Skip to main content

Elias Telles Art

American, b. 1950

Elias Telles is an American folk artist and painter, born in 1950, in Los Angeles, California. He has a distinct personality and is an uniquely gifted artist, who brings to his work, all the charm of some earlier primitive painters, combined with an unusually cerebral and provocative dimension. Soldiers, skeletons and honky-tonk men populate his paintings, as do cultural and historical figures. Having recently retired from his lifelong trade of brick laying and marble-setting, Elias is now fully able to devote himself entirely to painting. A recent acquisition of his Bean Eaters painting, by the very established 1800s Algonquin Club, in Boston, has led to a commission of several additional paintings of historic Boston athletes for that institution, when it reopens in 2020, after renovations.

to
4
4
3
1
2
1
1
Overall Height
to
Overall Width
to
2
1
1
1
1
1
4
4
6,827
3,114
2,517
1,217
4
4
4
2
2
Artist: Elias Telles
Acrylic on Canvas Painting Titled "Thinking", By Elias Telles
By Elias Telles
Located in New York, NY
Elias Telles (b.1950, American) Thinking, 2019 Acrylic on Canvas, Found Wood, Metal Brackets 13 x 15 Inches Elias led an adventurous existence before becoming a self-taught painter....
Category

2010s Elias Telles Art

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Acrylic on Canvas Painting Titled "Monterey, California, 1850's" by Elias Telles
By Elias Telles
Located in New York, NY
Elias Telles (b. 1950, American) Monterey, California, 2019 Acrylic on Canvas, Found Wood, Metal Brackets 21.5 x 25.5 Inches Elias led an adventurous existence before becoming a sel...
Category

2010s Elias Telles Art

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Acrylic on Panel Painting Titled "Lonely Woman", By Elias Telles
By Elias Telles
Located in New York, NY
Elias Telles (b.1950, American) Lonely Woman, 2019 Acrylic on Panel, Found Wood, Metal Brackets 15 x 18 Inches Elias led an adventurous existence before becoming a self-taught paint...
Category

2010s Elias Telles Art

Materials

Acrylic, Panel

"To Hell with Ho Chi Minn" Naive, Folk Painting by Self-Taught Artist
By Elias Telles
Located in Wellesley, MA
"To Hell with Ho Chi Minn," Folk/Naive Painting, Acrylic on Board with Artist's Painted Wood Frame, 24 x 17 Inches, by Self-Taught artist Elias Telles. Telles is a Vietnam vet who unfortunately suffered from undiagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder, who took up painting as a way of dealing with his condition. This painting is a particularly poignant and whimsical abstraction inspired by Tellles's memories of the war. Fifteen years ago, Elias Telles woke from a dream in which an angel holding a lit candle was descending a staircase. The next morning he tore some wood from a dilapidated fence and started painting angels. Elias had already led an adventurous existence before becoming a self-taught painter. Born into a family of 14 siblings in East Los Angeles, he joined the Marine Corps upon graduation from high school and served two years in Vietnam as a rifleman. It wasn’t until he was in his late ‘40s that he started to paint. At a local flea market one of his early works caught the attention of a set designer who placed it in a Steve Martin movie and from there his reputation grew: paintings subsequently appeared in a number of other productions which created a Hollywood following and his collectors now include several film directors, work is included in the permanent collection of The House of Blues, and he was one of the featured artists on the PBS series ‘Rare Visions and Roadside Revelations.’ An ex-marine, Telles lives quietly in California without a computer or a cell phone. His tastes lean towards American history and early blues and country music, subjects that frequently appear in his paintings. Soldiers, skeletons and honky-tonk men populate his paintings as do cultural and historical figures such as early minstrel show entertainer Gus Cannon, a ghoulishly-rendered Hank Williams, and the revered Alabama folk artist Bill Traylor...
Category

2010s Folk Art Elias Telles Art

Materials

Acrylic, Mixed Media

Related Items
Matisse's Three Oranges - Calder's Three Oranges
By Maurice Sullins
Located in Chicago, IL
This painting is from the Matisse series created by Maurice Sullins in the late 1970s. Sullins' works, set in brilliantly imagined scenes in Tahiti, F...
Category

