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.

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).

Vintage American Impressionist Oil Painting on panel of a Swan on Lake by Harry Barton. From the estate of the artist with stamp on the verso. Presented framed in a quality gallery frame. Overall size 20ʺW × 1ʺD × 16ʺH Harry Lang Barton, artist and illustrator May 12, 1908 - August 12, 2001 Born in Cleveland and raised in Seattle, Harry Barton spent his life doing the thing he truly loved--painting. Whether in the Pacific Northwest around Seattle, Hood Canal, and Puget Sound, or in the Art Students League, Central Park, and the parks and beaches of Long Island, or in Pennsylvania and New England (he often summered in Rockport, Massachusetts, and Kennebunkport, Maine), Harry's life was art. Harry's career as an artist embraced almost every medium and a great many genres: from charcoal and pen and ink to watercolor, tempura, and oil; from his early work in Seattle as a silk-screen artist and an illustrator for the Sterling Theatres and the telephone company, to his New York work as an illustrator of Western pulp fiction, detective and mystery novels, and movie and fashion advertisements, and finally to his extensive activity as a portrait and landscape painter. In the spring of 1945, he decided to study for the summer at the Art Students League in New York with Frank Reilly, and in the fall of that year he was offered work in New York as an illustrator for Gale Phillips Associates. Moving his family from Seattle, he--along with his wife Pauline and his daughters Joan and Linda--took up residence in Bayside, Queens, and soon moved to the Auburndale area of Flushing, where he had his own freelance studio and where he lived the rest of his life. Over the years his illustrations were featured in The Saturday Evening Post, Argosy, Boy's Life, Down East, and American Artist, as well as on movie billboards for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and in fashion advertising for Lord & Taylor and Gertz department stores. But his main body of work as an illustrator can be found in hard-cover and paperback novels published by such major firms as Dell, Ace Books, Dial Press, and Farrar Straus & Giroux. Harry's paintings and sketches were exhibited in the Philadelphia Museum of Art; in the Salmagundi Club, Lord & Taylor, the Smith Gallery, and Illustration House in New York in the Blue Heron Gallery in Wellfleet, Cape Cod; in the Schaff Gallery in Cincinnati; and in Mast Cove Gallery in Kennebunkport. He received a number of prizes for his work, and his paintings are held in private collections in the United States, Canada, and Europe. Harry was a member of the American Artists Professional League, the Salmagundi Club, and the Art Students League of New York, where he kept on working throughout his life, studying with--in addition to Frank Reilly--Samuel Edmund Oppenheini, William Draper, and Everett Raymond Kintsler. Harry loved the Art Students League and was very proud of being a Life Member. His Saturday jaunts to the League continued right up to the time when the League closed for the summer three months before he died. He was fortunate in being able to do what he enjoyed most to the very end

Oil painting Madonna of the Finch after Raphael. An 18th century old master copy of the great masterpiece by Raphael. Presented in a fine hand carved 24K gold leafed antique frame. Image 25.5"L x 18.5"W. Overall framed size 34 x 28".

A fine antique American landscape painting of a Indian Camp in the Rockies school of Albert Bierstadt oil on canvas measuring 38 x 50.

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.

Original impressionist oil on panel by Paul Hagemans. He was born in Antwerp in 1884, the son of the celebrated landscape painter Maurice Hagemans. He received early artistic instruction from his father but at the age of fifteen enrolled at the Academy of Antwerp. Here he was fortunate enough to be tutored by one of the most important landscape painters of nineteenth century Belgium, Isidore Verheyden as well as receiving classes in figure painting from Herman Richir. Graduating in 1906 he established a studio in Antwerp and commenced painting the portraits, figure pieces, landscapes and still-lifes for which he is now celebrated. His early career was spent painting a number of large murals as well as designing stained-glass windows for both ecclesiastical and secular purposes. Although much in demand during this early part of his career it was not until after WWI that his work was fully appreciated by the public and critics of Belgium. By the early 1920’s he had fully developed his unique style of painting, one that utilized a thick impasto and a ‘Luministe’ color palette. Hagemans was to exhibit his work at all of the major Belgian art institutions as well as private galleries too numerous to list. Measuring 24 x 28 in excellent condition.

A beautiful colorful abstract oil painting by Ken Stabler signed on verso and dated 1961. Presented ready to hang with a thin wood ebony color frame. Canvas size 20 x 24 inches overall 20.5 x 24.5 inches. In excellent vintage condition.

