Julian Ritter (American 1909 - 2000); Postcard letter; watercolor, ink on paper;

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Julian Ritter
Julian Ritter (American 1909 - 2000); Postcard letter; watercolor, ink on paper;

About the Item

Full size: 16.5 x 9 in; Although Ritter was best known for his oil paintings of nudes, clowns and portraits, he also worked in other media including pen-and-ink with watercolor, charcoal and Conté crayons and painted other subjects including portraits, landscapes, and complex compositions. He also liked doing caricature, often drawing cartoons rather than sending letters to friends. Ritter's style changed over the course of his life. Art historian and award-winning author Phyllis Settacase Barton wrote of Ritter:[4] Labeling the work of Julian Ritter is not easy because his genius is not readily defined. This is because for most of his life he has painted women as though he were exploring a garden – with eyes, lips and nipples painted like blue, red and pink blossoms. His earlier work also includes lots of clowns, many of which he painted with introspection and compassion – generally to the exclusion of their surroundings – telling us that his mind, heart and eye were in league with the human being beneath the costume, behind the make-up. As an adventurer into human nature, he painted portraits, each flavored with the spirit of the sitter, each embodying the effervescence of the cycle of life. In viewing all of these paintings – nudes, clowns, portraits – we begin to become aware that Julian Ritter has been on a journey – not just a physical journey – but a speculative one in which he has really been exploring himself. But the quintessential Julian Ritter comes to us through a series of sumptuously painted, monumental pictures which I choose to call lifescapes. His promethean story about how he has travelled from spiritual darkness into the shimmering world of rapture. Julian's magnificent vertical work which he calls 'The Black Hole' tells us the story of Julian's transgression and his penance. One example of a mixed-media watercolor and chalk is "Bachelor's Housekeeping" painted in 1939. The painting was at the DeYoung Museum in San Francisco in 1963.[26] Ritter had a steady presence in the Los Angeles art scene with exhibitions and showings from 1947 through 1975 when he had his last major gallery showing at the Howard E. Morseburg Galleries in Los Angeles.[2] His work was typically on display in any given week at some gallery in Southern California as evidenced through display ads in the Sunday Los Angeles Times.[13][14][27][28][29][30] He was also frequently listed in the Calendar section of the Los Angeles Times.[31][32][33][34] After this, Ritter had a sufficient number of patrons to support his lifestyle without the need for gallery showings. Portraits Ritter painted a number of prominent Californians. He also painted many actors, especially while employed at Warner Brothers where he would paint an actor in his current role. For instance, he painted Paul Muni in his role as Zola in The Life of Emile Zola. He also painted Ruby Keeler, Clara Bow, Claudette Colbert, Olivia de Havilland and Veronica Lake.[4] Nudes and showgirls Ritter painted several variations of the horizontal nude pose. Other nudes include paintings of Janet Boyd, a successful Las Vegas showgirl,[2] who he also painted as a showgirl in his painting "The Gibson Girl." Boyd later wrote to Ritter: "...I only got to be with you a few years but wonderful memories I have and will cherish. Not every girl gets to be a Ritter model. I loved every moment posing for you. The early mornings working in the studio in Santa Barbara are happy memories for me. And because your works of me will keep me young and beautiful forever."[4] There were many other nudes using various models. Ritter painted a number of nudes of his first wife, the actress Francesca Chesley. Ritter also painted a couple of nudes of his second wife, Hilde. The latter remain in the family collection. He also painted many showgirl paintings, the most famous of which is "Ruby," a painting of an African-American girl. He made several showgirl paintings using a model named LeeAnn which were also commercially successful. Clowns Although he had painted clowns before, Ritter started painting a series of unusual or tender clowns in the summer of 1948. His first visit to a circus was in 1949. Ritter said of his clown paintings "I don't need to see clowns. My clown portraits are more like human portraits in clown make-up. They are a combination of my imagination and my memory of faces, or even my own face."[4] Ritter was commissioned in the early 1950s by an art gallery on Ventura Blvd in the San Fernando Valley to paint a set of small 8"x10" clowns called the Helter Skelter Clowns. The clowns included Dilly, Dally, Flim, Flam, Pitter, Patter and Helter and Skelter. These were reproduced for the mass market in 1958. Ritter also painted a series of clowns based on "Mr. Whimsey," a clown with his dog. The U.O. Colson Company of Illinois commissioned Ritter to paint a set of these paintings for a calendar. He painted several more "Mr. Whimsey" paintings, some of which were part of the Silver Slipper collection.