Skip to main content

Letterio Calapai. 1902-1993. Art

American, Italian, 1902-1993

As American art of the 1930s and 1940s has become increasingly sought after, Letterio Calapai’s wood engravings have been rediscovered, and there is a growing realization that he was among the more distinguished artists working in this idiom during this period. Born in Boston, Calapai studied at the Mass. School of Art, the Art Students League, and the American Artists School. He was a student of Robert Laurent, Ben Shahn, and Stanley Hayter. From 1949–55, he was chairman of the Graphics Arts Department at Albright Art School at Buffalo and taught at the New School in New York from 1955-62. He was the founder and director of the Intaglio Workshop for Advance Printmaking in New York from 1960–65 and then became a professor of art at the University of Illinois.

(Biography provided by Harris Schrank Fine Prints)
to
3
2
1
1
Overall Height
to
Overall Width
to
1
2
2
2
1
1
1
1
3
2
1
3
6,886
3,209
2,514
1,217
3
2
Artist: Letterio Calapai
8:30 EXPRESS
By Letterio Calapai
Located in Portland, ME
Calapai, Letterio (American, 1902-1993). 8:30 EXPRESS. Wood-engraving, 1943. Edition of 27, numbered "1/27" and titled and signed in pencil. 5 5/8 x 8 3/8 inches (image), 9 1/8 x 12 ...
Category

1940s Letterio Calapai. 1902-1993. Art

Materials

Woodcut

ROCKWELL KENT'S STUDIO
By Letterio Calapai
Located in Portland, ME
Calapai, Letterio. ROCKWELL KENT'S STUDIO. Wood engraving, 1980. Titled, numbered 7/75 and signed in pencil. 6 x 8 7/16 inches, 153 x 216 mm. In very good condition. Framed.
Category

1980s American Realist Letterio Calapai. 1902-1993. Art

Materials

Engraving, Woodcut

Eight-thirty Express
By Letterio Calapai
Located in New York, NY
Letterio Calapai (1902-1993), Eight-Thirty Express, wood engraving, 1943, signed and dated ’43 lower right, titled and inscribed trial proof 3 bottom left in pencil [with the monogra...
Category

1940s American Modern Letterio Calapai. 1902-1993. Art

Materials

Engraving, Woodcut

Related Items
"Fieldwork" Large 5+-Foot Original Woodcut on Paper by Roger Herman, Framed
By Roger Herman
Located in Encino, CA
"Fieldwork," an original woodcut on paper by Roger Herman, is a piece for the true collector. This spectacular woodcut cannot be properly communicated digitally – it is a far more impactful and meaningful experience in person. This work of art would definitely enhance most homes or professional settings, perfect for those who have an affinity for abstracts, Neo-Expressionism, modernist paintings, or postmodern art. This woodcut was printed by Hans-Fuss and published by the Graphic Arts Council at LACMA. Work is outfitted with custom, conservation frame. Art historian Howard Singerman's words from the December 1982 ArtForum Magazine: "...Herman's expressionistic style... with its roots in German Expressionism and the New York School, is previously painted. His mean colors, thick pigment, and quick strokes are not a direct record of emotion and activity, they are not painting outside language, but signs for that painting, for an emotion and an activity that are no longer available. The expressionist act is recast as romantic aspiration; in his inscription, Herman evokes painting's past and admits his need for its aura... ...Herman's distance even undermines the emblematic immediacy of his expressionism, which he uses to attain more distance still. Unlike the flattened, aggressive figures that push to, and threaten to push through, the surfaces of most new painting, Herman's figures are situated in middle ground and buried beneath the paint..." Artist: ROGER HERMAN (1947-) Title: FIELDWORK Medium & Surface: ORIGINAL WOODCUT ON PAPER (framed) Signed/Numbered: HAND-SIGNED, NUMBERED, AND TITLED BY ARTIST Number: 36 of 75 Year Created: 1984 Country of Creation: UNITED STATES Image Area Dimensions: 24 x 48 INCHES Paper Dimensions: 38 x 62 INCHES Frame Dimensions:* 41.25 x 65.25 x 1 INCHES *This work of art is being sold framed. If you would like to change the frame to better match your style or environment, please contact us for Custom Archival Framing options. Additional Info: HIGHLY COLLECTIBLE WORK BY ROGER HERMAN – PRINTED BY HANS-FUSS WITH BLIND STAMP LOWER RIGHT. PUBLISHED BY THE GRAPHIC ARTS COUNCIL AT LACMA. FEATURES CUSTOM CONSERVATION FRAME. Artist Info/Bio: ARTIST BIOGRAPHY DOCUMENT IS INCLUDED Documentation: CERTIFICATE OF AUTHENTICITY IS INCLUDED About the Artist: Roger Herman, a German painter and ceramic artist, has become well known for the broad range of styles encompassed within his work across multiple mediums. Roger Herman was born in Germany in 1947, where he began his studies at the Kunstakademie in Karlsruhe. In 1976, he was offered a fellowship from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), which took him across the world to San Francisco. It was here, in California, that his career began to flourish. He started by creating paintings of phenomenal proportion, soon christened as the West Coast parallel of the 80s Neo-expressionist movement. It was highly referential work, drawing on his knowledge of art history, as well as his famed sense of humor. With loose, facile brushwork, his art is reminiscent of the figurative German painters who emerged in the 1970s—like Markus Lüpertz (who taught at the Kunstakademie), Rainer Fetting...
Category

