Catalog: Fine Art: Paintings (89)

Jessie Arms Botke oil painting on board view of Death Valley California. A almost surealist feeling depicted in this painting a great example of this creative artists work in a plein air painting painted on site in Death Valley. This painting is pictured in the Jessie Arms Botke Book "Birds Boughs and Blossoms" a copy of the book is included in the purchase of this painting. Provenance the estate of the artist. Measuring approx. 10 x 12 inches framed in a hand carved 18k gold leaf frame.

Antique 19th Century Italian watercolor painting in the Baroque style of a mountainous landscape with a stone bridge over a river. Presented in cream colored matting and a silver gold wood frame. Image size: 14" x 19", overall dimensions: 20.5" x 24.5".

Vintage American Impressionist Oil Painting New York Fall Landscape oil on panel signed lower left by Thomas De Laurier (1872 - 1934). Measuring 9" x 12" overall framed size 20ʺW × 2ʺD × 17ʺH. Thomas George De Laurier was active/lived in New York, New Jersey. Thomas De Laurier is known for landscapes of New York abstract paintings of female figures and animals, photo engraving.

Vintage Modernist Watercolor Americas Cup Yacht Sailing Races by Willard Bond. Presented matted and framed. Biography By DENNIS HEVESI Published: June 10, 2012 In First Around, one of Willard Bond's best-known paintings, two towering yachts are caught in a roiling sea. The one to the fore is rounding a mark, sharply heeled in the wind, its crew crammed by the upper rail to keep it from capsizing. It has not yet raised its spinnaker, the balloonlike sail toward the bow. Perilously close by, the other boat has just turned the marker, its billowing spinnaker a virtual rainbow of iridescent pink, blue, maroon and white. All this is captured in Mr. Bond's bold, swirling strokes that verge on the abstract. "Bond creates paintings, not around what boats look like, but what it feels like to be aboard or nearby, watching them move fast — big, speeding boats, often only inches apart," J. Russell Jinishian wrote in his 2003 book, Bound for Blue Water, a comprehensive study of marine art. "Crews scramble, sails drop and raise in a flurry of activity," Mr. Jinishian wrote. "The tension is high, adrenaline pumps, orders are yelled, spray flies, seas and heads pound, your whole world spins as you are unconscious of everything else around you. If you want to know what it is like to be in the heat of a yacht race, just look at a painting by Willard Bond." Mr. Bond, whose images line the walls of thousands of homes — particularly those of avid sailors — died of congestive heart failure on May 19 in Yountville, Calif., his daughter, Gretchen Bond de Limur, said. He was 85. Until moving to California several months ago to be near his daughter, Mr. Bond had divided his time between his apartment in Brooklyn Heights and the 30-foot-high geodesic dome he built decades ago as a second studio near Barryville, N.Y., in the Catskills. Even there, he could conjure up images of sailing vessels and the sea. In Knarr Class, Mr. Bond depicted the copious mast of a wooden racing boat. Against a glowering sky, with perhaps a storm on the horizon, the boat is tilted toward its port side. Subtle blues, greens and grays blend in the water and the clouds, with white dots hinting of structures on the distant coast. Over five decades as a marine artist, Mr. Bond created hundreds of watercolor and oil paintings, "everything from cruising sailboats to America's Cup yachts," said Jeffrey Schaub, owner of the Annapolis Marine Art Gallery in Maryland and a longtime representative of Mr. Bond. He said Bond originals sell for up to $30,000, his limited-edition lithographs for up to $1,000, and his posters for up to $45. "Willard Bond was an original," said Jeanne C. Potter, director of the Maritime Gallery at Mystic Seaport in Connecticut. "Willard would often hear from the sailors who raced that that is the way it is out there, and that he was the only artist that got it." He found his passion as a teenager sailing on Lake Coeur d'Alene in Idaho, where his grandparents owned a houseboat. Willard Gordon Bond was born in Colfax, Wash., on June 7, 1926, to Arthur and Hallie Gilleland Bond. The family later moved to Lewiston, Idaho. When not sailing on Lake Coeur d'Alene, the young man worked for several summers as a fire spotter for the United States Forest Service. After serving in the Navy in the Pacific from 1944 to 1946, he attended the Art Institute of Chicago, then moved to New York to study at the Pratt Institute, from which he graduated in 1949. In a loft on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, Mr. Bond began creating large-scale abstract oil paintings and ceramic murals while supporting himself as a set designer, lighting technician and occasional actor in Off Broadway theaters. In the early 1970s he went to the island of Jamaica, where, inspired by Buckminster Fuller, he built geodesic-dome homes in the jungle, as well as two large domes for a school, commissioned by the Peace Corps. It was after returning to New York in 1976 and becoming a pier master at the South Street Seaport — he welcomed the tall ships of Operation Sail to New York Harbor for the bicentennial celebration — that Mr. Bond turned to marine art. His works began selling at galleries. At the same time, his daughter said, he sailed his own small boat off Long Island before graduating to a Chesapeake Bay skipjack, which had long been used for oyster dredging. In addition to his daughter, Mr. Bond is survived his longtime partner, Lois Friedel Bond (they were once married, then divorced and then began living together again in Brooklyn), and two grandchildren. His first two marriages also ended in divorce. Not all Mr. Bond's paintings reflect a turbulent sea. There is an almost palpable peace to his "Running Home," an oil painting that depicts four yachts far in the distance, their sails — black and white, red and white, blue and white, and pure red — full as they head to port at the end of a day of racing. "Running" means that the wind is behind them

