American Modern Nude Drawings and Watercolors

Three Poses - Original Male Nude Figurative Drawing on Paper Original male figurative drawing on paper depicting a nude male posing in three diff...

Divertimento I (Picasso) Graphite, color wash and oil paint on coated glossy paper, c. 1940 Signed C. Metcalf lower left (see photo) Inscribed Matisse, Picasso, C. Metcalf lower left...

Standing Nude with Japanese Lanterns Ink drawing on wove paper, mounted on wove paper support, c. 1916 Signed with the estate stamp B Provenance: Estate of the Artist ...

This pencil drawing by master draughtsman Edward Laning has religious over tones. Perhaps it's a study for a deposition. There are male figures, both nude...

Artist: Byron Brown (American 1907 - 1961) Title: Seated Nude Year: 1957 Medium: Pastel and Watercolor on Paper, signed and dated l.r. Size: 25.5 x 19.5 in...

Robert Noel Blair (American, 1912-2003) was an American artist, painter, sculptor, printmaker and teacher. He is best known for his rural life & desert landscapes and World War II sc...

This is a World War II drawing of the Missouri artist Joe Jones (1909-1963) by the New York artist Edward Laning (1906-1981). A typed note reads “Drawn in th...

Reclining Nude.Early modernist line drawing, by American artist William S. Schwartz, c. 1940, gouache painting, signed with initials, framed. (size includes frame). Work is reminisce...

Flemish Black Leather, 1962 Pastel on paper 16 x 18 in. Framed: 21 1/2 x 23 3/4 x 1 in. Signed and dated lower right Inscribed verso

Female Nude Study Graphite and crayon on wove paper, c. 1928 Signed with the Estate stamp "B" (see photo) Provenance: Estate of the Artist Edward Sommer (his so...

Donald Stacy "Mask" c.1950s Ink on paper Black dark wood frame 10.25"x17.25" Unsigned Came from artist estate Introducing an original piece by the American artist Donald Stacy title...

Donald Stacy "On Knees" c.1950s Ink on paper 8.5" x 11" 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...

Donald Stacy "Topless" 1952 Ink on paper 14" x 16.5" unframed Signed in pencil lower right, dated 1952 in pencil lower left Came from artist estate *Custom framing available for addi...

Seated Female Nude (Devora) Watercolor on paper, c. 1970 Signed in pencil lower right (see photo) A folio from the artist's sketchbook. Done while the artist was in Florida. Conditio...

Donald Stacy "Morning Robe" March 1951 Ink on paper 14" x 16.5" unframed Signed and dated 1951 in pencil lower right Came from artist estate *Custom framing available for additional...

Three Nudes in a Garden Graphite, c. 1928-1933 Initialed in pencil lower left (see photo) Illustrated: Elliott & Wooden, Aaron Bohrod: Figure Sketches, Fige 9, page 32 (see photo) A...

Nude Woman in Chair Watercolor, gouache, ink, and pencil on heavy paper, c. 1930-35 Signed with the artist's Estate stamp lower right (see photo) Note: "Matchstick" ink drawing of fe...

This is a wonderful drawing by one of America's most treasured artists, Chaim Gross. Throughout his lifetime Gross has gone through tragedy and a real test of faith however, he has the unique ability to focus and direct his expression to the most joyful and beautiful works of art, such as the present lot. For more than sixty years Chaim Gross's art has expressed optimistic, affirming themes. His acrobats, cyclists, and mothers and children convey joyfulness, exuberance, love, and intimacy. This aspect of his work remained consistent with his Hasidic heritage, which teaches that "only in his childlike happiness is man nearest to God." Chaim Gross, born in Wolowa, Austria in 1904, was educated at the Beaux Arts Institute of Design and at the Art Student's League in New York. Chaim Gross's work was greatly influenced by his experiences during a period of international conflict, World War II. He had moved to Kolomyya from Wolowa to get a better education, but the Germans came to occupy, killing, raping, and looting. Gross and his family were chased from one village to the next. He wrote, "We were sleeping on roofs and in the fields, with the sound of cannon fire...

