strips, especially when we were fighting the commies in Korea. The subject matter in my art was always varied, but the horse was always prominent. I 'dinked' with drawing and painting part time, as I discovered girls and cars, and sports and didn't know that a person could make a living doing artwork. After a stint in the Navy, I took a job with the Forest Service about 1970, and discovered Montana. I went in some Art Galleries in Kalispell, Montana, and saw that some guys were selling paintings. I said, "Heck, I can do that." So, I started doing paintings to sell, and started sculpting in wax. That started an adventure in Art, that continues today I learn from other Artists, books, TV shows, and anywhere that has something of interest. Mostly, I learn from trial and error. I think that masterpieces can be done in a closet, if that is the only space you have. But, I prefer to have a nice studio. I sometimes work on a series of paintings. Right now I am living in Lincoln, Nebraska, with my true Love, and have a nice studio. As I get a little older, I am having to narrow down my subject matter. I like the Old West Subjects best of all, but we aren't that far removed from the "Old West". So, I imagine that I will continue to do a mixture of old and new west, and anything with horses. I plan to do a series on the early longhorn cattle drives, and that may happen, if I can keep from straying too far. A few years ago, I went to Montana to do a series on the Longhorn, and wound up doing buffalo hunts and indians attacking stagecoaches. But, most everyone up there wanted me to do packer scenes, so I did a lot of packers and cowboys in slickers.

Beautiful impressionist landscape of a shepherd and his dog and sheep in a landscape with trees. Bold impressionist brush strokes with a warm subdued palette. Oil on panel signed indistinctly lower right. Panel measuring 13" x 16" presented framed in a fine contemporary gallery frame overall size 18.5" x 21.5".

A beautiful antique original American tonalist landscape painting. Oil on academy panel circa 1900 unsigned presented in the original carved gilt wood frame. Measuring overall 17.5" W x 14.5" H x 1.5" the panel measures 9" x 12".

A beautiful antique oil painting of a Girl in a bonnet Holding a Flower Basket. Early 19th century English oil on canvas in original antique frame. Overall size 32ʺW × 2ʺD × 41ʺH in good antique condition minor imperfections commensurate of age.

An original antique monotype oil on paper of a path through a forest by Joseph Henry Sharp. Signed lower right presented in a vintage period frame. Measuring overall size 17.5" x 22.5". Biography, Born in Bridgeport, OH on Sept. 27, 1859, Joseph Henry Sharp was raised in Ironton and Cincinnati. He began art studies at the Cincinnati Art Academy at age 14. In 1882 he was a pupil of Charles Verlat in Antwerp; the following year he made his first trip to the West to sketch the Indian tribes of New Mexico, California, and the Columbia River. In 1886 he again was in Europe accompanied by Frank Duveneck. While in Munich, he was a pupil of Karl Marr and had further study with Jean Paul Laurens and Benjamin Constant in Paris. Sharp taught at the Cincinnati Art Academy from 1892 until 1902, and then resigned to devote full time to painting. Summers were spent in Montana at Crow Agency in a cabin and studio at the foot of the Custer Battlefield. As well as a home in Pasadena, he also had a studio in Taos, NM which was opposite Kit Carson's old home. During the 1930s he made several painting trips to Hawaii. Sharp died in Pasadena, CA on Aug. 29, 1953. Eleven of his paintings of famous Indians were purchased by the U.S. Government in 1900 and now hang in the Smithsonian Institution. A collection of 80 Indian portraits and pictures were purchased by Phoebe Hearst in 1902 for UC Berkeley. Memberships: Cincinnati Art Club; Prairie Printmakers Club of Los Angeles; Salmagundi Club; American Fine Art Association; Southwest Society of Artists; Taos Society of Artists; California Art Club. Exhibitions: Pan-American Expo (Buffalo), 1901 (silver medal); Cincinnati Art Club, 1901 (1st prize); Panama-California Expo (San Diego), 1915 (gold medal); Southwest Expo (Long Beach), 1928; California Artists, Pasadena Art Institute 1930 (1st prize). Museum Collections: Houston Museum; Orange Co. (CA) Museum; Butler Museum (Youngstown, OH); Southwest Museum (LA); Museum of NM (Santa Fe); Cincinnati Museum; Herron Art Inst. (Indianapolis).

A original vintage oil painting of a Beautiful Girl with Flowers oil on canvas panel by Adrian Lamb. Signed lower left and presented in a contemporary gallery frame. The artist panel measures 8 x 10" overall framed size 15 x 18". Adrian Lamb (1901-1988) was born in New York City, where in the mid-1920s he studied at the Art Students League under Frank Vincent DuMond and George Bridgman. After attending the Académie Julien in Paris in 1929, he went on to travel and work in England, France, Spain, Germany, Italy, Greece, and Mexico as he developed his talent as a portrait painter. He painted many prominent subjects, including David Rockefeller, John J. McCloy, Joseph P. Kennedy, and Bernard. He executed the Gordon Gray portrait for the Secretarial Portrait Gallery at the Pentagon, Washington, D.C. Lamb's works are found in many collections, including the State Department, and the National Gallery of Art, The White House, the Smithsonian Institution, the U.S. Naval Academy, Harvard University, and the Supreme Court of the United States. His portrait of Maj. Gen. J. Franklin Bell is reproduced from the Army Art Collection. For much of his life, Lamb resided in Connecticut and maintained a studio in Manhattan.

