Catalog: Sold Items: Fine Art (179)

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

William Keith California Landscap at evening sunset through California Oaks with cows at a distant watering hole. A dramatic moody classic Keith painting oil on canvas signed lower right William Keith and lower left SF for San Francisco. Measuring 18x14 inches framed in a modern gold leaf gallery frame 26x32 inches overall. A fine example of this important early California and American painter such an influential artist and teacher he is sometimes referred to the Dean of California Artists. Works by Keith have sold for as much as $121,000 at auction.

Artist Biography.

Brought to New York City in 1850, William Keith was apprenticed to a wood engraver in 1856 working for "Harper’s" magazine. In 1858 (or 1859) he visited California for "Harper’s" and then after a trip to Great Britain, settled in California as an engraver in 1862. He began exhibiting paintings in 1864 in San Francisco where he opened his studio, after having been taught painting by his wife. The Northern Pacific Railroad commissioned him to do landscape paintings along its route about 1868. In 1869-70 he studied in Dusseldorf, Germany; in 1871-72, he shared a studio in Boston with William Hahn; and in 1872, he returned to California. A nature lover, he found there was “scarcely a mountain in three-fourths of California where he had not kept vigil for days as a time, studying every detail of color, flower, rock, forge, shadow, and sunshine.” Keith became Thomas Hill’s rival in monumental landscapes, saying, “I’d be satisfied if I could reach the power and success of Tom Hill.” When George Inness visited California in 1890, he worked in Keith’s studio for many weeks, and they made sketching trips together. The result for Keith was an influenced style reflecting the subjective rather than the spectacular. His "Majesty of the Oaks" painting sold at auction in New York City in 1903 for $2,300., and about the same time "Glory of the Heaven" sold at auction in San Francisco for $12,000. Of medium height with unruly curly hair, Keith had his studio next to the live oaks on the Berkeley campus where it was the center of the university-oriented California culture. The 1906 earthquake and fire destroyed 2,000 of Keith’s works.

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 beautiful antique still life oil painting on canvas of wine grapes. Measuring Approximately 14 X 16 overall size. 21 X 23 INCHES. framed in a beautiful stenciled Italian frame. A nice decorative painting.

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

A Beautiful original oil painting Robert William Wood of a Texas landscape with bluebonnet flowers and old homestead and oak trees. Oil on canvas measuring approx. 25x30 inches. Condition is excellent the canvas has been relined due to age cracking overall a fine example of this artists work ready to hang. Biography A painter of realistic landscapes reflecting a vanishing wilderness in America, Robert Wood (not to be confused with Robert E. Wood) is reportedly one of the most mass-produced artists in the United States. His painting became so popular he was unable to meet all of the demands, and many of his works were reproduced in lithographs and mass distributed as prints, place mats, and wall murals by companies including Sears, Roebuck. He was born in Sandgate, Kent on the south coast of England near Dover, the son of W.L. Wood, a famous home and church painter who recognized and supported his son's talent. In fact, he forced his son to paint by keeping him inside to paint rather than playing with his friends. At age 12, Wood entered the South Kensington School of Art. As a youth, he came to the United States in 1910, having served in the Royal Army, and he never returned to England. He traveled extensively all over the United States, especially in the West, often in freight cars, and also painted in Mexico and Canada. His itinerant existence took him to Illinois where he worked as a farmhand, to Pensacola, Florida where he married, briefly in Ohio, Seattle, Washington, and Portland, Oregon. In 1912, he was in Los Angeles, and In the late 1920s and early 1930s, in San Antonio, Texas, where he lived and in 1928 exhibited in the "Texas Wildflower Competition." From San Antonio, he gained a national reputation for his strong colored, dramatic paintings. Some of that prestige has been credited to his asssociation with Jose Arpa, prominent Texas artist. Wood also gave art lessons, and one of his students was Porfirio Salinas. During this period, Wood sometimes signed his paintings G. Day or Trebor, which is Robert spelled backwards. In 1941 he went to California and painted numerous desert and mountain landscapes and coastal scenes. He lived in Carmel for seven years, and then moved to Woodstock, New York, but he soon returned to California, settling first in Laguna Beach, then San Diego, and finally in the High Sierras, where he and his wife built a home and studio near Bishop and lived until his death in 1979.

