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American Realist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

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Style: American Realist
Limbs
Located in Columbia, MO
Zoe Hawk Artist Statement My work deals with the complex experience of girlhood, exploring adolescent anxiety, feminine identity, and belonging. These themes are tackled within scen...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary American Realist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Graphite

Untitled (Landscape #21)
Located in Albuquerque, NM
Alex Peña, Untitled (Landscape #21), 2021, ink on paper Framed size: 12.5" x 14.5" Image size: 7.5" x 10.5"
Category

2010s American Realist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Ink, Archival Paper

Shadowed Hill Behind the Barn, Original Painting
Located in San Francisco, CA

Artist Comments
Artist Catherine McCargar displays a view of a barn overlooking a verdant hill. After winter rains, the hillsides in northern California green up, and winter mo...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary American Realist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Watercolor

Ranunculus Shindig, Original Painting
Located in San Francisco, CA

Artist Comments
Artist Jinny Tomozy exhibits a realistic portrait of a Ranunculus bouquet. "Ranunculus are similar to roses but have more delicate petals that are tissue-thin and in greater numbers," describes Jinny. Layers and layers of petals that transition from cool greens in the center to warm pinks and yellows make them a delightful subject matter. Jinny creates the piece from several different references and arranges it into one bouquet.


About the Artist
Artist Jinny Tomozy reveals the most tender aspects of nature through the sculptural forms of flowers. Her strikingly realistic floral watercolors connect us to the familiar emotions we experience in viewing the spectacular or mundane circumstances of this place we call home. "I am captivated by light touching a surface, the nuances of a shadow, interplays of color, and of other complex facets of our visual world," shares Jinny. After twenty-two years as a teacher of foundations in art education and placing her creative aspirations on hold, she now pursues art full-time and spends more of her days painting and creating. Jinny captures tangible feelings of space and time in her studio at Reno Art Works. In this non-profit gallery, a community of eleven artists works in an emerging art...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary American Realist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Gouache

Rainbow Succulents, Original Painting
Located in San Francisco, CA

Artist Comments
In realism, artist Jinny Tomozy presents a view of flourishing succulents. "What intrigues me about succulent plants are the abstract forms they create," shares...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary American Realist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Watercolor

Succulent Stars, Original Painting
Located in San Francisco, CA

Artist Comments
Artist Jinny Tomozy presents a birds-eye view of growing succulents. She draws inspiration from the bright spectrum of color and contrasting shapes and textures...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary American Realist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Watercolor

Moody Magnolias, Original Painting
Located in San Francisco, CA

Artist Comments
Artist Jinny Tomozy captures the drama of light and shadow on blooming Magnolias. She renders the flowers with a realistic approach, carefully detailing the del...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary American Realist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Watercolor

Portrait of a Lily, Original Painting
Located in San Francisco, CA

Artist Comments
"The sculptural forms of a Calla Lily are so fluid and smooth, like the forms on the human figure," says artist Jinny Tomozy. She presents a closer view of the ...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary American Realist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Watercolor

Garden Goblet, Original Painting
Located in San Francisco, CA

Artist Comments
"There were several things that drew me to this Calla Lily in a garden full of lilies," says artist Jinny Tomozy. The flower's structure appears to resemble a g...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary American Realist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Watercolor

Grounded Angel
Located in Burlingame, CA
'Grounded Angel' a highly collectable original watercolor by internationally acclaimed American Realist James Torlakson. The art is 10 x 14 inches and 19 x 23 inches professionally f...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary American Realist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Watercolor, Archival Paper

Bay no. 4, II (daylight)
Located in Burlingame, CA
'Bay no. 4, II 1980' a highly collectable original watercolor by internationally acclaimed American Realist James Torlakson. The art is 11 x 16 inches and 15 x 20 inches professional...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary American Realist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Watercolor, Archival Paper

Nor Cal
Located in Burlingame, CA
'Nor Cal, 2022' a highly collectable original watercolor by internationally acclaimed American Realist James Torlakson. The art is 20 x 18 inches and 29 x 27 inches professionally fr...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary American Realist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Watercolor, Archival Paper

