Daisies for Mother (attributed), George Shelly (b.1941), c.1970s, oil on Belgian linen canvas, 24 x 36 in, signed l/l.
A luminous George Shelly oil on Belgian linen canvas featuring a mother and child in a daisy-strewn garden with parasol—mid-century American figurative Impressionism, romantic realism, collectible New Jersey artist.
Artwork Description
This oil on Belgian linen canvas stages a tender, narrative moment: a young girl in a flowing yellow dress offers a small bouquet of daisies to a woman dressed in white, who holds a delicate parasol tied with violet ribbons. The figures are placed close to the picture plane and surrounded by a carpet of white-and-yellow blossoms that flicker across the foreground like confetti of light.
Shelly builds the background as a tapestry of layered greens—broad, confident brushstrokes that read as sunlit leaves and shadowed hedgerow without insisting on botanical specificity. Against that lively field of greens, the bright garments (yellow and white) create a strong tonal design: warmth and innocence balanced by calm, airy highlights. The paint handling is deliberately painterly rather than photographic: simplified shapes, softened edges, and visible strokes that emphasize mood and color harmony.
The composition is driven by gesture and exchange. The child’s outstretched arm forms a clear diagonal, guiding the eye to the bouquet and then to the woman’s gentle, downward gaze. The scene feels simultaneously contemporary to the late-20th-century decorative-figurative tradition and timeless in theme—care, guidance, and affection rendered through light, color, and posture.
Signature: signed lower left (stylized “Shelly” signature visible in the image).
Artist Biography
George Shelly (American, b. 1941) is associated with New Jersey’s mid-to-late 20th century figurative and portrait tradition, known especially for sympathetically observed women-and-children subjects and for the luminous, pared-back handling of his backgrounds. Published artist references identify him as born in 1941 and note training at the New York Phoenix School of Design and the Art Students League of New York.
A period artist résumé provided with this work documents a strong regional exhibition record in New Jersey and New York, including venues such as the Iron Butterfly Gallery (Colts Neck, NJ), Argo Gallery (Spring Lake, NJ), the Greenwich Village Spring Show (NYC), and other museum/gallery shows during the late 1960s. The same résumé lists studies at the Art Students League (including anatomy with Robert Beverly Hale) and describes Shelly’s approach to figure painting with simplified, non-distracting grounds. Hale is well documented as a long-time instructor of artistic anatomy at the Art Students League of New York.
Market records and artist listings continue to place Shelly within the category of American postwar figurative painting, with auction appearances and pricing typically in the accessible-collector range—reinforcing his long-standing role as a sought-after decorative-figurative painter for private clients and regional galleries.
Concise auction listing: George Shelly (American, b.1941), oil on Belgian linen canvas, signed, figurative garden scene of mother and child, Art Students League–trained New Jersey artist.
Certificate of Authentication
Artist: George Shelly (American, b. 1941)
Title: Daisies for Mother (attributed)
Medium: Oil on Belgian linen canvas
Dimensions: 24 x 36 inches
Signature: Signed lower left (Shelly)
Date: Circa 1970s (attributed)
Issued by: Artfind Gallery, Washington, DC
Provenance: Acquired from Mitch Morse Gallery (see provenance chain below)
Condition
Very good vintage condition consistent with age and prior framing/storage. Light surface wear visible in raking light and minor edge/corner handling typical for an unframed/studio-stored canvas. No active flaking observed in the provided images. A gentle surface cleaning and professional stretching/framing is recommended for best presentation.
Provenance chain
Current owner: Artfind Gallery, Washington, DC
Acquired from: Mitch Morse Gallery
Prior acquisition: Mitch Morse Gallery, New York City and Europe
Artist: George Shelly (American, b. 1941)
Daisies for Mother (attributed), George Shelly (b.1941), c.1970s, oil on Belgian linen canvas, 24 x 36 in, signed l/l.
A luminous George Shelly oil on Belgian linen canvas featuring a mother and child in a daisy-strewn garden with parasol—mid-century American figurative Impressionism, romantic realism, collectible New Jersey artist.
Artwork Description
This oil on Belgian linen canvas stages a tender, narrative moment: a young girl in a flowing yellow dress offers a small bouquet of daisies to a woman dressed in white, who holds a delicate parasol tied with violet ribbons. The figures are placed close to the picture plane and surrounded by a carpet of white-and-yellow blossoms that flicker across the foreground like confetti of light.
Shelly builds the background as a tapestry of layered greens—broad, confident brushstrokes that read as sunlit leaves and shadowed hedgerow without insisting on botanical specificity. Against that lively field of greens, the bright garments (yellow and white) create a strong tonal design: warmth and innocence balanced by calm, airy highlights. The paint handling is deliberately painterly rather than photographic: simplified shapes, softened edges, and visible strokes that emphasize mood and color harmony.
The composition is driven by gesture and exchange. The child’s outstretched arm forms a clear diagonal, guiding the eye to the bouquet and then to the woman’s gentle, downward gaze. The scene feels simultaneously contemporary to the late-20th-century decorative-figurative tradition and timeless in theme—care, guidance, and affection rendered through light, color, and posture.
Signature: signed lower left (stylized “Shelly” signature visible in the image).
Artist Biography
George Shelly (American, b. 1941) is associated with New Jersey’s mid-to-late 20th century figurative and portrait tradition, known especially for sympathetically observed women-and-children subjects and for the luminous, pared-back handling of his backgrounds. Published artist references identify him as born in 1941 and note training at the New York Phoenix School of Design and the Art Students League of New York.
A period artist résumé provided with this work documents a strong regional exhibition record in New Jersey and New York, including venues such as the Iron Butterfly Gallery (Colts Neck, NJ), Argo Gallery (Spring Lake, NJ), the Greenwich Village Spring Show (NYC), and other museum/gallery shows during the late 1960s. The same résumé lists studies at the Art Students League (including anatomy with Robert Beverly Hale) and describes Shelly’s approach to figure painting with simplified, non-distracting grounds. Hale is well documented as a long-time instructor of artistic anatomy at the Art Students League of New York.
Market records and artist listings continue to place Shelly within the category of American postwar figurative painting, with auction appearances and pricing typically in the accessible-collector range—reinforcing his long-standing role as a sought-after decorative-figurative painter for private clients and regional galleries.
Concise auction listing: George Shelly (American, b.1941), oil on Belgian linen canvas, signed, figurative garden scene of mother and child, Art Students League–trained New Jersey artist.
Certificate of Authentication
Artist: George Shelly (American, b. 1941)
Title: Daisies for Mother (attributed)
Medium: Oil on Belgian linen canvas
Dimensions: 24 x 36 inches
Signature: Signed lower left (Shelly)
Date: Circa 1970s (attributed)
Issued by: Artfind Gallery, Washington, DC
Provenance: Acquired from Mitch Morse Gallery (see provenance chain below)
Condition
Very good vintage condition consistent with age and prior framing/storage. Light surface wear visible in raking light and minor edge/corner handling typical for an unframed/studio-stored canvas. No active flaking observed in the provided images. A gentle surface cleaning and professional stretching/framing is recommended for best presentation.
Provenance chain
Current owner: Artfind Gallery, Washington, DC
Acquired from: Mitch Morse Gallery
Prior acquisition: Mitch Morse Gallery, New York City and Europe
Artist: George Shelly (American, b. 1941)
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