Still Life

Still Life, Floral, 16x20, Oil on Canvas Pannel, Framed, Unsighned by Dick Burg, Courtesy of Pat Hughes.

Portrait Study

Untitled, Portrait of a Woman in Green, 14x18, Acrylic on Masonite, Framed, Unsigned by Bick Burg Coutesy of Peter Burg.

Cartoon

One of Dick's humorous cartoons done in 1924. Prohibition was in effect during this period.

Woman with Fan

Pastel, Woman with Fan, 12x16, Signed by Dick Burg circa mid 50's, Courtesy of Peter Burg

Bridge Over Water

Pastel, Bridge Over Water, 12x16, Framed, Unsigned By Dick Burg, Courtesy of Peter Burg.

Old House and Tree

A fine example of pallet knife work.

Untitled, Old House and Tree, 12x14, Oil on Canvas, Framed, Signed by Burg, Courtesy of Peter Burg

Blonde on Blue

Untitled, Portrait Study Blonde on Blue, 16x20, Oil on Canvas Masonite, Unframed, Unsigned by Dick Burg, Courtesy of Peter Burg.

Casa Dey Teja

#105 Casa Dey Teja, 18x24, framed, Oil on Masonite, Singed by Dick Burg, 

Courtesy of Brian And Heather Hughes

A Cuckoo Gangster

It appears that Young Richard did a lot of doodling. This was done in the early 20's.

"A Cuckoo Gangster" Portrait, Pencile on paper, 8x11, Signed R. Burg, Courtesy of Peter Burg

Melissa and Peter Burg

Going through a box of pastels I came across this pair of portraits. They date around 1960 or '61


Pastel, Melissa Burg by Dick Burg, circa early 60's, Courtesy of Peter Burg.

Pastel, Peter Burg by Dick Burg, circa early 60's, Courtesy of Peter Burg

Early Oil

Untitled Landscape with Bare Trees, 16x20, Oil on Canvas Panel, Unframed, Unsigned by Dick Burg, Courtesy of Peter Burg.

Pastel Portrait

Pastel, 12x14, Portrait Woman looking Right with Blue Eyes, Unsigned by Dick Burg, circa mid 50's, Courtesy of Peter Burg.

Forty Years of Marriage

Dick and Betty were married forty years.




Richard O. Burg and Sophia Elisabeth Gross Wedding 1938

Dick and Betty 1975

Alice’s Restaurant

This view is on the Malibu Pier looking towards the Pacific Coast Highway. Alice’s was a popular restaurant located at the entrance to the pier. Don’t you just love the “Jack in the Box” in the back? Malibu is a legendary surf spot. If you were to shoot the pier, this was the pier!

#43 Alice’s Restaurant, 24x30, Oil on Gesso Masonite, Framed, Signed by Dick Burg, Courtesy of Melissa Burg Adkison

Diversity of the Human Form

Early work demonstrating the diversity of the human form.



Nude Study, Blue Seat, 24x30, Oil on canvas-Masonite, Unframed, Unsigned by Dick Burg, Courtesy of Peter Burg













Charcoal, Large Standing Woman ,18x24, Unsigned by Dick Burg, circa mid 50's, Courtesy of Peter Burg
















Charcoal, Standing Woman looking Left ,18x24, Unsigned by Dick Burg, circa mid 50's, Courtesy of Peter Burg.

Early Portrait Studies

These early portrait studies are indicative of the artist’s struggle to “get it right”. Dick would return to portraiture time and time again.



Untitled, Side Portrait, Red Haired Woman, 12x16, Oil on Canvas Panel, Unframed, Signed by Burg, Courtesy of Peter Burg.













Charcoal, Woman Looking to Right,18x24, Signed by Dick Burg, circa mid 50's, Courtesy of Peter Burg.

















Charcoal, Woman Looking to Right,18x24, Unsigned by Dick Burg, circa mid 50's, Courtesy of Peter Burg.

Dock Scene

This dock scene appeared in Dick’s brochure and is reminiscent of many San Pedro harbor scenes. The distinctive Dick Burg Dots are apparent on the shore and structures roof. There is a wonderful lazy treatment in the water’s reflection of the boat

Hollywood Connection

I remember feeling very privileged when I was young that my father worked for Hallmark. It meant that we could go into Hollywood and attend the Hallmark Radio Show. I remember going to see a rendition of Song of the South with Luanne Patton and Bobby Driscoll. We stood outside afterward and got to meet them and get their autograph.

Photo of Unknown Man, Marie Willson, Patty Burg, and Betty Burg at Margaret Corley's House in Hollywood, 1950.

