Joseph Duncan Gleason (1881-1959). Standing Nude Boy - Watercolor on Paper - circa 1950

 

                          The Artist: Joseph Duncan Gleason (1881-1959)

                           The work coming into my collection:

                              Title: Standing Nude Boy

                              Artist: Joseph Duncan Gleason (1881-1959)

                              Materials: Pencil Drawing, Watercolor on Paper

                              Signed: Not Exhibited, Artist's Label on Reverse

                              Dated: Circa 1950

At first appearance you might just wonder why a Blog featuring a preponderance of 19th Century Academic Nudes would include an Academic nude which was created circa 1950 by an America Artist. The secret to my collecting this work lies in the “classical” European training that the artist received and not necessarily in the age of the work, although the beauty of the work speaks for itself. My first impression when I spotted this work on eBay was “Wow.. that's amazing!.....shades of Renoir’s 1868 painting: “Young Boy with a Cat!” It is a beautiful lyrical depiction of innocence in the form of a young male nude subject, classically posed in that standing contrapposto pose. The initial impression was just that strong, but in this case, the medium was different, watercolor on paper, which shows the complete command of drawing and painting the artist possessed. Watercolor is not an easy medium to master and here you see a fine mastery of the medium by a sight-size classically trained and talented artist. You can readily see the underlying pencil drawing and I did some quick research on the artist which proved to me that he had a very respectable compilation of auction results and was well listed and exhibited. The listed price was somewhat below his other sales results for a works on paper and the subject matter was indeed unique, so I executed the buy. Now, what about the history of this artist really caught my attention? His art training at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries was the detail which really peaked my interest: "College of Fine Arts at USC, in 1899 the Mark Hopkins Institute, San Francisco, San Carlos Academy in Mexico City, The Art Institute of Chicago, and The Art Students League of NewYork"…. All before 1910! That is some impressive classical European Academic training, unpolluted by later modernist artistic garbage. Gleason is best known for his maritime paintings but his minor figurative works will be listed here below.

Here is a quick biography of the artist as it originally appeared on the listing:

"Joe Gleason was a native of California, born in Watsonville, in 1881.  He was known for his landscape and marine paintings of San Pedro Harbor on the California coast.  He also wrote and illustrated several books on California maritime history and worked for the scenic art department at Metro Goldwyn Mayer and Warner Brothers studios. 

Gleason was raised in Los Angeles, California, and was working for the Union Engraving Company when he was only fourteen years old.  He was skilled at drawing and sketching and took his first art training at the University of Southern California as a pupil of Lees Judson. Gleason then moved north to San Francisco to attend the Mark Hopkins Institute of Art.  While going to school he worked for the Sunset Engraving Company as a commercial artist.  
He studied in Chicago at the Art Institute of Chicago and from 1900 to 1901, took lessons from Frank DuMond at the Art Students League in New York City.  He supported himself as a commercial artist. 

He stayed in New York for ten years before returning to Los Angeles in 1910.  He exhibited at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (1924), the Arizona State Fair (1932), the California Palace of the Legion of Honor (1945) and the Golden Gate International Exposition (1939).  He painted murals in the Hotel Clark and for Gardena High School (Los Angeles). 

When he wasn't pursuing a career in art, Gleason was training as a championship gymnast.  He won the International Championships eleven times on the Rings.  Gleason was also an author and illustrator of two books he wrote about the California coast.  Later in life he worked for the MGM and Warner Brothers Studios in Los Angeles. Gleason died in Glendale, California on March 9, 1959.”

Here is what immediately came to mind when I first set eyes on the above work:

                      "Young Boy With a Cat" ... 1868

         Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919)

                                 Here are additional views of the Gleason work:

And last but not least, here are a few examples of his other figural works:

And what he is best known for and which bring in the big bucks at auction: