{"product_id":"d0408","title":"\u003ci\u003eGospel Singer (Los Angeles)\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cbr\u003e1939 Lithograph \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e#D0408","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/lostartsalon.com\/collections\/ben-messick\"\u003eBen Messick\u003c\/a\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEntitled \u003cem\u003eGospel Singer (Los Angeles)\u003c\/em\u003e, this 1939 lithograph on paper scene is by Ben Messick (1891-1981). Messick was a painter and printmaker closely associated with the WPA and its Federal Art Project. As part of these New Deal initiatives under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Messick contributed to a generation of artists dedicated to portraying scenes of regional American life. Several of his works (including drawings, paintings and lithographs) are in the permanent collection of LACMA and many other art museums and institutions. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWorking primarily in Southern California, he developed a dynamic and lively style, capturing everyday scenes of the Los Angeles area while also producing works from memory based on his upbringing in the Ozarks of Missouri. A veteran of World War I in France, Messick later studied—and went on to teach—at the Chouinard Art Institute. In the 1930s, he briefly worked as an animator for Walt Disney Productions. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMessick’s work received significant institutional recognition, including solo exhibitions at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art (1945) and the M.H. de Young Museum (1947). He also exhibited at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the Smithsonian. In 1951, a traveling exhibition of his work toured from Missouri to Long Beach, California. His contributions to the WPA were later documented in a 1965 oral history interview with the Archives of American Art, reflecting his role in the Easel Program (1935–1943). \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBen Messick is the great uncle of Lost Art Salon co-founder, Rob Delamater.  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e1939 \u003cbr\u003eLithograph on Paper \u003cbr\u003e17.5\"x21.75\" framed \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSigned in lower right. Framed in a contemporary wood frame with a bone finish using archival matting behind conservation clear glass. Excellent vintage condition.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Ben Messick (1891-1981)","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48779897733337,"sku":"D0408","price":850.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/2419\/6295\/files\/D0408_1.jpg?v=1780513109","url":"https:\/\/lostartsalon.com\/products\/d0408","provider":"Lost Art Salon","version":"1.0","type":"link"}