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Early 20th Century Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

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Period: Early 20th Century
Figure of Man Pencil Drawing By Maurice Chabas - Early 20th Century
Located in Roma, IT
Figure of Man is an Original Pencil Drawing realized by Maurice Chabas (1862-1947). The artwork is in good condition, included a white cardboard passpartout (37.5x55 cm). Monogramm...
Category

Modern Early 20th Century Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Pencil

Christ Crucifixion - Original Pencil - Early 20th Century
Located in Roma, IT
Christ Crucifixion is an original drawing on paper in pencil mounted on greyish cardboard Passepartout: 28.9 x 19 cm, realized by an anonymous Italian artist of the Early 20th Centu...
Category

Modern Early 20th Century Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Pencil

Portrait of Woman - Pencil Drawing - 20th Century
Located in Roma, IT
Portrait of Woman is a drawing in pencil on paper by an Anonymous Artist of the XX century. Sheet dimension: 32 x 24.5 cm The state of preservation is good and aged Hand-signed o...
Category

Early 20th Century Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Pencil

Herbert Blande Sparks (1870-1916)- Watercolour, Portrait of Lady with Pink Roses
Located in Corsham, GB
An exceptional Edwardian watercolour by Herbert Blande Sparks (1870-1916), depicting a young lady seated in the garden with a wicker basket and pink roses. Well-presented in a gilt-e...
Category

Early 20th Century Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor

G. A. Rochegrosse (1859-1938) A zither player, small signed drawingdrawing
Located in Paris, FR
Georges Antoine Rochegrosse (1859-1938) A zither player carbon pencil on thin paper 8.5 x 3.3 cm In good condition Framed : 35 x 24 cm Provenance: Estate of the artist and by Inher...
Category

Symbolist Early 20th Century Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Carbon Pencil

The Wise Book Children's Book Illustration- Woman Illustrator - Arts and Crafts
Located in Miami, FL
This little gem of a compact artwork was executed in the Arts and Crafts style for an interior illustration for "The Wise Book," J.M. Dent & Co, London, 1906. "You can't eat your ca...
Category

Victorian Early 20th Century Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Ink, Watercolor, Gouache, Board

John da Costa - Lillie - A Portrait of the artist's wife
By John da Costa
Located in London, GB
JOHN DA COSTA (1867-1931) Lillie, the Artist’s Wife Signed l.l. Coloured chalks on tinted paper Framed 61 by 48.5 cm., 24 by 19 in. (frame size 80 by 69 cm., 31 ½ by 27 ¼ in.) Jo...
Category

Realist Early 20th Century Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Chalk

Portrait of a Lady - British art Post Impressionist 40s drawing female portrait
Located in London, GB
A dramatic head and shoulders portrait of a lady in coloured chalks attributed to noted British artist Edward Bainbridge Copnall. This is just a stunning artwork which dates to circa 1940. Signed Bainbridge Copnall. Provenance. Midlands collection. Condition. Coloured chalks on paper, 16 inches by 13 inches and in good colour and condition. Some staining to edges. Housed in its original gallery frame 21 by 18 inches. In excellent condition. Edward Bainbridge Copnall MBE ( 1903-1973) was a British sculptor and painter. He was best known for his architectural and decorative sculptures featuring allegorical and religious subjects. He was the President of the Royal Society of Sculptors from 1961 - 1966. Edward Bainbridge Copnall was born in Cape Town, South Africa in 1903 and moved to Horsham, West Sussex in England as a young child after the death of his mother. His father, photographer Edward White Copnall (born 1878, Isle of Wight), lived and worked in Horsham from 1915-1962. His uncle was Liverpool-based portrait painter Frank Thomas Copnall...
Category

Realist Early 20th Century Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Chalk

Jean-Gabriel Domergue (1889-1962) Paris, Les Bouquinistes, original drawing
Located in Paris, FR
Jean-Gabriel Domergue (1889-1962) Paris, Les Bouquinistes sur les quais, (The booksellers on the banks) Signed and titled lower right Pencil on paper 17 x 27 cm In good condition, ...
Category

