"Untitled" is an oil and oil stick on paper mounted to canvas made by Mary Abbott, c. 1951. The artwork size is 23 x 29 inches. The framed size is 24 1/2 x 30 1/2 x 2 inches. The work is signed in pencil, lower right, “Mary Abbott”.

Mary Abbott (b. 1921) was raised in New York and Washington, D. C. In the early 1940s, Abbott’s early interest in art led her to courses at the Art Students League where she worked with painters such as George Grosz. In 1948, she met the sculptor David Hare, who introduced her to an experimental school called The Subject of the Artist, an anti-school anyone could join if they left their academic artistic past behind them. Started by Hare, Rothko, Motherwell and Barnett Newman, they became her mentors and she moved into the heart of the New York avant-garde. Also, Abbott became a member of the Club, where she was one of three female members along with Perle Fine and Elaine de Kooning. In the early 1950s, she began to exhibit extensively and participated in three of the famous Stable Gallery annuals that promoted Abstract Expressionism.

A print by Josef Albers. "Formulation: Articulation" is a geometric abstract screen print in an orange palette by Post War artist Josef Albers. The artwork is numbered 1981.524.1.31 and is editioned 528 of 1000. It is unsigned. Dimensions for each image are: left: 12 3/4 x 8 1/4 in.; right: 8 1/2 x 13 in.
Josef Albers, a German-born artist, was instrumental in bringing the tenets of European modernism to America. He is associated with many art movements such as Color Field painting and Abstract Expressionism, and is cited as one of the originators of Minimalist, Conceptual, and Op Art. Albers was highly influential as a teacher, first in the Bauhaus in Germany and later with posts at Black Mountain College, Yale, and Harvard. Counted among his students are iconic artists Eva Hesse, Cy Twombly, Richard Anuszkiewicz, and Robert Rauschenberg.
Albers’ abstract canvases embody his theory that color, rather than form, is the primary medium of pictorial language. Albers is best known for his series, Homage to the Square which explores the vast range of visual effects that could be achieved through color and spatial relationships alone. “Abstraction is real, probably more real than nature,” he once said. “I prefer to see with my eyes closed.”
In 1971 Albers was the first living artist to be given a solo exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Since then, the artist has been honored with several solo exhibitions around the world.

A sculpture by Herb Alpert. "Radiance" is a gestural abstract sculpture, bronze by contemporary American artist and musician Herb Alpert. The artwork is signed in the lower middle, "Alpert 2009 1/3" and is editioned 1 of 3.
Herb Alpert is an American Jazz musician who maintains a second career as a abstract expressionist painter and sculptor. During the height of his music career, he began painting, and in the early 1980s, he began to sculpt as well. His paintings and sculpture, though a different art form, still speak to his love of music and his musical style. His sculpture has been termed “lyrical” and his latest works are meant to capture the feeling he gets when he plays jazz. They are improvisational, much like jazz, and he says he gets the same rush of energy and the same satisfaction from creating visual art as he does from creating musical art.
Artistically, he is known for his “Spirit Totem” sculptures. They have been described as “frozen smoke” and indeed, each has individually crafted twists and curves, and a sense of fluidity and movement, despite being still bronze statues. Alpert creates the molds by hand, first in small scale with wax, then in a larger clay mold, before they reach their final, large scale, forged in bronze. In regard to his process, Alpert has said, "When I paint or sculpt I don't have anything in mind. I don't have a goal other than form. I'm looking for that form that touches me and when I find it... I stop."

A painting by Herb Alpert. "Relatives" is an abstract painting, acrylic on canvas in a colorful palette of blues and reds by American artist Herb Alpert.
Herb Alpert is an American Jazz musician who maintains a second career as an abstract expressionist painter and sculptor. During the height of his music career, he began painting, and in the early 1980s, he began to sculpt as well. His paintings and sculpture, though a different art form, still speak to his love of music and his musical style. His sculpture has been termed “lyrical” and his latest works are meant to capture the feeling he gets when he plays jazz. They are improvisational, much like jazz, and he says he gets the same rush of energy and the same satisfaction from creating visual art as he does from creating musical art.
Artistically, he is known for his “Spirit Totem” sculptures. They have been described as “frozen smoke” and indeed, each has individually crafted twists and curves, and a sense of fluidity and movement, despite being still bronze statues. Alpert creates the molds by hand, first in small scale with wax, then in a larger clay mold, before they reach their final, large scale, forged in bronze. In regard to his process, Alpert has said, "When I paint or sculpt I don't have anything in mind. I don't have a goal other than form. I'm looking for that form that touches me and when I find it... I stop."

A painting by father and son N.C. Wyeth and Andrew Wyeth. "Puritan Cod Fishers" is a 20th century painting from N.C. Wyeth's commission of murals for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (MetLife). Andrew Wyeth completed the painting following the death of his father. This is the only painting Andrew completed after N.C.'s death in this series.

"Capri" is an Impressionist landscape oil on paper laid down on panel painting by Albert Bierstadt in 1857. The artwork is 19 x 12 inches and 24 1/4 x 17 3/4 x 2 3/4 inches with the frame, weighing less than 50 lbs. It is signed lower left, "Abierstadt" and titled and dated lower middle, "June 11 1857".

In 1853, a twenty-three-year-old Bierstadt commenced study at the Düsseldorf Academy, the school primarily responsible for shaping the technical precision and atmospheric depth of the preeminent landscape painters of the second half of the 19th century. Four years later, in the company of fellow artist Sanford Robinson Gifford, he painted “Capri.” Inscribed with the title and dated “June 11, 1857,” it is a striking example of the young artist’s early mastery, painted just two years before his watershed campaign in 1859 in the company of Frederick W. Lander, a land surveyor for the United States government. It is a fully realized study emphasizing the precision, detailed observation, and careful glazing technique indicative of the academic tradition of gradually building up the surface. He would begin with a detailed drawing, followed by monochromatic underpainting and successive layers of thin, transparent color glazes that achieve depth and luminosity in the translucent hues of the seawater rarely matched in the annuals of landscape painting. “Capri” is a lovely achievement that foreshadows the drama and grandeur that would define Bierstadt’s later work, illustrating how his time in Italy helped shape his approach to landscape painting.

María Blanchard, born in 1881, initially emerged as a committed Cubist painter, heavily influenced by her friendships with Juan Gris and other avant-garde figures. Her work in the 1910s showcased rigorous geometric abstraction, yet by the early 1920s, she began to transition toward a more figurative style. This shift aligned her with the Retour à l'ordre movement, in which many artists returned to more classical forms after the upheavals of war and early avant-garde experimentation. Blanchard's increasing focus on emotional depth and human subjects became a defining feature of these later works, culminating in pieces like "Fillette à la pomme."

