Melecio Galvan

"Figures, " Melecio Galvan, Modern Mexican Anti-War Artist, Social Justice

1968

Alphonse Mucha (Czech, 1860 - 1939) Medieval Thoughts, circa 1890 Wash, ink, and watercolor on paper 11 x 9 inches Signed lower right Provenance: Phillips New York, 19th and 20th ce...

Mercedes Carles Matter (1913 - 2001) Untitled, circa 1937 Pastel on paper 16 x 13 1/2 inches Estate stamped on the reverse Provenance: Estate of the artist Spanierman Gallery, New York Private Collection, Pennsylvania circa 2013 Private Collection, New York, 2021 Mercedes Matter was born in New York in 1913. Her father, the American modernist Arthur B. Carles, had studied with Matisse. Her mother, Mercedes de Cordoba, was a model for Edward Steichen. Ms. Matter grew up in Philadelphia, New York and Europe. She began painting under her father's supervision at age 6, and studied art at Bennett College in Millbrook, N.Y., and then in New York City with Maurice Sterne, Alexander Archipenko and Hans Hofmann. In the late 1930's, she was an original member of the American Abstract Artists organization and worked for the federal Works Progress Administration, assisting Fernand Léger on his mural for the French Line passenger ship company. Léger introduced her to Herbert Matter, the Swiss graphic designer and photographer, whom she married in 1939. The Matters were active in the emerging New York art scene and also traveled frequently to Europe. Their closest friends included Jackson Pollock, Lee Krasner, Franz Kline, Philip Guston, Alexander Calder and Willem de Kooning. They were also close to Alberto Giacometti, who was an important artistic role model for Mrs. Matter and a frequent photographic subject for her husband. Beginning in 1953, Mrs. Matter taught at the Philadelphia College of Art (now University of the Arts), Pratt Institute and New York University. Based on her teaching experiences she wrote an article for Art News in 1963 titled ''What's Wrong with U.S. Art Schools?'' In it, she lamented the phasing out of the extended studio classes required to initiate ''that painfully slow education of the senses,'' which she considered an artist's life work. The article prompted a group of Pratt students to ask her to form a school based on her ideas, which led, in 1964, to the founding of the New York Studio School. Originally in a loft on Broadway, the school gained almost immediate support from the Kaplan Fund, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and the Ford Foundation. It granted no degrees, had only studio classes and emphasized drawing from life. Its teachers, chosen by the students, included the artists Guston, Bradley Walker Tomlin, Charles Cajori, Louis Finkelstein...

John George Brown (1831 - 1913) Flower Girl, circa 1900 Watercolor on paper 6 3/4 x 4 3/4 inches Signed lower left Period Hand Carved Foster Brothers Fram...

Fletcher Martin (1904 - 1979) Sleigh Ride, Woodstock, New York circa 1955 Watercolor on paper 14 x 11 inches Signed lower right Provenance: James Cox Galler...

Anne Diggory (b. 1951) Five at the Rail, Saratoga Springs Racecourse, New York, circa 1978 Watercolor on paper 4 3/4 x 6 inches Initialed lower right: Dig...

Milton Clark Avery (1885 - 1965) March Avery in a Beret, 1951 Black crayon and graphite on cream wove paper 11 x 8 3/8 inches Signed and dated lower left; ...

Chinese New Year paintings (nian hua) are colorful folk paintings created to celebrate the annual Spring Festival. Drawn or printed by folk artists in regional studios, nian hua pain...

Chinese New Year paintings (nian hua) are colorful folk paintings created to celebrate the annual Spring Festival. Drawn or printed by folk artists in regional studios, nian hua paintings featured exaggerated characters with bright and contrasting colors. Put up around the home to beckon luck and happiness in the coming year, most paintings depicted mythical guardians, scenes from folk operas, or auspicious symbols of good luck. This New Year painting depicts a young woman holding a vase filled with peony blossoms. This combination of motifs is a visual idiom for "may you have peace and prosperity" (ping'an fu gui). The early 20th century painting is from the town of Yangliuqing, one of the leading producers of traditional New Year's paintings known for its combination of woodblock printing...

This drawing was created by Frank Girard with pigment and Chinese ink on 300g/m2 neutral white paper. It depicts Biblical and non-Biblical scenes. The name, "Joseph's Mountain", ref...

This drawing by Frank Girard is created with pigments, Chinese ink, watercolors, acrylic, and colored pencils on 300g/m2 neutral white paper. It is not framed. Through drawings, the...

This drawing by Frank Girard is created with pigments and ink, on 300g/m2 neutral white paper. It is not framed. Through drawings, the masterful French a...

Named "The Leaves of my Books", this drawing was made by masterful artist Frank Girard with pigment, Chinese ink, and acrylic on 300g/m2 neutral white pap...