Oil on canvas, 50" by 31", unframed, signed on the spine of the book at lower center in true trompe l'oeil style and dated there 1901. This is a beautifully painted work by an historical painter of late 19th century California, ALBERT JENKS (1830-1901). It is already quite impressive as it is, but, with a gold frame around it, I can envision this gracing the wall of a law office or museum...

Gouache and watercolor on paper ink signed landscape showing the famous old California Mojave Desert ghost down of Calico, 15 1/4" by 19 1/4" (24" by 28" in simple blond wood frame without glass), by California artist ANNA WILSON. This is an impressionistic work showing the small and insignificant hand of man in a grand wild desert landscape. There is a listing for an Anna Wilson in California but I do not believe that this is by the same artist...

In the style of noted and popular late 19th century/early 20th century pastel artist WILLIAM CHANDLER, this is a nicely executed work featuring purple grapes, a sectioned orange, a peach in the back, and some seeds and grape leaves. Measuring 10 3/4" by 14" (15 1/2" by 18 1/2" as framed), signed "MAYER" at lower right, I have been unable to match this up with a listed artist, but the work, dating to as late as 1930 or so, is very decorative and folky and in excellent condition, as is the frame.

Watercolor on paper, 16 1/2" by 11 1/4" inside the mat, 23 3/4" by 17 1/2" as framed, signed boldly at lower right by the California listed artist ALFRED OWLES (1894-1978). Owles was born in England and is today perhaps best known for his accurate watercolors of aircraft and early aviation, including depictions of World War I dogfights, with which he was personally familiar, having flown in the early craft as a photographer...

Oil on masonite, 18" by 24", (23" by 29" as framed), the subject a copper kettle on a small wooden stand on a table, with a cup and saucer, small blue milk pitcher and poinsettia in a decorative blue vase filling out the scene. The painting is signed at lower right "L. Johnson". I do not seem to be able to connect this to any listed artist so am offering it as a decorative work. It was found in San Diego, and the poinsettia suggests a California origin...

Oil on canvas landscape oil, unmounted/unstretched, contained loosely in a decorative and complementary modern white metal frame, measuring 5" by 7" (7 1/2" by 10" as framed), signed at lower left "A. Schilling". I would date this to the late 19th century or early years of the 20th. Schilling (1859-1937) exhibited in Chicago at the Art Institute, St. Louis at the world's fair, at the Pennsylvania Academy, and elsewhere...

Oil on canvasboard, 16" by 20" and 1 1/4" dark stained oak frame, signed at lower left with initial "D", and executed en grisaille (grays, whites, black). This is a work by an accomplished artist, showing what appears to be a solemn funeral gathering, with a minister reading from the bible as a black gravedigger looks on at right. The style of dress of the mourners suggests the 19th century as the period depicted...

Watercolor on paper laid down long ago on a thin old board, the subject being fruit, including green and purple grapes as well as a melon, measuring 10 3/4" by 18 1/4" inside the mat (19" by 26 1/2" as framed), apparently unsigned, dating likely to the late nineteenth century. This is a fine example of American still life art of the period. I would imagine the unknown artist would be listed, due to the quality of the work...

Oil on canvas still life of a small statuette of a horse and a copper vessel on a small table, 13" by 15" (14" by 16 1/2" as framed), signed at lower right "Virginia Weaver". I do not see a listing for the artist but evidently she was quite talented, as the perspective and flattening of the picture plane shows familiarity with modernist trends of the early 20th century...

Watercolor on heavy paper, 6 1/4" by 9", (9" by 11" as framed), unsigned, the subject a marble Parthenon-like classical ruined temple at right, several picturesquely dressed figures in the right foreground, and a cypress tree at left framing the scene. I would guess the age as circa mid 19th century. Unfortunately there is no signature nor other hint as to authorship...

Watercolor on paper of a rugged seacoast with rocks and surf (presumably California, but could be a number of other places including England), 10" by 13" inside the flimsy makeshift mat (18" by 22 1/2" as framed), signed at lower right "GAY", and bearing a bonus---a pretty study on the reverse side. I do not believe this to be by any of the noted artists who share that last name of "Gay". Nevertheless it is a nicely drawn work, in excellent condition. Allow for reflections...

