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American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

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Style: American Modern
Alfred Bendiner, Avalon (New Jersey)
Located in New York, NY
Apparently Bendiner never went a day without drawing. He was amazing! From Bendiner's Philadelphia the New Jersey beaches were an easy drive. Avalon is st...
Category

Mid-20th Century American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor

Mayan, Large 20th Century Watercolor, Cleveland School, Viktor Schreckengost
Located in Beachwood, OH
Viktor Schreckengost (American, 1906-2008) Mayan Watercolor heightened with gouache over pencil on paper Signed lower right 39 x 29 inches 45.5 x 35.5 inches, framed Registered with The Viktor Schreckengost foundation, stock no. 6891 The son of a commercial potter in Sebring, Ohio, Viktor Schreckengost learned the craft of sculpting in clay from his father. In the mid-1920s, he enrolled at the Cleveland School of Art (now the Cleveland Institute of Art, or CIA) to study cartoon making, but after seeing an exhibition at the Cleveland Museum of Art he changed his focus to ceramics. Upon graduation in 1929, he studied ceramics in Vienna, Austria, where he began to build a reputation, not only for his art, but also as a jazz saxophonist. A year later, at the age of 25, he became the youngest faculty member at the CIA. In 1931, Schreckengost won the first of several awards for excellence in ceramics at the Cleveland Museum of Art, and his works were shown at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Panama-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco, and elsewhere. By the mid-1930s, Schreckengost had begun to pursue his interest in industrial design. For American Limoges...
Category

20th Century American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor, Gouache

Oxen on Road, Gaspé, Canada, Early 20th Century Cleveland School
Located in Beachwood, OH
Frank Nelson Wilcox (American, 1887-1964) Oxen on Road, Gaspé, Canada, 1932 Watercolor on board Signed and dated lower right 15.25 x 21 inches Frank Nelson Wilcox (October 3, 1887 – April 17, 1964) was a modernist American artist and a master of watercolor. Wilcox is described as the "Dean of Cleveland School painters," though some sources give this appellation to Henry Keller or Frederick Gottwald. Wilcox was born on October 3, 1887 to Frank Nelson Wilcox, Sr. and Jessie Fremont Snow Wilcox at 61 Linwood Street in Cleveland, Ohio. His father, a prominent lawyer, died at home in 1904 shortly before Wilcox' 17th birthday. His brother, lawyer and publisher Owen N. Wilcox, was president of the Gates Legal Publishing Company or The Gates Press. His sister Ruth Wilcox was a respected librarian. In 1906 Wilcox enrolled from the Cleveland School of Art under the tutelage of Henry Keller, Louis Rorimer, and Frederick Gottwald. He also attended Keller's Berlin Heights summer school from 1909. After graduating in 1910, Wilcox traveled and studied in Europe, sometimes dropping by Académie Colarossi in the evening to sketch the model or the other students at their easels, where he was influenced by French impressionism. Wilcox was influenced by Keller's innovative watercolor techniques, and from 1910 to 1916 they experimented together with impressionism and post-impressionism. Wilcox soon developed his own signature style in the American Scene or Regionalist tradition of the early 20th century. He joined the Cleveland School of Art faculty in 1913. Among his students were Lawrence Edwin Blazey, Carl Gaertner, Paul Travis, and Charles E. Burchfield. Around this time Wilcox became associated with Cowan Pottery. In 1916 Wilcox married fellow artist Florence Bard, and they spent most of their honeymoon painting in Berlin Heights with Keller. They had one daughter, Mary. In 1918 he joined the Cleveland Society of Artists, a conservative counter to the Bohemian Kokoon Arts Club, and would later serve as its president. He also began teaching night school at the John Huntington Polytechnic Institute at this time, and taught briefly at Baldwin-Wallace College. Wilcox wrote and illustrated Ohio Indian Trails in 1933, which was favorably reviewed by the New York Times in 1934. This book was edited and reprinted in 1970 by William A. McGill. McGill also edited and reprinted Wilcox' Canals of the Old Northwest in 1969. Wilcox also wrote, illustrated, and published Weather Wisdom in 1949, a limited edition (50 copies) of twenty-four serigraphs (silk screen prints) accompanied by commentary "based upon familiar weather observations commonly made by people living in the country." Wilcox displayed over 250 works at Cleveland's annual May Show. He received numerous awards, including the Penton Medal for as The Omnibus, Paris (1920), Fish Tug on Lake Erie (1921), Blacksmith Shop (1922), and The Gravel Pit (1922). Other paintings include The Trailing Fog (1929), Under the Big Top (1930), and Ohio Landscape...
Category

1930s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor

SELF PORTRAIT IN A GERMAN MANNER - Large Monotype
Located in Santa Monica, CA
KARL SCHRAG (German - American 1912 - 1995) SELF PORTRAIT IN THE GERMAN MANNER, 1991 Monotype, Signed titled, dated and annotated "Monotype with touches of Oil color, I /I" Plate an...
Category

1990s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Monotype

The Entertainment, 20th century American family scene watercolor
Located in Beachwood, OH
Frank Nelson Wilcox (American, 1887-1964) The Entertainment, c. 1955 Watercolor on paper Signed lower right 20 x 30 inches Exhibited: 1955 May Show, Cleveland Museum of Art "The first district schools were log houses...
Category

1950s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor

Nude, 1959, Ink and Watercolor, Figure, Mid-Century, American
Located in Wiscasset, ME
Born in Barranquilla, Colombia in 1923, Knox Martin moved with his family to New York City in 1927. He attended The Art Students League of New York from 1946 to 1950 under the GI Bil...
Category