Mediterranean Fishing Boats, by Charles Levier (1920-2003). Signed lower right and titled on verso. For over 40 years, Levier enjoyed an important position as an artist with countless exhibitions around the world. Image, 24"L x 30"W.

A fine impressionist painting of a soccer game goal save initialed lower right A.P. Oil on canvas measuring Approx. 36 x 40 in excellent condition framed in a quality gilt frame. Provenance: the estate of the artist. Biography SIMONPIETRI, Alfred H. (1916-2001). Painter. Born in Puerto Rico on June 20, 1916. While serving in the Army during World War Two, Simonpietri was in a plane crash. After the war he settled into a home in the Sunset District of San Francisco where he remained until his demise on December 2, 2001. A talented artist, he created hundreds of paintings, mostly nudes and still lifes. Biography provided courtesy of Edan Hughes Author Artists in California 1850-1940

Pastel titled Old Shipwreck, signed lower left Frederick Wagner (1864-1940). Wagner was an American Impressionist who studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts from 1879 to 1884. He exhibited at the Pennsylvania Academy the Carnegie and the Corcoran as well as the National Academy of Design. Image, 9.5"L x 11"W. Framed 15.5" L x 18" W Complete written provenance accompanies this piece. Please View Our other inventory

August Ludecke-Cleve (1868-1957): A beautiful antique German impressionist Landscape of cows in a meadow with a view through the trees. Bold brush work and bright colors. This is a very good and large example of this artists work. Measuring approx. 32 x 43 inches in excellent condition. Provenance: Stanford Museum Sale. Artist Biography: August Ludecke-Cleve first studied at the Art Academy in Dusseldorf then at the Munich Academy. Before the second world war (his studio was bombed) he had exhibitions in Dusseldorf. Ludecke-Cleve was better known for his landscape paintings before the war but from the 1930's onwards cows and tulips became his trade mark.

Oil painting of a Texas Barn by Nicholas Richard Brewer (1857-1949) . Signed lower left titled on verso. Image 12 X 18 in original frame overall size 15 x 21". A prominent 19th century portrait and landscape painter in Minnesota, New York and Texas, Nicholas Brewer was born in Olmstead County, Minnesota and was raised on a farm along the Root River in southeastern Minnesota. He was a student in New York of Dwight Tryon and Charles Noel Flagg at the National Academy of Design where he also exhibited. He painted a crucifixion in the Cathedral of St. Paul, in Minnesota as well as portraits of many prominent persons in his native state. Exhibition venues include the Minnesota State Art Society, the Minneapolis Art Institute, Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, and Carnegie Institute in Pittsburgh. He was a member of the American Federation of Arts, the California Art Club and the Salmagundi Club.

James Everett Stuart sunset glow Mt. Hood Oregon from near Portland. Oil on canvas signed lower left and dated Jan 11, 1917 signed and titled priced and dated on reverse. A fine example of this highly regarded American artists work measuring 12x18 inches in good all original condition some minor age cracking framed in a contemporary gallery frame measuring overall 20x26. A fine example of this great American artists work.

A painting Sunset Glow Mt. Hood sold for $12,000 at Santa Fe Art auction 11/14/1998 lot no. 121

