MID-CENTURIA : Art, Design and Decor from the Mid-Century and beyond: March 2011

Cor Dam Relief Mural +

This relief mural depicting Anne Frank writing in her diary under candlelight in the attic, was created by Dutch artist Cor Dam for the Anne Frank School in Gouda, Netherlands. Click image for a closer look. via

Cor Dam was born in Delft in 1935 and studied at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague, Netherlands. During his career he has worked as a designer for Royal Delft and as a sculpture teacher at the Delft University of Technology. He is an accomplished painter, sculptor and ceramist. Below are a couple more of Dam's pieces as well as photos I found of his studio. He has a website, but it doesn't show much of his work.

Riders, 1962, glazed ceramic with polychrome enamel, 32" x 46.25". Heritage Auctions, 2007

2008 painting. via Cor Dam's website

Cor Dam

I found these photos of Dam's studio here; there are more where these came from, so go check 'em out.

Guayasamín Mosaic: Homage to the American Man

Ecuadorian artist Oswaldo Guayasamín (1919-1999) created this incredible venetian glass mosaic mural titled Homenaje al Hombre Americano (Homage to the American Man) in 1954. It is located on the exterior of the Simón Bolívar Center in Caracas, Venezuela.

Photo: Alejandro Caminero

Oswaldo Guayasamín (1919-1999)

The top two mosaic images are via flickr.

Michael Frary Paintings

Tell-tale signs of modernist artist Michael Frary's architectural education are visible in many of his paintings.

Plan View, 1954, oil on masonite, 17" x 48". via

Apartment, 1964, oil on masonite, 36" x 74". Early Texas Art, $18,000 at time of post

Beach Town, 1955, oil on masonite, 24" x 48". Early Texas Art, $7,300 at time of post

City on the Edge of Memory, mixed media on canvas, 43.75" x 52". William Reeves Fine Art, sold

Red Palace, 1959, acrylic on masonite, 36" x 48". Early Texas Art, $6,500 at time of post

Victoria Tower, 1966, mixed media on board, 40" x 30". Early Texas Art, $7,500 at time of post

Drilling Rig, watercolor, 30" x 21". Heritage Auction Galleries, sold 2006

Still Life with Cantaloupe, 1970, oil on masonite, 33" x 50". via

Construction on the Beach, 1964, oil on masonite, 17.75" x 23.75". Bonhams, sold 2007

Still Life, oil on canvas, 20" x 24". Dallas Auction Gallery, sold

Six Eggs, oil on masonite, 18" x 24". David Dike Fine Art, sold 2008

Time and the Hour, 1948, oil on masonite, 20" x 16". Dallas Fine Art Auction, sold 2011

Michael Frary working in his studio. via

Noted Texas modernist Michael Frary (1918-2005) was influential as both an artist and educator. He attended USC on a swimming scholarship, where he earned a B.A. in Architecture and a Master of Fine Arts in painting. After serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II he worked as an art director for various movie studios before becoming a full-time teacher at UCLA. It was a faculty position in Koogler McNay's art school that brought him to Texas in 1949, but it wasn't until 1952 that he began his 34 year career as a professor at the University of Texas, where he was named Professor Emeritus of Art upon his retirement in 1986.

Michael Frary worked in various styles and mediums during his career which spanned nearly 7 decades, producing everything from figurative scenics to abstract compositions. His works earned him over 175 awards and more than 200 solo exhibits and are housed in several private and public collections worldwide including the Smithsonian Institute. For more background on Frary click here.

Óscar Domínguez Paintings

Óscar Domínguez (1906-1957) was a Spanish Surrealist painter whose works were inspired by Yves Tanguy, De Chirico and Picasso. During the 1940's, his paintings were strongly influenced by Picasso with whom he had become friends while living in Paris. His works created during this Picassian period are my favorite.

Femmes o Mujeres, 1942, oil on canvas. Christie's, 2006, $1,156,641

Les Odalisques, 1945, oil on canvas. Sotheby's, 2007, $456,000

Silent Listener, 1943, oil on canvas. Via Cuidad de la Pintura

Le Peintre et son Modèle, 1945, oil on canvas. Christie's, 2007, $761,273

Femme sur Divan, 1942, oil on canvas. Christie's, 2005, $179,712

Mujer, 1941, oil on canvas. Via Cuidad de la Pintura

Femme à l'Ecritoire, 1943, oil on canvas. Via Cuidad de la Pintura

La Máquina de Coser, 1943, oil on canvas. Christie's, 2008, $135,417

Girl with a Skipping Rope, 1945, oil on canvas. Ivo Bouwman, The Netherlands

Composición con Fondo Azul, 1949, oil on canvas. Slovenská Národná Galérie

Tauromaquia, 1943, oil on canvas. Galería Gavar, Madrid

Tauromaquia, 1951, oil on canvas. Via Cuidad de la Pintura

Tauromaquia, 1951. Via

Corrida II, 1951, oil on canvas. Via Cuidad de la Pintura

Toros, 1950, oil on canvas. Stéphane Janssen Collection

Óscar Domínguez. via

Óscar Domínguez was born in 1906 on Tenerife, one of the Canary Islands. He was a self-taught artist who devoted himself to painting at a young age after suffering a serious illness which caused a progressive deformation of his face and limbs. His earliest paintings were primarily landscapes, but after moving to Paris in 1927 he became enamored with the works of Dali, Tanguy and Picasso. During the 1930's he became a member of André Bretón's Surrealist group and took part in many Surrealist shows. In the 1940's his paintings were heavily influenced by the works of De Chirico and Picasso; it has even been said that his paintings during this period were simply pastiches.

Sadly, Óscar Domínguez committed suicide on New Year's Eve 1957 by slitting his wrists in the bath. Patron of the arts, Marie-Laure de Noailles, with whom Domínguez had an affair with a few years earlier, arranged to have him interred in the Bischoffsheim family mausoleum in Montparnasse Cemetery.

Óscar Domínguez in 1956, the same year he committed suicide.

Above Left: The house in San Cristóbal de La Laguna where Óscar Domínguez was born. via

Above Right: Bischoffsheim mausoleum in Montparnasse Cemetery where Domínguez is interred.

via

Valerio Adami Paintings

Italian painter/printmaker Valerio Adami (b.1935) developed an interest in art as a child and by the age of 16 was accepted into the Accademia di Brera in Milan. In 1959 he held his first solo exhibit in Milan and has since had numerous exhibitions around the world. Adami's figurative paintings with large areas of flat color separated by bold black strokes have both Pop Art and Cloisonnism influences. The Swedish poet Lasse Söderberg described the artist perfectly when he wrote, "Adami is the maestro of the unadulterated line."