Impressionist seascape oil painting on canvas board, 8" by 10" (13 1/2" by 15 1/2" framed) signed at lower right by Colorado artist ALFRED JAMES WANDS (1904-1998). On the reverse in pencil is written "Artist---Alfred Wands/2065 Ivanhoe St./Denver 7 Colo.". The work likely dates to the 1950's. Wands was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. He attended the Cleveland Art Institute, then went to Europe for studies in Brussels and Munich...

This is a very fine watercolor painting featuring the distinctive profile of the dominant mountain in Marin County, California, just north of San Francisco, Mount Tamalpais. The artist was the very well listed watercolorist ALFRED VILLIERS FARNSWORTH (1858-1908). Farnsworth signed the painting at lower right and dated it there 1901. This view is from the north side, approximately near San Anselmo, looking south...

Large mixed media abstract painting (28 3/4" by 39 1/2", 31 3/4" by 42 1/2" in gold leaf frame) on plywood panel, signed at lower right "WAHL", and dated there 2001. The painting is striking and handsome, the color combinations very in tune with today's retro contemporary look. A brief search of the name does not immediately point to a known artist. Medium is perhaps a thinned oil or gouache possibly, with some pencil lines drawn as well...

Oil on canvas painting of the arcaded breezeways at the famous Mission San Juan Capistrano in Southern California, 8" by 10", unframed, signed with initials at lower right and possibly again by the artist on the reverse. In addition there is an original old slip of paper giving the artist's biography. Schmidt was born in Gladbeck, Westphalia, Germany after the end of World War I. By age 15 he was already receiving art instruction...

Watercolor painting of a young Native American girl of the Southwest, 17 1/2" by 14 3/4" (23 1/2" by 21" framed), signed at lower right (somewhat indecipherably) "Martchenko". This is a sensitive portrait by an obviously talented observer. Martchenko's works appear from time to time in Southern California. Born in Oregon, she studied under Sergei Bongart and at the Otis Art Institute. Portraiture seems to have been a favorite of the artist, in both oil and watercolor...

This is a beautifully executed work, watercolor and gouache on paper, 14 1/2" by 20 1/2" (21" by 27" as framed), signed at lower right by the noted English artist WILFRED KNOX (1884-1966). Knox is known for his marine art, such as clipper ships, but also for scenes around the British Isles and the luminous Venetian and Mediterranean coastal scenes with shipping and maritime subject matter as seen in this example...

Oil on canvas of a blue-eyed elderly lady wearing a white bonnet, 27" by 22" (34" by 29 1/2" in the 19th century frame), that attractive old frame bearing a placard giving the name of the artist as WILLIAM MATTHEW PRIOR (1806-1873). Images of the unsigned painting, which was found in Downeast Maine, were sent to major auction houses in New England and New York City. None disputed this being a work by the famous itinerant portraitist...

This is a fine painting of the Christmas season flowering plant, the poinsettia, in ink, watercolor and gouache, 13 3/4" by 11", in simple metal framing, no mat, signed at lower left and inscribed to a friend there "with love to David and deepest feelings of appreciation", by the important American artist ABRAHAM RATTNER (1893-1978). Rattner was born in Poughkeepsie, New York. During World War I he was a camouflage artist, serving in some of the major battles of the war...

A fine watercolor drawing titled on placard "The Cantor", the image of an orthodox Jewish man, 4 5/8" by 3 5/8", 11" by 10" in attractive and very complementary black and silver framing (some lightly rubbed areas), signed at upper left corner by the important Jewish-Ukrainian artist, EMANUEL MANE-KATZ (1894-1962). The small but powerful work features a classic image that embodies Jewish tradition and culture. The artist was born in the Ukraine near the end of the 19th century...

A fine little watercolor painting of a Vienna street scene, 4 3/4" by 6" (16" by 18 1/2" in attractive wood frame), signed at lower right by the noted artist FERI FERDINAND SCHWARZ (1869-1923). The scene is titled at lower left "WIEN--FASSZIEHERGASSE". The artist has worked at least seven tiny figures into the scene----mother and daughter at right, three children at center, with hoop, and two elderly figures...

An unusual and decorative circa 1930's unframed 16" by 20" oil on canvas painting featuring a beautiful young maiden centered in a tawny, mountainous Southwest landscape, Native Americans surrounding her, signed lower left rather illegibly. I have long studied the signature and believe it might be "Ben Mead", (1902-1986) who was a southwestern (Texas and California) artist-illustrator based in Amarillo and Dallas...

A fine contemporary 9" by 12" pastel (19" by 21 1/2" nicely framed) drawing titled "Mission Seating", of a sun-washed stone bench in the historic courtyard of Mission San Juan Capistrano in Southern California, signed at lower right by noted California Art Club artist KAY BONANNO (1935-). The work retains on the backing a label indicating that this work was exhibited in the spring of 1996 at the Carnegie Art Museum in Oxnard, California. The exhibition was named "Puertas del Santuario: Painti...

A still life painting of fruit on a table top, executed in the long tradition of hyper-realistic still life painting in the Netherlands, signed at lower right by listed Dutch 20th century artist JAN FREDRIK JOHANNES NAGTEGAAL (1920-2000). This artist is known for his contemporary paintings faithful to the formula of the Dutch masters going back to the 17th century. His still life works, a number of which have appeared at auctions, are known for a high level of detail and realism. Some larger ...

Florine Hyer was an Iowa-born artist who became known for her exquisite paintings of roses. She was in Los Angeles by 1898, and remained there her entire life with the exception of the year 1908, when she assisted the botanist Luther Burbank at his home and gardens in Santa Rosa, in Sonoma County north of San Francisco. Burbank is reputed to have said, "Florine can paint roses better than gardens can grow them". This example is one of the works by the artist, an oil on canvas measuring 18" by 30...

An illustration art-style color drawing (ink and watercolor) of a pipe-smoking uniformed military officer, possibly a general or other top brass, surrounded by cupids playing with military equipment such as mobile guns, a drone bomb, etc., signed with a capital W in a circle at lower right. It has been suggested to me that this could be a British military colonel (I originally thought him American). The work, 15" by 10 3/4" (with a gold modern frame available at no extra cost (21" by 17 1/2") ...

Oil on canvas scene of two white swans in a small lake or pond in a rural area, 24" by 16" (29" by 21" in wide newer frame), signed in red "W W Caffyn" at lower right and dated there "96". This is a work by the noted British artist WALTER WALLOR CAFFYN (1845-1898), who exhibited at the Royal Academy. His paintings tend to be rural scenes of Sussex, Kent and Yorkshire. Caffyn's (mostly large) major works have exceeded $20,000 at auction in London. This painting is in excellent condition, wi...

An original watercolor painting of the Arc du Carrousel in central Paris, 12" by 15 1/2" (18 1/4" by 21 1/2" framed), signed illegibly at lower right, (possibly, "F Lacoste"), circa late 20th century. The Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel is a triumphal arch in Paris, located in the Place du Carrousel. The ornate, impressive structure was built between 1806 and 1808 to commemorate Napoleon's military victories of the previous year. It is a familiar landmark in central Paris, surrounded by wide airy...

An impressive oil on Masonite landscape painting, unframed, 26" by 33", signed at lower left twice, by listed Swiss artist MAX EMANUEL HUBER (1903-1987). The work clearly shows the influence of Cezanne's fractured planes technique. Huber executed a number of impressionist works, and some have this more modernist technique, with which he clearly experimented. The artist is sometimes mixed up with Swiss modern artist Max Huber (1919-1992); the latter's paintings are much more abstract and conte...