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Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

MODERN STYLE

The first decades of the 20th century were a period of artistic upheaval, with modern art movements including Cubism, Surrealism, Futurism and Dadaism questioning centuries of traditional views of what art should be. Using abstraction, experimental forms and interdisciplinary techniques, painters, sculptors, photographers, printmakers and performance artists all pushed the boundaries of creative expression.

Major exhibitions, like the 1913 Armory Show in New York City — also known as the “International Exhibition of Modern Art,” in which works like the radically angular Nude Descending a Staircase by Marcel Duchamp caused a sensation — challenged the perspective of viewers and critics and heralded the arrival of modern art in the United States. But the movement’s revolutionary spirit took shape in the 19th century.

The Industrial Revolution, which ushered in new technology and cultural conditions across the world, transformed art from something mostly commissioned by the wealthy or the church to work that responded to personal experiences. The Impressionist style emerged in 1860s France with artists like Claude Monet, Paul Cézanne and Edgar Degas quickly painting works that captured moments of light and urban life. Around the same time in England, the Pre-Raphaelites, like Edward Burne-Jones and Dante Gabriel Rossetti, borrowed from late medieval and early Renaissance art to imbue their art with symbolism and modern ideas of beauty.

Emerging from this disruption of the artistic status quo, modern art went further in rejecting conventions and embracing innovation. The bold legacy of leading modern artists Georges Braque, Pablo Picasso, Frida Kahlo, Salvador Dalí, Henri Matisse, Joan Miró, Marc Chagall, Piet Mondrian and many others continues to inform visual culture today.

Find a collection of modern paintings, sculptures, prints and other fine art on 1stDibs.

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Style: Modern
Landscape - Pencil Drawing by J. P. Verdussen - Mid-18th Century
Located in Roma, IT
Landscape is a beautiful drawing in pencil on ivory-colored paper realized by Jan Peter Verdussen. The artwork has some folds and foxings. The artwork represents a landscape. Inclu...
Category

Mid-18th Century Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Pencil

Marie and Joseph on Horseback - Drawing by G.-H. Tribout - Early 20th Century
Located in Roma, IT
Marie and Joseph on Horseback is an original artwork realized by George Henri Tribout. Original unsigned watercolor drawing on paper. Fair conditions, light scratches and wear some...
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Early 20th Century Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Pencil

Confidential Look - Ink Drawing by Mino Maccari - Mid-20th Century
Located in Roma, IT
Confidential Look is an original drawing on paper, realized around the mid of the Century by the great Italian artist and journalist, Mino Maccari (Siena, 1898 - 1989,. Black china ...
Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Ink

1950s "Lounge" Mid Century Figurative Ink Drawing NYC Artist
Located in Arp, TX
Donald Stacy "Lounge" c. 1950s Ink on paper 14" x 16.5" unframed Unsigned Came from artist estate Donald Stacy (1925-2011) New Jersey Studied: Newark School of Fine Art The Art Students League Pratt Graphic Arts Center University of Paris 1953-54 University of Aix-en-Provence 1954-55 Faculty: Art Department of the New School Museum of Modern Art School of Visual Arts Stacy Studio Workshop Exhibitions: Grand Central Moderns George Wittenborn The New School Print Exhibitions, Chicago University of Oklahoma Honolulu Museum Monclair Museum Wisconsin State College Louisiana Art...
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Mid-20th Century Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Ink

Landscape - Pencil on Paper by J. P. Verdussen - 18th Century
Located in Roma, IT
Landscape is an original drawing is realized by Jan Peter Verdussen. The artwork has some folds and foxings and is repaired on the middle line. The artwork represents a landscape. ...
Category

18th Century Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Pencil

Figure - Original Pencil on Paper by Charles Landelle - Early 20th Century
Located in Roma, IT
Figure is a pencil drawing on brown paper by Charles Landelle (1812-1908). The state of preservation is good. The sheet is mounted on a cardboard pas...
Category

Early 20th Century Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Pencil

Femme Cheval
Located in Miami, FL
Wifredo Lam “Femme Cheval” 1971 Pastel on paper 24 x 18 in Signed and dated at the bottom left corner Provenance: Gallerry Dobbelhoef, Kessel. Private Collection, Brussel. Campo and...
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Late 20th Century Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Pastel, Laid Paper

