Sedrick Huckaby

Jazmen

2013

Untitled (Joe Louis knocking out Max Schmeling in 1938 rematch) Pen and ink with wash on heavy wove sketchbook paper, 1938 Signed lower right: Fletcher Martin Directly related to Martin's famous painting of 1942 entitled "Lullaby", which was also used in the lithograph of the same name. (see photo) The drawing depicts the third and final knockdown of Max Schmeling in their rematch of 1938. Condition: Mat staining at the edges of the sketchbook page edges Toning to verso from previous framing. Does not affect framed presentation "It was here that Louis first used sport to bridge America's cavernous racial divide. With Hitler on the march in Europe and using Schmeling's victory over Louis as proof of “Aryan supremacy,” anti-Nazi sentiment ran high in the States. Louis had long grown accustomed to the pressures of representing his race but here the burdens were broader and deeper. Now he was shouldering the hopes of an entire nation. A few weeks before the match Louis visited the White House and U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, whose tenure lasted even longer than Louis' would, told him, “Joe, we need muscles like yours to beat Germany.” Those muscles certainly beat Schmeling on fight night...

Nude Female Torso Charcoal on paper, c. 1920 Stamped and initialed in pencil "Asa Cheffetz/A.D.C" Estate signature by wife, A.D.C. Exhibited: Museum of F...

Eileen Lake Crayon on paper, early1930's Initialed in pencil lower right (see photo) Titled and annotated verso "Eileen Lake, early 1930s girlfriend" Note: Eileen Hall Lake was an American poet and Adolf Dehn's girlfriend in the early 1930s. Provenance: Estate of the artist By descent Adolf Dehn, American Watercolorist and Printmaker, 1895-1968 Adolf Dehn was an artist who achieved extraordinary artistic heights, but in a very particular artistic sphere—not so much in oil painting as in watercolor and lithography. Long recognized as a master by serious print collectors, he is gradually gaining recognition as a notable and influential figure in the overall history of American art. In the 19th century, with the invention of the rotary press, which made possible enormous print runs, and the development of the popular, mass-market magazines, newspaper and magazine illustration developed into an artistic realm of its own, often surprisingly divorced from the world of museums and art exhibitions, and today remains surprisingly overlooked by most art historians. Dehn in many regards was an outgrowth of this world, although in an unusual way, since as a young man he produced most of his illustrative work not for popular magazines, such as The Saturday Evening Post, but rather for radical journals, such as The Masses or The Liberator, or artistic “little magazines” such as The Dial. This background established the foundation of his outlook, and led later to his unique and distinctive contribution to American graphic art. If there’s a distinctive quality to his work, it was his skill in introducing unusual tonal and textural effects into his work, particularly in printmaking but also in watercolor. Jackson Pollock seems to have been one of many notable artists who were influenced by his techniques. Early Years, 1895-1922 For an artist largely remembered for scenes of Vienna and Paris, Adolf Dehn’s background was a surprising one. Born in Waterville, Minnesota, on November 22, 1895, Dehn was the descendent of farmers who had emigrated from Germany and homesteaded in the region, initially in a one-room log cabin with a dirt floor. Adolf’s father, Arthur Clark Dehn, was a hunter and trapper who took pride that he had no boss but himself, and who had little use for art. Indeed, during Adolf’s boyhood the walls of his bedroom and the space under his bed were filled with the pelts of mink, muskrats and skunks that his father had killed, skinned and stretched on drying boards. It was Adolf’s mother, Emilie Haas Dehn, a faithful member of the German Lutheran Evangelical Church, who encouraged his interest in art, which became apparent early in childhood. Both parents were ardent socialists, and supporters of Eugene Debs. In many ways Dehn’s later artistic achievement was clearly a reaction against the grinding rural poverty of his childhood. After graduating from high school in 1914 at the age of 19—an age not unusual in farming communities at the time, where school attendance