Biography

Born in Bangor, Maine, James Everett Stuart became known for his panoramic landscapes from Maine to California to Alaska to the Panama Canal, but especially of the American West with focus on Northern California and Oregon. Reportedly he painted more than 5000 paintings during his lifetime and originated a method of painting on aluminum and wood with a special adhering process that he thought made his work quite durable but proved not to be so. He also wrote on the back of most of his paintings His parents took him to California at the age of eight, and the family settled in San Francisco where he attended the public schools and studied art with Virgil Williams, Raymond Yelland, Thomas Hill, and William Keith at the San Francisco School of Design. His early work was dramatic California landscape including the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers, and in style the works were moody and mysterious and suggestive of the French Barbizon School. He first traveled to the Northwest in 1876, and in 1881, he opened his studio in Portland, Oregon and from there traveled throughout the West and East Coast and into Mexico. Subjects included Yosemite as well as California missions and adobes. He painted landscapes whose sales ultimately were financially remunerative and which established his reputation. Of those years, he expressed that he much preferred being in the park to studio painting, but he stopped visiting in 1889 and instead traveled to Alaska and the Coastal Range. During much of the 1890s, he lived in Chicago, but in 1912 returned to San Francisco until his death in 1941. There, from his studio near Union Square, he was highly successful and popular among his peers, underscored by his membership in the Bohemian Club. Many of the owners of old homes in California have his paintings on the wall, suggestive of a time of grandeur. One of his paintings is in the White House, and his work is in the historical societies of Oregon, Washington, and Montana.

An original oil on board by Alexander Nepote signed lower right and signed and titled on the reverse "River Edge" Milbre Ca. 1959 measuring approx. 24 x 30 inches image size.

Biography

A painter known for mixed-media abstractions, Alexander Nepote was born on a ranch in California near Stockton. He studied at the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland, at Mills College, and at the University of California from where he received a Master's Degree. From 1945 to 1950, he was Dean of the Faculty at the California College of Arts and Crafts and served in the same capacity at San Francisco State College from 1950 to 1977. Memberships included the West Coast Watercolor Society, the Bay Region Art Association, and the California Watercolor Society.Source: Edan Hughes, "Artists in California, 1786-1940"

Frank Montague Moore Carmel or Monterey evening nocturne oil on board signed lower right F.M. Moore. A beautiful painting with a amazing sense of light. In excellent condition measuring 12 x 16 inches approx. overall size 19 x 23 inches. A fine painting by this highly acclaimed artists would be a nice addition to any collection.

Biography

Born in Taunton, England on Nov. 24, 1877. Moore studied at the Liverpool Art School and Royal Institute. In 1903 he immigrated to America and further studied with Henry Ward Ranger. By 1910 he was an established artist in NYC; in that year moved to Hawaii where he was purchasing agent for Hawaii Plantations and later served as director of the Honolulu Academy of Arts. In 1928 he sailed for California and worked briefly in Pasadena where he painted the Picture Bridge, a series of 41 murals in the Huntington Hotel. After a few months in San Francisco, he settled on the Monterey Peninsula. There he specialized in poetic depictions of the coast and other local scenery. Moore died in Carmel, CA on March 5, 1967. Member: Salmagundi Club; NY WC Club; AFA; Pasadena Society of Artists. Exh: Calif. WC Society, 1928; Nicholson Gallery (Pasadena), 1928; CGA; PAFA; St Louis Museum; GGIE, 1939; LACMA, 1942; Salmagundi Club, 1943; Santa Cruz, 1944; Society for Sanity in Art, CPLH, 1944 (1st prize and Logan medal); Carmel AA, 1945-46; NAD. In: Orange Co. (CA) Museum; USMC Headquarters (SF); Auckland (NZ) Museum; Honolulu Academy of Art. Source: Edan Hughes, "Artists in California, 1786-1940"

Original Vintage Conte Crayon Drawing of a Reclining Nude Woman by R. Chatfield monogramed lower right. Unframed. 25" L x 21" W

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. 23 x 28 inches framed size 32 x 40 inches. A 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

Original Russian impressionist painting by Emil Hirschfeld signed lower left oil on canvas measuring 11 x 18 inches in good condition some age craquelure a beautiful atmospheric seascape. Emil Benediktoff Hirschfeld 1867-1922 Born in Odessa in 1867, the Russian painter lived thirty years in Concarneau France. In with the broad sweep of foreign artists in the late nineteenth he came out to meet the French realist painting, deeply influenced by Courbet, he spent time in Munich and Paris He arrived in Concarneau in 1891. Here he established a successful career know for his picturesque maritime paintings. He exhibited at the Salon of the Societe Nationale des Beaux-Arts. Hirshfeld died prematurely at the age of 54 years, his legacy lived on in his art represented in many private and museum collections worldwide.

