Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 9

NORMAN, IRVING
Strange Lovers (The Hard Marriage)

c. 1940's

About the Item

A drawing by Irving Norman. "Strange Lovers (The Hard Marriage)" is a social surrealist painting, ink and colored pencil on paper in blacks and browns by American Post-War artist Irving Norman. The artwork is signed in pencil on the verso, "Strange Lovers, I. Norman". The Lithuanian-American artist Irving Norman was a social surrealist who painted large-scale and highly detailed critiques of contemporary life with hopes that viewers would consider the consequences of their actions and change their behavior. Influenced by the dire conditions of the Great Depression, his massive canvases feature armies of clone-like figures behaving in the clockwork manner in which they have been programmed. He moved from New York to Los Angeles in 1934 before helping to defend the Spanish Republic from the fascist Franco dictatorship. He survived the Spanish Civil War and in 1939 settling on Catalina Island off the Southern California coast, where he began drawing and painting from the atrocities he had witnessed. In 1940, he moved to San Francisco and had a solo exhibition at the San Francisco Museum of Art two years later. He then traveled to Mexico City and saw the murals of Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco, and David Alfaro Siqueiros before moving to New York City to studying at the Art Students League from 1946 to 1947. He returned to San Francisco in the late 1940s. In 1988, fire destroyed his home, studio, artwork, and personal papers. Provenance: Private Collection, California
  • Creator:
    NORMAN, IRVING
  • Creation Year:
    c. 1940's
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 22.75 in (57.79 cm)Width: 29 in (73.66 cm)Depth: 1 in (2.54 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Framing:
    Framing Options Available
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    Palm Desert, CA
  • Reference Number:
    Seller: 331621stDibs: LU939601642
More From This SellerView All
  • Personnages
    By Alexander Calder
    Located in Palm Desert, CA
    "Personnages" is a gouache on paper by Alexander Calder. The work is signed in the lower right, "Calder 67". Although renowned for his innovative and groundbreaking sculptures, Alex...
    Category

    1960s Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

    Materials

    Ink, Paper, Gouache

  • Trois personnages nus
    By Francis Picabia
    Located in Palm Desert, CA
    "Trois personnages nus" is a black conté crayon drawing on buff papaer by Francis Picabia. The artwork is signed in crayon, lower left, "Francis Picabia". The framed work measures 27 1/2 x 24 x 1 1/2 in. The Comité Francis Picabia has confirmed the authenticity of this drawing. Francis Picabia was an important French painter who experimented with a wide range of styles throughout his career and whose writings about art were influential in the development of the Dada movement...
    Category

    1920s Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

    Materials

    Conté, Paper, Crayon

  • Untitled
    By David Salle
    Located in Palm Desert, CA
    "Untitled" is a watercolor on paper made by David Salle in 1984. The work is signed in pencil, lower right, "David Salle". The art size is 18 x 24 inches. The framed size is 23 3/4 x...
    Category

    Late 20th Century Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

    Materials

    Watercolor

  • My World and Yours
    By Irving Norman
    Located in Palm Desert, CA
    A drawing by Irving Norman. "My World and Yours" is a macabre social surrealism city scape, graphite on paper in a black and white palette by artist Irving No...
    Category

    Mid-20th Century Post-War Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

    Materials

    Graphite

  • Night Life 2
    Located in Palm Desert, CA
    A drawing by Irving Norman. "Night Life 2" is a social surrealist drawing, graphite on paper in black and white by Post-War artist Irving Norman. The...
    Category

    Mid-20th Century Post-War Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

    Materials

    Graphite

  • Big City
    By Irving Norman
    Located in Palm Desert, CA
    A painting by Irving Norman. "Big City" is a social surrealism city scape, watercolor on paper in a dark palette of reds, blues, and yellows by artist Irving ...
    Category