Cincinnati Ohio cityscape drawing WPA era
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
Beautiful original drawing by American artist, Albert Sway (b.1913). Cincinnati Cityscape, ca. 1935. Ink on paper measures 11 x 17 inches. Signed lower right. Good condition with a 1...
Category

1930s American Realist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Ink

Cincinnati Ohio cityscape drawing WPA era
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
Beautiful original drawing by American artist, Albert Sway (b.1913). Cincinnati Cityscape, ca. 1935. Ink on paper measures 9.5 x 12 inches. Signed lower right. Good condition with no...
Category

1930s American Realist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Ink

Cincinnati Ohio cityscape drawing WPA era
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
Beautiful original drawing by American artist, Albert Sway (b.1913). Cincinnati Cityscape, ca. 1935. Ink on paper measures 10 x 15 inches. Signed lower left. Good condition with no d...
Category

1930s American Realist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Ink

Aproaching Slains Castle, #10, monochromatic black and white architectura castle
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Unique, monoprint
Category

2010s American Realist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Archival Paper

Modernist Watercolor Painting Peter Goldman American Filmmaker Neo Expressionist
Located in Surfside, FL
Based on a poem or song. Poetry piece Watercolor painting hand signed by Peter Emanuel Goldman. Legendary French American Film Auteur, These are recently produced watercolor paintin...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary American Realist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

Modernist Watercolor Painting Peter Goldman American Filmmaker Neo Expressionist
Located in Surfside, FL
Bilbouquet sporting painting Watercolor painting hand signed by Peter Emanuel Goldman. Legendary French American Film Auteur, These are recently produced watercolor paintings based ...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary American Realist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

Seaward
Located in Burlingame, CA
'Seaward', depicting a cargo ship exiting Golden Gate, passing Seal Rock, and entering the Pacific.Ocean, is a highly collectable original 10 x 16 inch watercolor painting by Interna...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary American Realist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Watercolor, Archival Paper

Annual Lavatera a native of Spain
Located in New York, NY
Signed (at lower right): FJK [partial]
Category

Early 20th Century American Realist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Watercolor

African Agapanthus, or Blue Lily, a native of the Cape
Located in New York, NY
Signed (at lower right): FJK
Category

Early 19th Century American Realist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Watercolor

Empty Booth - iconic watercolor - Red Devil Fireworks
Located in Burlingame, CA
Empty Booth - an iconic American original watercolor painting - 36 x 24 inches - by James Torlakson, who is known for his photorealist oil paintings, watercolors and aquatint intaglio etchings. Empty Booth depicts the inside of an empty fireworks booth with a Red Devil...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary American Realist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Watercolor, Archival Paper

Whimbrel #11 Speaking Out, Original Painting
Located in San Francisco, CA

Artist Comments
This whimbrel was trying to tell me something as he was leaving. Whimbrels don't talk a lot, so this image is amusingly unusual. He's painted in browns and gray...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary American Realist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Watercolor

Roanheads Chimney #3 (Scotland), historic architecture
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Color monotype Ms. Murray is notable for capturing the crystalline quality of northern light. She has an extensive exhibition history and she is represented in both private and publ...
Category

2010s American Realist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Monotype

Straight into Night
Located in Fairfield, CT
Represented by George Billis Gallery NYC. Burned pieces by Paul Chojnowski. I have been burning images into wood and paper as a means of drawing for over two decades. During that t...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary American Realist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Archival Paper

Car Wash - original unique watercolor
Located in Burlingame, CA
Car Wash - an iconic American watercolor painting by James Torlakson, who is known for his photorealist oil paintings, watercolors and aquatint intagli...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary American Realist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Watercolor, Archival Paper

Black Turnstone #3
Located in San Francisco, CA

Artist Comments
Black turnstones are small hyperactive solitary shorebirds that, on Leadbetter Beach in Santa Barbara where they can be found in abundance in early winter, ra...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary American Realist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Watercolor

Portrait of a Young Woman, Pastel Drawing by Thomas Strickland
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Thomas Strickland, American (1923 - 1999) Title: Young Woman in Floral Dress Year: circa 1970 Medium: Pastel on Paper, signed Size: 25 in. x 19 in. (63.5 cm x 48.26 cm)
Category

1970s American Realist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Pastel

