Ewart Johns

Abstract black, white mid century painting by Modern British artist Ewart Johns

1991

Francis Newton Souza (Indian, 1924 – 2002) Odalisque Pen on paper 15.3/4 x 9.7/8 in. (40 x 25 cm.) Provenance: The artist’s wife Maria, Nee Figueiredo, gifted to her nephew We have 5 other similar examples by this artist all of the same size. Please go to Ottocento's storefront on 1st dibs for further information. These examples were saved from being burnt on a bonfire by the artist’s nephew. Maria, Souza’ wife was sick and tired of Souza’s affairs and was burning many of his studies in the garden when her nephew intervened. These studies are from those. Others saved at the same time were executed in 1952 and is highly likely that these are from the same period. Layered, dynamic, brutally humanistic, the paintings of Francis Newton Souza reveal an artist who never stopped experimenting throughout his six-decade career, perpetually seeking new modes and languages of painterly expression. A founder of the inestimably important Progressive Artists’ Group in Mumbai, he wrote the group’s manifesto and was a crucial intellect in the group’s formation and articulation—as, indeed, he was for Modern Indian art on the whole. He holds an unshakable place among India’s most important and influential Modern painters. Despite the vast sweep of painting styles encompassed by his oeuvre, Souza’s work is unified by an overt sensuality, sometimes violent, sometimes sexual, but devoted above all to the human body as a wild, fragile, noble and corruptible object. He is hardly the first Catholic-raised artist to fixate on the body. Nudes...

Edmond Xavier Kapp (British, 1890 – 1978) No Question! Ink on paper Signed and dated ‘Kapp ‘71’ (lower left), titled on the reverse 14.3/4 x 11.7/8 in. (37.5 x 30.3 cm.) Edmond Kapp was born in Islington, London, on 5 November 1890, of American and German Jewish parentage. He gave himself the middle initial ‘X’ – sometimes said to stand for Xavier – to distinguish himself from his father Emil Kapp, who was a wine merchant. However, his parents called him ‘Eddie’ while his wife and friends knew him as ‘Peter’. During his early years, Kapp was continually ill and, while convalescing, entertained himself by drawing at home. As his health improved, he attended Dame Alice Owen’s School, Islington (1903-10), with periods at Berlin University (1909) and L’Institut Français pour les Etrangers, Paris (1909). He then read Languages at Christ’s College, Cambridge (1910-13), though spent most of his time writing and drawing. Kapp took a studio in London, and worked intensively until the outbreak of the First World War, contributing to the Daily News, the Onlooker and other periodicals. During the war, he served as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Royal Sussex Regiment on the Western Front, and then in Intelligence, rising to the position of Staff Captain on Haig’s Staff. Finally, he founded and directed the Neutral Press Counter-propaganda Section. In 1919, Kapp returned to London and, after abortive periods at three art schools, worked alone. In that year, he made his name with an exhibition of caricatures, held at Furst’s Gallery, London, and accompanied by a catalogue introduced by Max Beerbohm. This soon led to contracts with three London periodicals and a book of caricatures, Personalities, published by Martin Secker. Through the 1920s and 30s, his drawings of musicians...

A really eye-catching black and white figurative work by Modern British artist Ewart Johns (1923 - 2013) Ewart Johns (British, 1923 – 2013) Sketch for two women sitting Felt tip on...

This mythological abstract portrait, 'Blue Deity', uses rich shades of blue to contrast with the white pastel against the paper. The figure wears an elaborate and exotic headdress, a...

Sandra Blow (British, 1925-2006) Abstract, 1970 Watercolour Signed with estate stamp (lower left) 11 x 7 in. (28 x 18 cm.) The late British artist Sandra Betty Blow (1925-2006) came...

Francis Newton Souza (Indian, 1924 – 2002) Lovers Pen on paper 15.3/4 x 9.7/8 in. (40 x 25 cm.) Provenance: The artist’s wife Maria, Nee Figueiredo, gifted to her nephew There are ...

The discipline of creating a drawing each day is a process, like a written diary, to clear the mind, to declutter thoughts, and to observe patterns. It is a method that allows the mind a freedom to wander and drift. A visual journal becomes a safe space for personal reflection–a self-awareness fueled by the opportunity for contemplation and immersion. The painted surface for the drawings was created by dividing five large paintings into 40 separate pieces. I chose five paintings from my Perspective Series (1993-94), which relied on day-to-day imagery that narrated a story about shifting time and how time anchors our day. The brush strokes of Perspectives are fluid, with muted colors – moving from deep blacks to taupe whites. Dividing these pieces was a means for me to rethink ideas and recurring images in my older work. The very thin gold leaf applied to each piece has a wonderful amber tone. This gold leaf is from Myanmar, where it is used as decoration for Buddha or for the dome of a temple or monastery. In the drawings, the gold element relates to the sense of infinity – like the sky in an enclosed courtyard. An architectural element is a critical component in my studio work that I wanted to carry over into these pieces. I envisioned a courtyard–a safe space that opens up to the sky. Unfolding circles define the beginnings of an open interior space. The process felt open-ended. It was an opportunity to get lost in thought and to give me an opportunity to reflect, muse and declutter my thinking. Then repeat. 40 days...

30X21.25 without the frame. Mixed Media painting and drawing on paper. Lawrence Kupferman had a long and illustrious career as an artist and educator. His work has been exhibited at ...

Mito 2015 Collage e acrilico su carta CM 70x50 Con la mano e con fuoco, sul metallo. Con la mano e col pensiero sulla carta. Il disegno è inscindibile dalla scultura e non può esse...

3 Sculture 2012 Acrilico e grafite su carta CM 70x50 Con la mano e con fuoco, sul metallo. Con la mano e col pensiero sulla carta. Il disegno è inscindibile dalla scultura e non ...

Scultura elegante 2013 Collage e acrilico su carta CM 70x50 Con la mano e con fuoco, sul metallo. Con la mano e col pensiero sulla carta. Il disegno è inscindibile dalla scultura ...

Gouache and paper, mixed media, Signed in the middle center. Armand Avril, né à Lyon en 1926, est un peintre vivant à Cotignac dans le Var. Il est surtout connu pour les assemblages qu'il a réalisés à partir de 1968. D'origine modeste, cependant très tôt intéressé par l'art et les musées où le poussait son père, il s'essaie d'abord à la peinture. Cependant, Avril ne commence à trouver son véritable style qu'à l'âge de quarante-deux ans. Enfant, il est un habitué des musées de Lyon qu’il fréquente sur les conseils de son père. Adulte, sa passion pour la collection l’incite à se nourrir des arts premiers et d’artistes comme Gaston Chaissac...