20th Century Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Robert Indiana "My portrait was taken on Coenties Slip"...., 1993 Handwritten letter on an offset lithograph postcard Boldly signed in black marker under the letter 4 2/5 × 7 3/5 inches Unframed Unique one-of-a-kind hand written, hand signed note from Robert Indiana, dated 23 VII '93, written on the postcard depicting Robert Indiana's work "Mother and Father", published by the Farnsworth Museum in Maine. The note, done in black marker, is addressed to Don Allan II of Barrington, N.H. and reads" "DON - MY PORTRAIT IF YOU DO NOT KNOW, WAS TAKEN ON COENTIES SLIP IN NYC". Robert Indiana then signs the note.. (Presumably, the reply is in response to a letter or question this fan sent to the artist asking where Indiana's portrait was taken). Makes a great gift for Robert Indiana fans! Coenties Slip is a historic artist's address in the New York art scene - there was even a book written about it! Coenties Slip is a street in the Financial District of Manhattan in New York City. It runs southeast for two blocks in Lower Manhattan from Pearl Street to South Street. A walkway runs an additional block north from Pearl Street to Stone Street Here's an excerpt from Art in America reviewing the book: "How does specificity of place play a role in art, enough to become more figure than ground, less a context than a character? This is one of the larger questions framing art historian Prudence Peiffer’s momentous new survey The Slip: The New York City Street That Changed American Art Forever. The book vividly documents a moment in the 1950s and ’60s when a cast of artists settled, at staggered intervals, in a three-block area around Coenties Slip, a street on Manhattan’s lower tip. Coenties Slip borrowed its name from one of the “slips”—inlets for the docking and repairing of boats—that once cut sharply into New York’s downtown waterfront, facilitating the busy circulation of fish, freight, and sailors between land and sea. While New York’s status as a maritime trading hub lured fleets of boats, it was the skeletal remains of that activity, by then sharply diminished, that drew artists to Coenties Slip. In place of industry, they found vast and vacant loft spaces, cheap to rent, in which they could both work and live (illegally, owing to zoning laws)....Peiffer’s book arrives nearly 50 years after the earliest attempt to honor the Slip: the 1974 exhibition “Nine Artists/Coenties Slip,” organized for an old downtown branch of the Whitney Museum on Water Street nearby. The exhibition showcased lesser-known inhabitants of the Slip, including Fred Mitchell (the first to settle there), Ann Wilson...

Emily Mason Untitled (For Douglas), 1990 Carborundum etching and monotype on paper Pencil signed, dated and inscribed "For Douglas" Vintage wood frame included This work was created ...

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

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...

CYRIL POWER (British 1872-1951) STUDIES FOR THE COLOR LINOCUT REVOLUTION II, 1931 Pencil on thin wove paper. Unsigned. Consists of two 3 inch square pencil drawings on one sheet of thin wove paper 10 x 7 3/8 inches. Preliminary studies for Power's Grosvenor School...

Abstract expressionist CoBrA style chalk on paper of a human figure attributed to French artist, A Nuchy. The work is unsigned but was acquired along with ...

Michael Tracy In the Garden of the Hummingbirds, No XIX, 1992 22 1/2 x 30 in (57.2 x 76.2 cm), unframed 25 1/2 x 33 1/2 in (64.8 x 85.1 cm), framed JPHB 5649

Frank Duffield (British, 1908-1982) signed original watercolour painting on board, unframed size: 11 x 16 inches condition: overall very good, minor wear to the edges as is normal fo...

Rolph Scarlett Untitled Abstract Expressionist Painting, ca. 1960 Gouache, Ink, Watercolor on Paper . Hand signed, with original Jonas Aarons Gallery label 23 × 18 3/4 inches Signed ...

Executed in 1950 during the heyday of Abstract Expressionism and non-representational art, Feininger reduces a landscape to the bare minimums of lines and wash. Moeller Fine Art

Jacques GERMAIN (1915-2001) Abstract composition Ink on paper Signed with the stamp on the back Dimensions of the work : 42 x 26,5 cm Dimensions of the frame : 59,5 x 44 cm A studen...

A ca. 1935 tonal, watercolor of a steel mill by artist Harold Haydon. Artwork size: 8 3/4" x 11 3/4". Archivally matted to 14" x 18". Provenance: Estate of the artist. Harold E...

Abstract Expressionist Composition by Jacques COULAIS (1955-2011) gouache painting on paper/ card unframed: 15 x 11.25 inches condition: excellent provenance: all the paintings we ha...

Manfred Schwartz (American, b. Poland, 1909-1970), Beach Horizontal, Pastel on Paper, signed lower left, in mat, unframed. Image: 9.25" H x 6.5" W; sheet: 11" H x 8.25" W; mat: 17" H...

