1940s Wall Decorations

Titled Cool Canopy - Buffalo artist James Koenig paintings reflected many phases of American painting styles including scenes from the WPA period, abstr...

Offered here for your consideration is a vintage original Earl MacPherson pastel painting of a pin-up girl. Depicting a blond, smiling, nude pin-up girl dressed only with two larg...

Original vintage World War Two poster - Food is a weapon Don't waste it! Buy wisely Cook Carefully Eat it all Follow the National Wartime Nutrition Program - featuring a great design...

Original vintage movie poster for a 1942 World War Two drama film - Secret Mission an exciting adventure / Service Secret une aventure passionnante - about British spies and a French resistance fighter gathering information about the Nazi German forces, directed by Harold French and starring Hugh Williams, James Mason...

Framed Symbolist painting, France, 1940s. Original Symbolist composition depicting a dreamlike universe populated by organic, vegetal, and imaginary forms. Executed in a subtle pale...

Original US Lobby card for Tarzan and the Amazons 1945 This action advenure film starred Jonny Weissmuller and Brenda Joyce. The film was directed by Kurt...

Titled 'Tangent' - Buffalo artist James Koenig paintings reflected many phases of American painting Styles including scenes from The WPA period, abstrac...

Collection of Vintage Artist's Palettes, American, circa 1940s - 1960s. The largest palette measures 15.5"H x 19.5"W. The smallest measures 7.5"H x 10.5"W.

Original vintage GPO General Post Office poster - Clear and correct addressing speeds your mail - featuring a great black and white illustration by the artist and wood engraver John ...

Extremely rare large size original vintage World War Two poster - Freedom Is In Peril Defend It With All Your Might - issued as part of the same propaganda campaign as the Keep Calm ...

Vintage "Genetics Fruit Fly Drosophila" Wall Chart Poster, 1941 By the New York Scientific Supply Company, NY, NY "this chart will look amazing once properly framed" image with no ...

Original vintage World War Two pictorial map for New Zealand her natural and Industrial resources featuring a great illustration by the notable graphic designer, cartographer and artist MacDonald Gill (Leslie MacDonald Gill aka Max Gill...

Original US film poster for the 1944 Film Noir double Indemnity. This film starred Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck and was directed by Billy Wilder. This poster was printed in tw...

Selection of still life oil on canvas paintings by Philip Bornarth, American, circa 1940s. Philip Bornarth was born in Chicago, IL in 1929. He attended the Art Institute of Chicago a...

An unusual painting by Umberto Romano, (1906-1982). Small in scale, but powerfull image entitled " Arturo The Clown". The sculptural portrait is further enhanced by an original overs...

Powerful and eloquent, this drawing by Raoul Pene du Bois showcases his mastery of the human figure, expressed with his usual Mannerist approach -- all elongated limbs and stylized p...

Circa 1940. We offer this Silver Gelatin Photo of the Diego Rivera Studio. In 1931, commissioned by Diego Rivera, Juan O'Gorman designed one of the first functionalist architectural ...

Original vintage World War Two poster by the notable British cartoonist and illustrator Fougasse (Cyril Kenneth Bird; 1887-1965). Great design from the popular Careless Talk Costs Li...

Presented is an original 1943 poster by Norman Rockwell, illustrating “freedom of worship.” The poster is one of the four iconic War Bonds posters by Norman Rockwell. The series was ...

Set of 6 Dutch framed herbariums dating from the 1940's. They are framed in an A3 frame with A4 mount. These are a sample of what we have to offer. W...

Original British film poster for the 1947 Ealing Studios drama.

This 19th Century Belgian Oil on Canvas features a moody, atmospheric landscape under a cloudy sky. In the middle, the brushstrokes emphasize a light breaking through the clouds crea...

