Richard William Dempsey Paintings & Artwork for Sale | Richard William Dempsey Art Value Price Guide

Nov. 03, 2024
Richard W. Dempsey (1909 - 1987) Antique American Abstract Expressionist Framed Painting
Est: $800 - $1,200
Antique American abstract expressionist oil painting by Richard W. Dempsey (1909 - 1987). Oil and mixed media on paper. Signed. Framed. Measuring 27 by 33 inches overall and 17 by 22 painting alone. Please see all images for condition. Size is measured and written on the back of the painting. The first size is the overall size, the second size is the image size. For detailed condition questions please text 617-835-2496
Curated Gallery Auctions
May. 02, 2024
RICHARD DEMPSEY (1909 - 1987, AMERICAN) S & K House, Long Beach, North Carolina.
Est: $1,500 - $2,500
RICHARD DEMPSEY (1909 - 1987, AMERICAN) S & K House, Long Beach, North Carolina. Watercolor and ink on wove paper, circa 1960. 483x635 mm; 19x24¾ inches. Signed, Dempsey, and inscribed, North Carolina, lower left. Titled and with the artist's Takoma Park address ink stamp verso. Provenance: Bill Hodges Gallery, New York, with the label on the frame back; private collection. This colorful abstracted landscape is an excellent example of the mid-career work of Richard Dempsey. In 1951, Dempsey became associated with the Washington, DC color field school with his inclusion in the first Annual Exhibition of the Loïs Mailou Jones & Céline Tabary Studio Group. Alongside Delilah Pierce and Alma Thomas, Dempsey showed at the Barnett-Aden Gallery in Washington, DC through the 1950s. These watercolors are organic abstractions of the local color and scenery that Dempsey encountered on his travels to Haiti, Jamaica, and North Carolina in the late 1950s. His work today is found in the Atlanta University Collection of Afro-American Art, the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Harriet and Harmon Kelly Collection of African American Art, San Antonio.
Swann Auction Galleries
Oct. 19, 2023
RICHARD DEMPSEY (1909 - 1987) Untitled (Jamaica).
Est: $3,000 - $5,000
RICHARD DEMPSEY (1909 - 1987) Untitled (Jamaica). Oil on board, circa 1965-70. 800x1054 mm; 31 1/2x41 1/2 inches. Signed and inscribed "Jamaica" in ink, lower right. Provenance: private collection, Washington, DC. While Richard Dempsey is known primarily as a Washington, DC painter, he traveled extensively throughout his career. In 1951, he became associated with the Washington School with his inclusion in the first Annual Exhibition of the Loïs Mailou Jones & Celine Tabary Studio Group, which also included Delilah Pierce and Alma Thomas. Dempsey traveled through Africa, Colombia, Haiti and Jamaica in the 1950s and '60s, and exhibited in Colombia and Jamaica through the Art in Embassies Program. His work today is found in the collections of Atlanta University, the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Harriet and Harmon Kelly Collection of African American Art, San Antonio.
Swann Auction Galleries
May. 20, 2023
Richard Dempsey, 1909-1987, Storm, Cape Hatteras
Est: $1,800 - $2,800
Richard Dempsey 1909-1987 Storm, Cape Hatteras 1968-72 watercolor on paper 30 x 22 inches signed, inscribed, "North Carolina" stamped verso with label
Black Art Auction
Sep. 08, 2022
RICHARD W DEMPSEY (American, 1909-1987). Music Festival, Oil on canvas. Signed "Dempsey, Haiti" lower right hand corner. Framed. .