ENZO BENEDETTO 1905-1993 Reggio Calabria 1905-1993 Rome (Italian) Title: Untitled [Biplane] Senza titolo [Biplano], 1925/26 Technique: Signed Waterco...

Manfred Schwartz (American, b. Poland, 1909-1970), The Trapezist, Pastel on Paper, 1953, signed in pencil and dated lower left, in mat, unframed. Image: 9" H x 7.5" W; sheet: 12" H x...

Manfred Schwartz (American, b. Poland, 1909-1970), Beach Seascape, Charcoal on Paper, with the artist's signature stamped lower right, unframed. 19.75" H x 25.25" W. Provenance: From...

Manfred Schwartz (American, b. Poland, 1909-1970), Beach Seascape, Charcoal on Paper, with the artist's signature stamped lower right, unframed. 25.25" H x 19.75" W. Provenance: From...

Manfred Schwartz (American, b. Poland, 1909-1970), Beach Seascape, Charcoal on Paper, with the artist's signature stamped lower right, unframed. 25.5" H x 20.25" W. Provenance: From ...

Artist: Claude Lagouche (French 1943-2020) Claude Lagouche was born January 2, 1943 in Naves, died January 16, 2020. He quickly gained recognition for his talent and his work, exh...

Manfred Schwartz (American, b. Poland, 1909-1970), Beach Seascape, Charcoal on Paper, with the artist's signature stamped lower right, unframed. 25.75" H x 20" W. Provenance: From a ...

Manfred Schwartz (American, b. Poland, 1909-1970), Beach Seascape, Charcoal on Paper, with the artist's signature stamped lower right, unframed. 25.5" H x 20" W. Provenance: From a 3...

Manfred Schwartz (American, b. Poland, 1909-1970), Beach Seascape, Charcoal on Paper, with the artist's signature stamped lower right, unframed. 20" H x 25.5" W. Provenance: From a 3...

Manfred Schwartz (American, b. Poland, 1909-1970), Rockwall Seascape, Charcoal on Paper, with the artist's signature stamped lower right, unframed. 19" H x 24" W. Provenance: From a ...

Frank Duffield (British, 1908-1982) Signed original watercolour painting on board, unframed size: 10.5 x 14 inches condition: overall very good, minor w...

Delicate kimono by Patricia A. Pearce (American, b. 1948). This piece has an iridescent quality to the coloration. This piece is unsigned, but was acquired with a collection of other...

This etching is in very good condition, it is signed and numbered by the artist but I was unable to identify the artist. It is a piece from my private collection of artists from the ...

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

Exceptional rare sketch by American modernist Oscar Bluemner. Very, very good condition. Framed beautifully.

Roderick Fletcher Mead (American, 1900-1972) was an important painter and printmaker, best known for his surrealist landscapes and figural compositions reminiscent of Pablo Picasso a...

Artist: Claude Lagouche (French 1943-2020) Claude Lagouche was born January 2, 1943 in Naves, died January 16, 2020. He quickly gained recognition for his talent and his work, exh...

Abstract Expressionist Composition by Jacques COULAIS (1955-2011) gouache painting on paper/ card unframed: 8.5 x 5.75inches condition: excellent provenance: all the paintings we hav...

Vibrant and playful abstract composition by Sherry Schrut (American, b. 1928). Soft yet bright shades of teal, orange, and purple create a filed of color...

Artist: Claude Lagouche (French 1943-2020) Claude Lagouche was born January 2, 1943 in Naves, died January 16, 2020. He quickly gained recognition for his talent and his work, exh...

Artist: Claude Lagouche (French 1943-2020) Claude Lagouche was born January 2, 1943 in Naves, died January 16, 2020. He quickly gained recognition for his talent and his work, exh...

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...

Dominic Mingolla (1922 – 1999) Mingolla created paintings in many different materials and genres. Best known for his large abstract expressionist watercolor paintings similar in style to Paul Jenkins and for his Enamel work. His work bears affinities both to Lyrical Abstraction and to Tachisme artists such as Nicolas de Staël, Serge Poliakoff, Andre Lanskoy, Hans Hartung, Jean-Paul Riopelle, Gustave Singier, Alfred Manessier, Roger Bissiere, "Lyrical Abstraction arose in the 1960s and 70s, following the challenge of Minimalism and Conceptual art. Many artists began moving away from geometric, hard-edge, and minimal styles, toward more lyrical, sensuous, romantic abstractions worked in a loose gestural style. These "lyrical abstractionists" sought to expand the boundaries of abstract painting, and to revive and reinvigorate a painterly 'tradition' in American art. At the same time, these artists sought to reinstate the primacy of line and color as formal elements in works composed according to aesthetic principles – rather than as the visual representation of sociopolitical realities or philosophical theories." "Characterized by intuitive and loose paint handling, spontaneous expression, illusionist space, acrylic staining, process, occasional imagery, and other painterly techniques, the abstract works included in this exhibition sing with rich fluid color and quiet energy. Artists associated with Lyrical Abstraction include: Natvar Bhavsar, Lamar Briggs, Friedel Dzubas, Sam Francis, Ronnie Landfield, Pat Lipsky...

