Paul Chidlaw Oil Landscape Painting "Mendocino Coast"

Item Details

Paul Chidlaw (Cincinnati, Ohio; 1900 – 1989)
Mendocino Coast
Oil painting on masonite
Signed “Chidlaw” to lower right

An oil painting on masonite titled Mendocino Coast by well listed American artist Paul Chidlaw (Cincinnati, Ohio; 1900 – 1989). This landscape painting depicts a rocky coastline. Its dynamic composition is created through a cropped perspective and a multitude of angular shapes and lines, rendered in brushwork that is more tightly realized than Chidlaw’s usual style. The work is signed to the lower right. It is housed in a simple wooden frame with a black liner.

Provenance
Private collection, Cincinnati, OH
Purchased from Main Auction Galleries, Cincinnati, Ohio, 2007

Paul Chidlaw, an early proponent of abstract expressionism, had a long and distinguished career in Cincinnati, Ohio. He was born in Cleves, Ohio, and studied at the Art Academy of Cincinnati. In 1927, after working as a commercial artist for several years, he left for Europe where he worked, traveled and studied, including a period at L’Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Fontainebleau. After returning to Cincinnati in 1935 he painted several commissions for the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and served in the US Army Corps of Engineers during WWII before settling in to a long teaching career at the Art Academy of Cincinnati. There he was known for his modernist aesthetic, and mentored many students including notable American Pop artists Jim Dine and Tom Wesselmann. In fact, he was so revered that the institution named the Chidlaw Gallery after him in 1986. Chidlaw’s work resides at the Cincinnati Art Museum, Xavier University and in many private collections.

Dimensions

- painting measures 16″ × 16″.

Item #

18CIN517-029