Woodland Melodies

Above: Full view

Above: The artist's signature and date lower left

A dark and deeply erotic Salmagundi Club Exhibited large oil on canvas by R.K. Ryland titled "Woodland Melodies." Ryland was a celebrated New York based illustrator and fine artist who worked extensively creating modernist murals and posters for the 1939 New York World's Fair. A work by Ryland from that fair is on permanent display at the Wolfsonian Modernism Museum in Miami. A large, defining example of the woodland nymph imagery that captivated 1920s artists and illustrators.

Above: Detail

A recent excursion through the streets of New York City found us unexpectedly at the steps of the Salmagundi Club, which stands to this day as a vibrant art institution and storied preserver of American Art and Illustration. Following a tradition of over 130 years, Salmagundi Art Club continues to serve as a center for fine artists from New York and around the country - providing exhibitions of paintings, sculpture and photography, conducting art classes and painting demonstrations and art auctions throughout the year.

Originally formed as the New York Sketch Club in 1871, the Club adopted its present name a hundred years ago after Washington Irving published his potpourri of wit and wisdom called "The Salmagundi Papers." The name also serves as the club dining room's famous "Salmagundi Stew".

Through the years the Club has been the singular gathering place for such great artists as Childe Hassam, William Merrit Chase, Howard Pyle, N.C. Wyeth, Charles Dana Gibson, Ogden Pleisner and many others. Honorary members have included such luminaries as Sir Winston Churchill, Buckminister Fuller, Paul Cadmus, Al Hirschfeld, Thomas Hoving and Schuyler Chapin.

Above: Framed view in original gold gilt frame

Above: verso

Above: Exhibition tag Salmagundi Club Summer Exhibit

This masterfully executed artwork retains verso exhibition label and is titled in artists hand (with original 1926 sales price of $500.00). Painting is in fine original gold gilt museum quality frame and in an excellent state of conservation.