Mid-20th Century Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Hans Hofmann (1880-1966) was a pre-eminent figure of postwar American art and one of the most important artists (and instructors) of the 20th century. Born in Germany, Hofmann immigr...

We're pleased to showcase Mexican Master Rufino Tamayo's work on paper. Flying Bird portrays a bird flying over the mountains. Rufino Tamayo created this modernist and minimalist dra...

"Breton Harbour" by Camille Meriot (French 1887-1975) signed and dated 48' crayon drawing on paper paper : 5 x 7.5 inches Fine original French Impressionist painting by the well ...

With such fondness, 20th-century artistic titan Willem de Kooning gifted this charcoal sketch on paper to his close East Hampton friends Roger and Lucia Wilcox...

untitled (Rocks along the Coast) Gouache and watercolor on paper, c. 1950 Signed with the estate stamp signature lower left (see photo) This is a preliminary study for a large exhibition painting...

Mid Century French Landscape by Josine Vignon (French 1922-2022) Medium: Watercolour on artists paper Size: 7 height) x 9 (width) Stamped Verso Condition: Good Provenance: All the pa...

Dorothy Rivo Still Life with Striped Wall Acrylic on panel Framed dimensions: 24 in. H × 26 in. W Contemporary black frame Dorothy Rivo’s Still Life with Striped Wall distills the s...

This is the Original 1969 drawing of the two nude figures that appear on the Jimi Hendrix Spring 1969 concert poster. It is as much of a collectors item as it is a fine work of art. This was given to Hendrix to approve the art for the final poster. You can see images of the full 1969 poster in this listing. David Byrd referred to these women as "Moon Maidens" The art is Pencil on iridescent tracing paper, Matted with it's original "Electric Purple" matt, as done by David Byrd. The original drawing of this full image was used for the 1969 Spring U.S concert tour and it was also used as the image for Hendrix's press kit in 1969 which was given to concert promotors to advertise the concert. David met with Jimi to approve his original drawing. The art measures 7 x 8", and the matted and framed art measures approx. 15x16". David created ALL of the Art for Bill Graham’s Fillmore East, including their Program covers and Rock posters...

The Dancer is a drawing realized by an anonymous in the mid-20th century. Charcoal drawing on paper. Written on the lower "EN DEUXIEME" Good conditions.

Erotic scene Wooden frame with glass pane 49.5 x 41.5 x 1.3 cm

Bronx Post Office Mural Study WPA Horse Social Realism Mid 20th Century Modern Jo Cain (1904 - 2003) Couriers of History Bronx Post Office Mural Study Horse in the Sun (with two ad...

Alexander Calder Preliminary drawing for the Spinner, 1966 Signed lower right Felt tip pen on paper Overall 27 x 15 1/2 inches Individual sheets 8 x 10 1/2 inches Alexander Calder ...

Estate stamped, verso, for VIctor Di Gesu (American, 1914-1988) and created circa 1955. Winner of the Prix Othon Friesz, Victor di Gesu first attended the Los Angeles Art Center and...

Pen drawing on paper realized by Mino Maccari in 1932. Not signed.. Published on "Il Selvaggio", n.12, p.83, 1932. Very good condition.

La Traviata - Dancer of the Bohemian Ballet - 3rd Act is a modern artwork realized in 1948 century by Erté (Romain de Tirtoff). Mixed colored gouache on ...

Black marker drawing realized by Mino Maccari in the 1960s. Hand signed in pencil lower right. Very good condition.

Original pen and ink drawing by New York Abstract Artist, John Sennhauser (1907-1978) Signed lower right "J. Sennhauser" and dated '44. Titled and dated on the verso: "Line in Motion...