Blanchard's Cubist roots, prominent in the angular treatment of the hands and apple, are softened throughout the girl's modest attire, suggesting a spiritual or religious significance. The model's pious countenance and the muted palette of browns, grays, and blues further reinforce that the painting continues a thread of religious themes, as seen in Picasso's early masterwork, "The First Communion," and Blanchard's own "Girl at her First Communion." The apple held here introduces layers of symbolism, often representing knowledge, innocence, or temptation, an association that suggests an emotional transition, bridging childhood and deeper awareness.

Blanchard's ability to fuse Cubist form with symbolic narrative and emotional complexity makes this painting a poignant reflection of her evolution as an artist. She humanizes the rigid forms of Cubism while imbuing her subjects with depth and inner life.

Born in 1881, the same year as fellow Spaniard Pablo Picasso, María Blanchard carved her distinct path within modernist art, blending Cubist influences with emotional depth. "La Comida" demonstrates Blanchard's evolution towards a more figurative style while retaining explicit Cubist references. This shift aligns her work with the Retour à l'ordre movement, a tendency many fellow artists embraced at the time. Thematically, “La  Comida” recalls van Gogh's early works, particularly "The Potato Eaters" (1885), in both palette and subject matter. Like van Gogh, Blanchard draws attention to the simplicity of rural life, using muted tones of browns, reds, and ochres to convey the grounded, almost austere nature of the figures around the table.
 
Blanchard’s work after 1921 progressively bridged the gap between the rigid forms of early Cubism and a more emotive, personal representation of her subjects. Geometric rigors are present, but the scene's naturalistic light and volumetric composition echo Cézanne's influence. The sharp brushstrokes and angular figures evoke a sense of protection, reflecting Blanchard's intention to shield the inner spirit of her characters from the gaze of others. Yet, her sensitive portrayal invites viewers to connect emotionally with her work, engendering a sense of intimacy and quiet communion. Despite the somber palette, there is a subtle warmth, with the figures' inner spirit shielded from judgment, much like those in van Gogh's painting. Yet in synthesizing elements of Cubism, Blanchard added emotional complexity to the rural themes van Gogh explored, making her contribution distinct yet reflective of earlier artistic traditions.

"Two White Peacocks" is an Impressionist animal oil on board painting by Jessie Arms Botke in c. 1925. The artwork is 29 1/4 x 24 1/2 inches and 39 3/8 x 34 1/2 x 2 inches with the frame, weighing less than 50 lbs. It is signed lower right, "Jessie Arms Botke".

The painting, a testament to Botke's mastery of avian artistry, showcases two majestic white peacocks in full display against a background of lush greenery and delicate blossoms. Botke excels in the intricate rendering of feathers and foliage, where each stroke is purposeful yet fluid, capturing the essence of her subjects with a vibrant palette and dynamic composition.

A painting by William Theophilus Brown. "Horse with Swimmers at Beach" is a Post-War figurative painting, acrylic on canvas in a palette of greens and purples by American artist William Theophilus Brown. The artwork is signed on the verso, "Theophilus Brown 80-86-96".
William Theophilus Brown was an artist known for his participation in the “Second Generation” of Bay Area Figurative movement. It was significant that the movement occurred in the Bay Area, because all others had almost exclusively originated in New York. In the late 1950s, this group decided to move away from the popular Abstract Expressionist style, and return to figuration, against the grain of art trends at the time. Other notable members of the movement were Richard Diebenkorn, David Park, Wayne Thiebaud, and Elmer Bischoff, among several others. Brown studied painting in New York and Paris, during which time he met Picasso, Braque, Giacommetti, and de Kooning.

A painting by Alexander Calder. "Zigzag Sun and Crags" is a Post-War abstract painting, gouache and ink on paper in bold colors of reds, blacks, and blues by artist Alexander Calder. The artwork is signed lower right, "Calder 72" and has been given the Calder Foundation authentication number A07055.
Although we know him today best for his sculptures, Calder started his artistic career as an abstract painter, always preferring gouache as a medium for his painted work. Sometimes known as opaque watercolor, gouache is a water-soluble paint which handles much like watercolor for the artist. Watercolor and gouache both allow the artist to paint quickly, but both are also extremely unforgiving mediums as they dry quickly and are difficult to rework. However, unlike watercolor, which has a translucent appearance, gouache contains white pigment, rendering the color opaque. Calder valued gouache for exactly these reasons, it dried quickly like a watercolor but rendered bold colors that he sought.
In the 1920s, Calder began to experiment with sculpture. Bending and twisting metal in order to “draw” in three-dimensional space. By the 1940s and 50s, Calder had become so popular as a sculpture that he largely left painting behind, concentrating on creating the kinetic sculptural vocabulary of that we know him for. Toward the end of his life, however, once he had secured fame and renown as a sculpture, Calder returned to the more intimate and less physically involved process of gouache painting in earnest.
As he returned to gouache painting with a lifetime of experience as a sculptor, Calder began to transcribe the three-dimensional vocabulary of sculptural forms he had developed onto the two-dimensional surface of the paper. Like his sculpture, the gouache works echoes Mondrian’s bright palette of primary colors and the whimsical nature of Miro’s work, both artist’s that Calder admired greatly.

This work is a study for "Man-Eater With Pennant", part of the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art. The work is also represented in "Sketches for Mobiles: Prelude to Man-Eater; Starfish; Octopus", that is in the permanent collection of the Harvard Fogg Museum.

Alexander Calder was a key figure in the development of abstract sculpture and is renowned for his groundbreaking work in kinetic art; he is one of the most influential artists of the Twentieth Century. "Prelude to Maneater" is a delicately balanced standing sculpture that responds to air currents, creating a constantly changing and dynamic visual experience.

Calder's Stabiles were a result of his continuous experimentation with materials, form, and balance. This Stabile is a historically significant prelude to a larger work commissioned in 1945 by Alfred Barr, the first director of the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

"Prelude to Maneater" is designed to be viewed from multiple angles, and encourages viewers to walk around and interact with it. Work by Calder can be found in esteemed private collections, and the collections of major museums worldwide including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Tate Gallery in London among others.