Woman in Blue, Pastel by Thomas Strickland
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Thomas Strickland, American (1923 - 1999) Title: Woman in Blue Year: circa 1970 Medium: Pastel on Paper, signed Size: 21.5 in. x 17 in. (54.61 cm x 43.18 cm) Frame: 27 x 22.5...
Category

1970s American Realist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Pastel

Sable, Original Painting
Located in San Francisco, CA

Artist Comments
I love creating figurative paintings in watercolor! I like to work as quickly as possible adding color upon color while still wet and forming spontaneous com...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary American Realist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Watercolor

Red-Haired Woman in a Cafe
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Marshall Goodman, American (1916 - 2003) Title: Red-Haired Woman in Cafe Year: circa 1975 Medium: Watercolor Size: 23 in. x 18.5 in. (58.42 cm x 46.99 cm) Frame Size: 31 x 2...
Category

1970s American Realist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Watercolor

Rama Rama, Horse Painting by Helene Alison
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Helene Alison Title: Rama Rama Year: 1978 Medium: Oil on Canvas, signed l.c. Size: 20 x 20 inches
Category

1970s American Realist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Oil

Branches
Located in Palm Desert, CA
A watercolor by Gregory Sumida. "Branches" is a watercolor on paper executed in browns, greens, yellows and blue and depicting a tree trunk with bare branches set against a landscape...
Category

1970s American Realist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

Approaching Storm, New Branches
Located in Palm Desert, CA
A watercolor by Gregory Sumida. "Approaching Storm, New Branches" is a watercolor on watercolor board, executed in dark browns, greens and blues and depicting a tree trunk with bare ...
Category

1970s American Realist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Watercolor, Board

Capitol II (Modern Realist Cityscape in Black & White Watercolor)
Located in Hudson, NY
watercolor on paper 9 x 9 inches 17 x 21 inches, black stained artist made frame, white mat This photo-realist cityscape of the New York State Capitol in Albany, NY was painted wi...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary American Realist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Watercolor, Archival Paper

Bowers
Located in Sag Harbor, NY
Awards 2013 Loring W. Coleman Award for Watercolor/ Allied Artists of America, 100th Annual Exhibition at the National Arts Club 2011 Mary Bryan Memorial Medal / Allied Artis...
Category

Early 2000s American Realist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Watercolor

Beast of Burden
Located in Sag Harbor, NY
Awards 2013 Loring W. Coleman Award for Watercolor/ Allied Artists of America, 100th Annual Exhibition at the National Arts Club 2011 Mary Bryan Memorial Medal / Allied Artis...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary American Realist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Graphite

Dead of Winter
Located in Sag Harbor, NY
Awards 2013 Loring W. Coleman Award for Watercolor/ Allied Artists of America, 100th Annual Exhibition at the National Arts Club 2011 Mary Bryan Memorial Medal / Allied Artis...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary American Realist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Watercolor

Coast of Main
Located in Sag Harbor, NY
Awards 2013 Loring W. Coleman Award for Watercolor/ Allied Artists of America, 100th Annual Exhibition at the National Arts Club 2011 Mary Bryan Memorial Medal / Allied Artis...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary American Realist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Watercolor

Afternoon at Hortons Point
Located in Sag Harbor, NY
Awards 2013 Loring W. Coleman Award for Watercolor/ Allied Artists of America, 100th Annual Exhibition at the National Arts Club 2011 Mary Bryan Memorial Medal / Allied Arti...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary American Realist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Graphite

Mansard Roof
Located in Sag Harbor, NY
Awards 2013 Loring W. Coleman Award for Watercolor/ Allied Artists of America, 100th Annual Exhibition at the National Arts Club 2011 Mary Bryan Memorial Medal / Allied Artis...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary American Realist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Watercolor

Fallen Trees
Located in Houston, TX
Kristin Musgnug Fallen Trees, 2015 oil on paper, 22 x 30 inches unframed 25 x 33 framed (framed in white washed maple, with OP3 glazing)
Category

21st Century and Contemporary American Realist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Oil, Rag Paper

