1930s Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Lighthearted Illustration of Outdoor Pursuits This one of a fisherman signed "W. Steig" Provenance: from Mrs. Joseph B. Ryan, Commissioned by Joe Ryan for the bar at his ski resort, Mount Tremblant Lodge, in 1938. Mont Tremblant, P.Q., Canada Watercolor and ink on illustration board, sights sizes 8 1/2 x 16 1/2 in., framed. In 1938 Joe Ryan, described as a millionaire from Philadelphia, bushwhacked his way to the summit of Mont Tremblant and was inspired to create a world class ski resort at the site. In 1939 he opened the Mont Tremblant Lodge, which remains part of the Pedestrian Village today. This original illustration is on Whatman Illustration board. the board measures 14 X 22 inches. label from McClees Galleries, Philadelphia, on the frame backing paper. William Steig, 1907 – 2003 was an American cartoonist, sculptor, and, in his later life, an illustrator and writer of children's books. Best known for the picture books Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, Abel's Island, and Doctor De Soto, he was also the creator of Shrek!, which inspired the film series of the same name. He was the U.S. nominee for both of the biennial, international Hans Christian Andersen Awards, as a children's book illustrator in 1982 and a writer in 1988. Steig was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1907, and grew up in the Bronx. His parents were Polish-Jewish immigrants from Austria, both socialists. His father, Joseph Steig, was a house painter, and his mother, Laura Ebel Steig, was a seamstress who encouraged his artistic leanings. As a child, he dabbled in painting and was an avid reader of literature. Among other works, he was said to have been especially fascinated by Pinocchio.He graduated from Townsend Harris High School at 15 but never completed college, though he attended three, spending two years at City College of New York, three years at the National Academy of Design and a mere five days at the Yale School of Fine Arts before dropping out of each. Hailed as the "King of Cartoons" Steig began drawing illustrations and cartoons for The New Yorker in 1930, producing more than 2,600 drawings and 117 covers for the magazine. Steig, later, when he was 61, began writing children's books. In 1968, he wrote his first children's book. He excelled here as well, and his third book, Sylvester and the Magic Pebble (1969), won the Caldecott Medal. He went on to write more than 30 children's books, including the Doctor DeSoto series, and he continued to write into his nineties. Among his other well-known works, the picture book Shrek! (1990) formed the basis for the DreamWorks Animation film Shrek (2001). After the release of Shrek 2 in 2004, Steig became the first sole-creator of an animated movie franchise that went on to generate over $1 billion from theatrical and ancillary markets after only one sequel. Along with Maurice Sendak, Saul Steinberg, Ludwig Bemelmans and Laurent de Brunhofff his is one of those rare cartoonist whose works form part of our collective cultural heritage. In 1984, Steig's film adaptation of Doctor DeSoto directed by Michael Sporn was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. As one of the most admired cartoonists of all time, Steig spent seven decades drawing for the New Yorker magazine. He touched generations of readers with his tongue–in–cheek pen–and–ink drawings, which often expressed states of mind like shame, embarrassment or anger. Later in life, Steig turned to children's books, working as both a writer and illustrator. Steig's children's books were also wildly popular because of the crazy, complicated language he used—words like lunatic, palsied, sequestration, and cleave. Kids love the sound of those words even if they do not quite understand the meaning. Steig's descriptions were also clever. He once described a beached whale as "breaded with sand." Throughout the course of his career, Steig compiled his cartoons and drawings into books. Some of them were published first in the New Yorker. Others were deemed too dark to be printed there. Most of these collections centered on the cold, dark psychoanalytical truth about relationships. They featured husbands and wives fighting and parents snapping at their kids. His first adult book, Man About Town, was published in 1932, followed by About People, published in 1939, which focused on social outsiders. Sick of Each Other, published in 2000, included a drawing depicting a wife holding her husband at gunpoint, saying, "Say you adore me." According to the Los Angeles Times, fellow New Yorker artist...

Street Costumes by Ruth Kreps. Signed lower right. Most likely for a book published in the 1930's about turn of the century women's fashion. "Costume Design of the Gay Nineties" T...