was often irregular—Dehn attended the Minneapolis School of Art from 1914 to 1917, whose character followed strongly reflected that of its director, Munich-trained Robert Kohler, an artistic conservative but a social radical. There Dehn joined a group of students who went on to nationally significant careers, including Wanda Gag (later author of best-selling children’s books); John Flanagan (a sculptor notable for his use of direct carving) Harry Gottlieb (a notable social realist and member of the Woodstock Art Colony), Elizabeth Olds (a printmaker and administrator for the WPA), Arnold Blanch (landscape, still-life and figure painter, and member of the Woodstock group), Lucille Lunquist, later Lucille Blanch (also a gifted painter and founder of the Woodstock art colony), and Johan Egilrud (who stayed in Minneapolis and became a journalist and poet). Adolf became particularly close to Wanda Gag (1893-1946), with whom he established an intense but platonic relationship. Two years older than he, Gag was the daughter of a Bohemian artist and decorator, Anton Gag, who had died in 1908. After her husband died, Wanda’s mother, Lizzi Gag, became a helpless invalid, so Wanda was entrusted with the task of raising and financially supporting her six younger siblings. This endowed her with toughness and an independent streak, but nonetheless, when she met Dehn, Wanda was Victorian and conventional in her artistic taste and social values. Dehn was more socially radical, and introduced her to radical ideas about politics and free love, as well as to socialist publications such as The Masses and The Appeal to Reason. Never very interested in oil painting, in Minneapolis Dehn focused on caricature and illustration--often of a humorous or politically radical character. In 1917 both Dehn and Wanda won scholarships to attend the Art Students League, and consequently, in the fall of that year both moved to New York. Dehn’s art education, however, ended in the summer of 1918, shortly after the United States entered World War I, when he was drafted to serve in the U. S. Army. Unwilling to fight, he applied for status as a conscientious objector, but was first imprisoned, then segregated in semi-imprisonment with other Pacifists, until the war ended. The abuse he suffered at this time may well explain his later withdrawal from taking political stands or making art of an overtly political nature. After his release from the army, Dehn returned to New York where he fell under the spell of the radical cartoonist Boardman Robinson and produced his first lithographs. He also finally consummated his sexual relationship with Wanda Gag. The Years in Europe: 1922-1929 In September of 1921, however, he abruptly departed for Europe, arriving in Paris and then moving on to Vienna. There in the winter of 1922 he fell in love with a Russian dancer, Mura Zipperovitch, ending his seven-year relationship with Wanda Gag. He and Mura were married in 1926. It was also in Vienna that he produced his first notable artistic work. Influenced by European artists such as Jules Pascin and Georg Grosz, Dehn began producing drawings of people in cafes, streets, and parks, which while mostly executed in his studio, were based on spontaneous life studies and have an expressive, sometimes almost childishly wandering quality of line. The mixture of sophistication and naiveté in these drawings was new to American audiences, as was the raciness of their subject matter, which often featured pleasure-seekers, prostitutes or scenes of sexual dalliance, presented with a strong element of caricature. Some of these drawings contain an element of social criticism, reminiscent of that found in the work of George Grosz, although Dehn’s work tended to focus on humorous commentary rather than savagely attacking his subjects or making a partisan political statement. Many Americans, including some who had originally been supporters of Dehn such as Boardman Robinson, were shocked by these European drawings, although George Grocz (who became a friend of the artist in this period) admired them, and recognized that Dehn could also bring a new vision to America subject matter. As he told Dehn: “You will do things in America which haven’t been done, which need to be done, which only you can do—as far at least as I know America.” A key factor in Dehn’s artistic evolution at this time was his association with Scofield Thayer...