Under the Tang China experienced a period of great cultural flowering, remarkable for its achievements across all areas of the arts and sciences. The tolerance of the Tang Imperial Court to outside influence and the free movement along the East- West trade route known as the Silk Road saw major urban centres become thriving cosmopolitan cities, with the Chinese capital, Chang’an (modern Xian) expanding to reach a population of over one million.
In keeping with centuries of tradition, funerary rites remained very important. A separate government department existed with responsibility for overseeing the manufacture of funerary wares. Officially there were limits on the number of grave goods and restrictions on the size of the objects which could accompany the deceased, according to rank – the highest ranked officials were meant to have a maximum of 90 figurines, no more than 30cm tall while members of the Imperial family were allowed several hundred up to about one meter tall. However, these rules were frequently broken. The deceased’s relatives believed they could improve their ancestor’s status in the afterlife by providing mingqi in excess of necessity, thereby ensuring their own good fortune. Tang Dynasty figurative ceramics share particular characteristics. The forms are animated and life-like, the subject matter covers all aspects of social and ritual life and the scale of the figures was reasonably small with the exception of some magnificent larger works commissioned for the tombs of the elite. Figures of courtiers and entertainers, polo players and the exotic travelers who now regularly arrived in the Chinese cities with their great pack camels became common place, illustrating the cosmopolitan nature of the times. The variety of forms tells us that craftsmen had scope for individual innovation and were not controlled by rules regarding particular styles. Now the funerary wares spoke not only of power and military strength, but also of the sophistication and intellectual achievements of the deceased.

A Chinese Procession Ornament dating from the Liao Dynasty (907 - 1125AD). The Liao Dynasty, also known as the Khitan Empire, was an empire in northern China that ruled over the regions of Manchuria, Mongolia, and parts of northern China proper. It was founded by the Yelu family of the Khitan people in the final years of the Tang Dynasty, even though its first ruler, Yelu Abaoji, did not declare an era name until 916. The Liao Empire was destroyed by the Jurchen of the Jin Dynasty in 1125. However, remnants of its people led by Yelu Dashi established the Xi (Western) Liao Dynasty 1125 - 1220, also known as Kara - Khitan Khanate, which survived until the arrival of Genghis Khan’s Mongolian cavalry.

"Coastal Town on the Riviera" is an oil on canvas on paperboard work made by Winston Churchill circa 1925. The work is double-sided, with a portrait on the reverse. The artwork size is 14 x 20 inches. The framed size is 18 3/4 x 24 3/4 x 3 inches. Uniquely among Winston Churchill’s known work, “Coastal Town on the Riviera” is in fact a double painting with the landscape on one side and an oil sketch on the other. The portrait sketch bears some resemblance to Viscountess Castlerosse who was a frequent guest in the same Rivera estates where Churchill visited. Churchill painted her in C 517 and C 518 and gives us a larger picture of the people who inhabited his world. Of his approximately 550 works, the largest portion (about 150) were of the South of France, where Churchill could indulge in both the array of colors to apply to his canvas and in gambling, given the proximity of Monte Carlo.

A mixed media work by Mary Corse. "Untitled" is a mixed media, acrylic and diamond dust on canvas in a palette of white, black, and red by American Post-war, female artist Mary Corse. The artwork is unsigned.

In keeping with the West Coast’s unique brand of Minimalism, a contrast to its starker East Coast counterpart, Mary Corse adopted light as the primary subject in her exploration of visibility and perception. Like the work of her Southern California contemporaries such as Larry Bell, Robert Irwin, and James Turrell, Corse’s shimmering canvases are experiential pieces that stimulate a heightened sensory awareness. Corse mixes tiny glass microspheres into her paint before brushing it on the canvas, creating luminescent surfaces that capture a range of evanescent light effects. Her compositions seem to shift with different viewing angles and lighting conditions; up close each monochromatic white painting appears flat, but from a distance silvery geometric arrangements of bands come into view. Corse has noted that her paintings are not reflective, but rather “create a prism that brings the surface into view; creating a space that actually isn’t there.”

Born in Berkeley in 1945, Mary Corse earned her BFA from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1963 before receiving her MFA from the Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles in 1968. A Los Angeles-based artist aligned with the male-dominated Light and Space movement of the 1960s and 70s, Corse emerged as one of the group’s significant names while facing challenges of both geography and gender. Her work has been featured in solo and group exhibitions across the country, including shows at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles. Corse has been the recipient of several prestigious honors and awards throughout her career, most notably a New Talent Award from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 1967 and the Theodoran Award from the Guggenheim Museum in 1971.

A print by Salvador Dali. "Divine Comedy Purgatory Canto 3, from The Divine Comedy (La Divine Comédie)" is a surrealist print, color wood engraving in black and red by Spanish, Blue Chip artist Salvador Dali. The artwork is signed in the lower middle, "Dali" and numbered in pencil, lower left, "F3" and is editioned 232 of 1000.
Salvador Dali is best known for The Persistence of Memory, his painting of clocks melting in a landscape, the prolific Spanish Surrealist artist was born in 1904 in Figueres, Spain. He studied at an academy in Madrid before moving to Paris in the 1920s. There, he interacted with Magritte, Miro, and Picasso, and began his Surrealist phase. He painted The Persistence of Memory in 1931. He moved to New York in 1940. Dali, like Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, designed for theater productions as early as 1927. Later, the extent of his work went beyond creating stage décor and costumes to providing the libretto for Bacchanale (1939) and Labyrinth (1941). A lifetime of relentless controversy and self-promotion, as well as an extraordinary body of paintings and sculpture, assured Dali of what he wanted — immortality, or at least enduring fame that transcends art.

A print by Salvador Dali. "Divine Comedy Purgatory Canto 8, from The Divine Comedy (La Divine Comédie)" is a surrealist print, color wood engraving in black and red by Spanish, Blue Chip artist Salvador Dali. The artwork is signed in plate, lower middle, Signed in plate, lower middle, "Dali" and numbered in pencil, lower left, "F8" and is editioned 232 of 1000.
Salvador Dali is best known for The Persistence of Memory, his painting of clocks melting in a landscape, the prolific Spanish Surrealist artist was born in 1904 in Figueres, Spain. He studied at an academy in Madrid before moving to Paris in the 1920s. There, he interacted with Magritte, Miro, and Picasso, and began his Surrealist phase. He painted The Persistence of Memory in 1931. He moved to New York in 1940. Dali, like Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, designed for theater productions as early as 1927. Later, the extent of his work went beyond creating stage décor and costumes to providing the libretto for Bacchanale (1939) and Labyrinth (1941). A lifetime of relentless controversy and self-promotion, as well as an extraordinary body of paintings and sculpture, assured Dali of what he wanted — immortality, or at least enduring fame that transcends art.

"High Green, Version I" could be traced back to Diebenkorn’s experience of looking out the window of an airplane and being struck by the landscape’s abstract structure. In the print’s “high” region, a bright green form is linked by a dark V, which acts like a visual retaining wall, keeping the upper region from eroding and seeping into the expanse of blue below.

Richard Diebenkorn is best known for bringing a distinctly West Coast perspective to Abstract Expressionism. Mainly working with oil and acrylic, the artist made layered, gestural, and geometric paintings that took inspiration from American landscapes.