A very interesting and unusual Pfoutz Original Farm Scene Oil Painting by artist J. Earle Pfoutz. The painting is produced on artist and comes complete with what appears to be an original artist decorated/painted frame. The Pfoutz Original Farm Scene Oil Painting is signed on the front by the artist and appears to be dated 1948 on the rear. Known for his unusual subjects Pfoutz outdid himself with this effort, capturing the essence of a Lancaster County farm but with the startling twist of portraying a large turkey vulture in the foreground. Definitely unique. Overall frame Size approximately 33″ wide x 3″ deep x 26″ high J. Earle Pfoutz had a long and distinguished career as a self trained artist. More can be learned about him from reading this article produced by Gary Hawbaker at askART Earle Pfoutz Born: 1891 – Lancaster, Pennsylvania Died: 1957 Known for: Landscape, figure, still life painting An image of J Earle Pfoutz Biography from the Archives of askART J. Earle Pfoutz (John Earle Pfoutz) – (Oct 23, 1891-Nov 9, 1957) “A seventh generation descendant of a Swiss family which arrived in America early in the 17th Century, J. Earle Pfoutz was born in Lancaster, PA, son of John Bachman and Susan Allison Pfoutz. He painted houses for a living and pictures for a life. A self-taught artist, described as a primitive, he was distinctive for his vivid imagination and bold color application. He painted hundreds of Lancaster County scenes. Pfoutz traveled through the hills near his home and along the Susquehanna River in search of scenes. He began painting with a brush when he was fourteen, but added a palette knife after suffering an eye injury. He completed eighth grade in the Lancaster Public Schools and there his formal education ended. However, the Department of Public Instruction of the State of Pennsylvania thought so highly of his work as an artist that officials certified him as an art instructor and he taught for a year in the York (PA) public schools. He also was an art instructor under the program for disabled veterans, sponsored by the Veterans Administration, when he gave private instruction to veterans in their homes. In 1947, J. Earle Pfoutz finally earned national recognition as an artist. His painting, Opalescent October, was chosen by the Museum of Art of Dayton Ohio, to travel all over the country for a year with its Group Exhibition. Described as a “very colorful, calm scene, iridescent in color, sweeping in design,” the painting started on its journey around the country early in 1948. In an interview with the Sunday News (Lancaster, PA – Nov 2, 1947), Pfoutz stated that he didn’t know whether he was a “primitive” or an “impressionist.” No master taught him, no school channeled his style. “Sometimes I didn’t eat, but I always managed to paint,” he recalled. Many of his hundreds of canvases -most of them not sold, but given away to friends – found their way to other parts of the country. “I never remember the day when I did not love color,” Pfoutz said. “I was about 12 years old when I saw my first palette – a string of different colored paint paddles that graced the stores of that day. As a boy I had two great desires. One was to be able to eat all the strawberry jam I could, and the other to possess a string of those beautiful paint paddles. Well, I’ve got my fill of jelly, but I’ve never yet got my fill of beautiful colors.” In 1950, Pfoutz’s one man show of paintings made front page headlines in the Lancaster Intelligencer Journal: “Most of the twenty oil paintings on exhibition are landscapes, although there are several interesting figure studies. Colors again, as in all Pfoutziana are rich and full-bodied, but for the most part not as startlingly as in some of the earlier work. Most of the paintings were done during the past year, and also reveal the painter’s characteristic heavy impasto technique, in which the rich swirls of paint carry their own message. Among the figures, The Banjo Picker, and The Magician, are the most provocative. Both are character studies; the first being of a tramp musician whose drab clothing is set-off by a luminous aqua blue background. Modern in feeling and treatment is The Magician, a clown-faced wizard whose spinning ball in the air suggests the fourth dimension – space. The use of the primary colors in this picture serves to emphasize the theme effectively. A large colorful landscape, Opalescent October, depicting rolling hills against a late afternoon sky is new to Lancastrians, as it has just returned from Dayton, Ohio, where it hung in the Dayton Art Institute. Another landscape with soft dreamy colors is Fantasie D’Autumne, and one of the loveliest pictures in the show. Pennsylvania Dutch Country is another with eye appeal, and was one of the works which was hung in the Old Customs House in Philadelphia during Pennsylvania Week, and before that in a collection of Pfoutz work in the same place. In deep contrast to the sunny skies and brilliant foliage of many of the pictures, is the somewhat morbid Worry, in which the center of interest is a tremendous