Charmion von Wiegand Pillar of Zen #124, 1959 Gouache on paper painting Hand signed, titled and dated on the front Unique Provenance: Andre Zarre Gallery, with label verso (Estate of renowned gallerist Andre Zarre, ne Andre Sowulewski) Measurements: Framed 26.5 inches vertical by 25.5 horizontal by 2 inches Artwork: 21 inches vertical by 22 inches horizontal Mid century modern, geometric, spiritual abstraction, mystical The Estate of the celebrated artist Charmion Von Wiegand has been represented exclusively by Michael Rosenfeld Gallery since 1998. From March 3 to August 13, 2023, Charmion Von Wiegand was the subject of an acclaimed retrospective at the Kunstmuseum Basel, and she has received major attention in the price, including a June, 2023 ArtNews feature entitled, "Who Was Charmion von Wiegand and Why Is She Important?". Her work was also featured in a solo presentation by Rosenfeld Gallery at the New York Art Show held at the Park Avenue Armory, which also received critical acclaim. Artists Biography - courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery: Known for her vibrant, geometric paintings that originate a deeply personal language of spiritual enlightenment expressed through a constructivist mode of abstraction, Charmion von Wiegand (1896–1983) was born in Chicago but spent much of her childhood traveling. The daughter of a journalist for Hearst, von Wiegand eventually settled in New York in 1915 to attend Barnard College and Columbia University, where she took classes at the School of Journalism while nurturing a growing interest in art history. In 1925, von Wiegand realized that she wanted to be an artist and set up a studio in Greenwich Village, teaching herself how to paint while pursuing a career as a journalist. In 1929, she secured a position in Moscow as a foreign correspondent for Hearst, the only woman at the desk at the time. In 1932, von Wiegand returned to New York and married Russian émigré Joseph Freeman, who co-founded and edited the leftist journal New Masses. Von Wiegand began writing art criticism for New Masses as well as for other publications, including New Theatre, ARTnews, and Arts Magazine. When the Abstract American Artists (AAA) held their inaugural exhibition, von Wiegand reviewed it. An early champion of abstract art, von Wiegand became close friends with AAA founder Carl Holty. In 1941, Holty introduced von Wiegand to Piet Mondrian, who would have a profound impact on her art. Fascinated by Mondrian’s artistic philosophy, von Wiegand played a key role in the introduction of his work to American audiences, translating many of the Dutch artist’s writings into English and assisting in the composition of his influential article “Toward the True Vision of Reality” (1941). Through her friendship with Mondrian, von Wiegand re-kindled her interest in Theosophy (a religion established in the late 19th century that combines aspects of Hinduism, Buddhism, occultism, and esotericism) and embarked on an extended study of neoplasticism. In her artwork, she incorporated Mondrian’s iconic grid but rejected the constraints of pure neoplasticism and embraced a wide range of influences including surrealism and German expressionism. In 1942, von Wiegand became a member of the AAA, exhibiting regularly with the group and eventually serving as its president from 1951 to 1953. In the late 1940s, sculptor and fellow AAA member Ibram Lassaw gave her a translation of The Secret of the Golden Flower: A Chinese Book of Life, which inspired von Wiegand to immerse herself in a study of Buddhist art. She began incorporating Buddhist motifs such as stupas and mandalas into her paintings, and her spiritual practice steadily intensified throughout the 1950s. In 1953, her husband gifted her a copy of the Taoist I Ching Book of Changes, a guide for divining meaning from randomly derived numbers arranged in a hexagram—a form the artist readily incorporated into her painting. Von Wiegand’s study of Theosophy also intensified over these years, bolstered by her increased access to the religion’s primary sources composed by the religion’s founders and their successors at the New York Theosophical Society’s library. Von Wiegand’s search for the sacred and transcendent ultimately led her to Tibetan Buddhism and, in 1967, von Wiegand met Khyongla Rato Rinpoche, a Gelugpa monk who had recently arrived in New York, who would mentor her spiritual study in the tradition of Mahayana Buddhism until her death. Her travels in the 1960s and 1970s took her to Tibet and India, where she had an audience with the Dalai Lama, who was living in exile in Dharamsala. Many works from these decades incorporate symbols and schematics drawn from Theosophical prismatic color charts, Chinese astrology and tantric yoga. In 1978, she was the subject of a PBS documentary titled The Circle of Charmion von Wiegand, which was scored by Philip Glass. In 1980, von Wiegand was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters and in 1982, the Bass Museum of Art in Miami Beach (FL) organized her first retrospective exhibition. She died the following year in New York, bequeathing her estate to Khyongla Rato and the Tibet Center of New York. In 1998, Michael Rosenfeld Gallery became the sole representative of her estate and has presented her work in four solo and multiple group exhibitions. Recent notable exhibitions