Mid-20th Century Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Kallem, Henry. PORCH - MONHEGAN. Ink on paper, not dated. Signed in ink within the matrix, lower right. 16 x 20 inches, the full sheet. In excellent condition.

Medium: Watercolor on Board Signature: Signed Lower Left Original cover illustration for The Saturday Evening Post, Dec. 16, 1961 The Post described, “Put That Old Gang of Mine in ...

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...

Mid Century French Portrait Josine Vignon (French 1922-2022) Medium: Pencil on artists paper, double sided Size: 9.5 height) x 7.5 (width) Stamped Verso Condition: Good Provenance:...

China Ink and watercolor on cardboard realized by Mino Maccari in 1954, and depicting the former italian Prime Minister Mario Scelba. Hand signed. Very good condition

"Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions" is one of Al Jaffee's signature series. This work was a double-page work that appeared on pages 60 - 61 in Mad Magazine in 1968. Although this w...

"The Defiant Ones" Tony Curtis Sidney Poitier Oscar Winning 1958 film Caricature. Two escaped convicts chained together, one white and one black, must l...

Pencil and pastel drawing realized by Mino Maccari, on recto and verso of the sheet, in 1934 ca. Hand signed. Very good condition.

Landscape 1964, watercolor on paper, 20.5x26.5 cm Herberts Mangolds (1901-1978) Graphic, army officer. In 1920 he graduated from the Artillery Cadet School of Latvian and many mili...

French Landscape by Bernard Labbe (French mid 20th century) original watercolour/ gouache on artist paper, unframed size: 16 x 12.75 inches condition: very good and ready to be enjoy...

Watercolour on paper. Signed lower right. Also inscribed on an exhibition label verso with the title and artist's address near Banbury, Oxon. Well presented in a large oak frame and ...

Oil on paper Francine Ledieu is a French artist born in 1931 who lives and works in Paris, France. In the 50s, she was a student of Maurice Rocher who...

Title: Mid Century French Original Pastel Drawing of Mountainous Landscape Scene Artist: Josine Vignon (French 1922-2022) Medium: Oil Pastel on artist paper Size: 19.75 (height) x...

This expressive gouache painting depicts an array of houses surrounded by power lines. The artist Fritz Brunner (1908-1996) uses bold, expressive brushstrokes to capture the scene. W...

Title: Mid Century French Original Pastel Painting of Sunlit Provence Countryside Artist: Josine Vignon (French 1922-2022) Medium: Oil Pastel on artist paper Size: 19.25 (height) ...

In this composition, Sylvia Spiczza works in the manner of color field artists like Mark Rothko and Helen Frankenthaler, presenting a gradation of colors shifting from yellow to red ...

Painted in a bold and refreshing colour palette is this striking view of Caerthillian Cove by British painter Ray Hardy. Signed to the lower left. The coastal scene has been well pre...

Beautiful WWII era portrait of a young man by Louis Krupp (1888-1978). Charcoal on paper measures 16.5 x 22.5 inches, 25 X 30 IN MATTING. Signed and dated...

Watercolor on paper realized by Mino Maccari in the mid-20th Century. Hand signed lower right. Very good condition.

Daphne and Chloe is a beautiful black and white lithograph on paper by Pierre Bonnard in 1930s. Not signed, as issued.

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 imp...

JOHN DRONSFIELD (1900-1951) Clown and Bird Signed Black ink Unframed, in mount only 18 by 16 cm., 7 by 6 ¼ in. (mount size 32 by 29 cm., 12 ½ by 11 ½ in.) John Marsden Dronsfiel...

Bless You All Tony Award Broadway Costume Design Mid 20th Century Theatre Modern. Miles White (1915 – 2000) "Bless You All," 15 x 11 (sight) inches. Mixed media on paper. The musical opened December 13, 1950 at the Mark Hellinger Theatre. Miles won the 1951 Tony Award for Costume Design. Miles was one of my closest friends for the last 20 years of his life. We live with one of his two Tony Awards and a dozen drawings. BIO White was a top Broadway and Hollywood costume designer. The artist created the costumes for the original Broadway productions of OKLAHOMA, CAROUSEL, PAL JOEY and BYE BYE BIRDIE...