Claude Lacaze Original painting cubist nudes oil on canvas in excellent condition measuring approx. 14 x 20 Biography

Lacaze was a painter who was heavily influenced by Cubism and Post-Cubism, particularly by fellow Bordeaux painters such as André L’Hote. He was born in Angoulême, Charente and studied at the Lycée Montaigne in Bordeaux and it was there, under an inspirational art master, that his desire to be an artist was initiated. He enrolled at L’École des Beaux-Arts in Bordeaux and studied under André Edouard Marty. At first, his style was decidedly Cubist, showing the influence of Picasso through the aforementioned L’Hote. However he softened the linear effect somewhat as his career developed and this is particularly apparent in his paintings of nudes. He staged his first solo exhibition in Paris in Rue Visconti quite soon after leaving art school. He also exhibited through his career at other locations in Paris, his home city of Bordeaux, Sainte Maxine, Angoulême and Périgueux but he seems not to have had a particularly commercial attitude to his work apparently sometimes not even turning up to the opening nights. Lacaze was appointed Professor of Fine Art at Collège de Puyguillen and also joined the artistic group Maison des Artistes. Exhibitions: Paris, Galerie Visconiti; Périgueux, N.T.P.; Angoulême, Galerie Tison d’Argence; Bordeaux, Galerie du Loup; Sainte Maxine, Galerie L’Oleil Fauve. The Musée des Beaux Arts de Bordeaux also exhibited his work.

His paintings can be found in: The National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York The Louvre, Paris Constant Troyon began his career as a porcelain painter. By the late 1830s he turned his attention to landscape painting, and his first Salon entries were views of Saint Cloud and Sevres, near the state porcelain works. These early paintings were characterized by bright colors based on his experience working with porcelain glazes In 1843, Troyon became friends with Theodore Rousseau and Jules Dupre, and began to frequent Fontainebleau, which would provide him with a new subject for his painting. In 1846, he was awarded a first-class medal at the Salon. The turning point in Troyon's career was in 1847 when he visited the Lowlands. Here he fell under the influence of the two great 17th century Dutch animal painters' Albert Cuyp and Paulus Potter. When he returned to France he concentrated on animal painting and the Salon of 1849 saw his first entry devoted to an animal subject. From this point on he was a great success, both critically and financially, and his influence was felt in France, the Lowlands and Germany. Troyon became the first Barbizon artist to win overall acceptance. Exhibitions of his works were held in London, Manchester, Brussels, Vienna, Antwerp and The Hague. A perfect balance of color, line and composition characterizes his paintings of animals, rooted in their natural surroundings. Whether painting a cow in a pasture or a pointer in a field, animal and nature coexist in total harmony when they are recorded by Troyon's brush. When Troyon died in 1865, his reputation as one of the greatest animal painters of the 19th century was firmly established.

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.

A beautiful impressionist painting of a winter view of German Town Pennsylvania circa 1920 oil on board signed lower left. This painting just recently discovered is directly from a Great Grandfather who was a friend of the Wagner and an artist himself who shared a studio with Wagner. Measuring 8x10 inches framed in a contemporary gallery frame. A great example of this artists work a fine addition to any collection.

Biography

Fredrick 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.

San Francisco Bay Area Modernist watercolor ink painting by Harold Christopher Davies, signed lower right. Provenance: Estate of the artist and Hoover Gallery, San Francisco. Davies' work was exhibited at the San Francisco Art Association, Oakland Art Gallery, Birmingham Museum, Southampton Museum, University of Long Island Museum, Parrish Art Museum, Hoover Gallery (San Francisco), Haggin Museum and Huntsville Museum. Image, 6"L x 4.5"W. Matted and framed. Minor wear.

