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
Three Robbers - Original Drawing by Gabriele Galantara - Early 20th century
Located in Roma, IT
Three Robbers is an original drawing in watercolor on paper realized by Gabriele Galantara.
The state of preservation of the artwork is good.
Titled on the lower in Italian.
The a...
Category
Early 20th Century Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Paper, Watercolor
Nude - Pen on Ivory Paper by Fausto Ghia - 1955
Located in Roma, IT
Nude is an original drawing in pen on ivory paper realized by Fausto Ghia.
Hand-signed on the lower left with dedication.
The state of preservation is very good.
Included a Passep...
Category
1950s Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Paper, Pen
Mark Beard 054 (Figurative Charcoal Drawing of Two Male Nudes on Arches Paper)
By Mark Beard
Located in Hudson, NY
Figurative drawing of two male nudes made with graphite, charcoal, and conte crayon on Arches paper
30 x 14 inches, unframed
This unique life study drawing of two standing nude m...
Category
2010s Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Charcoal, Graphite, Paper
Reader, oversize drawing of young woman reading, minimal color
Located in Brooklyn, NY
This work was intentionally torn and mended. It predates the artist's full immersion, years later into torn and re-pasted collages, using ripped previous drawings and paper-based materials from media. These recently discovered 1984 oversize drawings on archival papers were created working quickly, from 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
2010s Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Mixed Media, Archival Paper, Watercolor, Graphite
The Architecture - Pencil Drawing - Mid- 20th century
Located in Roma, IT
The Architecture is an original Drawing in charcoal and pencil on paper realized by Hermine David in the mid-20th century.
Good conditions.
The artwork is represented through rapid...
Category
Mid-20th Century Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Charcoal, Pencil
Portrait de Jean Desbordes - Lithograph by Jean Cocteau - 1929
By Jean Cocteau
Located in Roma, IT
Lithograph on vélin pur fil des Papeteries du Marais, realized by Cocteau in 1929.
Belongs to the suite "25 Dessins d'Un Dormeur", published by H. L. Mermod, Lausanne.
Edition of 2...
Category
1920s Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Lithograph
Rare Chaim Gross Watercolor Painting Manhattan Skyscrapers Train NYC WPA Artist
By Chaim Gross
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 Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Paper, Watercolor
St. Gregory in Rome - Original Ink and Watercolor by J. P. Verdussen - 1741
Located in Roma, IT
St. Gregory in Rome is a beautiful artwork realized by Jan Peter Verdussen in 1741.
Ink and watercolour on brown paper. In very good codition. Dated on the lower margin. The origin...
Category
1740s Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Ink, Watercolor
French Gouache Painting of Navajo Weavers in Canyon de Chelly Arizona
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Title: French Gouache Painting of Navajo Weavers in Canyon de Chelly Arizona
by Emile GALLOIS (1882-1965, French)
Signed: Yes
Medium: Original gouache painting on thick unframed pape...
Category
Mid-20th Century Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Gouache
Polish French Judaica Watercolor Gouache Painting Original Bauhaus Yiddish Art
Located in Surfside, FL
Moses Bahelfer BAGEL (1908-1995)
Moses Bagel (born Moshe Bahelfer) was a Polish-born Jewish artist and graphic designer associated with the original Bauhaus and then the School of Pa...
Category
20th Century Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Ink, Watercolor, ABS
French Gouache Painting of Navajo Night Dance in New Mexico
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Title: French Gouache Painting of Navajo Night Dance in New Mexico
by Emile GALLOIS (1882-1965, French)
Signed: Yes
Medium: Original gouache painting on thick unframed paper,
Size: 1...
Category
Mid-20th Century Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Gouache
"Showers Today" San Francisco's Chinatown on an Overcast Day Original Watercolor
Located in Soquel, CA
"Showers Today" San Francisco's Chinatown on an Overcast Day Original Watercolor
A two sided watercolor on Arches paper by San Francisco and Maryland artist Harolod Gretzner (America...
