Edmund Magrath Antique Art Deco Figurative Oil Painting Old Wpa Realism Fashion

  
RARE AND EXTRAORDINARY ANTIQUE WPA ART DECO IMPRESSIONIST OIL PAINTING ON CANVAS BY RENOWNED NEW JERSEY PORTRAIT PAINTER AND FASHION ILLUSTRATOR EDMUND MAGRATH. THIS WORK SPEAKS FOR ITSELF. A LIVELY YET ELEGANT SCENE INVOLVING THREE WELL-DRESSED FIGURES, A WOMAN AND TWO MEN ENGAGED IN CONVERSATION WITH AN OFFICER IN A DECORATED UNIFORM. THIS PIECE IS ILLUMINATED BY A SOFT DIFFUSED LIGHT, HIGHLIGHTING THE RICHNESS OF THEIR ATTIRE AND THE DISTANT PERSONALITIES EACH CONVEYS. BOLD COLORS OF EMERALD GREEN, SAPPHIRE BLUE, AND YELLOW GIVE THE PAINTING A GLAMOROUS YET DYNAMIC FEEL TYPICAL OF THE ART DECO MOVEMENT. THE CONVERSATION BETWEEN THE FIGURES APPEARS LIVELY AND ANIMATED, PERHAPS REFLECTING A MOMENT OF SOCIAL OR POLITICAL INTRIGUE. EDMUND MAGRATH WAS AMONG THE MOST SKILLED AND HIGHEST SALARIED ARTIST IN THE PROFESSION OF FASHION ILLUSTRATION OF THE 20TH CENTURY. IT DOESN'T GET ANY BETTER THAN THIS.

SIGNED BY EMUND MAGRATH IN THE LOWER LEFTHAND CORNER. IT DATES AROUND THE 1940s. THIS PAINTING WAS REFRAMED WITH NEW BACKING AT SOME POINT.

LOOKS GREAT FROM EVER ANGLE. DIMENSIONS INCLUDING THE FRAME: 29"H x 25"W. DIMENSIONS WITHOUT THE FRAME: 25"H x 21"W. Edmund Magrath (1885 - 1961) was active/lived in New Jersey, Massachusetts.

Edmund Magrath is known for Portrait painting. Edmund Magrath was an American portrait painter and fashion illustrator based in East Orange, New Jersey. Born in Massachusetts, he studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris and Rhode Island School of Design. By the age of 22 he had an exclusive contract with the Sherman & Bryan ad agency, which promoted him to the clothing trade as pre-eminently the master of a life-and-blood technique.

He draws MEN, not manikins. You almost expect them to step down from the canvas with hand outstretched and a quip on the lip, so natural do they look. None of your spineless, nerveless, boneless, bloodless,'fashion plates.

" In 1915, a printing trade publication, The Inland Printer, listed McGrath as among "the most skilled and highest salaried artists in the profession of fashion illustration. In the 1910s, he illustrated high-end full color style booklets distributed to clients of Baltimore clothier Strouse & Brothers; these included a section on historical fashions and another on current styles of men and young men's clothing. He was a member of the Salmagundi Club and the American Artists Professional League, which awarded him a citation in 1955.