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Charles Ragland Bunnell Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

American, 1897-1968
Charles Bunnell developed a love for art at a very young age. As a child in Kansas City, Missouri, he spent much of his time drawing. When he was unable to find paper he drew on walls and in the margins of textbooks for which he was often fined. Around 1915, Bunnell moved with his family to Colorado Springs, Colorado. He served in World War I and later used his GI Training to study at the Broadmoor Art Academy (later renamed the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center) during 1922 and 1923. In 1922, he married fellow student, Laura Palmer. He studied with Ernest Lawson in 1927-1928 and, in the winter of 1928-1929, he served as Lawson’s assistant. In the late 1920’s, the Bunnell’s settled just west of Colorado Springs and 1928, they welcomed the first of their three children. Their one-acre homesite, which they referred to as “Old Home Place”, was situated between two sets of railroad tracks at the foot of Pike’s Peak. Charlie converted an old railroad boxcar into his studio, where he later gave lessons. Beginning in 1931, Bunnell spent a year and a half studying under Boardman Robinson. The two men clashed constantly due to a generation gap and markedly different philosophies. Robinson encouraged his students not to stray from realism and though Bunnell mastered Robinson’s preferred style of American Scene painting, he regularly irritated his professor with his abstract sketches. Bunnell taught at the Kansas City Art Institute during the summers of 1929, 1930, 1940, and 1941. Between 1934 and 1941, he painted and taught under federal projects which included assisting Frank Mechau on murals for the Colorado Springs Post Office. However, he did not take to mural making and, after criticism from Boardman Robinson about his use of “heavy daubs which have no place in mural work,” he abandoned mural-making altogether. By the late 1930’s, Bunnell’s work departed from the American Scene/Modernist style he was trained in towards abstraction. This is marked by his “Black and Blue” series, consisting of 83 abstracted ink and watercolors. Affected by the Second World War and the loss of his 10-year old son, Bunnell’s work of the early 1940’s took on a Transcendental and Surrealist tone. The works from this period are moody and readily reflect the political and personal turmoil experienced by the artist. In the late 1940’s, Bunnell began experimenting with Abstract Expressionism. He alone is credited with introducing Colorado Springs to the new style as it was excluded from the Fine Art Center’s curriculum by Boardman Robinson. Bunnell excelled in Abstract Expressionism and continued to evolve in the style through the 1950’s continuing to his death in 1968. He was recently recognized as a premier American Abstract Expressionist by his inclusion in the book American Abstract Expressionism of the 1950’s: An Illustrated Survey. © David Cook Galleries, LLC
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Artist: Charles Ragland Bunnell
Charles Bunnell “Kansas Village” 1939 WPA Modernist Watercolor Painting
Charles Bunnell “Kansas Village” 1939 WPA Modernist Watercolor Painting

Charles Bunnell “Kansas Village” 1939 WPA Modernist Watercolor Painting

By Charles Ragland Bunnell

Located in Denver, CO

A rare 1939 modernist watercolor painting by renowned American artist Charles Ragland Bunnell, 'Kansas Village' reflects the refined regionalist and WPA-era influences that defined e...

Category

1930s American Modern Charles Ragland Bunnell Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Watercolor

Charles Bunnell 1941 “Birth of Mind” Abstract Surrealist Gouache WPA
Charles Bunnell 1941 “Birth of Mind” Abstract Surrealist Gouache WPA

Charles Bunnell 1941 “Birth of Mind” Abstract Surrealist Gouache WPA

By Charles Ragland Bunnell

Located in Denver, CO

A rare and museum-quality 1941 original by Charles Ragland Bunnell, 'Birth of Mind' represents one of the most intellectually and emotionally charged works from the artist’s pivotal ...

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1940s Surrealist Charles Ragland Bunnell Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Gouache, Archival Paper

Charles Ragland Bunnell 1939 WPA Man His Search for God Modernist Painting
Charles Ragland Bunnell 1939 WPA Man His Search for God Modernist Painting

Charles Ragland Bunnell 1939 WPA Man His Search for God Modernist Painting

By Charles Ragland Bunnell

Located in Denver, CO

This powerful 1939 WPA-era work by American modernist Charles Ragland Bunnell, titled Man in His Search for God, is a deeply expressive figurative painting that explores themes of sp...

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1930s Modern Charles Ragland Bunnell Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Gouache

Charles Bunnell Quitting Time, 1941 American Modernist Abstract Painting
Charles Bunnell Quitting Time, 1941 American Modernist Abstract Painting

Charles Bunnell Quitting Time, 1941 American Modernist Abstract Painting

By Charles Ragland Bunnell

Located in Denver, CO

Painted in 1941, Quitting Time is a compelling example of Charles Ragland Bunnell's mature modernist vision and his pioneering contribution to American abstraction. Created during a ...

