Description: John Atherton (American, 1900-1952)
'Beach Scene', oil on board, signed L/L
14 1/2" x 17 1/2', frame 21" x 24 1/2".
Condition: Great overall condition.
Provenance: Private collection, New York.
Biography John Atherton
Biography from the Archives of askART
Biography photo for John Atherton
For John Atherton there was no line drawn between "fine" and "commercial" art. He painted pictures for advertisers, magazine covers, and galleries alike. All were characterized by his strong sense of design and color.
Atherton was born in Brainerd, Minnesota, studied at the College of the Pacific, and the California School of Fine Arts in San Francisco. He first worked in a number of West-Coast art studios learning the basics of his craft. When he won a $500 first prize award in the annual exhibit of the Bohemian Club in 1929, it financed his move to New York.
There, he began to do illustrations for advertisers, including General Motors, Container Corporation of America, and Shell Oil, and covers for Fortune, Holiday, and The Saturday Evening Post.
His first one-man show was held in Manhattan in 1936. In the "Artists for Victory" show in 1943, his painting, The Black Horse, won the $3,000 fourth prize from among 14,000 entries. It now hangs in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. His work is also represented at the Whitney Museum, Museum of Modern Art, Chicago Art Institute, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, The Albright Art Gallery in Buffalo, and the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford.

Good overall condition.
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