Art Nouveau Early 20th Century Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Carbon Pencil

Imperial Beauty, British School 20th Century Pastel Portrait
Located in London, GB
Pastel on paper on canvas, initialled lower left "ND" Image size: 13 ¾ x 22 ½ inches (35 x 57 cm) Gilt frame This fine Art Nouveau picture executed around 1900, depicts an auburn ha...
Category

Art Nouveau Early 20th Century Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Pastel

STUDY OF A MAN WITH A HAT AND OVERCOAT
Located in Portland, ME
Stella, Joseph. STUDY OF A MAN WITH A HAT AND OVERCOAT. Blue, red and black crayon on tan wove paper, c. 1920. 6 7/8 x 4 3/4 inches; 173 x 120 mm. Signe...
Category

American Realist Early 20th Century Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Crayon

untitled Woman by the Windows
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Untitled (Woman by the Windows) Unsigned. Pastel on board, c. 1915 Created while the artist was in Giverny, France Provenance: Gift of the artist to his wife, Mary Hess Buehr by Desc...
Category

Abstract Impressionist Early 20th Century Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Pastel

James Arden Grant (1885-1973) - Pastel, Portrait of a Young Girl
Located in Corsham, GB
A charming portrait of a young girl with short cropped hair seated in a red chair. The artist captures her features and ruffled dress in expressive pastel markings, bringing vibrancy...
Category

Early 20th Century Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Pastel

Vogue - Elegantly Dressed Women Shopping For Hats Art Nouveau - Female Artist
Located in Miami, FL
The present work by pioneering female artist Helen Dryden was most likely a cover assignment for Vogue Magazine. It is deftly rendered in a tight linear art nouveau style with flat c...
Category

Early 20th Century Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Ink, Watercolor

Man looking into Window
Located in Miami, FL
Original Magazine Illustration for a magazine like Harper's, Vanity Fair, Life, Look, and Judge Shinn was an American realist painter and member of the Ashcan School. He also exhibited with the short-lived group known as "The Eight," Work is framed in an attractive gilt frame Morris Weiss collection...
Category

American Realist Early 20th Century Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Acrylic Polymer, Gouache, Pencil, Watercolor

William Edward Frank Britten (1848-1916) - 1906 Pastel, Head Of The Family
Located in Corsham, GB
A very fine early 20th Century portrait in delicate pastel, showing a refined older woman in elegant black dress with a white lace cap. She holds her knitting in her lap as she gazes...
Category

Early 20th Century Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Pastel

PORTRAIT OF HAROLD STERNER
Located in Portland, ME
Sterner, Albert (American. 1863-1946). PORTRAIT OF HAROLD STERNER. Charcoal and pastel on paper, not dated, but 1912, as the subject is stated to be aged 17. Signed, lower right. 16 1/2 x 11 1/4 inches, framed to 26 1/8 x 20 1/8 inches. In very good condition. Albert Sterner was born in England, and studied in Paris. He worked as a magazine illustrator, but is best known for his paintings and prints. Harold Sterner (American, 1895-1976). Architect, painter; New York, N.Y. Born 1895, died 1976...
Category

Early 20th Century Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Charcoal, Pastel

Early 20th Century Pastel - Edwardian Girl
Located in Corsham, GB
This compelling portrait depicts an Edwardian girl against a blue background. The artist captures her soft facial features and long brown hair in fine detail. Her white ruffle dress...
Category