A Beauriful vintage American Impressionist oil painting of a wooded fall landscape by Harry Leslie Hoffman. Oil on artist canvas presented in a quality gallery frame stamped with the artists estate stamp on verso and titled Old Lyme. Oil on canvas board measuring 12 x 16" overall size 18ʺW × 1ʺD × 22ʺH. In excellent vintage condition minor restorations. Artists Biography; Harry Leslie Hoffman was born 16 March 1871 at Cressona, Pennsylvania. He was long associated with the Old Lyme Colony at Old Lyme, Connecticut, and had a reputation for American Impressionism. Hoffman studied at the Art Students League, New York City, Yale Art School, and Academie Julien, Paris. In 1902 he visited Old Lyme and for the rest of his life was associated with the Connecticut art colony. In the 1920s Hoffman accompanied the Smithsonian Institution's naturalist, William Beebe (1877-1962) to British Guiana, Galapagos Islands, and Bermuda, to document the flora and fauna of those regions. During that time he perfected a method of painting undersea vistas. Using a bucket with a glass bottom, he was able to view the aquatic life of coral reefs and shallow tidal pools. Hoffman wed the painter, Beatrice Pope, and they had an active collaboration throughout their lives. He worked in a variety of media, including watercolors, oils, and clay sculpture, and found success throughout his life. In 1915 he won a gold medal at the Panama-Pacific Exposition, San Francisco, and was awarded prizes in Connecticut for his painting and sculpture. In addition to his long painting career, Hoffman was a writer, actor, and musician. He was active in the historic preservation of the Florence Griswold House, the intellectual center of the Old Lyme Colony, as a museum. Hoffman died at Old Lyme, Connecticut, 6 March 1964.

Charles François Daubigny landscape oil on panel signed lower left presented in a quality gold leaf frame. Panel measures 10.5"W x 7.75"H. overall framed size 16.0" W x 13.0" H x 2.5" D A French landscapist of the Barbizon School, Charles-Francois Daubigny was born in 1817 in Paris. In 1835, having received a small scholarship, he went to Italy, where he spent an unproductive year. He earned a living by doing engravings for books and regularly sent to the Salon peaceful landscapes, painted in a highly detailed style, with great respect for nature.

Fredric Schafer classic view of Yosemite from inspiration point. # 7 in the Schafer Catalog. Oil on canvas approx. 26 x 36.

biography

Born in Braunschweig, Germany on Aug. 16, 1839. Schafer may have studied art in Düsseldorf since his paintings resemble those of other Düsseldorf-trained artists; however, he is believed to have been self-taught. He came to the U.S. in 1876 and arrived in San Francisco in 1880. After establishing a studio, he began exhibiting regularly with the local art association and the Mechanics' Institute Fairs. A peripatetic painter, he made regular sketching trips throughout the Northwest including Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, and Alaska. During his last years he painted theatrical scenery in San Francisco and Oakland theaters. Schafer had a home in Oakland from 1880 until his death on July 18, 1927. His landscapes, which often include Indians, were mostly done before 1890 and number about 500. Due to alcoholism, his works are often uneven in quality. Exh: Mechanics' Inst. (SF), 1879-84; Calif. State Fair, 1880, 1894. In: Oakland Museum; Seattle Museum; Monterey Peninsula Museum; Shasta State Historical Monument; Bancroft Library (UC Berkeley); CHS; Crocker Museum; Hoover Inst. (Palo Alto); Museum of Church History & Art (Salt Lake City); Society of Calif. Pioneers; Sonoma Co. Museum (Santa Rosa); Yosemite Museum; Alameda Public Library; Craigdarroch Castle (Victoria, B.C.) Source: Edan Hughes, "Artists in California, 1786-1940"

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 Italian impressionist oil painting of Capri and the bay of Naples and Faraglioni Rocks on canvas signed indistinctly lower right. Presented in a quality contemporary gallery frame. Oil on canvas measuring 16 x 24" overall framed size 22 x 30". In good vintage condition some minor touch ups. A beautiful painting.

