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1980s Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

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Period: 1980s
Nell'Ovale - Artwork by Leo Guida - 1988
Located in Roma, IT
Nell'ovale is a Contemporary artwork realized in 1988 by the Italian Contemporary artist Leo Guida (1992 - 2017). Original drawing in beautiful colored tempera and watercolor on...
Category

Abstract 1980s Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Tempera, Watercolor

"Crescent Rose" Mixed Media Handmade Paper Watercolor Abstract by Bruce Weinberg
Located in Soquel, CA
"Crescent Rose" Mixed Media Handmade Paper Watercolor Abstract by Bruce Weinberg Soft lavenders, magentas and gray tones highlighted with purple thread and sheets of gold leaf mingle to create a soft and lovely abstract on handmade paper by California artist Bruce Weinberg (American, 1942-1994). Image is floated on a silk background. Pencil signed and dated "Bruce Weinberg 1980" lower right. Pencil signed title "Crescent Rose" lower left. Displayed in a giltwood frame with spacer. Image size: 24"H x 35"L. Framed size: 31"H x 43"W x 2"D. Bruce Weinberg was a long time resident of the San Francisco Bay Area. He studied Interior Design at the Philadelphia College of Art and Architectural Space Planning at Temple University. During the 1970s he studied printmaking and drawing at San Francisco's Fort Mason...
Category

Abstract Geometric 1980s Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Mixed Media, Handmade Paper

“Freedom Towers” Blue Toned Abstract Surrealist Architectural Archway Drawing
By Patrick Palmer
Located in Houston, TX
Blue and pink toned abstract landscape by Texas artist Patrick Palmer. The painting depicts two architectural arches against a cool and warm sunset sky. Pencil inscriptions are seen ...
Category

Abstract 1980s Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Pastel, Mixed Media, Acrylic

Modernist Abstract Lithograph w/ Multicolor Looping Line Work signed Yaakov Agam
Located in New York, NY
This Lovely Modernist Lithograph Originates from the Israeli born artist Yaakov Agam (made in Paris, France Circa 1980). This Lithograph is an Artist's Proof and a member of Agam's "...
Category

Modern 1980s Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Lithograph

Red Flowers Abstract Still Life
Located in Soquel, CA
Abstracted still life of a vase of red flowers and fruit blending into an abstract expressionist watercolor composition by Les Anderson (American, 1928-2009). Signed "Les Anderson" l...
Category

Abstract Expressionist 1980s Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

Purple and Yellow Abstract Watercolor
Located in Soquel, CA
Abstract composition with soft lavender and yellow watercolor tones by Les Anderson (American, 1928-2009). Unsigned, but was acquired from the estate of Les Anderson in Monterey, Cal...
Category

Abstract Expressionist 1980s Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

'Rainbow Abstract', San Francisco Bay Area, Abstract Expressionist Watercolor
Located in Santa Cruz, CA
Signed lower left, 'Hourian Hamid' (Iranian-American, 20th century) and dated 1985. A large, flowing abstract by the brother of the artist, Mohammed Hourian.
Category

Abstract Expressionist 1980s Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

Signatures II, Minimalist Mixed Media Painting by Robyn Denny
Located in Long Island City, NY
An original painting on paper by British Modern artist Robyn Denny. It is signed and dated lower right and titled lower left. Framed to 44 x 32 inches.
Category

Minimalist 1980s Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Gouache, Chalk

Donald Sultan "Black Lemon" 1988 Original Charcoal Drawing - Signed - Iconic
Located in Rancho Santa Fe, CA
DONALD SULTAN Signed, titled & dated in pencil along the left edge of the paper. In excellent condition Provenance: McIntosh/Drysdale, Washington, D.C. 1988; Private Collection, Bethesda, Maryland; Private collection, San Diego, CA Exhibition History: The Corcoran Museum of Art, Washington, D.C. "Donald Sultan: In The Still Life Tradition" May 10-July 7...
Category

Contemporary 1980s Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Charcoal, Archival Paper

