Gallery
| Artist | Title | Thumbnail | Notes old | Media | Signature status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| John (Jan) Zwara | Returning from the Catch |  |
This painting was featured in our weekly email on 1/13/17 along with the following gallery comments: If you follow Indiana art, you’re probably familiar with the moving story of Jan Zwara. A trained painter and Hungarian émigré, he came to the US in the early twentieth century. He found initial work as an itinerate laborer and moved about for several years. He eventually wound up in Indianapolis, around 1930. He was befriended by Alex Vonnegut as well as art dealer Herman Lieber. He was diagnosed with having severe mental health issues (schizophrenia, much better understood today) and at the urging of Vonnegut, checked into Central State Hospital in 1938. He only remained for about six months but created a huge body of work depicting the grounds during his stay. His problems before the stay at Central State remained his problems after leaving – largely homeless, indigent, not a strong English speaker and of course, mental illness. He nevertheless was a prolific and very talented painter throughout his existence, passing away in 1951. Today’s piece, Back from the Catch (our title) was created in 1944. Zwara would have been Indianapolis-based at this point and it’s often been suggested to me by others who have seen the work, that it was probably painted from a photograph. Perhaps something in Life magazine (or similar). However it came to be – it’s a rather stunning example of a Zwara gouache. The gouache medium, with it’s applied white tones works to great effect in the sea waters floating the trawler. Zwara is one of my favorite Indiana artists and though this piece isn’t a more representative Indiana landscape, it beautifully captures a rapturous sunset and the fishing boat in calm, open seas. Well done, Jan Zwara! | Gouache on Paper | Signed Lower Left |
| John (Jan) Zwara | Seascape |  |
This work was featured in our 2nd Annual Curated Sale of Historic Indiana Art, April 8th, 2018 at the Indianapolis Art Center. | Oil on Board | Signed Lower Left |
| Louis Oscar (L.O.) Griffith | Brown County Landscape |  |
Colored Etching | Signed Lower Right | |
| Sybil Hunt Connell | Floral Still Life |  |
Oil on Board | Signed Lower Right | |
| Evalyn Gertrude James | Ducks |  |
Oil on Board | Signed Lower Right | |
| George Jo Mess | Wishing Gate in Winter |  |
Etching on Paper | Signed Lower Right | |
| George Jo Mess | Winter in the Hills |  |
Etching on Paper | Signed Lower Right | |
| Al LaToor | Covered Bridge in Winter |  |
This work was featured in our 2nd Annual Curated Sale of Historic Indiana Art, April 8th, 2018 at the Indianapolis Art Center. | Watercolor on Paper | Signed Lower Left |
| Floyd D. Hopper | Village on the River |  |
Watercolor on Paper | Signed Lower Right | |
| George Jo Mess | The Madison Bridge |  |
Oil on Canvas | Signed Lower Right | |
| Clifton Alfred Wheeler | Appalachian Homestead |  |
OIl on Canvas | Signed Lower Left | |
| Evelynne B. Mess | Forest Trail |  |
Aquatint Etching on Paper | Signed Lower Right | |
| Evelynne B. Mess | Winter Cityscape |  |
Etching on Paper | Signed Lower Right | |
| Evelynne B. Mess | Boats on Lake Lugano, Switzerland |  |
Edition 23/100 | Etching on Paper | Signed Lower Right |
| George Jo Mess | Magnitude |  |
Edition 4/100 | Etching on Paper | Signed Lower Right |
| Varaldo Guiseppe (V.J.) Cariani | Floral Still Life |  |
Oil on Canvas | Signed Lower Right | |
| Homer Gordon Davisson | Brown County Lane |  |
Oil on Board | Signed Lower Right | |
| Arthur Humpal | Brown County Stream |  |
Oil on Canvas | Signed Lower Left | |
| Adam Emory Albright | A Moment in the Woods |  |
Oil on Canvas | Signed Lower Right | |
| Hilah Drake Wheeler | Art League |  |
"A sketch from memory of the 'Art Students' League' NY (Preparatory Class) For Papa's Christmas Present. By Hilah T. Drake, 1896" written verso | Watercolor on Paper | Signed Lower Right |