Thomas Sully

Figural Studies

Pastel on paper 13 x 19 in. (33 x 48.2 cm.) Signed (at lower right): Kupka EX COLL.: private collection, St. Louis; to Howard Baer, 1972; [Gimpel-Weitzenhoffer Galleries, New York...

On October 8, 1871, one of the greatest fires of modern times broke out in Chicago. Engulfing the entire city within hours, it left over 90,000 people homeless and destroyed thousands of buildings, causing many people to flee into the water to escape the flames. Among the property destroyed were the proudest cultural and civic institutions of the city. While the financial center was rebuilt within a year and trade was greater in 1872 than it had been in 1870, it took over a decade for the city’s cultural resources to recover from the disaster. Many of the city’s best artists did not even return to Chicago for several years. Foreign aid poured in from around the world, with half coming from England alone. It is not surprising therefore, that in 1872 it was an English artist that should have designed the mural for City Hall commemorating the Great Fire...

Graphite and crayon on ledger paper.

Graphite and crayon on ledger paper.

Graphite and crayon on ledger paper.

Graphite and crayon on ledger paper.

TOBACCO ROAD Mid 20th Century Realism 1940 Drawing from the Novel WPA Literary 2 10 1/2 x 6 (sight), Signed David Fredenthal lower right. Framed by Lowy....

Everett Shinn "Gentleman Napping in a Chair" (Illustration) Pen and Ink on Paper Initialed "E.S." Lower Right Displaying an early aptitude for drawing, coupled with a strong interes...

This exquisite yet unfinished drawing by American cartoonist Al Capp, entitled 'Golf,' presents a humorous view of the beloved game. The composition depicts fo...

"Tobacco Road" Mid 20th Century Realism 1940 Drawing from the Novel WPA Literary 19 1/4 x 11 1/2 (sight), Signed David Fredenthal lower right. Framed by ...

TOBACCO ROAD Mid 20th Century Realism 1940 Drawing from the Novel WPA Literary 3 10 1/2 x 6 (sight), Signed David Fredenthal lower right. Framed by Lowy. Offered here is one of several original drawings by WPA artist David Fredenthal that were first published in the 1940 illustrated edition of the novel TOBACCO ROAD by Erskine Caldwell. Background on the Drawing Erskine Caldwell remarked, on seeing the work of David Fredenthal, 26-year-old painter: "That boy could draw my Tobacco Road people." A casual comment, it was enormously productive. The young painter was just finishing a two-year Guggenhcim Fellowship, preceded by a year's study in Paris, two one-man shows at New York's Downtown Gallery, and a fellowship at the Cranbrook Academy near Detroit. He was out in Colorado Springs when he heard what Caldwell had said about him. Fredenthal hadn't read Tobacco Road. He had not even seen the play - now breaking all records in its seventh year on Broadway. But he swapped a portrait for a second-hand Ford and headed East. In New York he learned that Dnell, Sloan & Pearce were bringing out a deluxe edition of Tobacco Road. But he had no entrée to the publishers, and Caldwell, to his disappointment, was out of town. So he drove on to Georgia to have a look at the Tobacco Road people. He found Dr. I. C. Caldwell, the author's father, in Wrens, Ga., going on his ministerial rounds among people like the Lesters. Fredenthal got a room from a couple who ran a 1-pump filling station...

Skillful late 19th century realist drawing of illustration Newspaper artists at work at the Republican National Convention by Adolph Methfessel (American, 1876-1912)., c.1898. This p...