Charcoal Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

"Perhaps, The Wheel Is To Blame For Some Of This? II" features hues of black, white, grey, blue and purple. It is a stretched and framed work on paper. Andrew Herzog is a Brooklyn-b...

"Day(')s End (Funeral Pyre)" features hues of purple, blue, green, yellow and orange. It is a stretched and framed work on paper. Andrew Herzog is a Brooklyn-based interdisciplinary...

Artist: Boris Zaborov, Belarusian (1935 - ) Title: Garcon pres d'une Table et une Nue Year: 1996 Medium: Mixed Media on Paper, signed l.r. Size: 24.5 x 7...

On paper.

"City Swim, Dusk" is a unique charcoal drawing on paper. Scottish artist Patsy McArthur captures the dynamic movement of the swimmer against an urban backdrop. This monochromatic art...

Partal Number 7, Alhambra, Charcoal Abstract Painting by John Hubbard, 1987 Additional information: Medium: Charcoal 56.2 x 71.1 cm 22 1/8 x 28 in John Hubbard was an American-born...

Girbent's realistic charcoal drawing of a woman in the Louvre is highly evocative and transmits a moodiness in shades of gray.

Created circa 1955 by Victor Di Gesu (American, 1914-1988) and stamped, verso, with certification of authenticity. Winner of the Prix Othon Friesz, Victor di Gesu first attended th...

Original charcoal drawing on paper by James Shipton My works are heavily influenced by the art work of Degas and Gustav Klimt. My desire is to capture the human form, whilst port...

An original circa 1940 drawing painted by Royal Academy artist Christopher Sanders. A fine example of a Modern British nude drawing by an artist who exhibited hundreds of times at Th...

In Henk Serfontein's recent series of charcoal drawings, Fragile Flora, he continues his investigation into the fragile, the intimate and the ethereal. In his plant portraits he capt...

-ARTIST STATEMENT- I depict my person in multiplicity with different selves representing dramatis personae. My likeness is both implicit and symbolic in the portrayal of my narrative; the drama involved in creating art and the artist’s role in society. I use realism to invite the viewer into mysterious inner worlds that are layered reflections of the outer. Dehumanizing environments are imbued with art historical references as a critique of power structures. The artist is an Everyman who is at odds with society and his self. Visually my work is a celebration of society’s dark undercurrents and its overlooked absurdities. I use charcoal and printmaking media as their tenebrous values add a fitting metaphor. The nuances of light and shadow seduce viewers into a world their better judgment would have them avoid. This provokes a sense of disquietude that causes viewers to assess our world through the austerity of a colorless, yet not humorless, light. -BIO- Christopher Ganz grew up in Northeast Ohio and from early on had a fertile imagination and an interest in art. Christopher's artistic education truly began at the University of Missouri, where his love of the human form led to many figure drawing classes and his exposure to the wonders of printmaking. Christopher's then went onto graduate school at Indiana University and a summer abroad program in Italy was a dream realized. Christopher then grasped charcoal with a renewed vigor and large, sfumato-laden drawings ensued. Christopher's artistic influences are many; from a seminal exposure to Dore's engravings of the Divine Comedy, to Rembrandt, Caravaggio, Goya, and up to Lucian Freud, Mark Tansey...

A charming study of Thomas Gainsborough's three-quarter length portrait of Welsh actress Sarah Siddons. Sarah Simmons was born a family of theatre professionals in Brecon, Wale. Afte...

He grew up with a menagerie of animals including a number of rabbits, which often emerge in his paintings. He began drawing at the early age of three and was inspired by various cartoons and books. Some standout books that still find their way into his art are Watership Down...

Albert Paul Guilmet (1879-1922) Portrait of a man, signed upper left charcoal on paper 26.5 x 33,8 cm Framed : 43.5 x 52 cm Little is known about Abert Paul Guilmet, apart from th...

Artist: Ian Hornak (1944-2002) Title: (Abstract Mythological Landscape) Untitled Year: circa 1965 Medium: Charcoal on archival paper Size: 11 x 14 inches Condition: Good Provenance: ...

