William T. Smedley Art

Hand-colored steel engraving of a the Turkish section of the Great Exhibition of 1851 by Lowes Cato Dickinson (British, 1819-1908). On verso i...

Delicate floral still life in the style of a botanical drawing of magnolia flowers in a glass vase with a figurine of a duck by Alexina Chamberlain (American, 20th Century). Presente...

This stunning furniture study project drawing was designed by L' Atelier 43 Studio in Lyon, France, in the 1930s. The study features a project for a custom-made interior bar in a typ...

A ca. 1931 delightful watercolor still life at a table; a study in yellow by artist Harold Haydon. Harold Emerson Haydon was born in Fort William, Ont...

In my art practice I love to use bright colors which boldly contrast with complementary colors so I could get unusual original compositions and structures. The objective of this ar...

Intimate still-life of firewood and tools by the hearth by Joseph Yeager (American, 20th Century). This piece is unsigned, but was acquired with a collection of Yeager work directly ...

Bruno Martini was born in Murano, Italy in 1911, and studied at the Academy of Venice. In the 1930s and 40s Martini exhibited in numerous solo and group regional and international ex...

Polly Kraft American (1928-2017) Umbrella Still Life (1984) watercolor on paper signed lower right 29 1/2 x 41 1/2 inches frame dimensions: 33 x 45 1/4 x 1 1/2 inches, wood frame with acrylic glazing Provenance: East Hampton Collection Fischbach Art Gallery New York, NY label affixed verso Polly Kraft, Known for painting portraits, landscapes, and still-lifes, realist artist Polly Kraft worked in both watercolor and oil. She had the ability to translate a split second glance into a memorable painting.a painter who turned quotidian objects and scenes — a sliced red apple still bearing its seeds, an unmade bed cluttered with mail, a filleted fish vibrant even in death — into works of art resonant with meaning, Her son, Mark Stevens is an art critic who with his wife, Annalyn Swan, co-authored the Pulitzer Prize-winning biography “de Kooning: An American Master” Mrs. Kraft spent a half-century at the center of the Washington establishment as the wife of Joseph Kraft, the syndicated newspaper columnist, and later, after Kraft's death in 1986, of Lloyd Cutler, the high-powered lawyer who was White House counsel to Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton. Her marriages took her into the thick and thicket of social life in the capital — a world, she once remarked, where "politicians were mixed in with intellectuals, mixed in with academics, mixed in with movie stars." She counted among her friends members of the Kennedy family, former Washington Post chairman and publisher Katharine Graham, former Post executive editor Benjamin C. Bradlee and diplomats W. Averell and Pamela Harriman. Although oft cited as a doyenne of Georgetown hostesses, Mrs. Kraft professed that she relished neither politics nor Washington’s breed of socializing, which at times approached the intensity of a competitive sport. “When it comes to the poetry of dishevelment, Polly Kraft is one of our more rewarding practitioners,” art critic John Russell wrote in the New York Times in 1981. “She specializes in the domestic pileup — cushions knocked out of shape, books and magazines left askew, hasty departures acted out in verismo style. The point of the paintings lies in the contrast between this archetypal havoc and the order that Mrs. Kraft has imposed upon it.” Classic Americana. Her paintings, mainly watercolors and oil paintings, appeared at venues including the Corcoran Gallery of Art and Addison/Ripley Fine Art in Washington (she was part of their 40 year retrospective along with Lou Stovall, Diana Walker...

“Dime a Dance” American Art Deco 20th Century Modernism Pin-Up Social Realism Arthur Rosenman Ross (1913 - 1981) “Dime a Dance”, 1933 Watercolor and Ink on Illustration Board 18” x 10 1/2 inches (sight) Signed Arthur Rosenman, ‘33 L/R 29 1/2”H x 25 1/2 inches ( Framed) Provenance: Estate of the artist. The Drawing is in very good condition. The period frame is solid, but could use some restoration. BIO Arthur Rosenman Ross was a key figure in automotive design at General Motors during America's "Golden Age" of auto design, the 1930's through the 1950s. He attended the Art Institute of Chicago from age 17, exhibiting a special interest for automotive renderings and the female figure. In 1934, he changed his name from Rosenman to Ross, fearing his Jewish ancestry could prejudice his career prospects. At age 20, he turned down job offers from MGM Studios in Hollywood and Duesenberg to work at General Motors alongside the Legendary Harley Earl in 1935. He was hand picked by Mr. Earl and assigned to GM's War and Camouflage Division in 1937 through WW2. It was during this pivotal period in which he executed some extraordinary military aircraft artworks, likely used between GM and America's military aeronautics companies in design preparation for WW2. General Motors played an important role in helping America's aircraft manufacturers preceding and during the war. Just after the war in 1945, Mr. Ross was rewarded by GM, being made Chief Designer of Cadillac, then two years later becoming Chief at Oldsmobile until his retirement in 1959. He was in large part responsible for some of GM's classic Cadillac designs such as the Cadillac Sixty Special, Fleetwood, LaSalle and GM's first concept car, the extraordinary Buick Y-Job. Mr. Ross was an exceptionally charismatic and vivacious man who quite by chance, befriended His idol, Salvador Dali at GM in 1955. They talked about art, cars and girls late into the evening, according to his son, Carter Ross. He had a gift in rendering the erotic arts...

Colorful landscape of Moss Landing marshland (just north of Carmel, California by Les (Leslie Luverne) Anderson (American, 1928-2009). Signed lower left c...

Elegant mid-century watercolor still-life with grapes, a vase, and fine china depicting three cranes by Laurelda Cecille Schmidt (American, 1903-1994). Presented in a giltwood frame...

French school 19th century, Court scene in front of a palace watercolor on paper 16.4 x 13.3 cm In good condition, some foxings Framed : 30 x 26.5 cm This enigmatic yet charming s...