rat. This, the painter explains, was symbolic of 1948 in China, which was ‘The Year of The Rat’ in the Chinese calendar. Background material for the picture was furnished to Pfoutz by author Pearl Buck. Other pictures include Autumn Prelude, Miners Village, painted at Cornwall, PA; Humid Day, Saint Peters Kierch, at Middletown, PA; Lady Pfoutz, inspired by the painter’s wife; Sun Flowers, Sentimental Journey, Gyne, Luzon Woman, Old Bridge, The Cow Path. Lemures, based on Roman mythology, and Ethiopian, painted from an ebony wood carving from Kenya Province, S. Africa.” In 1953, Pfoutz was installed as President of the Lancaster County Art Association. A. Z. Kruse, New York City artist, writer and member of the faculty of the Brooklyn College and the Cartoonists and Illustrators School, Manhattan, was the guest speaker. In January of 1953, thirty-five Pfoutz oils were exhibited at the Old Custom House in Philadelphia, PA under the sponsorship of the Carl Schurz Memorial Foundation. Several Lancaster County landscapes and covered bridges were included as well as Katy, a Pennsylvania Dutch scene. Symbolic paintings included End of the Second Day, the artist’s visualization of the second coming of Christ, and Twilight, typifying the grief of mothers of all lands for sons lost in battle. In June of 1953, a Pfoutz oil made history in Lancaster. From the Lancaster New Era: “For the first in local art history, a painting has been withdrawn from an exhibition because of objections from viewers and hostesses serving at the show. The painting, Jeune Fille, a standing nude done by Pfoutz, was one of the paintings in the annual spring exhibition of the Art Association and had become the center of the controversy. Pfoutz said he took the painting down… ‘graciously but reluctantly.’ ‘From an artistic standpoint, there is nothing offensive about the painting,’ Pfoutz said. ‘This community just wants its nudes with clothes on.’ “It is most brilliant in color, and because it is so brilliant I thought it would make a nice lively spot for the show. This is the first time I’ve had to take a picture off the walls. I substituted a seascape for it.’ Pfoutz said he felt the painting brought a lot of viewers to the show because it was so controversial. It had never been exhibited before. ‘If this had been shown in a metropolitan city,’ he commented, ‘people wouldn’t have given it a second glance. But the viewpoint here is more conservative, even though I don’t think moderns would have minded.’ He said he felt the painting was neither ‘objectionable nor pornographic,’ but had complied with the wishes of fellow members of the Art Association who telephoned him to relay the protests they had received. The art controversy was the first to arise here publicly since the showing of Amish Grandmother, an oil by William Gropper which was part of the Gimbel Pennsylvania exhibit at the Griest Building several years ago. — Numerous viewers of Amish Grandmother, [a painting showing an Amish woman holding a white goose], expressed themselves quite vocally, calling it an affront to the Plain Folk. But it stayed on exhibit throughout the length of the Gimbel show. Pfoutz expressed no rancor, implying that if Gropper could take it so could he.” After his death, there were several shows of Pfoutz’ work organized by his son J. Earle, Jr. J. Earle, Jr. also saw to it that President Eisenhower would receive an oil called The Cow’s Path. The president first saw the painting in 1950 when, as president of Columbia University, he visited Lancaster to address a student assembly at Franklin and Marshall College. After his address was over, the then Gen. Eisenhower stopped at the Fackenthal Library on the campus to view an exhibition of Pfoutz’s paintings. The Cow’s Path intrigued him. For some time, as his aides fumed to get him back on his time schedule, Eisenhower and Pfoutz talked, as artist to artist. Prior to his death, Pfoutz requested that The Cow’s Path be given to the President if he wanted it. The painting was presented to Ike at the White House in November of 1959. Mrs. Eisenhower owned a Pfoutz painting titled, In the Manor. Though house painting was his livelihood, he worked for Millersville State Teachers College (now a university) for a time during World War II, and called himself “the Chimney Sweep of MSTC.” During that period he knocked out a dizzying canvas in the surrealist style (he thought it was terrible) and got into the campus newspaper when one of the students spotted it. Earle Pfoutz was not the humble, downtrodden artist, not the Douanier Rousseau type at all. As he developed his skill and style through the years, he also fashioned a resilient confidence in himself as an artist. Whether he was building his own home (he built two) or painting one for somebody else, he never lost faith in his ultimate recognition—though he was never sure he would live to see it. Whether he was working as a rigger for a hoisting company, in the Stehli Silk Mill of Lancaster, carving Cloister-style chairs, decorating old chests, cementing bricks from the old Safe...