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"

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 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.

An antique painting portrait of a beautiful woman oil on canvas by William A. Dollond signed lower left. William Anstey Dolland was a British artist who was born in (1858-1929). Known for his oil and watercolor paintings of female figures in traditional scenes. William Anstey Dolland's work has been offered at auction with realized prices ranging as high as $9,991 USD, depending on the size and medium of the artwork. Since 2000 the record price for this artist at auction is $9,991 USD for Waiting; and At the fountain, sold at Christie's London in 2000. The artist died in 1929. Painting measurements 21ʺW × 2ʺD × 25ʺH in very good antique condition.

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).

Richard Bonington original oil on canvas of a old English town view signed very faintly lower right measuring approx. 9 x 12 inches framed in a contemporary gallery frame. Provenance: British Consulate San Francisco.

Biography

Richard Parkes Bonington was born in the town of Arnold, 4 miles from Nottingham in England. His father was successively a gaoler, a drawing master and lace-maker, and his mother a teacher. Bonington learned watercolour painting from his father and exhibited paintings at the Liverpool Academy at age 11. In 1817, Bonington's family moved to Calais, France where his father had set up a lace factory. At this time, Bonington started taking lessons from the painter François Louis Thomas Francia, who trained him in English watercolour painting. In 1818, the family moved to Paris to open a lace retail outlet. It was Paris where he first met Eugène Delacroix, who he became friends with. He worked for a time producing copies of Dutch and Flemish landscapes in the Louvre. In 1820, he started attending the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, where he studied under Antoine-Jean, Baron Gros. It was around this time that Bonington started going on sketching tours in the suburbs of Paris and the surrounding countryside. His first paintings were exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1822. He also began to work in lithography, illustrating Baron Taylor’s "Voyages pittoresques dans l'ancienne France" and his own architectural series Restes et Fragmens". In 1824, he won a gold medal at the Paris Salon along with John Constable and Anthony Vandyke Copley Fielding. Bonington died of tuberculosis on 23 September 1828 at 29 Tottenham Street in London, only 25 years old.

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.