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1940s American Modern Charles Ragland Bunnell Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Charcoal, Ink, Watercolor

Charles Ragland Bunnell WPA-Era Modernist Cityscape, Colorado c.1935
Charles Ragland Bunnell WPA-Era Modernist Cityscape, Colorado c.1935

Charles Ragland Bunnell WPA-Era Modernist Cityscape, Colorado c.1935

By Charles Ragland Bunnell

Located in Denver, CO

Executed circa 1935, this graphite drawing by Charles Ragland Bunnell captures the artist's distinctive modernist vision through an architectural hillside cityscape rendered with con...

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1930s American Modern Charles Ragland Bunnell Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Graphite

Charles Ragland Bunnell WPA 1940s Figurative Village Landscape Mountains
Charles Ragland Bunnell WPA 1940s Figurative Village Landscape Mountains

Charles Ragland Bunnell WPA 1940s Figurative Village Landscape Mountains

By Charles Ragland Bunnell

Located in Denver, CO

A compelling 1940s WPA-era modernist watercolor by Charles Ragland Bunnell depicting a figurative village landscape set against mountainous terrain, where clustered houses, small hum...

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1940s American Modern Charles Ragland Bunnell Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

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Charles Ragland Bunnell 1938 Georgetown Colorado Church Ink Drawing
Charles Ragland Bunnell 1938 Georgetown Colorado Church Ink Drawing

Charles Ragland Bunnell 1938 Georgetown Colorado Church Ink Drawing

By Charles Ragland Bunnell

Located in Denver, CO

This evocative 1938 ink drawing by Charles Ragland Bunnell (1897–1968) presents a striking view of a church set against the rugged Rocky Mountains in Georgetown, Colorado, capturing ...

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1930s American Modern Charles Ragland Bunnell Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

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Mid-Century Abstract Expressionist Watercolor by Charles Ragland Bunnell, 1950s
Mid-Century Abstract Expressionist Watercolor by Charles Ragland Bunnell, 1950s

Mid-Century Abstract Expressionist Watercolor by Charles Ragland Bunnell, 1950s

By Charles Ragland Bunnell

Located in Denver, CO

This original abstract expressionist watercolor by Charles Ragland Bunnell (1897–1968) exemplifies mid-20th-century American abstraction and the pioneering spirit of Colorado moderni...

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1950s Abstract Expressionist Charles Ragland Bunnell Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Watercolor

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Previously Available Items
1940s Abstract Watercolor Mixed Media Painting by Charles Bunnell
1940s Abstract Watercolor Mixed Media Painting by Charles Bunnell

1940s Abstract Watercolor Mixed Media Painting by Charles Bunnell

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Located in Denver, CO

Untitled (Crucifixion, Black & Blue Series) is an original watercolor, charcoal and ink on paper from the artist Charles Ragland Bunnell's (1897-1968) Black & Blue Series from 1941. Abstract composition created in shades of red, gray, white, and black. Presented in a vintage frame, outer dimensions measure 38 ⅝ x 30 ¾ inches. Image size is 29 x 22 inches. Expedited and International shipping is available - please contact us for a quote. About the Artist: Born 1897 Died 1968...

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Figure on a Cross, 1940s Framed Futurism Cubism Black White Drawing

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Original drawing by Colorado artist, Charles Bunnell (1897-1968), a figure on a cross is depicted in a cubist/futurist style, rendered in graphite with white, gray and black tones. ...

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Untitled (Study of a Mountain Town, Colorado)
Untitled (Study of a Mountain Town, Colorado)

Untitled (Study of a Mountain Town, Colorado)

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Located in Denver, CO

Original pen and ink drawing by 20th century Broadmoor Academy Colorado artist, Charles Bunnell (1897-1968) with houses and mountains, likely a Colorado mining...

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1930s American Modern Charles Ragland Bunnell Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

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Kansas City, Missouri, by Night
Kansas City, Missouri, by Night

Kansas City, Missouri, by Night

By Charles Ragland Bunnell

Located in Denver, CO

Housed in a custom frame with all archival materials and museum glass; outer dimensions measure 30 x 30 inches; image measures 18 x 18 inches. About the Artist: Charles Bunnell d...

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Charles Ragland Bunnell drawings and watercolor paintings for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Charles Ragland Bunnell drawings and watercolor paintings available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by Charles Ragland Bunnell in paper, paint, watercolor and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 20th century and is mostly associated with the modern style. Not every interior allows for large Charles Ragland Bunnell drawings and watercolor paintings, so small editions measuring 14 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Francis Chapin, William Thon, and Virginia Dehn. Charles Ragland Bunnell drawings and watercolor paintings prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $325 and tops out at $8,250, while the average work can sell for $2,500.