Classic watercolour depicting two racehorses neck & neck down the stretch c1930s Art Sz: 12"H x 16"W Frame Sz: 19"H x 23"W

"Painter" 20th Century American Scene Social Realism Working Man Modern WPA Era Jo Cain (1904 - 2003) Painter 41 ½ x 36 3/4 inches (sight) Gouache on paper c. 1930s Signed lower rig...

Original oil pastel on archival paper by the well known American artist, Leon Dolice. The painting depicts Trinity Church with several of the more contemporary buildings of Wall Stre...

Classic Paul Desmond Brown (1893-1958) c1930s drypoint etching depicting a gentleman jockey aboard steeplechaser #1 clearing a brush fence Art Sz: 5 1/4"H x 7 1/4"W Frame Sz: 12 1/...

Nude Monotype in colors, 1936 Signed, dated, and inscribed in pencil (see photo) Annotated: "Orig. Monotype," dated Munchen 8 Sept. 1936" Condition: Excellent Image/plate size: 12 7/8 x 10 5/8 inches Sheet size: 20 1/2 x 16 5/8 inches Provenance: Frederick Baker, Inc., Chicago Hans Hermann...

"Good Health Week" American Scene Modern Social Realism Double Sided WPA Era Jo Cain (1904 - 2003) Good Health Week – double sided 13 3/4 x 20 1/2 in...

Classic limited edition signed original steeplechase etching by Nat Lowell (1880-1956) pencil signed (LR) c1930s Print Sz: 9 3/4"H x 13 1/2"W Frame Sz: 16"H x 19"W

Classic original menswear watercolour & gouache c1938 illustration depicting a dapper/ pipe smoking gent sporting a double-breasted herringbone suit with an admiring woman waving sig...

Chemists American Scene Mid 20th Century Modern Social Realism WPA Science Mural Jo Cain (1904 - 2003) Chemists 40 ½ x 31 ¾ inches Oil on paper, c. 1930s Signed lower right 49 x 40 ...

Classic set of three military gouaches depicting British guardsmen officers by Herbert Benham 1939/ 40 Art Sz: 9 3/4"H x 7"W Frame Sz: 14 5/8"H x 27 7/8"W

"Good Health Week" American Scene Modern Social Realism Mid- 20th Century WPA Era Jo Cain (1904 – 2003) Good Health Week – b/w 10 ½ x 15 1/2 inches I...

Louise Nevelson (1899-1988) stands as one of the most important artists of the 20th century. She is renowned for her monochromatic sculptural wooden constructions. However, it is im...

Machine Age Industrial WPA Era American Scene Social Realism Mid 20th Century Jo Cain (1904 - 2003) Elliot 17 ¼ x 35 ¾ inches Gouache on board, c. 1930s Signed lower left 27 x 46 in...

Bruno was born in 1888 in Bruenn, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He was the youngest son of a well-to-do family of textile manufacturers. Bruno was a delicate child, but...

Elegant gouache portrait of a 'Chinese Lady in Jade Robe' on rice paper Art Sz: 6"H x 5"W Frame Sz: 13"H x 10"W

Industrial Man Working Mid 20th Century American Scene Social Realism Modern WPA Jo Cain (1904 - 2003) Hammering Nails 39 x 50 ½ inches Gouache on paper c. 19...

E. Simms Campbell was the first African-American illustrator/ cartoonist published in nationally distributed, slick magazines, he created Esky, the familiar pop-eyed mascot of Esquire. This early work of 1930 was done on assignment for an interior page of Life Magazine. It features two Rowing teams engaged in spirited competition with cheering onlookers. This is a highly stylized black-and-white illustration and is masterfully executed. The work is composed of two illustrations, 6 x 9 inches and 2-3/4 x 2 inches respectively. It is initialed center bottow ESC. unframed Campbell left the University of Chicago and transferred to and received his degree from the Chicago Art Institute.[3] Professional career During a job as a railroad dining-car waiter, Campbell sometimes drew caricatures of the train passengers, and one of those, impressed by Campbell's talent, gave him a job in a St. Louis art studio, Triad Studios. He spent two years at Triad Studios before moving to New York City in 1929. A month afterward, he found work with the small advertising firm, Munig Studios, and began taking classes at the National Academy of Design.During this time, he contributed to various magazines, notably Life, & Judge Following the suggestion of cartoonist Russell Patterson to focus on good girl art, Campbell created his "Harem Girls", a series of watercolor cartoons that attracted attention in the first issue of Esquire, debuting in 1933. Campbell's artwork was in almost every issue of Esquire from 1933 to 1958 and he was the creator of its continuing mascot, the cartoon character in a silk top hat. He also contributed to The Chicagoan, Cosmopolitan, Ebony, The New Yorker, Playboy, Opportunity: A Journal of Negro Life, Pictorial Review, and Redbook. His commercial artwork for advertising included illustrations for Barbasol, Springmaid, and Hart Schaffner...