Eugène Fromentin (1820 - 1876) original oil on canvas signed lower left by famed French artist. Measuring approx. 15.5 x 16 inches in ornate original frame. A beautiful antique painting.

A beautiful original oil painting of a young girl reading oil on board signed upper right and dated 1918. Exquisite detail and light a masterpiece by this famed artist. A fine addition to any collection. Biography

A native of St. Paul, Minnesota, Van Soelen trained in art at the St. Paul Institute from 1908 to 1911, and then attended the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art, 1911-1915. The Pennsylvania Academy awarded Van Soelen a Cresson Traveling Scholarship which enabled him to tour and study in Europe in 1913 and 1914. Shortly after launching his art career back in the United States, Van Soelen headed west, seeking relief from tuberculosis. After spending time in Utah and Nevada, he settled in Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1916. Working as a commercial illustrator, he also began to sell his fine art paintings. To acquaint himself with the people and landscapes of New Mexico, Van Soelen spent time in the small towns and ranches of the region. Early on, scenes of ranch life became his favorite subjects. Van Soelen married Virginia Carr in 1922 and the couple moved to Santa Fe before permanently settling in nearby Tesuque, New Mexico in 1926. Van Soelen's reputation grew rapidly throughout this time, but like other New Mexico's easel painters, most of his customers were in the East. In the 1930s he established a second studio in Cornwall, Connecticut to be closer to that market. Van Soelen painted in a detailed, realistic style with a slightly muted palette and strong draftsmanship. Though most famous for his ranch-life genre paintings, he also painted landscapes and formal portraits, and produced several popular lithographs on cowboy themes. In 1938 Van Soelen won a mural commission for the Post Office in Portales, New Mexico. He was a Fellow of the National Academy and exhibited in various juried exhibitions including the National Academy, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Chicago Art Institute. In 1960 he was named Honorary Fellow in Fine Arts by the School of American Research.

A fine original oil painting on board 18 x 26 inches signed lower left J.W. Curtis and dated 1893. A scene of the Australian blue mountains and the famous three sisters mountain. excellent condition. A fine example of this important Australian artists work. Known for his paintings in black and white which he exhibited at the Victorian Academy of Arts, in the 1880s.

Biography

James Waltham Curtis (1839-1901) was an eminent Australian colonial artist whose work lives on as a tribute to Australia’s early days of European settlement. His approach is of technical, poetic and historical interest, emphasizing man’s battle with a primeval landscape and nature, his picturesque landscapes being fine examples of the late 19th century period which preceded the Heidelberg School. Curtis was an English painter and illustrator who it is believed, came to Australia during the Gold Rush. Curtis’ work plays an important part in the preservation of Australian history and is an excellent reminder of how life was in the latter part of the 19th century.

The Three Sisters

The Sisters were formed by erosion. The soft sandstone of the Blue Mountains is easily eroded over time by wind, rain and rivers and the cliffs surrounding the Jamison Valley are being slowly broken up. [edit]Aboriginal legends The commonly told legend of the Three Sisters is that three sisters (Meehni', 'Wimlah' and Gunnedoo') lived in the Jamison Valley as members of the Katoomba tribe). They fell in love with three men from a neighbouring tribe (the Nepean tribe), but marriage was forbidden by tribal law. The brothers were not happy to accept this law and so decided to use force to capture the three sisters. A major tribal battle ensued, and the sisters were turned to stone by an elder to protect them, but he was killed in the fighting and no one else could turn them back. This legend is claimed to be an Indigenous Australian Dreamtime legend.[1] However, Dr Martin Thomas, in his work "The artificial horizon: imagining the Blue Mountains",[2] clearly shows that the "aboriginal" legend is a fabrication created by a non-Aboriginal local Katoomba, Mel Ward, presumably to add interest to a local landmark. The story originated in the late 1920s or early 1930s and is unknown prior to that date. The Aboriginal traditional owners, the Gundungurra, have a legend that includes the Sisters rock formation. They are currently[when?] developing a website which will include these traditional stories.