Category
1970s Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Watercolor, Laid Paper
1950's Modernist/ Cubist Painting - The Girl In The Forest
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Portrait
by Bernard Labbe (French mid 20th century)
original gouache on artist paper, unframed
size: 19.5 x 16.5 inches
condition: very good and ready to be enjoyed
provenance: the ...
Category
Mid-20th Century Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Gouache
Sketch for a Sculpture - Original Drawing - Early 20th Century
Located in Roma, IT
Sketche for a Sculpture is an original Pencil and Pastel realized by Charles Moulin in early-20th Century.
Good condition on a little brown paper.
No ...
Category
Early 20th Century Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Pencil, Chalk
French Gouache Portrait Study of Three Navajo and Kumeyaay Figures
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Title: French Gouache Portrait Study of Three Navajo and Kumeyaay Figures
by Emile GALLOIS (1882-1965, French)
Signed: Yes
Medium: Original gouache painting on thick unframed paper,
...
Category
Mid-20th Century Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Gouache
1950's Modernist/ Cubist Painting - Figures In The Forest Watercolour
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
French Landscape
by Bernard Labbe (French mid 20th century)
original watercolour on artist paper, unframed
size: 11.75 x 8.25 inches
condition: very good and ready to be enjoyed.
p...
Category
Mid-20th Century Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Watercolor
(ORANGE ABSTRACT FACE)
By Henry Miller
Located in Santa Monica, CA
Sheet 23 3/4 x 118 7/8
HENRY MILLER (1891 – 1980)
((ORANGE ABSTRACT FACE) 1967
Watercolor, signed in ink and dated 47/ 1967. Image 19 1/4 x 13, Sheet 23 3/4 x 18 7/8. Likely done...
Category
1960s Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Watercolor
A 1940s Fashion Study for Women's Hats
Located in Chicago, IL
An early 1940s fashion study featuring women's hats in pink tobes. Provenance: Cornelia Steckl-Jurin, Founder of the Fashion Department at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago...
Category
1940s Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Paper, Watercolor, Pencil
20th Century French Modernist Figure and Child Drawing
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Figure and child
by Guy Nicod
(French 1923 - 2021)
watercolour on artist paper, unframed
painting : 8 x 5.5 inches
provenance: artists estate, France
condition: very good and sound ...
Category
Mid-20th Century Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Ballpoint Pen
La Questione di Fiume
By Mario Sironi
Located in Roma, IT
Tempera on paper. Image dimensions: 17.5 x 22.5 cm
Certificate of authenticity provided by the Galleria Russo.
Provenance: Galleria F. Russo, Rome.
Mario Sironi was an Italian paint...
Category
1920s Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Tempera
6th Avenue El at 8th St NYC Cityscape American Scene Social Realism Mid-Century
Located in New York, NY
6th Avenue El at 8th St NYC Cityscape American Scene Social Realism Mid-Century
Max Arthur Cohn (1903-1998)
6th Avenue El at 8th Street
13 x 18 inches
Watercolor on paper, c. 1930
...
Category
1930s Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Paper, Watercolor
Figure - Original Drawing By Pierre Georges Jeanniot - Early 20th Century
Located in Roma, IT
Figure is an original Drawing on paper realized by painter Pierre Georges Jeanniot (1848-1934).
Drawing in carbon Pencil.
Hand-signed on the lower.
Good conditions except for aged...
Category
Early 20th Century Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Pencil
Early Modern Black & White Abstract Study Drawing of Native American Figures
Located in Houston, TX
Early modern black and white sketch by iconic Houston based artist David Adickes. Pulled from a collection of previously undiscovered sketchbooks, this work serves as a peak behind t...
Category
Mid-20th Century Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Paper, Pencil
Portrait of the Young Thinker - Drawing by Albert Decaris - Mid-20th Century
Located in Roma, IT
Portrait of the young thinker is an artwork, charcoal drawing on paper, realized by the French Artist Albert Decaris. It is not signed nor dated..
The artist represents a portrait...
Category
Mid-20th Century Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Charcoal
"6th Avenue El" American Scene Social Realism Mid-20th Century Cityscape Modern
Located in New York, NY
"6th Avenue El" American Scene Social Realism Mid-20th Century Cityscape Modern
Max Arthur Cohn (1903-1998)
6th Avenue Elevated
19 1/4 x 13 3/4 inches
Watercolor on paper
Signed an...