Classic turf caricature of one, Mr Wilfred Johnstone, Clerk of the Course of Sandown Park 1936 Art Sz: 10 1/2"H x 7 1/4"W Frame Sz: 13 1/4"H x 10"W

Elegant watercolour depicting a French Palais gardens Art Sz: 8"H x 11 3/4"W Frame Sz: 13 1/4"H x 17"W w/ birdseye maple frame

Pen & ink drypoint depicting a military rider clearing a tripple bar fences Signed: Paul Brown LR w/ Closson Gallery label on verso c1930s Art Sz: 7"H x 11"W Frame Sz: 16"H x 2...

SIR CECIL BEATON, CBE (1904-1980) Ballet Costume Design for Le Pavillon - 1936 Signed and bears wardrobe mark l.r.: Beaton Watercolour and ink 49 by 39 cm., 19 ¼ by 15 ½ in. (fram...

Equestrian watercolour depicting c1930s racetrack scene Art Sz: 17 3/8"H x 13 7/8"W Frame Sz: 25"H x 21"W w/ birdseye maple frame

Dapper dandy in dashing dressing gown c1930s Art Sz: 14"H x 10"W Frame Sz: 15 1/4"H x 11 1/4"W

SOLD UNFRAMED Yvonne Posant by Paulémile Pissarro (1884 - 1972) Graphite on paper 32 x 23.5 cm (12 ⁵/₈ x 9 ¹/₄ inches) Signed lower right, Paulémile-Pissarro-, and titled lower rig...

Classic watercolour depicting a gentleman in a dressing gown Art Sz: 14"H x 10"W Frame Sz: 19 1/4"H x 15 1/4"W w/ lavender mat

SIR CECIL BEATON, CBE (1904-1980) Ballet Costume Design for Le Pavillon - 1936 Signed l.r.: Beaton Watercolour, bodycolour and ink 49 by 39 cm., 19 ¼ by 15 ½ in. (frame size 70.5 ...

This is a very pretty sanguine chalk drawing on paper of a young woman dated 1923 by Count Mario Grixoni. Executed by one of the leading artists of the day it is a very striking and...

Erotic Scene is a drawing realized by Alberto Ziveri in 1930s Ink on paper Hand-signed. In good conditions. The artwork is represented through deft strokes masterly. Alberto Zi...

Greenwich Village NYC WPA Mid 20th Century American Scene Ashcan Modern Realism Alfred Mira (1900-1981) Greenwich Village NYC 14 x 17 inches Oil on board,...

