Above:  "Spirit of Tulsa".  Acrylic on canvas by William A. Franklin

We hope you will enjoy browsing this small sampling of our collection of DECOPOLIS Art Deco, Art & Artifacts
Many of the items are on rotating display at our 2 mini-Museum locations!

Click on the links below to explore more of our collections, including in-depth descriptions of the items.

Below:
Painting by WPA artist, GUSTAVO OTHELLO CENCI (1897-1982)  entitled "Spirit of Peace" DECOPOLIS Tulsa Art Deco Museum Collection
Oil on board, 28.25" X 25.25" Framed size 34.75" X 31.75" 

Above:  This stunning painting from 1933, is one our favorites.  We have yet to discover anything about the artist, Roy Dennis Fox, and have not found any other examples of his work. This surprises us, as this piece is finely executed with a finesse and flair equal to that of a well practiced artist, and is equal to the Iconic works found on similarly stylized, Vogue Magazine covers of the era.

 Gouache* on board. Painted image is 13" X 17" 

*Gouache (pronounced "Gwash") is like watercolor paint, except that it is more Opaque, the result of a white pigment or chalk that has been added, making it less transparent. It was often used by illustrators instead of watercolors, as it allowed for more control with creating solid blocks of color,  would dry quickly and enable finer details. 

Above: Reclining Female Nude Portrait by artist Christopher Lee Clark

Oil on canvas. Signed and dated 1931. 
Dimensions: 29 3/4"H × 42 3/4"W (sight), 35 3/4"H × 48 3/4"W (frame) 

Below: These Black Walnut, Skyscraper Bookcases were commissioned as replicas of the Battle Creek Tower in Battle Creek, Michigan by Everett Carr Spelman, Sr. in the early 1930's. Spelman worked for Holabird & Root, architects for the building. He was superintendent of construction and the building's supervisor. These pieces are of exeptional quality constrution and condition. We are unsure of the maker, but have been told that these bookcases bear a striking resemblance to some of the "skyscraper bookcases" created in the late 1920's, by the famous designer, architect and proponent of modernism, Paul T. Frankl. 

Below: Streamline Art Deco "Jazz Armchair" with original fabric. Circa 1931
Possibly made by "Atlas Bedding Ltd" Canada
Douglas Fairbanks Jr can be seen sitting in a similar chair with the same fabric, in the 1932 film "It's Tough to be Famous" featuring Douglas Fairbanks Jr and Mary Brian. 

Dimensions - 32" tall x 33" deep x 25" wide x 16" seat height x 22" x 22" inside seating

Below: This magazine rack is a fun example of the Zig Zag Art Deco style with its strong geometric components featuring a stylized sunrise and crowing rooster! 17" tall x 12" wide x 5.5” deep.

Below: These bookends are another example of the Zig Zag Art Deco style having strong, repetitive geometric components. Back of each has "Lindsey Coll. L.A. Calif." 

Fred Dana Marsh Sculpture, Museum Acquisition 2023 

Above: William A. Franklin in Florida picking up the Fred Dana Marsh sculpture for the Tulsa Art Deco Museum. September 2023. 

Fred Dana Marsh was born in Chicago, in 1872, and studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago where he learned to paint large scale murals with the artists working on the 1893 Worlds Fair. He moved to Paris in 1895 where the artistic scene during this time was a hotbed of "Avant Garde" experimentation.  He soon married and he and his wife, also an artist, made their mark winning numerous awards and accolades.  Marsh and his family moved to NY soon after the turn of the century where he found a fascinating subject matter in the towering skyscrapers and bustling industry around him. 

“It is my object then to depict the noble side of modern industry,” he wrote in an undated letter, “to emulate the efforts of the real workers, the investors, the engineers, the electricians, the great army of toilers – to express in ‘lofty allegory’ the drama of modern life.”

 Marsh's paintings during the early 1900's, of skyscrapers, workers, and industrial settings were not strictly Art Deco, but they did foreshadow those commonly used Art Deco themes.

