Back Stage, Original Gouache Painting by Robert H. Kennicott, Los Angeles, C. 1936, Framed

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Description

A genuinely compelling piece of California art history, this large gouache painting titled "Back Stage" depicts three figures in a … Read more A genuinely compelling piece of California art history, this large gouache painting titled "Back Stage" depicts three figures in a theatrical dressing room setting -- a central figure pulling a shirt over their head, flanked by two female figures in various states of undress. The composition is bold and confidently painted, with a rich, layered palette of deep crimsons, earthy golds, cool blues, and chartreuse greens that give the scene an almost stage-lit intensity. The work is signed by the artist in the lower center.

The real story here is on the back. The painting carries two original exhibition labels that have survived intact: a Los Angeles County Fair Jury Art Exhibition entry label identifying the title, medium, artist, and an original selling price of $200, and a Brugger Fine Arts Forwarding Service label -- a prominent mid-century Los Angeles art shipping firm located on South Western Avenue. Together these labels document an unbroken chain of provenance from the original exhibition submission to the present day.

Robert Helm Kennicott (1892-1983) was a Los Angeles-based painter and physician who took up painting after settling in the city in the early 1930s. He became a serious and recognized figure in the California art scene, exhibiting at LACMA in 1934 and becoming a member of the Painters and Sculptors of Los Angeles, the California Watercolor Society, the California Art Club, the San Diego Fine Arts Society, and the Laguna Beach Art Association. He exhibited at the Golden Gate International Exposition in 1939 and showed with the Courvoisier Gallery in San Francisco in 1941. For nearly a decade he was the close companion and artistic collaborator of Mabel Alvarez, one of the most important figures in Southern California Modernism. His work is documented in "Artists in California 1786-1940" by Edan Hughes and the Who Was Who in American Art.

The painting is presented in what appears to be its original or period distressed cream-painted wood frame with a warm linen mat, under glass, and in excellent condition. Professionally framed. Ready to hang.

DETAILS:

• Artist: Robert H. Kennicott (Robert Helm Kennicott, 1892-1983)
• Title: Back Stage
• Medium: Gouache on board
• Image size: 22 x 28 inches (width x height)
• Framed size: 30 x 36.5 x 2 inches (width x height x depth)
• Weight: 15 lbs
• Condition: Excellent -- under glass, no visible damage, foxing, or restoration
• Provenance: Los Angeles County Fair Jury Art Exhibition (original label verso); Brugger Fine • Arts Forwarding Service, Los Angeles (original label verso)
• Signed: Yes, lower center
• Period: Mid-20th century, likely mid-to-late 1930s See less