Early 20th Century Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Pastel

Jean Launois (1898-1942) Opium smokers, Indochina, original drawing
Located in Paris, FR
Jean Launois (1898-1942) Opium smokers, Indochina Stamp of the artit's estate on the lower right Black ink on paper 22.5 x 30.5 cm Framed : 38 x 46 cm This beautiful drawing, a fine example of Jean Launois' particular art, dates from the artist's stay in Indochina, from which he brought a group of works. An exhibition devoted to this Indochinese period of the artist's production was held at the Musée de l'Abbaye Sainte-Croix, Sables d'Olonne in 1998. About the artist : Of Vendée origin, Jean Launois very quickly showed a sure talent for drawing and was encouraged in this by his parents. He trained with his fellow Vendeans Charles Milcendeau and Auguste Lepère and then entered the Académie Jullian in Paris. Enrolled in the First World War in 1916, he continued to draw at the front, and produced numerous portraits of soldiers...
Category

Post-Impressionist Early 20th Century Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Ink

Portrait Of A Woman Pencil Drawing
Located in Lake Worth Beach, FL
Portrait of a Woman Pencil signed and dated Feb 20. 20 unframed 14x11 George Kenneth Hartwell painter and illustrator was born in Fitchburg 1891-1949, Massachus...
Category

American Modern Early 20th Century Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Pastel, Pencil

Siegfried
Located in London, GB
MAXWELL ARMFIELD, RWS. (1882-1972) Siegfried Signed, inscribed and dated l.c.: MAXWELL ARMFIELD/MDCCCCIV [1904] PARIS;SIEGFRIED/ACT III Pencil and watercolour Framed 24 by 16 cm., 9 ½ by 6 ¼ in. (frame size 42.5 by 34.5 cm., 16 ¾ by 13 ½ in.) Provenance: Fine Art Society, London, 1979. Born at Ringwood, Hampshire, of Quaker parents, his father being a milling engineer, Armfield studied at the Birmingham School of Art under Arthur Gaskin and Joseph Southall who taught him the tempera technique he was to practice for the rest of his life. In September 1902, after visiting Italy at the suggestion of Gaskin, he went to Paris, enrolling at the Academie de la Grande Chaumiere and sharing a studio with three other students – Norman Wilkinson (also from Birmingham), Keith Henderson and the sculptor Gaston Lachaise. Returning to London the following year, he embarked on the series of one-man exhibitions that were henceforth to mark his career, showing first at Robert Ross...
Category

Pre-Raphaelite Early 20th Century Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor

Rousselet, Portrait of an officer, 1915, wax crayon on paper
Located in Paris, FR
Rousselet, French School early 20th century Portrait of an officier, 1915 Wax crayon on paper signed "E Rousselet" and dated 1915 lower right 51.5 x 31.5 cm In quite good condition, ...
Category

Symbolist Early 20th Century Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Wax Crayon

"Isadora Duncan (Blue), " Pen, Ink, & Watercolor signed by Abraham Walkowitz
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Isadora Duncan (Blue)" is an original mixed media drawing created by Abraham Walkowitz. It is made with pen & ink, graphite, and watercolor piece on cream paper. The artist signed t...
Category

American Modern Early 20th Century Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Ink, Watercolor, Graphite

"Young Girl (Jenue Fille)" Louis Valtat, French Drawing
Located in New York, NY
Louis Valtat Young Girl Stamped with initials lower right Pencil on brown paper Sight 7 x 6 inches Provenance: Mrs. Ernest M. Werner, New York Private Collection, Rhode Island Loui...
Category

Fauvist Early 20th Century Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Pencil

Reverie - Early 20th Century British chalk drawing of a girl by H J Harvey
By Herbert Johnson Harvey
Located in London, GB
HERBERT JOHNSON HARVEY (British 1883-1956) Reverie Signed with monogram and dated l.l.: HJ 09 Red chalks Framed 29.5 by 22 cm., 11 ¾ by 8 ¾ in. (fra...
Category

Realist Early 20th Century Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Chalk

The Envy - Drawing - Early 20th Century
Located in Roma, IT
The Envy is an original drawing in Ink, Watercolor, and pastel by an anonymous artist in the first half of the 20th Century. Good conditions. The artwork is depicted through strong...
Category