Joseph Delaney Nude with Hand on Hip Leaning Against Chair, circa 1935 Signed lower right Watercolor on paper Sight 12 x 8 inches Provenance: Sacks Fine Art, New York Private Collection, New York African-American artist Joseph Delaney was a folk-expressionist painter who loved New York City, both as a subject for painting and the spectacle and experience of ever-changing life and vitality. Of the city, he said: "The curtain goes up on the stage of life every time we walk into the street. In spite of New York's being the most congested city I have been in, and know about, by and large, it's just people on the move. I have enjoyed more than I can say seeing people and hearing them speak about things they love and enjoy." Delaney, the son of a Methodist minister, was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, in 1904, the ninth of ten children. It was in church that Delaney and his older brother, Beauford, began to express their art talent by drawing on Sunday School cards. He attended school there, leaving the Knoxville Colored High School at the end of the ninth grade. The next few years were spent doing odd jobs around town (caddy at the Cherokee Country Club, bell hop at the Farragut Hotel) until leaving for Chicago around 1924, where he served three years with the National Guard. He returned to Knoxville in 1929, selling insurance and helping found the city's first black Boy Scout unit. In 1930, Delaney went to New York City, studying at the Art Students League with Thomas Hart Benton, George Bridgman and Alexander Brooke. Other students there at the time included Jackson Pollock, Henry Stair, and Bruce Mitchell. In 1932, he exhibited in the first Washington Square Outdoor Art Show. He would continue to do so for the next forty years, working as a sketch artist there, drawing such celebrities as Eartha Kitt, Arlene Francis, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Tallulah Bankhead. Delaney would spend fifty-six years living and painting in the area of lower Manhattan, SoHo and Union Square. From 1934-1940, Delaney worked for the WPA (Works' Progress Administration) on projects in New York City including the Index of Design for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Pier 72 mural, and the Story of the Recorded Word mural at the Public Library. He also taught at Harlem and Brooklyn settlement houses and the Art Students League while exhibiting his paintings in his studio, art galleries and other exhibitions. In 1942, Delaney received a Julius Rosenwald grant of $1200.00 to travel, sketch and later paint the Eastern seaboard. In 1964, he was a sketch artist for the New Orleans exhibit and later the Ghana exhibit at the New York City World's Fair. From 1978-1980, he worked for CETA, the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act, as an artist in residence at the Henry Street Settlement. In 1979, Delaney's brother, Beauford, died in Paris at St. Anne's Hospital, an insane asylum. Delaney paid over $6,000 to the French government for taxes, storage, and shipping, to have Beauford's art and personal effects shipped to the U.S. The University of Tennessee would figure strongly in Delaney's life. In 1970, the artist had an exhibition there, and his painting, "V-J Day, Times Square", was added to their collection. In 1986, the Ewing Gallery exhibited, "Joseph Delaney: A Retrospective," as part of the Homecoming '86 Festival. In that year, author Alex Haley...