Abstract Expressionist Watercolor Painting Woodblock Political Poster Mel King
Located in Surfside, FL
This is original watercolor over a limited edition woodcut political poster. hand signed, dated and numbered. it bears similarity to works by Alexander Calder. Employing a star and abstract design. Katherine Porter is an American artist born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa in 1941. She received her BA from Colorado College in 1963. Katherine Porter received an honorary doctorate from Colby College. She has shown twice in the Whitney Biennial and solo exhibitions at the Knoedler Gallery in London, the Nina Nielsen Gallery in Boston, and the Andre Emmerich and Salander-O'Reilly Galleries in New York. Her work is in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and the Tel Aviv Museum and Bezalel Museum in Jerusalem. (Katherine Page Porter, Katherine Pavlis Porter) Her exhibitions include biennials in 1976 and 1981 at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City; 1980 at the San Francisco Museum of Fine Arts; 1981, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire; 1985, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts; and 1987 at the Sidney Janis Gallery, New York City. Classic Americana. American Abstract Expressionism. Early Pattern and Decoration piece, The movement was championed by the gallery owner Holly Solomon. The P&D movement wanted to revive an interest in minor forms such as patterning which at that point was equated with triviality. The prevailing negative view of decoration was one not generally shared by non-Western cultures, The Pattern and Decoration movement was influenced by sources outside of what was considered to be fine art. Blurring the line between art and design, many P&D works mimic patterns like those on wallpapers, printed fabrics, and quilts. There is a close connection between the Pattern and Decoration movement and the Feminist art movement. The P&D movement arose in opposition to the Minimalist and Conceptualist movements. Mary Grigoriadis Valerie Jaudon, Joyce Kozloff, Miriam Schapiro, Robert Zakanitch all worked in this same vein. SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS Galerie Hubert Winter, Vienna, Austria Victoria Munroe Fine Art, Boston, MA Meridian Gallery, San Francisco, CA Salander O’Reilly Gallery, New York, NY Bowdoin College Museum of Art, Brunswick, ME Andre Emmerich Gallery, New York, NY Knoedler Gallery, London Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, NY Pace Gallery, Addison, ME Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH (drawings) Harcus Krakow Gallery, Boston, MA SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS Contemporary Landscape Painting, Nagoya/Boston Museum of Art, Nagoya, Japan From the Collection of Edward Broida, Palm Beach Art Museum, Palm Beach, FL Abstraction Per Se (through January 1993), Pratt Manhattan Gallery, NY Painting Self-Evident (Curator), Picolo Spoleto Festival, Charleston, SC Art on Paper 1990, Weatherspoon Art Gallery, The University of North Carolina, Museo Barjola, Gijon, Spain; Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon, Portugal; Pratt Manhattan Gallery, NY Sightings, Instituto de Estudios Norteamericanos, Barcelona; Casa Revilla, Valladolid, Invitational, New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, CT Atelier Project, Neuberger Museum, SUNY Purchase, NY Landscape Show, Allan Frumkin Gallery, NY Rethinking the Avant-Garde, by Jonathan Fineberg, The Katonah Gallery, NY Nancy Hoffman Gallery, NY Group Show, Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, Holland Contemporary Drawings, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY International Survey of Recent Painting and Sculpture, Museum of Modern Art, NY Modern Expressionist: German, Italian, & American Painters, Sidney Janis Gallery, NY American Women Artists, Part II: Younger Generation, Sidney Janis Gallery, NY Contemporary Works on Paper, Frumkin-Adams Gallery, NY Hassam Speicher Purchase Fund Exhibition, American Academy of Arts and Letters, NY The End of the World: Contemporary Visions of the Apocalypse, The New York Museum of Contemporary Art, NY Recent Acquisitions, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY Homage to Arthur Dove, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Geneva, NY Six Painters, The Hudson River Museum, Yonkers, NY Twenty New York Painters, Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia, PA 74th American Exhibition, The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL Abstract Painting, Women’s Caucus, NY Biennial, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York Spoleto Choice, Spoleto Festival, Charleston, SC From Women’s Eyes, Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA Theodoran, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY Three If By Air, Obelisk Gallery, Boston, MA Betty Parsons Collection, Finch College, New York, NY SELECTED PUBLIC COLLECTIONS Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, MA Albertina Museum, Vienna, Austria California Palace of the Legion of Honor (Achenbach Foundation), San Francisco, CA Detroit Art Institute, Detroit, MI Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA Gemeentsmuseum of the Hague, The Hague, Netherlands (permanent installation) Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA Houston Museum of Fine Art, Houston, TX Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY Mount Holyoke...
Category

Abstract Expressionist 1980s Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor, Woodcut

Oscillation
Located in Fairlawn, OH
11 color screen print Signed, dated, titled and numberedin pencil Edition: 150 (9/150) Provenance: Estate of the Artist By Decent
Category

Op Art 1980s Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Screen

Pink, Green, Blue, & Red Geometric Abstract Mixed Media Painting of a Figure
By Don Shaw
Located in Houston, TX
Colorful geometric abstract mixed media painting by modern artist Don Shaw. The work features primary colored shapes intertwined with a crouching pink figure. Signed and dated in fro...
Category

Abstract Geometric 1980s Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Crayon, Ink, Watercolor

