This is a 18 1/4 x 23 1/2 inch expressionist oil painting on wood done by Maxim Bugzester (1910-1978) around the 1960s.  It depicts in an Expressionist/Fauvist manner people walking or sitting in a park.  It is probably Central Park in New York.  Bugzester lived on 56th Street in New York just a few blocks away from Central Park.  It is also signed on back and at one time was given to his son as written on back.  It is in excellent condition.  With the original frame it measures 27 by 32 inches. See the photos.  It will be shipped for $70 via UPS.
       It was done by European-born and taught listed American (New York) painter Maxim Bugzester (1910-1978) around the 1950s or 1960s.  The painting shows the color mastery and sophistication. His work is reminiscent of the best of German Expressionism, the influence of which is undeniable and understandable given that his earliest predominant influence was Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, one of the four founders of German Expressionism. The enamel-like surface finish and vibrant color balance here demonstrated is indicative of Bugzester's technical skill and emotional cogency. Above all he was a master colorist.  
    The pre-eminent artists that taught the American painter Maxim Bugzester gave him a lineage and pedigree for which few modern artists could hope.  Born in Poland in 1910, Bugzester at age 15 studied in Munich, Germany with Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, one of the founders of German Expressionism.  In the 1950s he became a friend and student of George Braque as well as a student of Pierre Bonnard before moving permanently to the USA in 1959.

   Having three pioneering artist-teachers was critical in Bugzester becoming an outstanding artist but without a genuine personal approach and compelling talent, his teachers would have been of little consequence. 

   In 1935 Bugzester emigrated to America. This new experience inspired his work.  He served in the US army from 1943 to 1944.  He married Ruth Hackenburg in 1952 and moved to bohemian Paris in 1954.  It was there that his Braque friendship developed and his artistic maturation continued.

  A review of Bugzester’s paintings indicates a style, mood and palette that are closest to those of his earliest influence, Schmidt-Rottluff, and German Expressionism. 

  Bugzester created a style and ethos that are identifiable. The colors in Bugzester’s paintings are balanced, vibrant and typically restrained by dark-edged contours and shapes.  His compositions, while often complex, have the appearance of necessity. They are unforced and unyielding.  His work resonates beauty and authenticity. 

   His subject matter consists of towns and townspeople, outdoor workers and parks, waterways, mountains and roads, children and the common man, nudes and still lives.  Big city life and modernity are seldom his concerns. He explores humanity mostly through small-town life, its people and their relationship to their work and the land around them.  He effectively communicates with a robust spirit that is conveyed primarily through a masterful and colorful palette. Colors are used with a near unerring deftness that shows refinement, taste and ability one might expect from a talented student of Schmidt-Rottluff, Braque and Bonnard. 

   His expressive brush strokes and lively palette are in the best tradition of German Expressionism.  The featureless faces of many of his figures are similar in approach to other Expressionists like Schmidt-Rottluff, Gabriele Munter, Erma Bossi and Ludwig Kirchner. 

   It appears that Maxim Bugzester was not an ambitious man.  He exhibited at New York galleries, developed students and cultivated collectors but he died in 1978 without the kind of legacy he deserved but never pursued.  He was an artist of enormous talent, vision and ability who was able to create profoundly beautiful paintings the inclusion of which in more museum collections, posterity will be wise to effectuate.