December Evening Fifth Avenue, 1946, oil on canvas, signed and dated ‘E. Fiene - 46’ lower left.

According to the American Printmakers On-line Catalogue Raisonné Project, Ernest Fiene’s unpublished personal files note that ‘December Evening Fifth Avenue’ “was purchased by Frank Sinatra for his home in Hollywood”.

I am interested more in the future of American art than in the past of European art. Out of this new civilization, out of this machine age, a new school of painters will be developed.” - Ernest Fiene

Ernest Fiene’s artwork often focused on bringing out the humanity of a space while simultaneously deconstructing it into abstract shapes. Fiene was born in Elberfeld, Germany in 1894. Though his passion and talent for art was noted by his family at an early age, he initially intended to become an engineer. His desire to avoid conscription into the German army soon compelled him to leave Germany. He fled initially to Holland, and then settled in New York City in 1912. Upon reaching the United States Fiene began to focus on his passion for art. He worked for a decorative painter until he could enroll in the National Academy of Design in 1914.

Fiene went on to study at some of the most prestigious art institutions in New York giving him a broad range of influences and experiences. Fiene began exhibiting with the assistance of his professors, including Robert Henri. He held his first solo exhibition at the McDowell Club. This exhibition proved very successful and gave him exposure to the New York art scene outside of the academic sphere.

After marrying his wife, Jeanette, Fiene decided to return to school and study at the Art Students League in New York City in an effort to expand his craftsmanship and modernize his artistic style. It was at the Art Students League that Fiene made connections with prominent lithographic printers George C. Miller and Charles C. Locke, who assisted in the distribution of his paintings through print. In 1923 he had his first solo exhibition at the Whitney Studio Club, which later became the Whitney Museum of American Art.

Fiene continued to clarify and evolve his technique by applying decidedly modernist styles and themes to his paintings. He wanted to strengthen the attention to color and shape in his pieces, which can be seen in the way he depicted urban architecture. The fragmentation of modern life and industry were an inspiration for his work, and he accentuated these themes by using elements of realism and abstraction.

As Fiene’s career advanced from the late 1920s through the 1930s, he began a period of extensive travel both across the United States and abroad. He traveled to Paris to work on his figurative and landscape skills at L’Academie de La Grande Chaumiere. Despite there being many acquaintances and associates in France at that time, Fiene deeply missed the inspiration he found in the New York landscapes. He returned to the United States and began teaching at the Westchester County Center in White Plains. Fiene continued to exhibit extensively, garnering a reputation as a truly modern painter of the city.

Ernest Fiene had a passion for the American condition, which he filtered through a modernist perspective in his paintings. His ambition and dedication to his craft can be seen throughout his extensive and inspiring career.

[Excerpted from an essay on the artist by Sonia Brand-Fisher]


26 by 32 inches

PROVENANCE From the Estate of Mrs. Nancy Sinatra


Frank Sinatra