James Lechay

"Pink Vase with Flowers"

c. 1990

Jim’s of Lambertville is proud to offer this artwork by: Mercedes Matter (1913 - 2001) Best known as a painter of abstract still life and founder of the New York Studio School, M...

Jim’s of Lambertville is proud to offer this artwork by: James Lechay (1907 – 2001) Born in the Bronx in 1907, James Lechay spent most of his childhood in Brooklyn before moving to Joilet, Illinois at age 13 to live with his uncle after his mother passed away. In 1928, he received his B.A. in psychology from the University of Illinois. The next year, he attended one week of graduate school before leaving to study under his brother, the painter Myron Lechay, in New York. At his brother’s studio, James began to associate with other artists of the time such as Milton Avery, Mark Rothko, Arshile Gorky, William Zorach, and Raphael and Moses Soyer. From Myron, James Lechay learned to train his eye to observe natural forms and developed a philosophy dependent upon the relationship built between the artist and the subject. Lechay became engaged in the social and political issues of Depression-era New York and even joined the social realism movement for a brief time in the 1930s. He operated as the leader of the Artists Union while employed by the Works Progress Administration (WPA). With the WPA, Lechay traveled to Las Vegas, New Mexico, where he established a gallery and exhibited the works of Milton Avery, Max Weber, and other WPA artists. Despite his association with many artists and artistic communities in New York in the 1930s and 40s, Lechay opposed adopting a style due to its popularity and commercial success. His use, however, of large brushstrokes from Abstract Expressionism, the flattened plane of Modernism, and the simple compositions of early Abstraction created a combination of styles completely his own. A painter of a vast range of subjects, including still lifes, portraits, and landscapes, Lechay was known to reduce these forms to their visual essentials. Lechay often did not date his paintings as he frequently reworked them, even after they were exhibited, calling his pieces, “finished at all stages and never finished”. In 1945, Lechay was hired by the University of Iowa’s art department, where he worked alongside Mauricio Lasansky, Humbert Albrizio, Carl Fracassini, and Byron Burford...

Jim’s of Lambertville is proud to offer this artwork by: Vaclav Vytlacil (1892-1984) He was born to Czechoslovakian parents in 1892 in New York City. Living in Chicago as a youth, he took classes at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, returning to New York when he was 20. From 1913 to 1916, he enjoyed a scholarship from the Art Students League, and worked with John C. Johansen (a portraitist whose expressive style resembled that of John Singer Sargent), and Anders Zorn. He accepted a teaching position at the Minneapolis School of Art in 1916, remaining there until 1921. This enabled him to travel to Europe to study Cézanne’s paintings and works of the Old Masters. He traveled to Paris, Prague, Dresden, Berlin, and Munich seeking the works of Titian, Cranach, Rembrandt, Veronese, and Holbein, which gave him new perspective. Vytlacil studied at the Royal Academy of Art in Munich, settling there in 1921. Fellow students were Ernest Thurn and Worth Ryder, who introduced him to famous abstractionist Hans Hofmann. He worked with Hofmann from about 1922 to 1926, as a student and teaching assistant. During the summer of 1928, after returning to the United States, Vytlacil gave lectures at the University of California, Berkeley, on modern European art. Soon thereafter, he became a member of the Art Students League faculty. After one year, he returned to Europe and successfully persuaded Hofmann to teach at the League as well. He spent about six years in Europe, studying the works of Matisse, Picasso, and Dufy. In 1935, he returned to New York and became a co-founder of the American Abstract Artists group in 1936. He later had teaching posts at Queens College in New York; the College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland, California; Black Mountain College in North Carolina; and the Art Students League. His paintings exhibit a clear inclination toward modernism. His still lives and interiors from the 1920s indicate an understanding of the art of Cézanne. In the 1930s, his works displayed two very different kinds of art at the same time. His cityscapes and landscapes combine Cubist-inspired spatial concerns with an expressionistic approach to line and color. Vytlacil also used old wood, metal, cork, and string in constructions, influenced by his friend and former student, Rupert Turnbull. He eventually ceased creating constructions as he considered them too limiting. The spatial challenges of painting were still his preference. During the 1940s and 1950s, his works indicated a sense of spontaneity not felt in his earlier work. He married Elizabeth Foster in Florence, Italy, in 1927 and they lived and worked in Positano, Italy for extended periods of time. Later on, they divided their time between homes in Sparkill, New York and Chilmark, Massachusetts, where Vyt, as he was affectionately called, taught at the Martha's Vineyard Art...