Diebenkorn exhibited across the United States and, in 1978, represented the nation at the Venice Biennale. His work can be found in institutions such as the Art Institute of Chicago the Los Angeles County Museum of Art the Phillips Collection, and the Whitney Museum American of Art, among others.

A print by Shepard Fairey. “Alto Arizona” is a contemporary, popular culture screenprint in black, red, and white by American street artist Shepard Fairey. The artwork is signed iin pencil, lower right, "Shepard Fairey 10", lower middle, "EAY 10" and editioned in pencil, lower left, "138/300”.
Frank “Shepard Fairey," a Los Angeles based graphic artist and muralist, is known as one of the most influential street artists of our time. Fairey has constantly shifted between the realms of fine art, commercial art, street art, and even political art, and is well known for the Obey trademark and his "Hope" poster of Barack Obama created during the 2008 Presidential election. This image received the Brit Insurance Design of the Year Award in 2009.
Although born in Charleston, South Carolina, Fairey attended the Idyllwild Arts Academy in Southern California, and later earned his BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, Rhode Island in 1992. Fairey's interest in art began at a young age. From drawings screenprinted on shirts and painted on skateboards, to plastering hand made stickers wherever he could, the artist soon became interested in street art culture and the graffiti movement. Today, Fairey's artwork has been exhibited in galleries and museums around the world, including the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston; the Centro de Arte Contemporáneo, Málaga; and the Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego.

For Arne Hiersoux, American Abstract Expressionist and “Action Painter” 1938- 1983, life itself was this space. Hiersoux brought this no holds-barred spirit of creativity to bear in both his artistic and entrepreneurial pursuits. The legacy he leaves behind chronicles both the artistic and business climates of this uniquely American period.

Born in West Virginia, in 1938, to a family of accomplished chamber musicians, Hiersoux learned the value of art and the discipline required of a true creative. For Arne, the complete integration of art and life meant that he committed as fully to his paintings as to his business ventures, always layering and circling back to create something new, inspiring and enduring. From the beginning, Arne was given permission to make a career in the arts. In his youth, the family made a trip to New Mexico. Arne was profoundly influenced by this landscape. The openness and endless sense of space, to him, meant unlimited possibility. The mysterious spirit of Native American’s way of life, so different from his own, captivated the young man’s soul. These influences led Arne to push the boundaries of man’s relationship to the physical and spiritual world, both in art and in business. Arne spoke occasionally of a premonition of a short life, which may have contributed to the underlying drive for his tireless energy. In a series of black and white paintings referencing Franz Kline, figures could be detected obliquely emerging through the expressionism of splashes and drips. The reference to “figures” appeared through out his work of the next few years. In 1962 at the Richmond Art Center, Arne exhibited a series of collages, using paper and acrylic on canvas. It was in show that he also began pushing the limits of size, with one painting stretching to eighteen feet. In the oil paintings shown in his one-man show at the Palace of the Legion of Honor, in 1963, the figures became more defined and appeared to be carrying a burden, or possibly forming wings. A subsequent show at Mills College, 1966, brought together his figures and their abstract worlds. At the same time the grand scale and unusual shapes of some of these works evoked questions about the relationship of the physical life of the paintings, and their environment.

Hiersoux was awarded an artist in residence fellowship in 1969 for the following year at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. The University was completing construction of the impressive Annenberg School for Communications. As part of the opening Arne was invited to exhibit in the lobby his expansive and euphoric Berkeley Park paintings. These paintings, impressive in their size, reflected his newfound love of flying – using poured paint, much like Pollock or Morris Louis.

"Song of Love" is an abstract Post-War oil painting on canvas created by Hans Hofmann in 1952. The artwork is 36.25 x 48.25 inches and is 45.25 x 57.25 x 2 inches with the frame, weighing less than 50 lbs. It is signed on the lower right, "Hans Hofmann" and also signed verso, "Hans Hofmann".

Hofmann's art is characterized by its expressive use of color planes, often overlapping and intersecting to create a sense of tension and harmony simultaneously. With the delicate mark-making and use of negative space across the canvas, “Song of Love” is reminiscent of the automatic drawings and paintings of Surrealists Andre Masson and Joan Miró, blended with the drips of paint in the large blue swaths of the Abstract Expressionist style.

"In the Wheatfield (Girl Standing in a Wheat Field)" is a painting by Winslow Homer. The painting is signed, lower left, "Homer 1873".

During the early 1870s, Winslow Homer frequently painted scenes of country living near a small farm hamlet renowned for generations for its remarkable stands of wheat, situated between the Hudson River and the Catskills in New York state. Today Hurley is far more famous for inspiring one of Homer’s greatest works, Snap the Whip painted the summer of 1872.

Among the many other paintings inspired by the region, Girl Standing in the Wheatfield is rich in sentiment, but not over sentimentalized. It directly relates to an 1866 study painted in France entitled, In the Wheatfields, and another, painted the following year after he returned to America. But Homer would have undoubtedly been most proud of this one. It is a portrait, a costume study, a genre painting in the great tradition of European pastoral painting, and a dramatically backlit, atmospheric tour de force steeped in the quickly fading gloaming hour light buoyed with lambent, flowery notes and wheat spike touches. In 1874, Homer sent four paintings to the National Academy of Design exhibition. One was titled, “Girl”. Might it not be this one?

Tetum People, Timor Island

"Untitled" is an abstract extruded anodized aluminum sculpture by Donald Judd in 1991. The artwork is 5 7/8 x 41 3/8 x 5 7/8 inches. It is stamped on plaque, "Don Judd 1991 Edition Schellmann Munchen - New York, Aluminum AG Menziken No. 12/12". It is edition 12/12.

Judd's sculptures are iconic embodiments of minimalist art, celebrated for their precision, clarity, and profound simplicity. His work is characterized by geometric forms, clean lines, and a meticulous attention to materiality, often using industrial materials like steel, aluminum, and Plexiglas. By emphasizing the inherent qualities of materials and the spatial relationships within his works, Judd redefined sculpture as a field that prioritizes objecthood and visual experience over narrative or symbolism.

A sculpture by Seth Kaufman. "Lignum Spire" is a contemporary sculpture, bronze with green patina by American Conceptual artist Seth Kaufman.
Seth Kaufman lives and works in Southern California. He teaches sculpture and design at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA. Kaufman has had solo exhibitions at, Long Beach University Art Museum, Long Beach, CA; Finesilver Gallery, San Antonio, TX and Post Gallery, Los Angeles, CA. His works have been included in numerous two-person and group exhibitions such as, “Installations Inside/Out 20th Anniversary Exhibition,” Armory Center for the Arts, Pasadena, CA; “Natural Artifice,“ Torrance Art Museum, Torrance, CA; “Extreme Materials,” Memorial Art Museum, Rochester, NY; “Seth Kaufman – John Morris,” Anthony Meier Fine Art, San Francisco, CA.