Original vintage modernist abstract painting of books by Barry Nemett oil on canvas signed lower right and dated 1971. Presented in a natural oak wood frame. Measures 19ʺW × 1.5ʺD × 49ʺH in good condition minor touch ups. Biography: Barry Nemett, Chair of the Painting Department at Maryland Institute College of Art, studied at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, received his BFA at Pratt Institute and his MFA at Yale University. His awards include The Hugh Fraser Foundation, Ford Foundation Grant, MICA Trustee Grant for Excellence in Teaching, Maryland State Arts Council Individual Fellowship Grant, ITT International Travel Fellowship/Fulbright Hays Grant, Ely Harwood Schless Award for Excellence in Drawing and Painting at Yale University, Faculty Enrichment Grant, and the Berkeley T. Rulon Miller Award. Prof. Nemett has curated numerous traveling exhibitions, and has exhibited his own work at the National Academy Museum, Museum of Art, Rochefort-en-Terre, France, Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art, Japan, Baltimore Museum of Art, Delaware Museum of Art, Institute of International Education, Washington County Museum of Art, Andre Zarre Gallery, Atlanta College of Art, Goucher College, Indiana University, Loyola College, New Jersey State Museum, University of North Carolina, Pratt Institute, St. John's University, University of Maryland, University of New Hampshire, University of Pennsylvania, Wellesley College, College of William and Mary, and Yale University.

An original Tom Christopher New York painting acrylic on canvas titled "Between the Clock and the Messenger" measuring 48" by 48.5" signed on verso. This painting has been exhibited at Galerie Tamenaga in Paris France with label on stretcher bar.

TOM CHRISTOPHER BIOGRAPHY

"Monet had his water lilies and Tom Christopher has Times Square." --The New Yorker Tom Christopher is a classically trained draughtsman. He received a BFA from the Art Center College in Los Angeles, studying with the legendary Disney animator Ward Kimball and the painter Lorser Fietelson. He then worked for Peterson Publishing drawing automobiles for Motor Trend Magazine, drawing portraits at Disneyland and creating rock posters for CBS Records. After moving to New York in 1981 he went on drawing assignments with Meredith Vieira and John Stossel covering courtroom drama for CBS News in downtown Manhattan. This experience in part formed the foundation for a narrative and journalistic approach to his art. Although born in Hollywood, and steeped in the LA hot rod / skateboard culture, he became obsessed with painting household objects and tools on a Brobdingnagian scale, exhibiting in galleries in the East Village. He would always carry a sketchbook, endlessly drawing and recording everything from subways to skyscrapers. In 1987, NYC was a dark city, crime ridden and gripped by fear. But, as he put it: "One day walking around Times Square, the clouds cleared and I had an epiphany of sorts. The City exploded in a blaze of expressionistic colors with the brilliant laser white light sculpting the buildings, cabs, messengers and scurrying figures. At once I realized my mission; try and capture the narrative, the beauty and the magnetic pull of the epicenter of this modern urban city." Now his subject matter is largely focused on the streets of New York. But calling him a New York painter would be as much a mistake as it would be to dismiss Kirchner as a Berlin cityscene painter. They have both used the subject of the city as a launching pad to explore the many aspects of man's struggle in an urban environment. Indeed, this theme is universal as his paintings have found a following in Europe, especially Paris, Germany and Tokyo. Most of the work is painted using small batch, handmade acrylic paint. Pencil lines from the initial exploratory sketch stage often remain on the white canvass. These raw areas give the painting both breathing room and serve as a reminder of the process. His artistic vocabulary ranges from lines that loop and skit around, to delicate watercolor washes, heavy brushwork to thick impasto with swirls and drips of color. Working with 'at risk' kids he brought these expressionistic colors and large brushwork to the Roseland Ballroom on 53rd St creating the city's largest outdoor mural at 225 by 65 ft. "I think it's interesting to tell a story about people in the city and not necessarily be concerned about what the finished product will look like. The last thing an artist should do is to set out to try and make 'art'. I find that if you have something to say, just paint, most of the time it will find it's own way." Says Mr. Christopher. He was trained in an approach that relies on visual observation and blocking out all else. Actually, he was trained to not listen as it would become too distracting. This is now changing in new works with overheard conversations and fragments of speech finding their way into the artwork as titles of the paintings create a continually evolving narrative thread. "Tom Christopher has become to American painting what Count Basie or Duke Ellington became to American popular music, not completely jazz but owning much to Charlie Parker and Charles Mingus." Written by Dr. Louis Zona, Director and Chief Curator, The Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown Ohio.