The Meeting - Original Pen and Watercolor- by Gustave Bourgogne - 1933
Located in Roma, IT
The Meeting is an original drawing in pen and watercolor realized in 1933 by Gustave Bourgogne (1888-1968). Hand-signed and dated by the artist on the lower center. The artwork re...
Category

1930s Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor, Pen

Young Woman Sitting - Charcoal Drawing by Gio Colucci - 20th Century
Located in Roma, IT
Young Woman Sitting is a charcoal drawing on brown paper. Unsigned. Good conditions except for some folds on the corners. Prolific and eclectic, the Italian Gio Colucci (Florence, 1892 – Paris, 1974), also known in France as Geo Colucci, was a painter, engraver, illustrator, ceramist, and sculptor. From 1921, he exhibited his engravings in various salons. He worked with French publishers specialized in the illustrated books of high bibliophilia, and delivered series of remarkable prints for texts by Barbey d'Aurevilly, Pierre Loti, Guy Maupassant...
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Mid-20th Century Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Charcoal

A Fine, 1950s Mid-Century Modern Studio Figure Study of a Reclining Female Nude
Located in Chicago, IL
A Fine, 1950s Mid-Century Modern Studio Figure Study of a Reclining Female Nude by Notable Chicago Artist, Harold Haydon (Am. 1909-1994). A well executed Modernist figure study high...
Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Charcoal

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

Materials

Paper, Charcoal

Vintage Israeli Bezalel School Drawing Family Playing, Dogs Puppies Kibbutz Life
Located in Surfside, FL
Moshe Avni was born in 1937, in Kibbutz Kfar Blum in the Upper Galilee in Israel. Presently, he lives and paints in Jerusalem. During the years 1956-1957, he studied Painting and Gra...
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1960s Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Ink, Pen

Charcoal Drawing "Waiting" Pensive Woman Americana WPA Artist
Located in Surfside, FL
14x11.5 image size , 22.5x17.5 backing size The New-York born artist William Gropper was a painter and cartoonist who, with caricature style, focused on social concerns, and was ac...
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Mid-20th Century Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Charcoal

Reginald Marsh "Brooklyn Bridge" NYC Modernism WPA Mid-Century Watercolor Modern
Located in New York, NY
Reginald Marsh "Brooklyn Bridge" NYC Modernism WPA Mid-Century Watercolor Modern Reginald Marsh (American, 1898-1954) Brooklyn Bridge, 1940, Signed and dated Reginald Marsh May 1940 (lr), Watercolor over traces of pencil on paper , 15 x 22 inches sight. Reginald Marsh was born in Paris, France in 1898, the child of artist parents. He was born over a small cafe on Paris' Left Bank. He was brought to the United States in 1900 and was drawing before he was three. He studied art at Yale University and the Art Students League, during which time he worked primarily as an illustrator for New York newspapers and magazines. After studying in Paris in 1925 and 1926, he turned seriously to painting. In 1929 he was introduced to the egg-tempera medium, which he used extensively the rest of his life. Marsh's gusto for painting the bottom crust of society contrasted curiously with his background. His parents, both well-known artists, were steeped in academic traditions. He attended Lawrenceville Academy and Yale; perhaps this elite background made it possible to paint the earthy people he did with a journalist's objectivity. An admirer of Rubens and Delacroix, he disliked modernist art; indeed, his lifelong preoccupation was with people - enjoying themselves at beaches, at amusement parks, or on crowded city streets. Marsh was a second-generation Ash Can School painter and printmaker, best known as an urban regionalist. He spent his days sketching in small notebooks...
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1940s Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

A Fine, 1950s Mid-Century Modern Academic Anatomical Figure Study (Hand & Feet)
Located in Chicago, IL
A Fine, 1950s Mid-Century Modern Academic Anatomical Figure Study of a Model's Hand & Feet by Notable Chicago Artist, Harold Haydon (Am. 1909-1994). A well executed composite figure...
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Mid-20th Century Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Ink