Hallmark was moving toward television, especially color television, and we were invited to view a production of Macbeth. It wasn't a live stage play. It was better than that, so to speak. It was a production of Hallmark Hall of Fame done for TV in color. We saw it at a Studio because of course very few people even had color television. I think this is how my dad became involved with movie studios, particularly the Hal Roach Studio, located at the corner of Washington and National in Culver City. There was some connection to Hallmark.
We got to visit the studio, occasionally, where they were filming some of the early sitcoms. I remember meeting Gale Storm on one of those visits and stopping to talk to her. Josephine Owaissa Cottle (April 5, 1922 - June 27, 2009), better known as Gale Storm, was an American actress and singer, who starred in two popular television programs of the 1950s, My Little Margie and The Gale Storm Show. I also spent the afternoon with Marie Wilson (Katherine Elisabeth Wilson, August 19, 1916–November 23, 1972, an American radio, film, and television actress.) from My Friend Irma who was filming at the Hal Roach Studio lot. That came about when she was invited to swim in my Aunt Margaret Corley's (not really an aunt just a good friend of my parents) swimming pool. Margaret was dating a fellow who was a bit-part actor and he brought Marie Wilson along to swim. We got to come and meet them. - Pat Hughes



The Hallmark /Hollywood connection just opened a door to material my father would later use in some of his paintings. He was able to freely peruse the back lots of the studio sets were he found the old buildings that he would later lovingly incorporate.


#206 Early Study, 16X20, Oil on Masonite, Unframed Unsigned by Dick Burg Courtesy of Peter Burg.









Study, Back Lot, 20x24, Pallet Knife and Brush,Oil on Canvas, Unsigned By Dick Burg, Coutesy of Peter Burg.jpg














Untitled, Western Town with Hay Wagon, Oil on Canvas Panel, Framed, Signed Burg, Coutesy of Peter Burg.

Portrait, Woman Looking Left

Out of the hundreds of drawings, sketchs and studies done by Dick only a handful have survived the ravages of time.

Charcoal, Portrait, Woman Looking Left ,18x24, Unsigned by Dick Burg, circa mid 50's, Courtesy of Peter Burg

Man and a Mustache.

A rare photograph of Dick sporting a mustache. Here he is with either Bob Chaudoin or Gene Smith from Hallmark. Dick grew the mustache during a painting trip that I accompanied him on through norther California in my 1971 VW Camper.

Masterful Portrait in Pastel

With the proximity to movie studios in Studio City and Hollywood and a plethora of models available one of this caliber was bound to appear. I think we all called him “Wild Bill”. Dick definitely caught a worldliness of experience in this gents eyes.

Pastel, Portrait of Man with Beard, 12x16, Framed, Unsigned by Dick Burg, Courtesy of Peter Burg.

Waterscape

The serenity of blue-greens of this small painting are quite evident. An experiment in atmosphere of water and verdant foliage.

Untitled, Waterscape, 12x16, Oil on Canvas, Framed, Unsigned by Dick Burg, Courtesy of Peter Burg.

House Along Road

This painting appeared in one of Dick’s brochures. One of his favorite subjects, old houses, is again explored. There are many paintings that were sold during his career and the whereabouts of them are unknown. It will be interesting when and if they surface to be documented here in their full splendid color.

Storytelling

A story of a rural mountain American community. Helping hands and long distances between towns force dependence on one another. A good story can make a piece of artwork and Dick was certainly aware of the value of storytelling.

#51 I Belong To The Lady In The Red House, O., 20x30, Oil on Canvas Masonite, Framed, Signed by Dick Burg, Courtesy of Pat Hughes.

Seated Woman with Blue Bucket

A brutal portrayal of humane labor. This woman is in throes of exhaustion or disgust with the drudgery of toiling. Her poverty is evident but one can see a strength exude from her massive hands and legs.

Untitled, Seated Woman with Blue Bucket, 24x30, Oil on Canvas, Framed, Signed Burg on back of canvas, Courtesy of Pat Hughes.

Roads

There are many painting with roads in them. Are they a function of story? Are they analogies for searching, loneliness, abandonment, the future or mans ever invasive presence on this land? Or are they simply vehicles for composition?

Untitled, 12x16, Oil on Canvas Panel, Framed, Unsigned by Dick Burg, Courtesy of Peter Burg.

Alert Eye Of The Artist

Another sketch of the southern California coastline with its idealized palm trees, point breaks, sailboats, surfers, sunbathers, motorboat, and ever encroaching urban development. This was lodged in a art study book of Dick’s along with several others dating from the early sixties. The ever alert eye of the artist at work.

Coast Drawing on Paper, 8 ½ x11, by Dick Burg. Courtesy of Peter Burg.

Materials and Media

This is the only pastel done on felt that I have found. An exercise in materials and media.

Pastel on Felt, Reclining Nude, 20x26, Signed by Dick Burg circa mid 50's, Courtesy of Peter Burg.

