Studio Still Life – Sidney Gross

Artist: Sidney Gross (1921–1969)
Date: c. 1940s–1950s
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 39 3/4 50 inches (including pine frame)

This early interior still life by American artist Sidney Gross captures a theatrical studio arrangement set against a moody background. At the center of the composition, a hand-crank gramophone sits upon a table draped in rich crimson cloth, alongside a pair of pink ballet pointe shoes, a vibrant green hat, and a dark glass bottle with a gilded label. The color descriptions contain and not exact the warm burgundies, deep forest greens, and golden hues to ensure smooth compatibility with your alternative text. Behind the main arrangement, an artist’s easel holds a sculpted bust covered by a decorative patterned shawl.

The canvas is signed “gross” in the lower right corner, with a torn artist label preserved on the stretcher bar featuring Gross’s handwritten name and studio address. This composition reflects Gross’s transitional period in the 1940s and early 1950s, bridging figurative Urban Surrealism and traditional still life prior to his turn toward full Abstract Expressionism.