German Neo Expressionist Color Pencil Drawing Erwin Pfrang
Located in Surfside, FL
Erwin Pfrang, German (b. 1951) Graphite, Colored Pencil on paper Framed 20.5/8 X 16.5/8 sheet 6 X 7.75 Erwin Pfrang (born 1951, in Munich) is a German painter and printmaker. Pfrang studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich from 1974–79. Later he spent many years as an independent artist in Montepulciano, Val d’Orcia and Catania, Italy, interrupted by stays in Munich and Augsburg. He presently lives and works in Berlin. Erwin Pfrang is the grandson of the Munich folk comedian Konstantin Pfrang. Carla Schulz-Hoffmann makes an attempt at characterising the painter: “An artist such as Erwin Pfrang inhabits an alternative world, a tiny microcosm of subjectivity, and lives that life uncompromisingly, with all the limitations and hardships that it entails. Among twentieth-century artists a comparable stance can be encountered perhaps in Jean Fautrier, but certainly in Otto Wols. His oeuvre relates in its figuration to Bosch or James Ensor and his oil painting to Lucian Freud in its painterly quality. Erwin Pfrang is represented by gallerists Fred Jahn, Munich (Exhibition: Don’t Forget Your Mask: Don’t (Part I: Don’t Forget Your Mask), Forget (Part II: Don’t Forget Your Mask), Your Mask (Part III: Don’t Forget Your Mask)Artists: Imi Knoebel, Barry Le Va, Karel Appel, Alexi Tsioris, William N. Copley, Isa Genzken...
Category

Neo-Expressionist 1980s Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Pencil, Color Pencil

"Don't Cry For Me Argentina" by Kim Jones
By Kim Jones
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Kim Jones, American (1944 - ) Title: Don't Cry For Me Argentina Year: 1988 Medium: Ink and Gouache, signed and dated verso Size: 20 x 15.5 in. (50.8 x 39.37 cm) Frame Size: 2...
Category

Contemporary 1980s Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Ink, Gouache

House and Sky, Geometric Abstract Acrylic Painting by Murray Reich
By Murray Reich
Located in Long Island City, NY
An original painting by contemporary American painter, Murray Reich. Nicely framed. House and Sky by Murray Reich, American (1932–2012) Date: 1980 Acrylic and Collage on Paper, sign...
Category

Contemporary 1980s Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Acrylic

Study for Worlds Beyond - Surrealist graphite drawing, Ohio artist
Located in Beachwood, OH
Clarence Holbrook Carter (American, 1904-2000) Study for Worlds Beyond, 1980 Graphite, collage and white heightening on illustration board Signed and dated lower right 10.75 x 4.5 in...
Category

American Modern 1980s Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Graphite

PHENOMENA Chinese Light Chalice 1989 Abstract Expressionist Watercolor, framed
Located in New York, NY
As a teen, Paul Jenkins worked with ceramicist James Weldon which led to a fascination with glazes; Jenkins cultivated and eventually achieved a similar effect in his paintings by mixing oil and enamel on canvas in the 50s. In 1937, Jenkins attended classes at the Kansas City Art Institute where he painted his first series of watercolors he called interior landscapes inspired by caves in the Ozarks. After serving in the US Naval Air Corps for 2 years, Jenkins moved to New York to study with Yasuo Kuniyoshi and Morris Kantor at the Art Students League from 1948 to 1952. During those years, Jenkins met Mark Rothko, Jackson Pollock and Barnett Newman. In 1953 left for Paris where he discovered and was struck by the color density and luminosity in abstract oil works termed ébauches by Gustave Moreau and pastels by Odilon Redon. He began to experiment with poured paints in various thicknesses on canvas and paper and found this technique achieved luminosity of color which in its own way was comparable to that of Moreau and Redon. The next year, Jenkins added Winsor Newton pigments and chrysochrome, a viscous enamel paint, into his poured paintings, further enriching their color density and incandescence. The next major development in technique came in 1959 when he began using an ivory knife to guide the flow of paint. That same year, he also began to title his paintings Phenomena followed by a key word or phrase. A film on Jenkins' technique titled The Ivory Knife: Paul Jenkins at Work was shown at the Museum of Modern Art and received the Golden Eagle Award at the Venice Film Festival in 1966. In 1954 Jenkins had his first solo exhibition in Paris where he met Martha Jackson, whose New York gallery included Jenkins in a group show the following year. In 1956, Martha Jackson Gallery held a solo exhibition of Jenkins’ work at which Divining Rod...
Category

Abstract Expressionist 1980s Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor, Paper

Chimeras - Contemporary mixed media drawing, Mythology, Surreal, Black & white
Located in Warsaw, PL
LESZEK RÓZGA (1924-2015) In 1970s Polish etchings gained world-wide recognition thanks to the activity to artists such as Rózga, whose works are in the collections of Albertina in Vienna, in Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris and in etchings collection of Ermitage in Petersbourg. Leszek Rózga created a series of colourful graphics inspired by travels and stories from his own life, sometimes bearing inspiration of the XX century masters: Mirò, Matisse and Picasso. He studied painting at Maria Skarbek-Kruszewska private atelier in 1945-46. In 1948, he began studies at the art school in Łódź (later: Academy of Fine Arts) in the studios of professors Władysław Strzemiński, Adam Rychtarski, Stefan Wegner and Ludwik Tyrowicz. He graduated with special award from the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow in 1954. In 1958 he became a member of the Piąte Koło association ("Fifth Wheel...
Category