Beautiful American oil painting of a portrait of a young girl with a parrot. American school 19th century. Measuring 8 x10 inches overall framed size 10.5" x 12.5". Original antique frame. In excellent condition oil on canvas laid down on board some minor flaws to frame.

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.

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 masterfully drawn Standing Female Nude French c.1800. Drawing on blue gray hand made paper some age discoloration. Image 20"L x 12.5"W matted and framed in a quality gold frame overall 28" L x 21" W.

A Beautiful work of art by this highly regarded California painter Patricia K. Jones. Oil on canvas signed lower right measuring 8 x 10 inches framed in a quality gallery frame overall size 14 x 16 inches in excellent condition. A nice addition to any collection. Biography Patricia is especially drawn to the familiar objects and sights that we usually take for granted. In her paintings, she strives to translate the essence of the everyday, the ordinary and the overlooked into works of art. This approach has allowed her to reach out to a wide audience, and today her paintings can be found in private collections in the U.S. and Europe. Education and Background: Bohemian House of Fine Arts: Carmel, California ,2001-2004 Russian Impressionism, 2003 Landscape Painting - Tuscany, Italy ,Academy of Russian Realism: St. Petersburg, Russia, 2002 Landscape Painting en Plein Air, California Academy of Painters: Provence, France, 2001 Painting in the Lavender Fields, Sauveterre-de-Bearn, France, 1999 Painting the Colors of Southwest France, Pacific Art League and Palo Alto Art Center: Palo Alto 1995-2002 Plein Air Oil Painting, Figure Drawing,Still Life and Portrait Painting, Scottsdale Artists School, Scottsdale, Arizona 2006, 2008 Workshops in Still Life Painting, Stanford University : Florence, Italy, 1995 Drawing in the Renaissance City Stanford University: MBA - 1976 Member, Oil Painters of America Member, American Impressionist Society

A W Best Navajo indian camp near bear mt. Arizona oil on canvas signed lower right measuring 8x10 inches framed in a hand carved 24k gold leaf frame approx. 16 x 18 overall. In excellent condition.

biography

Arthur William BEST 
1859 - 1935 Arthur William Best was born in Mount Pleasant, Canada on July 17, 1859. He and his brother Harry attended public school in Mount Pleasant and were members of a small band. Arthur played the cornet; Harry, the violin. When the band broke up in Oregon, the brothers learned to paint before moving to San Francisco in 1895. Arthur and his wife Alice established the Best Art School at 1625 California Street and a residence at 309 Broderick. He was a staff artist for the San Francisco Examiner (1904-06). Arthur was commissioned by Southern Pacific Railroad to paint pictures of the Southwest and Mexico for travel and tourist publicity in 1905. Many of his oils and watercolors were destroyed by the earthquake and fire of 1906. His landscapes include depictions of the Arizona desert, Grand Canyon and the Sierra Nevada. He died in Oakland on January 26, 1935. Member: San Francisco Art Ass'n; Berkeley League of Fine Arts; Bohemian Club. Exhibited: Oregon State Fair, 1891 (first prize); Mark Hopkins Art Institute, 1898, 1904; San Francisco Art Ass'n, 1904-16; San Francisco Artists Society, 1905; Berkeley Art Ass'n, 1908; California State Fairs (awards); Alaska-Yukon Expo (Seattle), 1909 (bronze medal); Del Monte Art Gallery, 1910, 1912; Sorosis Club, 1913. Works held: Oakland Museum; Phoenix Museum; University of Oregon; Charles M. Russell Gallery (Great Falls, MT); Santa Fe Railroad.

