Important Xavier Gonzalez (Massachusetts 1898-1993 ) Hong Kong 1958 Gouache on Paper

For your consideration is an important painting by listed artist Xavier Gonzalez. This wonderful piece of art was selected by the Childe Hassam Fund of the American Institute of Arts and Letters to be purchased and donated to the Milwaukee Art Center in 1960. It came out of a very important estate in North Florida. It has the identification card from the Milwaukee Art Center on the verso. The painting is signed with initials as well as a chop, dated 59, and titled lower right.  The sight size of the painting is 26.5 x 40 inches and the frame is 29.5 x 43.

Following is a brief bio on Xavier Gonzalez:

A painter of landscapes and figures, muralist, sculptor, and teacher, Xavier Gonzalez was born in Almeria, Spain and was active in Provincetown, Mass. from 1947. He studied at the Art Institute of Chicago from 1921 to 1923 and with his uncle, Jose Arpa. He also studied at the San Carlos Academy in Mexico City and in Paris and in the Far East.

In the 1920's he went to San Antonio, Texas to assist his uncle as an art instructor, and he spent time there as an instructor as well as at Newcomb College at Tullane University.

He was on of the early action painters, beginning in the 1930's, which was many years before Jackson Pollock made this style so famous. He refused to exhibit that kind of work because he didn't want his experiments to be regarded as his final painting.

Exhibits: Los Angeles 1930 (Prize); Arts and Crafts Exhibition in New Orleans 1937 (Prize)

Holdings: War and Peace Auditorium; San Antonio Museum of Fine Art; Dallas Museum of Fine Art; State Teachers College in Alpine, TX; United States Post Office in Hammon, LA; Court House in Huntsville, AL

The Child Hassam fund began when the Impressionist painter, a founding member in of the Institute of Arts and Letters, bequeathed over 400 paintings, watercolors, pastels, lithographs, and etchings, with the request that the accumulated income from their sale be used to purchase works by living American painters for donation to museums in the United States. Similar bequests were received from other members of their estates: Eugene Speicher, Louis Betts, and Gardner Symons. Through this program, the Academy has donated over 1,100 works of art to museums in all 50 states.

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