1970s Folk Art Elias Telles Art

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Contemporary Abstract Impressionist Cowboy Scene of Western Landscape w/ Horse
By Linda Blackburn
Located in Fort Worth, TX
Bisti Wash, 2020 "For Blackburn, the Western’s heroic drama, good-versus-evil narrative, and assertive landscape are challenges to face in her work. These aspects of film can overwhelm a painting, thus distancing the viewer from the art. She wants the art to be dominant; “Painting wins,” she declares. She finds this happens when a painting possesses what she terms “classical balance.” By this the artist means that everything is where it needs to be compositionally—nothing can be changed—and “the whole can be seen at once.” Linda Blackburn...
Category

2010s Contemporary Elias Telles Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil, Acrylic

Contemporary Oil of Art Deco Home Decor w/ Blue Masculine Statue in Drawing Room
By Linda Blackburn
Located in Fort Worth, TX
Blue Statue, 2020 "For Blackburn, the Western’s heroic drama, good-versus-evil narrative, and assertive landscape are challenges to face in her work. These aspects of film can overwhelm a painting, thus distancing the viewer from the art. She wants the art to be dominant; “Painting wins,” she declares. She finds this happens when a painting possesses what she terms “classical balance.” By this the artist means that everything is where it needs to be compositionally—nothing can be changed—and “the whole can be seen at once.” Linda Blackburn...
Category

2010s Contemporary Elias Telles Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil, Acrylic

Familiar II, Henry Walsh, Landscape painting, Dog art, Woodland scene
By Henry Walsh
Located in Deddington, GB
Familiar II by Henry Wlash [2021] Familiar II by Henry Walsh is an original acrylic painting on a wooden board that features a man and dog at leisure on a wintry walk. Henry Walsh’s...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Folk Art Elias Telles Art

Materials

Wood, Acrylic, Board

Ella Fitzgerald Sings Duke Ellington (Grammy, Album Art, Iconic, Jazz, Big Band)
By Kerry Smith
Located in Kansas City, MO
Kerry Smith Ella Fitzgerald Sings Duke Ellington Mixed Media on Crescent board Year: 2022 Size: 21x20in Signed, dated by hand COA provided Ref.: 924802-1636 ------------------------...
Category

2010s Outsider Art Elias Telles Art

Materials

Mixed Media, Acrylic, Gouache, Board

"Garage, " Mixed-Media Sculpture, 2019
Located in Chicago, IL
Entitled “Garage,” this work by Chicago artist Patrick Fitzgerald is one of a series of “track paintings” that materialize the imagined tracks navigated by his miniature soap-box car...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Outsider Art Elias Telles Art

Materials

Mixed Media, Board, Acrylic, Color Pencil, Graphite

Parapluie XX Acrylic Painting by Henry Walsh, 2022
By Henry Walsh
Located in Deddington, GB
Parapluie XX by Henry Walsh [2022] Parapluie XX by Henry Walsh is an original acrylic painting on a wooden board that features a man with an umbrella on a walk. Henry Walsh’s work begin with snapshots of busy life and by a process of elimination, he refocus’ on the image and on the elements that encapsulate a sober thoughtfulness. Additonal information: Original Acrylic on Wooden Board Image size: H:11 cm x W:11 cm Complete Size of Unframed Work: H:11 cm x W:11 cm x D:0.3 cm Frame Size: H:19.5 cm x W:19.5 cm x D:3.5 cm Sold Framed Please note that insitu images are purely an indication of how a piece may look. Henry Walsh artist's works are available to buy online with Wychwood art and in our art gallery. Henry Walsh was born 1978 in Norwich, England and spent his childhood in the Suffolk countryside. Henry studied art at Ipswich College in Suffolk, and then Loughborough University in Leicestershire. In 2000 he moved to London to find work that would further his art career and help to maintain his painting. In Spring 2011 Henry and his family moved from London to the High Peak in Derbyshire. Henry is now a freelance artist & designer concentrating more time to his painting. Artist and painter Henry Walsh comments “My work begins with snapshots of busy city life and by a process of elimination I refocus the image on elements that encapsulate a sober thoughtfulness." "Scattered throughout the hustle and bustle of concrete life, like pools among the rocks, are the parks and squares that provide us with a place to breathe and a time to think. It is a fundamental need of a sane society to be able to stop once in a while and wander from the routine, lift our heads and look at the sky or take in our regular surroundings with a fresh insight.” “Sitting on the top deck of a London bus, I let my mind stroll over the lives of the people on the street, they obtain new life stories; I’m placing myself in their...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Folk Art Elias Telles Art

