Desmond McLean

1959 Black & White Mid-Century, Surrealist Abstraction by Artist Desmond Mclean

1959

A 1959 black and white, Mid-Century, Surrealist watercolor on paper by artist Desmond McLean in a cerused black frame. Image size: 12" x 30". Framed size: 19 3/4" x 25 3/4". McL...

A Whimsical 1950s Mid-Century Modern Abstract Portrait Study (Composite Drawings) by Noted Chicago Artist, Harold Haydon (Am. 1909-1994). A humorous and visually striking sheet of a...

Jack Wolfe Untitled, 1965 Acrylic and collage on board Hand signed on the front Frame included: held in original vintage frame with original gallery label Unique Provenance: Parker Street 470 Gallery, Boston, Mass (with label verso) Excellent abstract expressionist mixed media work. Measurements: Image: 17" x 24" Framed: 24" x 28" x 1" From Wiki: Jack Wolfe (14 January 1924 – 18 November 2007) was a 20th-century American painter most known for his abstract art, portraiture, and political paintings. Jack Wolfe was born in Omaha, Nebraska on January 14, 1924, to Blanche and Everett L. Wolfe. Soon after his birth, his family moved to Brockton, MA. At 18, Wolfe had an interest in commercial illustration, which he pursued at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). However, upon matriculating at RISD in 1942, he developed an interest in fine art and painting inspired by an exhibition of modern French art. He described this change of direction, explaining that, "One day, for the first time, I saw an exhibition of modern French art. It was like being struck by lightning." He became particularly interested in the work of a number of European modernists, including Rouault, Cézanne, Braque, Modigliani, and Picasso.[1] Following his time at RISD, he pursued a Master’s in Fine Arts degree at the Museum of Fine Arts School in Boston, MA. At the Museum School, Wolfe studied under the renowned Expressionist Karl Zerbe, a German-born artist who was the Museum School's most influential and vital teacher until 1953.[2] After graduating from the Museum School, Wolfe was represented by the Margaret Brown Gallery in Boston, which also represented many other cutting edge Moderns that defied the more conservative tastes of New England collectors at the time, including György Kepes, Congur Metcalf, and Alexander Calder.[3] Career and Museum Representation Jack Wolfe's painting "Robin's Rock" 1962, 72" x 72" Jack Wolfe's artwork received early recognition from a number of organizations and was consistently featured in influential exhibitions, including the 1955 Carnegie International at the Carnegie Institute in Pittsburgh, PA, the American Federation of Art's traveling exhibition New Talent in the USA in 1956-57, the Whitney Museum’s Young America exhibition in 1957,[4] the Boston Institute of Contemporary Art's Selection exhibition in 1957,[5] and both the Whitney Museum’s 1958 Annual exhibition and its Forty Artists Under Forty show in 1962-63.[6] In 1959, his widely acclaimed Portrait of Abraham Lincoln toured Europe in a show circulated by the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston. In addition, his painting Crucifixion was chosen by the United States Information Agency to be exhibited across Europe, including being shown at the Salzburg Biennial in Austria in 1958.[7] Crucifixion was also exhibited at the Whitney Museum and subsequently displayed in the National Cathedral in Washington, DC, in 1958.[8] In 1966-67, his work was selected for Art for Embassies by the U.S. State Department.[9] He received the first annual Margaret Brown Memorial Award for high achievement by a New England Artist from the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, in 1958.[10] With his future as one of the great artists of his time laid out neatly before him, Wolfe moved to New York in the early 1950s, which was then the postwar epicenter of the art world and in the midst of experiencing the first real revolution in American Art, now known as Abstract Expressionism.[11] However, almost immediately upon his arrival, he became disenfranchised with the overtly commercial nature of the art scene there, spurning fame and security in an unwillingness to bend his creative vision to the expectations of others.[12] After four short months, he left New York, returned to Massachusetts where he bought property in Stoughton, cleared the land, and built both his home and studio with his own two hands. He would go on to live and paint there, extensively exhibiting and garnering constant critical acclaim.[13] Wolfe became one of the earliest artists championed by the deCordova Museum in Lincoln, MA and the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston. He was awarded a traveling scholarship in 1958,[6] which allowed him to set up studio in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico and then in San Francisco, California.[14] Upon his return in 1959, the deCordova museum hosted Wolfe’s third solo exhibition, featuring work made during his time in California...

This sensitively rendered though powerful ink on paper was created in 1946 shortly after Loew returned from active duty where he served at the US Naval airbase on Tinian Island, the ...