Mitch Becker

Early Drawing and Watercolor Painting Figurative Abstraction

Original Illustration for Five Scrolls. Leonard Baskin (August 15, 1922 – June 3, 2000) was an American sculptor, illustrator, wood-engraver, printmaker, graphic artist, writer and ...

Leonard Baskin (American, 1922-2000) ink and gouache drawing on paper titled "Darkened Man", signed lower right, circa 1957. Provenance: Grace Borgenicht gallery, Jeffrey M. Kaplan collection. bears label verso Art: 31" H x 22" W; Frame: 36" H x 27" W. Leonard Baskin was an American sculptor, illustrator, wood-engraver, printmaker, graphic artist, writer and teacher. Baskin was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey. While he was a student at Yale University, he founded Gehenna Press, a small private press specializing in fine book production. From 1953 until 1974, he taught printmaking and sculpture at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts. Subsequently Baskin also taught at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts. He lived most of his life in the U.S., but spent nine years in Devon at Lurley Manor, Lurley, near Tiverton, close to his friend Ted Hughes, for whom he illustrated Crow. Sylvia Plath dedicated Sculpto to Leonard Baskin in her famous work, The Colossus and Other Poems (1960). The Funeral Contege (1997) bronze, Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, Washington, D.C. His public commissions include a bas relief for the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial and a bronze statue of a seated figure, erected in 1994 for the Holocaust Memorial in Ann Arbor, Michigan. His works are owned by many major museums including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Museum of Modern Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Boca Raton Museum of Art, the British Museum, the Honolulu Museum of Art, the Udinotti Museum of Figurative Art and the Vatican Museums. The archive of his work at the Gehenna Press was acquired by the Bodleian Library at Oxford, England, in 2009. The McMaster Museum of Art in Hamilton, Ontario owns over 200 of his works (some religious and biblical), most of which were donated by his brother Rabbi Bernard Baskin. He was included in the MoMA show, Summer Exhibition: New Acquisitions; Recent American Prints, 1947–1953; Katherine S. Dreier Bequest; Kuniyoshi and Spencer; Expressionism in Germany; Varieties of Realism along with Alexander Archipenko, Francis Bacon, Balthus, Will Barnet, Leonard Baskin, Eugene Berman, Reg Butler, Lovis Corinth, Andre Derain, Otto Dix, Raoul Dufy, Max Ernst, Lucian Freud, George Grosz, Alexei Jawlensky, Oskar Kokoschka, Roberto Matta, Man Ray, Marcel Duchamp and more. In 1955, he was one of eleven New York artists featured in the opening exhibition at the Terrain Gallery, they showed many great artists, Chaim Koppelman, for many years, headed the gallery's Print Division; printmakers such as Will Barnet, Leonard Baskin, Robert Conover, Edmond Casarella, Vincent Longo, and Nicholas Krushenick were frequent exhibitors. the gallery has represented many well-known artists, including Richard Anuszkiewicz, Robert Blackburn, Lois Dodd, William King, Chaim and Dorothy Koppelman, Roy Lichtenstein, Harold Krisel...

Moses Bahelfer BAGEL (1908-1995) Moses Bagel (born Moshe Bahelfer) was a Polish-born Jewish artist and graphic designer associated with the original Bauhaus and then the School of Pa...

Moses Bahelfer BAGEL (1908-1995) Moses Bagel (born Moshe Bahelfer) was a Polish-born Jewish artist and graphic designer associated with the original Bauhaus and then the School of Pa...

Expressive line drawing figure study featuring a group of figures in a classroom by David Rosen (Canadian, 1912-2004). Unsigned, but was acquire...

Subtly shaded abstract figurative illustration by Elsa Warnick (American, 1942-2013). Two adult and three baby figures are rendered with subtle tan shading, against an abstract background with geometric shapes and swirling ribbons. One of the two adult figures is laying down, while the other appears to be jumping or dancing. Notable is the skillful use of negative space to balance the composition. Signed and dated "Warnick 1982" in the lower right corner. Signed, titled, and dated with materials information on verso. Presented in a silver aluminum frame. Frame size: 23.5"H x 31.25"W Paper size: 23.25"H x 31"W Elsa Warnick (American, 1942-2013) was born and raised in Tacoma, Washington. She moved to Portland to attend the Reed College/Museum Art School joint five year program. Warnick went on to create many works of art as well as teach art and illustration. She is mostly known for her watercolor paintings, including the illustration of several children's books. Some of her pieces are held in the Portland Art Museum’s collection. Selected Exhibitions: 1974: University Center Gallery, Willamette University - Salem, OR 1978: Mayer Gallery...

Framed Size: approx 17 3/4 x 20 3/4 inches Fred Conway (1900-1973) "Golf Bags, Caddy with Golf Bag on His Back" Pen/Ink/Watercolor on Paper Site Size: approx. 10 x 13 inches Framed Size: approx. 17 3/4 x 20 3/4 inches A member of the faculty of the Washington University Art School from 1929 to 1970, Frederick Conway...

Clinton Hill (1922-2003), created quintessential mid-century images, but figures are unusual in his work. This is from a very early period. In 1951 Hill studied at the Academie de la...