Aaron Sopher, Ink Wash, Untitled, (Subject is a Man in stride.) Exact date unknown. Fading to matte, denting and chipping to older wood picture frame. Will ship as you see it in th...

Original vintage World War Two home front propaganda poster - What I know I keep to myself Careless talk costs lives - featuring an image of a man in a suit and cap winking at the vi...

Printed in stunning stone lithography, this extremely rare Argentinian one-sheet poster for quintessential film noir 'Gilda' features similar show-stopping artwork to the coveted US ...

Somehow naively charming and sophisticated at the same time, this pierced sculptural panel by Jolan Cser, a Hungarian artist, depicts a nude shepherd youth playing the pipes, accompa...

This original drawing was created for an advertisement by General Electric for its portable power generators, here shown powering a saw wielded by two lumberjacks. Attributed to Roc...

Original vintage British Railways travel advertising poster for Newquay on the Cornish Coast featuring a fantastic image of a smiling lady surfer wearing a red swimming cap riding a ...

A rare collection of ephemera designed by Frank Barr ca’ 1940’s. Advertising exhibitions by James Prestini etc…a total of 22 pieces.

Original vintage World War Two propaganda poster issued by the War Production Drive Headquarters as a warning featuring a dramatic design depicting a large angry looking flying insect - bee / wasp / mosquito - with black and yellow stripes outlined in blue, facing the viewer with the word Beware! written in bold blue font across the image over the wings in front of a white and yellow shaded background. Bulletin Board...

Sven Rybin (1914 - 2012), Swedish artist. Oil on board. Modernist landscape. Dated 1949. The board measures: 37 x 28 cm. The frame measures: 6.5 cm. In excellent condition. S...

Black lacquered wood framed offset lithograph after Gil Elvgren, titled “A Knock Outgg”. Image site measurements, 7.5” x 9.5”. Framed measurements “12” x 15” x .5”. Not examined outside of the frame. About the artist; Gil Elvgren studied at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts before transferring to the American Academy of Art in Chicago, where he graduated in 1936.[3] Elvgren then joined the stable of artists at Stevens and Gross, Chicago's most prestigious advertising agency. He became a protégé of the artist Haddon Sundblom. In 1937, Gil began painting calendar pin-ups for Louis F. Dow, one of America's leading publishing companies, during which time he created about 60 works on 28 × 22 in canvas and distinguished them with a printed signature. Many of his pin-ups were reproduced as nose art on military aircraft during World War II. Circa 1944, Elvgren was approached by Brown and Bigelow...

Glass bead window tapestry in blue, green, yellow, black, red and brown depicting a flowering tree branch with a colorful swan reflecting in the water....

Original vintage World War Two recruitment poster - Come On, Pal ... Enlist! - featuring a great design by Henry Eveleigh (1909-1999) of a smiling Canadian soldier wearing a military...

AIR FRANCE - NEAR EAST - FAR EAST Rare authentic original vintage airline travel poster Artist: Lucien Boucher Condition: B+ Dimensions: 24.4 x 39.25 in. / 62 x 99.7 cm. Circa: 1947 ...

This is a vintage savings bond poster from WWII, dating to 1941. The poster reads "For Defense. Buy United States Savings Bonds and Stamps. Ask About Our Pay Roll Allotment Plan" in dark green, teal, and red lettering. The poster was published in Washington, D.C. by the U. S. Government Printing Office. It depicts the Concord Minute Man...

Original vintage World War Two poster by the notable British cartoonist and illustrator Fougasse (Cyril Kenneth Bird; 1887-1965), from the popular iconic Careless Talk Costs Lives wa...

Original vintage World War Two home front fundraising poster - On the Arctic Front Merchant Navy Comforts Service - featuring an naval illustration of sailors in thick coats and hats...