20th Century American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Ink, Watercolor

Whimsical Fishing Illustration Cartoon 1938 Mt Tremblant Ski Lodge William Steig
Located in Surfside, FL
Lighthearted Illustration of Outdoor Pursuits This one of a fisherman signed "W. Steig" Provenance: from Mrs. Joseph B. Ryan, Commissioned by Joe Ryan for the bar at his ski resort, Mount Tremblant Lodge, in 1938. Mont Tremblant, P.Q., Canada Watercolor and ink on illustration board, sights sizes 8 1/2 x 16 1/2 in., framed. In 1938 Joe Ryan, described as a millionaire from Philadelphia, bushwhacked his way to the summit of Mont Tremblant and was inspired to create a world class ski resort at the site. In 1939 he opened the Mont Tremblant Lodge, which remains part of the Pedestrian Village today. This original illustration is on Whatman Illustration board. the board measures 14 X 22 inches. label from McClees Galleries, Philadelphia, on the frame backing paper. William Steig, 1907 – 2003 was an American cartoonist, sculptor, and, in his later life, an illustrator and writer of children's books. Best known for the picture books Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, Abel's Island, and Doctor De Soto, he was also the creator of Shrek!, which inspired the film series of the same name. He was the U.S. nominee for both of the biennial, international Hans Christian Andersen Awards, as a children's book illustrator in 1982 and a writer in 1988. Steig was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1907, and grew up in the Bronx. His parents were Polish-Jewish immigrants from Austria, both socialists. His father, Joseph Steig, was a house painter, and his mother, Laura Ebel Steig, was a seamstress who encouraged his artistic leanings. As a child, he dabbled in painting and was an avid reader of literature. Among other works, he was said to have been especially fascinated by Pinocchio.He graduated from Townsend Harris High School at 15 but never completed college, though he attended three, spending two years at City College of New York, three years at the National Academy of Design and a mere five days at the Yale School of Fine Arts before dropping out of each. Hailed as the "King of Cartoons" Steig began drawing illustrations and cartoons for The New Yorker in 1930, producing more than 2,600 drawings and 117 covers for the magazine. Steig, later, when he was 61, began writing children's books. In 1968, he wrote his first children's book. He excelled here as well, and his third book, Sylvester and the Magic Pebble (1969), won the Caldecott Medal. He went on to write more than 30 children's books, including the Doctor DeSoto series, and he continued to write into his nineties. Among his other well-known works, the picture book Shrek! (1990) formed the basis for the DreamWorks Animation film Shrek (2001). After the release of Shrek 2 in 2004, Steig became the first sole-creator of an animated movie franchise that went on to generate over $1 billion from theatrical and ancillary markets after only one sequel. Along with Maurice Sendak, Saul Steinberg, Ludwig Bemelmans and Laurent de Brunhofff his is one of those rare cartoonist whose works form part of our collective cultural heritage. In 1984, Steig's film adaptation of Doctor DeSoto directed by Michael Sporn was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. As one of the most admired cartoonists of all time, Steig spent seven decades drawing for the New Yorker magazine. He touched generations of readers with his tongue–in–cheek pen–and–ink drawings, which often expressed states of mind like shame, embarrassment or anger. Later in life, Steig turned to children's books, working as both a writer and illustrator. Steig's children's books were also wildly popular because of the crazy, complicated language he used—words like lunatic, palsied, sequestration, and cleave. Kids love the sound of those words even if they do not quite understand the meaning. Steig's descriptions were also clever. He once described a beached whale as "breaded with sand." Throughout the course of his career, Steig compiled his cartoons and drawings into books. Some of them were published first in the New Yorker. Others were deemed too dark to be printed there. Most of these collections centered on the cold, dark psychoanalytical truth about relationships. They featured husbands and wives fighting and parents snapping at their kids. His first adult book, Man About Town, was published in 1932, followed by About People, published in 1939, which focused on social outsiders. Sick of Each Other, published in 2000, included a drawing depicting a wife holding her husband at gunpoint, saying, "Say you adore me." According to the Los Angeles Times, fellow New Yorker artist...
Category

1930s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

India Ink, Watercolor, Illustration Board

"Loser's Rack" - Original Charcoal and Graphite Drawing on Paper
Located in Soquel, CA
"Loser's Rack" - Original Charcoal and Graphite Drawing on Paper This drawing by California artist, Angela Stone (American, b. 1983), provides brilliant 1-point perspective in a val...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Charcoal, Graphite

