Unsigned watercolor landscape painting, late 19th century American origin, the subject a chilly shoreline including snow-covered shacks, two figures, and a small overturned boat in winter storage, measuring 11" by 21" inside the mat (16" by 25" as framed). This is a primitive work, the figures a bit small and out of scale, and therefore a charming work, rather typical of late nineteenth century American watercolor by self-taught artists. CONDITION: Foxing in the sky, as shown, otherwise good...

A PAIR of oil on canvas works, each 14" by 10", unframed, featuring hanging wild birds against a simulated wood-grain background, painted in the then-popular realistic trompe l'oeil manner of painters like William Harnett in America, or Michelangelo Meucci (1840-1909) in Italy. The paintings likely date to about the 1880's. They are signed but despite my best efforts, I have been unable to make out the worn and faint signature. An image of that area is provided...

Pastel on paper laid on board, 15 1/2" by 19 1/2" (19" by 23 1/2" as simply framed---no glass), signed at lower right by noted American pastel artist ANDREW GUNDERSON (1888-1964). This is a rather typical example by the artist, who is grouped today with such pastellists as William Chandler and Glatthaar...

**PAIR** of pastel and pencil drawings on paper affixed to board at edges, each 9 3/4" by 13 1/2" inside the mat, currently in simple contemporary inexpensive frames, one signed in pencil at lower right "GROLL". These appear to be possibly scenes of Mexico or even Spain (the artist studied in Europe) by listed American artist ALBERT LOREY GROLL (1866-1952)...

This is a lithograph, titled "Heure Matinale", 19 3/4" by 25 3/4", unframed, signed in pencil at lower right by the artist and dated there "61", with "epreuve d'artiste" notation, by the noted CoBra artist GUILLAUME CORNELIS VAN BEVERLOO, best known by the pseudonym "CORNEILLE" (the French word for "crow"). The regular edition of this print appears to have been of 120 examples, on BFK Rives paper (and this has those watermarks)...

A vintage California oil on canvas painting of high mountains and the desert at sunset, probably painted circa 1935 through the early 1940's, 20" by 24" (23" by 27" in likely the original frame), signed at lower right by Los Angeles area artist ESSIE KAILEY (1897-1986). Kailey is not apparently a known artist, and was likely a talented amateur...

Oil on masonite monochromatic coastal landscape with headlands and seabirds, measuring 20" by 24" (29" by 33" as framed), signed at lower right "Jean Appleton". I cannot with confidence offer this as an authentic work of the noted Australian artist by this name. I have seen in the Los Angeles area, a number of paintings thus signed. I have sent several of these to Australia where they sold at auction as authentic works by her...

An original lithograph print, circa 1967, "Words of Maximus of Tyre", hand signed at lower right in soft pencil, stamped with the red chop mark, and annotated in pencil "Closing paragraph from Dissertatis VIII of Maximus of Tyre (2d Cent. A.D.)", by the important American Social Realist artist BEN SHAHN (1898-1969). Most of Shahn's prints were in editions of not more than 200; of some, less than 50 examples are known; and some are today very scarce...

A striking modernist work titled "Fantasia" and dated 1952, by Tucson Fine Arts Association member BESS WEST. The work , oil on canvasboard (18" by 14", and 18 1/2" by 22 1/2" in apparently original frame) is signed at lower right "B. WEST" and on reverse appears the title, artist name and date, and an original card from the Seventh Annual Independent Open Show in Tucson in 1953...

Set of FOUR woodblock prints on special Kizuki Hosho paper from the Book-of the-Month Club series, circa late 1960's/early 1970's, each signed and bearing a red seal, by the important post-war Japanese sosaku hanga artist KIYOSHI SAITO (1907-1997). Saito was one of the first woodblock artists from Japan to be widely accepted by an international audience...

Acrylic or oil on canvas painting, 25" by 30 1/2" in simple frame, painted somewhat in the Op Art style, the imagery difficult to summarize: shapes of diamonds, clubs, heart, (think playing cards), superimposed on each other, and in turn superimposed on what appears to be a background of open water and endless mountain ranges. The work is signed at lower left "Marilyn Griffith" and titled on stretcher "21 String Mandala"...

Ideal additions to a child's room, these three colorful original paintings, each 8" by 10", unframed, are fine examples of naive or "primitive" art from Haiti. Each is signed by artist "E Maxime". The fantasy landscapes of wild animals surrounded by tropical vegetation of a wide array of vivid colors and unusual shapes are bound to stimulate a child's imagination. But if you are an adult and you also find the color and composition fascinating, you will not be alone...

A 9" by 13" watercolor painting (15" by 19" framed) of a river bounded by vegetation several ducks swimming picturesquely at lower right, signed at lower left by the noted historian and author Edgar Mayhew Bacon (1855-1935) of Tarrytown, New York. The work is titled on an old Hudson Valley Art Exhibition exhibition label "Ashley River, Near Charleston S.C. $35.00". Bacon was a noted historian and author...

A work of Surrealism, 22" by 26", unframed, the imagery a strange landscape in blues, two bare trees at right center, and an odd shaped biomorphically-inspired form (part looks like an index finger complete with nail) at left foreground, completing the strange composition. The painting is signed at lower right by the artist; the first name is Bruce and the last name is difficult to make out, perhaps Hailey, Harley, Hurley or similar. On the reverse he has titled the piece on the stretcher AND...

Oil on canvas landscape with mountains and river in a steep sided canyon in winter, 8" by 12" (9 1/2" by 13 1/2" framed), signed at lower left "F. Sima" and dated there 1921. Although the name suggests an artist likely of Czech origin, this painting's stretcher and materials suggests the scene was painted in America, perhaps in the Rocky Mountains of the west. A search of the standard internet databases does not show an artist by this name, which is surprising. The work is beautifully painted...

A set of SIX framed engravings, each 14" by 9" and 16 1/2" by 12 1/2" identically framed, featuring architectural facades and urns, by the very well known eighteenth century Flemish architect and engraver JEAN FRANCOIS DE NEUFFORGE (1714-1791). Neufforge is known for his "Recueil Elementaire d'Architecture", a landmark publication of its time, late editions containing 900 engravings of all aspects of 18th century architecture. The work went through a number of editions beginning in the 1750's,...

Circa 1940 watercolor landscape painting, 11 1/4" by 15 1/4", 19" by 22 1/2" framed (no glass), signed at lower left by artist Edith Ovaitt. Edith appears to have been a talented amateur artist. An internet search reveals a woman by that name born in 1893 or 1898, living in Flint, Michigan at the time of the 1930 census. That Edith Ovaitt died in 1969. Ovaitt is apparently a fairly common name in that area. The watercolor's blue dominating color is very soothing and the work is clean. Just...

A really well executed oil on canvas painting of a hammock of dry land in the Everglades of southern Florida, a summer cumulus cloud at right about to become a thunderhead, 18" by 24" (22" by 28" framed), circa late 1960's or early 1970's, signed at lower right by listed artist EDWARD ARTHUR EVANS (1895-). Evans, it appears (after a focused internet search), was born in 1895 in Muskogee, Oklahoma. He was evidently a man of many talents; an engineer, Army officer in both World Wars (advancing t...