Charcoal on paper drawing by Toronto-based artist Katherine Curci. Framed. Katherine Curci began this series of charcoal drawings, premiered in This L...

This drawing of a group of women huddled in a circle has a blue tones with subtle red and white color. The drawing mixes loose sketch technique with high detail. This artwork is framed with TruVue non-glare museum glass, a white 8ply mat and a black frame. Bruno Surdo Gatherers, 2018 charcoal on prepared paper 15h x 20w in 38.10h x 50.80w cm Bruno A. Surdo b. Chicago, 1963 EXHIBITIONS 2018 Liberation, Gallery Victor Armendariz, Chicago, IL Blood Sport, Gallery Victor Armendariz, Chicago, IL Art on Paper 2018, Gallery Victor Armendariz, Pier 36, New York, NY SOFA Chicago 2018, Gallery Victor Armendariz, Navy Pier, Chicago, IL 2017 POP!ARAZZI, Gallery Victor Armendariz, Chicago, IL Coming Attractions, Gallery Victor Armendariz, Chicago, IL 2015 SOFA Chicago 2015, Ann Nathan Gallery, Navy Pier, Chicago, IL Bruno Surdo: Allegories, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 2014 Bruno Surdo: Respond, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL Modern Metaphors, Rockford Art Museum, Rockford, IL 2013 Bruno Surdo: Revelations, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL Vice + Virtue, Northern Illinois University Museum of Art 2012 Contemporary Realism Biennial, Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Fort Wayne, IN 2011 Bruno Surdo, University of St. Francis School of Creative Arts, Fort Wayne, IN Uncensored, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 2010 Art Chicago 2010, Ann Nathan Gallery, Merchandise Mart, Chicago, IL 2009 Art Chicago 2009, Ann Nathan Gallery, Merchandise Mart, Chicago, IL 2007 Bruno Surdo, Art Institute of Indianapolis, Indianapolis, IN 2006 Context/Content: Making Meaning with the Figure, University of Arkansas, Conway, AR Creative Imaginings, Mobile Museum of Art, Mobile, AL Bruno Surdo: Cycles, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 2005 Art Chicago 2005, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 2004 Tragedy, Memory, & Honor, Richard M. Daley Center, Chicago, IL Art Chicago 2004, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL Group Show, Arcadia Gallery, New York, NY Drawings VII, Koplin Del Rio Gallery, West Hollywood, CA Armory Show, New York Armory, New York, NY 2003 Paintings & Drawings, College of Lake County, Grayslake, IL The Art Show, New York, NY Bruno Surdo: New Work, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL Art Chicago 2003, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 2003-10 International Show of Contemporary Artists, Chicago Art Open, Chicago, IL 2002 Bruno Surdo: Perception of Appearance, Frye Museum, Seattle, WA Tragedy, Memory, & Honor, Richard M. Daley Center, Chicago, IL Bruno Surdo: Transcendence, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL Art Chicago 2002, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL Tragedy, Memory, & Honor, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 2001 Magic Vision, Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, AR 1998 Evanston and Vicinity Artists, Evanston Art Center, Evanston, IL 1996 Bruno Surdo: A Personal View, University of Wisconsin, Kenosha, WI 1995 Bruno Surdo: Recent Works, College of Lake County, IL AIDS in Our Society, Loyola University, Chicago, IL Bruno Surdo: Life, Struggle, and Hope, Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago, IL 2001 Magic Vision, Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, AR Bruno Surdo: Dualities of Life, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 1999 Group Show, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 1998 Group Exhibition, Fine Arts Building Gallery, Chicago, IL 1995 Spiritual Inquiries, Struve Gallery, Chicago, IL 1994 Recent Works, The 14th Annual Juried Exhibition for Lake County Artists, Grayslake, IL Go Figure, Figurative Works on Paper, Chicago Printmakers Collaborative, Chicago, IL SELECTED COLLECTIONS The Re-Birth of Venus, Temporary Loan, Fort Wayne Museum of Art Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, AR College of Lake County, Greyslake, IL Flashpoint Academy, Chicago IL John Robert Wiltgen Design Shoemaker Ruud Collection Julie & Thomas Danilek Michael Vozzella and Mike Silver Benjamin Fernandez Tom Braake Betsy Colburn Michael Diemand & Lor LaRose Michael Staab & Kathy Brock Bruce Leep Frank Tzurect Mary Foley Rosalyn Carlson Mimmy Turney Janet Long Halstead Billy Hunt Carol Galli Myles Kerrigan Honorable & Mrs. Edwin Berman Theodore Gage Northrop Art Museum Past Present & Future Company Dr. James & Peggy Kemmler Salvatore Monastero Nix & Virginia Lauridsen Joel Miller David & Marlene Zerkel Ann & Andy Abel Claudia Rush Marc Miller Leonard Goldberg Lawrence Pucci Howard Tullman Collection Susan & Manny Kramer James Rinnert Richar Interiors Michael & Nancy Colt Khalid Altijir Dr. Joe Grodman Beryl & Jack Gore Larry Wolf & Eric Naegle Chuck Wolandi Jack Schwab & David Sandelin Thomas Kaczmarek Marti Dinerstein Craig & Michael Golden Mike & Jill Rose SELECTED PUBLICATIONS Bruno Surdo: The Method Artist Responds, by Lucia Mauro, June 26, 2014, anitathemovie blog An Exhibition of Exhibitionism: Bruno Surdo’s ‘Respond’, by Carrie McGath, July 1, 2014, The Chicagoist Website, Arts and Entertainment “Inspired Environs: A renowned designer decks out his Loop abode in art and texture” Modern Luxury, Men’s Book, Spring 2014 “Master Class” What’z Up Magazine, Fort Wayne, 2011 ”9/11 Painting will be on Display” Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, 2011 “Illuminated Images” Fort Wayne Reader, 2011 “Two Faces of Beauty” American Art Collector Magazine, Issue #3 and #59, 2006/2010 “Art and Calamity” Art Papers, 2009 “Versions of the Present, Techniques of the Past” American Artist Magazine, 2004 “Living Artists” Crow Book Publishing, Chicago, IL 2004 “The New Master” by Craig Keller, Chicago Social Magazine, 2004. “Tragedy, Memory, and Honor,” by William Hageman, Chicago Tribune, March 28, 2002 “Mural Depicts Tragedy of 9/11” Art Section...