Crashing Waves on Atlantic Coast, Mid-century Seascape, Cleveland School Artist
Located in Beachwood, OH
Frank Nelson Wilcox (American, 1887-1964) Crashing Waves on the Atlantic Coast, 1957 Watercolor and graphite on paper Signed and dated lower right 22 x 29 inches Frank Nelson Wilcox (October 3, 1887 – April 17, 1964) was a modernist American artist and a master of watercolor. Wilcox is described as the "Dean of Cleveland School painters," though some sources give this appellation to Henry Keller or Frederick Gottwald. Wilcox was born on October 3, 1887 to Frank Nelson Wilcox, Sr. and Jessie Fremont Snow Wilcox at 61 Linwood Street in Cleveland, Ohio. His father, a prominent lawyer, died at home in 1904 shortly before Wilcox' 17th birthday. His brother, lawyer and publisher Owen N. Wilcox, was president of the Gates Legal Publishing Company or The Gates Press. His sister Ruth Wilcox was a respected librarian. In 1906 Wilcox enrolled from the Cleveland School of Art under the tutelage of Henry Keller, Louis Rorimer, and Frederick Gottwald. He also attended Keller's Berlin Heights summer school from 1909. After graduating in 1910, Wilcox traveled and studied in Europe, sometimes dropping by Académie Colarossi in the evening to sketch the model or the other students at their easels, where he was influenced by French impressionism. Wilcox was influenced by Keller's innovative watercolor techniques, and from 1910 to 1916 they experimented together with impressionism and post-impressionism. Wilcox soon developed his own signature style in the American Scene or Regionalist tradition of the early 20th century. He joined the Cleveland School of Art faculty in 1913. Among his students were Lawrence Edwin Blazey, Carl Gaertner, Paul Travis, and Charles E. Burchfield. Around this time Wilcox became associated with Cowan Pottery. In 1916 Wilcox married fellow artist Florence Bard, and they spent most of their honeymoon painting in Berlin Heights with Keller. They had one daughter, Mary. In 1918 he joined the Cleveland Society of Artists, a conservative counter to the Bohemian Kokoon Arts Club, and would later serve as its president. He also began teaching night school at the John Huntington Polytechnic Institute at this time, and taught briefly at Baldwin-Wallace College. Wilcox wrote and illustrated Ohio Indian Trails in 1933, which was favorably reviewed by the New York Times in 1934. This book was edited and reprinted in 1970 by William A. McGill. McGill also edited and reprinted Wilcox' Canals of the Old Northwest in 1969. Wilcox also wrote, illustrated, and published Weather Wisdom in 1949, a limited edition (50 copies) of twenty-four serigraphs (silk screen prints) accompanied by commentary "based upon familiar weather observations commonly made by people living in the country." Wilcox displayed over 250 works at Cleveland's annual May Show. He received numerous awards, including the Penton Medal for as The Omnibus, Paris (1920), Fish Tug on Lake Erie (1921), Blacksmith Shop (1922), and The Gravel Pit (1922). Other paintings include The Trailing Fog (1929), Under the Big Top (1930), and Ohio Landscape...
Category

1950s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Graphite, Watercolor

The Ruby R
Located in Myrtle Beach, SC
William Thon, 'The Ruby R', watercolor, c. 1990. Signed, lower right; titled verso. A fine, expressionist work, on off-white watercolor paper; the image extending to the sheet edges....
Category

1950s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor

Characters from the Sketchbooks (from September Storm plus Self Portrait)
Located in New Orleans, LA
This is a page from the artist's sketchbooks. Six pencil drawings show figures that might have been in preparation for future lithographs, Certainly the woman with the umbrella could have been an early iteration for September Storm. There is also a self portrait of Nesbitt. Clearly the works are authentic if unsigned. Provenance: from the Nesbitt studio. From workers wrestling with heavy machinery to a lone horseman traveling down a rut-filled country road; from the animated crowd at a livestock auction to the dignified worshippers at a serene Sunday service; Jackson Lee Nesbitt chose to represent the essence of humanity and the nobility of ordinary folk striving to get along as best they can. He studied with Thomas Hart Benton and John Demartelly...
Category

Late 20th Century American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Graphite

Statue of Young Boy in Fountain on the Plaza
Located in New Orleans, LA
This very early original red conte drawing is signed "Jack L. Nesbitt, 4/21/34". On the back of the drawing, Nesbitt has written "Quick sketch from fountain on Plaza". Jack was a student of Thomas Hart Benton at the Kansas City Art Institute during this period. The figure on the drawing is of a nude young boy with both arms in the air. A very rare early work by this fine artist. Jackson Lee Nesbitt, a noted printmaker and painter of the American Scene, dedicated his artistic career to the portrayal of ordinary people going about the business of their lives. A native of Oklahoma, Nesbitt created scenes from the Midwest during the 1930s and 1940s, but in the 1950s, when interest in his work diminished, he moved to Atlanta and established a second career in advertising. Thirty years later, Nesbitt sold his business and resumed his artistic career from Atlanta. He was born in McAlester, Oklahoma, on June 16, 1913, the only child of LuCena Grant and Howard Nesbitt. The family resided in Muskogee, Oklahoma, where his father owned a commercial printing business. Jack, as Nesbitt was known, helped out in the family business until 1931, when he enrolled at the University of Oklahoma in Norman. Two years later Nesbitt enrolled at the Kansas City Art Institute in Missouri. As a first-year student, he learned etching from John deMartelly, attended Ross Braught's painting class, and met his future wife, Elaine Thompson, who was a costume design student. Thomas Hart Benton, who joined the faculty in the fall of 1935, quickly became a close friend and mentor to the younger artist. In 1937 the management of the Sheffield Steel Corporation contacted deMartelly concerning an etching commission. Because Nesbitt was an outstanding student, his teacher suggested him for the job. When Nesbitt arrived at the plant one afternoon, he was taken to the open-hearth furnace area, where he diligently sketched anonymous workers in that dramatic setting until five o'clock the following morning. On the strength of his sketches, he was commissioned to create a series of etchings illustrating different phases of the steel industry. The commission launched Nesbitt's career as a professional artist. The commission with Sheffield Steel Corporation provided the financial security that enabled Jack and Elaine Nesbitt to marry on June 1, 1938. He graduated from the Kansas City Art Institute about the same time. Working as a freelance artist, Nesbitt augmented his commissioned work with genre scenes of the Midwest, and he routinely went with Benton on sketching trips to rural Arkansas. Beginning in 1939 Nesbitt's work gained widespread recognition. Open Hearth Door, a Sheffield Steel Corporation painting, was chosen to represent Missouri in the American Art Today exhibition at the New York World's Fair. Associated American Artists selected one of his etchings, Watering Place, for an edition of 250 prints that were sold through subscription. Having a print published by the association ensured national distribution, and four more of Nesbitt's works, all of rural southern genre scenes, were later selected by the print publisher. Over the next decade Nesbitt's work was exhibited in California, Colorado, Illinois, Missouri, New York, and Oklahoma. He was awarded the Eames Prize by the Society of American Etchers in 1946, and his work was included in the book American Prize Prints of the Twentieth Century, by Albert Reese. Major corporations with operations in the Midwest, including Brown and Bigelow, Butler Manufacturing Company, Humble Oil and Refining Company, Omaha Steel Works, Pratt and Whitney...
Category