Category
1920s Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Paper, Watercolor
La Porta di S. Pietro (St. Peter's Doors) - Ink Drawing by Giacomo Manzù - 1970
Located in Roma, IT
Wonderful green ink drawing, representing the Pope with a very fresh line. Hand-signed on lower-right margin by the Italian sculptor, Giacomo Manzù. Very Good condition, with some li...
Category
1970s Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Etching
"Nasturtiums" Chiura Obata, Japanese American, Red and Blue Delicate Flowers
By Chiura Obata
Located in New York, NY
Chiura Obata
Nasturtiums, circa 1940
Signed and stamped lower left
Watercolor on paper
15 x 9 5/8 inches
Born in the Okayama prefecture of Japan, Chiura Obata was adopted by his uncle, an artist. As a child he was trained in ink painting, and at 14 he was apprenticed to the painter Murata Tanryo in Tokyo. He also studied with Kogyo Terasaki and Goho Hasimoto.
In 1903, Obata moved to San Francisco and began working as an illustrator for The New World and The Japanese American, two of the city's Japanese newspapers. He also did work as a commercial designer. Obata helped establish the East West Art Society in San Francisco in 1921, which sought to promote cross-cultural understanding through art. This goal was reflected in his embrace of the Nihonga style, which fused traditional Japanese sumi-e ink painting with the conventions of western naturalism.
He spent much of the 1920s painting landscapes throughout California, and among his favorite subjects were mountain landscapes. In 1927, he visited Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada, creating over a hundred paintings and sketches of the high country. Obata stayed in the USA until the death of his father in 1928.
Between 1928 and 1932, he worked in Tokyo as a painter and transformed his California landscape watercolors...
Category
1940s Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Paper, Watercolor
Portrait de Jean Desbordes - Lithograph by Jean Cocteau - 1929
By Jean Cocteau
Located in Roma, IT
Lithograph on vélin pur fil des Papeteries du Marais, realized by Cocteau in 1929.
Belongs to the suite "25 Dessins d'Un Dormeur", published by H. L. Mermod, Lausanne.
Edition of 2...
Category
1920s Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Lithograph
Rooftops (Framed 1970's New York Cityscape Landscape Drawing by William Clutz)
Located in Hudson, NY
Abstracted New York City landscape drawing of urban rooftops and tree tops
"Rooftops", created by William Clutz in 1977
30 x 20 inches, charcoal and pastel on paper
33 x 25 inches in light wood frame
This framed pastel on paper was made in 1977 by William Clutz. It features an abstracted depiction of New York City rooftops as seen from a high window. Of particular note is the artist's technique with pastel; a wonderful texture and motion is created by closely woven striated lines. Sunlight reflects off brown rooftops and peaking green tree tops. The charcoal and pastel drawing is framed in a natural light wood frame with non-reflective glass and wire backing for installation.
About the Artist:
Renowned as the “impressionist of the contemporary metropolis”, William Clutz uses the city, in its entirety, as his subject. Pedestrians crossing streets become stars of the stage; the hustle and bustle of traffic and surrounding buildings are the chorus; each play their part in the overall composition. Lighting and color shift this observation of the everyday into a remarkable wonder. “It is surely Clutz”, wrote Gerrit Henry in Art News, 1979, “an artist who has rejected the niceties of representation in favor of the quintessence.” The young artist moved to New York City in 1955 and just four years later had his first solo exhibit at the Condon Riley Gallery. Clutz went on to show in major uptown galleries such as David Herbert, where, notably in 1962 he received a NYTimes review titled, Return of the Figure. That same year, his role in the revival of figuration was further solidified with inclusion in the MoMA group show, Recent Painting USA, The Figure. This was a pivotal turning point from which emerged a 50-year exhibiting career.
Resume
Born: Gettysburg, PA 1933
Mercersburg, PA 1933-1951
New York City 1955-1996
Education
Painting: Thomas Danaher(WPA artist) 1944-51
Mercersburg Academy, PA 1947...