1980s Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Mixed Media, Acrylic

SAN ROMANO: BLACK NINE
Located in Portland, ME
Reed, Robert (American, 1938-2014). SAN ROMANO: BLACK NINE. Mixed media, collage, assemblage. painted and colored papers and office staples, not dated, but ...
Category

1980s Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Drafting Film, Watercolor

"Untitled, " Abstract Oil Pastel on Ragboard signed by Reginald K. Gee
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Untitled" is an original oil pastel drawing on ragboard by Reginald K. Gee. It features surreal drawings on a background of color fields in blue, green, purple, red, and yellow. The...
Category

Contemporary 1980s Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Oil Pastel, Board, Rag Paper

Malibu
Located in New York, NY
Saul Steinberg Malibu, 1984 Pencil and colored pencil on paper 10 1/4 x 13 3/4 inches (sheet) 23 1/2 x 25 1/2 inches (frame) Signed recto Silver metal frame, float mount with window...
Category

1980s Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Pencil, Color Pencil

Rainbow Field, Abstract Expressionist Pastel on Paper by Souleymane Keita
Located in Long Island City, NY
Souleymane Keita - Rainbow Field, Year: 1983, Medium: Pastel on Paper, signed and dated lower left, Size: 22.25 x 30 in. (56.52 x 76.2 cm), Descript...
Category

Abstract Expressionist 1980s Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Pastel

Modernist Abstract Expressionist Color Field Watercolor Painting Lamar Briggs
Located in Surfside, FL
Hand signed frame measures 39 X 51 sheet measures 29 X 41 This will be shipped unframed If you would like the frame please contact me. Apple or fruit shape abstract color field pai...
Category

Abstract Expressionist 1980s Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Acrylic, Archival Paper, Watercolor

"Freelance, " Oil Pastel on Illustration Board signed by Reginald K. Gee
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Freelance" is an original oil pastel drawing on illustration board by Reginald K. Gee. The artist signed the piece on the back. It depicts an artist walking through an abstracted wo...
Category

Contemporary 1980s Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Oil Pastel, Illustration Board

Abstract Composition, Abstract Mixed Media Drawing by Martha Holden
Located in Long Island City, NY
Martha Holden, American (1951 -) - Abstract Composition, Year: 1983, Medium: Monotype, stencil, graphite and ink on handmade paper, signed and dated in pen lower right, Size: 38 x...
Category

Abstract Expressionist 1980s Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Graphite, Monotype

"Amay, " Oil Pastel and Watercolor on Red Paper signed by Reginald K. Gee
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Amay" is an original oil pastel and watercolor drawing on red paper by Reginald K. Gee. The artist signed the piece on the back. It features abstracted figures and mountain shapes i...
Category

Contemporary 1980s Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Oil Pastel, Watercolor

"The Nature of Things, " Abstract Oil Pastel Drawing initialed by Reginald K. Gee
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"The Nature of Things" is an original oil pastel drawing on paper by Reginald K. Gee. The artist initialed the piece on the back. This work features a variety of abstract techniques-...
Category

Abstract 1980s Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Oil Pastel

"The First Bird with Egg, Duckling Abstraction, " Oil Pastel by Reginald K. Gee
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"The First Bird with Egg, Duckling Abstraction" is an original oil pastel on board by Reginald K. Gee. The artist initialed the piece on the back. It features an abstracted duckling ...
Category

Contemporary 1980s Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Oil Pastel, Board

Unique drawing Geometric Abstraction on postcard conceptual art (hand signed)
Located in New York, NY
Sol LeWitt Unique Geometric Abstraction on Postcard, 1982 Original drawing done on postcard from the Van Gogh Museum (Amsterdam), mailed, stamped and postmarked (franked) from Spolet...
Category

Abstract Geometric 1980s Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Ink, Postcard, Mixed Media, Offset

Untitled
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Carroll Dunham (b. 1949) is a contemporary American artist best known for his distinctive fusion of abstraction and figuration. He rose to prominence in the early 1980s in New York C...
Category

Contemporary 1980s Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Wood, Charcoal, Pencil

Colorful Abstract Watercolor
Located in Soquel, CA
Abstract multicolor watercolor with softly blended color fields by Les (Leslie Luverne) Anderson (American, 1928-2009). From the estate of Les Anderson in Monterey, California. Signe...
Category

Abstract Expressionist 1980s Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

Original signed pastel, Washington Color School & Color Field painter Paul Reed
Located in New York, NY
Paul Allen Reed Untitled #31, 1982 Oil pastel on paper Pencil signed dated and annotated "7 10 79 1" by Paul Reed on the lower front Frame included: This work is elegantly floated an...
Category

Color-Field 1980s Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Oil Pastel

Thomas Anderson Abstract Expressionist painting on paper, unique, signed, Framed
Located in New York, NY
Thomas Anderson Abstract Expressionist painting on paper, ca. 1987 Mixed media watercolor, gouache and marker on paper Signed in black marker lower right front Unique Frame included ...
Category

