43: FRED SHANE (1906-1992) TWO-SIDED REGIONALIST OIL C 1933

Frederick Emanuel Shane (Missouri / Kansas, 1906-1992)
Distant Elevators (Circa 1933)
The classic Regionalist landscape composed in multiple layers and textures from an elevated perspective is signed lower right and titled verso on the stretcher where a second painting is found. The canvas is in an outstanding frame of the period, almost certain to be the original frame. It is of an unusual though classic, understated design displaying great original finish.

This painting was exhibited at the 1934 Midwestern artist's exhibition at the Kansas City, Art Institute, and at Lighton Studios in Kansas City in December of 1935.The dynamic bird's-eye composition of this painting employs a subtle serpentine construction where the contours of the landscape guides the eye to the distant horizon and the 'Distant Elevators.' Both of these approaches to composing a picture are the tools of muralists and common to Regionalists, especially the serpentine construction that Benton taught. Benton's painting Boom Town employs this perspective, as does another work by Shane titled View From My Studio, Kansas City, 1933. An oil on board by Missouri artist J. Baare Turnbull (1909-1976) titled Episcopal Church, recently sold in St. Louis displays this same elevated perspective as do works by many of the muralists and easel painters associated with this period.

The painting up for bid here, with red farm truck wending its way down the road, is a great slice of Midwest Regionalism and classic Fred Shane: outwardly informal, yet fundamentally well-composed.

Fred Shane was born in Kansas City and began painting at the age of eight. He studied at the Kansas City Art Institute and later refined his technique under Randall Davey at the Broadmoor Art Academy in Colorado Springs, as well as through further studies in Paris and New York.

In 1932, he joined the University of Missouri in Columbia as an art instructor, ultimately serving as chairman of the art department from 1958 until his retirement in 1971.

A close friend of Thomas Hart Benton, Shane was clearly influenced by American Regionalist painters and his works often depict rural scenes like the example offered here.

During World War II, he served as an artist-correspondent with the U.S. Army Medical Corps, producing wartime imagery for newspapers and magazines. He also contributed to the Works Progress Administration, completing the mural Picnic, Lake of the Ozarks for the post office in Eldon, Missouri, in 1941.

Shane's work has been exhibited at major institutions including the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, D.C., and at the New York World's Fair. His paintings are held in the collections of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
Canvas measures 32 x 26 with a framed size of 41H x 34.5W inches.
Very good original condition. There are no issues of scratches, losses, repairs, in-painting or touch-up.
$4,000 - $6,000
Without proof of exemption, be aware that internet sales tax applies to all Internet transactions and local sales tax may apply to local pick-up transactions.
We happily provide seamless in-house packing and shipping services on nearly everything we sell.

Until further notice, we cannot offer international shipping in-house.