Charcoal and water on paper. Unframed. Margaret Neill works for a time on a group of pieces in a series, using classic almost primal materials such as graphite, charcoal, paint on t...

Black and white portrait of a woman done in a style that combines abstraction and cubism, much like the work of Fernand Leger. Signed and dated in lower left corner. Artist Biography: Valery Kleverov was born in Engels, Russian Federation, Soviet Union June 28, 1939 the son of a fighter test pilot in the Soviet Air Force. He exhibited an independent, rebellious, and highly artistic temperament from a young age. Conscription into the Red Army at the standard age of (18) was first and last straw in the young artist’s battle with the State, he lasted only a few months before making an unauthorized parachute jump over a forest to go permanently AWOL. After 3 weeks hiding in the woods, he eventually made his way to Leningrad, dropped his first name and the “ov” from the end of his name and began his life as the underground artist known as “KLEVER”. He fell in with a close-knit group of young anti-authoritarian rebels who eventually became known to the world as the “Non-Conformists”, a small gang of free thinkers mainly from Leningrad and Moscow who rebelled against State control of artistic expression and of free thought. In the Soviet Union, not only religion was outlawed - art, literature, music and dance were all subject to heavy censorship and state oversight. Among paintings historical, religious, abstract, anti-Soviet and erotic subjects were all against the law. From 1966 to 1977 Klever made a reputation for himself as one of the non-conformists most overtly critical of the Soviet state. Many of his paintings from this period can be described as nothing less than heroic- they are truly remarkable visual essays on the evils of the national security/surveillance state, propaganda and manipulation of cultural symbols, suppression of artistic and religious freedom, revisionist history, and unfilled promises for the future. All of them were painted stored and exhibited not only at great risk to the artist and his associates, but also to anybody who sought to view them. In spite of the secrecy, the KGB discovered the existence of these pieces and began to follow Klever’s every move. There were surprise visits to his studio, harassment wherever he went, friends and family being questioned all a direct result of his determination to express himself artistically against Soviet control. From this time forward Klever had an exhibit which was open for viewing at all times inside the apartment of Bob Kashilohov as part of a network which paralleled the Samizdat network for sharing of forbidden literature. Klever was arrested for his participation in the most important non- conformist exhibitions which took place during his time there. These were the Bulldozer Exhibition in Moscow, 1974, (so named because the KGB bulldozed the exhibition and destroyed much of the work) and the Nevski Dom exhibition in Leningrad, 1975. These exhibitions represented some of the early cracks in the foundations of the Soviet state’s control over the population’s basic aspirations for economic, personal and creative freedom that ended with collapse in 1991. Repercussions of the Bulldozer exhibition were that some of the painters were arrested or even killed. Approximately 70 artists were arrested, including Klever. Media outcry in the west allowed most of the artists to be released within a week. Two weeks later another exhibition was allowed to proceed and became known as “Half Day of Freedom” in the Soviet Union. The Nevsky exhibition caused a huge sensation and was a watershed moment in the cultural history of the Soviet Union. People lined up for 30 blocks long over the course of the two week exhibition to see the forbidden works. Klever showed a large collection of explicit anti-Soviet paintings...

