"Unloading the Sardine Boat" by Ben Messick, C. 1950. Signed in block, as was Messick's habit. White line color woodcut, excellent condition, archivally matted and framed. Excellent condition, (10in H x 12in W image, 21 3/4in H x 23 1/4in). Very rare print, Messick only did a few woodcuts. Born 1891, died 1981.
Ben Messick completed his training in Los Angeles at Chouinard in the late-1920s. He is well-known for his Regionalist scenes as well as Modernist paintings. He returned to Chouinard in the 1940s where he remained as an instructor through the 1950s. While there, he influenced a generation of Los Angeles modernists.
Born near Stafford, Missouri in 1891, Benjamin Newton Messick displayed remarkable artistic talent at a very young age. After serving in France during World War I, Messick moved to California to pursue his dream of becoming an artist. He received immediate praise and recognition for his art upon enrolling in the Chouinard School of Art in Los Angeles in the fall of 1925. Messick returned to Chouinard in the 1940s and 1950s as one of the school’s most popular instructors.
Messick’s work can be divided into two distinct periods: regionalist paintings from the 1930s and ‘40s, and modernist pieces that evolved from the 1950s onward. His scene paintings reflect his passion for human nature, depicting subjects from the streets, parks and beaches in a kind, honest manner. The modernist pieces explore fantastic landscapes in a bold, dark palette with vigorous, thick brushwork.
A talented draftsman, printmaker and painter, Messicks’s works were featured in countless exhibitions at important museums and galleries. He received numerous awards and was often considered to be one of the foremost members of the Los Angeles art community. Despite his fine reputation, just a few years after his death Messick’s works slipped into relative obscurity. Sullivan Goss is proud to represent the
COLLECTIONS
Boca Raton Museum of Art, FL
Grumbacher Collection, New York, NY
Laguna Art Musuem, Laguna Beach, CA
Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, CA
Los Angeles County Art Museum, LA, CA
Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI
National Museum of American Art, Washington, DC
Orange County Museum of Art, Newport Beach, CA
San Francisco Musuem of Art, San Francisco, CA
Seton Hall University, South Orange, NJ