that have included her work are The Third Mind: American Artists Contemplate Asia (Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY, 2009) and Constructive Spirit: Abstract Art in South and North America (Newark Museum, NJ, 2010). In March 2023, the Kunstmuseum Basel (Switzerland) opened the first comprehensive museum retrospective of von Wiegand’s work in Europe. Von Wiegand’s work is represented in numerous museum collections including the Addison Gallery of American Art, Phillips Academy (Andover, MA); Albright-Knox Art Gallery (Buffalo, NY); Arithmeum, University of Bonn (Germany); Birmingham Museum of Art (Alabama); Blanton Museum of Art, The University of Texas at Austin; Brooklyn Museum (NY); Carnegie Museum of Art (Pittsburgh, PA); The Cleveland Museum of Art (OH); Indianapolis Museum of Art (IN); Fondazione Marguerite Arp (Locarno, Switzerland); Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (Massachusetts); The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, NY); The Museum of Modern Art (New York, NY); Newark Museum of Art (New Jersey); Seattle Art Museum (WA); Smithsonian American Art Museum (Washington, DC); Walker Art Center (Minneapolis, MN); Weatherspoon Art Museum, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro; Wellin Museum of Art at Hamilton College (Clinton, NY); Whitney Museum of American Art (New York, NY); and Yale University Art Gallery (New Haven, CT). More about gallerist Andre Zarre A tribute in the New Criterion: Dispatch August 11, 2020 Andre Zarre, 1942–2020 by Dana Gordon On the late New York gallery pioneer. Art should never be aggressively explained; art should be felt. —Andre Zarre, 1977 Often, in the starlit New York cultural mecca, a longtime important figure fades away through the penumbra and dies without notice. Such was the fate of Andre Zarre, the contemporary art dealer, who passed away a few weeks ago. Andy, as he wanted friends to call him, opened his eponymous gallery in 1974 just off Madison Avenue on Sixty-ninth Street. He soon moved it to the omphalos of the art world in that era, 41 East Fifty-seventh Street, the Fuller Building. Over the years he moved to SoHo and then to Chelsea, as fashion and real estate prices pushed the art souk hither and thither. To understand his importance, all you need do is take a look at a list of artists who had solo shows at the Andre Zarre Gallery. This includes such names, from an early generation, as Sonia Delaunay, Nassos Daphnis, Sari Dienes, and Perle Fine. Among a subsequent generation are Pat Lipsky, Jay Milder, Thornton Willis, and Kes Zapkus.1 And this list does not include the many knowns and unknowns who were in his lively group shows. Zarre had a real “eye” and was a champion of abstract art from the moment he founded his gallery—even among the gathering storms of conceptual and political art, which he eschewed. He showed a good deal of figurative art as well. His galleries were always spacious and unpretentious, oriented simply to show the art. In the words of Dee Shapiro, who showed with the Zarre gallery many times, “He had a photographic memory and knew a lot about art and was always interested in the artist’s life.” Reliable biographical information on Zarre is scarce, but he said of his background that he was born in Poland in 1942 and that his parents were a diplomat and a socialite. He left home for the United States at the age of fifteen. During his decades as an art dealer in New York, Zarre did not appear to accumulate wealth, though he acquired a collection and lived on Park Avenue. “He was not personally aggressive in that way. People had to come to him,” Dee Shapiro said. He was honest in his financial dealings with artists, which not all art dealers are. For a long time while running the gallery he had a second job as a supervisor in an airline office and he kept little to no additional staff in the gallery. He supported a brother who remained in Poland. Among artists, Zarre was known to be quite ornery. After my show at his gallery in 1997, I refused to enter it for seventeen years. Then I ran into him in Chelsea and he offered me another show, an opportunity I gladly accepted, but he remained just as disagreeable. He showed the work of many women, probably more than any other gallery, save those devoted to showing only women. Collectors, curators, and writers found him mostly friendly. As Peter Reginato put it, Zarre was a “strange guy but I liked him. I think he was a dealer who was more interested in the art than in making money, but somehow he lasted forty-plus years.” Zarre is not known to have kept extensive or extant records of his gallery’s long history, though these may emerge in time. Scouring the Internet, one may compile a partial list of more than eighty artists who had solo shows at the Andre Zarre Gallery:Nancy Azara, Ellen Banks, Mary Barnes, Tony Bechara, Juan Bernal, Stephanie Bernheim, Randy Bloom, Elena Borstein, Michael Boyd, Fritz Bultman, Ed Buonagurio, Yoan Capote, Sonia Delaunay, Nassos Daphnis, Cathy Diamond, Sari Dienes, Joseph Dolinsky, Beata Drozd, Ronnie Elliot, William Fares, Perle Fine, Lynne Frehm, Ben Georgia, Mikel Glass, Dana Gordon, Juanita Guccione, Fred Gutzeit, Don Hazlitt, Amy Hill, Clinton Hill, Monroe Hodder, Budd Hopkins, Arlan Huang, Richard Hunt, Rhia Hurt, Buffie Johnson, Alexander Kaletski, Robert Kaupelis...

