Oil on canvas abstract expressionist painting, composition. Signed and attr. Charles Shaw (American, 1892-1974) on lower right corner. 17.5 x 23.5 in (44.5 x 56.7 cm), lower right corner shows evidence of cracked paint. A master of varied artistic trades, Charles Green Shaw was a prominent painter, writer, poet, and illustrator, and among the first American artists to embrace abstraction. During the Roaring Twenties, Shaw contributed columns to magazines like The New Yorker and began producing paintings, honing his craft through studies with Thomas Hart Benton and George Luks and trips to Paris, the hotbed of the avant-garde. Shaw is credited with making the first shaped canvases in America, with his 'Plastic Polygons' series from the 1930s variously shaped, abstract canvases, unconventional forms that presaged 1960s trends in abstraction. PROVENANCE: Southern Ontario Estate

All authorship of items in this catalog are described according to the following terms:

By [Artist Name] : In our opinion, the work is by the artist.

Attributed to [Artist Name] : In our opinion, the work may be ascribed to the artist on the basis of style, but there may be some question as to actual authorship.

In the manner of [Artist Name] : In our opinion, the work was executed by an unknown hand, but was designed deliberately to emulate the style of the artist.

After [Artist Name] : In our opinion, the work was executed by an unknown hand, but is a deliberate copy of a known work by the artist.

Circle of [Artist Name] : In our opinion, a work of the period of the artist showing his influence, closely associated with the artist but not necessarily his pupil.

Follower of [Artist Name]: In our opinion, a work by a pupil or a follower of the artist (not necessarily a pupil).

American, 19th century : In our opinion, this work was executed by an unknown hand, and can only be identified by origin (i.e., region, period).

Bears signature : In our opinion, the signature on the artwork may be spurious.
Apocryphal : Of doubtful authenticity.