Watercolor on paper country road scene with figure and possibly a horse, 4" by 8 3/4" inside the mat, signed at lower right "Lauro" and inscribed "A mi querido cunado (brother-in-law) Daniel" and dated 1881. I have searched for a listed artist that could correspond to this name but have not come up with a compatible listing. Purchased this at a flea market in Buenos Aires, Argentina...

Oil on canvas, circa late nineteenth century, 21 1/2" by 26 3/4" and about one inch wide framing, unsigned, featuring feathery trees, distant snowy mountains, a lake with small sail craft, and a gentleman pulling in nets on another small boat. This painting is in need of restoration, but, I believe it well worth saving for posterity...

This is a print on metal process, the sheet measuring 34" by 28", and the subject being "The Burning Bush". The work was created to celebrate the 1996 opening of the Skirball Cultural Center and Museum in West Los Angeles. The Skirball is known for its focus on American and European Jewish culture. This work is numbered 629/900 on the reverse in marker and is signed at lower right in marker by the artist. Over the years it has not been handled professionally and as a result the metal has cor...

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. The works over more than 125 y...

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. These artists around the turn of the century and the early years of the 20th century produced large numbers of original pastel landscapes and still life images, which are today very widely dis...

**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). Groll was New York-born, but spent a lot of time in Arizona, New Mexico and other points of the far west, painting and drawing the expansi...

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). Corneille passed away in the year 2010 after a long and distinguis...

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. Only due to the wonders of the internet have I been able to determine her birth and death dates and place of burial in Glendale, California at Forest L...

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. Yet I have received an email from a gentleman in Australia who in...

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. After an intense internet search, (though, ...

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. The imagery features such icons of the Southwest as a saguaro cactus, cow skull, five-pointed stars, a western styl...

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. After the war his work was exhibited at the Sao Paolo Biennale in 1951, and the recognition achieved there launched his commercial internationa...

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". There does not appear to be a listed artist by this name, which is surp...

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. Haitian art is very popul...

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. Among works he penned were "Chronicles of Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow" (1897), "Henry Hud...

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...

Oil on canvas painting of a traditional English cottage home adjacent to a pond where several ducks swim happily at right, signed at lower left by artist G. W. Andrews and dated there 1915. The work measures 16" by 12" and 19 1/2" by 15 1/2" framed. A figure stands on the small stone bridge overlooking the water. The painting is executed in a primitive hand but is very quaint and peaceful. Condition is excellent and stable, with no tears. On the reverse on the stretcher there is some writin...

A competently painted, luminous little work on canvas, 12" by 16" (17 1/4" by 21" framed), the subject high mountains in full fall color, likely the Rockies in Colorado, Wyoming, Montana or Idaho (or, possibly, even Canada). The artist signed the painting "C H Wells" at lower right. The painting likely dates to the 1970's or 1980's. While I do not see a listing for an artist by this name, he or she was clearly talented. The eye is drawn deep into this spacious and pleasant scene. Condition ...

A large portrait of a woman of obvious wealth and status, 36" by 35", signed "Wells" at lower right on a prop envelope, and dated there 1930, set into a beautiful, unique, valuable 3 3/4" wide frame by the famous framemaker M. (Maurice) Grieve Co. of New York and London (see photo, reverse of frame). An online search did not turn up a "Wells" artist that would obviously fit with this work's subject matter, handling, and period. However we can see that this artist was quite obviously a skilled ...

An original lithograph on heavy paper, unframed, pencil signed at lower left by the noted Israeli contemporary artist MENASHE KADISHMAN (1932-2015). The print, featuring Kadishman's trademark imagery, of a sheep's head, measures 29 7/8" by 19 3/4". The artist was born in Tel Aviv and by the late 1940's was already studying with sculptors Moshe Sternschluss and Rudi Lehman. In the early 1950's, the young Kadishman lived on a kibbutz, where he was exposed to sheep and shepherding; the experienc...