Attributed to Ben Culwell, it does not have a COA. Nice abstract. It does not have a COA. Medium: oil and mixed media/board, 24 x 18 inches. Provenance: private owner from Nevada.

Biography: BEN CULWELL (1918-1992)Ben Culwell was born in 1918 in San Antonio, Texas. He spent most of his early life in Houston and resolved to pursue an artistic career. His family relocated to New York in 1936, allowing him to enroll in Columbia University. Though officially pursuing a degree in business administration, he took a number of art courses and studied under Walter Pach, one of the champions of European Modernist art and the chief architect of the landmark 1913 International Exhibition of Modern Art, otherwise known as the Armory Show. While at Columbia, Culwell took full advantage of his New York environment, attending seminal Dada, Surrealist, and Cubist exhibitions and forming relationships with representatives of America’s avant-garde. Though Culwell was charmed by New York, he was unwilling to wholly immerse himself in the city and its art scene. He was troubled by the affected bohemianism he encountered and, on the urging of his father, returned to Texas to pursue a career in business.Culwell continued to paint, though his distance and detachment from the New York art world prevented him from attaining the recognition he deserved. His work continued to be characterized by a confident, painterly handling of surface textures. He frequently buried images deep within layers of paint, forcing viewers to unearth meaning from within numberless strata of paint. Culwell’s experimentalism enabled him to anticipate stylistic devices often attributed to more recognizable artists; Culwell dripped paint before Pollock, employed sand before Tapies, and assimilated mirrors and glass into his work well in advance of Rauschenberg.Culwell lived out his life largely in seclusion – after departing from New York in the 1940s he settled in Temple, Texas – but he was not wholly forgotten by the doyens of the art world and the critical community. He exhibited throughout Texas and saw his work included in a number of nationally-prominent institutions.

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

Signed [Artist Name] : In cases in which the signature is legible in the lot, this work is described as-is with no attributions given.

By [Artist Name] : The work is by the artist.

Attributed to [Artist Name] : 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] : The work was executed by an unknown hand, but was designed deliberately to emulate the style of the artist.

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

Circle of [Artist Name] : 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]: A work by a pupil or a follower of the artist (not necessarily a pupil).

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

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