Lot 191

20th C. Vance Larson Pastel Painting - Abstraction in Blue and Teal

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Lot 191
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20th C. Vance Larson Pastel Painting - Abstraction in Blue and Teal
20th C. Vance Larson Pastel Painting - Abstraction in Blue and Teal
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20th C. Vance Larson Pastel Painting - Abstraction in Blue and Teal

Estimate: $4,000 - $6,000

Starting Bid: $2,000

(0 Bids)
by Artemis Fine Arts
August 6, 2026 9:00 AM MDT
Live Auction
686 S. Taylor Avenue
Suite 108
Louisville, CO, US 80027

Vance A. Larson (American, 1951-2010). Abstract painting. Pastel painting on board, n.d. Signed at lower right. A large-scale abstraction worked in pastel on board, its surface a weather of deep blues, teals, and shadowed greens broken by sudden flares of warmer pigment. Vance A. Larson layered the chalk with the saturated intensity he prized in the medium, building atmosphere rather than outline, so that forms seem to gather and dissolve like cloud or current. The composition resists fixed reading; it pursues an emotional, dreamlike register characteristic of the artist's mature Southern California period, when he abandoned portraiture for pure creative work. Signed at lower right and presented in a substantial dark frame, the piece rewards prolonged looking, its passages of color shifting between depth and surface. The work stands as a confident statement in expressive abstraction from a prolific American hand. Size of painting: 54" W x 40" H (137.2 cm W x 101.6 cm H); of frame: 66" W x 52" H (167.6 cm W x 132.1 cm H).

About the artist: Vance A.Vance A. Larson (1951-2010) was an American painter who worked across abstract expressionism and portraiture throughout a career that spanned four decades and produced more than 10,000 original works. Trained at the Paier School of Art and the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, he came to early notice in 1976 when LeRoy Neiman selected him, under the pen name Eric Van Larson, for the Minnesota Museum of Art's permanent collection gallery, Metamorphose 1.

His early years were spent in charcoal and pastel portraiture, first in Minnesota, then in New Orleans on Jackson Square, and later in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia. A 1980 pastel portrait of Major General Fred E. Haynes Jr., USMC, an Iwo Jima veteran, entered the permanent collection of the National Museum of the Marine Corps.

After relocating to Southern California in 1980, Larson abandoned portraiture in favor of pure creative work, adopting pastels as his primary medium for their pigment intensity. The paintings of this period, including "Catch Your Dreams Like Thunder," pursued emotional states in a deliberate dreamlike register. In 1995, drawn by a longstanding respect for Native American traditions, he moved to Cave Creek, Arizona, where his imagery shifted toward cave paintings, spirit figures, and ancient hunt scenes. He later transitioned to oils after a cancer diagnosis, which he linked to prolonged exposure to pastel dust.

Larson received more than 30 Best of Show awards at major exhibitions from Dallas to Beverly Hills, and his work appeared in ARTnews, the Los Angeles Times, and other national publications. He died in Cave Creek on February 14, 2010.

Provenance: private Studio City, California, USA collection

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Item # 197329

  • Condition: Mounted behind glass in custom matte and frame; has not been examined outside of frame. Some minor nicks to edge of board and light bending to upper corners. A few scuffs to frame that do not affect painting. Otherwise, painting and frame appear to be in excellent overall condition with suspension hoops on verso for display. Signed at lower right.

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Bid Increments
From: To: Increments:
$0 $299 $25
$300 $999 $50
$1,000 $1,999 $100
$2,000 $4,999 $250
$5,000 $9,999 $500
$10,000 $19,999 $1,000
$20,000 $49,999 $2,500
$50,000 $99,999 $5,000
$100,000 $199,999 $10,000
$200,000 + $20,000