A Striking, Dramatic Mid-Century Modern 1950s Figure Study, Portrait of a Woman
Located in Chicago, IL
A Striking, Dramatic 1950s Mid-Century Modern Figure Study Portrait of Woman by Notable Chicago Artist, Harold Haydon (Am. 1909-1994). A well executed, studio drawing in charcoal of...
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Mid-20th Century Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Charcoal

A Striking, Dramatic Mid-Century Modern 1950s Figure Study, Portrait of a Woman
Located in Chicago, IL
A Striking, Dramatic 1950s Mid-Century Modern Figure Study Portrait of Woman by Notable Chicago Artist, Harold Haydon (Am. 1909-1994). A well executed, studio drawing in charcoal of...
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Mid-20th Century Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Charcoal, Ink

A Fine, Mid-Century Modern 1950s Figure Study, Portrait of a Young Woman
Located in Chicago, IL
A Fine, Mid-Century Modern 1950s Figure Study Portrait of Young Woman in Profile by Notable Chicago Artist, Harold Haydon (Am. 1909-1994). A well executed, studio drawing in charcoa...
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Mid-20th Century Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Charcoal

Dessin préparatoire
Located in PARIS, FR
Preparatory pencil and acrylic drawing on kraft paper measuring 133 x 77 cm for a ceramic fresco Pièce Unique
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Late 20th Century Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Acrylic, Pencil

1950's Modernist/ Cubist Painting - Cloudy Town Landscape
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
French Landscape by Bernard Labbe (French mid 20th century) original gouache on artist paper, unframed size: 12.5 x 12.5 inches condition: very good and ready to be enjoyed provenan...
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Mid-20th Century Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Gouache

Mid Century St. Ives artist Sven Berlin 'A lover's embrace' pen and ink on paper
Located in Petworth, West Sussex
Sven Berlin (British, 1911 - 1999) A Lovers embrace Pen and ink Signed 'SVEN 95' (lower right) 11 x 7.7/8 in. (20 x 28 cm.) Sven Berlin, born in Sydenham, London on 14th September 1...
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20th Century Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Ink, 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....
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Mid-20th Century 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...
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1940s 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 ...
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1950s 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 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 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 Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Ink

Nearing the Peaks, Early 20th Century Mountainous Western Landscape
Located in Beachwood, OH
Frank Nelson Wilcox (American, 1887–1964) Nearing the Peaks, 1937 Watercolor on paper Signed and dated lower right 15 x 20 inches 18.5 x 24 inches framed Frank Nelson Wilcox (Octo...
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1930s Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor

Petite Fille
Located in New York, NY
Signed and inscribed, lower center: Joseph / Ramanankamonjy / Madagascar / Petite fille / “aquarelle sur soie” Provenance: Private Collection, Paris Private Collection, Florida Som...
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20th Century Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Silk, Watercolor

Girl and cat. Black and white charcoal drawing on Grey archival paper
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Black and white charcoal on toned Grey archival paper signed and dated by artist. fantasy cat lady
Category

2010s Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Charcoal, Archival Paper

Untitled, Pastel on Paper, Black Colour by Modern Artist "In Stock"
Located in Kolkata, West Bengal
Sakti Burman Untitled - 11 x 9 inches ( Unframed Size ) Pastel on Paper , 2012 Born : 1935 Kolkata Education : 1956 Government College of Arts and Crafts in Kolkata and the Ecole N...
Category

2010s Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Pastel

Preliminary Study for a Sculpture Project
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Preliminary Study for a Sculpture Project Graphite, charcoal and wash on tracing paper, c. 1930-1940 Signed upper left and lower left (see both photos) Created while the artist was l...
Category

1930s Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Charcoal

The Pope and the globe - Drawing by Gabriele Galantara - 1909
Located in Roma, IT
The Pope and the globe is a modern artwork realized by Gabriele Galantara (1865-1937) in 1909. Watercolor, tempera, ink and pencil on paper. Hand signed on the right margin. Good c...
Category

Early 1900s Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Ink, Tempera, Watercolor, Pencil

Vain Efforts - Drawing by Gabriele Galantara - 1909
Located in Roma, IT
Vain efforts is a modern artwork realized by Gabriele Galantara (1865-1937) in 1909. Watercolor, tempera, ink and pencil on paper. Hand signed on the right margin. Good conditions ...
Category

