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Grapefruit Moon Gallery

Original Art from the Grand Age of American Illustration

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outsider art

Dating to the WPA-era, when many American artists turned their attention to the perils of modernity, urbanization, and the consequences of industrialization, this oil on canvas fine art painting takes a surreal and bleak apocalyptic look at a cityscape (likely New York City) being set upon by a serpent and the wolves that act as his familiars.

City In Ruins

Artist: Unknown American Artist

Filed Under: Fine & Decorative Art
Tagged With: 1930s, american, Cityscape, fantasy, fine art, Golden Age, new york city, outsider art, science fiction, WPA
Added to Gallery: December 20, 2017

One of two 1930s oil on stretched canvas paintings we have acquired by Robert T. Riley, a New York state fine artist and illustrator who worked in a social realist / WPA bleak stylized Regionalist aesthetic. In this expressive work, Riley evokes the anxieties caused by a football injury as a player is carted off the field, capturing the multitude of pained expressions on the faces of those gathered. This somber, painting was created during the depths of the Great Depression and it offers bleak commentary on the hardships endured by all men.

The Football Injury

Artist: Robert Riley

Filed Under: Illustration & Advertising Art, Sorry, It's Sold
Tagged With: 1930s, american, football, illustration, new york city, outsider art, regionalist, Robert Riley, WPA
Added to Gallery: July 9, 2012

 

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