Description:

Ralph Brownell McGrew
American, 1916-1994
"Eve of Berrie's Adulthood"
oil on panel
c. 1974, signed lower left, "Gerald P. Peters Fine American Paintings, Santa Fe, NM" label with artist and title and "The Farkas Corporation AAA Distributors, Beverly Hills, CA" label with artist, title and inscription "Preliminary Painting for 30 x 40 / Illustrated in Reference Book" en verso, framed.

Note: Known for his highly realistic portraits and genre scenes depicting the Diné (Navajo) and Hopi people of Arizona and New Mexico as well as Southwest and California desert landscapes, R. Brownell McGrew showed early artistic talent in his hometown of Columbus, Ohio. McGrew moved to California with his family when he was a child and enrolled at the Otis Art Institute, studying with Ralph Holmes. Although he preferred portrait painting, he won recognition for landscapes and was so proficient technically that he spent his last year at Otis teaching. McGrew later worked as a commercial artist for M.G.M. and Columbia movie studios and then discovered a love for desert painting. McGrew wanted his paintings to look saturated or wet even after they dried, so he devised a recipe of oil paint, linseed oil and turpentine to achieve the effect without the use of varnish or glazes. This technique, combined with carefully blended colors and brushstrokes and a very flat paint surface, afforded McGrew's paintings an almost photographic and luminous quality. He is widely considered to be one of the best Western portraitists of the twentieth century.

  • Dimensions: 18 x 24 in. (45.7 x 61 cm.), Frame: 29 5/8 x 35 5/8 x 2 1/4 in. (75.2 x 90.5 x 5.7 cm.)
  • Medium: oil on panel
  • Condition: Difficult to penetrate varnish layer with UV light; inpainting visible to the naked eye - 9 x 1/2 in. line mid-right and 1/2 x 1/2 in. area lower right; 1/2 in. x 1 in. area of inpainting lower center right edge; light surface dirt; craquelure pattern visible throughout; abrasions and light pigment loss along all edges from contact with frame; scattered light marks and pinpoint accretions throughout; frame has marks, nicks and abrasions with light separation in corners.

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November 21, 2025 11:00 AM CST
New Orleans, LA, US

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