[2] Ritter also painted a number of clown compositions featuring groups of clowns (e.g.,"Clown Band and "Clown Funeral") and clown with nude or showgirl montages. Some of these feature a single clown with his arm around a showgirl, others portrayed a single nude surrounded by a variety of clowns and others were groups of clowns. Ritter tired of painting his commercially successful clowns and made the painting "Clown Funeral" to announce the end of his clown paintings. After that, he painted only the occasional clown composition or a clown painting commissioned by a patron.[4] Landscapes Although he was known primarily as a figurative painter, Ritter painted a number of landscapes, particularly when he was in San Blas, Mexico, and when he made his Pacific voyage. Ritter said of the San Blas paintings that they informed him with a new sense of color. The South Pacific seemed to further transform Ritter's paintings in much the same manner as it had on Paul Gauguin decades earlier. Though these never achieved the commercial success of his nudes and clowns, they were arguably amongst his best paintings.[4] Lifescapes Ritter was a man who lived in his emotions. His paintings have been described as a "visual record of his emotional life." Nowhere is this more true than in the paintings art historian Phyllis Settacase Barton called "lifescapes." It could be argued that the first of these lifescapes were the clown compositions. The painting, "Clown Band" is no less a joyful presentation of life than Ritter's later work, "God's Children." "Clown Funeral" was a deeply introspective look with Ritter, in self-portrait, carrying the body of a fallen clown - his announcement that he was no longer interested in painting the clowns that had brought him so much commercial success. The montages of clown with either nudes or showgirls shows the duality in all of us - the sensuality and eroticism of the female form with the detached folly of the accompanying clown(s). But the true lifescapes were those works that Ritter painted when he had the patronage that allowed him to eschew dealing with galleries - Ritter finally started painting the great compositions which he saw in his visions. These works were described as "mystical looks into the core of existence and the meaning of life." Many of these were painted during and after the voyage that almost took his life but which also opened his mind and heart to see deeper and more introspective subjects and expressions. Paintings of the voyage revealed the absolute terror in the hollowed-out eyes of the subjects. The mystical paintings revealed a faith that higher powers were at work. One critic wrote "Julian is a man who has seen life, absorbed it and now presents it." Sweeping and majestic paintings presented the very essence of Ritter's emotions. "The Carousel" was a complicated composition exploring man's spiritual nature. Ritter dealt with man's hypocrisy in "The Sunday Preacher". Ritter's "Man on the Cross" was a deeply personal view into Ritter's emotions as he painted his self-portrait onto the cross. One critic wrote of the piece: "Undoubtedly, it is a daring and modern interpretation of life. It is a work which will cause considerable controversy. But what great artist hasn't caused that? What artist of any note has not or will not speak his own mind through his pictures?"[4] When Ritter and Kokx separated in the summer of 1984, Ritter's work became more dark expressing the aloneness he felt in his partner's absence. Ritter's work changed again when he went to Maui, building again on the spiritual. Art historian Phyllis Settacase Barton wrote of these paintings: "In the glowing panoramic scenes, powerfully and prayerfully, Julian Ritter lets us in on some of his most intimate secrets, eases us into his precious discoveries and shares with us deepest concerns."[4] Silver Slipper Casino collection The Silver Slipper Casino collection started in February, 1950 when Ritter sold 13 framed nude paintings for $1000 to Bill Moore, the owner of the Last Frontier Hotel. By 1962, 33 paintings of nudes, showgirls, clowns and clown/nude montages adorned the walls of the upstairs theater. On April 4, 1955, the Last Frontier Hotel became the New Frontier Hotel under the management Jacob Kozloff. In 1967, Howard Hughes bought both the New Frontier Hotel and the Silver Slipper Casino.[2] After Hughes' death, Howard Hughes' Summa Corporation sold both the Silver Slipper Casino and the Frontier Hotel to the Elardi family in 1988 and divested itself of its contents including the paintings which were auctioned off in a closed-bid auction. Greg Autry won the auction and continues to hold the collection which has not been seen for many years.[35]

Creator:
Julian Ritter (1909 - 2000, American, German, Polish)
Dimensions:
Height: 9 in (22.86 cm)Width: 4 in (10.16 cm)
Medium:
Paper,Ink,Watercolor
Period:
20th Century
Condition:
Gallery Location:
Los Angeles, CA
Reference Number:
1stDibs: LU90813395431

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