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...

A very modernist drawing in oil on heavy paper, perhaps with some other media, over which some shiny varnish was subsequently applied. The subject is two young women with bright yellow faces and open mouths, in the midst of an apparently angst-filled argument or discussion, signed in Russian "BUK" or "BUKH" at lower right corner. The work measures 15" by 20" (20" by 26 1/2" in metal framing---photos show glass which is cracked and will be removed prior to shipping)...

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...

Etching on paper laid on card, the subject a marketplace in the Jewish Quarter of Amsterdam, signed with "ML" initials and "927" as if a date (not the typical signature of the artist, apparently added later either by him or some other party). This is a work "Judenstrasse in Amsterdam", 1909, by famous German artist MAX LIEBERMANN (1847-1935)...

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...

PAIR of chromolithograph prints of California's famous Big Trees, published in 1873 by Louis Prang. Each print measures 14" by 7 1/4" (17 1/2" by 10 1/2" framed). The title of one is "Big Trees, Calaveras Grove" and the other "Redwood Trees, Santa Cruz Mountains", both after original paintings by listed nineteenth century American artist John R. Key...

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. Mead focused on illustration for publication...

A large clean lithograph print in the advanced naive style of acclaimed Jewish artist SHALOM OF SAFED (SHALOM MOSKOWITZ), 1895-1980. The imagery is colorful and comprehensive, featuring blue sky with clouds, architecture, figures, animals, and interiors, along with embedded messages in Hebrew. The Hassidic artist was a watchmaker by trade, and only late in life turned to his artistic talents. His original paintings have brought into five figures...

A fine color soft-ground etching and aquatint by the noted, prolific Czech master artist TAVIK FRANTISEK SIMON (1877-1942), featuring the famous and much-loved "bouquiniste" bookstalls along the Seine in Paris. The sheet measures 17 3/4" by 15 1/2" and 19 1/2" by 17 1/4" very nicely framed back in the 1950's or so in Chicago at Anderson Galleries (label on backing). The print is signed in pencil at lower right by the artist and numbered 48 in the lower left margin...

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 ...

A dramatic black and white photograph of a forlorn old house, captured on a gray wet day in the dying steel town of Youngstown, Ohio, dated 1985, numbered at left 42/200 and pencil signed at lower right margin by noted American photographer and broadcast personality GARY FRANKLIN (1928-2007). The work measures 17" by 13 3/8" inside the innermost mat and 24" by 20 1/4" as framed. The dreary scene was captured by a talented photographer. Franklin was born in Leipzig, Germany of Jewish parentag...

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...