"S.S. Blackman at Dock"
By Joseph DiGemma
Located in Southampton, NY
Exhibited original watercolor on paper painting by American artist, Joseph DiGemma. Signed lower right and dated 1949. Overall framed and matted (white) in natural maple frame 26 by 32 inches. Exhibition label verso: "Shared Aesthetic, Artists of Long Island North Fork, 2009". From the estate of Countess Consuelo Crespi. Joseph Paul DiGemma was born in New York City and studied at the Pratt Institute and the Arts Students League. His engravings are in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Brooklyn Museum and the Astor-Lenox Collection. Several of his wartime paintings...
Category

1940s American Realist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

"Good Health Week" WPA American Scene Mid 20th Century Modern Social Realism
Located in New York, NY
"Good Health Week" WPA American Scene Mid 20th Century Modern Social Realism Jo Cain (1904 – 2003) Good Health Week 10 ½ x 15 1/2 inches Oil on paper, c. 1940s Estate stamp verso 1...
Category

1940s American Realist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Oil

Cowboys Horses Cattle WPA American Scene Social Realism Mid 20th Century Modern
Located in New York, NY
Cowboys Horses Cattle WPA American Scene Social Realism Mid 20th Century Modern Jo Cain (1904 – 2003) Cowboy 33 3/4 x 36 inches Oil on paper, c. 1930s Signed...
Category

1930s American Realist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Oil

Original Painting Cathedral Interior New Yorker Cover Proposal 1939 Jesus Church
Located in New York, NY
Original Painting Cathedral Interior New Yorker Cover Proposal 1939 Jesus Church Antonio Petruccelli (1907 – 1994) Cathedral New Yorker cover proposa...
Category

1930s American Realist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Gouache, Board

"Men in Barracks" WPA Mid 20th Century American Scene Realism Gay Modernism WWII
Located in New York, NY
"Men in Barracks" WPA Mid 20th Century American Scene Realism Gay Modernism WWII. 18 x 24 inches Watercolor on paper. c. 1940s. Signed lower right. BIO ...
Category

1940s American Realist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Watercolor, Paper

"Danzantes de Colores" from the "Colcha" series
Located in San Francisco, CA
This artwork titled "Danzantes de Colores from the "Colcha" series, 1989, is a watercolor and ink on hand made paper by noted American artist Amado Maurilio Pena, b.1943. It is hand ...
Category

Late 20th Century American Realist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Watercolor

Portrait of a Brave
Located in Raleigh, NC
Pencil portrait of a brave signed by Joseph A. Imhof.
Category

1920s American Realist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Pencil

"Woman in Purple" from the "Colcha" series
Located in San Francisco, CA
This artwork titled "Woman in Purple" from the "Colcha" series, 1989, is a watercolor and ink on hand made paper by noted American artist Amado Maurilio Pena, b.1943. It is hand sign...
Category

Late 20th Century American Realist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Watercolor

Standing Female Nude
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Standing Female Nude Colored chalks on tan Strathmore paper, c. 1975 Signed in chalk upper right (see photo) Condition: Excellent Housed in an 8 play acid free rag matting S...
Category

1970s American Realist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Chalk

Irises Ink, Watercolor, Oil on Yupo paper 26” x 40” Framed 31 ¼” x 45 ¼”
Located in Houston, TX
Yellow Poppies by Texas artist Julie England is an Ink and Watercolor, Oil on Yupo paper. The size of Yellow Poppies is Image 26” x 40” Framed 31 ¼” x 45 ¼” Yellow Poppies by J...
Category

2010s American Realist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Oil, Watercolor, Mixed Media

"Regarding Agnes" - Portrait of a Young Woman, Drawing
Located in East Quogue, NY
Portrait of a semi-attired young woman titled "Regarding Agnes" by Duncan Hannah. Conte pencil on paper. Signed front lower right. Offered framed. Frame size: 10.75 x 8.75 inches ...
Category

Early 2000s American Realist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Conté, Paper

Cool Afternoon Oil Watercolor Yupo Paper 11″ x 14″ Image 16″ x 21 3/4″ Frame
Located in Houston, TX
Cool Afternoon by Texas artist Julie England is an Ink and Watercolor, Oil on Yupo paper. The size of Cool Afternoon is 11″ x 14″ Image 16″ x 21 3/4″...
Category