"Porter Series: Carte L'Europe (Shower Woman)" is a tapestry by South African artist William Kentridge. It is edition 1 of 5 and signed verso "W. Kentridge".

William Kentridge is a South African graphic artist, filmmaker, and theatre arts activist especially noted for a sequence of hand-drawn animated films he produced during the 1990s. The pungent humanism he revealed in these and other works echoed a larger European tradition of artists such as Honoré Daumier, Francisco de Goya, and William Hogarth.

Kentridge, whose father was a noted antiapartheid lawyer, attended the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg (1973–76) and the now-defunct Johannesburg Art Foundation (1976–78). At various times in the 1970s and ’80s, he worked as an actor, playwright, set designer, and theatrical director, and he studied mime and theatre in Paris in the early 1980s. In 1992 he began an ongoing collaboration involving multimedia performances with Handspring Puppet Theatre (founded 1981) in Cape Town.

As is clear from both his early training and his later artistic output, Kentridge’s interest in the visual arts was rooted in its connection with the theatrical arts. The narrative structure and character development in his films reflect this connection. While Kentridge pursued several avenues as an artist, at the centre of his work was a sequence of short animated films. To produce them, he made a rough charcoal drawing, photographed it, altered the drawing slightly, photographed it again, and so on. Kentridge’s original drawings are often completely effaced by their successors.

Many of these films—including Johannesburg, 2nd Greatest City After Paris (1989) and Felix in Exile (1994)—follow the fortunes of the greedy capitalist Soho Eckstein and his alter ego, the sensitive and artistic Felix Teitelbaum. They present modern South Africa as reflective of the spiritual, ecological, and emotional crises of late capitalism.

Kentridge later established himself as a consummate figure in the performing arts, particularly for his innovative stagings of the operas The Nose (2010) and Lulu (2015) at New York’s Metropolitan Opera and Wozzeck (2017) at the Salzburg Festival. Critics especially praised his layered use of projected drawings, woodcuts, and animation. His interdisciplinary performance pieces also drew acclaim, notably his rendition of Kurt Schwitters’s 1932 sound poem Ursonate (2017) and of The Head and the Load (2018), a tribute to the African soldiers who served in World War I.

Tadasky is an Op Artist born in Nagoya, Japan and living and working in upstate New York since 1961 with studios in Chelsea in Manhattan and Naponoch, NY.

"La Mia" is a painting by Carlos Luna. The painting is signed upper left, "C. Luna".

Carlos Luna’s oeuvre is an amalgam of native Cuban influence from twentiethcentury artists such as Wifredo Lam, Mario Carreño, and Cundo Bermudez, among others, and the profound influence of Picasso’s and Gris’ Cubism and Leger’s futurist embrace of the machine age. Luna finds inspiration in the naïve and the provincial resulting in an individuation that melds Mexico’s penchant for the macabre and the primitive with the art of western academy and results in his inventive exploration of these culturally diverse artistic forces.

Duality is a common theme in Cuban art, and Luna’s art embodies the internal struggles of an artist who has been uprooted. Part of the 1980’s artistic revolution in Cuba, Luna relocated to Puebla, Mexico and there enriched his unique style through the incorporation of Cuban icons with Mexican bravado of cultural practice and language, the storytelling of Mexcian muralism and even the horror vacui of the Latin American baroque. Luna approaches his paintings from the point of view of the conservator, almost as if restoring the discarded billboard or poster from a bygone era. Akin to a resurrection, Luna’s meticulous method involves building up layers of paint only to scrape them away, leaving them in an abraded state, then building up again in fresh layers that take on a much more refined and highly polished surface of painstaking detail, subtle modeling of form and brilliant colors.

Luna’s gouaches demonstrate strength of composition and when merged with the vivid coloration he employs in his oil paintings, the artist’s achievements become even more effective and visually alluring.

"Standing Nude" is a figurative Modern charcoal on paper drawing by Henri Matisse in c. 1904-07. The artwork is 13 1/2 x 9 inches and is 19 3/8 x 14 1/2 x 1 3/4 inches with the frame, weighing less than 50 lbs. It is signed in pencil, lower right, "Henri Matisse".

Henri Matisse, a pivotal figure in modern art, is renowned for his vibrant color palettes and innovative forms. However, his charcoal model sketches reveal a different dimension of his genius—one grounded in the raw simplicity and expressive power of line. Through these charcoal studies, Matisse not only honed his artistic vision but also laid the groundwork for his later masterpieces, bridging the gap between the representational and the abstract.

A painting by Roberto Matta. "L'epreuve" is a surrealist painting, oil on canvas in palette of grays, greens, and yellows by Latin American artist Roberto Matta. It is signed in the lower right, "Artsist Signature (Matta)".

Usually known by his surname, Matta was born in 1911 in Santiago, Chile. He studied architecture and interior design at the Sacre Coeur Jesuit College and the Catholic University of Santiago before leaving Chile to travel Europe. During this time, he met influential artistic luminaries including Salvador Dali, Rene Magritte, and Andre Breton. It was these relationships that helped foster Matta’s artistic development and connect him to the Surrealist movement. In 1938, Matta transitioned from drawing to painting and moved to New York later that year following the outbreak of World War II in Europe. His first solo exhibition was at the Julian Levy Gallery in New York in 1940. He left New York in 1948 and divided his time between Europe and South America through the 1960s. Matta was an active participant in many social movements throughout the 60s and 70s, a theme frequently represented in his work. Throughout his lengthy career, Matta exhibited at major art institutions worldwide including the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Museo de Bellas Artes in his native Chile, and is remembered today as a leading artist of the 20th century.

Much of Matta’s work explores the visionary landscape of the subconscious. In his “inscape” series, the artist attempts to represent the human psyche in a visual form. Inspired by Freud’s psychoanalytic writings, he busied his canvases with images of electrical machinery and distressed figures. Matta’s work shows the clear influence of his friend Yves Tanguy, whose works recall the allegories of Bosch and Bruegel. Matta was similarly influenced by Picasso’s socially and politically motivated work. Strong parallels between Picasso’s Guernica and Matta’s Crucifixion highlight this relationship. Matta was one of the first artists to integrate a blend of organic and cosmic life forms into his work, incorporating biomorphsim with surrealism. In the 1960’s Matta further innovated his style with the addition of clay to his canvases, adding a new dimension to his distorted imagery. Matta did not like to be thought of as a specifically “Latin American” artist. His unique style allowed him to directly address social, political, and spiritual themes in a Surrealist style alternative to social realism.

