Shirrell Graves

.
We ran into yet another stash of artwork. I swear, I have every piece I have ever found in my long lifetime.

This stack (totaling close to forty pieces) was stuck back in the corner of a room where we used to have a small matting and framing business. Most of it seems to be from what I remember as my Art Deco period. There was a time when you could find this stuff all over the place for next to nothing. Yard sales, Goodwill, out by the curb . . .

And I found a ton of it.

I was really fond of the tropical pieces and looking at it now, all collected in one place, I'm kind of amazed at what a huge collection I've amassed.

But it's all going away now, I sure hope somebody cares.

I was particularly fascinated with an artist named Shirrell Graves. Working in watercolor and I think airbrush (or maybe stencils?) I loved the style. For years (pre-internet) I thought it was a woman's work, but I just looked him up, to discover that he was a man. And really prolific!

I find a lot of references to the artwork, but very little about the man himself, other than he lived in San Francisco and died in the early 1950s.

We have taken all these pieces, to be sold as one lot, to another local auction house which deals in artwork. They've also taken some of our other pieces, so we're hoping to get at least a couple of hundred dollars after they sell all the pieces.

For my memories sake,
here's my Shirrell Graves collection.

A matched pair of zebras,
original mats and frames.

My favorite piece,, the flamingo.

Bad picture, (out of focus, sorry)
I really like the panther also.

The tiger.

Mr. Graves also did a lot of flowers.
While not my favorites, when I found this
I had to add it to the collection.

Because for so long, I just loved the Art Deco look, I'll be posting some of the other artwork we're selling. Hopefully, we're coming to the end of this pile and will find something else to start on next week!