Valerie Christell Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

"Untitled" by noted Chicago painter William Jacobs (1897 - 1973) is an abstract expressionist pastel on paper created in 1969. The artwor...

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...

"Talking Lines" This intuitive abstract drawing in chocolate tones is made with Chinese ink and pastel on thick kraft paper. It conveys an impulse born in the space of sensations. ...

"Expressively Fast" This intuitive abstract drawing is made with Chinese ink and pastel on watercolour paper. It conveys an impulse born in the space of sensations. "Every time I draw such abstract lines, a flow of energy moves my hand. For this to happen freely, I need to be calm and focused at the same time. I draw very quickly to keep expression and spontaneity. I never know what the result will be. The process of drawing like this is a kind of magic that turns an invisible impulse into a reflection on paper. Each drawing is unique and one of a kind." Sve Gri...

This wall-hanging artwork titled "Familiar Marks, Unfamiliar Places Number 11" is an original artwork by Kelly Knaga made of photography, digital print, an...

This drawing by Austin Reavis is from a series of abstract works that build lines and forms, suggestive of construction elements, as a foreground to chan...

Provenance: Virginia Field, arts administrator; New York, N.Y. Assistant director for Asia House gallery. (she was friends with John von Wicht, Bernard Childs, John Ford and Andy Warhol) Johannes Von Wicht was born in Holstein, Germany on February 3, 1888. His mother moved the family to Oldenburg when Von Wicht was in elementary school and he began to visit the artist Gerhard Bakenhus. Von Wicht’s mother had arranged for him to apprentice at the studio of master painter F.W. Adels. There he learned to prepare paints with linseed oil and later commented on the lasting impression of colors throughout his career. Interior of a Farmhouse was his first painting completed in 1907. Gerhard Bakenhus was able to include the painting to in the Bremer Kunsthalle exhibition in 1908. Due to the critical success of this piece Von Wicht was accepted to the private art school of the Grand Duke of Hesse in Darmstadt. Fundamental themes of simplicity, nature, and poetry were instilled in the students. The students also studied ancient art, Chinese and Japanese calligraphy, as well as Mathias Grünewald, Albrecht Dürer, Martin...

This 14" X 10" unframed mixed media pastel and ink etching on paper by Josette Simon Gestin is from the artist's series titled "No way back." On the far right side is a depiction of a redheaded women...

Confident, bold, decisive, bright! This artwork conveys such a mood. This intuitive abstract drawing is made with Chinese ink and pastel on watercolor paper. It conveys an impulse born in the space of sensations. "Every time I draw such abstract lines, a flow of energy moves my hand. For this to happen freely, I need to be calm and focused at the same time. I draw very quickly to keep expression and spontaneity. I never know what the result will be. The process of drawing like this is a kind of magic that turns an invisible impulse into a reflection on paper. Each drawing is unique and one of a kind." Sve...

Joseph Glasco (American, 1925-1996) Fire Island, 1967 Pastel on paper Signed and dated lower right 20 x 25 inches 23 x 27.5 inches, framed Joseph Glasco was born in Paul’s Valley, O...

Recordando el gran artista Alberto Riano Mangos Marzo, 2014 by Celso Castro Black paint, and pastel on archival paper Image size: 39.2 H in. x 28 in. W Unframed ____________ Undefin...

"Free flow movement" is an improvised gestural drawing conveys an impulse born in the space of sensations. Artwork is done in ink and ocher pastel on thick white paper. "Every time ...