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Philip Campbell Curtis (1907-2000) OIL ON BOARD

Sold for $19,000 at Soulis Auctions on Feb 22, 2026.

Philip Campbell Curtis (1907-2000) OIL ON BOARD auction lot image

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Lot description

Philip Campbell Curtis (1907-2000) The Bugler 1960 The unreal, dreamlike scene with childlike figures among elongated trees in a surreal parklike setting is signed lower left front and dated lower right. The central, out-of-scale figure looks directly at the viewer, others wander through the composition. Like Gertrude Abercrombie, Ivan Albright and even Grant Wood - Philip Campbell Curtis belongs to a distinctive and enigmatic group of Upper Midwest artists who completely independently of one another painted pictures of surrealist and symbolic imagery exploring psychological, spiritual, and existential themes while sharing nothing but their geographical origins. In 1932, Philip Curtis enrolled at the Yale School of Fine Arts, where he studied painting and drawing from life and earned a four-year certificate in three years. He later pursued museum administration studies at Harvard University's Fogg Museum and is credited with establishing what would become the Phoenix Art Museum. Later in the 1930s he worked with the Works Progress Administration (WPA) Federal Art Project and after WWII had his first solo exhibition at the San Francisco Museum of Art in 1949. Board measures 30 x 20 with a framed size of 38.5 x 29 inches. Without proof of exemption, be aware that internet sales tax applies to all Internet transactions and local sales tax may apply to local pick-up transactions. We happily provide seamless in-house packing and shipping services on nearly everything we sell. Until further notice, we cannot offer international shipping in-house.

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