Jennings Tofel

"Romance" Expressionist Figures in Ink, Early 20th Century

Provenance: Atelier of the artist Notes: Studio stamp on the verso of this important, early work by Gromaire. Over the years there has been an ever-widening interest in the work o...

Signed and dated, upper right Provenance: Atelier of the artist

original watercolour on paper 28x38cm hand signed 2023 Created by Anastasia Kurakina, contemporary artist living in London. The artist has recently exhibited at London Art Biennal...

Signed upper left, 'Gongora' for Leonel Gongora (Colombian, 1932-1999), dated 1963, and titled verso 'Ataque'. Born in Cartago, Colombia, Gongora studied at Escuela de Bellas Artes...

Signer lower right, 'Craemer' for Kurt Craemer (German, 1912-1961) and dated 1954. Born in Saarbrucken, Craemer first attended the Academy of Cologne in 1928 where he worked under Friedrich Ahlers-Hesterman. He later traveled to Paris with his teacher, where he was introduced to the work of Henri Matisse. From 1930-33, Craemer lived in Düsseldorf where he studied at the Art Academy under Paul Klee. With the Nazi's ascent to power late that year, Craemer moved to Italy and lived there at the Art colony in Ischia until the end of the war when he moved to Positano. Throughout the 1950's, Kurt Craemer continued to live in Italy exhibited with success internationally, including at the Venice Biennale...

Expressionist ink and pastel crayon drawing of beans (carobs, flowers?) in pods Hand signed. Born in 1897, Ben-Zion Weinman celebrated his European Jewish heritage in his visual works as a sculptor, painter, and printmaker. Influenced by Spinoza, Knut Hamsun, and Wladyslaw Reymont, as well as Hebrew literature, Ben-Zion wrote poetry and essays that, like his visual work, attempt to reveal the deep “connection between man and the divine, and between man and earth.” An emigrant from the Ukraine, he came to the US in 1920. He wrote fairy tales and poems in Hebrew under the name Benzion Weinman, but when he began painting he dropped his last name and hyphenated his first, saying an artist needed only one name. Ben-Zion was a founding member of “The Ten: An Independent Group” The Ten” a 1930’s avant-garde group, Painted on anything handy. Ben-Zion often used cabinet doors (panels) in his work. Other members of group included Ilya Bolotowsky, Lee Gatch, Adolph Gottlieb, Louis Harris, Yankel Kufeld, Marcus Rothkowitz (later known as Mark Rothko), Louis Schanker, and Joseph Solman. The Art of “The Ten” was generally described as expressionist, as this style offered the best link between modernism and social art. Their exhibition at the Mercury Gallery in New York held at the same time as the Whitney Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Painting, included a manifesto concentrating on aesthetic questions and criticisms of the conservative definition of modern art imposed by the Whitney. Ben-Zion’s work was quickly noticed. The New York Sun said he painted “furiously” and called him “the farthest along of the lot.” And the triptych, “The Glory of War,” was described by Art News as “resounding.” By 1939, The Ten disbanded because most of the members found individual galleries to represent their work. Ben-Zion had his first one-man show at the Artist’s Gallery in Greenwich Village and J.B. Neumann, the highly esteemed European art dealer who introduced Paul Klee, (among others) to America, purchased several of Ben-Zion’s drawings. Curt Valentin, another well-known dealer, exhibited groups of his drawings and undertook the printing of four portfolios of etchings, each composed of Ben-Zion’s biblical themes. He worked as a WPA artist. Ben-Zion’s work is represented in many museums throughout the country including the Metropolitan, the Whitney, and the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Phillips Collection, Washington. The Jewish Museum in New York opened in 1948 with a Ben-Zion exhibition. Ben-Zion consistently threaded certain subject matter—nature, still life, the human figure, the Hebrew Bible, and the Jewish people—into his work throughout his life. "In all his work a profound human feeling remains. Sea and sky, even sheaves of wheat acquire a monolithic beauty and simplicity which delineates the transient as a reflection of the eternal. This sensitive inter- mingling of the physical and metaphysical is one of the most enduring features of Ben-Zion's works." (Excerpt from Stephen Kayser, “Biblical Paintings,” The Jewish Museum Catalogue, 1952). Mystical Imprints: Marc Chagall, Ben-Zion, and Ben Shahn presents the print work of three prominent 20th century Jewish artists born in the Russian Empire. Among these seventy pieces are etchings and lithographs from Chagall’s Bible series...