Est: $500 - $700
RICHARD W DEMPSEY (American, 1909-1987). Music Festival, Oil on canvas. Signed "Dempsey, Haiti" lower right hand corner. Framed. - 18.5" x 25"; Frame: 27" x 33.5"
Sloans & Kenyon
Dec. 09, 2021
Richard William Dempsey (American, 1909-1987)
Est: $500 - $700
Richard William Dempsey (American, 1909-1987) , "Jamaica (Girl & Boy in Rain)", watercolor on paper, signed and titled lower right, titled en verso, 30 1/2 in. x 22 in., unframed Condition: Overall fair condition
Neal Auction Company
Dec. 04, 2021
Richard Dempsey, 1909-1987, Jamaica
Est: $2,000 - $3,000
Richard Dempsey 1909-1987 Jamaica c. 1975 watercolor and ink on paper 22 x 30 inches signed and titled
Black Art Auction
May. 22, 2021
Richard Dempsey, 1909-1987, Carousel
Est: $6,000 - $8,000
Richard Dempsey 1909-1987 Carousel c.1950 oil on canvas 31 x 35 inches signed original painted frame
Black Art Auction
Sep. 18, 2020
Richard Dempsey (American 1909-1987), View, Signed Mixed Media on Canvas, 10 x 14 inches
Est: $800 - $1,200
Richard Dempsey (American 1909-1987) View Signed Dempsey l.r.; also titled View and inscribed Dempsey 0-198 on stretcher Mixed media on canvas 10 x 14 in (25.4 x 35.6 cm)
Weschler's
Mar. 02, 2018
Richard Dempsey (American 1909-1987), Circus at Bogotá, Signed oil on masonite
Est: $2,000 - $3,000
Richard Dempsey (American 1909-1987) Circus at Bogotá Signed Dempsey l.r. Oil on Masonite 15 x 24 in (38.1 x 61 cm)Property of Various Owners
Weschler's
Dec. 02, 2017
Richard W. Dempsey, (American, 1909-1987), Untitled, oil on masonite, 24" x 28"
Est: $2,000 - $3,000
Richard W. Dempsey (American, 1909-1987) Untitled oil on masonite signed lower right 24" x 28" Provenance: Mickelson's, Washington D.C. (label on verso)
Toomey & Co. Auctioneers
Dec. 05, 2016
Richard Dempsey (1909-1987) Abstract Painting
Est: $300 - $500
Richard Dempsey (African American, 1909-1987) Abstract Composition, oil on board, signed upper right. Size: 6.75'' x 21.75'', 17 x 55 cm (sight); 9" x 24", 23 x 61 cm (frame).
Material Culture
Feb. 26, 2016
Richard Dempsey (American 1909-1987), Green Seascape
Est: $2,000 - $4,000
Richard Dempsey (American 1909-1987) Green Seascape Signed Dempsey l.l. Oil on canvas 20 x 25 in (50.8 x 63.5 cm)Property of Various Owners
Weschler's
Feb. 26, 2016
Richard Dempsey (American 1909-1987), Jamaica
Est: $1,500 - $2,500
Richard Dempsey (American 1909-1987) Jamaica Signed Dempsey and titled l.l. Ink and watercolor on paper mounted on board; apparently in good condition. Framed.* Sight size: 31 x 41 in (78.7 x 104.1 cm)Property of Various Owners
Weschler's
Feb. 26, 2016
Richard Dempsey (American 1909-1987), Untitled (Urban Abstract)
Est: $1,000 - $2,000
Richard Dempsey (American 1909-1987) Untitled (Urban Abstract) Signed Dempsey l.r. Oil on board 10-3/4 x 13-1/4 in (27.3 x 33.7 cm)Property of Various Owners
Weschler's
Feb. 26, 2016
Richard Dempsey (American 1909-1987), Untitled (Urban Abstract)
Est: $1,000 - $2,000
Richard Dempsey (American 1909-1987) Untitled (Urban Abstract) Signed Dempsey l.l. Oil on board 10-3/4 x 13-1/4 in (27.3 x 33.7 cm)Property of Various Owners
Weschler's
Sep. 12, 2015
Richard William Dempsey, Untitled, o/c.
Est: $800 - $1,200
Dempsey, Richard William (United States / Washington, DC, 1919-1987). 20th century. Oil on canvas. Untitled abstraction in prominent shades of grays, blues, white, greens, and yellow. 24 1/4" x 30 1/4". Frame: 28 5/8" x 34 5/8".Condition: Slight bulge to canvas in upper right.
