A large (19" by 23") watercolor painting of striking desert formations of the Southwest, with distinct modernist overtones, signed at lower right by listed artist MYRTLE MAE HOFFMAN CAMPBELL (1886-1978). The work depicts a dramatic landscape, perhaps in Utah, or Arizona, the geologic formations seemingly mimicking organic forms and Moderne and Art Deco shapes. The signs of man are scant; some shacks and a stack at upper left...

An oil on canvas painting of garden flowers in a glass vase in an interior near a window, not signed on the front but on reverse stretcher is written in pencil "Rena Patterson" and a phone number with Southern California area code. This is a work of contemporary artist RENA PATTERSON, presently of Malibu, CA but previously a resident of many states from coast to coast...

Pastel drawing of a mountain landscape, 9 3/4" by 14 1/4" (17 1/2" by 21 1/2" as framed), signed at lower left corner with the name "I E Cutler". The scene is likely to be of Colorado as there is an old framer's sticker from Turner Art Gallery of Denver. Below that is what appears to be a date, in pencil, "2-19-31". Even though the frame is mid century, it appears that the old original backing paper with label was retained when the work was re-framed...

A rare circa 1930 oil by the noted Northern California woman artist GRACE ALLISON GRIFFITH (1885-1955), the subject a tawny field among rugged hills. The unframed oil on canvas board measures 12" by 15 3/4". The artist signed in red at lower right with her distinctive signature. Griffith was born in Sebastopol, California, near Santa Rosa, in idyllic Sonoma County farm and ranch country. Her father, a fruit rancher, was credited with introducing the Gravenstein apple variety to the area...

Oil on canvas painting of autumnal trees with a few houses in the composition at center, 12" by 16" (20 1/2" by 24 1/2" in newer frame), signed at lower right in red and dated 1933 or 1939 by Hungarian artist JANOS LASZLO ALDOR (1895-1944). As the images of the reverse labels show, the artist was apparently misidentified by previous owners, including the Brand Library in Glendale, California. Aldor painted landscapes of his native land, as well as often elegant portraits and nudes...

Scarce print, "Coal--Mahanoy City--The Main Street", so titled and pencil signed by the artist, Joseph Pennell, in the lower margin, with notation "Trial Proof" at lower left. This is a scene of a gritty small town in east-central Pennsylvania's anthracite coal belt, Mahanoy City, about 50 miles northwest of Reading. The total edition is said to have been 50 impressions...

This is an original ink wash on paper drawing, 12" by 17 1/2" (17 3/4" by 23" as framed shadow-box style behind Plexiglas), the image featuring a voluptuous nude woman and a bull that looks positively Chagall-like, signed at lower left corner by the highly important American twentieth century sculptor artist, REUBEN NAKIAN (1897-1986)...

This is an original etching, 11" by 16 1/2" (17" by 21" as framed), by American artist Kerr Eby (1889-1946). The title of the work is "Cattle Ford", and it was executed in 1945, in an edition of 100 apparently. Eby was born in Tokyo to Canadian missionaries but was in the United States by age 3. At 18 he went to New York City for art education, working for a lithographic firm to enhance his financial situation, gaining valuable experience that served him well later in life...

Original ink and watercolor drawing of historic houses in New Orleans, signed at right by artist Jean Johnson and dated there 1968, and titled at left "Cottage, Hoggle Place" or similar. The work is detailed and very nicely handled. I cannot locate information on the talented artist. Measurements are 10 1/2" by 14 1/2" (16 1/4" by 19 1/2" framed). The photos were taken through the old detail-dulling non-glare glass (which I suggest be discarded)...

This is a fine pastel of a pair of dogs---Labradors possibly---(I welcome input from dog lovers)--one named at bottom "Lozi", the other, "Pamuzi", the drawing signed at lower left with what appears as "Janaa Olsen" or "Janaa Owen" or similar, and dated there 1988. It appears to be a portrait commissioned by an owner who was obviously very attached to these particular canines, who appear at this time to have been in the prime of their lives...

(See two other works by the artist in my shop)**Nicely executed watercolor painting of traditional Japanese scene in the autumn season, measuring 12 1/4" by 8 3/4", unframed, signed at lower left by the talented listed Japanese artist FUKUTARO TERAUCHI (1891-). Terauchi was born December 9,1891. In 1910 he entered the private school Kiyoteru Kuroda, and later became a member of the Hakuda Association...

A pair of fine lithograph prints on Arches paper, from an edition of 300 examples, signed in the plate, printed in 1966 in Paris by Andre Sauret for Mourlot Freres. The prints are from a set of twelve images that were used as illustrations in the book "Stempeniou" by Cholen Aleikhem. The major Jewish-Ukrainian artist, EMANUEL MANE-KATZ (1894-1962) began working on the project in Geneva in 1958, at which time he created the gouaches on which the prints were later based...

For those seeking an early California painting featuring the Golden Gate, consider this circa 1900 (possibly as early as 1880's?) unsigned work on gray artist's board, 18" by 24" (22 1/2" by 28" as framed), the subject the Golden Gate looking north from approximately the Land's End area, Civil War-era Fort Point in the middle distance, and Mt. Tamalpais in the far distance in Marin County, a steam powered boat and a three masted ship in the channel. The world famous Golden Gate Bridge now spans...

This is an antique photograph of earlier days on Charlotte Street, in the very historic town of Saint Augustine, Florida (which dates to 1565). For a long time I suspected this was Saint Augustine but recently I saw another example of this photograph, and in the margin it was titled "Charlotte Street, Saint Augustine". Charlotte Street is a block in from the ocean front road, in the old center of the town. Today it is squarely in the tourist zone, with T-shirt shops, fudge purveyors, and inti...

Pencil on paper drawing, 6 1/4" by 15", unframed, signed at lower right and dated there 1991, by the noted contemporary sculptor, ceramicist, designer and painter PETER SHIRE (1947-). This complex modern drawing is imaginative, three dimensional, and whimsical, and could only have been created by a true artist. Shire was becoming known on the art scene with his now famous teapot sculptures in the early 1980's, attracting the attention of Memphis figure Ettore Sottsass. He was invited to Italy, t...

Watercolor and white gouache highlights on paper drawing of a Mexican campesino on horseback with rifle in hand, 25 1/2" by 19 1/2" and modern framing 1 5/8" wide on a side, signed at lower right and dated there in Roman numerals 1930 ("XXX"), by important Mexican twentieth century artist FEDERICO CANTU (1908-1989). This is a work of an artist who had been relatively obscure until relatively recently, due to a variety of reasons, including a lack of self-promotion, but in 1934 he exhibited with ...

Original Currier and Ives lithograph print "The Straw-Yard, Winter", 12 3/4" by 15 1/2" inside the overmat, 20" by 22 1/2" as framed, the subject quite desirable: a white horse, a dark brown horse in the center, surrounded by a veritable menagerie of a winter barnyard in the country, including contented pigs eating their turnips at left, ducks and pigeons pecking away underneath and around the horses, and a pigeon even perched on a snowy fence post, face to face with the white horse, as other h...

One of three works in my shop by the same artist, F. KENWOOD GILES of Bermuda (1899/1900-1972), is this watercolor on paper painting, 18" by 22" (the largest of the three works) inside the mat, 26" by 30" as framed, (no glass and frame loose), the subject a white-roofed island homes on a finger of land bordered by water on several sides, flowering shrubs, coconut palms, a few pines or cedars, a meandering unpaved road and some small boats in the harbor completing the happy scene. The paintings a...