Scenography is an original drawing in pencil on creamy paper, realized by Russian scenographer Eugène Berman in 1950s. Monogrammed at the bottom: E.B. In good conditions. The artw...

Mid Century French Portrait Josine Vignon (French 1922-2022) Medium: Pencil/ charcoal on artists paper, double sided Size: 10 (height) x 6.5 (width) Stamped Verso Condition: Good P...

Artist: Ian Hornak (1944-2002) Title: Renaissance Male Nude Figure Study Year: circa 1963 Medium: Original drawing on vélin paper Size: 23 x 18 inches Condition: Good Provenance: Est...

Title: Seated Male Nude in a Meditative Pose Artist: Josine Vignon (French 1922-2022) Medium: signed black pen/charcoal on artists paper stuck on board, glass covered Size: 9.5 (h...

Mid Century French Portrait Signed by Josine Vignon (French 1922-2022) Medium: Crayon on artists paper, double sided Size: 9.5 height) x 7 (width) Stamped Verso Condition: Good Pro...

Watercolour and gouache on paper of sailing boats at a quay side. The painting is signed bottom right but as yet undeciphered and dated 1945. Presented in a patinated wood custom fra...

Work on paper White wooden frame with glass pane 76,5 x 56,5 x 3 cm

Monaco Street Scene Tony Minartz (French, 1873 - 1994) signed watercolour on artist paper inscribed verso painting : 13 x 17 inches Provenance: private collection in the South of ...

'Reclining Nude en Plein Aire', gouache on art paper, by Raymond Debiève (circa 1960s). The reclining figure is one of the most popular poses in art history...

Eve Nethercott, American (1925 - 2015) - Seaside (P5.6), Year: 1947, Medium: Watercolor on Paper, Size: 13 x 20 in. (33.02 x 50.8 cm), Description: The versatility of Eve Net...

Arieh (Leo) Lubin, Israeli, 1897-1980 Drawing in pencil and pastel of two seated Arab or Sephardic Jewish figures. Hand signed in Hebrew upper left. Dimensions: (Frame) H 18" x W 2...

Watercolor on paper realized by Sirio Pellegrini in 1960s. Hand signed. Includes a tailor made frame realized by the Artist, 108.5x84.5 cm. Very good condition. Sirio Pellegrini,...