Quinn's Auction Galleries
Oct. 09, 2014
RICHARD W. DEMPSEY (1909 - 1987) The Circus Ride.
Est: $6,000 - $9,000
RICHARD W. DEMPSEY (1909 - 1987) The Circus Ride. Oil on cotton canvas, circa 1958. 813x902 mm; 32x35 1/2 inches. Signed in oil, lower left. Provenance: the artist, Washington, DC; private collection. Richard Dempsey was born in Ogden, Utah, on September 14, 1909. His youth was spent in Oakland, CA, where he attended Sacramento Junior College (1929-31) as an art major. He then studied at The California School of Arts and Crafts (1932-34) and the Students Art Center (1935-40), where he was taught by the sculptor Sargent Johnson. In 1941, he moved to Washington, DC and studied at Howard University. In 1946, along with Elizabeth Catlett, he was awarded the Julius Rosenwald Fellowship to produce a series of portrait paintings of outstanding African Americans. Dempsey was part of the Loïs Mailou Jones & Céline Tabary Studio Group, which also included Delilah Pierce and Alma Thomas, and showed at the Barnett-Aden Gallery in Washington, DC through the 1950s. By 1961, he was included in the important Howard University Gallery of Art exhibition, New Vistas in American Art, and in Cedric Dover's seminal book American Negro Art which illustrated four of his paintings - including the similar 1958 Cityscape.
Swann Auction Galleries
May. 09, 2014
Richard W. Dempsey (American 1909-1987), Blue and Red, oil on board, 12 x 30-1/2 in (30.5 x 77.5 cm)
Est: $1,000 - $2,000
Richard W. Dempsey (American 1909-1987) Blue and Red Signed Dempsey l.r. Oil on board 12 x 30-1/2 in (30.5 x 77.5 cm)Property of Various Owners
Weschler's
Feb. 13, 2014
RICHARD W. DEMPSEY (1909 - 1987) Boy in the Alley.
Est: $6,000 - $9,000
RICHARD W. DEMPSEY (1909 - 1987) Boy in the Alley. Oil on cotton canvas, 1946. 457x610 mm; 18x24 inches. Signed and dated in oil, lower right. Provenance: estate of the artist, with a typed exhibition label with the artist's 5032 Just Street, SE address on the stretcher bar, verso. This charming cityscape is a scarce Washington DC scene by Richard Dempsey, and one of his earliest oil paintings to come to auction. In 1941, Dempsey had moved from Oakland, CA to Washington, DC where studied at Howard University. In 1946, along with Elizabeth Catlett, Dempsey was awarded the Julius Rosenwald Fellowship to produce a series of 100 portrait paintings of outstanding African Americans. Dempsey painting figuratively through the early 1950s. In 1951, he had taken part in the 1st Annual Exhibition of the Loïs Jones & Celine Tabary Studio Group, which also included Delilah Pierce and Alma Thomas. He was also included in the 10th Annual Exhibition of American Art in 1952 at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, where he won the purchase award.
Swann Auction Galleries
Feb. 13, 2014
RICHARD W. DEMPSEY (1909 - 1987) Sargent Johnson Study.
Est: $4,000 - $6,000
RICHARD W. DEMPSEY (1909 - 1987) Sargent Johnson Study. Charcoal on cream wove paper, 1940. 635x470 mm; 25x18 1/2 inches. Initialed and dated in charcoal, upper left. Provenance: the estate of the artist. Exhibited: Richard Dempsey: 1940 and the Sargent Johnson Legacy, The Evans-Tibbs Collection, Washington, DC, April 26-June 30, 1985. Richard Dempsey was born in Ogden, Utah, on September 14, 1909. His youth was spent in Oakland, CA where he attended Sacramento Junior College (1929-31) as an art major and then studied at The California School of Arts and Crafts (1932-34) and the Students Art Center (1935-40). It was during 1930s, under the influence of his teacher, sculptor Sargent Johnson, that Dempsey's work evolved from being representational to abstract. This shift to a Cubist-derived abstraction after studying with Johnson was the focus of a 1985 exhibition held in 1985 at the Evans-Tibbs Collection in Washington, DC. This work is illustrated in the exhibition brochure.