Materials

Board, Wood, Acrylic

Original Oil -Autumn in London No 1-expression-plein air-award winning UK artist
Located in London, GB
This is one of the most loved and iconic paintings by Shizico Yi to date. Shipping would be fully insured for worldwide Free Shipping. We offer the origina...
Category

2010s Abstract Impressionist Elias Telles Art

Materials

Varnish, Acrylic, Oil, Canvas

Eliyahu Boxer, Facets and Faces (triptych), acrylic & ink on canvas 60x150 cm
Located in Jerusalem, IL
Eliyahu Boxer Facets and Faces (triptych), 2023 acrylic and ink on canvas 60 x 150 cm 24 x 59 in Eliyahu was born in the United States and moved to Israel with his family at a ver...
Category

2010s Contemporary Elias Telles Art

Materials

Canvas, Ink, Acrylic

"Door #19 (Smile)" Oil painting on panel, smiley face bright blue, architecture
By Francesca Reyes
Located in Jersey City, NJ
"Door #19 (Smile)" (2018) by Francesca Reyes Original oil, acrylic, pastel and graphite on wood panel; measures 8" H x 6" W x 1" D From the artist's door series, depicting doors that...
Category

2010s Contemporary Elias Telles Art

Materials

Oil, Acrylic, Panel, Pastel, Graphite

French Contemporary Art by M.-P. Autonne - Poissons à l'Ombre de l'Imagination
By Marie-Pierre Autonne
Located in Paris, IDF
Acrylic & oil on wooden panel
Category

2010s Contemporary Elias Telles Art

Materials

Oil, Acrylic, Wood Panel

"Italy" A Large Timeless Abstract Landscape By Susanne Kurdahl Vesterheden
By Susanne Kurdahl Vesterheden
Located in Frederiksberg C, DK
“Italy” a beautiful abstract landscape by contemporary artist Susanne Kurdahl Vesterheden. The painting measures 140cm (H) x 100cm (W) / 55,1in (H) x 39,3in (W). On the reverse sid...
Category

2010s Contemporary Elias Telles Art

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Previously Available Items
"Sunday at the Circus" Folk/Naive Brightly Colored Landscape, Animals
By Elias Telles
Located in Wellesley, MA
"Sunday at the Circus," Folk/Naive Landscape of Circus Scene, Acrylic on Board with Artist's Painted Wood Frame and Brackets, 17 x 29 Inches, by Self-Taught artist Elias Telles. Fifteen years ago, Elias Telles woke from a dream in which an angel holding a lit candle was descending a staircase. The next morning he tore some wood from a dilapidated fence and started painting angels. Elias had already led an adventurous existence before becoming a self-taught painter. Born into a family of 14 siblings in East Los Angeles, he joined the Marine Corps upon graduation from high school and served two years in Vietnam as a rifleman. Once home he unfortunately experienced undiagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder as a result and discovered the best way to subdue his demons was by producing drawings - that he would quickly destroy. It wasn’t until he was in his late ‘40s that he started to paint. At a local flea market one of his early works caught the attention of a set designer who placed it in a Steve Martin movie and from there his reputation grew: paintings subsequently appeared in a number of other productions which created a Hollywood following and his collectors now include several film directors, work is included in the permanent collection of The House of Blues, and he was one of the featured artists on the PBS series ‘Rare Visions and Roadside Revelations.’ An ex-marine, Telles lives quietly in California without a computer or a cell phone. His tastes lean towards American history and early blues and country music, subjects that frequently appear in his paintings. Soldiers, skeletons and honky-tonk men populate his paintings as do cultural and historical figures such as early minstrel show entertainer Gus Cannon, a ghoulishly-rendered Hank Williams...
Category

2010s Folk Art Elias Telles Art

Materials

Mixed Media

"Summer Time" Farm scene, Folk Art/Naive/Primitive Landscape by Self-Taught
By Elias Telles
Located in Wellesley, MA
"Summer Time," Acrylic on Canvas, Found Wood and Nails Artist Made Frame, 21.5 x 25.5 Inches. Farm scene with folk art/naive qualities by Self-Tajught artist Elias Telles whose p...
Category

