So there I am, just minding my own business up on the top chunk of Wisconsin, looking around at some stuff at an estate sale. And bam. I find out that this is the estate of the late great painting and illustration artist James O. Burnley. He’d lived in this area of Wisconsin (Hudson, to be exact) for many years, having painted up until his last (I saw his final work; it was incomplete!) Amongst the regular estate sale treasures were several sketchbooks, drawings, and paintings. And there, there it was. My treasure. My nun. She sat upon the shelf unassumingly, just praying for me to pick her up.
So I did! For twenty dollars.
The woman in charge of keeping everything in order in the part of the sale said she found the painting in the basement amongst the piles and piles of unused picture frames. She said the extended family of Burnley believed it to be one of his earlier paintings because of the way he signed his name. Goodness gracious!
Here’s some more info about Burnley from the gallery that represented him and continues to sell prints of his work:
James O. Burnley was born in 1914 in Kansas City, Missouri. While a student at Paseo High School he developed his interest in art. His art teacher recognized his talent and, to encourage his pursuit of art, gave him her art supplies.
Burnley received a scholarship to the Kansas City Art Institute from 1932 to 1936. He won a national scholarship to the prestigious Art Students League in New York City where he continued to develop his skills and technique. He continued to live and work in New York City as a commercial artist until he was drafted in the United States Army on June 18, 1941.
Burnley’s Army career spanned over two decades and three wars. During his Army days Burnley painted as an avocation and while on leave. Retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel in 1966 he moved to Hudson, Wisconsin where he had been tied since his first visit in 1927. He built his home with studio and began painting immediately and regularly.
He traveled extensively throughout the United States and Europe, painting wherever he went. He completed numerous commissions for private and corporate collections. His works include portraits, still lifes, landscapes, seascapes and modern art. In response to the demand for his artwork he licensed The Riverside Studio Gallery to create very high quality artist proof prints of selected paintings. These are available for sale at the gallery or on-line at the theriversidestudiogallery.com.
Look at the strokes, get engulfed in the colors!
This is the work of a pre-modern painter who had the skills of a post-modern fabuloso. I’ll be framing this up by my Kaws toys and design book collection. It’ll fit right in!
This post is part of the World Famous Design Junkies painting category – imagine that!
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[...] is mine. It is my favorite. It is a painting I acquired at the estate sale of the late James Burnley. The nunery and churchery is [...]