JOHN DRONSFIELD (1900-1951) “A Voortrekking we will go!’ Signed, inscribed with title beneath the mount Black ink Unframed, in mount only 20 by 19.5 cm., 8 by 7 ¾ in. (mount size ...

This is a panel painted with gouache on paper that was painted by Paul de Cayeux. He was a french painter and decorator. This suite comes from an old restaurant and ball room in Nice...

English School Bernard, Self Portrait 1950s Pencil and sepia chalk on paper Image size: 9 1/2 x 13 1/2 inches (24 x 34.3 cm) Handmade contemporary frame This imaginative self-portra...

etching on Japan paper , Edited in 1968, first state (of two) Limited edition of 30 copies for each state , numbered 8/30 in lower left Hand signed in pencil by artist in the lower r...

Serge Tchekhonine was a Russian artist who studied applied drawing, ceramics, and pottery in St. Petersburg. He settled in France in 1928, gaining attention for his finely crafted ce...

Leon Dolice New York Harbor Nocturne Signed lower right Pastel on paper 12 x 19 inches The romantic backdrop of Vienna at the turn of the century had a life-long influence upon the...

Andy Warhol In the Bottom of My Garden c. 1956: A double-sided hand-colored lithograph from, Andy Warhol In the Bottom of My Garden (F. & S. IV.104A-105A). Executed by Warhol circa...

Pencil and watercolor drawing realized by Karl Hanny (1879-1972) in 1935 ca. Not signed. Very good condition.

"Animated Discourse" WPA Mid-Century American Scene Modernism Realism Figurative. Chris Ritter (American, 1906 – 1976) "Animated Discourse," 19 x 24 (sight). Watercolor on paper. Si...

Watercolor on paper by Sirio Pellegrini in 1969. Hand signed and dated. Drawing made up of several fragments joined together. Includes a contemporary wooden frame 97x89 cm. Sirio ...

Painter of imaginative and religious subjects, of landscapes and occasional portraits. Born 30 June 1891 at Cookham, Berkshire, brother of Gilbert Spencer. Studied at the Maidenhead ...

Children, Playing,Green, Blue,Russian art, 1970, Marina Evgenevna USPENSKAYA (Moscow, 1925 – 2007) Marina Evgenevna Uspenskaya was born in Moscow. She graduated from the 1905 Art C...

Andy Warhol (1928-1987) is arguably the most important American artist of the 20th century. He not only defined Pop Art but had an unparalleled and iconic influence on artistic culture and image-making. During the 1950's Warhol became established in New York City as an illustrator for many fashion publications, often designing advertisements for shoes. This period informed his continued fascination with representing the body – both nude and adorned. His minimal line drawings...

Signed lower left, 'Firschein' for William Firschein (American, born 1930) and painted circa 1965. Titled, verso, "Four Hills" and with Exhibition 'Award of Merit' noted. Firschein exhibited widely and with success throughout the 1950s and '60s, including at the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts 10th Southwestern Exhibition of Prints and Drawings (1960). In 1968, he was awarded a McDowell Fellowship that enabled him to live for a year in the New Hampshire countryside where he worked and painted in the Cheney Studio. William Firschein was represented by Ankrum Gallery in Los Angeles and the his archives are held in the repository of New York's Guggenheim Museum. The artist's work is held in public and private collections including the permanent collection of the Dallas Museum of Art.

'Hamam Rigba'. Oil sketch on cardboard. Signed and titled on the back. This work will be recorded in the catalogue raisonné of the work of the artist currently in preparation. Jules...