"After Hours" is a photograph by Marilyn Minter and is a chromogenic print. The framed photograph measures 87 1/2 x 57 3/4 x 2 in. The piece is edition 1 of 3. The work is part of her "Dirty" series.

Marilyn Minter was born in Shreveport, Louisiana in 1948 and raised in Florida. As a student at the University of Florida, Minter produced a series of photographs of her drug-addicted mother- Diane Arbus was a mentor during this period.

When the artist moved to New York City, her work was shown to prominent gallery and museum personalities. In 2005 Minter had a solo show at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art titled New Work: Marilyn Minter.

A sculpture by Manuel Neri. "Untitled" is a Bay Area Figurative sculpture, painted bronze in a palette of browns, whites, and pinks by Post-War artist Manuel Neri. The artwork is signed and stamped on the base, "MANUEL NERI" and is editioned 2/4.
Neri was a member of the "second generation" of Bay Area Figurative Movement and a prominent figure in the San Francisco art scene for many years. His primary subjects are life-sized women applied with brightly colored paint, often texturing the surfaces of his sculptures with scratches and gouges. This work is a good representation of the painterly figurative sculpture for which Manuel Neri is known.
Neri's work is included in numerous public collections, such as the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C., the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and the Seattle Art Museum.

An abstract, oil on linen on panel painting executed in bright oranges, blues and dark tans and browns by Post War artist Thomas Nozkowski. Signed verso, "Thomas Nozkowski."

Nozkowski's comment, "The second is one of three or four 15 x 30" paintings that I test flew to think about a new format. I had the idea that one way to move forward - towards more atmospheric and dynamic painting - might be possible by using a long, landscap-y support. I had been looking at Renaissance cassone panels, usually mythological scenes on dowery chests - I think that is what gave me the idea. It was a very difficult format and, although I started at least a dozen, only a few came to fruition. This one is probably the best of the bunch. So, this painting is an outlier - but a very interesting one. A hard sell for being less typical…and, as it turned out, changing my attitude was a more meaningful way to grow than simply changing my format!"

A painting by Jae Kon Park. A painting by Jae Kon Park. This untitled, abstract painting is executed in a lush and deep palette primarily in oranges, reds, yellows and greens. Jae Kon Park's art is characterized by vibrant colors and simplified, abstract images inspired by life, nature, the rootless quest of his own life, and an eternal fascination with the mysterious and the unknowable. Jae Kon Park graduated from Seoul National University of Fine Art in 1960 and was an artist from the post-war abstract generation. Jae Kon Park left Korea and spent 20 years living in and traveling through many different countries. His journey initially took him to Canada, Mexico, Tahiti, Tobago, Paraguay, Uruguay, Brazil, and Argentina, as he was in search as much for the meaning of life as for artistic inspiration.

"Untitled" is a painting by Jae Kon Park. The painting is signed in the lower right, "Jae Kon Park 85".

Born in South Korea, Park Jae Kon (1937 – 1993) attended Seoul National University of Fine Art. Not long after graduating, Park Jae Kon left Korea with his wife and two daughters. He and his family traveled widely, eventually settling in Argentina. He spent the rest of his life in South America, traveling to various regions and using the landscape and cultural history as inspiration for his artworks. As an artist, his output spanned various media, styles, and subject matter, producing work that ranged from gestural abstract expressionism and typographic woodcuts.

Throughout his career, travel continued to inspire him. Park Jae Kon created abstract landscapes that reflect the colors and light of the Andes Mountains and geometric abstractions that incorporate iconography from the South America’s ancient civilizations. Park Jae Kon himself found a deep spiritual resonance with South American and Indian cultural history, and his work captures this personal connection to Aztec, Incan, and Hindu iconography. In his later work, Park Jae Kon attempted to reconcile his Korean identity with his adopted homeland of South America. These works often combine the colors and patterns of ancient Incan and Aztec art with traditional Korean iconography. He was one of the first recognized Korean international artists of the post war period, with 33 international exhibitions, as well as 17 solo exhibitions, including a 2008 retrospective at the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Korea.

Ray Parker is most well known for his "Stroke" paintings of the 1950s and early 1960s. Smaller "Stroke" paintings like this are rare (only one of similar size and style has come to auction in the last ten years). Active in the AbEx movement, Parker was a part of major group exhibitions throughout the 1950s at museums including Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Whitney Museum of American Art.

Parker's works currently reside in museum collections including Whitney Museum of American Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

A painting by Fiona Rae. "Untitled (yellow, red + brown)" is a contemporary abstract painting, oil on canvas in a colorful palette of reds, blues, and browns by female artist Fiona Rae. The artwork is signed on the verso, on the overlap, "Fiona Rae".

"Fillette a l'orange (Little Girl with Orange)" is a figurative portrait Impressionist oil on canvas painting by Pierre-Auguste Renoir in 1911. The artwork is 25 3/4 x 21 3/8 inches and is 33 3/4 x 30 1/4 x 2 1/4 inches with the frame, weighing less than 50 lbs. It is signed lower left, "Renoir".

Pierre-Auguste Renoir's paintings embody the vibrant spirit of the Impressionist movement, capturing the fleeting beauty of everyday life with his masterful use of color and light. Known for his joyful depictions of social gatherings, lush landscapes, and intimate portraits, Renoir’s work celebrates human connection and the pleasures of the moment. His brushwork, characterized by soft, fluid strokes, creates a sense of warmth and movement.

"Fillette à l'orange," painted by Pierre-Auguste Renoir in 1880, is a captivating portrait of a young girl holding an orange, symbolizing both innocence and the joys of childhood. The painting showcases Renoir's signature style, with its vibrant color palette and soft, luminous brushwork that brings the girl's delicate features to life. The composition showcases Renoir's mastery in harmonizing colors between the background, the chair, and the girl's attire, illustrating his distinctive approach to total composition.

A painting by Diego Rivera. "Portrait of Enriqueta G. Dávila" is a modern portrait, oil on canvas in a palette of whites, browns, purples, and reds by Mexican artist Diego Rivera. The artwork is signed in the lower left, "Diego Rivera" and dated and inscribed in the upper center, "Señora Doña Enriqueta G. de Dávila. Fue pintado el año de MCMLII".

Think of artists from Mexico and few names loom as large as Diego Rivera. He was a leading member and founder of the Mexican Muralist movement along with David Alfaro Siqueiros and José Clemente Orozco. His works tackled artistic explorations alongside pressing themes of social inequality, politics, and Mexican history and culture. Only his wife and artist Frida Kahlo has reached similar heights of influence and impact. Rivera asserts a Mexicanidad, a quality of Mexican-ness, in this work along with his strong feelings towards the sitter. Moreover, this painting is unique amongst his portraiture in its use of symbolism, giving us a strong if opaque picture of the relationship between artist and sitter.