Getting Feet Wet

In this very early watercolor, Dick was literally getting his feet wet. The composition is a little static. To be able to see where an artist has come from very telling.

Watercolor,Landscape,12x20, Signed by Burg, circa mid 50's Courtesy of Peter Burg.

Man with Beret

Pastel, Man with Beret, 10x16, Unsigned by Dick Burg, Courtesy of Peter Burg.

Related Blending

In this study, Dick works and blends yellows from the front of the outfit, into the face, at the chin and nose nicely.

Untitled, Portrait of Blond Woman, 20x24, Oil on Canvas Masonite, Unframed, Signed by Dick Burg, Courtesy of Peter Burg.

Complimentary Colors in the Shadow

This unfinished work utilizes complimentary colors in the shadow of the wine bottle.

Still Life, Bread and Blue Bottle, Oil on Masonite, Unsigned by Dick Burg, Courtesy of Peter Burg.

Church Gate, Southern Spain

There was a sticker on the back of this pastel that indicated it had been in the Eleventh All City Outdoor Art Festival. Whether it was in Los Angeles, Pasadena, or San Gabriel is unknown. This would be dated in the late fifties to early sixties.

Church Gate, Southern Spain, Label on reverse “Eleventh All City Outdoor Art Festival”.11x13, Pastel, Framed, Signed by Burg, Courtesy of Peter Burg.

Radical Portraits

For the most part Dick Burg was a conservative man. Rarely prone to extremes. His classification as far as style would be mostly realism and post-impressionism. That also would include stylized figure and a nostalgic interpretation regarding the architectural depiction of buildings such as barns and houses. The title, ”Twentieth Century California Painter focusing on composition and color theory would suit him well.
Here is one of the more radical portraits the I have come across.

Untitled Study of Boy with Small Head, 16x20, Oil on Canvas Masonite, Unframed, Unsigned by Dick Burg, Courtesy of Peter Burg

Comfort Zone of Technique

What is most distinctive in this portrait are the brush strokes. Harking back to an earlier age, Seurat used dabs of paint and Dick used bold dashes here, creating a unified texture that when view from a distance would blend and smooth out. An artist will experiment until he settles down into his “Comfort Zone of Technique”.

Nude Study, Pink Seat, 24x30, Oil on canvas-Masonite, Unframed, Unsigned by Dick Burg, Courtesy of Peter Burg.

Delicate Treatment To Hands

There is a charm to this standing nude. The delicate treatment Dick gives to the hands and arms lends an intimacy to the sketch.

Charcoal, Standing Woman, 24x36, Signed R. O. Burg, Circa mid 50’s, Courtesy of Peter Burg.

Ladue Shacks

I have to say, this one puzzles me. I’ve been to Ladue, a suburb of St Louis, and there are no shacks what so ever. You might say it is the Beverly Hills of St. Louis. I mean we are talking mansions, estates, grand colonial style gargantuan houses and lots the size of football fields. I am assuming Dick is trying to be humorous or he is giving us a sight of Ladue back when Martin Hanley arrived.
There are two qualities that make this a typical Dick Burg painting, the ”Dick Burg Dots” and the marine grays of the overcast sky.


#44 Ladue Shacks, 12x16, Acylic on Masonite, Framed, signed by Dick Burg, courtesy of Pat Hughes.

Lady with Flower in Hair

Pastel, Lady with Flower in Hair, 12x16, Unsigned by Burg, Courtesy of Peter Burg.

Perspective

All Paintings have their birth somewhere. Here is a typical preliminary sketch, perhaps dealing with composition or just an idea for a painting. This sketch was found in one of Dick’s books of how to draw heads. I have matched it up with a finished painting in Dick’s more mature stage. They both deal with an inward center perspective with the main activity based in the center foreground.

Sketch by Dick Burg







#38, Resting Place, San Miguel De Allende, 20x24, Acrylic, on Masonite, Framed, Signed by Dick Burg, Courtesy of Peter Burg.

Rhythm in Art

What aspects of an artist come through their art? The portrait of this lady is awash in rhythm. My father grew up in roaring twenties and the swing era of the thirties and forties. He was a master of the Lindy Hop, a swing dance craze, whose name sake was Charles Lindbergh ,of The Spirit of St. Louis fame. In fact there is a Lindbergh Blvd that runs near Ladue. Dick loved to dance. He taught Patty and Laura how to dance. He enjoyed big band music and there was always dancing to the radio in the Northfield and Muskingum houses in Pacific Palisades.

My father was not a musician per se, but he could hold the loveliest of melodies you ever heard, by putting his lip together and whistling.

Pastel, Lady with Pony Tail, 16x20, Unsigned by Burg, Courtesy of Peter Burg.