Jean Despres, French Art Deco Modernist Covered Centerpiece c. 1940
Jean Despres (1889-1980) France.
Modernist covered centerpiece, circa 1940.
Hand-wrought and hand-hammered silver plate.
Marks: J. Despres (script incised signature on the edge on one handle),
JD French Jean Despres touchmark (2x).
For related works see: Jean Després: Maestro Orafo Tra Art Déco e Avanguardie, Melissa Gabardi (Milano: IDEA Books, 1999) Metallkunst: Kunst vom Jugendstil zur Moderne (1889-1939) Band IV, Karl H. Brohan (Berlin: Brohan-Museum, 1990); Silver of a New Era: International Highlights of Precious Metalwork from 1880 to 1940 (Rotterdam: Museum Boymans van-Beuningen, 1992)
Signed: Cab Calloway, XIX b.28 (in ink on back); PHOTOGRAPH BY CARL VAN VECHTEN, 101 CENTRAL PARK WEST, CANNOT BE REPRODUCED WITHOUT PERMISSION (ink stamp on back)
Size: H: 9 15/16” x W: 8”
Cabell “Cab” Calloway III (1907-1994) was a famous African American jazz singer and bandleader. Calloway was a master of energetic scat singing and led one of the United States’ most popular African American big bands from the start of the 1930s through the late 1940s.
Jean Marion Gates Hall, “Napa Valley” Oil on canvas 1940
JEAN MARION GATES HALL (1911-2001) USA
Napa Valley 1940
Oil on canvas, original wood frame
Signed: with her monogram initials JGH (lower right)
Marked on back: Jean Gates Hall, June 18, 1940, Napa Valley
Canvas: H: 14″ x W: 17 1/4″
Framed: H: 17 1/2″ x W: 20 1/2″
Price: $4,250
Born in Memphis, TN on May 19, 1911. Jean Gates studied at the Cummings School of Art in Des Moines. At age 14 she moved to Los Angeles with her family. There she continued at the Chouinard Art School while working for Warner Bros, Walt Disney, and Mintz Studios. Upon moving to San Francisco, she married writer James D. Hall in 1938. Her illustrations were used in her husband’s children’s books. She established a studio in the “Monkey Block” (now the Transamerica Pyramid) and was active in the local art scene. She later earned her B.A. degree at San Jose State University (1955) and M.A. degree at UC Davis (1966). Working in oil and watercolor, her painting style and subject matter evolved with the years from descriptive realism to linear pictures, and finally an entirely new medium called Magpage. Mrs. Hall was a resident of Oakland in the 1980s and died in Cedar Ridge, CA on June 23, 2001.
Exhibitions: Iowa State Fair, 1926; California State Fair, 1937; GGIE, 1939; Paul Elder Gallery (SF), 1939 (solo); NMAA, 1941; SFMA, 1942 (solo); De Young Museum, 1944 (solo); California WC Society, 1945-53; UC Davis, 1946, 1965 (solos); Kingsley Art Club (Sacramento), 1965.
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