Artist Raimonds Staprans, Chinatown, oil, 20 x 16
Sunset River Gallery in Calabash, NC has recently added to its offering of fine 20th century art with two new pieces each by Raimonds Staprans (1926) and Wolf Kahn (1927 – 2020).
Staprans is a Latvian American artist and playwright. He immigrated to the US in 1947. One of the artists he studied under was Hans Hofmann. Staprans, who is still living but no longer paints, was known for examining the architecture of everyday objects using color and flattened compositions. His subject matter was always an important component of his work where he explored the formal devices of abstract expressionism.
Artist Raimonds Staprans, Cathedral, oil, 25 x 22
The two new pieces at Sunset River Gallery are both early examples of his work and depict bustling city scenes. Unlike his later paintings these two are highly textured but employ his distinctive simplicity of shape (noted particularly in both his trees and structures in these cityscapes). Typically, Staprans’ earlier pieces command lower prices, so, according to gallery director Samantha Spalti, these are ideal for entry level collectors. Chinatown, oil on canvas, 20” x 16” and Cathedral, oil on canvas 25 ¼” x 22 ¼”, were both painted in the 1950s.
Artist Wolf Kahn, Near the Potomac in Spring, oil, 28 x 66
German-born Wolf Kahn also studied under Hans Hofmann and later became his assistant. He immigrated to the U.S. by way of England. After enrolling in the University of Chicago, he completed his degree in a single year and established, with other Hofmann students, the Hansa Gallery in CITY. Kahn received numerous awards including the Fulbright Scholarship, a John Simson Guggenheim Fellowship, an Award in Art from the Academy of Arts and Letters, and a Medal of Arts from the U.S. State Department.
His work was a unique blend of realism combined with the formal discipline of color field painting. The fusion of color, spontaneity, and representation produced a rich and expressive body of work.
The two new pieces include Fall Maples, oil, 18 ¼” x 44 ¼” (1986) and Near the Potomac in Spring, oil on canvas, 28” x 66” (1987).
Artist Wolf Kahn, Fall Maples, oil, 28 ¼ x 44 ¼
Spalti says that Sunset River Gallery is in a unique position to offer clients rare and high-quality investment-grade art at better-than-expected pricing due to the gallery’s cost-efficient location and the gallery owner’s buying expertise. “If we were located in a busy metropolitan area, it just wouldn’t be possible,” she adds. “We hope art lovers, collectors, and students will all take advantage of the opportunity to view this museum-quality art right here in Calabash or at sunsetrivergallery.com.”
About Sunset River Gallery
Located in coastal Brunswick County, NC, Sunset River Gallery caters to both area visitors and a growing local community of full-time residents seeking fine art for their homes and businesses. Featuring works by over 100 fine regional artists including Betty Anglin Smith, Marcus McClanahan, Pat Puckett, and Angie Sinclair, among others, the gallery is well known in the area for its selection of oil paintings; watermedia; pastels; photography; hand-blown, stained, and fused glass; pottery and clay sculpture; turned and carved wood; unique home décor items; and artisan jewelry.
There are two onsite kilns and five wheels used by the gallery’s pottery students. The gallery also offers ongoing oil/acrylic and watercolor classes as well as workshops by nationally known instructors.
The gallery’s carefully curated selection of investment-grade 20th century fine art is the largest in the Carolinas. Current inventory can be found on Artsy and the gallery website’s 20th Century Artists section. It includes works by Wolf Kahn (1927-2020), Ed Mell (1942), Raimonds Staprans (1926), Angell Botello (1913-1986), Jean Xceron (1890-1967), Emile Gruppe (1896-1998), identical twins Raphael Soyer (1899 -1987) and Moses Soyer (1899 – 1974), Rolph Scarlett (1889 – 1984), Vladimir Cora (1951), Hunt Slonam (1951), Ginny Crouch Stanford (1950), Tadashi Asoma (1923 – 2017), Robert Natkin (1930 – 2010), and Ida Rittenberg Kohlmeyer (1912 – 1997). Also included are two folk art pieces by Mose Tolliver (1925 – 2006), a bronze sculpture by Glenna GoodAcre (1939 – 2020) and two bronzes by Millton Hebald (1930 – 2010).