Ben Culwell Sold at Auction Prices

Painter, b. 1918 - d. 1992

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  • Culwell, Ben L.
    Jan. 24, 2015

    Culwell, Ben L.

    Est: $12,000 - $18,000

    Just Before Sundown on a Dog Day of Summer in Love, c. 1972

    David Dike Fine Art
  • BEN L. CULWELL "NO. 51-2, ROOF SERIES NO.4" OIL
    Sep. 10, 2014

    BEN L. CULWELL "NO. 51-2, ROOF SERIES NO.4" OIL

    Est: $3,750 - $4,750

    BEN L. CULWELL "NO. 51-2, ROOF SERIES NO.4" OIL ON BOARD,1951. PROVENANCE: MCNAY INSTITUTE S.A. Height: 21 in. by Width: 31 in. by Depth: 2IN

    Lewis & Maese Antiques & Auctions
  • BEN L. CULWELL (American, 1918-1992) Untitled ,
    Jan. 24, 2009

    BEN L. CULWELL (American, 1918-1992) Untitled ,

    Est: $3,000 - $5,000

    BEN L. CULWELL (American, 1918-1992) Untitled , 1978 Oil on board 20 x 26-1/2 inches (50.8 x 67.3 cm) Initialed lower right: BLC Titled, dated, and signed verso: Untitled / 1978 / Ben L. Culwell

    Heritage Auctions
  • BEN L. CULWELL (American, 1918-1992) Lust/Love
    Jan. 24, 2009

    BEN L. CULWELL (American, 1918-1992) Lust/Love

    Est: $2,000 - $4,000

    BEN L. CULWELL (American, 1918-1992) Lust/Love Mixed media on board 8 x 10 inches (20.3 x 25.4 cm) Titled, dated, and signed verso: "Lust/Love" / 1946-86 / Ben L. Culwell

    Heritage Auctions
  • BEN L. CULWELL (American, 1918-1992) Mr. Cooper's
    Jan. 24, 2009

    BEN L. CULWELL (American, 1918-1992) Mr. Cooper's

    Est: $2,000 - $3,000

    BEN L. CULWELL (American, 1918-1992) Mr. Cooper's Funeral Mixed media on board 18-1/4 x 19-3/4 inches (46.4 x 50.2 cm) Initialed lower left: BLC Titled, inscribed, and signed verso: "Mr. Cooper's Funeral" / 1949-1985 / Ben L. Culwell Texas artist Ben Culwell, was part of the 1946 exhibition of "Fourteen Americans" at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. This seminal show also displayed the works of artists Robert Motherwell, Arshile Gorky, and Isamu Noguchi and caused New Yorker art critic Robert Coates to coin the term "Abstract Expressionism." In the same article, Coates specifically points to Culwell's work as a particular example of the combination of Abstraction and Expressionism. Subsequent "American" exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art also included Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, and Robert Rauschenberg, among many others, and heralded the popularity of the Abstract Expressionist movement. These three paintings are a result of Culwell's continuing development of the painterly, abstract surface. Using a mixture of oil paint, enamel, and lacquer, he builds heavy layers of impasto with bits of gravel, glass, and other various objects for additional texture. His work has a three-dimensional quality which evokes relief paintings or modern sculpture. In this deeply layered surface Culwell buries images which reveal the sometimes violent realities of human life while remaining pleasing to the eye. When discussing the general nature of his artistic goals in the "Fourteen Americans" catalogue, he wrote that he tries to "express the sum of relationships which is a total human being" and states that the big problem of art is to keep human beings "abreast of the techniques and the inventions of material culture-to achieve adequate modern spiritual integrity." These three works are quintessential examples of this often overlooked, but important, artist's style as well as being aesthetically rich paintings.

    Heritage Auctions
  • BEN CULWELL (1918-1992)
    Dec. 02, 2006

    BEN CULWELL (1918-1992)

    Est: $2,000 - $4,000

    BEN CULWELL (1918-1992) No. 70-1, 1970-1978 Oil on masonite 32.5in. x 12.5in. Signed lower right This Abstract Expressionist painting by Ben Culwell has paint built up almost one-half inch on parts of its surface. It is worked and reworked with both brush and knife. A bold statement in block letters on the back says "Hang Any Side Up." Provenance: Acquired by descent from the artist by the present owner

    Heritage Auctions
  • BEN CULWELL (1918-1992)
    Dec. 02, 2006

    BEN CULWELL (1918-1992)

    Est: $2,000 - $4,000

    BEN CULWELL (1918-1992) Mickey Mouse Landscape, 1949-1968 Oil on masonite 11in. x 15in. Signed all four corners Signed, dated, and titled verso Ben Culwell was born in San Antonio, grew up in Houston, and graduated high school in Dallas. He attended college at Southern Methodist University and Columbia University under Walter Pach. Pach was one of the organizers of the Amory Show and was a leading proponent of modernism. After graduation, Culwell began to exhibit and teach art at the Texas State College for Women, Denton, Texas, until he enlisted in the navy. During the war he executed a series of ground-breaking paintings that would forever change the history of American Art. These paintings were the basis for what a few years later would be called the Abstract Expressionist Movement. The news article below from the Temple Daily Telegram, dated April 7, 1992, upon the death of Ben Culwell, does an excellent job of explaining Culwell's importance as a painter. This painting, Mickey Mouse Landscape, is one of the early works of the Abstract Expressionist Movement. As the verso indicates, its date of creation is 1949-1968. This is very common of Culwell's paintings. He often worked and reworked his paintings over months, years, and sometimes decades. Culwell's paintings are signed in all four corners because they are meant to hang in any orientation. Provenance: Acquired by descent from the artist by the present owner

    Heritage Auctions
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