Rare 1951 Midcentury Lee Atkyns Oil Painting “Study in Motion” – Signed, Framed

Description

Dynamite midcentury oil painting by American artist Lee Atkyns (1913-1987), entitled “Study in Motion,” painted in 1951. The painting comes with a lengthy handwritten statement on the back describing how the piece came to fruition, which was written in the year that he died, 1987, from a sudden heart attack. At the time, Atkyns – who headed the Lee Atkyns Studio School and Gallery in Washington, D.C., and taught art during summers in various towns in Pennsylvania – had an “Art Mart” studio, gallery, and frame shop on Market Street in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. It was Chrismastime, and a new super grocery store had opened across the street, notable for being the first in town to have giant full-length glass doors in front. The store had loudspeakers outside on the sidewalk, and from them Atkyns could hear – all day – a loud, distorted version of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” This painting, in his own words, is his attempt to “portray the movement of shoppers coming in and going out the two doors,” and the result, as he states, is “one of my finest works,” and to me it bears the influence of abstract pioneers Kandinsky and Klee.
Large-format oil is painted on canvas board and framed in painted wood, with an engraved brass plaque with the name of the artwork and artist. The painting is signed and dated 1951 at bottom. It’s further signed and addressed on the back, which includes the handwritten note from 1987 as well as a copy of a typewritten biography. The painting measures 15” by 11”, and the total dimensions with frame are 21” by 17”. Light dustiness to the artwork, otherwise in very good condition. General light chipping and scuffing to the frame.
The painting was previously sold at an auction of 20th Century American Art at Rago Auctions in New Jersey in 2001. Atkyns made his New York art debut at #10 Gallery in 1941 – while still working for the U.S. Army Map Service – which means this 1951 work is from his earliest period of painting.
Atkyns’ art is included in the prestigious Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C.. A number of works by the artist are in Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art. His paintings have appeared in exhibits at the Smithsonian Institute, National Academy of Design, The Corcoran Gallery, Utah Arts Council, Toledo Museum of Art, Carnegie Institute Museum of Art, Butler Institute of American Art, and Portland Museum of Art, among others.
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