Cleveland School...

As a center of wealth in the late 19th Century (due in large part to the work of savvy industrialists and a strategic location on Lake Erie and the Cuyahoga River), Cleveland embraced a serendipitous opportunity to become one of the leaders in the development of America’s contemporary art market.  In 1876 at the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, from an international pool of artists, a Cleveland son was made famous when his iconic painting, “The Spirit of ‘76” was overwhelmingly declared the most important work at the fair.  Returning to Cleveland a celebrity, Archibald Willard was instrumental in inspiring and engaging a growing group of artists and their wealthy patrons.  Among the accomplishments of the Cleveland art scene in the following decades were the development of the Cleveland Art Club, The Western Reserve School of Design for Women (which would later become the Cleveland Institute of Art), and, eventually, The Cleveland Museum of Art.  

A dynamic economy juxtaposed by seemingly perpetual friction between the city’s conservative constituency and artists eager to embrace avant garde techniques tempered the progression of the art market into the early decades of the 20th Century.  Artists from the region established a base of knowledge among important instructors and peers, then left for a more welcoming climate in Europe and New York - with a disproportionate number achieving acclaim and notoriety.  Among the pool of artists who explored success in Paris, George (Buck) Warshawsky and his brother, Alexander, arose from a humble background as 2 of 9 children born to Jewish immigrants from Poland who migrated to Cleveland from Sharon, Pennsylvania.  Both Warshawskys ultimately settled in California, but maintained strong local ties.

 FOUR GENERATIONS BY ABEL GEORGE (BUCK) WARSHAWSKY (OHIO, 1883-1962). 
Oil on canvas, unsigned. Depicting four ladies making lace. 43"h. 48.5"w., in a frame, 48.5"h. 54.75"w. 

On the back is a tag stating the painting was owned by the artist's niece, Tobnette Bigelson. 
Sold, $31,725

LANDSCAPE BY ABEL G. WARSHAWSKY (AMERICAN, 1883-1962). 
Oil on canvas, signed lower right. Born 1883 in Pennsylvania, Warshawsky grew up in Cleveland, Ohio and lived in Paris for almost forty years, returning to California where he died in 1962. Brightly painted, impressionistic, cattle in a wooded pasture. 25 3/4'h. 31'w., in a frame. 30 1/4'h. 36 3/4'w.
Sold, $7,638