Early 1900s Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Ink, Tempera, Watercolor, Pencil

The Globe - Drawing by Gabriele Galantara - 1909
Located in Roma, IT
The Globe is a modern artwork realized by Gabriele Galantara (1865-1937) in 1909. Watercolor, tempera, ink and pencil on paper. Hand signed on the right margin. Good conditions and...
Category

Early 1900s Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Ink, Tempera, Watercolor, Pencil

The Theatre's Betrayal - Drawing by Gabriele Galantara - 1909
Located in Roma, IT
The theatre's betrayal  is a modern artwork realized by Gabriele Galantara (1865-1937) in 1909. Watercolor, tempera, ink and pencil on paper. Hand signed on the right margin. Good ...
Category

Early 1900s Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Ink, Tempera, Watercolor, Pencil

The Sunbonnet Babies - Modernist Female Artist
Located in Miami, FL
Bertha Corbett Melcher's The Sunbonnet Babies, with their flat, minimalist, semi-abstract, and symbolic style, are an early example of American Modernism/Surrealism by a lesser-known female artist/illustrator. The present work demonstrates a delicate balance between abstraction and representation and between the commonplace and the mysterious. Her signature use of a hat or sunbonnet to hide the identity of her subjects is a big conceptual and visual idea that has been overlooked in the fine art canon. The exact meaning of this is unknown, but 120 years after they were done, it resonates as somewhat surrealistic. Her work is a contradiction. She shows innocent children engaging in everyday activity but are depicted in vail of mystery. Why does she not show the faces of her subjects? Watercolor on paper (each) Six drawings in all on one board. 6-1/8 x 5 inches (15.6 x 12.7 cm) (each) One signed; two initialed; three not signed. Six drawing in all on one board. 6-1/8 x 5 inches (15.6 x 12.7 cm) (each) One signed; two initialed; three not signed The Sunbonnet Babies characters were created by illustration Bertha L. Corbett when she was challenged to create a faceless character who nonetheless was engaging and appealing. The characters were a wild hit and appeared in books, comics, and popular collectibles. They also became a popular motif in quilting. Few of Corbett's original drawings for the babies are known to survive, making this a rare offering. From: Wikipedia Sunbonnet Babies are characters created by commercial artist Bertha Corbett Melcher (1872–1950). Sunbonnet Babies featured two girls in pastel colored dresses with their faces covered by sunbonnets. Sunbonnet Babies appeared in books, illustrations and advertisements between the years of 1900 and 1930. Sunbonnet Babies were later used as a popular quilting pattern also known as Sunbonnet Sue.[1] Melcher created a male version of the Sunbonnet Babies, named the 'Overall Boys' in 1905.[2][3] History Bertha L. Corbett Melcher Sunbonnet Babies were created by Bertha Corbett Melcher (1872–1950).[4] Melcher was born in Denver and moved with her family to Minneapolis in the 1880s. Melcher attended art school in Minneapolis with plans to become a commercial artist.[5] She may have also studied with Howard Pyle.[6] By the 1920s, Melcher had moved to Topanga, California.[7][4] Melcher started drawing the Sunbonnet Babies in 1897. The origin of the signature style of the faces being covered by sunbonnets is contested by different members of Melcher's family and by Melcher herself. In an interview, Melcher's brother said their mother suggested Bertha avoid the difficulty of drawing faces by covering them with sunbonnets.[4] Melcher herself said that covering faces allowed her to communicate with body position.[4] Melcher has also said that the design came about in "answer to a friend’s challenge to convey emotion without a face."[2] Melcher published her first book, The Sun-Bonnet Babies in 1900.[3] Later, she shopped her illustrations to publisher Rand McNally of Chicago, and nine subsequent books were written by Eulalie Osgood Grover and illustrated by Bertha Corbett. In 1905, Melcher wrote The Overall Boys.[3] Many of these books were used as primers and used widely in primary schools in the midwest. Melcher used the sunbonnet babies in advertising and later established the Sunbonnet Babies Company. She started a studio to illustrate and create merchandise of the Sunbonnet Babies.[2] The characters also appeared in a comic strip.[2] Quilting Melcher herself did not originate the use of the sunbonnet babies as quilting pattern. The Sunbonnet Babies quilting pattern appeared in textile art 1910's in the Ladies Home Journal 1911–1912 in a quilt stitched by Marie Webster. The pattern was popular during the Great Depression. In the American South, it was often known as "Dutch Doll" until the 1970s.[3] There was also a quilt pattern based on the "Overall Boys," known by the various names including “Overall Bill, “Overall Andy,” “Sunbonnet Sam,” “Suspender Sam,” “Fisherman Jim."[3] Many patterns for quilts and sewing were designed by Ruby Short McKim and published in nationally syndicated newspapers.[8] Sunbonnet Sue became symbolic of 'female innocence and docility'.[9] Linda Pershing collected accounts from women quilters who depicted 'Sues' doing activities such as smoking, wearing more revealing clothing, and subverting feminine stereotypes.[10] In 1979, the “Seamsters Union Local #500," a group of quilters from Lawrence, Kansas, created “The Sun Sets on Sunbonnet Sue," a quilt depicting the character murdered in a variety of ways.[3] Collectibles Sunbonnet Babies merchandise includes school books, valentines cards, postcards, china, and quilts.[2][5][11] Sunbonnet Babies were adapted into three dimensional porcelain collectibles and pottery made by Royal Bayreuth Company in the early 1900s. The Royal Bayreuth China...
Category