    Mid-20th Century Post-War Landscape Drawings and Watercolors

    Materials

    Watercolor

You May Also Like
  • Seated Figure
    By Keith Vaughan
    Located in London, GB
    Pencil on paper, initialled (lower right), 23cm x 17cm, (38cm x 32cm framed). (Provenance: from the collection of the artist Michael Leonard (British 1933-2023). The picture is frame...
    Category

    Mid-20th Century Post-War Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

    Materials

    Paper, Carbon Pencil

  • Six Soviet Gymnasts
    By Patrick Procktor
    Located in London, GB
    Watercolour, felt tip pen, and pencil on paper, titled (lower left), 48cm x 37cm, (70cm x 58cm framed). It is in its original frame, although the glass and mount have been replaced. Patrick Procktor was part of an influential group of British artists in the 1960s. His early paintings were dynamic, abstract depictions of the male nude, before he established himself as one of the leading watercolourists of his generation from the 1970s His work is held in many major public collections. This work is after the soviet painting...
    Category

    1960s Post-War Nude Drawings and Watercolors

    Materials

    Paper, Watercolor, Felt Pen, Pencil

  • Chimera I
    By Michael Leonard
    Located in London, GB
    Michael Leonard, (British b.1933), Chimera I, 1975, Graphite pencil on paper, initialled (lower left), signed and dated (lower right), 15cm x 14cm, (35cm x 32cm framed) Michael Leon...
    Category

    1970s Post-War Nude Drawings and Watercolors

    Materials

    Paper, Pencil

  • Studies of Man with Arms Raised
    Located in London, GB
    Charcoal on paper, 56cm x 38cm, (79cm x 60cm framed). Provenance: The Artist’s sister. From the mid-1940s to the early 1950s Colquhoun was considered one of the leading artists of his generation. Along with that of Robert MacBryde, another artist and Colquhoun’s partner, his work was regularly shown at the Lefevre Gallery in London. This early work is likely to be a drawing from when Colquhoun was at the Glasgow School of Art in the 1930s. Known as the ‘Two Roberts’, Colquhoun and MacBryde met at the Glasgow School of Art in 1932 and lived together until Colquhoun’s death in 1962. The pair also exhibited in several group shows at the Lefevre Gallery, including one in February 1946, alongside Ben Nicholson, Graham Sutherland, Bacon and Freud. Works were bought by the Arts Council, the British Council, the Contemporary Art Society and the Imperial War Museum. Major art patrons added their work to their collections, including Sir Kenneth Clark...
    Category

    1930s Post-War Nude Drawings and Watercolors

    Materials

    Paper, Charcoal

  • Three Figures
    Located in London, GB
    Watercolour and pencil on paper, 76cm x 51cm, (87cm x 61cm framed). Born in London to his renowned artist mother Elisabeth Frink RA and a French architect father, Michel Jammet, Ja...
    Category

    1990s Post-War Nude Drawings and Watercolors

    Materials

    Paper, Watercolor

  • Phil Richards
    By Brian Stonehouse
    Located in London, GB
    Charcoal and gouache on paper, titled ‘Phil Richards’ and dated ‘Friday Dec 8 72’ (lower left), 64cm x 48cm (72cm x 56cm framed).(Provenance: the Artist’s estate (stamped verso)). the picture is framed behind UV glass Stonehouse had an extraordinary life. As a young art student studying fashion illustration, he joined the Royal Artillery at the beginning of WWII but soon became a part of the Special Operations Executive (SOE). He was sent to France as a radio operator but three and a half months later was caught by the Gestapo, tortured, given a death sentence and then selected for slave labour. He spent the subsequent war years in three French prisons and five concentration and labour camps, including Dachau. He still managed to continue to draw in some of the camps. Following the war, Stonehouse went to the US and continued his career as a fashion artist painting for magazines like Vogue, Harper's Bazaar and Elizabeth Arden. He was also an accomplished portraitist. His work is celebrated in Brian Stonehouse...
    Category

    1970s Post-War Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

    Materials

    Paper, Charcoal, Gouache

Recently Viewed

View All