Abstract Expressionist 1980s Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Watercolor, Gouache, Permanent Marker

"Your Own Heart" unique signed, colleague of Warhol, Haring, Basquiat & Scharf
Located in New York, NY
Ronnie Cutrone Your Own Heart, 1987 Watercolor and Silkscreen on Paper Signed, dated and numbered from the edition of 7, with each work being unique. 40 × 30 inches Fantastic vintage...
Category

Pop Art 1980s Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Mixed Media, Watercolor, Permanent Marker, Screen

Jamie Nares, Original flower monotype (unique, hand signed) Framed, de-accession
Located in New York, NY
James Nares Untitled flower monotype, 1988 Monotype on hand made paper Pencil signed and dated by James Nares on the lower right front Frame included: floated in the original wood fr...
Category

Contemporary 1980s Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Handmade Paper, Monotype

Lyman Kipp, Untitled Minimalist painting on paper signed and dated vintage frame
Located in New York, NY
Lyman Kipp Untitled Minimalist painting on paper, 1980 Color oil painting on paper done with ink paint roller Signed and dated on the front Unique Frame included Signed and dated 19...
Category

Minimalist 1980s Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Oil

Untitled
Located in Barcelona, BARCELONA
The painting is being offered with a work and authenticity certificate
Category

Abstract 1980s Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Lithograph

Sculptural study, unique signed charcoal drawing, by renowned modernist sculptor
Located in New York, NY
SEYMOUR LIPTON Seymour Lipton Untitled sculptural study, 1981 Charcoal on paper hand signed and dated in charcoal pencil on the front Framed Original drawing done in charcoal by reno...
Category

Abstract Expressionist 1980s Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Charcoal

Sunset over Mountainscape, Abstract Expressionist Pastel Drawing by Souleymane
Located in Long Island City, NY
Souleymane Keita, Senegalese (1947 -2014) - Sunset over Mountainscape, Year: 1983, Medium: Pastel on J Perrigot Arches Special MBM, signed and dated...
Category

Abstract Expressionist 1980s Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Pastel

Original Abstract Portrait in Mixed Media on Paper II (1987)
Located in Soquel, CA
Original Abstract Portrait in Mixed Media on Paper II (1987) Robert Azensky Fine Art Gallery is proud to present this gorgeous example of 1980...
Category

Post-War 1980s Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Pastel, Acrylic, Watercolor, Pencil

6C, Modern Abstract Tempera Painting by Yasmin Brandolini
Located in Long Island City, NY
A large minimal abstract painting on paper by Yasmin Brandolini. Artist: Yasmin Brandolini d'Adda, South African/Italian (1929 - ) Title: 6C Year: 1984 Medium: Tempera on Paper, sig...
Category

Abstract Geometric 1980s Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Tempera