Woman with Bicycle: Two Views Graphite on paper, c. 1890 Unsigned Graphite study of standing female nude verso Provenance: Rookwood Pottery Factory Collection, Cincinnati Spanierman ...

Illustrated for the 1949 Four Seasons Calendar, published by Brown and Bigelow. A young girl holds a freshly-picked bouquet of flowers as she strolls alongside a boy who carries he...

Pen and black ink on watermarked Ingres laid paper, 9 1/4 x 12 1/4 inches (234 x 310 mm), signed, dated and titled in brown ink, and initialed and titled in black ink in the lower right corner. Light to moderate age tone and mat tone, and with the signature and notations in brown ink having become quite attenuated, although legible. Presented in a basic black wood frame with a label from the Country Art...

SUSIE Q. SMITH Medium: Newspaper comics Distributed by: King Features Syndicate First Appeared: 1945 Creators: Linda and Jerry Walter 6.5 X 18 Like her contemporaries, Aggie Mack, Candy and Patsy Walker (before her conversion to a superhero), Susie Q. Smith was a female Archie-type — not exactly an imitator, because Archie, who had started only four years earlier, hadn't yet become popular enough to spawn imitators, but part of his genre. She attended high school, where her teachers often seemed unreasonable to her, interacted with the opposite gender in a typically adolescent way, and her parents didn't completely understand her. And she was cute and perky as only a teenage girl can be. Susie was the star of a comic strip distributed by King Features, the biggest of the comic strip syndicates, whose other offerings have ranged from Jackys Diary to Prince Valiant. King launched the strip in both daily and Sunday form in 1945. Daily, she was only in a panel at first, but it expanded into a full, multi-panel strip on February 7, 1953. In a very odd turn of events, in 1953 the Walters chose to leave King Features behind and hitch their wagon at the McNaught Syndicate. The creators were Harold "Jerry" Walter and his wife, Linda. Jerry was also responsible for Jellybean Jones, who has nothing to do with Jughead Jones's young sister, a modern-day addition to the Archie cast of characters. Together, they did The Lively Ones during the 1960s. Though each was capable of doing both major jobs in comic strip production, their usual working method was for Jerry to dream up the ideas and write the dialog, while Linda did the artwork. The Walters also collaborated on a series of Susie Q. Smith comic books for Dell Comics. Instead of reprinting newspaper strips, these ran new stories by the Walters. Between 1951 and '54, four issues were published as part of the Four Color Comics series, where many minor comic strips, including Dotty Dripple, Timmy and Rusty Riley had found a home. It had no other media spin-offs. Susie Q. Smith had a respectable run in the newspapers, but it ended in 1959. Jerry Walter (1915 - 2007) was an abstract expressionist artist whose output of energetic and colorful paintings were the products of the rich artistic milieu of post-war New York City. He was born Harold Frank Walter in Mount Pleasant, Iowa on November 25, 1915. After graduating from Colgate University in 1937, Walter moved to New York City, where he studied drawing and painting at the New School and the Art Students’ League. Before concentrating seriously on his art, he spent several years as a successful copywriter and idea man for the advertising agencies of J. Walter Thompson, McCann Ericson, and BBDO. During this time, he also worked as a syndicated cartoonist. Collaborating with his wife, Linda, his best-known series was Susie Q. Smith, which first appeared in 1945 and described as a “female Archie type.” Very popular, the cartoon was later the subject of a series of comic books published from 1951 to 1954. After serving in the United States Army for three years during World War II, Walter began to paint seriously. He ascribed his earliest artistic influence to Joan Miró, whose Dog Barking at the Moon (1926) he viewed when he was twelve, the year he published his first cartoon. Walter later wrote that jazz, “the first native expression of so-called modernism” was a strong influence on his work. During the later 1940s, Walters spent time at the Research Studio in Maitland, Florida. Founded in 1937 by artist and architect J. André Smith and supported by the philanthropist Mary Curtis Bok, the Research Studio was a lively colony that hosted prominent artists, including Milton Avery, Ralston Crawford, and Doris Lee. While at the Studio, Walter’s work was purchased by Frank Crowninshield. A founding trustee of the Museum of Modern Art and editor of Vanity Fair, Crowinshield was a noted collector; his collection included important works by Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall, Henri Matisse, Edgar Degas, George Bellows, and Pierre Bonnard. Returning to New York after his time at the Studio, Walter became an active member of the New York school of the abstract expressionist movement, and in the summer of 1956, Walter exhibited 13 paintings and a selection of drawings at New York’s Chase Gallery. The adroit manipulation of both color and composition evident in his work shows the influence of Abstract Expressionism, particularly Willem de Kooning, Arshile Gorky, and Hans Hofmann. illustrator and female cartoonist Linda Walter was the talented female mind behind the beloved "Susie Q. Smith" comic strip. She played an instrumental role in shaping the cultural landscape through her vibrant illustrations. Known for the timeless charm of the "Susie Q. Smith" comic strip, Linda's artistry brought joy and laughter to countless readers during the 1950s and continues to resonate with fans across generations. She was part of the Woodstock artists community. from Women in Comics: Linda Walter was the artist of newspaper strip Susie Q. Smith, which was written by her husband, Jerry. It was syndicated by King Features Syndicate and ran from 1945 to 1959. The Walters also contributed original Susie Q. Smith stories to Dell's Four Color comic books from 1951 to 1954. From 1964-1965, they created a singled panel comic called The Lively Ones. Vintage Golden Age of Comics era. The Golden Age of Comic Books describes an era in the history of American comic books from 1938 to 1956. During this time, modern comic books were first published and rapidly increased in popularity. The superhero archetype was created. Between 1939 and 1941 Detective Comics (DC) and its sister company, All-American Publications, introduced popular superheroes such as Batman and Robin, Wonder Woman, the Flash, Green Lantern, Doctor Fate, the Atom, Hawkman, Green Arrow and Aquaman. Timely Comics, the 1940s predecessor of Marvel Comics, had million-selling titles featuring the Human Torch, the Sub-Mariner, and Captain America. Another notable series was The Spirit by Will Eisner. Dell Comics' non-superhero characters (particularly the licensed Walt Disney animated-character comics) outsold the superhero comics of the day. The publisher featured licensed movie and literary characters such as Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Roy Rogers and Tarzan. Additionally, MLJ's introduction of Archie Andrews in Pep Comics #22 (December 1941) gave rise to teen humor comics, with the Archie Comics...

SUSIE Q. SMITH Medium: Newspaper comics Distributed by: King Features Syndicate First Appeared: 1945 Creators: Linda and Jerry Walter 5.75 X 19.75 Dated August 3, 1954 in top right corner. Like her contemporaries, Aggie Mack, Candy and Patsy Walker (before her conversion to a superhero), Susie Q. Smith was a female Archie-type — not exactly an imitator, because Archie, who had started only four years earlier, hadn't yet become popular enough to spawn imitators, but part of his genre. She attended high school, where her teachers often seemed unreasonable to her, interacted with the opposite gender in a typically adolescent way, and her parents didn't completely understand her. And she was cute and perky as only a teenage girl can be. Susie was the star of a comic strip distributed by King Features, the biggest of the comic strip syndicates, whose other offerings have ranged from Jackys Diary to Prince Valiant...