Alphonse Legros 1837-1911, was a French painter and sculptor, who lived in London from 1863 until his death in 1911. He was a teacher of etching and drawing and became Slade Professo...

This watercolour is hand signed and dated in pencil by the artist "Heckel 22" [1922] in the lower left image. It is also hand titled in pencil “Grauer Tag” [Grey Day] in the lower l...

"Behind the Studio" is a realist charcoal on paper drawing. It depicts the treed filled forrest behind the aritst's studio in Sag Harbor, NY. Frame Dimensions 26 x 34in Framed und...

A striking charcoal scene showing semi abstracted trees and buildings. The artist has monogrammed to the lower right. The drawing is presented in a white card mount. On wove.

This is a charcoal on paper still life is by St. Julin Fishburn. It features a simple pile of fresh pears atop a paper bag. Still Life St. Julian Fishburne, American (1927–2011) Dat...

Stately mid century portrait of a man, done in charcoal in 1956, by William Clothier Watts (American, 1867-1961). Signed and dated "Willi...

Tammy Liu-Haller presents "Blue Sunset," an original mixed media painting on encaustic panel created in 2023. This intimate artwork measures 5 x 5 x 0.87 inches (12.70 x 12.70 x 2.21...

Tammy Liu-Haller presents "Green Sunset," an original mixed media painting on encaustic panel created in 2023. This intimate artwork measures 5 x 5 x 0.87 inches (12.70 x 12.70 x 2.2...

* Provenance: This artwork was included in Portraiture Now: Drawing on the Edge, at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington DC, 2012-2013. The exhibition traveled to the Arkansas Art Center in Little Rock, AR in 2013. Mary Borgman b. October 4, 1959 St. Louis, MO SELECTED EXHIBITIONS 2017 Grand Opening: Coming Attractions, Gallery Victor Armendariz, Chicago, IL 2013 SOFA Chicago 2013, Ann Nathan Gallery, Navy Pier, Chicago, IL Portraiture Now: Drawing on the Edge, National Portrait Gallery, Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, AR 2012 Portraiture Now: Drawing on the Edge, National Portrait Gallery, Washington D.C. SOFA Chicago 2012, Ann Nathan Gallery, Navy Pier, Chicago, IL SOFA NY, Ann Nathan Gallery, New York, NY 2011 Gallery Group Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL SOFA NY, Ann Nathan Gallery, New York, NY 2010 SOFA Chicago 2010: Special Installation at SOFA Café, Navy Pier, Chicago, IL What’s the Buzz on the Playground: Art of Today from St. Louis curated by Mary Sprague...

A delicate 20th century life study in charcoal, showing a female sat on a single mat and sheets. Well-presented in a black, high gloss frame with white card mount. Unsigned. On paper.