Category
1970s Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Pastel, Archival Paper, Charcoal
1951 Graphite on Paper Figure Study-Standing Male- Torso by Artist Harold Haydon
Located in Chicago, IL
A 1951 black and white figure study of a nude male, by artist Harold Haydon. Artwork size: 19" x 12 1/2". Archivally matted to: 24" x 30". Provenance: Estate of the Artist. Es...
Category
1950s Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Graphite, Paper
Bull engaging the muleta (Bull Fight)
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Bull engaging the muleta (Bull Fight)
Signed with the Estate stamp lower left (See photo)
Provenance:
Estate of the Artist
Marbella Gallery Inc., NYC
Refer...
Category
Mid-20th Century Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Watercolor
The Dancer - Drawing - Mid 20th century
Located in Roma, IT
The Dancer is a drawing realized by an anonymous in the mid-20th century.
Charcoal drawing on paper.
Written on the lower "EN DEUXIEME"
Good conditions.
Category
Mid-20th Century Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Charcoal
Cat - Original Drawing by Giselle Halff - Mid 20th Century
Located in Roma, IT
Cat is a charcoal drawing realized by Giselle Halff (1899-1971).
Good conditions.
Giselle Halff (1899-1971) born in Hanoi, student of R.X. Prinet, R. Ménard, L. Simon, B. Boutet de...
Category
Mid-20th Century Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Charcoal
Walk - Drawing by Louis Jou - Early 20th Century
By Louis Jou
Located in Roma, IT
Walk is an Original Drawing in Pencil realized by Louis Jou (1882-1968).
Good conditions.
Hand-signed.
The Artwork is depicted through strong strokes in a well-balanced compositio...
Category
1920s Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Pencil
Portrait of African American Woman by Anthony Sisti Circa 1930's
Located in Rochester, NY
Portrait of an African American Woman by Tony Sisti (1901-1983). Sisti was a master draftsman. With just a few lines he captures the moment. Sisti was a professional boxer and an acc...
Category
Mid-20th Century Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Paper
Clinton Hill, (Nude #8), 1952, drawing, figure/abstraction
By Clinton Hill
Located in New York, NY
Clinton Hill (1922-2003), created quintessential mid-century images, but figures are unusual in his work. This is from a very early period. In 1951 Hill studied at the Academie de la...
Category
Mid-20th Century Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Gouache
WPA Mural Study American Scene Social Realism Mid 20th Century Modern Workers
Located in New York, NY
WPA Mural Study American Scene Social Realism Mid 20th Century Modern Workers
Seymour Fogel (1911-1984)
Mural Study, untitled
11 x 49 1/4 inches (sight)
Tempera on board
Provenance:...
Category
1930s Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Egg Tempera, Board
Scenography - Pencil Drawing by Eugène Berman - 1950s
Located in Roma, IT
Scenography is an original drawing in pencil on creamy paper, realized by Russian scenographer Eugène Berman in 1950s.
Monogrammed at the bottom: E.B.
In good conditions.
The artw...
Category
1950s Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Pencil
Eve Asleep, nude, female figure graphite drawing archival paper monochromatic
Located in Brooklyn, NY
These recently discovered 1984 oversize nudes on mylar and/or archival papers were created working quickly, from a live model. The series shows the last existing observational drawi...
Category
2010s Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Mixed Media, Archival Paper, Graphite
Gerald Holding His Knees
By Andy Warhol
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Andy Warhol (1928-1987) is arguably the most important American artist of the 20th century. He not only defined Pop Art but had an unrivalled influence on artists and image-making.
...
Category
1950s Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Ballpoint Pen
Horses - Drawing by Domenico Purificato - 1952
Located in Roma, IT
Horses is an original drawing realized by Domenico Purificato in 1952.
Black and white pen drawing.
Hand-signed and dated on the lower right.
Th...
Category
1950s Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Pen
Figure in an Interior - Original Lithograph by André Marius Aillaud - 1938
Located in Roma, IT
Figure in an Interior is an original lithograph realized by André Marius Aillaud (1909-1972) in 1938.
Hand signed by the artist on the back of the paper.
