Vintage Abstract Outsider Folk Art 1960s California Painting

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NEW COLLECTION! This is a fantastic original Mid-Century oil on canvas by listed artist Patricia Ann Tool McHugh (1927-2022). Tool … Read more NEW COLLECTION! This is a fantastic original Mid-Century oil on canvas by listed artist Patricia Ann Tool McHugh (1927-2022). Tool was a prolific artist working in numerous media including oil, watercolor, printmaking, and collage (please read her full bio below). Her passion for art is evident in everything she did, and her body of work tells the story of her love of color, design, and shape. Each piece is bursting with life!

This is a great chance to own a very nice museum quality work by an extremely talented artist. It is a wonderful example of this era in painting. The Whitney Museum did a show of Abstract paintings of the 60s and this would have fit in perfectly. The shapes, color, and imagery are stunning and complex.

It is signed in the lower left and dated 1963-4. On the reverse is the tag from the Kingsley Art Club, with the title of the piece ("The King Dreaming of Past Conquests") and an original price of $200. It has been framed in a unique washed wood scalloped-edge frame. This is a standout among her work and a must-have for the collector!

Bradley Fine Art has partnered with her estate to sell the collection. We will be listing all her works over the the coming months so please check back to see more works by this outstanding artist!

Certification: Gallery Certificate of Authenticity with Provenance included.

Condition: Very good condition. Some crazing as expected. Custom frame has minimal signs of wear.

Measurements: Painting is 22"x30" and it is approx 31"x39" framed.

About the Artist: Patricia Ann Tool McHugh was born in Omaha, Nebraska in 1927. She spent her youth in the small farming town of Murdock, Nebraska, where her father owned and operated the local lumber yard. The Depression took a toll on the business, compelling a relocation to Denver in 1936. Pat graduated from South High School, attended Stephens College as a freshman, and received a B.F.A in 1949 from the University of Denver School of Art.

During college summers, she studied painting with colorist Henry Hensche at the Cape School of Art in Provincetown, Massachusetts; and with fashion artist and illustrator Julio de Diego in Central City, Colorado. In 1962, she earned her M.A. in the Practice of Art at Oberlin College, Ohio, after several European study excursions and American teaching opportunities honed her desire to teach.

Patricia was a talented and versatile artist from an early age, demonstrating gifts across many media — although her avocation was watercolor, at which she excelled. A year spent studying at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Florence, Italy, boosted her confidence as an artist. Her very first show, one of many throughout her career, was in a Florentine restaurant. Her marriage to writer and translator Vincent McHugh was instrumental in nurturing her interest in the arts of Asia.

With an insatiable desire to learn about and experience the art world, she enjoyed worldwide sojourns. All itineraries included art museums, exhibitions, workshops, or classes. She painted everywhere she traveled. Her many colorful canvases brought to life the busy café terraces of southern France, the open-air markets of Lisbon, the sheltered bays of California, and the serene and dramatic landscapes of New Zealand.

The majority of her career was spent as an art instructor in drawing, color and design, printmaking, and art history at Sacramento City College from 1961 until her retirement in 1987. Teaching, designing, studying, workshops, exhibits, collaborative shows, printmaking, painting, galleries, museums, and art history were all on her palette of art appreciation and participation. She appreciated good literature and good music, and, in her later years, she shared treasured time with her beloved companion, jazz musician Charles Richards of San Francisco. She had many appreciative admirers from Europe to New Mexico and from Denver to Sacramento, and she was devoted to her parents and to her brothers and their families.

Patricia passed away in Denver in 2022. See less