Acrylic ?

This one I got kind of excited about. At first pass I just glanced at it,but the second pass I pulled it out and actually looked at it and it really intrigues me ! The frame itself looks like it could be from 39,and its signed 39,but the stuff written on the back confuses me? Any input is appreciated.

 

couple more...

 

Good question. Everything but the frame suggests the later date to me.

 

Its very well matted,and it seems to be acrylic on paper ? Very faintly at the top was a former owners name who died in 2008,not that that means anything. I was wondering if MAYBE its a highway men work ?

 

My assumption is it was painted in 1939 and framed in 2007.

 

Acrylic paints did not really hit the market until the late 1960's

 

But the person who wrote that on the back, presumably in 2007, may have been mistaken. Or can you tell from the photo that it really is acrylic?

 

The '39 could also refer to a date other than when the work was executed (eg. class of 1939).

 

Unfortunately I don't know from acrylic so all I can say is some of the paint,like the sky,seemed almost chalky ? for lack of a better term. It didn't come off when I lightly touched it like a pastel would. And the grass across the bottom is almost scratched in looking ?
Is this a better pic ?

 

Hmm, class of '39... could be.

 

Hi Johnny! Is it on canvas or paper?

 

On paper,Antidiem. The matt is so well glued I was only able to pry apart the corner with the siggie,and Im afraid to try to separate it more.

 

I thought so, Johnny. It almost looks like a mono-print.
To actually BE that in acrylic, it would have had to have been done very quickly (which it appears to have been with large brushstrokes and detail scratched into the paper afterwards). Just a thought, I cannot see it well enough to say for sure. Even if it started out as a mono-print, it may have been worked back into with paints. Does it have any sort of an "edge" around the sides that could have come from a print plate?

 

No,its painted directly on paper.No edges that I can tell.

 

Not a highwaymen painting. No Highwaymen artists with the initials RA that I can find.

 

Thanks for looking Bdigger. I carefully pried the matt apart and took some pics,dammed if I know if its acrylic !

 

If it began as a monoprint and then was covered with paint and scratched into, it could look like this. The back looks right for an oil based mono piece.

 

Nothing about this says 1939 to me. The only thing I thought was the same as someone else - Class of '39 or born in '39. The style, the material, the colors all say 1960-70s

 

The bottom grass is intriguing. I am no art expert, but it almost looks like some type of a block or print was used to create that darker blue (or maybe grey) color of grass. The dark blue individual blades have a white border on each side that covers the colors underneath. The green blades do not. Not sure I am using the correct descriptive terms. I believe I also see this border on each side of the blades in other places, like between the yellow and blue trees/bushes. No doubt this art piece has a layered appearance. Also wonder if chalky feel due to use of mixed media?

Now which did I do with those words - make it clear I am no art expert or provide evidence that I am an idiot?

My 0 cents worth, the value of my opinions about art.