Early 1900s Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

Black Panther Trials - Civil Rights Movement Police Violence African American
Located in Miami, FL
The Black Panther Trials - In this historically significant work, African American Artist Vicent D. Smith functions as an Art Journalist/ Court Reporter as much as a Artist. Here, he depicts, in complete unity, 21 Black Panther Protestors raising their fist of defiance at the White Judge. Smith's composition is about utter simplicity, where the Black Panther Protestors are symmetrically lined up in a confrontation with a Judge whose size is exaggerated in scale. Set against a stylized American Flag, the supercilious Judge gazes down as the protesters as their fists thrust up. Signed Vincent lower right. Titled Panter 21. Original metal frame. Tape on upper left edge of frame. 255 . Panther 21. Framed under plexi. _____________________________ From Wikipedia In 1969-1971 there was a series of criminal prosecutions in New Haven, Connecticut, against various members and associates of the Black Panther Party.[1] The charges ranged from criminal conspiracy to first-degree murder. All charges stemmed from the murder of 19-year-old Alex Rackley in the early hours of May 21, 1969. The trials became a rallying-point for the American Left, and marked a decline in public support, even among the black community, for the Black Panther Party On May 17, 1969, members of the Black Panther Party kidnapped fellow Panther Alex Rackley, who had fallen under suspicion of informing for the FBI. He was held captive at the New Haven Panther headquarters on Orchard Street, where he was tortured and interrogated until he confessed. His interrogation was tape recorded by the Panthers.[2] During that time, national party chairman Bobby Seale visited New Haven and spoke on the campus of Yale University for the Yale Black Ensemble Theater Company.[3] The prosecution alleged, but Seale denied, that after his speech, Seale briefly stopped by the headquarters where Rackley was being held captive and ordered that Rackley be executed. Early in the morning of May 21, three Panthers – Warren Kimbro, Lonnie McLucas, and George Sams, one of the Panthers who had come East from California to investigate the police infiltration of the New York Panther chapter, drove Rackley to the nearby town of Middlefield, Connecticut. Kimbro shot Rackley once in the head and McLucas shot him once in the chest. They dumped his corpse in a swamp, where it was discovered the next day. New Haven police immediately arrested eight New Haven area Black Panthers. Sams and two other Panthers from California were captured later. Sams and Kimbro confessed to the murder, and agreed to testify against McLucas in exchange for a reduction in sentence. Sams also implicated Seale in the killing, telling his interrogators that while visiting the Panther headquarters on the night of his speech, Seale had directly ordered him to murder Rackley. In all, nine defendants were indicted on charges related to the case. In the heated political rhetoric of the day, these defendants were referred to as the "New Haven Nine", a deliberate allusion to other cause-celebre defendants like the "Chicago Seven". The first trial was that of Lonnie McLucas, the only person who physically took part in the killing who refused to plead guilty. In fact, McLucas had confessed to shooting Rackley, but nonetheless chose to go to trial. Jury selection began in May 1970. The case and trial were already a national cause célèbre among critics of the Nixon administration, and especially among those hostile to the actions of the FBI. Under the Bureau's then-secret "Counter-Intelligence Program" (COINTELPRO), FBI