'Man Smoking Shisha in Istanbul', watercolour on art paper, by Yves Brayer (1933). So many historic elements grace this stunning depiction by celebrated French artist and world trave...

Watercolor on paper realized by Sirio Pellegrini in 1960s. Hand signed lower right. Includes a wooden frame 36x27 cm. Very good condition. Sirio Pellegrini, born in Rome on March...

Mid Century French Landscape by Josine Vignon (French 1922-2022) Medium: Watercolour on artists paper Size: 7 height) x 9 (width) Stamped Verso Condition: Good Provenance: All the pa...

Sailing Ship Tony Minartz (French, 1873 - 1994) signed watercolour on artist paper painting : 12.75 x 17 inches Provenance: private collection in the South of France, Condition: v...

NYC Watercolor Drawing American Modern 20th Century Modernism Mid-Century WPA. David Fredenthal (1914-1958) "View of New York from New Jersey,"7 x 10 inches. Watercolor on Paper, c. 1948. Signed lower right. David Fredenthal (1914 - 1958) was one ot America's most respected watercolor artists. He was famous for his bold, intensely vigorous and complex paintings and drawings that expressed his deep feeling for excitement with life and living. He was a draftsman with seemingly a special gift for catching anything, physically and emotionally on the spot, and he never went anywhere without three or four loaded pens and a sketchbook in his pocket. As part of the WPA project he executed a number of murals including the Sports Pavilion on the Heinz Building of the New York World's Fair 1939. Some of his fresco and mural techniques were inspired by his friendship with Diego Rivera who had admired and encouraged him in the early 1930's. After he won a traveling scholarship to Europe from The Museum of Modern Art at age 19, he was the recipient of two Guggenheim grants in Painting. He had his first solo exhibition at the Downtown Gallery in New York in 1937 at age 23, and many others after that including the Whitney Museum of American Art in 1947. Because of Fredenthal's prodigious drawing gifts, he was chosen by Erskine Caldwell to illustrate his novel "Tobacco Road...

Figure in an Interior is an original lithograph realized by André Marius Aillaud (1909-1972) in 1938. Hand signed by the artist on the back of the paper. Good condition, included a...

Mid Century French Portrait by Josine Vignon (French 1922-2022) Medium: Pencil on artists paper, double sided Size: 9.5 height) x 6 (width) Stamped Verso Condition: Good Provenanc...

Original Art Deco fashion drawing, ink, and wash on Vellum paper by French artist G. Ferro. The artwork features a stylish male model with a typical Art Deco overcoat. The piece is s...

Born in 1918 in Budapest, Hungary, Engel began his professional career in animation as a color designer at the Walt Disney studio. Although his credits include work on such classics as Disney’s Bambi and Fantasia and UPA’s Gerald McBoing-Boing, he is best known as a mentor to literally hundreds of students. Engel was also one of the original members of United Productions of America (UPA), where, during the ’50s, he worked on classics such as Mr. Magoo, Gerald McBoing-Boing and Madeline. According to his biographer, Dr. Janeann Dill, Engel has created more than 33 personal films and received five Golden Eagle awards, an Annie Award, a Winsor McCay Award, the Fritz Award, a Jean Vigo Award, and the Norman McLaren...

'The Church of Saint-Nicolas du Chardonnet, Paris', gouache on art paper by Lucien Génin (circa 1930s). In Paris' 5th Arrondissement the site in which Saint-Nicolas du Chardonnet is ...

Robert Bliss (1925-1981). Man in Thought, 1964. Graphite on canvas, 11.5 x 46 inches. Signed and dated lower left. Right piece of basic wood strip frame i...

French watercolor painting of a romanesque elegant church surrounded by trees by aritist Wornser, circa 1950. Unsigned. Original one-of-a-kind artwork on paper displayed on a white ...

Josine Vignon (French 1922-2022) ...

A Fine, Modern 1930s Academic Anatomical Figure Study of a Male Foot and Ankle by Notable Chicago Artist, Harold Haydon (Am. 1909-1994). A well executed, early 1930s charcoal study ...