Modern Early 20th Century Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Pastel, Ink, Watercolor

Mother and Child, Golden Age of Illustration
Located in Miami, FL
America's greatest female illustrator draws a heartwarming picture of a mother putting to bed her child. Motherly love towards their children is the artist's most iconic theme. This ...
Category

Art Nouveau Early 20th Century Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Ink, Illustration Board, Pen

Two Women, a watercolour by Paul Helleu reflecting his passion for yatching
Located in PARIS, FR
Provenance: Dr. Maury P. Leibovitz Collection, Connecticut, USA Private collection, USA, UK and Greece (by descent from previous owner after 1992) Private collection, UK (by desce...
Category

Impressionist Early 20th Century Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor, Pencil

Portrait of Arab - Original Charcoal Drawing by Jean Plumet - Early 20th Century
By Jean Louis Plumet
Located in Roma, IT
Portrait of Arab is an interesting drawing realized by the French artist Jean Louis Plumet. It is in very good conditions, except for some tiny stains and a fold on the lower part of...
Category

Modern Early 20th Century Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Charcoal

Portrait of John Seymour Lucas
Located in Douglas, Isle of Man
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...
Category

Early 20th Century Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Charcoal

The girl from Saint Tropez: American artist in the South of France portrait
Located in Norwich, GB
Alexander Warshawsky was born in Cleveland, Ohio on March 29, 1887. He studied painting at the Cleveland School of Art and the National Academy of Design in New York City. Warshawsky...
Category

American Impressionist Early 20th Century Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Gouache

Lady in a Feathered Hat, Portrait, Figure, Charcoal Drawing, Austrian
Located in Wiscasset, ME
Irene Hölzer-Weineck was born in Prague in 1888 and later worked as a painter primarily in Vienna. After artistic training with the Czech painter Vojtech Hynais, Hölzer-Weineck studi...
Category

Realist Early 20th Century Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Charcoal

Nude of Woman - Original Pencil Drawing - Early 20th Century
Located in Roma, IT
Nude of Woman is an original pencil drawing realized by an Italian artist of the early 20th century. Good condition on a yellowed paper. No signature.
Category

Modern Early 20th Century Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Pencil

Giovanni Giolitti - Original Ink Drawing by Gabriele Galantara - 1905
Located in Roma, IT
Giolitti is a Modern Artwork realized by Gabriele Galantara (Montelupone, 1865 - Rome, 1937) in 1905 ca. Original pen drawing on paper. Mint conditions. Giolitti is a very inte...
Category

Modern Early 20th Century Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Ink

K & K Hof Atelier Pietzner, Family Portrait In A Garden Setting
Located in Cheltenham, GB
This early 20th-century mixed media by K & K Hof Atelier Pietzner of Vienna depicts a respectable family within a neoclassical garden setting. With the advent of photography, afflue...
Category

Art Nouveau Early 20th Century Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Watercolor, Gouache, Photographic Paper

The Seated Nude
Located in London, GB
'The Seated Nude', pencil on fine art paper, by French artist, Guillaume Dulac (circa 1920s). An artist known for his exquisite drawings - many are sketches for his larger oil painti...
Category

Early 20th Century Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Pencil

SMITHEREENS
Located in Portland, ME
Anonymous. "SMITHEREENS" ORIGINAL ART FOR AN ALFRED E. SMITH CAMPAIGN POSTER. Circa 1920. Ink drawing with white highlighting. 20 x 22 inches, in an early fra...
Category

Early 20th Century Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Ink

Girl with Braids
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Medium: Charcoal, Pastel, and Watercolor on Board Signature: Signed Lower Right Sight Size 18.75" x 15.25;" Framed 27.50" x 15.25" circa 1920 Girl with Braids...
Category

Early 20th Century Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Charcoal, Pastel, Watercolor, Board

