Lot 252, Auction 4/3/2026: Arthur Knebel Painting – Young Man Reading

$455.00

In stock

Arthur Knebel (American, 1925-2013). Man Reading. Oil on canvas, n.d. A quiet interior unfolds in softened planes of color, where a solitary man curls inward over a book, absorbed in the private gravity of reading. Knebel places the figure low and centered, knees drawn close, creating a compact geometry that anchors the composition while the surrounding space gently dissolves into layered strokes of muted blues, greens, and earthen tones. The room feels lived-in rather than described, suggested through painterly shorthand – a piano receding into shadow, a window ledge catching stray light, a chair that seems to hum with use. The handling of paint is characteristically deliberate yet searching. Knebel allows forms to hover between clarity and abstraction, building the figure through tonal relationships rather than hard contour. Light behaves musically here, moving in quiet intervals across the canvas, pooling on the readers shirt and face, then slipping away into darker passages. Size: 20″ W x 24″ H (50.8 cm x 61 cm)

This painting reflects Knebel’s sensitivity to rhythm and structure, qualities shaped by decades immersed in music. The composition feels composed rather than staged, its mood contemplative and inward, as if time itself has slowed to accommodate thought. Reading becomes less an action than a state of being, a moment of stillness held gently in paint. Balanced, introspective, and quietly lyrical, “Man Reading” stands as a refined example of Knebel’s ability to translate lived experience into visual harmony, where color, form, and mood settle into an intimate and enduring chord.

About the artist: Arthur Henry Knebel Jr. was a gifted painter, photographer, and professional violist whose life intertwined the disciplines of sound, color, and light. Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1925 to Arthur Henry Knebel and Margie Shafer Knebel, he grew up in a household steeped in the arts. His mother, a lecturer on modern art in the 1940s, and his father, a drafting artist, instilled in him both technical discipline and creative curiosity.

Before devoting himself fully to painting in 1986, Knebel enjoyed a distinguished musical career spanning more than four decades. He performed as a violist with the Cincinnati Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, North Carolina Symphony, Houston Symphony, and Denver Symphony orchestras, among others. After joining the Denver Musicians Association in 1964, he later taught at Metropolitan State College from 1987 to 1988.

Knebel’s visual art reflects his mid-century sensibilities and a deep engagement with color, light, and design. A perfectionist by nature, he sought balance between realism and abstraction, frequently reworking his canvases to achieve ideal tonal harmony. His paintings often show the influence of photography – an art form he practiced with precision, developing his own prints and manipulating negatives to control the distribution of light. When painting, he sometimes used an orbital sander on the dried surface to refine texture and form.

Arthur’s work was poetic both in mood and method. His subjects were often figurative, imbued with a quiet lyricism that mirrored his musical compositions. His poem “Shadow” encapsulates his introspective spirit:

“My shadow is the prisoner of the sun / Xeroxed days stapled on the wall / Taller than you, smaller than me / The tricks that run this show / Are wound up like a clock / Stretched like a lie / Sent like an errand in search of a meaning / Clenched like a fist at night / My shadow.”

Though deeply private, Knebel exhibited occasionally, including at the Denver Art Museum and the Koelbel Library’s Joan R. Duncan Gallery in Centennial, Colorado, in 2008, where he and his wife, pianist Susan Cowan Knebel, provided live music during the show. Their marriage, beginning the day after Thanksgiving in 1986, united two artists in a lifelong devotion to music and art.

Arthur Knebel passed away in 2013 at the Denver Hospice Care Center. His legacy endures through his paintings, which continue to find new homes through the ongoing efforts of his estate. Donations in his memory support music education for children through the Colorado Youth Symphony, a fitting tribute to a man whose life harmonized artistry in every form.

Condition: Painting is in excellent overall condition.

Provenance: private Shawnee, Colorado, USA collection

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