"Colorful Geometric Abstraction, " Simon Samsonian, Armenian Artist
Located in New York, NY
Simon Samsonian (1912 - 2003) Colorful Geometric Abstraction, 1981 Oil on paper 16 x 22 inches Signed and dated lower right Provenance: Estate of the artist This survivor of the Armenian genocide wound up in a Cairo orphanage in 1927. He rose to fame as one of Egypt’s great modernists, but after moving to Long Island late in life he withdrew into anonymity. Now his compelling story is being told. Art historians are finally beginning to realize that the power of abstraction in its early years was a zeitgeist not limited to the major European centers of the avant-garde — Paris, Munich, and Moscow — but one that quickly rippled to major cities throughout the world. Within a few decades that original shock of a new vision had inspired thousands of artists from different cultures — particularly those the Middle East — whose translations were not slavish imitations of works by seminal figures like Picasso, Braque, Malevich, and Kandinsky but creative variants colored by their respective cultures. This essay focuses on an extraordinary Armenian artist, his harrowing survival of the genocide, his rise to fame in Cairo, and his creation of a unique style of abstraction. Art historians have typically formed a chorus that teaches the history of abstraction like this: Just before and during the World War I era, several avant-garde artists emerged to create shockingly different new forms by which artists could express themselves. In Paris, Picasso and Braque broke out with cubism, quickly followed by Mondrian. In Moscow, Malevich created Suprematism, the ultimate hard-edge geometric abstraction. And in Munich, Kandinsky emerged as the father of Abstract Expressionism. Within these few short years a zeitgeist was sensed throughout the art world. American pioneers, too — particularly Stanton Macdonald-Wright and Morgan Russell — felt this explosive freedom of expression. When Europe was recovering after World War I it became clear that Paris would retain its title as capitol of the art world, lasting through the Roaring Twenties and even through the Great Depression. But the end of World War II changed everything. A parallel war had been won by a group of irascible young Abstract Expressionists in New York — led by Pollock, Rothko, DeKooning, and Kline. No sooner had Paris been liberated from the Germans than Picasso, Matisse, Breton, and Duchamp surrendered to the Americans. From that point on New York would be the epicenter of the art world. But a lens that focuses myopically on the war between the avant-garde of Paris and New York misses the wider narrative of multiple aesthetic modernities that developed in the several decades following World War I. For Armenian artists the matter is even more complex owing to the genocide of 1915 where more than 1.5 million people — seventy-five percent of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire — were massacred. Those not shot on the spot were sent on death marches through the Mesopotamian desert without food or water. Frequently, the marchers were stripped and forced to walk naked under the scorching sun until they dropped dead. As a child Samsonian witnessed the murder of his parents and most of the members of his family. Soon thereafter, his older sister, Anahid, quickly shepherded him into a line of children being rescued by Greek nuns. But they became separated and he lost her, too. He was sent to a Greek orphanage in Smyrna (now Izmir), on Turkey’s west coast. Because he only knew his first name, the orphanage gave him a last name based on the place where they found him — Samsun — a major port on Turkey’s north coast on the Black Sea. His birth date was unknown, too. According to Samsonian’s vague recollections he assumed he was about three or four years old at the onset of the genocide, which would place his birth year in 1911 or 1912. In 1922, when Samsonian was about 10, the Turks ended their war with the Greeks by putting Smyrna to the torch in what has been called the “Catastrophe of Smyrna.” Once again, the child was on the run, escaping the fire and slaughter. He found temporary refuge in Constantinople, but within a year that major port would fall to the Turks, too, and become renamed as Istanbul. This time, Samsonian was whisked away to an orphanage in Greece founded by the American charity, Near East Relief — which is credited with saving so many Armenian orphans that the American historian Howard M. Sachar said it “quite literally kept an entire nation alive. Any understanding of Samsonian’s approach to modernism requires careful consideration of the impact of his early years because his art is inseparable from the anguish he experienced. In 1927, when he was a teenager, he was transferred to Cairo, Egypt, then a cosmopolitan city hosting a sizable portion of the Armenian diaspora. There he lived with thirty-two other children on the top floor of the Kalousdian Armenian School. Upon graduating in 1932 he won a scholarship to attend the Leonardo da Vinci Art Institute — an Italian art school in Cairo — where he won first prize in final examinations among one hundred students. He found work with an Armenian lithographic printer and he returned to the Kalousdian Armenian School to teach drawing. In 1939 he married one of his students, Lucy Guendimian. The Cairo in which Samsonian matured as an artist was home to many prominent art collectors after World War I. In this receptive environment Samsonian exhibited widely and won many awards. Beginning in 1937 and for the next thirty years he exhibited annually at the prestigious Le Salon du Caire hosted by the Société les Amis de l’Art (founded in 1921). After World War II he hit his stride as a modernist in Cairo, counting among his peers other artists of the Armenian diaspora such as Onnig Avedissian, Achod Zorian, Gregoire Meguerdichian, Hagop Hagopian...
Category

Abstract Geometric 1980s Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Oil

Two White Horses, Modern Oil and Watercolor on Paper by Daniel Maffia
Located in Long Island City, NY
Daniel Maffia, French (1937 - ) - Two White Horses, Year: 1984, Medium: Oil and Watercolor on Paper, signed and dated lower right, Size: 30 x 22 in. (76.2 x 55.88 cm), Frame Size:...
Category

Modern 1980s Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Oil, Watercolor

Paysage linéaire by José Gerson - Gouache on paper 69x50 cm
Located in Geneva, CH
Work on paper without frame
Category

Surrealist 1980s Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Pastel, Gouache, Carbon Pencil

Surrealist composition by José Gerson n°4 - Drawing 42x28 cm
Located in Geneva, CH
Work on paper without frame
Category

Surrealist 1980s Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Color Pencil

36A, Modern Abstract Acrylic on Paper Painting by Yasmin Brandolini
Located in Long Island City, NY
A large minimal abstract painting on paper by Yasmin Brandolini. Artist: Yasmin Brandolini d'Adda, South African/Italian (1929 - ) Title: 36A Year: 1986 Medium: Acrylic on Paper, Mo...
Category

Abstract Geometric 1980s Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Canvas, Paper, Acrylic

Abstract Expressionist Biomorphic Coloured Pencil Drawing.
Located in Cotignac, FR
1980s abstract expressionist biomorphic coloured pencil drawing on paper by Belgian artist André Pierret, signed bottom right. André Pierret was born ...
Category

Abstract Expressionist 1980s Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Carbon Pencil, Color Pencil