Good condition, included a...
Category
1930s Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Lithograph
Men - Original Drawing by Alexandre Bida - Mid 19th Century
Located in Roma, IT
Men is an Original Pencil Drawing realized by Alexandre Bida (1823-1895).
Good conditions.
No signature.
F. Alexandre Bida (1813–1895) was a French p...
Category
Mid-19th Century Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Pencil
Art Deco Costume Illustration by Broadway Designer Mabel E. Johnston
Located in New York, NY
Mabel E. Johnston
Untitled, c. 1920s
Watercolor and pencil on paper
Sight: 12 1/2 x 10 1/2 in.
Framed: 21 1/8 x 17 1/4 x 1/2 in.
Signed lower right: Mabel E. Johnston
The first tidb...
Category
1920s Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Paper, Watercolor, Pencil
Rare Large Original British Illustration Art Watercolor Painting "Horse Races"
Located in Surfside, FL
Sue Macartney-Snape Watercolor painting (with highlights of gold metallic paint) titled on label "Goodwood Races"
Signed with initials verso.
Info on label verso Dimensions: H 38.75...
Category
1980s Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Watercolor
Nude Man - Original Drawing by Félix Barrias - Late-19th Century
Located in Roma, IT
Nude Man is an original pencil Drawing realized by Félix Barrias (1822-1907).
The little artwork is in good condition on a brown paper.
No Signature, i...
Category
Late 19th Century Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Ink
Composition - Original Ink and Watercolor by Bertrand Mogniat - 1940
Located in Roma, IT
Composition is an original drawing in china ink and watercolor on cardboard realized by Bertrand Mogniat-Duclos in 1940.
This Artwork is depicted through strong and confident stroke...
Category
1940s Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Cardboard, Ink, Watercolor
The Grapes Harvest - Original Ink Drawing by Lac Man
Located in Roma, IT
Original China ink drawing on ivory colored cardboard, representing grapes harvest, resembling a dramatic and satiric scene. Hand-signed on the lower right corner, in black ink, by "...
Category
20th Century Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Paper, Ink
Facial Expressions Seen at the Cinema - Drawing - 1940s
Located in Roma, IT
Facial Expressions Seen at the Cinema is an original China Ink Drawing realized by an artist in 1940s.
Signature unreadable.
Good condition on a white little paper.
Category
1940s Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Ink
Sole Tree - Drawing in Pencil on Paper - 20th Century
Located in Roma, IT
Sole Tree is an original drawing in pencil on paper realized by an Anonymous artist of the XX century.
The State of preservation is very good with the traces of time and some small...
Category
20th Century Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Pencil
Rio della Misericordia, Venice.
By James McBey
Located in Storrs, CT
Rio della Misericordia. October 1924. Watercolor. 14 x 8 3/4. McBey did a striking nocturnal view of the bridge in his 1926 drypoint, The Bridge by Night Carter 232. Signed and dated, lower right; titled verso. Housed in a French mat and a 22 x 16 1/2-inch gold leaf frame.
The Rio Della Misericordia ( from the Venetian to the Misericordia Canal ) is a canal from Venice in the sestiere of Cannaregio, Contrada San Marzillan in Italy.
The river runs along the old Servite convent. The canal is crossed by two bridges, from east to west:
the San Marziale spawning linking the campo of the same name with the Fondamenta de la Misericordia and
the dei dei Servi or Betania linking the Mensa di Betania to the Fondamenta de la Misericordia .
Born in Newburgh near Aberdeen, James McBey attended evening classes at Graydon's School of Art and taught himself etching, building his own press at the age of fifteen. He moved to London to prepare for a one-man show at Goupil's Gallery, and shortly after this highly successful first show, he traveled to Morocco with James Kerr...
Category
Mid-20th Century Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
India Ink, Watercolor
"Dahlias" Chiura Obata, Japanese American, Red and Blue Delicate Floral Work
By Chiura Obata
Located in New York, NY
Chiura Obata
Dahlias, 1940
Signed, dated and stamped lower right
Watercolor on paper
15 x 9 5/8 inches
Born in the Okayama prefecture of Japan, Chiura Obata was adopted by his uncle, an artist. As a child he was trained in ink painting, and at 14 he was apprenticed to the painter Murata Tanryo in Tokyo. He also studied with Kogyo Terasaki and Goho Hasimoto.