director J. Edgar Hoover had ordered his agents to disrupt, discredit, or otherwise neutralize radical groups like the Panthers. Hostility between groups organizing political dissent and the Bureau was, by the time of the trials, at a fever pitch. Hostility from the left was also directed at the two Panthers cooperating with the prosecutors. Sams in particular was accused of being an informant, and lying to implicate Seale for personal benefit. In the days leading up to a rally on May Day 1970, thousands of supporters of the Panthers arrived in New Haven individually and in organized groups. They were housed and fed by community organizations and by sympathetic Yale students in their dormitory rooms. The Yale college dining halls provided basic meals for everyone. Protesters met daily en masse on the New Haven Green across the street from the Courthouse (and one hundred yards from Yale's main gate). On May Day there was a rally on the Green, featuring speakers including Jean Genet, Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, and John Froines (an assistant professor of chemistry at the University of Oregon). Teach-ins and other events were also held in the colleges themselves. Towards midnight on May 1, two bombs exploded in Yale's Ingalls Rink, where a concert was being held in conjunction with the protests.[4] Although the rink was damaged, no one was injured, and no culprit was identified.[4] Yale chaplain William Sloane Coffin stated, "All of us conspired to bring on this tragedy by law enforcement agencies by their illegal acts against the Panthers, and the rest of us by our immoral silence in front of these acts," while Yale President Kingman Brewster Jr. issued the statement, "I personally want to say that I'm appalled and ashamed that things should have come to such a pass that I am skeptical of the ability of a Black revolutionary to receive a fair trial anywhere in the U.S." Brewster's generally sympathetic tone enraged many of the university's older, more conservative alumni, heightening tensions within the school community. As tensions mounted, Yale officials sought to avoid deeper unrest and to deflect the real possibility of riots or violent student demonstrations. Sam Chauncey has been credited with winning tactical management on behalf of the administration to quell anxiety among law enforcement and New Haven's citizens, while Kurt Schmoke, a future Rhodes Scholar, mayor of Baltimore, MD and Dean of Howard University School of Law, has received kudos as undergraduate spokesman to the faculty during some of the protest's tensest moments. Ralph Dawson, a classmate of Schmoke's, figured prominently as moderator of the Black Student Alliance at Yale (BSAY). In the end, compromises between the administration and the students - and, primarily, urgent calls for nonviolence from Bobby Seale and the Black Panthers themselves - quashed the possibility of violence. While Yale (and many other colleges) went "on strike" from May Day until the end of the term, like most schools it was not actually "shut down". Classes were made "voluntarily optional" for the time and students were graded "Pass/Fail" for the work done up to then. Trial of McLucas Black Panther trial sketch...
Category

1970s Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor, Pen, Pencil, Paper

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

1930s Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Charcoal, Paper

"The opium smoker", Léa Lafugie (1890-1972)
Located in Paris, FR
Léa Lafugie (1890–1972) was a painter who traveled extensively across Asia. She was renowned for her portraits. She studied at the School of Decorative Arts, followed by the École de...
Category

