Marion Osborn Cunningham 1940s Modern City Scene Screenprint of San Francisco With Blimp

Description

Artist: Marion Osborn Cunningham – American (1908-1948)
Title: San Francisco with Blimp Overhead
Year: 1940s
Medium: Serigraph (Silkscreen)
Edition: Unknown … more Artist: Marion Osborn Cunningham – American (1908-1948)
Title: San Francisco with Blimp Overhead
Year: 1940s
Medium: Serigraph (Silkscreen)
Edition: Unknown
Sight size: 7.75 x 6 inches.
Image size: 8.25 x 6.5 inches
Sheet size: 10.5 x 9 inches
Framed size: 15 x 12 inches
Signature: Signed lower center
Condition: Very good
Frame: Framed in original frame. Frame in fair-to-good condition with some small nicks and shallow scratches.

This print depicts San Francisco the 1940s when blimps were a common sight over the city because of World War II. I am not sure where in San Francisco this print depicts - perhaps North Beach. It is dated in the lower left 194? (the date is partially illegible). The print is in very good condition. It is attached with archival tape to the mat. The print is matted, but the mat covers part of the print, so it would probably benefit from rematting. Please see the pictures. The mat and frame are in fair-to-good condition, the frame having a few tiny nicks.

Marion Cunningham was a painter and printmaker. Her family moved to Bakersfield, CA, when she was very young. She graduated from high school from Bakersfield, then went on to study at Santa Barbara Junior College, the ASL in NYC, CSFA, and at Stanford University. She was married to artist Ben Cunningham. In 1930's, she began silk screen printing. Her colorful reproductions of Cable Cars were in demand worldwide. While en route to Europe, she died unexpectedly of a brain tumor in NYC.

Member: National Serigraph Society; San Francisco Women Artists; San Francisco Art Ass'n.

Exhibited: San Francisco Museum of Art Inaugural, 1935; Golden Gate International Exposition, 1939; San Francisco Watercolor Show, 1939; Bakersfield Art Ass'n, 1957; many solos.

Works held: California State Library; Metropolitan Museum; San Francisco Museum of Art; St Louis Museum; Cleveland Museum; De Young Museum; Museum of Modern Art (New York City). Cunningham's complete works are in the collection of the Bakersfield Museum of Art, Bakersfield, CA. less