Swann Auction Galleries
Oct. 03, 2013
RICHARD DEMPSEY (1909 - 1987) Tranquility.
Est: $6,000 - $9,000
RICHARD DEMPSEY (1909 - 1987) Tranquility. Oil on masonite board, 1958. 508x610 mm; 20x24 inches. Signed in oil, lower left recto. Signed, titled and dated in ink, verso. Provenance: the estate of the artist. This urban abstraction is a striking mid-career painting by this Washington, DC painter. In 1951, Dempsey became associated with the Washington, DC school with his inclusion in the first Annual Exhibition of the Loïs Mailou Jones & Céline Tabary Studio Group, which also included Delilah Pierce and Alma Thomas. He was also included in the 10th Annual Exhibition of American Art in 1952 at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, where he won the purchase award. Dempsey traveled to Haiti and Jamaica in the 1950s and '60s, and many of his later oils and watercolors are organic abstractions of the local color and scenery. However, this mid-century abstraction reflects the geometry of the city, similar to his Cityscape, also 1958, illustrated in Cedric Dover's American Negro Art, which includes several examples of his paintings.
Swann Auction Galleries
Dec. 11, 2010
RICHARD W. DEMPSEY (AMERICAN, 1909-1987) JAMAICA watercolor and ink on paper: 26 x 19 in. (sight)
Est: $500 - $800
RICHARD W. DEMPSEY (AMERICAN, 1909-1987) JAMAICA watercolor and ink on paper: 26 x 19 in. (sight) Framed; lower right signed and inscribed: Dempsey/Jamaica; Dempsey was an employee of the Federal Art Project in 1934, exhibited extensively in the US and abroad, taught in Calfornia and in the Washington DC area. Provenance: Preston Haynie Collection
Potomack Company
Dec. 11, 2010
RICHARD W. DEMPSEY (AMERICAN, 1909-1987) JAMAICA Watercolor on paper: 26 x 20 in
Est: $400 - $600
RICHARD W. DEMPSEY (AMERICAN, 1909-1987) JAMAICA Watercolor on paper: 26 x 20 in Framed; lower right signed and incribed; Dempsey/Jamaica; Dempsey was an employee of the Federal Art Project in 1934, exhibited extensively, taught in Calfornia and in the Washington DC area. Provenance: Preston Haynie Collection
Potomack Company
Dec. 11, 2010
RICHARD W. DEMPSEY (AMERICAN, 1909-1987) JAMAICA Watercolor on paper: 25 1/2 x 19 1/2 in.
Est: $400 - $600
RICHARD W. DEMPSEY (AMERICAN, 1909-1987) JAMAICA Watercolor on paper: 25 1/2 x 19 1/2 in. Framed; lower right signed and inscribed; Dempsey/Jamaica; Dempsey was an employee of the Federal Art Project in 1934, exhibited extensively, taught in Calfornia and in the Washington DC area.; along with a photoreproduction of Dempsey Provenance: Preston Haynie Collection
Potomack Company
Oct. 07, 2010
RICHARD DEMPSEY (1909 - 1987) Untitled (Jamaica).
Est: $1,000 - $1,500
RICHARD DEMPSEY (1909 - 1987) Untitled (Jamaica). Mixed media on wove paper, circa 1965-70. 533x711 mm; 21x28 inches. Signed and inscribed "Jamaica" in ink, lower right. Provenance: the artist; private collection, Washington, DC. While Richard Dempsey is known primarily as a Washington, DC abstract painter, he traveled extensively throughout his career. In 1951, he became associated with the Washington, DC school with his inclusion in the first Annual Exhibition of the Loïs Mailou Jones & Celine Tabary Studio Group, which also included Delilah Pierce and Alma Thomas. Dempsey traveled through Africa, Colombia, Haiti and Jamaica in the 1950s and '60s, and exhibited in Colombia and Jamaica through the Art in Embassies Program. His work today is found in the collections of Atlanta University, the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Harriet and Harmon Kelly Collection of African American Art, San Antonio.