In 1931 Marsh moved to Ormond Beach, Florida where he built a large Streamline Moderne house along the beach. By this time Marsh had stopped doing commissioned murals, but began doing more sculpture. He decorated his new home, which became known as the "Battleship House" with relief sculptures and in 1948 created a set of Art Deco styled sculptures for the newly rebuilt Peabody Auditorium in Daytona Beach. In 1955 Marsh created a monumental, 40' tall sclupture of Chief Tomokie in the Tomaka State Park. Over the course of Marsh's long and very successful career, he worked in many artistic styles and mediums, which though he is fairly well known in Florida where he lived, left him without achieving the fame of some of his contemporaries.  Or as he himself put it... "Unlike most artists of today, when pressure groups are strong, I seem to have slipped between the inventive, who are super-conscious, and the imaginative, or objective, who furnish the romantic trend of expression.Having subconsciously wobbled between the two - taking a bit perhaps from one, then another - I have developed no individual or personal style, thereby missing the road to publicity, or identity.All trends and schools excite me and, being commercially free at this stage, I have probably scattered - but hope not wasted - my efforts.  At least I can say I have not copied any individual or group as far as I know." 

 Dana Marsh died on December 20th, 1961. 

Max Le Verrier Bronze“Spartiate” (Archer)

    Louis Octave Maxime Le Terrier, aka Max Le Verrier, Born in France -1891. Le Verrier was known for being a pioneer in the Parisian Art Deco movement. In 1925, he showed his work at the famous Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et Industries Modernes in Paris, where he won a gold medal. His work can be found in museum collections around the world including at the Musee d’Orsay in France and the Tulsa Art Deco Museum in Tulsa Oklahoma.

    This sculpture, though it looks like bronze, is actually a metal called “Spelter” (the exception being the Bronze bow) which has a patina added onto it, to create the look of a bronze sculpture. The “Spartiate” or Archer sculpture was cast in the 1930’s by Max Le Verrier, in multiple sizes, in both Bronze and Spelter. Though spelter is often considered less valuable than bronze, there are exceptions. Often the spelter version was able to more accurately capture the detail of the original piece. And this particular version of Le Verrier’s Archer is the largest version his studio cast with very few of this size having been made. 

NOTE: Thought the artist of this piece is known for his Art Deco style pieces, the style of this figure is not strictly Art Deco.  The base is of course, with its simple, bold geometry. However, there are Art Deco "hints" in the figural part of the sculpture. Here the artist has carefully placed the naturalistic figure into a sort of "geometric", Art Deco pose. Notice how the arms are perfectly parallel to the top of the base and ground, and how the cloth also mimics this. See how the one leg juts out almost exactly perpendicular to the line of the other leg and body,  even the hair flowing back in lines along with the cloth giving a look of horizontal movement and angularity. The angle of the forehead, nose and front part of the body align. The tip of the elbow, cloth and toes all align at almost exactly the same angle on the other side. This pose was carefully and intentionally staged. The pose, along with the base, together evoke a kind of "look and feel" that was fresh, new and Modern for its time. 

Above:  "Spartiate" (Archer) sketch in charcoal on parchment, by Max Le Verrier. 1931

We are very fortunate to own the only known sketch by Le Verrier, of his famous Archer statue.  It is interesting to note that the figure and base in the sketch are almost exactly the same size as our large statue. Le Verrier likely used this sketch as a reference while sculpting the Archer statue. 

Above:   Max Le Verrier in his studio with one of his most famous statues titled "Lueur Lumineuse".

Above:  Diane The Huntress.  Bronze Sculpture mounted on Italian, Portoro Marble by, G. Daverny,  Editions "Reveyrolis Paris".  Measures 40.5" (103.5cm) long by 18.5" (46.5cm) tall.  

Robbins & Myers "Modernistic" fan 1934. This fan was a dramatic departure from any other fan this company produced. It is a showpiece of Geometric, Zig-Zag Art Deco design. Measures 13" in height by 10" in width by 5 1/2" in depth. The fan cage is made of cast aluminum. The base is cast iron. The blades are steel. It has a single speed on/off switch on the base. The underside of the base has a casting number B 72338 A. There is also a brass tag underneath that is marked ROBBINS & MYERS INC SPRINGFIELD OHIO MADE IN USA 110 VOLTS-60 CYCLES LIST NO. 9304 ALTERNATING CURRENT PATENTED NO 92108. The design patent number dates this fan to 1934.

