Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 8

Irene Rice Pereira
"Composition with Figure, " Irene Rice Pereira

1951

About the Item

Irene Rice Pereira Composition with Figure, 1951 Inscribed, signed and dated Salford/Pereira 2/51 (lr); inscribed I Rice Pereira/2669 Great Clowes St/Salford 7 Manchester/after May 15/121 W 15 St, New York, 11, NY on a paper label affixed to the verso Casein tempera and India Ink on paper 13 1/4 x 20 1/4 inches Considered the most avid Bauhaus proponent in the United States during the 1930's and 40's, Irene Rice Pereira's oeuvre reflects her commitment to machine-age materials and a philosophy that called for a merging of technology and the transcendental. (Smithsonian Archives) Her works emphasize the importance of light, space and its continuum; ideas inherent throughout Pereira's entire oeuvre. Pereira's industrial-influenced works of the early 30's clearly recall Sheeler and Demuth, with their focal point on man versus the machine age, while also reflecting tendencies seen in the work of Leger, with bright, bold, flat color planes outlined by thick, black, contoured lines. As a founding member of the Design Laboratory in New York, an environment which encouraged experimentation with all art forms and mediums, Pereira developed her most intricate qualities of dimension in her glass works beginning in 1939. The illusionistic three-dimensional quality of these created a responsive and independent movement between light and color; a transcendence of space. These compositions are rare and highly sought after. Yet, Pereira's works from the 1950's and 1960's are thought to be her most comprehensive and successful attempts at creating works which were both technically satisfying and philosophically transcendental. These works represent Pereira's newly developed vocabulary, one in which philosophy and geometric symbolism was used in place of visually interpretable objects. In addition to her work with the Design Laboratory, Pereira was also an early member of the American Abstract Artist's, a group dedicated to the promotion of abstract art and was awarded retrospectives at the Museum of Modern Art in 1946 and The Whitney in 1953. Her work is included in the permanent collections of a number of museums including the Metropolitan, Smithsonian, Guggenheim and Whitney.
  • Creator:
    Irene Rice Pereira (1902-1971, American)
  • Creation Year:
    1951
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 21 in (53.34 cm)Width: 28 in (71.12 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    New York, NY
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU1841211648752

More From This Seller

View All
"Two Figures, " Louis Stone, Abstract, American WPA Modernism
By Louis Stone
Located in New York, NY
Louis K. Stone (1902 - 1984) Two Figures, 1980 Mixed media on paper Sight 52 x 42 inches Signed and dated lower right Louis King Stone was born in Findlay, Ohio in 1902 and received...
Category

1980s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Paper, Mixed Media

"Untitled" Theresa Bernstein, Expressionist Work by American Ashcan Artist
By Theresa Bernstein
Located in New York, NY
Theresa Bernstein Untitled, circa 1990 Signed lower right Oil on canvas 16 x 20 inches Theresa F. Bernstein was born in Philadelphia in 1895 to cultured, middle-class immigrant par...
Category

1990s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

"Pompeian Perfumer" Grace Hartigan, Roman Subject, Abstract Expressionist Artist
By Grace Hartigan
Located in New York, NY
Grace Hartigan Pompeian Perfumer, 1999 Signed and dated lower right; signed, titled, and dated on the reverse Oil on linen 72 x 66 inches Grace Hartigan’s career began among the Ne...
Category

1990s Abstract Expressionist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Linen, Oil