1980s Neo-Expressionist Letterio Calapai. 1902-1993. Art

Materials

Woodcut

City Evening, Large Scale Whiteline Woodcut New York City at Night ed. 25
By Aline Feldman
Located in Surfside, FL
Aline Feldman was born in 1928 and grew up in Kansas. She studied design and printmaking at Washington University in St. Louis under Werner Drewes and Fred Becker, respectively. She studied painting at Indiana University...
Category

1980s American Modern Letterio Calapai. 1902-1993. Art

Materials

Woodcut

Drenched (Lincoln Park, Chicago)
Located in San Francisco, CA
This artwork titled "Drenched (Lincoln Park, Chicago)" c.1960 is an original drypoint etching by noted Chicago artist James Swann, 1905-1985. It is hand s...
Category

Mid-20th Century American Realist Letterio Calapai. 1902-1993. Art

Materials

Drypoint, Etching

Elia Shiwoohamba ( Namibia, 1981 ) Harvesting Time Lino Cut African School 2006
By Elia Shiwoohama
Located in Meinisberg, CH
Elia Shiwoohamba (* 1981 , Windhoek, Namibia ) Harvesting Time • African School • Linoleum cut • Sheet ca. 34.5 x 43 cm (Image is smaller) • Bottom left numbered 8/50 and titled • ...
Category

Early 2000s Expressionist Letterio Calapai. 1902-1993. Art

Materials

Paper, Linocut, Woodcut

Shift Change, Social Realist Woodblock Print by Mike Goscinsky
Located in Long Island City, NY
Shift Change Mike Goscinsky, American (1933–2021) Woodblock on thin wove paper, signed, titled and numbered in pencil Edition of 15/75 Image Size: 14 x 19 inches Size: 22 x 26.5 in. ...
Category

1990s American Modern Letterio Calapai. 1902-1993. Art

Materials

Woodcut

Winslow Homer 19th Century Woodcut Engraving "Making Hay"
By Winslow Homer
Located in Alamo, CA
This Winslow Homer woodcut engraving entitled "Making Hay", was published in Harper's Weekly in the July 6, 1872 edition. It depicts a two men hand cutting high grass on a hill. The man in the foreground is looking at a young boy and a girl (presumably his children), who are sitting on the ground with a picnic basket. This beautiful Homer woodcut engraving is presented in a brown wood frame and a light beige fabric mat with a black inner mat. The print is in excellent condition. There are two other Homer woodcut engravings in identical frames and mats that are listed on 1stdibs. See LU117326148332 and LU117326148272. These would make a wonderful display grouping. A discount is available for the purchase of two or all three of these prints. This Winslow Homer engraving...
Category