1930s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Conté

Geometric Woman's Portrait - Rare Signed Graphite Drawing on Paper 1962
Located in Soquel, CA
Geometric Woman's Portrait - Rare Signed Graphite Drawing on Paper 1962 Beautiful, soft original drawing by Eugene Hawkins (American, b. 1933). A realistic depiction of a short-haired woman, her large lips parted into a soft smile. She's surrounded in geometric shapes offering a wonderful juxtaposition to the natural curves of her face and hair. Signed in pencil, "Eugene Hawkins '62" Presented in a new black mat. Mat size: 20"H x 16"W Paper size: 18.5"H x 14.5"W Eugene Hawkins (American, b. 1933) is a BIPOC artist known for his detailed portraiture and printmaking. He is listed in Who Was Who in American Art, 1564-1975, and his work was exhibited in the Whitney Museum of American Art. He spent the majority of his life working and exhibiting in Southern California. His work frequently touches upon socio-political subjects, making strong statements about the world. The California African American Museum features Eugene Hawkins's work in the Permanent Collection. Exhibition: 2017 Paperworks: Selections from the Permanent Collection focuses on works on paper produced from 1950-2000 and includes figurative, impressionistic, and abstract styles. The exhibition showcases the radically diverse range of works on paper created by African American and other artists over the last two centuries, and includes drawings, prints, paintings, and collages by Edward Mitchell Bannister...
Category

1960s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Graphite

Villa Giardino, 20th Century Charcoal Italian Landscape Drawing
Located in Beachwood, OH
Clara Deike (American, 1881-1964) Villa Giardino Charcoal on paper Signed and titled verso 17.75 x 12.5 inches A graduate of the Cleveland School of Art in 1912, Clara Deike was pa...
Category

20th Century American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Charcoal

"Times Square" Mid 20th Century 1937 Modernism Broadway Drawing NYC Cityscape
Located in New York, NY
"Times Square" Mid 20th Century 1937 Modernism Broadway Drawing NYC Cityscape Philip Goodwin (20th Century) "Times Square," 23 ½ x 17 ¼ inches. Gouache...
Category

1930s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Gouache

Women's Corner, Along the Cuyahoga River, Early 20th Century Landscape
Located in Beachwood, OH
Frank Nelson Wilcox (American, 1887-1964) Women's Corner, Along the Cuyahoga River, c. 1916 Watercolor and graphite on paper 21 x 29 inches Frank Nelson Wilcox (October 3, 1887 – April 17, 1964) was a modernist American artist and a master of watercolor. Wilcox is described as the "Dean of Cleveland School painters," though some sources give this appellation to Henry Keller or Frederick Gottwald. Wilcox was born on October 3, 1887 to Frank Nelson Wilcox, Sr. and Jessie Fremont Snow Wilcox at 61 Linwood Street in Cleveland, Ohio. His father, a prominent lawyer, died at home in 1904 shortly before Wilcox' 17th birthday. His brother, lawyer and publisher Owen N. Wilcox, was president of the Gates Legal Publishing Company or The Gates Press. His sister Ruth Wilcox was a respected librarian. In 1906 Wilcox enrolled from the Cleveland School of Art under the tutelage of Henry Keller, Louis Rorimer, and Frederick Gottwald. He also attended Keller's Berlin Heights summer school from 1909. After graduating in 1910, Wilcox traveled and studied in Europe, sometimes dropping by Académie Colarossi in the evening to sketch the model or the other students at their easels, where he was influenced by French impressionism. Wilcox was influenced by Keller's innovative watercolor techniques, and from 1910 to 1916 they experimented together with impressionism and post-impressionism. Wilcox soon developed his own signature style in the American Scene or Regionalist tradition of the early 20th century. He joined the Cleveland School of Art faculty in 1913. Among his students were Lawrence Edwin Blazey, Carl Gaertner, Paul Travis, and Charles E. Burchfield. Around this time Wilcox became associated with Cowan Pottery. In 1916 Wilcox married fellow artist Florence Bard, and they spent most of their honeymoon painting in Berlin Heights with Keller. They had one daughter, Mary. In 1918 he joined the Cleveland Society of Artists, a conservative counter to the Bohemian Kokoon Arts Club, and would later serve as its president. He also began teaching night school at the John Huntington Polytechnic Institute at this time, and taught briefly at Baldwin-Wallace College. Wilcox wrote and illustrated Ohio Indian Trails in 1933, which was favorably reviewed by the New York Times in 1934. This book was edited and reprinted in 1970 by William A. McGill. McGill also edited and reprinted Wilcox' Canals of the Old Northwest in 1969. Wilcox also wrote, illustrated, and published Weather Wisdom in 1949, a limited edition (50 copies) of twenty-four serigraphs (silk screen prints) accompanied by commentary "based upon familiar weather observations commonly made by people living in the country." Wilcox displayed over 250 works at Cleveland's annual May Show. He received numerous awards, including the Penton Medal for as The Omnibus, Paris (1920), Fish Tug on Lake Erie (1921), Blacksmith Shop (1922), and The Gravel Pit (1922). Other paintings include The Trailing Fog (1929), Under the Big Top (1930), and Ohio Landscape...
Category