1940's Vintage Spectacular Hand Stitched Needlepoint Patrioti Scene. Eagle in flight with ribbon, USA flag detail.

AMERICAN AIRLINES - CALIFORNIA ARIZONA TEXAS NEW MEXICO Rare authentic original vintage airline travel poster Artist: E. McKnight Kauffer Condition: B+ Dimensions: 30.1 x 39.8 in. / 76.5 x 101 cm. Circa: 1948 Linen Backed There is edge and corner wear and small tears, most noticeable along the upper left edge; airbrushing has been performed at the bottom corners to address tape staining but the staining is still somewhat noticeable; some surface smudges/scuffs; poster should display very nicely once framed. A masterwork of mid-century graphic design, this original American Airlines travel poster...

Original vintage World War Two propaganda poster - This world cannot exist half slave and half free Fight For Freedom! - featuring a dynamic image by the American artist John Falter ...

A nice set of two airbrush prints of flowers and pink flamingos on a black background by Billy Seay. This a great example of the post-WWII tropical art/decorating boom that took over...

Original vintage travel advertising poster - Londres Bruxelles / London Brussels BEA British European Airways - featuring a stunning modernist design depicting a plane flying through...

Axel Salto (1889-1961) A mythical beast, lithograph. "Helhesten" 1942. Hand-signed in pencil Salto. Visible size: W 17.0 cm x H 19.0 cm. Total W 27...

Original vintage travel poster for Martha's Vineyard published by The New Haven Railroad featuring a bold illustration of a figurehead in front of a...

This extraordinary pair of Art Deco pieces, each depicting a pair of horses, one with its head up and one down, was executed in ink, colored pencil and gouache by Robert Reinhardt Von Liski, a Prussian-American artist. Von Liski worked in Chicago as a commercial artist in advertising agencies and elsewhere, and did work for RCA Victor and Arrow Shirts...

Original vintage World War Two naval military recruitment poster Engagez-vous dans la Marine / Join the Navy featuring dynamic artwork of a warship at sea with the title in bold red ...

SANTA FE RAILROAD - MEETING OF THE CHIEFS Authentic original vintage railroad travel poster Artist: Hernando Gonzalo Villa Condition: A/A- Dimensions: 23.9 x 18.1 in. / 60.7 x 46 cm....

This framed crane barkcloth fabric sample, produced by the Spectrum company around 1949, served as a showcase of mid-century design aesthetics. Displayed in rattan showrooms across t...

Presented is an original 1943 poster by Norman Rockwell, illustrating “freedom from fear.” The poster is one of the four iconic War Bonds posters by Norman Rockwell. The series was a...

Original vintage WWII era Soviet propaganda poster - Привет Советским футболистам! / Hello Soviet football players! - featuring artwork of a football player holding a ball and lookin...

Vintage letter R in solid brass, covered with old paint (red & gold), Sweden ca 1940's. Wear and patina consistent with age and use. Paint loss as...

Framed Oil Painting on Canvas by Eugène Collignon (1876–1961) 'Banks of the Meuse River' is a beautiful large-scale vertical landscape in its original frame that captures the picture...

This rare and remarkable tile produced at the close of World War II in Delft, depicting the Nazi dragon being slayed by the Dutch people, is a superb example of Art Deco cloisonné...

Lithograph on paper, posthumous edition. Signature printed in the image, lower right. Numbered 239/300 in pencil, lower left. Likely published by the Musée National Fernand Léger, Bi...

Original vintage workplace safety poster issued by the Ministry of Labour and National Service and produced by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents ROSPA - Roll Them Up ...

Teeming with allegory and symbolism, this large and elaborate study by Eugene Savage for a major mural to be executed in mosaic was painted for the new Queens Supreme Courthouse -- a...

Original vintage poster featuring an illustration by the notable American pin-up artist George Brown Petty IV (1894-1975) depicting a lady in a sheer body suit holding a sketch of a ...

Stupendo dipinto eseguito da Szantho Maria negli anni 40,le sue opere sono realistiche e ricche di dettagli e si ispirano all'edonismo dei nudi di Karoly lotz coniugato alla vivacita...