Jack Youngerman Untitled Study #26, 1967 Gouache painting on paper (with original JL Hudson and PACE Gallery labels) Hand signed and dated '67 on the front; J.L. Hudson Gallery Label on Verso. Unique Abstract Expressionist work on paper Frame included Framed Measurements: Framed: 15 inches by 15 inches by 1.5 inch Artwork: 7.75 inches by 7.5 inches Provenance From the estate of Anne Markley Spivak J. L. Hudson Gallery Label affixed to verso (back). The J.L. Hudson Gallery, Detroit, Michigan This 1967 unique, signed gouache painting by renowned abstract expressionist painter Jack Youngerman was acquired from the estate of Anne Markley Spivak. It is held in the original vintage metal frame with the original J.L. Hudson Gallery label, as well as the PACE gallery label on the verso The artwork has been newly loated and framed in a museum quality white wood frame; the original labels from the original back board have been affixed to the back to preserve provenance. Jack Youngerman Biography Jack Youngerman was born in St. Louis, Missouri on March 25, 1926. He moved to Louisville, Kentucky in 1929 and studied at the University of Missouri, Columbia from 1944 to 1946 under a wartime navy training program. He graduated from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill in 1947 and, that same year, he returned to Missouri to finish his Bachelor’s degree in Journalism before moving to Paris on a G.I. scholarship. In Paris, Youngerman enrolled at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, studying drawing with Jean Souverbie. He explored Paris, taking in the cathedrals, museums, and history in order to grasp a greater sense of art history. He also traveled to the Netherlands, Spain, Belgium, Italy, and Greece on fine art excursions. In 1948, Youngerman became friends with Ellsworth Kelly, Eduardo Paolozzi, and Cesar – fellow students at Ecole des Beaux-Arts. He married Delphine Seyrig in 1950, and later that year he had his first group exhibition at Galerie Maeght in Paris. He visited the studios of Constantín Brancusi and Jean Arp and became heavily influenced by the organic forms present in their work. He also met artist Alexander Calder through his father-in-law, Henri Seyrig, and experimental filmmaker and artist, Robert Breer...

To see our other World War Two art, scroll down to "More from this Seller" and below it click on "See all from this seller." The Blitz: A Civil Defence Firefighter In Action before St Paul's Cathedral with Search Lights...

Robert Andrew Parker, American (1927 -2024) - Goodrich Castle Ruins, Year: circa 1959, Medium: Gouache on paper, signed and dated lower left, Size: 23 x 30 in. (58.42 x 76.2 cm), ...

Art Deco Illustrator Charles Perry Weimer creates a powerfully graphic depiction of a 1930s couple in front of a classic Art Deco building with a...

Medium: Oil on Canvas Signature: Signed Lower Right Saturday Evening Post Cover, April 19, 1930

Untitled Collage and crayon drawing, 1967 Signed and dated lower center (see photo) Condition: Small imperfections from the creative process Small tear on the left sheet edge (repai...

Old charcoal drawing on paper " nude lady with cigarette " Italian school 2Oth This exceptionally beautiful charcoal drawing sits in a brand new frame, and sealed under the authenti...

Sam Francis Untitled (#2 Pri-Rain) (SF64-592) 1964 Gouache on paper 57.2 x 75.6 cms (22 1/2 x 29 3/4 ins) Frame size: 82.9 x 103.2 cms (32 5/8 x 40 5/8 ins) SF14652 $300,000 Exhibit...

Charcoal and oil pastel on cardboard realized by Sirio Pellegrini in 1960s. Hand signed. Includes a wooden frame realized by the Artist. cm. 44x34. Sirio Pellegrini, born in Rome ...

French, Mid Century, pastel and crayon portrait of an elegant young lady by Gourdon. Signed and dated bottom left. Trade label to the back board. Presented in period deep 'tray' frame. This seems to be an early work by the artist and hence it carries his name rather than his later more distinctive signature 'Aslan'. Alain Gordon was one of two brothers, his sibling Michel also went on to achieve notable success with his distinctive 'comic' style. Alain Gourdon...

"Fringed Gentians" is an original watercolor by Alicia Czechowski. The artist signed the piece in the lower right. This artwork depicts purple flowers in a lush green garden. 12 1/...