1870s American Impressionist Letterio Calapai. 1902-1993. Art

Materials

Engraving, Woodcut

'May Day in the Country, ' original woodcut engraving by Winslow Homer
By Winslow Homer
Located in Milwaukee, WI
The present woodcut engraving is an original print designed by Winslow Homer, originally published in Harper's Weekly on April 30, 1859. It is an excellent example of the many prints Homer produced of fashionable people engaged in leisurely activities, in this case along a picturesque countryside lane. The sign reading 'Belmont' on the left indicates this is probably near his home in Belmont Massachusetts. The image presents multiple figures, both men and women, riding horseback: Some in the distance gallop away, toward a town marked by a church steeple beyond. Three others in the foreground, including two equestrian women, gather around a group of children who have been gathering flowers and trapping birds...
Category

1850s Victorian Letterio Calapai. 1902-1993. Art

Materials

Engraving, Woodcut

Hendrik Glintenkamp, (Farmyard)
By Hendrik Glintenkamp
Located in New York, NY
More a wood engraving rather than a woodcut, Glintenkamp's Farmyard scene was given all the care and detail of the artist's more complex images. It is signed and numbered in pencil. ...
Category

1920s American Modern Letterio Calapai. 1902-1993. Art

Materials

Woodcut

Ship Rock
By Norma Bassett Hall
Located in Santa Monica, CA
NORMA BASSETT HALL (1889 - 1957) SHIP ROCK, c. 1940 Color woodcut signed and numbered in pencil, edition 40 on stiff fibrous paper. 10 x 14 inches, Sheet size 11 1/8 x 15 inches...
Category

1940s American Modern Letterio Calapai. 1902-1993. Art

Materials

Woodcut

'Jones Island' original woodcut engraving by Gerrit Sinclair
By Gerrit Sinclair
Located in Milwaukee, WI
The print 'Jones Island' is something of a self portrait. In the image, an artist stands before and easel, depicting the docks and buildings on the coast. The title indicates that this is Jones Island in Milwaukee, the peninsula along Lake Michigan that today is home to largely industrial buildings. The buildings and figures in the print suggest that this might be a view of the last of the Kashubian or German immigrant settlements on the peninsula before they were evicted in the 1940s to make way for the development of the harbor. The artist in the image thus acts as a documentarian of these peoples. The careful line-work of the woodblock engraving adds a sense of expressionism to the scene, leaving the figures and buildings looking distraught and dirty, though the image nonetheless falls into the Social Realist category that dominated American artists during the Great Depression. This print was published in 1936 as part of the Wisconsin Artists' Calendar for the year 1937, which included 52 original, hand-made prints – one for each week of the year. 6 x 5 inches, image 10 x 7.13 inches, sheet 13.43 x 12.43 inches, frame Signed "GS" in the print block,upper left Entitled "Jones Island" lower left (covered by matting) Inscribed "Wood Engraving" lower center (covered by matting) Artist name "Gerrit V. Sinclair" lower right (covered by matting) Framed to conservation standards using 100 percent rag matting and museum glass, all housed in a silver gilded moulding. Gerrit Sinclair studied at the Art Institute of Chicago from 1910 - 1915, under Vanderpoel, Norton, and Walcott. In World War I, he served in the Army Ambulance Corps and later recorded his experiences in a series of oil paintings. He taught in Minneapolis before arriving in Milwaukee in 1920 to become a member of the original faculty of the Layton School of Art. He was also a member of the Wisconsin Painters & Sculptors. Sinclair's paintings and drawings were executed in a lyrical, representational style, usually expressing a mood rather than a narrative. His paintings reveal a great sensitivity for color and atmosphere. His subject matter focused on cityscapes, industrial valleys, and working-class neighborhoods, captured from eye-level. A decade before the popularity of Regionalism, Sinclair's strong interest in the community was reflected not only in his paintings, but also in his encouragement to students to return to their communities as artists and teachers. Joseph Friebert...
Category