"Portrait of a Girl, " attrib. to Edmund Tarbell, graphite, portrait, 1900-1910
Located in Wiscasset, ME
Born in Groton, Massachusetts in 1862, impressionist painter Edmund Charles Tarbell studied with George H. Bartlett at the Massachusetts Normal Art School, under Otto Grundmann at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and in 1883, entered the Académie Julian to study under Gustave Boulanger and Jules Joseph Lefebvre. In 1884, his education included a Grand Tour to Italy and the following year to Belgium, Germany and Brittany. Tarbell returned to Boston in 1886 where he began his career as an illustrator, private art instructor and portrait painter. He was a member of the Ten American Painters and was a leading member of a group of painters which came to be known as the Boston School. In 1889 Tarbell assumed the position of his former mentor, Otto Grundmann, at the Museum School. His students included Bertha Coolidge, Margaret Fitzhugh Browne...
Category

Impressionist Early 20th Century Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Graphite

Risque Pedicure by Angel, Les Ongles, Boudoir style, Female Illustration
By Suzanne Meunier
Located in Miami, FL
This Illustration Boudoir style Illustration by Female Illustrator Suzanne Meunier was done on an assignment for a French Postcard. It's a very early ...
Category

Art Nouveau Early 20th Century Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor

Hand-Me-Downs - Street Children - Waif - Cockney Gutter Imps.
Located in Miami, FL
19th Century Street Art - British children's book author and illustrator Edith Farmiloe depicts a waif-like girl - Cockney Gutter Imp - who is disheveled. The artist draws her i...
Category

Romantic Early 20th Century Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Ink, Pen

Bride - Scottish Female Glasgow School Art Nouveau, Aubrey Beardsley
Located in Miami, FL
Scottish female illustrator Annie French renders a charming cropped portrait of a bride in an Art Nouveau / Aubrey Beardsley style with curved theme borde...
Category

Art Nouveau Early 20th Century Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Ink, Watercolor

"The Study Hour, " Illustration for The Ladies' Home Journal, April 1908
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Medium: Watercolor, Graphite, and Wash on Board Signature: Signed Lower Left "The Study Hour (The College Girl at Her Studies)." Illustration for the Colleg...
Category

Early 20th Century Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor, Graphite

The Japanese Girl by Orovida Pissarro - Watercolour on paper, Portrait
Located in London, GB
The Japanese Girl by Orovida Pissarro (1893-1968) Watercolour on paper 17.78 x 12.7 cm (7 x 5 inches) Signed lower right, Orovida Circa 1920 This high...
Category

Art Deco Early 20th Century Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

Pastor - Drawing attr. Maximilien Luce - Early 20th Century
Located in Roma, IT
Pastor is a modern artwork realized in the early 20th Century and attributed to Maximilien Luce. Hand-signed Good conditions.
Category

Modern Early 20th Century Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Pencil

Tiger, Lion, Panther, Wolf, Bear, Cat Predator Silhouette Illustration
Located in Miami, FL
Pioneering Woman Illustrator Margery Stocking Hart draws a pen-and-ink story depicting a round table of predators encircling a vulnerable bunny rabbit. ...
Category

American Modern Early 20th Century Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Ink, Pen

Flora Scottish Female Illustrator Glasgow Girls Pre-Raphaelites
Located in Miami, FL
Annie French was part of the Glasgow Girls group of artists and illustrators who worked in a delicate, feminine, and detailed Art Nouveau and Pre-Raphaelite style. This work, "Flora," is masterfully rendered and decorated with sumptuous floral patterns in the most detailed way. It is signed twice in the upper right quadrant. The mat has a hand-painted decorative border. The work presents better in person, and the viewer can marvel at the minute detail. The Video is overexposed and light and not representative of color. Use still...
Category

Art Nouveau Early 20th Century Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Ink, Watercolor, Pencil

Self Portrait
Located in London, GB
Pen and ink, ink wash and pencil on paper, signed and dated (lower right), 38cm x 29cm (65cm x 55cm framed). This penetrating and wonderfully executed self-portrait, is all the mor...
Category