James O. Clark, American sculptor, art educator. Recipient Sculpture award, Creative Artists Public Service, 1978, award for sculpture, National Endowment for Arts, 1982, Graphics award, 1983; fellow, John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, 1989; grantee, Pollock-Krasner Foundation, 1995, New York Counsel on Arts. Member selection committee Islip (New York ) Museum, 2002; Member of American Abstract Artist (associate; active 1999—2003). ONE PERSON EXHIBITIONS 2015 ltd los angeles, Los Angeles, CA 2011 RHV Fine Art, Brooklyn, NY 2010 Mariboe Gallery, Hightstown, NJ 2009 Lesley Heller Gallery, New York, NY 2006 Elizabeth Harris Gallery, New York, NY 1998-9 “Tulips, Hysteria, Coordinating”, Nicholas Davies, New York, NY 1997 “James O. Clark”, Ohio University, Athens, OH 1994 The College of Saint Rose Art Gallery, Albany, NY 1991 Max Protetch Gallery, New York, NY 1990 James...

This is a fine circa 1910 pencil drawing of a Scottish society lady. Executed by one of the leading artists of the day in the circle of John Lavery it is a very striking and fascina...

Buck Schiwetz (1898-1984) Houston Artist Size: 10 x 15.5 Frame: 16.5 x 22 Medium: Charcoal on Paper unsigned from the collection of a Schiwetz Family Member. 1961 "Dallas" Cityscape....

Charcoal 32.00 cm. x 24.50 cm. 12.6 in. x 9.65 in. (paper) 40.00 cm. x 32.00 cm. 15.75 in. x 12.6 in. (frame) LCD5893

Original charcoal drawing on paper by James Shipton My works are heavily influenced by the art work of Degas and Gustav Klimt. My desire is to capture the human form, whilst port...

Sutra, a Sanskrit word meaning “thread”, is a word or small group of words that summarize an entire complex web of ideas, truths, wisdoms, or teachings all woven together into a sing...

Charcoal on paper 9 x 12 inches

Sunil Das - Early Horses IX - 21 x 34 inches (unframed size) Charcoal on Paper Inclusive of shipment in ready to hang form. Sunil Das was one of India's most important postmodernist...

Pencil Study #8 2016 Graphite on paper 13 x 6 inches Jessica Keiser currently resides in New Haven, Connecticut. Keiser's style is Naturalistic, concerned with the intimacy of the...

Pencil Study #12 2016-01-01 cca. Graphite on paper 12 x 7 inches Jessica Keiser currently resides in New Haven, Connecticut. Keiser's style is Naturalistic, concerned with the inti...

Pencil Study #10 2016 Graphite on paper 13 x 6 inches Jessica Keiser currently resides in New Haven, Connecticut. Keiser's style is Naturalistic, concerned with the intimacy of th...

Pencil Study #1 2016 Graphite on paper 10 x 7 inches Jessica Keiser currently resides in New Haven, Connecticut. Keiser's style is Naturalistic, concerned with the intimacy of the...

Original charcoal drawing on paper by James Shipton My works are heavily influenced by the art work of Degas and Gustav Klimt. My desire is to capture the human form, whilst port...

