Max Weber (Polish-American, 1881 – 1961), “The Trio,” oil on linen or canvas, signed and dated at bottom right “Max Weber 1949.” Lively cubist/expressionist composition depicting three female musicians seated together in a room with window, assorted objects, and a painting hung on a wall. Verso bears several gallery and museum exhibition labels with impressive provenance comprising: “University of Illinois / Exhibition of Contemporary American Painting and Sculpture / February 28-April 12, 1953” with loaning gallery “Paul Rosenberg & Co. / 16 East 57th Street / New York 22, N.Y.”; “The Downtown Gallery / 32 E. 51st St., New York,” with multiple rubberstamped dates spanning 1961 through 1970 and typewritten acronym “NFS” (Not For Sale); Jack Rutberg Fine Arts Inc., 357 North La Brea Avenue, Los Angeles, California…”; and several Christie’s auction house inventory tags. In 1905, Weber, who had been teaching in the United States, travelled to Europe and began studies at the Académie Julian in Paris and acquainted himself with the work of such modernists as Henri Rousseau (who became a good friend), Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, and other members of the School of Paris. He arrived in Paris in time to see a major Cézanne exhibition, meet the poet Guillaume Apollinaire, frequent Gertrude Stein's salon, and enroll in classes in Matisse's private "Academie.” In 1909 he returned to New York and helped to introduce Cubism to America. He is now considered one of the most significant early American Cubists. In time, Weber's work found significant supporters, including Alfred H. Barr, Jr., the first director of the Museum of Modern Art. In 1930, the Museum of Modern Art held a retrospective of his work, the first solo exhibition at that museum of an American artist. He was praised as a "pioneer of modern art in America" in a 1945 Life magazine article. In 1948, Look magazine reported on a survey among art experts to determine the greatest living American artists; Weber was rated second, behind only John Marin. He became more popular in the 1940s and 1950s for his figurative work, often expressionist renderings of Jewish families, rabbis, and Talmudic scholars. [Art: 30" H x 40" W; Frame: 40: H x 49 1/2" W]. Art in good condition; frame with small losses.

Art in good condition; frame with small losses.