Joseph Paul Pandolfini Sold at Auction Prices

Joseph Paul Pandolfini 1940s tempera Night Will Fall

Pandolfini, Joseph Paul (Italian/ American, 1908-1987), Night Will Fall and The Homeless Shall Be Without Shelter, circa 1940, tempera on paperboard, 11.75 x 8.25 inches, signed lower right, Exhibited in 1940-41 Exhibition American Painting at Whitney Museum of American Art, Provenance: acquired from the artist by Aline Laveen MacMahon. Aline Laveen MacMahon was an American actress. Her Broadway stage career began under producer Edgar Selwyn in The Mirage during 1920. She made her screen debut in 1931 and worked extensively in film, theater and television until her retirement in 1975; from the Estate of her cousin. Born in Palermo, Italy, Pandolfini immigrated to the US in 1912 and worked as an engraver in his father’s jewelry shop. Along with NDG artist James Guy, Pandolfini was among the leadership of the Unemployed Artists Group of the John Reed Club—later to become the Artists Union. His work was exhibited in places like the Corcoran Gallery (1934); the Museum of Modern Art (1936, 1938); the Pennsylvania State Museum (1939). Underneath his NDG still life painting is a body of work directly grappling with the economic injustice of his times, as a few titles will attest: “Unemployed” (1932-37); “The Pay Line” (1938); “Night Will Fall and the Homeless Shall Be Without Shelter” (1937); and “Strafing Maneuvers” (1941). He taught painting at the Brooklyn Museum.