Mary Borgman’s work captivates the viewer in several ways. First is their scale. They hang like medieval tapestries, with figures standing as tall as eight feet. There is also their texture – created by using charcoal on Mylar, and the results are richly gestural, with distinct charcoal strokes and eraser marks animating the figure and ground alike. With a flat surface, she creates volume and life. And perhaps the most powerful of all, the viewer is caught be the gazes of the models, who stare forcefully out of the picture. They seem to be examining us every bit as much as we are examining them. These larger-than-life portraits stem from chance encounters that grow into meaningful connections between the artist and her subject. Most are strangers that she approaches on the street. They capture her attention with expressive eyes that show experience and wisdom, distinctive shapes and a casual body language. “I try to honor the people I am drawing by centering them in the format and shooting from slightly below their eye level. I choose an expression that exudes intelligence, self-awareness and complexity. I try to convey their humanness. I want the viewer to feel this person might be someone interesting to know”, says Borgman of her subjects. The intensity with which she conveys the eyes may stem from her many years of communicating in sign language, which is based on sustained eye contact. Borgman loves the directness of drawing. It is immediate, there is no lag time. There is no time waiting for the paint to dry. She works solely in charcoal which she can manipulate to achieve varying degrees of darkness and opacity. It is messy and the artist loves that. Mary Borgman Portrait of Justin Shanitkvich, 2022 charcoal on mylar 53h x 40w in 134.62h x 101.60w cm MBG009 [This work is custom framed in shadow box style with non-reflective Tru-Vue Museum Glass] FRAMED DIMENSIONS 55.25h x 42.50w x 2.25d in 140.34h x 107.95w x 5.71d cm Mary Borgman b. October 4, 1959 St. Louis, MO SELECTED EXHIBITIONS 2017 Grand Opening: Coming Attractions, Gallery Victor Armendariz, Chicago, IL 2013 SOFA Chicago 2013, Ann Nathan Gallery, Navy Pier, Chicago, IL Portraiture Now: Drawing on the Edge, National Portrait Gallery, Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, AR 2012 Portraiture Now: Drawing on the Edge, National Portrait Gallery, Washington D.C. SOFA Chicago 2012, Ann Nathan Gallery, Navy Pier, Chicago, IL SOFA NY, Ann Nathan Gallery, New York, NY 2011 Gallery Group Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL SOFA NY, Ann Nathan Gallery, New York, NY 2010 SOFA Chicago 2010: Special Installation at SOFA Café, Navy Pier, Chicago, IL What’s the Buzz on the Playground: Art of Today from St. Louis curated by Mary Sprague...

Ashoke Mullick - Untitled - 14 x 17 inches (unframed size) Ink on paper Inclusive of shipment in roll form. Style : Ashoke Mullick is considered one of the leading painters from the...

This mixed media drawing on toned archival sanded heavyweight paper is the second in a recent series if pastels depicting the artist and Model subject which had been done extensively...

Landscape BW Mineral Oxide on Paper ( Canson Paper 300gr) 55x75 cm 2022 one of a kind the painting can be shipped with the frame ready to hang, or on a rigid support with passpartou...

A striking early 19th Century portrait in charcoal, showing an elegant young woman. Her dress and the style of her hair date this portrait around 1830. Her soft, sloping shoulders an...

Original charcoal drawing on paper by James Shipton My works are heavily influenced by the art work of Degas and Gustav Klimt. My desire is to capture the human form, whilst port...

Theatrical Costume is a drawing made by Simone Vaulpré during the early 20th century. Hand signed. Good condition apart from some tears in the lower part. The original artwork is ...

Dovetail 1 (Abstract drawing) Charcoal on paper - Unframed. Neill creates works on canvas, linen and paper using a variety of mediums, including graphite, colored pencil, charcoal a...

This beautiful Victorian pencil drawing dates to around 1890 and is by an unknown hand. It is a profile head and shoulders portrait of a young lady sat in a chair. Her dark hair is t...

A beautiful early 20th Century profile portrait by the Belgian artist Jean van den Eeckhoudt of his daughter Zoum, drawn circa 1918. This special work is from the artist's studio. ...

Henry Ottmann (1877-1927) Nude in the studio signed lower right Charcoal on paper 37.5 x 31.5 cm In good condition In a modern frame : 53 x 46.5 cm Published under n°414 of the artist's catalogue raisonné (p 167 reproduced) published by Bernard Toublanc-Michel, Paris 2020 This drawing is a particularly interesting and touching example of Henry Ottmann's art. It shows his special technique, which gives priority to a kind of blur, and in this case it serves very well this scene of intimacy as if captured by stealth. Henry Ottmann was born on 10 April 1877 in Ancenis. He made his debut at the Salon La Libre Esthétique in Brussels in 1904 and took part in the Salon des Indépendants in Paris from 1905, the Salon d'Automne, the Salon de la Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts and the Salon des Tuileries. In 1911 and 1912, Ottmann exhibited at the Artistes de la Société Moderne at the Gallery Paul Durand...

Sunil Das - Untitled - 8.5 x 7 inches (unframed size) Ink & Charcoal on paper, 1965 (Framed & Delivered) In the sixties Sunil's art was often seen to feature a dialogic discourse be...