Swann Auction Galleries
Jun. 19, 2010
Richard Dempsey (CA, 1909-1987), Two Works
Est: $600 - $900
the first an oil on canvas board of a clown, signed and dated at lower right "Dempsey 46," framed under glass (DOA 18.5 x 9.75 in.) (Not examined out of the frame); the second a watercolor and ink on paper, signed and titled at lower left "Dempsey / Mexico," with blind stamp at lower right, framed under glass (DOA 24.75 x 30.75 in.) (Not examined out of the frame). The Estate of Louise Davis Stone, Durham, NC
Leland Little Auctions
Dec. 05, 2009
Richard Dempsey (D.C., 1909-1987), Cartegena
Est: $1,000 - $2,000
Richard Dempsey (D.C., 1909-1987), Cartegena oil on masonite, signed at lower left and on the verso "Dempsey," retaining an old paper label from the Franz Bader Gallery of Washington, D.C. on the verso listing the title as "Cartegena Architectural." Presented in the original painted wood frame. Richard Dempsey was a Washington artist whose paintings included portraits of such public figures as Duke Ellington, Joe Louis and Thurgood Marshall and abstract impressions of people and things he'd seen in the slums of Washington's inner city and in Africa and Central America (the title of this painting refers to Cartegena, Columbia). For 35 years Dempsey's paintings were exhibited at the Franz Bader Gallery in Washington, and they were displayed at government buildings around the city and at U.S. embassies throughout the world. (Washington Post) SS 19.5 x 23.5 in.; DOA 26.5 x 30.5 in.
Leland Little Auctions
Jun. 20, 2009
RICHARD W. DEMPSEY (American, 1909-1987). ABSTRACT, signed lower right. Watercolor on paper.
Est: $600 - $800
RICHARD W. DEMPSEY (American, 1909-1987). ABSTRACT, signed lower right. Watercolor on paper - Framed, 29 3/4 in. x 22 in.
Sloans & Kenyon
May. 04, 2009
DEMPSEY, Richard. O/C of Carnival
Est: $3,000 - $5,000
SIgned lower left. Richard W. Dempsey, African-American / California-District Of Columbia, 1909-1987. Dimensions: 35 x 30 Condition: good
Clarke Auction Gallery
Apr. 22, 2009
Richard W. Dempsey American, 1909-1987 Duppy
Est: $1,500 - $2,500
Richard W. Dempsey American, 1909-1987 Duppy Signed Dempsey/Jamaica (lr) Watercolor on paper 22 x 29 1/2 inches
DOYLE Auctioneers & Appraisers
Feb. 07, 2009
RICHARD W. DEMPSEY (American, 1909-1987). ABSTRACT, signed lower right. Watercolor on paper.
Est: $800 - $1,000
RICHARD W. DEMPSEY (American, 1909-1987). ABSTRACT, signed lower right. Watercolor on paper - Framed, 29 3/4 in. x 22 in.
Sloans & Kenyon
Nov. 11, 2007
RICHARD DEMPSEY (American, 1919-1987). LITTLE JANE, signed and dated 48 lower left. Oil on canvas.
Est: $300 - $400
RICHARD DEMPSEY (American, 1919-1987). LITTLE JANE, signed and dated 48 lower left. Oil on canvas - 14 in. x 10 in.
Sloans & Kenyon
Nov. 11, 2007
RICHARD DEMPSEY (American, 1919-1987). BIRTH; LIFE, and DEATH:THREE WORKS, each signed lower right. Oil on board.
Est: $200 - $300
RICHARD DEMPSEY (American, 1919-1987). BIRTH; LIFE, and DEATH:THREE WORKS, each signed lower right. Oil on board - Sight: 13 3/4 in. x 14 3/4 in., each
Sloans & Kenyon