This framed 26.5" x 16.25" watercolor painting by artist P. Krewer depicts a rocky coastal landscape in Maine. In the foreground are several rock clusters on the coastal edge in mult...

Art Sz: 11 3/4" x 15 3/4"W Frame Sz: 17 7/8"H x 22"W' w/ yellow mat & gilt bamboo frame

Art Sz: 10 5/8"H x 7 7/8"W Frame Sz: 16 3/8"H x 13 3/8"W Charming watercolor rendering depicting a coastal fishing harbor scene, perhaps Nantuck...

Title: Mid Century French Original Pastel Drawing of Mountain View Overlooking Village Artist: Josine Vignon (French 1922-2022) Medium: Oil Pastel on artist paper Size: 24.75 (hei...

Untitled (Wizard Fantasy) Pen and ink on paperboard, 1948 Signed and dated by the artist lower right Extremely rare "Middle Period" drawing. One of two drawings that were given by the artist to Jeanette Kear, Chevy Chase, MD which were signed and dated by the artist. All others in the exhibition are from sketchbooks and have the estate stamp and numbering. Exhibited at National Collection of Fine Arts, Smithsonian Institution, Dec. 6 1979-Feb. 3, 1980 and Fogg Museum of Art, Harvard University, Feb. 22-April6, 1980 Illustrated twice in the resulting catalog, The Drawings of Morris Louis, by Diane Upright Headly, Harvard Univeristy and author of the catalog essay and entries. (See photos) Condition: Mounted to paper board by owner, Jeanette Kear for framing Glazed with glass Image size: 13 7/8 x 16 5/8 inches Frame size: 20 x 23 x 3/4 inches Provenance: Jeanette F. Kear, Chevy Chase, MD Illustrated: National Collection of Fine Art, 1979: "The Drawings of Morris Louis," Catalog No. 1, illustrated D1, reproduced p. 73 Morris Louis Bernstein (November 28, 1912 – September 7, 1962), known professionally as Morris Louis, was an American painter. During the 1950s he became one of the earliest exponents of Color Field painting. While living in Washington, D.C., Louis, along with Kenneth Noland and other Washington painters, formed an art movement that is known today as the Washington Color Schoo Early life and education From 1929 to 1933, he studied at the Maryland Institute of Fine and Applied Arts (now Maryland Institute College of Art) on a scholarship, but left shortly before completing the program. Louis worked at various odd jobs to support himself while painting, and in 1935 was president of the Baltimore Artists' Association. From 1936 to 1940, he lived in New York City and worked in the easel division of the Works Progress Administration Federal Art Project. During this period, he knew Arshile Gorky, David Alfaro Siqueiros, and Jack Tworkov. He also dropped his last name. Work Color field painting He returned to his native Baltimore in 1940 and taught privately. In 1948, he pioneered the use of Magna paint—a newly developed oil-based acrylic paint made for him by his friends, New York paintmakers Leonard Bocour and Sam Golden. In 1952, Louis moved to Washington, D.C. Living in Washington, D.C., he was somewhat apart from the New York scene and he was working almost in isolation. During the 1950s he and a group of artists that included Kenneth Noland, Gene Davis, Thomas Downing, Howard Mehring, Anne Truitt and Hilda Thorpe...

Signed lower right: John Whorf Provenance Seattle Art Museum Collection Golden Eagles amply demonstrates John Whorf’s expert handling of the watercolor medium. The fluidity of his ...

In this small painting, Sylvia Spicuzza presents the viewer with a simple trillium flower, the white petals framed by blue-green leaves. 10 x 7.25 inches, artwork 19.75 x 17.25 inch...

Title: Mid Century French Painting of Elephant Riders in a Tropical Setting Artist: Josine Vignon (French 1922-2022) Medium: Pencil, Acrylic, and Tracing Paper Size: 8.25 (height)...

Original watercolor of Monhegan Island, Maine on archival paper by the well known American watercolorist, Ted Davis. Signed lower right and dated 1950. Cond...