JOSEPH O'MALLEY Mid Cen W/C Preparing for the Statler Hilton Robert McKee Estate

JOSEPH O'MALLEY (1903-1991). Preparing for the Statler Hilton, mid century watercolor, 21" x 28" (framed size: 30" x 36") no visible signature. Old worn label on the back stating #22, "Preparing for the Statler", Joe O'Malley. This comes from the estate of Robert E. McKee, the General Contractor for the Statler Hilton Hotels. Has a placque: Property of Robert E. and Evelyn McKee Foundation. SHIPS WITHOUT GLASS! Born in Fostoria, Ohio, Joseph O'Malley grew up in Ohio and after high school, studied at the Carnegie School of Fine Arts in Pittsburgh. In the 1930s, he moved to Chicago where he studied at the Chicago Art Insitute and painted many street scenes, usually in the South Side of the city.He moved to Hollywood in the early 1940s, and there painted cityscapes of the Los Angeles area and exhibited with the California Water Color Society. Many of his paintings were opaque watercolors on heavy illustration paper. His most highly regarded works and those which distinguished him from other West Coasts artists of that era depicted rain, wind, dimly lit streets and neon reflections. He also painted views of deserted amusement parks and old mining towns in California and Nevada.During that period, he worked as a commercial artist for MGM, Columbia, Universal Studios, and Walt Disney studios. He also illustrated books for children and magazines. He was a member of the California Water Color Society and the American Water Color Society.Source:Askart; Gordon McClelland and Jay Last, The California St