Pioneering female abstract artist Elsie Driggs paints stylized abstract organic forms in a warm palette of orange browns and tope. She merges abstraction with some figuration. A structured face composed of lines and tone emerges from an orange background. It's 1939, and even though Driggs is not well known, she is preceding many of the marquee names of abstraction by a decade. Although under the radar, this is a major work and is titled on the back stretcher is " Egyptian Gothic." It features the artist's inventiveness with her fine pencil lines incorporated in flat washes of color and collage elements. Signed lower right and inscribed on frame verso with title, artist and the date of 1939. Provenance, Christie's, Freemans. Framed under glass.. Elsie Driggs (1898 – July 12, 1992 in New York City) was an American painter known for her contributions to Precisionism, America's one indigenous modern-art movement before Abstract Expressionism, and for her later floral and figurative watercolors, pastels, and oils. She was the only female participant in the Precisionist movement, which in the 1920s and 1930s took a Cubist-inspired approach to painting the skyscrapers and factories that had come to define the new American landscape. Her works are in the collection of the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Houston Museum of the Fine Arts, the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, the James A. Michener Art Museum in Pennsylvania, and the Columbus Museum of Art, among others. She was married to the American abstract artist Lee Gatch. Career Born in Hartford, Connecticut, Driggs grew up in New Rochelle, a suburb of New York City, in a family that was supportive of her artistic interests. After a summer spent painting with her sister in New Mexico in her late teens, she felt she had found her life's calling. At twenty, she enrolled in classes at the Art Students League of New York, where she studied under George Luks and Maurice Sterne, both of whom were charismatic, inspirational figures in her early life. She also attended the evening criticism classes held at the home of painter John Sloan. Driggs spent fourteen months in Europe from late 1922 to early 1924, drawing and studying Italian art. There she met Leo Stein, first in Paris and later in Florence, who became an important intellectual influence, and who urged her to study Cézanne. He also introduced her to the works of Piero della Francesca, the Renaissance artist for whom she felt throughout her life the greatest admiration.[1] Driggs eventually settled in New York City, where she found representation with the progressive Charles Daniel Gallery.[2] (Advised that the old-fashioned and misogynistic Daniel would be unlikely to take on a woman artist, she signed the works she left for his consideration simply "Driggs" and waited to meet him in person until he had expressed his eagerness to include her in his gallery.)[3] In sympathy with those artists Daniel represented who were part of the burgeoning Precisionist movement, such as Charles Demuth, Charles Sheeler, George Ault, Niles Spencer, and Preston Dickinson, she too painted "the modern landscape of factories, bridges, and skyscrapers with geometric precision and almost abstract spareness."Impressionism and academic or Ashcan realism represented the past, in Driggs' view, and she intended to be resolutely modern. She was an attractive and engaging woman, but her demeanor belied a strong ambition and a clear sense of what it would take to make her mark in the New York art world. Driggs was part of the pre-eminent first group of Precisionist painters, including Demuth and Sheeler, who exhibited at the Daniel Gallery in the 1920s. Although a later group of Precisionist painters, including Louis Lozowick, Ralston Crawford and others, came on the American Art scene during the 1930s, Driggs felt that the style came to an end with the 1929 stock market crash.[5] In 1926 she painted her most famous work, Pittsburgh, a dark and brooding picture now in the permanent collection of the Whitney Museum of American Art, which depicts the gargantuan smokestacks of the Jones & Laughlin steel mills in Pittsburgh. Its focus is an overpowering mass of black and gray smokestacks, thick piping, and crisscrossing wires with only clouds of smoke to relieve the severity of the image, yet it was an image in which she found an ironic beauty. She called the picture "my El Greco" and expressed surprise that viewers in later years interpreted the painting as a work of social criticism. Like the other Precisionists (e.g., Demuth, Charles Sheeler, Louis Lozowick, Stefan Hirsch), she was concerned with applying modernist techniques to renderings of the new industrial and urban landscape, not in commenting on potential dangers the overly mechanized modern world of 1920s America might present. If anything, Precisionism, like Futurism, was a celebration of man-made energy and technology. One year later, she painted Blast Furnaces, in a similar vein. As noted above, Piero della Francesca's mural depicting "The Story of the True Cross" in Arezzo, with its tubular, static and frozen forms was the major influence on Driggs' "Pittsburgh" (it may have been the major influence for "Blast Furnaces" as well).[7] After Pittsburgh, Driggs' most acclaimed work was probably Queensborough Bridge...

To see more, scroll down to "More from this Seller" and below it click on "See all from this Seller." Ronald T Horley c.1905-? (active 1930s - 1960s) The Gateway to Cornwall Charcoal heightened with white 76 x 53 cm Signed and inscribed lower right 'Architect's Office, 83 Marlborough Place NW8 Marylebone'. Horley attended Radley School, joining in 1918. He painted architectural watercolours. This was produced whilst working for the GWR's own Architect's Office. The Great Western Railway commissioned a series of posters promoting train travel around the UK. This charcoal drawing of the Royal Albert Bridge at Saltash is the artist's original design for a poster encouraging rail travel to Devon and Cornwall. The bridge is known fondly as the 'Gateway to Cornwall'. The Royal Albert Bridge was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel...

Mlle. Jeanne at the Window, No. II Charcoal on paper, 1933 Signed and dated lower right (see photo) Illustrated: Gustafson, Zimmerli Museum, 1988, "Benjamin Benno: A Retrospective Ex...

The Couple is a drawing realized by Alberto Ziveri in 1930s Ink and Watercolor on paper. Hand-signed. In good condition with slight foxing. The artwork is represented through def...

A fine and detailed Art Deco pencil, black, red and white chalk portrait of a young woman by Hubert Williams. The work dates to circa 1930 and is very skilful in its execution. A bea...

The Nude is a drawing realized by Alberto Ziveri in the 1930s. Charcoal and watercolor on paper. Hand-signed. In good condition. The artwork is represented through deft strokes m...

The Nude is a drawing realized by Alberto Ziveri in 1930s. Charcoal on paper Hand-signed. In good conditions. The artwork is represented through deft strokes masterly. Alberto ...