1910s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor, Graphite

Provincetown (Sunbathing)
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Provincetown (Sunbathing) Sepia ink on tan paper, 1966 Signed in ink lower center (see photo) Exhibited: Art from Lexington Homes, Lincoln Massachusetts, May 14-22, 1966 (see label) ...
Category

1960s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Ink

Indian Dancer - Vintage Illustration in Ink and Watercolor
Located in Soquel, CA
Indian Dancer - Vintage Illustration in Ink and Watercolor A stoic, dark-haired woman in elaborate dress is sitting cross-legged in this illustration by Irene Pattinson (American, 1909-1999). Pattinson uses fine ink line detail and a vibrant pink watercolor for a splash of color. Signed at the bottom, "Irene Pattinson." Provenance: The Artist, Estate of Irene Pattinson: David Carlson; Estate of Larry Miller Fine Art, Robert Azensky Fine Art. Presented in a new white mat with foam core backing. Mat size: 16"H x 12"W Paper size: 11.75"H x 8.5"W Image size: 7.5"H x 6.5"W Irene Pattinson (American, 1909-1999) studied at the California School of Fine Art (now The San Francisco Art Institute), San Francisco State College and The Marion Hartwell School of Design. She was President of the San Francisco Woman Artists Association 1955-56. Provenance: The Artist, Estate of Irene Pattinson: David Carlson; Estate of Larry Miller Fine Art, Robert Azensky Fine Art. Solo Exhibitions: Lucien Labaudt Gallery 1955; San Francisco Museum of Art, 1961 (39 works). Selected Group Exhibitions: San Francisco Art Association Annual 1948, 54, 55; San Francisco Woman Artists, 1957-1960; Oakland Art Museum Annual, 1951, 58; California Palace of the Legion of Honor, 1960; Richmond Art Center, 1955, 56, 57, 58; San Francisco Art Institute 1959, 60. The Art Bank of the San Francisco Art Association, 1958, 59, 60, 62, 63; Winter Invitational, California Palace of The Legion of Honor, San Francisco, 1960; Fourth Winter Invitational, California Palace of The Legion of Honor, San Francisco, 1963. Awards: First Place, San Francisco Woman Artists Assoc., 1957, 1959; San Francisco Art Festival 1957;Literature: San Francisco Art Institute - A catalog of the Art Ban 1962/63; San Francisco and the Second Wave: The Blair Collection Exhibitions: 1963 The Art Bank of the San Francisco Art Association, San Francisco, CA 1963 California Palace of The Legion of Honor: Forth Winter Invitational, San Francisco, CA 1962 The Art Bank of the San Francisco Art Association, San Francisco, CA 1961 San Francisco Museum of Art, San Francisco, CA 1960 California...
Category

1950s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, India Ink, Watercolor, Pen

Volcano and Arch, Taormina, Sicily, Italy, Mid Century Cleveland School Artist
Located in Beachwood, OH
Clarence Holbrook Carter (American, 1904-2000) Volcano and Arch, Taormina, 1961 Watercolor on scintilla paper Signed and dated upper right 11 x 11 inches "My last year in art schoo...
Category

1960s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor

Construction on the Pass, Montana, Western Landscape, Cleveland School Artist
Located in Beachwood, OH
Frank Nelson Wilcox (American, 1887-1964) Construction on the Pass, Montana, c. 1950 Watercolor on Whatman board 22 x 30 inches Frank Nelson Wilcox (October 3, 1887 – April 17, 1964) was a modernist American artist and a master of watercolor. Wilcox is described as the "Dean of Cleveland School painters," though some sources give this appellation to Henry Keller or Frederick Gottwald. Wilcox was born on October 3, 1887 to Frank Nelson Wilcox, Sr. and Jessie Fremont Snow Wilcox at 61 Linwood Street in Cleveland, Ohio. His father, a prominent lawyer, died at home in 1904 shortly before Wilcox' 17th birthday. His brother, lawyer and publisher Owen N. Wilcox, was president of the Gates Legal Publishing Company or The Gates Press. His sister Ruth Wilcox was a respected librarian. In 1906 Wilcox enrolled from the Cleveland School of Art under the tutelage of Henry Keller, Louis Rorimer...
Category

1950s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor

Rare Chaim Gross Watercolor Painting Manhattan Skyscrapers Train NYC WPA Artist
Located in Surfside, FL
This appears to be dated 1927. It came in with a piece dated 1929. A very early, rare work. Framed 22.5 x 18. Image 14.5 x 9 A great New York city street scene with an El train (elev...
Category

Mid-20th Century American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

General Merch Way Down in Chinatown - Vintage Illustration in Ink
Located in Soquel, CA
General Merch Way Down in Chinatown - Vintage Illustration in Ink This illustration, inked in intricate detail by Irene Pattinson (American, 1909-1999), shows two men with long brai...
Category

1950s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, India Ink, Watercolor, Pen

