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. There are some holes, the largest about 3/4" by 1/2", at lower left, a similar one at upper left, and some much smaller punctures at far right...

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...

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)...

**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...