1920s Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor

Leonard Baskin Watercolor Ink Illustration Painting Darkened Man, Nude with Bird
Located in Surfside, FL
Leonard Baskin (American, 1922-2000) ink and gouache drawing on paper titled "Darkened Man", signed lower right, circa 1957. Provenance: Grace Borgenicht gallery, Jeffrey M. Kaplan collection. bears label verso Art: 31" H x 22" W; Frame: 36" H x 27" W. Leonard Baskin was an American sculptor, illustrator, wood-engraver, printmaker, graphic artist, writer and teacher. Baskin was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey. While he was a student at Yale University, he founded Gehenna Press, a small private press specializing in fine book production. From 1953 until 1974, he taught printmaking and sculpture at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts. Subsequently Baskin also taught at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts. He lived most of his life in the U.S., but spent nine years in Devon at Lurley Manor, Lurley, near Tiverton, close to his friend Ted Hughes, for whom he illustrated Crow. Sylvia Plath dedicated Sculpto to Leonard Baskin in her famous work, The Colossus and Other Poems (1960). The Funeral Contege (1997) bronze, Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, Washington, D.C. His public commissions include a bas relief for the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial and a bronze statue of a seated figure, erected in 1994 for the Holocaust Memorial in Ann Arbor, Michigan. His works are owned by many major museums including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Museum of Modern Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Boca Raton Museum of Art, the British Museum, the Honolulu Museum of Art, the Udinotti Museum of Figurative Art and the Vatican Museums. The archive of his work at the Gehenna Press was acquired by the Bodleian Library at Oxford, England, in 2009. The McMaster Museum of Art in Hamilton, Ontario owns over 200 of his works (some religious and biblical), most of which were donated by his brother Rabbi Bernard Baskin. He was included in the MoMA show, Summer Exhibition: New Acquisitions; Recent American Prints, 1947–1953; Katherine S. Dreier Bequest; Kuniyoshi and Spencer; Expressionism in Germany; Varieties of Realism along with Alexander Archipenko, Francis Bacon, Balthus, Will Barnet, Leonard Baskin, Eugene Berman, Reg Butler, Lovis Corinth, Andre Derain, Otto Dix, Raoul Dufy, Max Ernst, Lucian Freud, George Grosz, Alexei Jawlensky, Oskar Kokoschka, Roberto Matta, Man Ray, Marcel Duchamp and more. In 1955, he was one of eleven New York artists featured in the opening exhibition at the Terrain Gallery, they showed many great artists, Chaim Koppelman, for many years, headed the gallery's Print Division; printmakers such as Will Barnet, Leonard Baskin, Robert Conover, Edmond Casarella, Vincent Longo, and Nicholas Krushenick were frequent exhibitors. the gallery has represented many well-known artists, including Richard Anuszkiewicz, Robert Blackburn, Lois Dodd, William King, Chaim and Dorothy Koppelman, Roy Lichtenstein, Harold Krisel...
Category

1950s Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

India Ink, Watercolor

High Pastures, Cattle Round Up, Wyoming, 20th Century Western Landscape
Located in Beachwood, OH
Frank Nelson Wilcox (American, 1887–1964) High Pastures, Cattle Round Up, Wyoming, 1937 Watercolor on paper Signed and dated lower right, titled verso 15 x 20 inches 18.5 x 24 inche...
Category

1930s Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor

Rainbow on Santa Fe Trail, New Mexico, Early 20th Century Western Landscape
Located in Beachwood, OH
Frank Nelson Wilcox (American, 1887–1964) Rainbow on Santa Fe Trail, New Mexico, c. 1937 Watercolor on paper Signed lower right, titled verso 15 x 20 inches 18.5 x 24 inches framed ...
Category

1930s Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor

Posing Figure - Drawing - 1978
Located in Roma, IT
Posing Figure is a drawing realized in 1978 by an unknown artist. Penc on paper. Monogrammed and dated on the lower. The state of preservation is good. The artwork is represented...
Category

1970s Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Pencil, Paper

Sketch - Drawing by Mino Maccari - 1950s
Located in Roma, IT
Oil Pastel on cardboard realized by Mino Maccari in 1960s. Not signed. Very good condition.
Category

1950s Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Charcoal, Watercolor

Third Man 3, night, city scape, monochromatic, narrative
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Dramatic imagery from FILM NOIR series of black and white monotypes, blending surrealistic mindscapes with stark realism About Tom Bennett: With quick brushstrokes, Tom Bennett crea...
Category

2010s Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Archival Paper, Monotype

Figure - Drawing by Mino Maccari - Mid-20th Century
Located in Roma, IT
Figure is a charcoal drawing realized by Mino Maccari  (1924-1989) in the Mid-20th Century. Hand-signed. Good conditions with slight foxing. Mino Maccari (Siena, 1924-Rome, June 1...
Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Charcoal

