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Grapefruit Moon Gallery

Original Art from the Grand Age of American Illustration

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Sorry, It's Sold

The Deck Hands

Artist:Robert Riley
Date:1930s
Medium:Oil On Stretched Canvas
Dimensions:Sight size 19 3/4" by 28" Framed 26 1/2" by 35"
Condition:Excellent
Original Use:Exhibited Fine Art
Price: Sold
Full view of oil painting
Full view of oil painting
The artist's signature lower right
The artist’s signature lower right
Framed in period and original rough hewn painted wood frame
Framed in period and original rough hewn painted wood frame

This period 1930s signed oil on stretched canvas painting was created by the New York state fine artist and illustrator Robert T. Riley. With a social realist / WPA styled grittiness, Riley captures the hardscrapple life of deck hands hard at work, while eluding to the anxieties of the Great Depression. The stylized rigging suggests the mechanization of the Industrial revolution, and the sailors pulling up the sails find their muscles strained to the point of breaking in an homage to John Henry. In the original rough hewn painted wood frame that is as gritty and compromised as the vision set forth on the canvas.

Detail
Detail
Detail
Detail

 

Verso of untouched back canvas with pine stretcher bars
Verso of untouched back canvas with pine stretcher bars

This signed ship deck genre painting effortlessly captures the appeal of the WPA movement and story telling through art that was a part of the modernist painter tradition during the 1930s.

The Deck Hands

Artist: Robert Riley
Price:  Sold

Filed Under: Sorry, It's Sold
Tagged With: aquatic, Robert Riley, sailor, ship, WPA
Added to Gallery: July 2, 2012

 

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    About Grapefruit Moon Gallery

    Grapefruit Moon Gallery, based in Minneapolis MN, specializes in vintage pin up and original illustration art.  We are the proud home of the Bunny Yeager archives.

    Since 2003, Grapefruit Moon Gallery has been a leading dealer of exclusive original paintings by Gil Elvgren, Alberto Vargas, Earl Moran, Rolf Armstrong and Henry Clive, as well as vintage photographs, prints, and period decorative arts in ceramic and metal.

    All artworks featured are original, accurately represented, and guaranteed to be the work of the named artist.

    Interested buyers may view pieces by appointment and we are happy to answer any questions you may have. [Contact Us]

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