Jim’s of Lambertville is proud to offer this artwork by: Bror Julius Olsson “B.J.O.” Nordfeldt (1878 – 1955) Bror Julius Olsson was born in Tullstrop, Sweden in 1878. He immigrated to the United States in 1891, later adopting his mother’s maiden name of Nordfeldt. Beginning his art studies at the Art Institute of Chicago where he was chosen to assist fellow artist, Albert Herter, with a large mural project for the McCormick Harvester Company. In 1900, he was sent to Paris by McCormick to help set up the completed mural at the Paris Exposition. While there, he studied briefly at the Academie Julian before traveling to England to study woodblock printmaking under F. Morley Fletcher. Returning to Chicago in 1903, Nordfeldt would spend the next ten years painting mainly figurative works in an academic style similar to that of the Old Masters. By the mid-teens he had developed a bold dramatic modernist style and divided his time between New York and Provincetown, Massachusetts. There, he invented the “Provincetown Print...

Jim's of Lambertville Fine Art Gallery is proud to offer this work by Cora S. Brooks (1885 - 1930). Cora S. Brooks was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey in 1885. Her father, Edward F. Brooks, was the General Superintendent of the Pennsylvania Railroad. In 1902, her family moved to Lansdowne, PA. She attended the Philadelphia School of Design for Women (now the Moore College of Art & Design). Brooks specialized in flower still lives, but also was known to paint landscapes, and do an occasional portrait. She was one of the founding members of the Philadelphia Ten, a group of women artists who emerged out of the Philadelphia art...

Jim's of Lambertville Fine Art Gallery is proud to present this piece by Gershon Benjamin (1899 – 1985). An American Modernist of portraits, landscapes, still lifes, and urban scene...

What makes Sally West’s original oil paintings so recognizable is the combination of texture, abstraction, and calming colors. The movement of her paint strokes on canvas is reminiscent of a light breeze or waves. Each painting is completed in one day, with the date present in the title. West's textural pieces take at least eight weeks to completely dry. Once dry the thick paint takes on an almost sculptural effect. Overall, West’s color palette is uniquely her own and it conveys a very specific feeling of comfort associated with familiarity and softness. This one-of-a-kind 12-inch high and 16-inch wide artwork is painted with thick, textural oil paint on canvas. It is wired and ready to hang. It is signed by the artist on the front lower right corner as well as the back. The sides of this artwork are painted and it is ready to hang. Free local Los Angeles area delivery. Affordable Continental U.S. and worldwide shipping are available. A certificate of authenticity issued by Artplex Gallery is included. Sally West was born in West Wyalong, Central New South Wales. West grew up on a farm and as a teenager moved to Eastern Sydney for school. Throughout her life, she has traveled through and lived in both Europe and South East Asia to gain inspiration for her artwork. Although her international journeys have influenced her style, the subjects of her paintings are very close to home. The subjects of all of her paintings exist in an infinite timeline inspired by her location in Eastern Australia. Since West’s first breakthrough solo exhibition in New York in 2011, her artworks have become highly sought after internationally. She has won and placed as a finalist in numerous worldwide art competitions and juried exhibitions throughout her career. Her artworks are exhibited in influential galleries across Australia and the USA and are included in significant art collections around the globe. REPRESENTATION Artplex Gallery, Los Angeles, USA SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2021 Breeze, KAB Gallery, Crowne Plaza Hotel, Terrigal Sally West, Jag Gallery, Key West, Florida, USA 2020 PINK, KAB Gallery, Crowne Plaza Hotel, Terrigal 2019 Spring Colours – Sydney, Fellia Melas Gallery, Woollahra, Sydney Lizzie Beach, KAB Gallery, Terrigal 2018 Sally West, Art Images Gallery, Adelaide All Sorts, Fellia Melas Gallery, Woollahra, Sydney 2017 Surf & Snow, KAB Gallery, Crowne Plaza, Terrigal Figurative Focus, KAB Gallery, Crowne Plaza, Terrigal Around Town, Traffic Jam Galleries, Netural Bay 2016 Spring Sydney, Fellia Melas Gallery, Woollahra, Sydney Sally West, KAB Gallery, Crowne Plaza, Terrigal 2015 Sally West Plein...

This piece is a beautiful example of an abstract painting. The simplicity of the subject of the painting contrasted with the texture and color create intricacies in the piece. The go...

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