In 1903, Obata moved to San Francisco and began working as an illustrator for The New World and The Japanese American, two of the city's Japanese newspapers. He also did work as a commercial designer. Obata helped establish the East West Art Society in San Francisco in 1921, which sought to promote cross-cultural understanding through art. This goal was reflected in his embrace of the Nihonga style, which fused traditional Japanese sumi-e ink painting with the conventions of western naturalism.
He spent much of the 1920s painting landscapes throughout California, and among his favorite subjects were mountain landscapes. In 1927, he visited Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada, creating over a hundred paintings and sketches of the high country. Obata stayed in the USA until the death of his father in 1928.
Between 1928 and 1932, he worked in Tokyo as a painter and transformed his California landscape watercolors...
Category
1940s Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Paper, Watercolor
At The Theater - Pencil and watercolor on Paper - Mid 19th Century
Located in Roma, IT
At The Theater is an original artwork realized in the XIX by Tony Johannot
Original colored watercolor on paper glued on cardboard.
The artwork consis...
Category
Mid-19th Century Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Watercolor, Pencil
Sketch. 1930's, watercolour, pencil on paper, 42x27 cm
Located in Riga, LV
Romans Suta
Born on April 28, 1896 in the vicinity of Cesis (Latvia), died on July 14, 1944 in Tbilisi (Georgia), rehabilitated posthumously.
Painter, graphic artist, decorative and stage designer, art critic and theoretician. Studied at the J. Madernieks' Art Studio (1913), Riga City Art School (1913-1915), and Penza Art School (1915 -1917). A prominent figure and active protagonist of modernist trends in Latvian art. Travels to Berlin and Paris, where he made the acquaintance of A. Ozanfant, Le Corbusier, and others. The influences of Cubism and Constructivism.
A member of the Riga Artists' Group (1920-1924) and the Riga Graphic Artists' Society. Painter of still lifes and figural compositions. After the first experiments in Modernism, he turned to a more realistic manner of representation. The initiator and developer of a national constructive style, especially in interior design; the founder of Baltars creative workshop for porcelain painting (1924-1928); a designer and painter at Kuznetsov...
Category
1930s Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Paper, Watercolor, Pencil
Femme Cheval
By Wifredo Lam
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...
Category
Late 20th Century Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Pastel, Laid Paper
Getting Ready for the Revolution - Learning How to Ride in the Subway
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Getting Ready for the Revolution - Learning How to Ride in the Subway
Litho crayons on illustrator’s board, c. 1932
Signed: Adolf Dehn (VED) lower right corner (signed by Virginia Dehn, the artist’s widow)
Tilted along the upper edge of the recto in pencil by the artist
Verso inscriptions: “VF 3168.D” in a circle, also annotated in red pencil “32” in a circle and “699
Provenance:
Mary Ryan Gallery, exhibition entitled Adolf Dehn Lithographs, 1927-1940, Nov. 16 to Dec. 12, 1982. The original exhibition notice us affixed to the backing board of the frame
Note: A drawing intended or used in the publication Vanity Fair, for whom Dehn worked in the mid 1920’s to the 1930’s.
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...
Category
1930s Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Oil Crayon
Clinton Hill, Firenze (Florence, Italy), 1952, drawing, landscape/abstraction
By Clinton Hill
Located in New York, NY
Clinton Hill (1922-2003), created quintessential mid-century images. This abstraction references Florence, Italy, where he studied in the early 1950s.
He lived in SoHo, New York, a...
Category
Mid-20th Century Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Gouache
A 1940s Black & WhiteFashion Study for Lily Daché Hat Designs
Located in Chicago, IL
An early 1940s black & white fashion study featuring an advertisement for women's hats by Lilly Daché. Provenance: Cornelia Steckl-Jurin, Founder of the Fashion Department at the Sc...
Category
1940s Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Paper, Watercolor, Pencil
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