Beautiful large antique original oil painting of a European village and landscape by famed American painter Colin Campbell Cooper. Oil on canvas signed and dated lower right 1907. Presented in a quality antique gold leaf frame. In good antique condition some wear commensurate of age. Biography A resident and distinguished impressionist painter of both the East and West Coasts, Colin Campbell Cooper earned an international reputation with his depictions of landscapes, florals, portraits, gardens, interiors and figures. He was especially noted for street scenes and skyscrapers of New York and Philadelphia, and his impressionist* palette was inspired by Childe Hassam, whom he met in New York beginning in the 1890s. In the later part of his life, he focused on West Coast subject matter and espoused The California Style* of watercolor painting, a bold, aggressive new oil-painting look to a medium that had traditionally been used more modestly. He was born in Philadelphia to an upper class family where the father was a surgeon, and he, the son, was encouraged by his educated family to pursue art. He was also inspired by the art he saw at the 1876 Philadelphia Exposition*. He studied at the Pennsylvania Academy* of the Fine Arts with Thomas Eakins and in Paris at the Academies Julian*, Vitti, and Delecluse*. During that time, he traveled throughout Europe and painted picturesque architectural scenes, which gained him widespread recognition. Sadly many of these paintings were lost in a fire of 1896. From 1895 to 1898, he was instructor of watercolor at the Drexel Institute in Philadelphia and then moved to New York City from where he and his artist wife, Emma Lampert, traveled throughout the world in search of subject matter. On a European trip in 1912, they sailed on the Carpathia and became part of the rescue operation of the sinking Titanic, an experience that Cooper depicted in a painting, View of Steamship Carpathia passing along the edge of the ice flow after recuing survivors of the Titanic (1912). Of this event it was written by an historian that Carpathia, built 1902, "was sailing from New York City to Rijeka on the night of Sunday, 14 April 1912. Among her passengers were renowned American painters Colin Campbell Cooper and his wife Emma, journalist Lewis P. Skidmore, photographer Dr. Francis H. Blackmarr and Charles H. Marshall, whose three nieces were traveling aboard the Titanic. . . .At 4 o'clock in the morning Carpathia arrived at the scene after working her way through dangerous ice fields. Carpathia was able to save 705 people, all that survived the sinking of Titanic. Carpathia, outbound for the Mediterranean prior to the distress call, ferried the survivors to New York." (lostliners.com) The Coopers first went to California in 1915, spending the winter in Los Angeles and in 1921, settled in Santa Barbara, where he served as Dean of Painting at the Santa Barbara Community School of the Arts*. He was a member of numerous associations including the California Art Club*, Salmagundi Club*, and the National Academy of Design*. His work is in many museums including the Cincinnati Art Museum, the St. Louis Museum, and the Oakland Museum

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.

Claude Lacaze original oil on panel cubist nudes by the sea signed lower left. measuring Approximately 20 x 30 inches in excellent condition.

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.

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".

Beautiful large original vintage Italian impressionist oil painting of Naples Harbor at sunset. Oil on canvas signed lower left G. Mariani. Canvas measures 24 x 36 inches. Artist Biography G. Mariani (Italian, 20th C.-), came from a family of artists who had been painting the beautiful cities and surrounding country life in and around their home of Naples, Italy, for many years. His father was the well known Italian landscape & cityscape painter Mario Mariani (Italian, 1907-) and he also had a brother, V. Mariani (Italian, 20th C.-) who was also an accomplished painter. G. Mariani loves to paint the water, the small harbors and particularly his home area of the Bay of Naples. He is well known for his coastal & seascapes views and fishing villages/marine scenes and for sunset skies which he often painted, as well as interior scenes of Italian country life. He was represented by his father Mario out of his art studio & gallery in Naples, where Mario not only represented his own work, but that of his two sons, as well as other represented artists. less DETAILS Tear Sheet Dimensions42ʺW × 2ʺD × 30ʺH

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.

Original N.C. Wyeth oil painting on art board title "Lumber" commissioned by Coca Cola company in 1943 for a series of posters in American industry. Signed lower right measuring 21 x 31 inches in excellent condition. A fine addition to any collection of American Art.

Biography

N. (Newell) C. (Convers) Wyeth (October 22, 1882-October 19, 1945), is one of the most celebrated illustrators in the history of art. He grew up on a farm in New England, and studied at the Massachusetts Normal Arts School where he attended classes taught by illustrators Eric Pape and Charles W. Reed. During 1902-04 he studied with the great illustrator Howard Pyle in Wilmington, Delaware. Wyeth accepted a commission from Scribner's and the Saturday Evening Post to paint western scenes, and traveled in the west to gain first hand knowledge of subjects. He worked as a ranch hand in Colorado and rode mail routes in New Mexico and Arizona. In 1906, Wyeth and Carolyn Brenneman Bockius were married in the Wilmington Unitarian church, and they made their home in nearby Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania. The focus of his painting soon shifted to the land and people of the region in which he lived. In 1911, Wyeth won a commission from Charles Scribner's Sons to illustrate a new edition of R. L. Stevenson's Treasure Island, a work that made him famous. He provided illustrations for dozens of other classic books, including Kidnapped (1913), The Black Arrow (1916), The Legends of Robin Hood (1917), The Last of the Mohicans (1919), and The Yearling (1939).