Phillip Callahan Oil Painting on Canvas of Abstract Red and Brown Shapes

Item Details

A mid to late 20th century oil painting on canvas by listed American artist Phillip Callahan (1918 – 1991). The Abstract Expressionist inspired work depicts an assortment of shapes in brown and dark red set against a cream ground. The piece is signed ‘P Callahan’ and noted ‘55’ by hand to the lower right. It is also posthumously stamped with an artist’s estate stamp to the canvas verso. The painting is presented unframed.

Phillip Callahan was born in Worcester, Massachusetts in 1918. By the age of eighteen his work had been exhibited in several galleries throughout New York. Callahan received his formal artistic training at the Worcester Institute of Fine Art in 1937 as well as the Advanced School of the Boston Museum of Fine Art. He studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris before World War II broke out. Callahan enlisted in the United States Army in February of 1941. After the war he returned to the United States and began studying at the Art Students League of New York. It was during this time that Callahan studied under Czech-American modernist painter Vaclav Vytlacil (1892-1984). Callahan’s earlier works remained ultimately realistic with slight abstraction. However, after studying in New York and Europe his work started to become more abstract. By the 1950s-60s his work had become completely non-objective.

Condition

- abrasions to canvas with several areas of paint loss particularly at edges; fraying to edges of canvas; nail holes from previous stretching; staining to upper right corner; work is presented unframed.

Dimensions

- measures canvas; visible image measures 34.0" W x 24.5" H.

Item #

17IND158-041