A Humorous, Mid-Century Modern Cartoon Ink Drawing, Couple at Fun House Mirror
Located in Chicago, IL
A Quirky, Humorous 1950s Mid-Century Modern Cartoon Illustration Ink Drawing Depicting a Young Couple Standing Beside A Fun House Mirror by Notable Chicago Artist, Harold Haydon (Am....
Category

Mid-20th Century American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Ink

A Quirky, Mid-Century Modern Cartoon Ink Drawing, "Women's Committee Meeting"
Located in Chicago, IL
A Quirky, Humorous 1950s Mid-Century Modern Cartoon Illustration Ink Drawing Depicting a Women's Committee Meeting by Notable Chicago Artist, Harold Haydon (Am. 1909-1994). Artwor...
Category

1940s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Ink

A Delightful, 1950s Mid-Century Modern Ink Drawing Cartoon, Cat and Mouse Trap
Located in Chicago, IL
A Delightful, 1950s Mid-Century Modern Ink Drawing Cartoon Illustration of a Cat Resting by a Mouse Trap by Notable Chicago Artist, Harold Haydon (Am. 1909-1994). Artwork size: 8 ...
Category

1950s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Ink

A Striking 1950s Mid-Century Modern Ink Drawing of a Dancing Couple
Located in Chicago, IL
A Striking, 1950s Mid-Century Modern Ink Drawing of a Dancing Couple by Notable Chicago Artist, Harold Haydon (Am. 1909-1994). Depicting an embracing couple engaged in the classic, ...
Category

Mid-20th Century American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Ink

A Striking 1950s Mid-Century Modern Ink Drawing of a Dancing Couple
Located in Chicago, IL
A Striking, 1950s Mid-Century Modern Ink Drawing of a Dancing Couple by Notable Chicago Artist, Harold Haydon (Am. 1909-1994). Depicting an embracing couple engaged in the classic, ...
Category

Mid-20th Century American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Ink

Head of a Young Woman with Blond Hair
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Head of a Young Woman with Blond Hair Watercolor on paper mounted on rag paper support, c. 1930 Signed with the Estate Stamp B Provenance: Estate of the Artist ...
Category

1930s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor

Stevedores, Ohio River, Early 20th Century Cleveland School Artist
Located in Beachwood, OH
Frank Nelson Wilcox (American, 1887-1964) Stevedores, Ohio River, c. 1920 Watercolor on paper Signed lower right 21.5 x 29. 5 inches "The trip Otto Ege and I made from Pittsburgh to Marietta by riverboat and then by train to Mammoth Cave, was the next high spot in my artistic explorations. We saw something of the Old Southern river life on the way - the roustabouts, the showboat and river town life at Point Pleasant, and then to the sombre tonal mysteries of the Cave. These sights added much to my pictorial vocabulary..." - Frank Wilcox Frank Nelson Wilcox (October 3, 1887 – April 17, 1964) was a modernist American artist and a master of watercolor. Wilcox is described as the "Dean of Cleveland School...
Category

1920s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor

A ca. 1954, drawing of a Notre Dame Football Game by Artist Francis Chapin
Located in Chicago, IL
A ca. 1954 pastel & charcoal on paper drawing of a Notre Dame football game by artist Francis Chapin. Artwork size: 12" x 19". Archivally matted ...
Category

1950s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Charcoal, Pastel

Untitled (Double sided watercolor) Recto: Figures seated at a table
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Watercolor on paper Most probably related to the artist's creation of images surrounding Haggadah (Passover) which he started in 1930 and finished with the publication of his book in...
Category

1960s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor

The Voyeur
Located in San Francisco, CA
This artwork "The Voyeur" c.1980 is a watercolor on heavy watercolor paper by California artist Charlotte Huntley. It is signed at the lower left cor...
Category

Late 20th Century American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor

A Fine 1930s, Modern Academic Figure Study Drawing, Standing Male Nude (Back)
Located in Chicago, IL
A Fine 1930s, Modern Academic Figure Study Drawing of a Standing Male Nude Model (Back) by Notable Chicago Artist, Harold Haydon (Am. 1909-1994). An exceptionally well executed, ear...
Category

1930s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Charcoal

1960s "Leaning Over" Gouache & Oil Pastel Bay Area Figurative Movement
Located in Arp, TX
Gloria Dudfield "Leaning Over" c. 1960s Gouache and charcoal on newsprint Unsigned 18" x 12" framed silver bamboo frame black mat 19.25"x25.25" Gloria...
Category

Mid-20th Century American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Oil Pastel, Gouache

A 1950s Pastel and Charcoal Drawing of a Hockey Game by Francis Chapin
Located in Chicago, IL
Perfect for your hockey enthusiast! A 1950s pastel on paper drawing of a hockey game by Francis Chapin. Image size: 9" x 12". Matted size: 14" x 18". Provenance: Estate of the artist. Francis Chapin, affectionately called the “Dean of Chicago Painters” by his colleagues, was one of the city’s most popular and celebrated painters in his day. Born at the dawn of the 20th Century in Bristolville, Ohio, Chapin graduated from Washington & Jefferson College near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania before enrolling at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1922. He would set down deep roots at the Art Institute of Chicago, exhibiting there over 31 times between 1926 and 1951. In 1927 Chapin won the prestigious Bryan Lathrop Fellowship from the Art Institute – a prize that funded the artist’s yearlong study trip to Europe. Upon his return to the United States, Chapin decided to remain in Chicago, noting the freedom Chicago artists have in developing independently of the pressure to conform to pre-existing molds (as was experienced by artists in New York, for example). Chapin became a popular instructor at the Art Institute, teaching there from 1929 to 1947 and at the Art Institute’s summer art school in Saugatuck, Michigan (now called Oxbow) between 1934 – 1938 (he was the director of the school from 1941-1945). Chapin’s contemporaries among Chicago’s artists included such luminaries as Ivan Le Lorraine Albright...
Category