This very early original red conte drawing is signed "Jack L. Nesbitt, 4/21/34". On the back of the drawing, Nesbitt has written "Quick sketch from fountain on Plaza". Jack was a student of Thomas Hart Benton at the Kansas City Art Institute during this period. The figure on the drawing is of a nude young boy with both arms in the air. A very rare early work by this fine artist. Jackson Lee Nesbitt, a noted printmaker and painter of the American Scene, dedicated his artistic career to the portrayal of ordinary people going about the business of their lives. A native of Oklahoma, Nesbitt created scenes from the Midwest during the 1930s and 1940s, but in the 1950s, when interest in his work diminished, he moved to Atlanta and established a second career in advertising. Thirty years later, Nesbitt sold his business and resumed his artistic career from Atlanta. He was born in McAlester, Oklahoma, on June 16, 1913, the only child of LuCena Grant and Howard Nesbitt. The family resided in Muskogee, Oklahoma, where his father owned a commercial printing business. Jack, as Nesbitt was known, helped out in the family business until 1931, when he enrolled at the University of Oklahoma in Norman. Two years later Nesbitt enrolled at the Kansas City Art Institute in Missouri. As a first-year student, he learned etching from John deMartelly, attended Ross Braught's painting class, and met his future wife, Elaine Thompson, who was a costume design student. Thomas Hart Benton, who joined the faculty in the fall of 1935, quickly became a close friend and mentor to the younger artist. In 1937 the management of the Sheffield Steel Corporation contacted deMartelly concerning an etching commission. Because Nesbitt was an outstanding student, his teacher suggested him for the job. When Nesbitt arrived at the plant one afternoon, he was taken to the open-hearth furnace area, where he diligently sketched anonymous workers in that dramatic setting until five o'clock the following morning. On the strength of his sketches, he was commissioned to create a series of etchings illustrating different phases of the steel industry. The commission launched Nesbitt's career as a professional artist. The commission with Sheffield Steel Corporation provided the financial security that enabled Jack and Elaine Nesbitt to marry on June 1, 1938. He graduated from the Kansas City Art Institute about the same time. Working as a freelance artist, Nesbitt augmented his commissioned work with genre scenes of the Midwest, and he routinely went with Benton on sketching trips to rural Arkansas. Beginning in 1939 Nesbitt's work gained widespread recognition. Open Hearth Door, a Sheffield Steel Corporation painting, was chosen to represent Missouri in the American Art Today exhibition at the New York World's Fair. Associated American Artists selected one of his etchings, Watering Place, for an edition of 250 prints that were sold through subscription. Having a print published by the association ensured national distribution, and four more of Nesbitt's works, all of rural southern genre scenes, were later selected by the print publisher. Over the next decade Nesbitt's work was exhibited in California, Colorado, Illinois, Missouri, New York, and Oklahoma. He was awarded the Eames Prize by the Society of American Etchers in 1946, and his work was included in the book American Prize Prints of the Twentieth Century, by Albert Reese. Major corporations with operations in the Midwest, including Brown and Bigelow, Butler Manufacturing Company, Humble Oil and Refining Company, Omaha Steel Works, Pratt and Whitney...

Preparatory drawing for Figure Composition, Carmel (CA) Graphite on paper, 1931 Signed with the artist's initial "W" lower right corner (see photo)...

Three Graces Pentel marker on paper, 1965 Signed and dated by the artist lower left (see photo) Part of a series of 100 drawings, this number 97 (annotated lower right corner) Condition: Excellent Sheet/Image size: 20 x 15 inches Provenance: Estate of the Artist Martha A. French Trust Ray H. French: The Evolution of an Artistic Innovator Printmaker, painter, and sculptor Ray H. French was born in Terre Haute, Indiana on May 16, 1919. Terre Haute was a cultural wasteland before the opening of the Sheldon Swope Art Museum in 1942. Thus, with a father as a coal miner and carpenter, art remained a luxury for Ray. Nevertheless, local art teachers Mabel Mikel Williams and Nola E. Williams helped to foster his creativity and unshakable drive to create things of beauty. After high school, Ray attended the John Herron School of Art in Indianapolis. His studies there were interrupted by the outbreak of World War II, during which he developed surveillance photographs for the Army Air Force. After the war, Ray transferred to the University of Iowa on the G.I. Bill, where he received both his BFA and MFA degrees. The University of Iowa during the 1940s was a cultural mecca with many major art historians and artists. While in Iowa, Ray played an important role in this culture by becoming a founding member of the Iowa Print...

Standing Female Nude Match stick and ink drawing, c. 1925 Signed with the estate stamp B Sheet size: 21 x 16 inches Created at the Kakoon Arts Klu...

Hans Burkhardt frequently used live models for his figural pastels, which he maintained an interest in throughout his long career. Untitled (1972) Pastel on paper 25" x 20" Signed a...

Standing Nude drawing on gray paper Pencil signed and dated April 8, 21. Printmaker, painter and illustrator, George Kenneth Hartwell was born in Fitchburg 1891-1949, Massachusetts. He studied at the Art Students' League in New York City under Kenneth Hayes Miller, Edward Hopper, and George Bellows. His work was exhibited at the Art Institute of Chicago (1923), the Society of Independent Artists (1923), Salons of America (1928 and 1934), Library of Congress (1944-46), the Laguna Beach Art...

Signed lower right: "Kainen".

Artist: Remo Farruggio, Italian/American (1904 - 1981) Title: Study of a Woman Year: 1955 Medium: Graphite on Paper, signed and dated Size: 24 in. x 1...

A nude viewed from behind, with black hair , inscribed on the lower right by the artist John Begg "Mature Nude" c.1953 Outlined in black ink and with som...

"Spiritual Self-Portrait" is a portrait of the artist by the artist. She has presented herself nude gazing boldly and directly at the viewer not so much challenging, but inviting dia...