Two early Quaintance paintings were among the lots offered by Swann Auction Galleries in a Dec. 4, 2025 auction. Each is signed with the vertical signature used by the artist for most of his pre-1940 work. The medium is gouache, painted on a board. Gouache is a water-based paint that, unlike watercolor, is opaque.
Portrait of Morton Downey is dated 1938, just below the signature in the lower right hand corner. Dimensions are 15x18 inches. Downey was a contemporary of Quaintance and a popular singer-entertainer of the era. Nicknamed “The Irish Nightingale,” his greatest popularity was in the 1920s-30s. There is plenty of information about him online, for anyone wanting to know more.
Th image is not particularly appealing and there were no bids, despite a pre-auction estimate of $600-$900.
The second painting, referred to as Valentine for Betty & Bob, was more attractive and might easily have served as cover art for a Hallmark greeting card. The auburn-haired model has a Snow White appeal.
Dimensions are 15x20 inches. It is signed but not dated at the lower left (despite the listing, which places the signature at the right). Pre-auction estimate was $800-$1,200; the winning bid was $539.
The summer of 2020 was the last time an entirely new Quaintance painting emerged (two head shots of Ramon Novarro, undated, but also with the pre-1940 vertical signature), so these two additional paintings are a welcome relief to the drought. They offer further examples of the breadth of Quaintance’s work and serve to complement the iconic, homoerotic imagery that later made him famous.
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