Paintings available from the
Darwin and Ethel Musselman Exemption Trust
"Confabulate" 1947, Oil on canvas, 30" x 24" $9,500 SOLD
"Masonic Building" 1947, Oil on canvas, 30" x 40" $17,875
"Juggler" 1951, Oil on canvas, 40" x 30" $20,650 SOLD
"Mannequin" 1950, Oil on canvas, 40" x 30" $20,650
Shortly after my return to Fresno from the San Francisco Bay area in 1945, I began to explore the use of shapes and lines. I would start placing rectangular areas on the canvas in different sizes, shapes, and values. As I placed one in a carefully chosen position in the format, I then placed another one of a different size and shape to balance the whole composition. It became a game as I progressed with the subsequent locations. Into the placed shapes, I added texture to create interest.
After working in this way for some time, I began to see the possibilities of going a step further and suggesting architectural motifs over the underlying shapes. I became fascinated with the facades of buildings emerging from these various non-objective color, value, and texture patterns. Some areas remained pure shapes while others took on the appearance of siding, bricks and other materials.
The paintings resulting from this procedure were accepted in major national competitive exhibitions in Denver, Oakland, and Los Angeles.
"Tall Spire" 1965, Oil on canvas, 24" x 12" $4,200
"Sacre Coeur de Montmartre" 1965, Oil on canvas, 40" x 50" $27,500
"Yachting" 1950, Oil on canvas, 22" x 36" $12,375
"Mendocino Church" 1947, Opaque watercolor, 18" x 24" $12,600
"Circus Poster" 1949, Oil on canvas, 22" x 36" $22,750
"Harrison Street" 1950, Oil on canvas, 30" x 40" $35,000
"Retrospection" 1949, Oil on canvas, 24" x 30" $16,500 SOLD
"Sentinel" 1949, Oil on canvas, 24" x 30" $17,750
"Millwood" 1950, Oil on Canvas, 40" x 30" $20,650
"Converted" 1947, Oil on canvas, 30" x 24" NFS
Darwin Musselman studied with several well-known artists in the 1930's and early 40's but the one most influential on his work was to be Lionel Feininger (1871-1956), an American - German artist known for his expressionism, derived from cubism. A good example is shown below. Musselman's paintings in this section begin with a clear echo of Feininger ("Converted," 1947) but evolve into the unique style Musselman became best known for (as in "Millwood," 1950). The following description was written by Musselman in 1998:
Lyonel Feininger, "Gaberndorf II", 1924