Unique drawing on Tony Shafrazi poster, signed & inscribed to Warhol's boyfriend
Located in New York, NY
Kenny Scharf Original drawing on Tony Shafrazi poster, signed and inscribed to Andy Warhol's last boyfriend Jon Gould, 1984 Permanent marker drawing on Kenny Scharf Tony Shafrazi Gallery exhibition poster (hand signed and inscribed by Kenny Scharf) Boldly signed and inscribed to Andy Warhol's last boyfriend Jon Gould Frame included: Framed in a museum quality wood frame with UV plexiglass. Measurements: Frame: 35 x 28.5 x 1.5 inches Print 28.25 x 22 inches Own a piece of Pop Art history! This is a unique drawing hand signed and inscribed by Kenny Scharf, done on a vintage collectible 1984 poster from the legendary Tony Shafrazi Gallery. If you saw "The Andy Warhol Diaries" on Netflix, you'd know about Warhol's relationship with Jon Gould - Andy's last boyfriend; tragically, Warhol would become Gould's last boyfriend as well, when, soon after, Gould would die of AIDS at the young age of 33 Kenny Scharf created an original drawing, done in marker, and inscribed it to Jon Gould (featured prominently in Andy Warhol's Diaries and the eponymous Netflix series) - and it had not been seen since the 1980s. Jon Gould was a New England educated former Vice President of Corporate Communications at Paramount Pictures - a Boston Brahmin whose real claim to fame was as Andy Warhol's last boyfriend. This work was acquired from the widely publicized sale of the collection of Jon Gould - -a treasure trove of valuable gifts and art works by Warhol and others like Kenny Scharf, Basquiat and Keith Haring to Gould - that had not been seen in nearly four decades. This is one of the works from that impressive sale. Below are links to two of the many articles about the collection of Jon Gould in the New York Times, Artnet News and the New York Post respectively. About Kenny Scharf: Kenny Scharf (b. 1958, United States) is a renowned artist affiliated with the 1980’s East Village Art movement in New York. Scharf developed a distinct and uniquely personal artistic style in paintings as well as sculpture, alongside his mentor Andy Warhol, and contemporaries like Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring with whom he pioneered contemporary street art. References to popular culture reoccur throughout his works, such as appropriated cartoon characters from the Flintstones and Jetsons, as well as imagined anthropomorphic creatures. Through ecstatic compositions and a dazzling color palette, Scharf presents an immersive viewing experience that is both intimate and fresh. Scharf’s multifaceted practice—spanning painting, sculpture, installation work, murals, performance and fashion—reflects his dedication to the creation of dynamic forms of art that deconstruct existing artistic hierarchies, echoing the philosophy of Pop artists. Yet Scharf’s artistic significance expands beyond the art historical terrain of Pop Art; the artist instead coined the term “Pop Surrealist” to describe his one-of-a-kind practice. His inclusion in the 1985 Whitney Biennial marked the start of his international phenomenon, a reputation that continues to thrive today. Courtesy of Almine Rech MORE ABOUT JON GOULD: Warhol wrote extensively on Jon Gould in his diaries. In July, 2022, when the Netflix series "The Andy Warhols Diaries" came out, the New York Post (among many other publications) ran a major feature article on Warhol's relationship with Gould and on this very sale: It reads, "When Harriet Woodsom Gould died in 2016 in her nineties, she left behind a trove of family heirlooms dating back to the 1700s in her Amesbury, Mass., home. Yet in her attic, she had a secret veritable shrine to pop art. There, she had stashed her late son Jon Gould’s belongings for decades since his death in 1986 from AIDS. He had vases painted by Jean-Michel Basquiat, works by Keith Haring and dozens and dozens of gifts — photos, valentines, sketches, letters and more — from pop god Andy Warhol. “My mother kept everything,” Jon’s twin brother, Jay Gould, told The Post. Jay knew his brother “had some type of relationship” with Warhol in the 1980s, though Jon always remained discreet about it. “We were very close, identical twins, but we never talked a lot about his sexuality,” Jay, now 68, explained. “It was a different time.” Yet, he was still stunned to read the poetry and love notes Jon wrote to the older artist. “I didn’t realize the relationship was as deep as it was.” Actually, no one really knew. Gould was Warhol’s last romance, a young Paramount executive with floppy hair and preppy good looks who died tragically at 33. And though Warhol frequently mentioned him in his famed diaries, published posthumously in 1989, the artist’s dashed-off musings gave the impression that Jon was more of a crush than a genuine partner...Gould didn’t so much enter into Warhol’s life as Warhol willed him into it. It was April 1981, and Warhol, then 52, was still reeling from his breakup with Jed Johnson... Jed left that December, and that spring Warhol confessed to feeling lonely: “I’ve got these desperate feelings that nothing means anything. And then I decide that I should try to fall in love, and that’s what I’m doing now with Jon Gould.” Gould was a 26-year-old Paramount exec: a New England WASP with a lithe, strong physique and charismatic personality, who looked straight. Warhol reasoned: “Jon is a good person to be in love with because he has his own career, and I can develop movie ideas with him, you know? And maybe he can even convince Paramount to advertise in Interview, too. Right? So my crush on him will be good for business.” Warhol began courting Gould with a vengeance, sending extravagant bouquets of roses to his office at Paramount. He even offered their mutual friend, the photographer Christopher Makos, a fancy watch if he could get Gould to be his boyfriend. “I guess he never got loved,” Makos says in the series. “Because I didn’t get my watch.” (Jay Gould also tells the camera that his brother had admitted that he was in a relationship but that he said they didn’t have sex.) At first, Gould resisted Warhol’s attention, but eventually the two began spending a lot of time together, though Gould would frequently pull away if things got too intense, and he often would tell Warhol not to write about him in his diary. “I think my brother was concerned about his career at that time,” Jay Gould said. But the younger man attended parties and art events with him, invited the artist skiing with his family in Aspen and even for a time moved into his place on 66th Street. “I love going out with Jon because it’s like being on a real date,” Warhol wrote early in their relationship. “He’s tall and strong and I feel like he can take care of me.” Yet it turned out that Warhol would have to take care of Gould. On Feb. 4, 1984, Jon was admitted to New York Hospital with pneumonia — though it was understood that he had AIDS. Warhol stayed with him in the hospital every night for the 30 days he was there, despite his fear of hospitals since getting shot and his fear of getting AIDS. (Warhol couldn’t bring himself to talk about Gould’s illness in the diary, but his editor notes that when Gould was released March 7, Warhol instructed his housekeepers to wash Jon’s clothes and dishes “separate from mine.”). Around 1985, Warhol began working on his massive series of 100 works based on Da Vinci’s “The Last Supper...
Category