Stamped, verso, with estate stamp for Victor Di Gesu (American, 1914-1988) and created circa 1950. Winner of the Prix Othon Friesz, Victor di Gesu first attended the Los Angeles Art...

Title: "Mid Century French Original Pastel Painting of Renoir's Garden" Artist: Josine Vignon (French 1922-2022) Medium: Oil Pastel on artist paper Size: 19.25 (height) x 25 (widt...

Abstract Expressionist Composition by Jacques COULAIS (1955-2011) gouache painting on paper/ card unframed: 10.75 x 8.5 inches condition: excellent provenance: all the paintings we h...

Mid Century French Portrait Josine Vignon (French 1922-2022) Medium: Pencil/ charcoal on artists paper, double sided Size: 9 (height) x 6 (width) Stamped Verso Condition: Good Prov...

Here for your consideration is a very well executed watercolor on archival paper of a rushing stream in a sunlit forest. Strong, vibrant colors. Double sided with a seascape on a roc...

Original Painting. New Yorker Cover Proposal Baseball c. 1939 Modern Cubist Deco Antonio Petruccelli (1907 - 1994) Play Ball New Yorker cover proposal, c. 1939 12 x 8 inches (sight) Framed 18 1/2 X 14 3/4 inches Gouache on board Estate sticker verso BIOGRAPHY: Antonio Petruccelli (1907-1994) began his career as a textile designer. He became a freelance illustrator in 1932 after winning several House Beautiful cover illustration contests. In addition to 24 Fortune magazine covers, four New Yorker covers, several for House Beautiful, Collier’s, and other magazines he did numerous illustrations for Life magazine from the 1930s – 60s. ‘Tony was Mr. Versatility for Fortune. He could do anything, from charts and diagrams to maps, illustrations, covers, and caricatures,’ said Francis Brennan, the former art director for Fortune. Over the course of his career, Antonio won several important design awards, designing a U.S. Postage Stamp Commemorating the Steel Industry and designing the Bicentennial Medal...

Oil pastel on paper realized by Sirio Pellegrini in 1960s. Very good condition. Includes a coeval wooden frame cm. 52x61.5. Sirio Pellegrini, born in Rome on March 1, 1922, of Abr...

Abstract Expressionist Composition by Jacques COULAIS (1955-2011) gouache painting on paper/ card unframed: 10.75 x 8.5 inches condition: excellent provenance: all the paintings we h...

Formally, Yokoi’s work combines elements of American modern abstraction with traditional elements of Japanese figuration and poetry. Her earliest abstract works created during her ti...

Henry Woon Charcoal Female Nude 2 c. 1950's Charcoal on Strathmore Charcoal Paper 25"x19 1/2"Unframed Signed in ink H Woon lower right His large portfolio of charcoal drawings was ...

Title: Seated Nude Woman Artist: Josine Vignon (French 1922-2022) Medium: signed black pen on artists paper stuck on board, glass covered Dated 1946 Size: 11 (height) x 8.5 (width...

Ink, graphite and colored pencil on graph paper The final composition measured 28 x 28 inches Annotated #615 in the lower right corner of the sheet Provenance: Francine Seders Galler...

This vintage 1960s abstract painting by renowned New Mexico modernist artist Ward Lockwood (1894–1963) is an exceptional example of mid-century modern art. The original artwork, crea...

Bench Overlooking the Azure Mediterranean Tony Minartz (French, 1873 - 1994) watercolour on artist paper painting : 17 x 13 inches Provenance: private collection in the South of F...

Portrait sketch original drawing by Jean-Paul LE VERRIER (1922-1996) studio stamped pencil drawing on paper, unframed Double sided 10.5 x 8.25 inches provenance: private collection ...

Eve Nethercott, American (1925 - 2015) - Maine Lighthouse (66), Year: 1957, Medium: Watercolor, Size: 19 in. x 24 in. (48.26 cm x 60.96 cm), Description: Looking up at the floc...