2010s Folk Art Elias Telles Art

Materials

Mixed Media

"American Whalers" Folk Art Marine Painting Found Wood by Self-taught Artist,
By Elias Telles
Located in Wellesley, MA
"American Whalers", 2019, Acrylic on Found Wood, 14 x 22 Inches. Folk/Naive Art. Marine scene of fishermen and their boats attempting to spear a whale on a ground of green/blue oce...
Category

2010s Folk Art Elias Telles Art

Materials

Mixed Media

California School Teacher
By Elias Telles
Located in Wellesley, MA
"California School Teacher," Folk/Naive/Primitive Historic Portrait of Red Haired School Teacher in Mexico, Acrylic on Board with Artist's Painted Wood...
Category

2010s Outsider Art Elias Telles Art

Materials

Acrylic, Mixed Media

E. Pluribus Unum
By Elias Telles
Located in Wellesley, MA
Born into a family of 14 siblings in East Los Angeles, Elias Telles joined the Marine Corps upon graduation from high school and served two years in Vietnam as a rifleman. Undiagnose...
Category

2010s Outsider Art Elias Telles Art

Materials

Oil

"Girl with Doll" Naive/Folk Portrait of a Blond Girl Holding a Doll
By Elias Telles
Located in Wellesley, MA
"Girl with Doll" Folk/Naive Portrait of a Blond Girl Holding a Doll with Watermelon Painting and American Flag, Acrylic on Board with Artist's Painted Wood Frame and Brackets, 25 ...
Category

2010s Folk Art Elias Telles Art

Materials

Acrylic, Mixed Media

The Ice Man Farm
By Elias Telles
Located in Wellesley, MA
Born into a family of 14 siblings in East Los Angeles, Elias Telles joined the Marine Corps upon graduation from high school and served two years in Vietnam as a rifleman. Undiagnose...
Category

2010s Outsider Art Elias Telles Art

Materials

Acrylic

"Star of David" Naive/Folk 'American Flag' Homage to Jewish Soldiers
By Elias Telles
Located in Wellesley, MA
"Star of David" Folk/Naive "American Flag" Painting, Homage to Jewish Soldiers, Acrylic on Board with Artist's Painted Wood Frame and Brackets, 25 x ...
Category

2010s Folk Art Elias Telles Art

Materials

Acrylic, Mixed Media

Melons
By Elias Telles
Located in Wellesley, MA
Born into a family of 14 siblings in East Los Angeles, Elias Telles joined the Marine Corps upon graduation from high school and served two years in Vietnam as a rifleman. Undiagnose...
Category

2010s Outsider Art Elias Telles Art

Materials

Acrylic

Robert Johnson, You Know the Story
By Elias Telles
Located in Wellesley, MA
Born into a family of 14 siblings in East Los Angeles, Elias Telles joined the Marine Corps upon graduation from high school and served two years in Vietnam as a rifleman. Undiagnose...
Category

2010s Outsider Art Elias Telles Art

Materials

Acrylic

Beaneaters, Hall of Famer Frank Selee
By Elias Telles
Located in Wellesley, MA
Born into a family of 14 siblings in East Los Angeles, Elias Telles joined the Marine Corps upon graduation from high school and served two years in Vietnam as a rifleman. Undiagnose...
Category

2010s Outsider Art Elias Telles Art

Materials

Acrylic

God Bless America
By Elias Telles
Located in Wellesley, MA
Born into a family of 14 siblings in East Los Angeles, Elias Telles joined the Marine Corps upon graduation from high school and served two years in Vietnam as a rifleman. Undiagnose...
Category

2010s Outsider Art Elias Telles Art

Materials

Acrylic

Elias Telles art for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Elias Telles art available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by Elias Telles in acrylic paint, mixed media, paint and more. Not every interior allows for large Elias Telles art, so small editions measuring 17 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Johnny Banks, Valton Tyler, and Bethan Ash. Elias Telles art prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $3,200 and tops out at $3,200, while the average work can sell for $3,200.

Artists Similar to Elias Telles

Recently Viewed

View All