1960 "Carlo" City Scene Oil Painting on Board

Just purchased this mid century modern "Carlo" city scene. Love the colors, contrast, frame, and more. Oil painting on board. Google lens suggests this is from 1960 and is a true "Carlo". I understand that most original "Carlos" were still painted by apprentices in a workshop in the 1960s. Is there a way to decipher the markings on the reverse or discern whether this painting had a title?

Dimensions are approximately 51" x 40". Thank you!



Carlo City Scene Oil Painting on Board - Imgur

 

Carlo of Hollywood
https://alittlemorelikehome.shop/bl...HeZSvkthqd7rd1gn2FFhLe_mEC1AxYLFPmrQ_liBQYmpH

https://www.mutualart.com/Artist/Carlo-of-Hollywood/04C2A67BDC0A4858/artist-info

A artist(s) of mystery, no full name, just lots of paintings.

 

And very different styles.

Looks like those people are not apprentices, but 9-5 workers who produce factory paintings. So they paint multiple copies of one painting, and move on to the next set of paintings, the style and technique depending on the demand.

 

Here's one on eBay titled-
'MCM CARLO OF HOLLYWOOD Abstract Art Oil On Board Portrait of a Man Signed Carlo' and the Seller's asking '$394.99 or Best Offer' (Best Odor ?).
This piece doesn't look like it came from the actual Carlos' Atelier- he wouldn't imho, let a piece like this depart his factory's foyer.
I think a lot of sellers are using the real Carlo's fame to make a few extra bucks.

 

But is there a real Carlo? Or is it a myth.

 

Here's the AI Robot's opinion (for what it's worth)-
"Carlo of Hollywood was not a single, specific individual, but rather a pseudonym for a commercial art studio (or "art factory") operated by a company named 'Artcraft' in Los Angeles during the mid-20th century.
The Process: A primary artist or founder (referred to as Carlo) would do initial sketches or master layouts, and a team of hired artists or students would paint and reproduce the works.
Signatures: Because multiple people painted under the brand, you will notice variations in the signature "Carlo" on the canvases."

 

It's attractive "factory art". One person paints the background and then passes it to artist #2, who does building color. The next one does the yellow, etc. Or something like that. That said, I'll bet people start to collect these sooner or later. Modern furniture store "art" is just printed canvases. These at least were painted.

 

That was my concern considering how many "Carlo"s are floating around. My board and frame look and smell like they were from the 1960s though, lol. From what I gather, a real 1960s "Carlo" oil painting is still worth more than an imitation or reproduction.

Also, if this is true factory art, wouldn't there still be similar paintings of a similar scene floating around? We've seen so many examples of mass-produced factory art on this site. How is there efficiency of scale in running a true art factory (in today's sense of an art factory) if each piece is different? If "Carlo" penciled out the scene and another junior artist painted the oil, is that true factory art? Maybe all of the others are lost or this wasn't a popular "Carlo" scene? Maybe society's tastes have shifted so that this scene is now appealing even though it wasn't very popular in the 1960s and didn't sell well? I guess there are more questions than answers.

Edit: AI suggests this could have been a custom to-order scene.

 

'Factory' doesn't necessarily mean production lines of the same item. Factory paintings are painted on an industrial scale, in a large building and with no true artistry and without any input by the painters. They probably painted on demand.

The article below is about Chinese factory paintings, but you get an idea, and you can see that every painter paints something else.

https://www.instapainting.com/blog/the-secret-lives-of-china-art-factory-workers

If the Carlo painters worked in California, their working conditions were probably better that the Chinese conditions.

 

I don't think "Carlo" sketched the scene. I don't even think there was an artist called Carlo involved, just a lot of labourers in a factory hall or something similar. They probably painted after photographs.
I have seen similar paintings in just about every hotel in the 70s, maybe even this exact scene.

One of those times that AI is right.