1950s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Charcoal, Pastel

A Fine, Modern 1930s Academic Anatomical Figure Study (Female Legs & Feet)
Located in Chicago, IL
A Fine, Modern 1930s Academic Anatomical Figure Study of a Standing Female Model (Legs and Feet) by Notable Chicago Artist, Harold Haydon (Am. 1909-1994). A well executed, early 193...
Category

1930s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Charcoal

A Very Finely Drawn 1930s Modern Figure Study of a Female Nude Model (Back)
Located in Chicago, IL
A Very Finely Drawn, 1930s Modern Figure Study of a Standing Female Nude Model (Back) by Notable Chicago Modern Artist, Harold Haydon (Am. 1909-1994). An early composite charcoal d...
Category

1930s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Charcoal, Paper

Blanche Grambs, (Study for a Souffle)
Located in New York, NY
In the 1950s and 60s Grambs worked on many commissions. The symmetrical nature of the drawing suggests it was for a book or magazine project with facing pages -- possibly a cookboo...
Category

Mid-20th Century American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Ink

"There are Two of You" Early Modern Original Foley's Ad Layout of Woman & Mirror
Located in Houston, TX
Early modern original watercolor and gouache ad layout for Foley's by Houston portraitist Robert C. Joy. The work features a central reflection of a woman doing her makeup while wear...
Category

Early 20th Century American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor, Gouache

"Sons and Lovers" Drill Drawing, #5
Located in Dallas, TX
Signed by artist "M. O'KEEFE 2013" at lower left. Media is graphite on clay-coated panel. Overall dimensions including the frame are 18 x 15 inches.
Category

2010s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Clay, Panel, Graphite

Emil Ganso, (Reclining Nude)
Located in New York, NY
A classic Emil Ganso nude. Quite large, the sheet is 14 1/8 x 21 inches and the image goes all the way across the sheet from left to right. Very delicately drawn - especially for Ganso.
Category

1930s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Pencil

Three Poses - Original Male Nude Figurative Drawing on Paper
Located in Soquel, CA
Three Poses - Original Male Nude Figurative Drawing on Paper Original male figurative drawing on paper depicting a nude male posing in three diff...
Category

20th Century American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

India Ink, Laid Paper

Broadway Costume Illustration by Designer Mabel E. Johnston
Located in New York, NY
Mabel E. Johnston Untitled, c. 1920s Watercolor and pencil on paper Sight: 18 x 12 1/2 in. Framed: 39 x 21 1/4 x 1/2 in. Signed lower right: Mabel E. Johnston The first tidbit I fou...
Category

1920s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Watercolor, Pencil

NYC Cityscape American Scene Social Realism Mid-Century
Located in New York, NY
NYC Cityscape American Scene Social Realism Mid-Century Max Arthur Cohn (1903-1998) New York City Skyline 14 x 21 1/2 inches Watercolor on paper, c. 1...
Category

1930s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

Grace Martin Taylor (Frame), (Town View), 1930, pastel, signed
Located in New York, NY
West Virginia native Grace Martin Taylor, artist for the brightly colored pastel (TownView), attended the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and the Art S...
Category

1930s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Pastel

Rockwellian Style Watercolor by WW2 Illustrator Carol Johnson
Located in New York, NY
Carol Johnson (American, c. 1917-2003) Untitled (American Family), c. 1950 Watercolor and paper mounted to board 13 5/8 x 23 inches Signed lower right: C...
Category

1950s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Mixed Media, Watercolor, Board

Saint Rose on a Bed of Glass
Located in Dallas, TX
This is lithographic crayon and gouache on paper
Category

1950s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Crayon, Gouache

Reclining Female Nude
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Reclining Female Nude Charcoal on paper, c. 1933 Signed lower right (see photo) Provenance: Weyhe Gallery, New York (Ganso's dealer 1925-1941) Joseph Mark Erdelac, Cleveland, noted c...
Category

1930s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Graphite

She Gets Her Way (Couple with Vase)
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This drawing is part of our exhibition Charles Goeller: A Wistful Loneliness. Crayon on paper, 11 ½ x 9 inches (image), 14 x 11 inches (sheet), Signed...
Category

1930s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Crayon, Paper

Destroyer, American Modern Watercolor Painting by Robert Parker 1964
Located in Long Island City, NY
Executed in an American Modern style reminiscent of Lyonel Feininger, this Robert Andrew Parker watercolor painting depicts a warship at sea. The work is signed and dated lower left....
Category

1960s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor

Alfred Bendiner, (Supper at the Oak Room, Plaza Hotel, NYC)
Located in New York, NY
Bendiner always took drawing materials with him when he traveled. And a beautiful piece of 'found' paper was never wasted. (Once in Greece on a bus trip he had to acquire paper from ...
Category

1960s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Ink

Rare 1950s Original Syndicated Ink Drawing Cartoon Strip Susie Q Smith Comic Art
Located in Surfside, FL
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...
Category