Arietta series 1 (Abstract drawing) Charcoal ink and pastel on paper - Unframed. Margaret Neill works for a time on a group of pieces in a series, using classic almost primal mater...

Signed lower right, "M. Decker" for Michael Decker (American, 20th Century) and created circa 1975. An elegant graphite and india ink figural study showing a young woman kneeling an...

In this delicate drawing, artist Josef Levi takes reference to art history by combining figures within one composition. The two characters depicted in this composition utilize the bottom half of the great artist Raphael, gradually phasing into the portrait of lovely lady named Vera. Josef Alan Levi (1938) is an American artist whose works range over a number of different styles, but which are unified by certain themes consistently present among them. Levi began his artistic career in the 1960s and early '70s, producing highly abstract and very modernist pieces: these employing exotic materials such as light fixtures and metallic parts. By 1975, Levi had transitioned to painting and drawing still lifes. At first these were, traditionally, of mundane subjects. Later, he would depict images from art history, including figures originally created by the Old Masters. Around 1980, he made another important shift, this time toward creating highly precise, though subtly altered reproductions of pairs of female faces which were originally produced by other artists. It is perhaps this work for which he is most well known. Since around 2000, Josef Levi has changed the style of his work yet again: now he works entirely with computers, using digital techniques to abstract greatly from art history, and also from other sources. Levi's works of art in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, NYC, the National Gallery of Art, and the Albright-Knox Museum, among many others. Levi's art has been featured on the cover of Harper's Magazine twice, once in June 1987, and once in May 1997. Josef Levi received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1959 from the University of Connecticut, where he majored in fine arts and minored in literature. From 1959 to 1960, he served to a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army, and from 1960 through 1967 he was in the U.S. Army Reserves. In 1966, he received the Purchase Award from the University of Illinois in 1966, and he was featured in New Talent U.S.A. by Art in America. He was an artist in residence at Appalachian State University in 1969, taught at Farleigh Dickenson University in 1971 and was a visiting professor of art at Pennsylvania State University in 1977. From 1975 to 2007, Levi resided in New York City. He now lives in an apartment in Rome, where he is able to paint with natural light as he was unable in New York. From 1959 to 1960, Josef took some courses of Howard McParlin Davis and Meyer Schapiro at Columbia University which initiated him into the techniques of reproducing the works of the Old Masters. His first works, created in the 1960s, were wood and stone sculptures of women. His first mature works were abstract pieces, constructed of electric lights and steel. In 1970, Levi's materials included fluorescent light bulbs, Rust-Oleum and perforated metal in addition to paint and canvas. By 1980, Josef Levi's art had transformed into a very specific form: a combination of reproductions of female faces which were originally depicted by other artists. The faces which he reproduces may be derived from either portraits or from small portions of much larger works; they are taken from paintings of the Old Masters, Japanese ukiyo-e, and 20th-century art. Artists from whom he has borrowed include: Vermeer, Rembrandt, Piero della Francesca, Botero, Matisse, Utamaro, Correggio, Da Vinci, Picasso, Chuck Close, Max Beckmann, Pisanello, Lichtenstein. The creation of these works is informed by Levi's knowledge and study of art history. Josef Levi's paintings from this period are drawn, then painted on fine linen canvas on wooden stretchers. The canvas is coated with twenty-five layers of gesso in order to produce a smooth surface on which to work. The drawing phase takes at least one month. Levi seals the drawing with acrylic varnish, and then he may apply layers of transparent acrylic in order to approximate the look of old paintings. After the last paint is applied, another layer of acrylic varnish is sprayed on to protect the work. Most of the figures in his contemporary pieces are not paired with any others. SELECTED COLLECTIONS MUSEUM OF MODERN ART, NEW YORK, NY ALBRIGHT- KNOX GALLERY, BUFFALO, NY ALDRICH MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART, RIDGEFIELD, CT NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART, WASHINGTON, DC BROOKLYN MUSEUM OF ART, BROOKLYN, NY SMITHSONIAN NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AMERICAN HISTORY, WASHINGTON, DC CORCORAN GALLERY, WASHINGTON, DC UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME ART...