RADIAVER.
Designed in 1937 by Rene Coulon.  This timelessly elegant radiator was deigned by Rene Coulon for the Saint Gobain Glass Company, for the 1937 Worlds Fair in Paris (Exposition Industrielle).
   Composed of chrome plated metal placed between glass plates resting on an illuminated glass base  110volts/500wats. 
  

HMV   HEATER
1930's HMV "His Masters Voice" Chrome Electric "Beehive" Heater. Designed in 1934 by: Christian Barman. Manufactured 1938

GAZELLE  TOASTER
Designed in 1931, manufactured in 1932. Designer: Raymond Patten.
   This rare piece has been called the Holy Grail of Art Deco Toasters. This single slice, tipper -toaster,  was designed by Raymond Patton for Edison General Electric and released under the "Hotpoint" name.
   Composed of chromium plated metal, bakelite base and handles, and fabric covered chord. Made in Chicago Ill. USA. rated 525 watts.  
  

Above: Art Deco, chrome cake stand with mirrored top. 18.5" X 18.5" X 4"
  

Above: Sterling Silver, Art Deco Vanity Set.
  

Above: Sterling Silver, Art Deco Vanity Set.
  

Pink Art Glass Vase, designed by Pierre d'Avison 1926-28. Titled "The Water Lillies" 

Jobling, hand pressed, fire polished, amber glass bowl, circa 1930. This beautiful bowl sports a stylized floral and geometric pattern. Underside is frosted, while the interior is gloss.  The mold was likely comissioned and made in France by Frankhauser, a prominent Parisian, art-glass mold-maker. The 1930's recession ended Joblings production of art glass which was considered the highest quality of its kind in England. Jobling was taken over in 1973 by Corning International Corp. 

1937 Stromberg-Carlson 225H Radio.

1938 Clinton 615SQ Radio.

An extraordinary and highly impressive Bauhaus, Art Deco clock manufactured in 1920's Germany.
  The timepiece features a remarkable use of striped coromandel wood and chrome ornaments. Coromandel, or Calamander (named after the Coromandel Coast in India from where it was exported) is a relative of Ebony, that was unfortunately logged to extinction and is thus very rare and expensive.
   The one-of-a-kind design is with its bold square numerals and hands, partially opened body with an integrated chrome sphere and an exceptional arched wooden casing is a striking piece of early Art Deco design. The wind-up clock movement has a coil gong which chimes every half and full hour. 

Thomas Hart Benton

Regionalism & WPA 

These two categories of art were common to the Art Deco era.  Not all Regionalist pieces, nor WPA ones, are Art Deco. However, there was much overlap. Many artists, like Thomas Hart Benton, who was mostly known as a Regionalist artist and often depicted the common man and everyday places around the country, created paintings and murals that were in Art Deco buildings of the era.  The subject matter often overlapped frequently used Art Deco motifs of; progress, industry, machinery, technology, construction workers, transporation, etc. Benton's style in these early murals was so influtential that it is said to have "set the tone" for many of the WPA works that were later created around the nation. 

Below: 3 panels from Thomas Hart Benton's "America Today" Mural. Currently in the Metropolitan Museum of Art Collection. 
Commissioned in 1930, completed in early 1931.  https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/499559 

It is interesting to note, that though these murals may not seem especially modern to our eyes, for many they were controversial in their style and execution.  Add to that, Thomas Hart Benton's rejection of what he called "Modern Art" and you begin to see just some of why Benton was often seen as a controversial artist. He sometimes offended those on the working class left of the day, and the monied upper class right. He would depict blacks and whites working together as equals, but was also criticised for steryotyping blacks. The style of these murals, and much of his artworks, could be seen by the "common man" as being radical, but the Avant Garde art community of the big cities scorned his work as being too provincial. But, Benton did not shy away from the criticism, he leaned into it, relishing the arguments, and even seemed to realize that the controversy itself helped elevate his visibility and fame. 

Below: Original, Thomas Hart Benton sketches, graphite on paper.  Tulsa Art Deco Museum collection. 

Though these are not Art Deco, we are proud to have these original pieces by Benton. They reflect his more "Regionalist" subject matter, depicting the people and places of America during the Deco Era.   Hopefully someday we will be able to add some more, Art Deco style, Thomas Hart Benton pieces to our collection. 