Pop Art 1980s Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Permanent Marker, Lithograph, Offset

Bay with Boats Color Monotype unique signed abstract color field landscape frame
Located in New York, NY
Wolf Kahn Bay with Boats, 1987 Color monotype on Somerset white wove paper Hand signed and dated by Wolf Kahn on the lower right front, bears labels on the back Frame Included: matte...
Category

Color-Field 1980s Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Lithograph, Monotype

Abstracted Still Life with Flowers
Located in Soquel, CA
Abstracted still life by Les Anderson (American, 1928-2009). Unsigned, but was acquired from the estate of Les Anderson in Monterey, California. No frame. Image size: 20"H x 14"W. L...
Category

American Impressionist 1980s Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

1980s Abstract Watercolor Painting – Vibrant Modernist Color Composition
Located in Denver, CO
A striking large-scale abstract watercolor painting by contemporary American artist Virginia Maitland (b. 1947), created in 1980. Known for her expressive use of color and dynamic co...
Category

Abstract 1980s Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor

Untitled, 1980, gouache on paper
Located in PARIS, FR
Andrée HONOREE (1945-1992) Untitled, 1980 Gouache on paper Signed and dated "1980" lower center 43 x 31.5 cm Born in 1945 in Tourcoing, Andrée Honoré is one of the women sculptors who have chosen wood as their main medium. For a time, she had a studio in the Passage Ricaut in the 13th arrondissement of Paris, where she worked alongside the artists Jacques Hérold (1901-1987), Edgard Pillet...
Category

Abstract 1980s Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Gouache

Color in Motion - Pointillist Abstract
Located in Soquel, CA
Highly detailed pointillist watercolor and ink drawing featuring dynamic form and color in motion by Ben Black (American, 1922-2003). Unframed. Signed "Ben Black" lower right. Image,...
Category

Contemporary 1980s Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Ink, Watercolor

Bourrée Fantasque #4 Pastel on Paper Mid 20th Century Modern as seen on 'Étoile'
Located in Glenford, NY
"Bourrée Fantasque #4", Pastel on Paper by Artist Francisco Moncion, is a Mid-20th Century fantasy image inspired by George Balanchine's 1949 ballet of the same name for the New York...
Category

American Modern 1980s Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Pastel, Pencil

Surrealist composition by José Gerson n°5 - Drawing 37x60 cm
Located in Geneva, CH
Work on paper without frame
Category

Surrealist 1980s Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Color Pencil

1988 "Hawaii II" Abstract Landscape Drawing
Located in Arp, TX
Elaine Kaufman Feiner (1922-2018) "Hawaii II" 1993 Oil pastel, paint on paper 30"x40" unframed Signed and dated in pencil lower right, signed, titled and dated on reverse
Category

Abstract 1980s Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Oil Pastel, Paint

Nashville is an Enigma, mixed media painting by renowned female artist, signed
Located in New York, NY
Katherine Porter Country Music (Nashville is an Enigma), 1986 Mixed media; colored pencil, gouache, and graphite on paper, uniquely signed and inscribed with Nashville dateline Hand ...
Category

Abstract 1980s Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Mixed Media, Gouache, Color Pencil, Graphite

1988 "Night Glow I" Abstract Drawing
Located in Arp, TX
Elaine Kaufman Feiner (1922-2018) "Night Glow I" 1988 Watercolor and pastel on paper 30"x30" unframed Signed and dated in pencil lower right, titled reverse
Category

Abstract 1980s Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Oil Pastel, Watercolor

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