Found Objects Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Mercedes Carles Matter (1913 - 2001) Untitled, circa 1937 Pastel on paper 16 x 13 1/2 inches Estate stamped on the reverse Provenance: Estate of the artist Spanierman Gallery, New York Private Collection, Pennsylvania circa 2013 Private Collection, New York, 2021 Mercedes Matter was born in New York in 1913. Her father, the American modernist Arthur B. Carles, had studied with Matisse. Her mother, Mercedes de Cordoba, was a model for Edward Steichen. Ms. Matter grew up in Philadelphia, New York and Europe. She began painting under her father's supervision at age 6, and studied art at Bennett College in Millbrook, N.Y., and then in New York City with Maurice Sterne, Alexander Archipenko and Hans Hofmann. In the late 1930's, she was an original member of the American Abstract Artists organization and worked for the federal Works Progress Administration, assisting Fernand Léger on his mural for the French Line passenger ship company. Léger introduced her to Herbert Matter, the Swiss graphic designer and photographer, whom she married in 1939. The Matters were active in the emerging New York art scene and also traveled frequently to Europe. Their closest friends included Jackson Pollock, Lee Krasner, Franz Kline, Philip Guston, Alexander Calder and Willem de Kooning. They were also close to Alberto Giacometti, who was an important artistic role model for Mrs. Matter and a frequent photographic subject for her husband. Beginning in 1953, Mrs. Matter taught at the Philadelphia College of Art (now University of the Arts), Pratt Institute and New York University. Based on her teaching experiences she wrote an article for Art News in 1963 titled ''What's Wrong with U.S. Art Schools?'' In it, she lamented the phasing out of the extended studio classes required to initiate ''that painfully slow education of the senses,'' which she considered an artist's life work. The article prompted a group of Pratt students to ask her to form a school based on her ideas, which led, in 1964, to the founding of the New York Studio School. Originally in a loft on Broadway, the school gained almost immediate support from the Kaplan Fund, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and the Ford Foundation. It granted no degrees, had only studio classes and emphasized drawing from life. Its teachers, chosen by the students, included the artists Guston, Bradley Walker Tomlin, Charles Cajori, Louis Finkelstein...

Nag Arnoldi (Swiss, * 18.9.1928 Locarno, † 10.2.2017 Lugano) 1. Falling Icarus • Drawing - Mixed media (Indian ink, coloured pencil & gouache) on paper ca. 22 x 26 cm • Signiert & ...

Portrait of Paris is a colorful mixed-media painting on paper, an homage to Greek mythology. Portrait of Paris, 2019 by a.muse is a 15" x 11" brightly colored work on paper: acrylic...

Schiaparelli, 2018 by Manuel Santelices color pencil on paper Signed by the artist. Image size: 12 in. H x 9 in. W Unframed The worlds of fashion, society and pop culture are expl...

Art Nouveau coloured drawing of a young lady beauty before a mirror by Edmon Aman-Jean. The work is signed in pencil bottom left and presented in a plain wood frame with mount, under...

"Veneer" is an original oil pastel, ballpoint pen, color pencil, and graphite on arches paper work by Lauren Rinaldi. This piece ships in the pictured archival custom frame. The pape...

This 14in x 11in original oil pastel work by Lauren Rinaldi ships in the pictured archival custom frame measuring 15in x 12in. Lauren Rinaldi works using unbiased portraits of women...

Colorful abstract work by Bay Area artist Kelvin Curry (American, 20th Century). Signed "Kelvin Curry" lower left. Unframed. Image size, 15"H x 11.25"W. Born in Oakland, California ...

America Martin "Yellow Boots, Pink Boots" Oil Pastel & Ink on Cotton Paper 30.25” x 44.25” AMERICA MARTIN is an internationally represented Colombian-Am...

Multi-layered collotype by Patricia A. Pearce (American, b. 1948). This piece is unsigned, but was acquired with a collection of other Pearce work. No frame. Patricia Pearce (Americ...

The murder of John Lennon. The birth of my children. Nixon’s resignation. Brain surgery. Driven by the desire to express myself, and leave a physical record of my life and times, I’v...

This 14" X 10" unframed mixed media pastel and ink etching on paper by Josette Simon Gestin is from the artist's series titled "No way back." On the far right side is a depiction of a redheaded women...