Above: "Sketch of Children Getting on a Bus" by Thomas Hart Benton, 1961.  The sketch is a study for a more finished drawing "School Bus", 1962 (illustrated in Matthew Baigell's Thomas Hart Benton, 1974, plate 204)

Below: "Figures on a Street Corner" by Thomas Hart Benton (ca. 1935-36) Benton scholar Dr. Henry Adams: "This scene of men lounging near derelict buildings, while a woman strolls past them, may be an early rough sketch for the last predella panel of Benton's Missouri mural, which shows bums loitering by a trash can while an African-American woman gathers coal from the railroad tracks. Since this drawing seems to relate to the sketch, Four Studies of Figures, it was probably made in St. Louis.

PROVENANCE
Acquired by Vincent and Leah Campanella directly from Thomas and Rita Benton over the course of their 25 year friendship. A portion of the collection was given to the Campanellas by Rita in 1975 as compensation for Vincent completing "The Sources of Country Music," the mural left unfinished when Thomas passed away in 1975. Vincent Campanella was later prominently featured in the Ken Burns documentary "Thomas Hart Benton" (1988). In 2001, the Campanella family sold the collection to a Kansas City collector.

Benton scholar and author, Dr. Henry Adams, has authenticated these pieces in person.

POCHOIR

French for "Stencil", Pochoir was a popular, thought time consuming and expensive, form of reproduction during the Jazz Age that was used in high-end magazines, advertisements for luxury items, and as a means for artists like Chagall, Manet and Picasso to more precisely reproduce their art.  Pieces would sometimes require dozens and dozens of trained artists working with more than a hundred individual stencils, and pieces could also be finished with hand painted touches.  The reproductions often took more time and work than the original art piece being copied! 

Art Deco Tins & Product Packaging

Fantastic design on everyday items.  We love how these tins, boxes and product packaging can showcase the basic design elements of the Art Deco style!   Our goal is to eventually have each piece photographed and scanned, then digitally brought back to its original state, measured, etc. then put in a catalog for future generations.  Our reference catalog could even be used to make reproductions for things like movie props!

TYPEWRITER  RIBBON  TINS

Ceramics

Though we have a variety of ceramic objects, we especially enjoy our collection of Teapots & Jugs, for we love how artists have expressed such an incredible array of creativity with these objects, sometimes to the point "impracticality" turning them into fun and fantastical works of Art Deco sculpture. 

Made by Carstons-Uffrecht in Neuhaldensleben,  Germany. Design attributed to Hildegard Delius who worked at Carstons-Uffrecht from 1927-1933. The beautiful Art Deco design of this piece shows influences from German Bauhaus and Russian Suprematist movements. The use of a "flow glaze" on the highly geometric piece gives it a wonderfully timeless look, having both ancient and modern (almost otherworldly) features.

Above: An Art Deco Jug. Unknown date and maker. 

"Sunray" Blue John, jug/vase. Circa Mid 1920's to1930.  Blue John pottery is a little known manufacturer, but they created some wonderful, hand painted and "spray decorated" art deco pieces.  Blue John Ltd operated on Union Street in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent from 1886, until perhaps the 1960's. The company produced a variety of jugs (UK term for pitcher) teapots, vases, beakers, plaques, etc.

Above: A plate from our collection made for the famous 1925 Paris Exposition "Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes" after which Art Deco got its name!  

The plate by Johnson Brothers of England features a pattern called "Les Fontaines". Fountains are a commonly found motif in Art Deco works. 

TULSA Artifacts

Over the years we have been fortunate to purchase, or have donated, numerous Tulsa Art Deco artifacts.  Some pieces are from buildings that are unfortunately no longer with us, or that were removed during remodels.  We also love it when we find old photos and ephemera, from advertisements to booklets, that exhibit the flamboyant and "modern" Art Deco Style and showcase Tulsa's amazing Jazz Age history!  

Above: Terracotta piece from an unknown Tulsa building.  On loan from Mary Beth Babcock, owner of Buck Atom's Cosmic Curios. Due to this pieces small size and the floral elements small scale, we believe it was likely from a small building, likely only one or two stories tall. Tulsa had an incredible number of small Art Deco Buildings that have been lost. This could have been used as a decorative frieze over a doorway or windows on a shop or even a little gas station. 