1950s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Ink

Figure by Window, graphite, pastel, mylar, paper layered drawing, female, nude
Located in Brooklyn, NY
This feminist work of a nude gazing directly at the viewer, features graphite on mylar over cut paper, aligned to amplify the forms while maintaining the delicacy of the drawing. These recently discovered 1984 oversize works on mylar and archival papers were created with a live model. The series shows the last existing observational drawings prior to the artist's switch to working with her non- dominant left hand. As a feminist, Anastasi's main focus is presenting other women. Unlike the often objectified male gaze...
Category

1980s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Mylar, Pastel, Mixed Media, Archival Paper

A ca. 1928 Drawing of a Dapper Man with a Pint Glass by Artist Francis Chapin
Located in Chicago, IL
A ca. 1928 charcoal on paper drawing of a dapper man with a pint glass by artist Francis Chapin. Image size: 12" x 9". Matted size: 14" x 18". Provenance: Estate of the artist. Francis Chapin, affectionately called the “Dean of Chicago Painters” by his colleagues, was one of the city’s most popular and celebrated painters in his day. Born at the dawn of the 20th Century in Bristolville, Ohio, Chapin graduated from Washington & Jefferson College near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania before enrolling at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1922. He would set down deep roots at the Art Institute of Chicago, exhibiting there over 31 times between 1926 and 1951. In 1927 Chapin won the prestigious Bryan Lathrop Fellowship from the Art Institute – a prize that funded the artist’s yearlong study trip to Europe. Upon his return to the United States, Chapin decided to remain in Chicago, noting the freedom Chicago artists have in developing independently of the pressure to conform to pre-existing molds (as was experienced by artists in New York, for example). Chapin became a popular instructor at the Art Institute, teaching there from 1929 to 1947 and at the Art Institute’s summer art school in Saugatuck, Michigan (now called Oxbow) between 1934 – 1938 (he was the director of the school from 1941-1945). Chapin’s contemporaries among Chicago’s artists included such luminaries as Ivan Le Lorraine Albright...
Category

1920s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Charcoal

Barns in the Helderberg, New York (rural 1930s American scene with vintage car)
Located in New Orleans, LA
"Barns in the Helderberg, New York" by Martin Lewis shows neighbors (one in a Model T car) visiting outside a series of barns with a tree in the background...
Category

1930s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Chalk, Charcoal

Lower East Side Crowd
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Lower East Side Crowd Ink and ink wash on paper, c. 1910 Signed in ink lower center edge (see photo) Signed with the initials lower right corner (see p...
Category

1910s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Ink

Girl in Profile
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Girl in Profile Lithographic crayon and watercolor on thin wove paper, c. 1930 Signed twice in pencil (see photos) Provenance: Estate of the Artist Edward Somme...
Category

1930s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor

Curlee Raven Holton, Three Views of a Dancer
Located in New York, NY
A painter, draftsman, printmaker and master printer, Curlee Raven Holton (born 1951) taught for twenty years at Lafayette College, Pennsylvania, a...
Category

1980s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor

Alfred Bendiner, La Alsacienne (pair)
Located in New York, NY
Leave it to the Bendiners to find an Alsatian restaurant in Paris (La Taverne Alsacienne) and use it's stationary to such a great end! And thank goodness that the paper required two ...
Category

1960s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor

Untitled (Study for The Aerialists)
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Untitled (Study for The Aerialists) Graphite on paper, 1932 Signed lower right in pencil: "John Steuart Curry" Dated: 1932 in pencil Exhibited: Schroeder Romero & Shredder, NYC (label), Master Drawings, Oct. 13, 2011-Nov. 12, 2011 (see photo of label) Arkansas Arts Center (label), 44th Collector Show & Sale, Nov. 30-December 30, 2012, Offered at $22,000. (see photo of label) This drawing is closely related to a painting by Curry entitled The Aerialists, 1932, once in the Erskine Collection, Cedar Rapids, Iowa. It is part of a group of preliminary drawings and three finished paintings executed by Curry around 1932 which were based on The Flying Cadonas. The painting The Flying Cadonas is an icon of American art purchased by the Whitney Museum of Art and now on permanent exhibition. There are other know studies for these works, nos. 199 through 222 and in John Steuart Curry: Rural America, page 32 (Mongerson Wunderlich, Chicago, 1990. Provenance: Mrs. Kathleen Curry (artist’s widow), included in the estate schedule of works Treadway Toomey Auction, Oak Park, Illinois, 2009 Don Joint, New York An important American Regionalist drawing. Like Grant Wood and Thomas Hart Benton, John Steuart Curry was a major American scene painter of the 1930s. His subjects were taken from American history and his most famous mural, The Tragic Prelude...
Category

1930s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Graphite

American Modern figurative drawings and watercolors for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic American Modern figurative drawings and watercolors available for sale on 1stDibs. Works in this style were very popular during the 21st Century and Contemporary, but contemporary artists have continued to produce works inspired by this movement. If you’re looking to add figurative drawings and watercolors created in this style to introduce contrast in an otherwise neutral space in your home, the works available on 1stDibs include elements of orange, yellow and other colors. Many Pop art paintings were created by popular artists on 1stDibs, including Donald Stacy, Alfred Bendiner, Irene Pattinson, and Frank Wilcox. Frequently made by artists working with Paint, and Watercolor and other materials, all of these pieces for sale are unique and have attracted attention over the years. Not every interior allows for large American Modern figurative drawings and watercolors, so small editions measuring 0.25 inches across are also available. Prices for figurative drawings and watercolors made by famous or emerging artists can differ depending on medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $85 and tops out at $243,750, while the average work sells for $1,200.

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