Old Masters Early 20th Century Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Carbon Pencil, Ink

Art Deco Woman before a Mirror - Vogue Magazine Artist
Located in Miami, FL
Fabled Vogue Magazine Cover Artist Eduardo Garcia Benito depicts a perfectly posed long-neck flapper with her reflection in a mirror, Her extrav...
Category

Art Deco Early 20th Century Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Ink

The Lady - Drawing by Louis Anquetin - Early 20th Century
Located in Roma, IT
The Lady is a drawing realized in the late 19th Century by Louis Anquetin (1861-1932). Cina ink drawing on paper. Hand-signed on the lower. Good condition with missing pieces of p...
Category

Modern Early 20th Century Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Ink

Disegno ritratto maschile accademico figurativo nudo seduto del XX secolo
Located in Florence, IT
Il disegno, carboncino su carta, è firmato e datato in basso a destra "Colacicchi Firenze 1924". è un tipico esempio di nudo maschile accademico, come si può notare dalla posizione e...
Category

Other Art Style Early 20th Century Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Charcoal

Portrait - Original Mixed Media Artwork by Maurice Lourday - 1927
Located in Roma, IT
Portrait is an original pencil, pastel and watercolor drawing on creamy cardboard, realized in 1927 by Maurice Lourday (1860-1934). Titled on the lower. In very good conditions, ex...
Category

Contemporary Early 20th Century Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Pencil, Pastel, Watercolor, Cardboard

The Bully - Narrative Art by Female Illustrator Golden Age of Illustration
Located in Miami, FL
The present work exhibits a storytelling and illustration art style created before the mass communications age. It was rendered in a flat linear style by the highly talented Maginel ...
Category

American Impressionist Early 20th Century Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

India Ink, Watercolor, Board

Rudolf Schlichter, Shirtless man, shouting, circa 1920, black ink on paper
Located in PARIS, FR
Rudolf SCHLICHTER (1890-1955) Shirtless man, shouting, circa 1920 India black ink on paper 43,2 x 28,4 cm provenance : artist's family Rudolf Schlichter was born in Calw in 1890. He...
Category

Early 20th Century Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

India Ink

Harold Hope Read (1881-1959) - Framed Watercolour, A Walk in the Park
Located in Corsham, GB
A vibrant and characterful watercolour illustration by Harold Hope Read (1881-1959). Well presented in a complementing green and gilt frame. Unsigned. On laid.
Category

Early 20th Century Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor

Antique French Watercolor Portrait - Profile of Elegance (Woman)
Located in Houston, TX
Graceful watercolor portrait of an elegant auburn haired female in profile, 1912. Signed "Laure" and dated lower right. Over 100 years old. Original vintage one-of-a-kind artwork on...
Category

