Boris Riab (French, 1898-1975)

Setter with Woodcock

Watercolor on Paper, signed

Sight size:17.75" x 12.75
Unframed, Mat size: 23" x 18"

Biography:
Boris Riab (Born November 1, 1898 Boris Riabouchinsky, in Moscow, Russia. Riab died in 1975 in Saint Vincent du LorouÃr.)
Due to his families finances, Riab studied at many different art schools in Moscow.
In 1917, Riab's family fled Russia after the Bolshevik Party gained power. Pursuing hunting and sport, he traveled through out the world before he settled in France in 1927. It was then he changed his last name from Riabouchinsky to Riab.
Riab mostly painted watercolors of hunting dog portraits and wild fowl. He also printed limited edition engravings of studies of setters, spaniels, retrievers, ducks, pheasants, pointers, partridges, snipes, and woodcocks.

Slightly Bawdy Cut Sihoulette of dancing man and woman by Charles Handrup, signed and located "Paris" and dated "1909"

Sight Size: 6.5" x 8.5"
Frame: 13" x 14.25"

Handrup was a Danish Silhouettist who lived in London between the wars. For years he ran a Silhouette Parlour at D.H.Evans Department Store in Oxford Street. Handrup was awarded a silver medal at the Empire Exhibition at Londons Crystal Palace. Printed on the reverse of some of his poatcards is the statement: : " This Silhouette Portrait is executed entirely freehand by Handrup, who begs to observe that his likenesses are executed by the Scissors alone and are preferable to any taken by machines inasmuch by the Scissor process the passions and peculiarities of Character are brought more into action. Silver Medal awarded Festival of Empire Crystal Palace 1911. "

A By-path

Henry Hobart Nichols, Jr. (American, 1869-1962)

Watercolor on paper, signed and dated: “1897”.

Exhibited at the Third Annual Washington Water Color Club, 1898.

Illustrated in McMahan, The Artists of Washington, DC: 1796-1996, p. 158.

Provenance: from the Estate of Virgil McMahan.

A painter and illustrator, Nichols was a member of quite an artistic family. His father, brother and wife were all professional painters as well.

He had diverse training beginning with instruction from Howard Helmick. He also attended the Art Students League of Washington before heading to Europe. In Europe, he studied at both the Froebel Institute in Germany and at the Academie Julian in France.

His early career (1889-1905) included a position on the Board of the Art Students League, as well as employ by the U.S. government. He worked as an illustrator for both the U.S. Geological Society and the Bureau of American Ethnology.

A member of the Washington Watercolor Club and Society of Washington Artists, Nichols favored subject was landscapes.

Nichols is listed in Who Was Who in American Art by Falk.

Sight size: 13” x 9.5”
Frame size: 21” x 17”

** For other paintings by artists from Maryland, Virginia or Washington DC, type “local” into the search box.

View of Laguna Beach

Charles Ross Kinghan (American, 1895-1984)

Watercolor on paper, signed.

A painter and illustrator, Kinghan trained at the American Academy of Art and the Art Institute of Chicago. In addition to his studio work, Kinghan began a career as an art teacher. In 1937, he first offered private instruction. While that continued throughout his life, he also worked for a time at the American Art Academy which was followed by a position at the Huguenot School of Art. After leaving art academia, Kinghan worked for over ten years for various advertising agencies as a “sketch man”.

While busily employed in various capacities during his life, Kinghan also found time to participate in many exhibitions. His work was shown at the Art Institute of Chicago, Allied Artists of America, American Watercolor Society, National Academy of Design and many others.

In addition to winning two gold medals from the Allied Artists of America, in 1956 and 1964, Kinghan was a member of the association. He also held memberships in The National Academy, Academy Artists Association, American Watercolor Society and Hudson Valley Art Association. He served both the American Watercolor Society and Hudson Valley Art Association as vice president in 1969 and 1968, respectively.

He was a resident of Laguna Beach, CA at the time of his death.

Kinghan is listed in Who Was Who in American Art by Falk.

Sight size: 14.5” x 20.5”
Frame size: 22.25” x 28.5”

Frederick Smallfield, (English, 1825-1915)

Genoese Flower Girl

Watercolor on paper, signed and titled on the reverse.

Painting size: 16” x 10”
Frame size: 26.75” x 20.5”

Smallfield was a painter of genre scenes in oil and watercolour. He was a student at the Royal Academy Schools in the late 1840s with the members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, but he was probably not close to them then, for he is not mentioned in their diaries. However by the late 1850s his works display a distinct Pre-Raphaelite influence. "Early Lovers", an oil painting now in Manchester City Art Gallery, is the best known. It shows a young couple against a meticulously observed background of flowers and leaves, a Pre-Raphaelite format first used in John Everett Millais’ popular "Huguenot" of 1852. In 1858, Ruskin praised Smallfield's watercolours in Academy Notes. Smallfield became best known as a watercolour painter, although he continued to exhibit occasional oils at the Royal Academy until the late 1870s. He was elected Associate of the Old Watercolour Society in 1860 and chiefly exhibited there although he also sent works to the Royal Academy, and the Grosvenor Gallery. In 1862 he contributed illustrations to Willmott's Sacred Poetry and Passages From Modern English Poets, but these were his sole contributions to the illustration revival of the 1860s. No less than three of his children became artists and exhibited from the 1880s onwards. Smallfield is still a little known artist, and there is no substantial printed study of his work. Sources:
"Frederick Smallfield, 1825-1915." The Victorian Web: An Overview. Web. 15 Mar. 2012.
Morgan, Hilary and Nahum, Peter. Burne-Jones, The Pre-Raphaelites and Their Century. London: Peter Nahum, 1989.

English School (ca. 1850-1870)

Two Antique English miniature watercolors with printed borders.

Frame size: 7.5" x 8.5"