Bid with Confidence - Trust the Artemis Advantage:
- 25+ years’ experience selling ancient and ethnographic art
- Ancient items have been legally acquired, and are legal to sell
- Accurate descriptions, accurate images, no hidden reserves
- Artemis has its own Testing Lab on-site to ensure authenticity.

Kenneth Callahan (American, 1905-1986). "Fusion" tempera on board, 1943. A fascinating early work by Kenneth Callahan depicting abstract figures in a mysterious mountainous landscape with swirling atmospheric effects. All is delineated with Callahan's expressive, broad brushstrokes, subdued palette, and brilliant play on perspective and scale. According to biographer Patricia G. Watkinson, "Kenneth Callahan was before all else a painter of nature." In Callahan's words, "Nature is the most important?. It is nature, with its unlimited varied form, structure and color that constitutes the vital living source from which art must basically stem." Size (sight view): 19.5" L x 29.125" W (49.5 cm x 74 cm) Size (frame): 25" L x 34.75" W (63.5 cm x 88.3 cm)

About the artist: "Born in 1905 in Spokane, Washington, Kenneth Callahan grew up in Montana and later attended high school in Seattle. He entered the University of Washington in 1924, but soon realized that university life wasn't for him. He left with several friends to drive to San Francisco in a beat-up Model T, which broke down before they arrived and had to be sold for $2.50.

Callahan traveled widely and was influenced by the work he saw in Mexico and Europe. His early work was representational, e.g., paintings of ships and dock workers (he spent some time as a ship steward) and cityscapes. Later, his work become abstract with strong broad brush strokes, but all was heavily influenced by nature: mountains and rocks, beaches and the sea, and horses and insects were common subjects.

Recognized early as a talent, his paintings were included in the first Whitney Biennial Exposition in 1933, the same year that he was hired by the new Seattle Art Museum. He became curator of the museum four years later -- a position he held until 1953. Over time, he became one of the best known Northwest painters and is considered -- along with Mark Tobey, Morris Graves, and Guy Anderson -- one of the four 'Northwest Masters.' Callahan painted actively until his death in Seattle in 1986. His works can be found in numerous museums and collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art in New York, The Phillips Gallery and the Hirschhorn Museum in Washington, D.C., and the Art Institute of Chicago." (Source: University of Washington website)

For further reading about Kenneth Callahan: "Kenneth Callahan" by Thomas Orton and Patricia Grieve Watkinson. University of Washington Press, March 2001; "Northwest Mythologies: The Interactions of Mark Tobey, Morris Graves, Kenneth Callahan, and Guy Anderson" by Sheryl Conkelton and Laura Landau. University of Washington Press, March 2003; "Iridescent Light: The Emergence of Northwest Art" by Deloris Tarzan Ament. University of Washington Press, 2002.

Provenance: private Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA collection

All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back.

A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids.

We ship worldwide to most countries and handle all shipping in-house for your convenience.IMPORTANT EXCEPTION We are currently unable to ship to Australia, Germany or Switzerland due to customs regulations.

#181863

Labels for Maynard Walker Gallery, New York City and Addison Gallery, Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts on verso. Once had label for San Francisco Museum of Art: 30 US Contemporaries 1952 on former framing. Painting is in overall very good vintage condition with normal age wear. Custom frame is intact and fit with suspension wire.