Sketch After Vincent Self Portrait No. 3
Located in Buffalo, NY
An original watercolor painting by Westley "Wes" Olmsted. This work is currently featured in the exhibition Man of Extremes at Benjaman Gallery in Buffalo, NY. Westley G. Olmsted (1934-2011) was a painter and sculptor. He was born in Buffalo, New York, and was a distant relative Frederick Law Olmsted...
Category

1970s Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Charcoal, Paper

1929 American Illustration with Abe Lincoln
Located in New York, NY
Mystery Artist Untitled, c. 1929 Ink and pencil on paper Sight: 17 x 13 1/2 in. Framed: 22 x 19 3/8 x 1 in. This illustration by an unidentified artist depicts a quintessential Amer...
Category

1920s Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Ink, Pencil

"New York Harbor Nocturne" Leon Dolice, Mid-Century New York Nocturnal Landscape
Located in New York, NY
Leon Dolice New York Harbor Nocturne Signed lower right Pastel on paper 12 x 19 inches The romantic backdrop of Vienna at the turn of the century had a life-long influence upon the...
Category

1930s Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Pastel

"New York Harbor Nocturne" Leon Dolice, Mid-Century New York Nocturnal Landscape
Located in New York, NY
Leon Dolice New York Harbor Nocturne, circa 1930-40 Signed lower right Pastel on paper 12 x 19 inches The romantic backdrop of Vienna at the turn of the century had a life-long inf...
Category

1930s Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Pastel

Shtetl Scene with Synagogue "Prayer"
Located in Surfside, FL
Pastel or Tempera on paper. Judaica Shtetl scene of village. A Jew with Talith and Tefillin in front of the Synagogue. Anatoli Lwowitch Kaplan was a Russian painter, sculptor and pri...
Category

20th Century Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Pastel, Tempera

Quick Change
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Quick Change Watercolor on paper, 1930-1931 Signed lower right: Honore Guilbeau Illustrated in American Art Review, August 2014, page 84 in an article by Dr. M...
Category

1930s Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor

The Flight into Egypt- Drawing - 1930s
Located in Roma, IT
Pencil and watercolor drawing realized b an unknown french artist in the 1930s. Very good condition.
Category

1930s Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor, Pencil

"New York Harbor Nocturne" Leon Dolice, New York Harbor Scene Mid-Century
Located in New York, NY
Leon Dolice New York Harbor Nocturne Signed lower right Pastel on paper 12 x 19 inches The romantic backdrop of Vienna at the turn of the century had a life-long influence upon the...
Category

1930s Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Pastel

Talking To Whoever Is Listening - Figurative Surrealist Watercolor Artwork
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Amanda Immurs, an artist hailing from Hamilton, Canada, creates enchanting watercolor artworks that bring whimsical scenes of children, animals, and flora to life. Immurs' art is gro...
Category

2010s Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Watercolor, Graphite

Drawing - Drawing by Mino Maccari - Mid-20th Century
Located in Roma, IT
Drawing is a pencil drawing realized by Mino Maccari  (1924-1989) in the Mid-20th Century. Hand-signed. Good conditions with slight foxing. Mino Maccari (Siena, 1924-Rome, June 16...
Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Pencil

Teaching Drawing to Children - Drawing by Alexandre Lagrant - 1930s
Located in Roma, IT
Teaching Drawing to Children is a drawing artwork realized by Alexandre Lagrant in the early 20th Century. Pencil and ink drawing on paper. The state of preservation is good with s...
Category

1930s Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Ink

Venice, La Serenissima, Castel Ponte, Post Impressionist Urban Landscape
Located in Cotignac, FR
Venice, Italy, mid century urban view 0f daily life in this iconic city by Henri Levasseur. The painting is signed and dated bottom right and titled bottom left. Presented in a fine ...
Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor, Gouache

Portrait of a Child -Drawing by G.C. Vuillier - Late 19th Century
Located in Roma, IT
Portrait of a Child is an Artwork  realized by  the French Artist  Gaston Charles Vuillier. Gouache on paper. 
Category

Late 19th Century Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Gouache

Modern figurative drawings and watercolors for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic 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, blue, yellow, purple and other colors. Many Pop art paintings were created by popular artists on 1stDibs, including Mino Maccari, Flor David, Gabriele Galantara, and Alberto Ziveri. 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 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 $11 and tops out at $648,500, while the average work sells for $409.

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