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Hyman Warsager
'Color Abstraction of Pyramids and Temples of Mexico' — 1960s Expressionism

c. 1960

About the Item

Hyman Warsager, 'Color Abstraction of Pyramids and Temples of Mexico', acrylic and oil pastel, c. 1960s. Initialed in pencil, lower right. A spontaneous, painterly abstraction, with fresh, vibrant colors, on cream wove paper; the image extending to the sheet edges. Tape stains, verso, not showing recto, in overall good condition. Image size 14 x 16 1/2 inches (356 x 419 mm). Archivally matted to museum standards, unframed. Provenance: the estate of the artist, from his personal portfolio. ABOUT THE ARTIST Born in New York City, Hyman J. Warsager studied at the Hartford Art School, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Pratt Institute, Grand Central School of Art, and the American Artists School. Warsager was a member of United American Arts and exhibited at the San Francisco Artists Association in 1938. Warsager was employed by the Graphic Arts Division of the WPA Federal Arts Project in New York City from 1935-1939, where he contributed to the development of the silk-screen process as a fine art medium with a group of artists led by Anthony Velonis. Warsager also worked in engraving, etching, and lithography, and he was an illustrator for the New Masses. His inventive and masterfully-crafted prints depict urban scenes and rural landscapes celebrating nature and the working man. His later work gradually evolved into innovative, non-objective abstraction. Warsager was a member of the John Reed Club. The club, named after the journalist who founded the American Communist Party in 1929, had 30 branches in major cities across the country and sponsored art exhibitions, art classes, and political discussions. He was one of the 45 artists whose work was included in a 1935 ACA Gallery exhibition in Greenwich Village titled 'The Struggle for Negro Rights.' Warsager’s woodcuts and serigraphs have been exhibited in a range of galleries and museums, including the Metropolitan Museum, Museum of Modern Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, and the San Francisco Museum of Art. Warsager’s work is held in many institutional collections, including the Art Institute of Chicago, Baltimore Museum of Art, Brooklyn Museum, Detroit Institute of Arts, Metropolitan Museum of Art, National Gallery of Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Wesleyan University, and the Whitney Museum of American Art.
  • Creator:
    Hyman Warsager (1909 - 1974, American)
  • Creation Year:
    c. 1960
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 14 in (35.56 cm)Width: 16.5 in (41.91 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    Myrtle Beach, SC
  • Reference Number:
    Seller: 985001stDibs: LU532310509672
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