Art Sz: 11"H x 15"W Mat Sz: 16 5/8"H x 20 5/8"W Paul Desmond Brown (American; 1893-1958) c1931 "Good Old Bon Master Gets Over the 3rd" Fence at the "Maryland Hunt Club" Dated: 1...

Three polo players c1930s on eglomise glass by Paul Desmond Brown Art Sz: 13 3/4"H x 10 3/4"W Frame Sz: 15"H x 12"W

Original c1930s illustration art depicting a dapper gent & fashionable lady in evening attire together w/ verso pencil head studies Art Sz: 9"H x 7"W Frame Sz: 15"H x 13"W w/ gil...

Jean Launois (1898-1942) A North African landscape, A Port (Essaouira ?) signed lower right Watercolor on paper 14 x 41.5 cm Framed : 30 x 57 cm It is most likely a view of the por...

Walt Kuhn Reclining Figure, 1935 Signed and dated lower left Pen on paper Sight 11 x 15 inches Provenance: Kennedy Galleries, New York Spanierman Gallery, New York Private Collection, New York Exhibited: New York, Kennedy Galleries, Walt Kuhn, December 3 - 31, 1968, no. 71. Walter Kuhn...

A French Art Deco illustrative drawing, hand painted in ink and gouache on blue laid paper. The design includes a collection of fashion accessories, handbags, gloves, hats, and perfu...

The Nude is a drawing realized by Alberto Ziveri in 1938. Hand-signed. In good conditions. The artwork is represented through deft strokes masterly. Alberto Ziveri (Rome,1908 – 1...

Triptych of original drypoint etchings by Paul Desmond Brown (1893-1958) depicting: Grasslands 1930/ Wissahickon Cup 1930/ & Radnor 1931 Art Sz: 27"H x 11"W Frame Sz: 33 3/4"H x 17...

Rare original trio of drawings by Paul Desmond Brown (1893-1958) depicting: Virginia Gold Cup 1931/ Llangollen Farms 1932/ & National Horse Show 1932 Art Sz: 27 1/2"H x 11 1/2"W Fr...

The Nude Man is a drawing realized by Alberto Ziveri in 1930s Ink on paper. The artwork is represented through deft strokes masterly. Alberto Ziveri (Rome,1908 – 1990), the Italia...

Stylish watercolour by E. Maury signed (LL) featuring two c1930s dapper gents strolling on the beach in smart French blue attire Art Sz: 17 1/2"H x 11 3/4"W Frame Sz: 18 1/2"H x 13...

The Carriage is a drawing realized by Alberto Ziveri in 1930s Ink and Watercolor on paper. Hand-signed. In good condition with slight foxing. The artwork is represented through d...

The Portrait is a drawing realized by Alberto Ziveri in 1938 Ink and Watercolor on paper. Hand-signed. In good condition with slight foxing. The artwork is represented through de...

*UK BUYERS WILL PAY AN ADDITIONAL 20% VAT ON TOP OF THE ABOVE PRICE La Seine à Paris by Georges Manzana Pissarro (1871-1961) Pencil on paper 22.5 x 28.3 cm (8 ⁷/₈ x 11 ¹/₈ inches) S...

The Reading Man is a drawing realized by Alberto Ziveri in 1930s Watercolor on paper. Hand-signed. In good conditions. The artwork is represented through deft strokes masterly. ...

The Reading Girl is a drawing realized by Alberto Ziveri in 1939 Charcoal and watercolor on paper. Hand-signed. In good condition with slight foxing. The artwork is represented ...

The Atelier is a drawing realized by Alberto Ziveri in 1930s watercolor on paper. Hand-signed. In good conditions. The artwork is represented through deft strokes masterly. Alb...

Pen and ink on paper, 27cm x 20cm, (54cm x 48cm framed). Provenance: Alexander Iolas Gallery, New York. Bérard, an artist, fashion illustrator and de...

Prayer is a drawing realized by Alberto Ziveri in 1947 Ink and Watercolor on paper. Hand-signed. In good conditions. The artwork is represented through deft strokes masterly. A...