Enriqueta, a descendent of the prominent Goldbaum family, was married to the theater entrepreneur, José María Dávila. The two were close friends with Rivera, and the artist initially requested to paint Enriqueta’s portrait. Enriqueta found the request unconventional and relented on the condition that Rivera paint her daughter, Enriqueta “Quetita”. Rivera captures the spirit of the mother through the use of duality in different sections of the painting, from the floorboards, to her hands, and even the flowers. Why the split in the horizon of the floorboard? Why the prominent cross while Enriqueta’s family is Jewish? Even her pose is interesting, showcasing a woman in control of her own power, highlighted by her hand on her hip which Rivera referred to as a claw, further complicating our understanding of her stature.

This use of flowers, along with her “rebozo” or shawl, asserts a Mexican identity. As seen in “Mujer con alcatraces”, Rivera was adept at including and centering flowers in his works which became a kind of signature device. The flowers show bromeliads and roselles; the former is epiphytic and the later known as flor de jamaica and often used in hibiscus tea and aguas frescas. There is a tension then between these two flowers, emphasizing the complicated relationship between Enriqueta and Rivera. On the one hand, Rivera demonstrates both his and the sitter’s Mexican identity despite the foreign root of Enriqueta’s family but there may be more pointed meaning revealing Rivera’s feelings to the subject. The flowers, as they often do in still life paintings, may also refer to the fleeting nature of life and beauty. The portrait for her daughter shares some similarities from the use of shawl and flowers, but through simple changes in gestures and type and placement of flowers, Rivera illuminates a stronger personality in Enriqueta and a more dynamic relationship as filtered through his lens.

A closer examination of even her clothing reveals profound meaning. Instead of a dress more in line for a socialite, Rivera has Enriqueta in a regional dress from Jalisco, emphasizing both of their Mexican identities. On the other hand, her coral jewelry, repeated in the color of her shoes, hints at multiple meanings from foreignness and exoticism to protection and vitality. From Ancient Egypt to Classical Rome to today, coral has been used for jewelry and to have been believed to have properties both real and symbolic. Coral jewelry is seen in Renaissance paintings indicating the vitality and purity of woman or as a protective amulet for infants. It is also used as a reminder, when paired with the infant Jesus, of his future sacrifice. Diego’s use of coral recalls these Renaissance portraits, supported by the plain background of the painting and the ribbon indicating the maker and date similar to Old Master works. When combined in the portrait of Enriqueta, we get a layered and tense building of symbolism. Rivera both emphasizes her Mexican identity but also her foreign roots. He symbolizes her beauty and vitality but look closely at half of her face and it is as if Rivera has painted his own features onto hers. The richness of symbolism hints at the complex relationship between artist and sitter.

Jack Roth (1927-2004) was known as an Abstract Expressionist and Color Field painter. After studying with Mark Rothko at the California School of Fine Arts, he received a Masters degree in fine arts from the State University of Iowa in 1952, and a Doctorate degree in mathematics from Duke University in 1962. In 1979, he was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship and in 1982 he received a New Jersey Council on the Arts Award. He exhibited paintings in the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum Younger American Painters (May 12 to July 25, 1954) - alongside William Baziotes, Morris Louis, Richard Diebenkorn, Adolph Gottlieb, Philip Guston, Franz Kline, Willem de Kooning, Robert Motherwell, Jackson Pollock and others. This was one of the first major exhibitions of Abstract Expressionism at an American art museum.

The themes of celebrity and scandal anchor much of Lawrence Schiller’s diverse body of work, which spans from photography and nonfiction writing to directing Emmy and Oscar-winning films including The Executioner's Song (1981), Peter the Great (1986), and The Man Who Skied Down Everest (1972). Schiller achieved early success as a photojournalist, publishing photographs of movie stars, athletes, and politicians in magazines and newspapers worldwide. His most iconic images capture a nude Marilyn Monroe filming a pool scene for the motion picture Something’s Got to Give, just a few months before her death in 1962. In addition to his memoir Marilyn & Me (2012), Schiller has published eleven books including New York Times bestsellers American Tragedy, Perfect Murder, Perfect Town, and The Executioner's Song, with his lifelong collaborator Norman Mailer.

"Waterfall" is an abstract landscape natural pigments and platinum on Japanese mulberry paper mounted on board painting by Hiroshi Senju in 2021. The artwork is 36 x 46 inches and 36 1/2 x 46 1/2 x 1 1/2 inches with the frame, weighing less than 50 lbs. It is signed verso, "Hi Senju 2021".

Known for his Waterfall series, Senju's mastery of mineral pigments allows him to imbue his works with a remarkable sense of depth and movement, capturing the essence of water, mist, and light with unparalleled finesse. He is celebrated for his innovative approach to traditional Japanese painting, has carved a distinctive niche in the art world with his captivating compositions. "Waterfall" captivates with its serene yet powerful depiction of nature's relentless beauty.

Gregory Sumida is a painter and draftsman highly skilled in different media who, over a 50-year career, has explored a wide variety of subjects from landscapes and scenes of rural America to depictions of the Old West and portraits. "Geese" is a watercolor Sumida created in the early 1970's as part of a group of work of rural scenes mostly in the countryside around his hometown of Stockton, California. Following in the tradition of Andrew Wyeth, an artist Sumida greatly admires, he captured through his own interpretive lens a slice of Americana given, by his intensity of detail and superb technical control of earth tones, an atmospheric, autumnal, even nostalgic mood.

In the 1970s, Butterfield made her first horses from plaster, papier-maché, and mud and sticks - organic materials that linked a horse to its environment. The emotional resonance of these forms is crucial to the artist as she considers them to be metaphorical representations of herself. Her horses are at once gentle and powerful, beautiful and commanding. This 1981 sculpture of sticks and paper stretches across a large wall space, overwhelming the viewer with a presentation of grace and strength.

Butterfield’s work is held in the collections of dozens of U.S. museums, including the Art Institute of Chicago, the de Young Museum in San Francisco, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York.

"River Landscape with a Windmill and Chapel" is a painting by Dutch Old Master Painter, Jan van Goyen. There are traces of a signature on the bow of the boat in the right foreground.

Jan van Goyen came of age at a most propitious time. Born in 1596 and several generations after the Protestant Reformation that created a market for secularized art, he prospered as an artist specializing in the landscape. He would achieve great fame, his paintings synonymous with collectability and status. Indeed, mid-and-late seventeenth-century inventories of Dutch Republic households reveal that Van Goyen was represented in their collections more often than any other artist of the time; his paintings prized by people with neither great wealth nor exceptional connoisseurship as well as those who owned uncommonly fine paintings by Rembrandt, Hals, or Dou. Van Goyen is a key figure in the emergence of modern art commerce. But more importantly, he was a trendsetter who established a new aesthetic that dominated much of Dutch and Flemish landscape painting during much of the century labeled, ‘The Golden Age.’

