From Social to Magic Realism:
Nine American Paintings of the 1930s and 1940s

William Gropper (American, 1897–1977)
Little Steel, c. 1937
Oil on canvas, 33 3/4 x 44 1/2” (85.7 x 113 cm)

Reginald Marsh (American, born France. 1898–1954)
A Paramount Picture, 1934
Tempera on Masonite, 35 3/4 x 27 3/4” (90.8 x 70.5 cm)
Formerly Merrill C. Berman Collection;
now The Cleveland Museum of Art (2006.137)

Theodore Roszak (American, born Poland. 1907–1981)
City Forms, 1937
Gouache and watercolor on paper, 29 1/8 x 24 1/8” (74 x 61.3 cm)

O. Louis Guglielmi (American, born Egypt. 1906–1956)
Minetta Street, 1938
Gouache on paperboard, 20 x 15” (51 x 38 cm)
Note: The artist painted at least three similar views of this Manhattan street in which he varied the figures (see version at SFMoMA).

James Guy (American, [1909 or 1910]–1983)
Escape, 1938
Oil on Masonite, 16 x 20” (40.6 x 50.8 cm)

Federico Castellón (American, born Spain. 1914–1971)
Bowling Night, c. 1940
Oil on board, 15 x 20” (38 x 51 cm)

Jack Levine (American, 1915–2010)
The Card Players, 1940
Gouache on paper, 16 3/4 x 21 3/4” (42.5 x 55 cm)

Jack Levine (American, 1915–2010)
The Reluctant Ploughshare (or Soldier’s Return ), 1946
Gouache on paper, 23 x 26” (58.4 x 66 cm)
Formerly Merrill C. Berman Collection; now Brooklyn Museum
Note: This work is a study for the larger oil painting, Welcome Home of 1946, which has been in the collection of Brooklyn Museum since 1946 (46.124).

Jared French (American, 1905–1988)
Painting and Sculpture, 1949
Egg tempera on gessoed linen mounted on board, 21 x 11 1/4” (54 x 28.5 cm)

This newsletter has been updated from one previously sent on
May 16, 2023.

March 10, 2026