2010s American Realist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Watercolor, Oil

Delaware & Hudson Canal, Ellenville NY watercolor by Edward Lamson Henry
By Edward Lamson Henry
Located in Hudson, NY
Original watercolor by Edward Lamson Henry looking back at barge travel through small New York state towns. Delaware & Hudson Canal, Ellenville N...
Category

Early 1900s American Realist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

Irises Ink, Watercolor, Oil on Yupo paper 26” x 40” Framed 31 ¼” x 45 ¼”
Located in Houston, TX
Irises by Texas artist Julie England is an Ink and Watercolor, Oil on Yupo paper. THe size of Irises is Image 26” x 40” Framed 31 ¼” x 45 ¼” Art is...
Category

2010s American Realist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Mixed Media, Oil, Watercolor

Ships in New York Harbor
Located in Middletown, NY
Pencil on cream wove paper, 5 5/8 x 9 7/8 inches (141 x 250 mm), signed in pencil, lower lower left. With some remarques in graphite and the letter "H" written in green pencil in the left margin. There is some adhesive residue from a former mount at the top corners on the verso, and at each of the four corners on the recto, as well as some minor, uniform age toning. On the verso in pencil is the date, along with an inscription including the name "Magriel," in reference to the important New York City based art collector Paul David Magriel (1906-1990). Presented in a simple gold and cinnebar wood frame from the period. With the Paul Magriel Collection label on the frame back, as well as labels from the Hebert E. Feist Gallery, NY, NY, and the Country Art Gallery, Locust Valley, NY. Henry Farrer was a founding member of the American Society of Painters in Water Color (1866), and served as the secretary of that organization for many years. Farrer was also a founding member of the New York Etching...
Category

Mid-19th Century American Realist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Pencil, Graphite, Handmade Paper