1930s American Modern Letterio Calapai. 1902-1993. Art

Materials

Engraving, Woodcut

Louis Lozowick "Old Willows" Woodcut
By Louis Lozowick
Located in San Francisco, CA
Louis Lozowick: 1892-1973. Very well listed American artist set decorator. He is well known for his urban prints of NYC and other big cities. He has had auction high results for a s...
Category

1940s American Realist Letterio Calapai. 1902-1993. Art

Materials

Woodcut

Coal Miners - INDUSTRIAL ART - Pre War German School - Large signed Woodcut
Located in Meinisberg, CH
Hermann Kätelhön (German, * 22. September 1884, Hofgeismar; † 24. November 1940, München) Coal Miners • Woodcut, sheet measures ca. 55 x 40 cm • The sheet is mounted (fixed at the...
Category

1920s Naturalistic Letterio Calapai. 1902-1993. Art

Materials

Paper, Ink, Woodcut

Previously Available Items
"Labor in a Diesel Plant" Machine Age American Scene Industrial Mid 20th Century
By Letterio Calapai
Located in New York, NY
"Labor in a Diesel Plant" Machine Age American Scene Industrial Mid 20th Century Letterio Calapai (American 1902-1993) ''Labor in A Diesel Plant'' Wood engraving, 1940 17 x 10 1/2' inches (sight) Signed, titled and annotated 'artist's proof' and inscribed 'To Angelo Pastor with admiration' LC in pencil. BIO The outstanding printmaker Letterio Calapai (1902-1993) was born in Boston where he undertook basic art studies. In addition, he enrolled in the Art Students League in New York and named the following as his private teachers: Ben Shahn, Robert Laurent and Charles Hopkinson. Calapai became a member of the National Society of Mural Painters, the Atelier 17 Group of Northwest Printmakers, the Springfield, Massachusetts Art League and the Baltimore Watercolor Club, as well a the Society of American Graphic Artists. In 1934 Calapai turned to printmaking almost exclusively and exhibited three works at Salons of America: Eleanora, Odalisque and Portrait. In the same year at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts he exhibited The Negress. Two years later his watercolor, Maine Islands No. 7 was on view at the Art Institute of Chicago's winter show. In 1977 the Workshop Gallery in Glencoe, Illinois held a retrospective exhibition of Calapai's woodcuts and wood engravings. The artist's works are to be found in the following museums: the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, MA), the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the New York Public Library, Columbia University, Princeton University, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Kunsthaus in Zurich, the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris, in addition to many more museums all over the world. Calapai executed a mural in Brooklyn's 101st Battalion Armory and he illustrated books, for instance, Look Homeward, Angel, a portfolio of wood engravings inspired by Thomas Wolfe...
Category

1940s American Modern Letterio Calapai. 1902-1993. Art

Materials

Lithograph

The Pianist
By Letterio Calapai
Located in Myrtle Beach, SC
Letterio Calapai, 'The Pianist', woodcut, 1941, edition 35. Signed, titled, numbered '22/35' and annotated 'To Dr. William Covington' in pencil. The artist...
Category

1940s American Modern Letterio Calapai. 1902-1993. Art

Materials

Woodcut

The Pianist
By Letterio Calapai
Located in Myrtle Beach, SC
Letterio Calapai, 'The Pianist', woodcut, 1941, edition 35. Signed, titled, numbered '22/35' and annotated 'To Dr. William Covington' in pencil. The artist...
Category

1940s American Modern Letterio Calapai. 1902-1993. Art

Materials

Woodcut

Letterio Calapai art for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Letterio Calapai art available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by Letterio Calapai in woodcut print, engraving and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 20th century and is mostly associated with the modern style. Not every interior allows for large Letterio Calapai art, so small editions measuring 16 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Frank Wootton, Felix de Weldon , and Cecil Crosley Bell. Letterio Calapai art prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $375 and tops out at $2,800, while the average work can sell for $1,650.

Artists Similar to Letterio Calapai

Recently Viewed

View All