This new aesthetic, a sober, sepia-toned palette bound by an underlying ochre ground is the stylistic mannerism for which Van Goyen’s is most known. He continued to accept commissions in the colorful manner of his earlier work in the manner of his teacher, Esaias van de Velde but the atmospheric, honeyed impression of River Landscape with a Windmill and Chapel is emblematic of his mature style. The style was employed by many artists of his generation (including still life and genre painters), but Van Goyen applied this palette and technique in the extreme throughout the 1630s and 1640s. It is a tack that facilitated rapid wet-on-wet application of paint that could accelerate the pace of production, address the demands of a burgeoning market, and reduce material costs. Yet whatever economic motivation that prompted Van Goyen to adopt the technique, no artist of the time displayed more virtuosity with a loaded brush or achieved more fame because of it. As Samuel van Joogstraeten related in his 1678 treatise on the art of painting, during a competition held around 1630, three landscapists were challenged to create a painting in a single day, and it was Van Goyen who displayed an effortless ability to conjure up a range of motifs out of nothing. ‘By “swaddling” the whole panel all at once — here light, there dark, more or less like a multicolor agate, or marbled paper — he (Van Goyen) was able, with barely any effort, to apply with tiny brushstrokes all manner of drolleries, so that over yonder a distant view looms up with peasant hamlets, while elsewhere appears an old fort with a gate and landing stage reflected in the rippling water, as well as various kinds of ships and barges, loaded with passengers and freight. In short, his eye — as though in search of the forms that lay hidden in the chaos of his painting — skillfully guided his hand, so that one saw a perfect painting.’ (Judikje Kiers, The Golden Age of Dutch Art, pg. 133)

River Landscape with a Windmill and Chapel offers several insights into key characteristics of technique and mannerisms that shape our appreciation for the so-called ‘Golden Age’; a low vantage point so that the eye of the viewer is at the height of the figures and setting, a generous expanse of a sky and clouds, and a fantastic sense of distancing and perspective. Van Goyen painted many views such as this, based on graphite, charcoal, or ink sketches while engaging in careful study of the formal elements near Dordrecht, Nijmegen, Rhenen, or Arnhem during the 1630s and until 1641. Between 1641 and 1651, he produced views such as this along a river, especially at Nijmegen, and as depicted in Castle by a River (Metropolitan Museum of Art) of 1647. In any event, given Van Goyen’s remarkable talent for extemporizing, changing, and shifting architectural elements, his work provides endless possibilities and remarkable variation.

"Portrait de Sylvie Lacombe" is a Post-Impressionist painting by Théo van Rysselberghe. The portrait is signed with monogram and dedication, upper right, "pour ma petite amie Sylvie Lacombe, Versailles juin 1906".

Théo van Rysselberghe was one of the most prominent Post-Impressionist and a leader of the avant garde artists in Belgium. Van Rysselberghe's early paintings were influenced by the Impressionists but in 1886, it was upon seeing Georges Seurat's monumental 'Sunday Afternoon on the Ile de la Grande Jatte', now at the Art Institute of Chicago, that changed the trajectory of his artistic style. Van Rysselberghe adopted the Pointillist style championed by Seurat and Paul Signac.

His greatest contribution to Post-Impressionism was his application to its methodology and tenets to portraits. Today his works are collected by museums across the globe, including the Metropolitant Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Louvre in Paris.

"Diamond Dust Shoes (Black and White)" is a screen print by American pop artist Andy Warhol. It is signed and editioned verso, " 18/60 Andy Warhol" Stamped verso, "© Andy Warhol 1980".

Andy Warhol — who famously said that, “In the future, everybody will be famous for 15 minutes” — was known for his portraits of influential and powerful celebrities, business people, and socialites. He was obsessed with wealth and fame. Warhol was a commercial illustrator before he found fame. For him, success in business was also art. He was a visionary who predicted a consumer society. As he assembled a motley cast of studio assistants and “Superstar” actors at his Factory studio in New York, Warhol himself became a pop culture icon — and eventually one of the most important artists of the 20th century. Warhol began making silkscreen paintings in 1962, because the process was faster and felt more like an assembly line than the traditional approach. He removed himself as much as he could from the process, leaving “the production” of his ideas to others who could reproduce images many times, with only slight differences. To create these works, Warhol would select photographs from newspapers and magazines, send them to a printer to be enlarged on silk screens, and then direct Factory assistants to lay the screens over canvases and apply one or two colors with a squeegee. Color was significant in his portraits, and his style became as identifiable as the personalities in the pictures. Warhol’s commentary on consumer and celebrity culture made him a controversial figure — both celebrated and panned by critics, collectors, curators and, eventually, the general public. Today, Warhol’s paintings are mostly held by institutions, which continually feature him in solo and group exhibitions, as well as in installations of their permanent collections. The ongoing fascination with his work and legacy contributes to his high market value and reinforces the icon status he had always hoped to gain.

Framed size 16.75 x 12.75

Framed size 16.75 x 12.75

"Portrait of a Boy" is a Chinese contemporary portrait oil on canvas painting by Zhang Xiaogang in 2004. The artwork is 39 3/8 x 31 5/8 inches and 42 1/4 x 34 3/8 x 1 1/8 inches with the frame, weighing less than 50 lbs. It is signed lower right, "[Chinese characters] 2004".

Xiaogang is a prominent contemporary Chinese artist known for his evocative paintings that explore themes of memory, identity, and cultural history. His signature style, characterized by haunting portraits and surreal landscapes, often reflects the complexities of modern Chinese society and the collective psyche shaped by the Cultural Revolution. Utilizing a unique blend of realism and abstraction, Zhang’s work invites viewers to ponder the interplay between personal and national narratives.

A painting by Jessie Arms Botke. "The White Peacock" is a wildlife impressionist painting, oil on canvas in a palette of whites, blues, and browns by female, American artist Jessie Arms Botke. The artwork is signed in the lower left, "JESSIE ARMS BOTKE, 1922".
Jessie Hazel Arms Botke was an American female artist who hold a high place in the California School of Impressionism. She was born in Chicago in 1883, and became known for her exotic, highly decorated bird studies -- most often, they are pictures of birds, a large variety including white peacocks, blue peacocks, cockatoos, ducks, swans, geese, pheasants, and toucans, among others. The birds are shown in natural settings accompanied by carefully painted flora, her paintings are richly adorned with an abundance of detail. She also did other subjects including Indian figures, genre, and desert landscapes, and usually painted in oil but worked in watercolor and gouache and frequently used gold and silver leaf in backgrounds.