Eileen Lake
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Eileen Lake Crayon on paper, early1930's Initialed in pencil lower right (see photo) Titled and annotated verso "Eileen Lake, early 1930s girlfriend" Note: Eileen Hall Lake was an American poet and Adolf Dehn's girlfriend in the early 1930s. Provenance: Estate of the artist By descent Adolf Dehn, American Watercolorist and Printmaker, 1895-1968 Adolf Dehn was an artist who achieved extraordinary artistic heights, but in a very particular artistic sphere—not so much in oil painting as in watercolor and lithography. Long recognized as a master by serious print collectors, he is gradually gaining recognition as a notable and influential figure in the overall history of American art. In the 19th century, with the invention of the rotary press, which made possible enormous print runs, and the development of the popular, mass-market magazines, newspaper and magazine illustration developed into an artistic realm of its own, often surprisingly divorced from the world of museums and art exhibitions, and today remains surprisingly overlooked by most art historians. Dehn in many regards was an outgrowth of this world, although in an unusual way, since as a young man he produced most of his illustrative work not for popular magazines, such as The Saturday Evening Post, but rather for radical journals, such as The Masses or The Liberator, or artistic “little magazines” such as The Dial. This background established the foundation of his outlook, and led later to his unique and distinctive contribution to American graphic art. If there’s a distinctive quality to his work, it was his skill in introducing unusual tonal and textural effects into his work, particularly in printmaking but also in watercolor. Jackson Pollock seems to have been one of many notable artists who were influenced by his techniques. Early Years, 1895-1922 For an artist largely remembered for scenes of Vienna and Paris, Adolf Dehn’s background was a surprising one. Born in Waterville, Minnesota, on November 22, 1895, Dehn was the descendent of farmers who had emigrated from Germany and homesteaded in the region, initially in a one-room log cabin with a dirt floor. Adolf’s father, Arthur Clark Dehn, was a hunter and trapper who took pride that he had no boss but himself, and who had little use for art. Indeed, during Adolf’s boyhood the walls of his bedroom and the space under his bed were filled with the pelts of mink, muskrats and skunks that his father had killed, skinned and stretched on drying boards. It was Adolf’s mother, Emilie Haas Dehn, a faithful member of the German Lutheran Evangelical Church, who encouraged his interest in art, which became apparent early in childhood. Both parents were ardent socialists, and supporters of Eugene Debs. In many ways Dehn’s later artistic achievement was clearly a reaction against the grinding rural poverty of his childhood. After graduating from high school in 1914 at the age of 19—an age not unusual in farming communities at the time, where school attendance was often irregular—Dehn attended the Minneapolis School of Art from 1914 to 1917, whose character followed strongly reflected that of its director, Munich-trained Robert Kohler, an artistic conservative but a social radical. There Dehn joined a group of students who went on to nationally significant careers, including Wanda Gag (later author of best-selling children’s books); John Flanagan (a sculptor notable for his use of direct carving) Harry Gottlieb (a notable social realist and member of the Woodstock Art Colony), Elizabeth Olds (a printmaker and administrator for the WPA), Arnold Blanch (landscape, still-life and figure painter, and member of the Woodstock group), Lucille Lunquist, later Lucille Blanch (also a gifted painter and founder of the Woodstock art colony), and Johan Egilrud (who stayed in Minneapolis and became a journalist and poet). Adolf became particularly close to Wanda Gag (1893-1946), with whom he established an intense but platonic relationship. Two years older than he, Gag was the daughter of a Bohemian artist and decorator, Anton Gag, who had died in 1908. After her husband died, Wanda’s mother, Lizzi Gag, became a helpless invalid, so Wanda was entrusted with the task of raising and financially supporting her six younger siblings. This endowed her with toughness and an independent streak, but nonetheless, when she met Dehn, Wanda was Victorian and conventional in her artistic taste and social values. Dehn was more socially radical, and introduced her to radical ideas about politics and free love, as well as to socialist publications such as The Masses and The Appeal to Reason. Never very interested in oil painting, in Minneapolis Dehn focused on caricature and illustration--often of a humorous or politically radical character. In 1917 both Dehn and Wanda won scholarships to attend the Art Students League, and consequently, in the fall of that year both moved to New York. Dehn’s art education, however, ended in the summer of 1918, shortly after the United States entered World War I, when he was drafted to serve in the U. S. Army. Unwilling to fight, he applied for status as a conscientious objector, but was first imprisoned, then segregated in semi-imprisonment with other Pacifists, until the war ended. The abuse he suffered at this time may well explain his later withdrawal from taking political stands or making art of an overtly political nature. After his release from the army, Dehn returned to New York where he fell under the spell of the radical cartoonist Boardman Robinson and produced his first lithographs. He also finally consummated his sexual relationship with Wanda Gag. The Years in Europe: 1922-1929 In September of 1921, however, he abruptly departed for Europe, arriving in Paris and then moving on to Vienna. There in the winter of 1922 he fell in love with a Russian dancer, Mura Zipperovitch, ending his seven-year relationship with Wanda Gag. He and Mura were married in 1926. It was also in Vienna that he produced his first notable artistic work. Influenced by European artists such as Jules Pascin and Georg Grosz, Dehn began producing drawings of people in cafes, streets, and parks, which while mostly executed in his studio, were based on spontaneous life studies and have an expressive, sometimes almost childishly wandering quality of line. The mixture of sophistication and naiveté in these drawings was new to American audiences, as was the raciness of their subject matter, which often featured pleasure-seekers, prostitutes or scenes of sexual dalliance, presented with a strong element of caricature. Some of these drawings contain an element of social criticism, reminiscent of that found in the work of George Grosz, although Dehn’s work tended to focus on humorous commentary rather than savagely attacking his subjects or making a partisan political statement. Many Americans, including some who had originally been supporters of Dehn such as Boardman Robinson, were shocked by these European drawings, although George Grocz (who became a friend of the artist in this period) admired them, and recognized that Dehn could also bring a new vision to America subject matter. As he told Dehn: “You will do things in America which haven’t been done, which need to be done, which only you can do—as far at least as I know America.” A key factor in Dehn’s artistic evolution at this time was his association with Scofield Thayer...
Category

1930s American Realist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Oil Crayon

American Realist drawings and watercolor paintings for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic American Realist drawings and watercolor paintings available for sale on 1stDibs. Not every interior allows for large American Realist drawings and watercolor paintings, so small editions measuring 2.25 inches across are also available. Prices for drawings and watercolor paintings made by famous or emerging artists can differ depending on medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $60 and tops out at $85,000, while the average work sells for $1,781.

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