Below: An example of how this piece could have looked in a repeating pattern. 

Plaster relief panels purchased from the estate of Bill White (of Bill White Chevrolet in downtown Tulsa). Bill was a collector of Tulsa artifacts and memorabilia. These were said to have come from the Philcade building in downtown Tulsa during an early renovation. The designs feature a mixture of classical and Art Deco design motifs. 

We purchased these beautiful, Art Deco, cast iron pieces from an estate sale at an old Tulsa mansion.  They were purportedly from a downtown Tulsa building. We will continue to research these items to see if we can determine which building they may have come from. 

Above: Large, etched glass mirror from the Halliburton Abbott Department Store.

Above: Terracotta pieces from the exterior of the Halliburton Abbott Department Store.

1920's skyline of Tulsa. 

Photo circa 1920 taken from the bluffs on the east bank of the Arkansas River near Cleveland Oklahoma (west of Tulsa).  Old hwy 99 visible in floodplain in center of photo, headed toward Hominy. 

Arkansas River view near Oilton Oklahoma (west of Tulsa) 

 For   MORE   Tulsa Photos & Ephemera
click here to visit the DECOPOLIS Archives!

Woodcuts & Linocuts

Woodcuts Of New York

Below:  A selection of woodcuts from the book titled "Woodcuts of New York" "Pages from a Diary by Hans Alexander Mueller"  J.J. Augustin Publisher New York City Copyright 1938. 
Back Page.... "This is number 65 of three hundred copies of a special edition printed by the Haddon Craftsmen, Camden New Jersey, and Bound in Leather by George McKibbin & son, Brooklyn New York"

Hand Signed.... Hans A. Mueller

Art Deco Designed Books

   A wealth of wonderful Art Deco design can be found in School Yearbooks. The Yearbooks also offer a great opportunity to show when Art Deco design entered the popular culture and how it changed over the years.  The yearbooks also show how fashion, humor, social norms, and other social, political and scientific interests changed and were reflected in the art. 

1930 TEXAS TECH - "La Ventana"

"Radio Annuals" from the personal library of Milton Berle. 

   Below: Texas A&M Art Deco Yearbooks from 1930. Beautifully embossed, front and back covers representing futuristic, day and night city scenes. 

80's DECO!

In the early 1900's there were numerous "dialects", of what would later become known as Art Deco.  One of those dialects we like to call "Konfetti". You can imagine it like artists of the day taking bold geometric forms and colors and tossing them together like confetti. 

From about the mid 1970's to the mid 90's there was a rebirth of interest in the Art Deco style, the peak of this Deco Revival occurred during the 80's and it was the "Konfetti Dialect" of Art Deco that was really brought to the fore with a playfully creative exuberance. One group of artists in Italy created what is called the "Memphis Milano" style. The lead practitioners often mentioned that they were influenced by Art Deco.  

Giancarlo Impiglia

Above: 80's Art Deco (Memphis/Postmodern) Pedestal by Lyn Godley & Lloyd Schwan 38.5" X 16.25" X 11.75" (wood, paint, screws) acquisition # 02-21-2023-862.71

Above: "Locomotive" by Alain Levesque 
Gouache and Airbrush on board. Signed and dated 1990. acquisition # 11-24-2022-378.53

Above: 80's Art Deco figures titled "Mysterious 1 & Mysterious 2" by David Fischer for Austin Productions. Sculpture stand approximately 24.5" H x 15" W x 8.5" D 

Above: 80's Art Deco figures titled "5th Avenue" by Alexsander Danel for Austin Productions. Sculptures stand approximately 31.5" H x 9" W x 8' D

Above: 80's Art Deco/Memphis Milano, "LIghtning Bolt" tea set by Salins Studios France. 

Above: "The GAP Band" album cover from 1986.   
From Wikipedia... "The Gap Band was an American R&B and funk band that rose to fame during the 1970s and 1980s. The band consisted of three brothers: Charlie, Ronnie, and Robert Wilson, along with other members; it was named after streets (Greenwood, Archer, and Pine)[1][2] in the historic Greenwood neighborhood in the brothers' hometown of Tulsa, Oklahoma.[3]"