Leon Kroll

Building New York

c. 1915

Horses Leaving the Barn Watercolor on paper, 1940 Signed and dated lower left corner (see photo) Condition: Excellent Image: 14 1/2 x 21” Frame: 25” x 31” Provenance; Associated American Artists, New York (see photo of label) Mamdouha and Elmer Holmes Bobst Displayed in an original wormy chestnut frame with OP3 Acrylic. Most probably from the AAA Dehn watercolor exhibition of 1940. Vintage original framing chosen by the artist. Note: Elmer Holmes Bobst (1884–1978) was an American businessman and philanthropist who worked in the pharmaceutical industry. His wife, Mamdouha, was also well known philanthropist. Bobst was born in Lititz, Pennsylvania. He aspired to become a doctor, but instead, he taught himself pharmacology. After his wife Ethel composed his interview letter, he became manager and treasurer of the Hoffman-LaRoche Chemical Works by 1920. When Bobst retired from the company in 1944, he was one of the nation's highest paid corporate executives. In 1945 he took charge of the ailing William Warner Company (later Warner–Lambert) and he remained board chairman until his retirement. Bobst had close connections to President Dwight Eisenhower, but was also a close friend of President Richard Nixon. Note: In 1940, the year of this watercolor, Dehn and Elizabeth Timmerman visited Waterville, MN on their way to Colorado Sprint, Colorado where Dehn was to teach lithography and watercolor. This watercolor is obviously a view of the area around Waterville. 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...

Breaking Up of the Penelope watercolor on artists watercolor board, 1942 Signed and dated by the artist lower right (see photo) Exhibitions: Cleveland, OH, The Cleveland Museum of Art, May 3 - June 11, 1944: "The 26th Annual Ehibition of Works by Artists and Craftsmen of the Western Reserve," , (label on verso) Youngstown OH, The Butler Insititue of American Art, 1943: "1943 New Year Show," , (label on verso) "Ed Dobrotka was one of comic-book illustrator Joe Shuster's early assistants. In the studio, he worked on the 'Superman' series, inking the pencils of artists including Shuster, John Sikela, Leo Nowak and Wayne Boring. Dobrotka did do some pencilling of his own, however he returned to inking exclusively in 1945. In the following years, he worked with Sikela on the 'Superboy' series until the 1950s. He has also work on the solo 'Lois Lane...

untitled (The White Barn with Farmers and Horse) Watercolor, c. 1950 Signed by the artist in ink lower right: Wm. C. Grauer Numbered in pencil verso: 152 Provenance: Estate of the Artist Gretchen Grauer Vanderhoof, the artist's daughter Condition: Excellent Image/Sheet size: 18 3/4 x 24 inches William C. Grauer (1895-1985) William C. Grauer (1895-1985) was born in Philadelphia to German immigrant parents. After attending the Philadelphia Museum School of Industrial Art, Grauer received a four year scholarship from the City of Philadelphia to pursue post graduate work. It was during this time that Grauer began working as a designer at the Decorative Stained Glass Co. in Philadelphia. Following his World War I service in France, Grauer moved to Akron, Ohio where he opened a studio in 1919 with his future brother-in-law, the architect George Evans...

Study of an Italian Town with Women in a Doorway Graphite on cream wove paper, c. 1960 Signed by the artist in pencil lower right (see photo) A master of "Magic Realism," French was ...

This artwork "Landscape with Cattle" c.1930 is a watercolor by noted American artist Raphael Senseman, 1870-1966 It is signed at the lower right ...

This artwork "Winter Landscape " c.1930 is a watercolor by noted American artist Raphael Senseman, 1870-1966 It is signed at the lower left corner by the artist. The artwork size is ...

This artwork is a watercolor on paper by noted artist Carolyn Bullis Blish, born 1928. It is signed at the lower right corner by the artist. The artwork size is 17 x 26 inches, framed is 28 x 37 inches. Framed in his original wooden gold and mahogany color frame. The artwork is in excellent condition, the frame is in very good condition, with very minor small dents and scratches, hardly visible. About the artist. A former model, actress, and newscaster, artist Carolyn Blish is known primarily for her watercolor landscapes. She received a very short training in painting under the tutelage of artist Edgar...

Aaron Berkman was born in Hartford, Connecticut in 1900. In 1916 Berkman attended the Connecticut League of Art Students, founded by Charles Noel Flagg. Beginning in 1919 he studied under Albertus E. Jones at the Hartford Art School. Berkman was influenced during this time by George Inness and John Singer Sargent and the Old Masters. He received a scholarship to the Museum Art School of Boston in 1921 and then traveled to Europe, remaining there from 1924 through 1925. He spent time in France, Italy, Spain, Holland and Belgium. In 1929 Berkman moved to New York City, continuing a friendship and painting relationship with Milton Avery. He was appointed by the W.P.A. as Director of the WPA Art Center at the 92nd Street Y in New York City. Berkman helped established the A.C.A. Gallery in New York City at 52 West 8th St., the first Artist Cooperative Gallery in New York City. He spent summers on Monhegan Island in...