Early 20th Century Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

The Sunbonnet Babies - Modernist Female Artist
Located in Miami, FL
Bertha Corbett Melcher's The Sunbonnet Babies, with their flat, minimalist, semi-abstract, and symbolic style, are an early example of American Modernism/Surrealism by a lesser-known female artist/illustrator. The present work demonstrates a delicate balance between abstraction and representation and between the commonplace and the mysterious. Her signature use of a hat or sunbonnet to hide the identity of her subjects is a big conceptual and visual idea that has been overlooked in the fine art canon. The exact meaning of this is unknown, but 120 years after they were done, it resonates as somewhat surrealistic. Her work is a contradiction. She shows innocent children engaging in everyday activity but are depicted in vail of mystery. Why does she not show the faces of her subjects? Watercolor on paper (each) Six drawings in all on one board. 6-1/8 x 5 inches (15.6 x 12.7 cm) (each) One signed; two initialed; three not signed. Six drawing in all on one board. 6-1/8 x 5 inches (15.6 x 12.7 cm) (each) One signed; two initialed; three not signed The Sunbonnet Babies characters were created by illustration Bertha L. Corbett when she was challenged to create a faceless character who nonetheless was engaging and appealing. The characters were a wild hit and appeared in books, comics, and popular collectibles. They also became a popular motif in quilting. Few of Corbett's original drawings for the babies are known to survive, making this a rare offering. From: Wikipedia Sunbonnet Babies are characters created by commercial artist Bertha Corbett Melcher (1872–1950). Sunbonnet Babies featured two girls in pastel colored dresses with their faces covered by sunbonnets. Sunbonnet Babies appeared in books, illustrations and advertisements between the years of 1900 and 1930. Sunbonnet Babies were later used as a popular quilting pattern also known as Sunbonnet Sue.[1] Melcher created a male version of the Sunbonnet Babies, named the 'Overall Boys' in 1905.[2][3] History Bertha L. Corbett Melcher Sunbonnet Babies were created by Bertha Corbett Melcher (1872–1950).[4] Melcher was born in Denver and moved with her family to Minneapolis in the 1880s. Melcher attended art school in Minneapolis with plans to become a commercial artist.[5] She may have also studied with Howard Pyle.[6] By the 1920s, Melcher had moved to Topanga, California.[7][4] Melcher started drawing the Sunbonnet Babies in 1897. The origin of the signature style of the faces being covered by sunbonnets is contested by different members of Melcher's family and by Melcher herself. In an interview, Melcher's brother said their mother suggested Bertha avoid the difficulty of drawing faces by covering them with sunbonnets.[4] Melcher herself said that covering faces allowed her to communicate with body position.[4] Melcher has also said that the design came about in "answer to a friend’s challenge to convey emotion without a face."[2] Melcher published her first book, The Sun-Bonnet Babies in 1900.[3] Later, she shopped her illustrations to publisher Rand McNally of Chicago, and nine subsequent books were written by Eulalie Osgood Grover and illustrated by Bertha Corbett. In 1905, Melcher wrote The Overall Boys.[3] Many of these books were used as primers and used widely in primary schools in the midwest. Melcher used the sunbonnet babies in advertising and later established the Sunbonnet Babies Company. She started a studio to illustrate and create merchandise of the Sunbonnet Babies.[2] The characters also appeared in a comic strip.[2] Quilting Melcher herself did not originate the use of the sunbonnet babies as quilting pattern. The Sunbonnet Babies quilting pattern appeared in textile art 1910's in the Ladies Home Journal 1911–1912 in a quilt stitched by Marie Webster. The pattern was popular during the Great Depression. In the American South, it was often known as "Dutch Doll" until the 1970s.[3] There was also a quilt pattern based on the "Overall Boys," known by the various names including “Overall Bill, “Overall Andy,” “Sunbonnet Sam,” “Suspender Sam,” “Fisherman Jim."[3] Many patterns for quilts and sewing were designed by Ruby Short McKim and published in nationally syndicated newspapers.[8] Sunbonnet Sue became symbolic of 'female innocence and docility'.[9] Linda Pershing collected accounts from women quilters who depicted 'Sues' doing activities such as smoking, wearing more revealing clothing, and subverting feminine stereotypes.[10] In 1979, the “Seamsters Union Local #500," a group of quilters from Lawrence, Kansas, created “The Sun Sets on Sunbonnet Sue," a quilt depicting the character murdered in a variety of ways.[3] Collectibles Sunbonnet Babies merchandise includes school books, valentines cards, postcards, china, and quilts.[2][5][11] Sunbonnet Babies were adapted into three dimensional porcelain collectibles and pottery made by Royal Bayreuth Company in the early 1900s. The Royal Bayreuth China...
Category

American Modern Early 20th Century Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

Portrait of Jean
Located in London, GB
'Portrait of Jean', pencil on art paper, by French artist, Guillaume Dulac (circa 1920s). An artist known for his exquisite drawings - many are sketches for his larger oil paintings ...
Category

Early 20th Century Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Pencil

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