Etta Near Fine California impressionist oil painting oil on canvas signed lower right. A beautiful scene of eucalyptus trees in the rain. measuring 20 x 30 inches in very good condition. A great painting by this rare seldom scene artist. Biography

Born in Michigan on Aug. 2, 1885. By 1946 Near had moved to southern California and was painting around Joshua Tree. She died in Los Angeles on July 23, 1965. Her work includes landscapes of the High Sierra. Exh: Laguna Beach AA, 1960; Festival of Arts (Laguna Beach), 1961; Costa Mesa High School, 1962. Source: Edan Hughes,

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

A Dutch painting school of Jan Vermeer of an interior scene Picturing a woman at work in a traditional 17th century kitchen. Oil on oak panel beautifully painted framed in a gilt decorative frame. A fine decorative painting would be a nice addition to any collection.

An original Portrait of a Cavalier or noble man oil on canvas signed lower right and dated 1911. Measuring 10 x 12 inches in a fine antique frame overall 16 x 18. in excellent condition a fine example of this important American artists portrait work.

Biography

Born in Ogdenburg, Germany, Henry Raschen became one of America's leading painters of Indian portraits and figures in the 19th and early 20th centuries and was the first California artist to be committed to Indian themes. He also painted still lifes and landscapes, the latter with skillful play of light and shadow. In 1868, he and his family emigrated to Fort Ross, California where they spent one year and then settled in San Francisco. He took early art lessons at the San Francisco Art Association under Charles Nahl and Virgil Williams and also studied with noted figure painter of altar pieces, Joseph Harrington. Feeling the need for more extensive training, he went to Munich in the late 1870s and became part of the numerous California artists then studying in Munich at that time. There he became friends and a painting companion of William Merritt Chase, and he also traveled in Italy and France. In 1883, he settled in San Francisco and for the next eight years went with landscape painter Carl Von Perbandt on excursions among Indian tribes of California and the Southwest, and he gained much attention for the life-like quality of his paintings. From 1890 to 1894, he lived and had his studio in Munich where he was a successful painter and teacher, and after returning to San Francisco, won the gold medal at the Munich Exposition of 1898. He went on an expedition with Army General Nelson A. Miles when Miles and his troops captured Apache Chief Geronimo at Skeleton Canyon, Arizona, 30 miles northeast of Douglas. Many years later in Oklahoma, Raschen sketched Geronimo whom he visited in prison at Fort Sill. In the early 20th century, a key person in establishing Raschen as a major artist in San Francisco was Mrs. Phoebe Hearst, mother of publisher William Randolph Hearst. In 1906, damage from the earthquake and fire caused him to move across the bay to Oakland where he painted until his death in 1937. Source: Edan Hughes,

"High Sierra Lake " An original oil painting by Leland Curtis oil on canvas signed lower left and artist label reverse. In excellent original condition with original frame. Measuring 30 x 40 inches overall framed size 36x 46 in. A magnificent American painting. Biography Born in Denver, CO on Aug. 7, 1897, Curtis was a resident of Seattle before moving to Los Angeles in 1914. He was inspired to become an artist by his teacher Rob Wagner at Manual Arts High School. After working as a bank teller and serving in WWI, he soon was able to support himself as an illustrator. He served as official artist of the U.S. Antarctica Expedition in 1939-40 and again in 1957. About 1960 he changed his residence from Los Angeles to Twenty Nine Palms, California, with summers in Moose, Wyoming. An avid mountain climber, his studio in the Grand Tetons was a rustic log cabin. In 1972 he moved to Carson City, Nevada, where he remained until his demise on March 17, 1989. He is best known for his landscapes of the High Sierra, Grand Tetons, and Antarctica. His works won dozens of medals and prizes from the early 1920s in southern California shows. Member: Carmel Art Association; Artland Club. Exh: California Art Club, 1923-27; Laguna Beach Art Association, 1924; California State Fair, 1926; Cannell & Chaffin Gallery (Los Angeles), 1926; Ebell Club (Los Angeles), 1926; Painters & Sculptors of Los Angeles, 1926-31; National Academy of Design, 1930; Toledo Museum, 1931; American Painters & Sculptors, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1931, 1937 (solo), 1946 (solo); Oakland Art Gallery, 1932; Tuesday Afternoon Club (Glendale), 1934; Golden Gate International Exhibition, 1939; California Palace Legion of