Black and white French pen and ink with ink wash of weaving lines defining abstract complex alignments, circa 1970. Original artwork on paper displayed on a white mat with a gold b...

#45 Ink on paper, 1970 Signed, titled, and dated in pencil by the artist One of a series of drawings, all made in 1970, which stemmed from Hogue's interest in Persian calligraphy. H...

Dorothea Tanning (American, 1910–2012) Initially associated with the Surrealist movement, Dorothea Tanning developed a personal visual language that blurred the boundaries between r...

Jim's of Lambertville Fine Art Gallery is proud to present this piece by Burgoyne Diller (1906 – 1965). Born in New York City in 1906, Burgoyne Diller began drawing when he was stri...

Agatha Wojciechowsky Untitled Concert Hall Abstraction Watercolor, 1964 Watercolor on thick wove paper (with original label from Cordier & Ekstrom Gallery) Signed and dated by the artist on the lower-right front 19 3/4 × 15 inches Unframed Dazzling 1960s, modern abstraction watercolor piece. This work was acquired from the legendary Cordier & Ekstrom Gallery Agatha Wojciechowsky (1896 -1986) was recognized during her lifetime as a Surrealist. Although not following an art movement, her work reflected the sentiment of Art Informel of the 1950's. She had solo exhibitions from the 1960's to the present in New York, Cologne, Berlin, and Hamburg. Group exhibitions included shows with Man Ray, Marcel Duchamp, Jean Dubuffet, Isamu Noguchi, Francis Picabia, Romare Bearden. Her artwork can be found in numerous public collections including Museum of Modern Art, the Prado, the Menil Collection, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Whitney Museum. Agatha lived her earlier years in Steinach de Saale, and then sailed to the United States in 1923 to be a German-speaking governess in a German baron...

Black and white French pen and ink with ink wash of weaving lines defining abstract complex alignements, circa 1970. Original artwork on paper displayed on a white mat with a gold ...

Abstract Expressionist Composition by Jacques COULAIS (1955-2011) gouache painting on paper/ card unframed: 10.75 x 8.5 inches condition: excellent provenance: all the paintings we h...

Herbert Ferber Untitled, 1968 Unique Ink and color wash on paper Hand signed and dated by the artist on the front Framed with original Knoedler Gallery label (under the respected dir...

Ron Gorchov Untitled early 1960s Abstract Expressionist work, 1962 Ink and watercolor painting on paper Signed and dated in black ink lower left recto Frame included: elegantly floa...

Colored ink marker on paper

Ink, colored marker on paper

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...

Brightly colored watercolor of a 1970's California street performer, done in a colorful, expressive slap-dash style, by Hope Tepley (American, 1919-2010). Signed "Tepley" in the lower right corner. Titled "The Hurdy Gurdy...

Artist: Roberto Matta Title: Sans Titre 3 Medium: Original pastel/drawing on paper Signed: Hand Signed Measurements: 20" x 27" Framed: 28" x 35" Authentication: Kajsa Westling N...

Naftali Bezem (Hebrew: נפתלי בזם‎‎; born November 27, 1924) is an Israeli painter, muralist, and sculptor. Bezem was born in Essen, Germany, in 1924. His early adolescence was spent ...

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...

An exquisite work of geometric abstraction by this celebrated artist Winston Roeth Untitled, ca. 1996 Pastel on handmade paper Hand signed on the front Frame included: Floated and fr...

Mid Century Swedish drawing of two men in conversation by Birger Lindberg. The work is signed and dated top left.. presented in plain wood frame with card mount. A charming view of ...

Joel BASS (1942-2019) Adjusted silhouette n°2, 1975 Mixed media, collage, gouache, adhesive on paper Signed, dated and. titled Work : 17,5 x 28 cm Frame : 3...

Bright and colorful ink and watercolor abstract by French artist Jaquel, circa 1990. Signed lower right. Original artwork on paper displayed on a white mat with a gold border. Mat...

Henry Moore O.M., C.H. (British, 1898-1986) Four Ideas for Sculpture Signed and dated ‘Moore/81’ (lower right) Pencil, watercolour, crayon, charcoal and ball point pen on paper 24.5 ...