14: LEON BIBEL (1912-1995) 1939 WPA ERA OIL ON CANVAS

Leon Bibel (1912-1995)
Signboard Bend 1939 (1939)
Signed and dated lower right front.

This modernist composition was painted during the period when Leon Bibel was part of the New York City WPA Federal Art Project. As a painter, printmaker and sculptor Leon Bibel primarily painted genre subjects of Social Realism highlighting the struggles of workers, and the politics of protest during the Great Depression. By some reports, Bibel was himself arrested for protesting cuts to the Federal Art Project. Besides works of protest, he produced landscapes and cityscapes like this painting. A few years after this canvas was painted, Bibel took to poultry farming because, as he put it, ...'we wanted to eat.' It wasn't until around 1960 that he would resume painting with any consistency.
Canvas size 24 x 30, frame measures 29 x 35 inches.
Very good original untouched condition. There are no issues of major scratches, losses, repairs, in-painting or touch-up, confirmed under UV light. Original stretchers, no relining.
$3,000 - $5,000