A original abstract expressionist oil painting on canvas signed lower left dated 1984 and on verso by Ken Stabler. Canvas size22 x 28" overall framed size 23 x 29 presented in a gallery frame ready to hang. A beautiful detailed painting in soft pastel colors

Beautiful original antique oil painting of a mountain sunset and waterfall by William Keith c.1890 oil on artist panel signed lower left. Presented in a quality contemporary gallery frame 16.5ʺW × 3ʺD × 19ʺH. Good antique condition very fine age craquelure very minor touch ups.. Biography: A native of Scotland, William Keith became in the late 19th and early 20th centuries a leading Northern-California landscape artist. In fact, he was so well known that he is referred to as the "Dean of California painters." His romanticized views of nature found much favor among the culturally aspiring citizens of San Francisco and hung in many foyers and dining rooms in their elegant homes. He completed thousands of paintings and drawings, and many of them were lost in his studio in the fire of 1906. His early works are dramatic mountainscapes in a realistic style adopted from the Dusseldorf School of Germany. The paintings of the last two decades of his life are looser and obviously influenced by his exposure in France to the Barbizon School of landscape painters, who were the first colony of painters to complete paintings "en plein air," or directly from nature rather than in studios. A forerunner of Impressionism, this style also included Tonalism espoused by Barbizon painter Camille Corot [1796-1875] and also apparent in Keith's later works, which are darker, smaller, and much more intimate with emphasis on mood. He married artist Elizabeth Emerson and did watercolor painting with her guidance. In 1868, he became a full-time painter, and that same year was commissioned to paint scenes along the Columbia River including Mount Hood. By August 1869 he had sold enough paintings to finance an extended journey to the East Coast and Europe including Dusseldorf, Germany throughout most of 1870, studying with Albert Flamm. After a visit to Paris, he expressed great admiration for "the modern school of French landscape painting including the Barbizon School. During the winter of 1871-1872, the Keiths lived in Boston where they shared a studio with William Hahn. Keith's work received critical acclaim there and in New York at the National Academy of Design. In 1872, he returned to San Francisco. A friendship with naturalist John Muir exposed Keith to many remote places and in-depth knowledge of nature. During the 1870s, he painted several "epic" eight by ten-foot High Sierra views. He also visited Alaska, and his paintings of Alaska were exhibited upon his return to San Francisco in a show at the Bohemian Club, titled 'Dreams of Alaska'. Keith's Alaska works are significant because they are not close transcriptions of actual scenery, but rather are fantasies inspired by Alaska. They are important as they represent a major break from the documentary tradition in landscape painting of Alaska, as they show an interest in capturing its spirit versus just the topography. In 1891, he shared his studio for several weeks with East Coast Tonalist George Inness, Sr. [1825-1894]. Both men painted in a similar style and were followers of the mystical teachings of Swedenborg. Among the locations where Inness and Keith painted together were Monterey and Yosemite, and it was reported they discussed art from every possible angle. Under Inness' influence, Keith painted more than ever in a Barbizon-influenced vein with many sunset and twilight scenes. By the early 1900s, Keith was likely one of the wealthiest artists in the United States and certainly earned the most money of any California-based artist. People from all over the world sought out his studio where it was said that he would specially select a painting for a client from behind a black velvet curtain, order everyone to be quiet, part the curtains, and set the work on a easel, flooded in light. It was unthinkable not to buy a painting on these occasions. Many of his paintings were shown in New York at the Macbeth Gallery, and in 1898, he had a special exhibition in New York. Keith died April 13, 1911, and his work is in most of the institutions representing major California artists

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.

A beautiful California impressionist landscape oil on board signed lower left Gile, Bold brush work and beautiful palette a true gem by this highly regarded American artist. In excellent condition Measuring 10 x 12.5 framed in a quality hand carved 24k gold frame 17.5 x 20.5 inches overall Appraised by John Moran at $10,000 to 15,000. a fine investment quality painting. Biography

Selden Connor Gile was an important member of the early northern California school of art, he was a founding member of the artist group that called themselves the Society of Six. He was born in Stow, Maine on March 20, 1877, and after attending business college in Maine, Gile moved to California in 1901. He was a payroll master in Lincoln and in Oakland after 1905 for Gladding McBean Company. His art studies were under Perham Nahl, Frank Van Sloun, Spencer Macky, William H. Clapp, and at the California College of Arts and Crafts. Prior to 1914, he painted in the manner of classical California landscape painters such as William Keith. After that time he assumed the palette and style of Impressionism-Fauvism, but remained an "individualist" in his mode of expressing the California scene. During the 1920s, he became the dominant figure in a group of painters known as the Society of Six. The Six were active in the San Francisco Bay area and exhibited regularly at the Oakland Art Gallery. In 1927 Gile moved across the Golden Gate to Tiburon and, shortly thereafter, to a houseboat in Belvedere. He died in San Rafael, California on June 8, 1947.

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.