"Untitled" Albert Heckman, Still Life, Floral Abstracted Modernist Composition
By Albert Heckman
Located in New York, NY
Albert Heckman Untitled, circa 1950 Signed lower right Oil on canvas 25 1/4 x 32 1/4 inches Albert Heckman was born in Meadville, Western Pennsylvania, 1893. He went to New York City to try his hand at the art world in 1915 after graduating from high school and landing a job at the Meadville Post Office. In 1917, at the age of 24, Heckman enrolled part-time in Teachers' College, Columbia University's Fine Arts Department to begin his formal art education. He worked as a freelance ceramic and textile designer and occasionally as a lecturer at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In the early 1920s, at the age of almost 30, he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Columbia Teachers College. He was especially impacted by his instructor at Columbia, Arthur Wesley Dow. After graduating, he was hired by the Teachers' College as a Fine Arts instructor. He stayed with Columbia Teachers' College until 1929, when he left to attend the Leipzig Institute of Graphic Arts in Leipzig, Germany. Isami Doi (1903-1965), who was born in Hawaii, was arguably his most impressive student at Columbia. Doi is now regarded as one of the most prominent artists hailing from Hawaii. Heckman became an active member and officer of the Keramic Society and Design Guild of New York in the 1920s as part of his early commercial art career. The Society's mission was to share knowledge and showcase textile and ceramic design exhibits. In 1922, Heckman married Florence Hardman, a concert violinist. Mrs. Heckman's concert schedule during the 1920s kept Albert and Florence Heckman apart for a significant portion of the time, but they spent what little time they had together designing and building their Woodstock, New York, summer house and grounds. A small house and an acre of surrounding land on Overlook Mountain, just behind the village of Woodstock, were purchased by Albert and Florence Heckman at the time of their marriage. Their Woodstock home, with its connections, friendships, and memories, became a central part of their lives over the years, even though they had an apartment in New York City. Heckman's main artistic focus shifted to the house on Overlook Mountain and the nearby towns and villages, Kingston, Eddyville, and Glasco. After returning from the Leipzig Institute of Graphic Arts in 1930, Mr. Heckman joined Hunter College as an assistant professor of art. He worked there for almost thirty years, retiring in 1956. Throughout his tenure at Hunter, Mr. Heckman and his spouse spent the summers at their Woodstock residence and the winters in New York City. They were regular and well-known guests at the opera and art galleries in New York. Following his retirement in 1956, the Heckmans settled in Woodstock permanently, with occasional trips to Florida or Europe during the fall and winter. Mr. Heckman's close friends and artistic career were always connected to Woodstock or New York City. He joined the Woodstock art group early on and was greatly influenced by artists like Paul and Caroline Rohland, Emil Ganso, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Andre Ruellan, and her husband, Jack Taylor. Heckman operated a summer art school in Woodstock for several years in the 1930s with support from Columbia University, where these and other Woodstock artists gave guest lectures. The Potter's Shop in New York City hosted Mr. Heckman's first art show in December 1928. The exhibit received some positive reviews from critics. The American Institute of Graphic Arts chose the plate of "Wehlen, Saxony" as one of the "Fifty Prints of the Year in 1929." There were sixteen etchings displayed. The remaining plates depicted scenes in Saxony, Germany, while five of the plates were based on scenes in Rondout, New York. Heckman started switching from etching to black and white lithography by the early 1930s. A lifelong admirer of Heckman's artwork, Mr. Gustave von Groschwitz organized a significant exhibition of Heckman etchings and lithographs at the Ferargil Gallery in New York City in 1933. The exhibition traveled to the Stendahl Galleries in Los Angeles (May 1933), the Charles Lessler Gallery in Philadelphia (May 1933), J.L. Hudson in Detroit (June 1933), and Gumps in San Francisco (July 1933). Together with his early etchings, the exhibition featured brand-new black and white lithographs depicting scenes in and around Woodstock as well as "A View from Tudor City...
Category

1950s Abstract Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

"Stick Season" Sylvia Wald, 1948 Abstracted Wooded Landscape Painting
Located in New York, NY
Sylvia Wald Stick Season, 1948 Signed and dated lower right Oil on canvas 40 x 25 inches Born in Philadelphia, Sylvia Wald studied at the Philadelphia Sc...
Category

1940s Abstract Expressionist Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

"Red Chair" Diana Kurz, 1962 Figurative Expressionist Painting New York School
By Diana Kurz
Located in New York, NY
Diana Kurz Red Chair, 1962 Signed, titled, dated on verso Oil on canvas 53 x 41 1/2 inches Diana Kurz (born 1936) is an Austrian-born feminist painter. In 1938, Diana Kurz's family...
Category

1960s Abstract Expressionist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

You May Also Like

City Scene with Faces casein tempera on canvas by Vaclav Vytlacil
By Vaclav Vytlacil
Located in Hudson, NY
Modernist painting by Vaclav Vytlacil of "City Scene with Faces". Signed and dated "Vytlacil 32" lower right. Provenance: Estate of the artist #1584; Martin Diamond Fine Art Exhibi...
Category

1930s Abstract Expressionist Abstract Paintings

Materials

Tempera, Casein, Canvas

Modernist Abstract Dancing Figure
By Michael William Eggleston
Located in Soquel, CA
Wonderful vibrant modernist abstract figurative of a dancing man comprised of inventive shapes, colors, and forms by Michael William Eggleston (American, 20th c.). From a collection ...
Category

Early 2000s Abstract Expressionist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Paper, Ink, Tempera

Wilhelm Ohm (1905-1965), Double Portrait with Chairs, circa 1950
Located in Greding, DE
Expressive portrait of a man and a woman looking directly at the viewer as well as indicated chairs. The execution of a series of chair paintings served Wilhelm Ohm (1905 Stettin -...
Category

1950s Abstract Expressionist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Paper, Tempera

Jazz Trio - Abstract Expressionist Composition in Ink and Watercolor on Paper
By Michael William Eggleston
Located in Soquel, CA
Dynamic, expressive rendition of a jazz trio by San Francisco artist Michael William Eggleston (American, 20th century). There are three abstracted figures in this piece - a guitar p...
Category

Late 20th Century Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Paper, India Ink, Watercolor, Color Pencil

Three Dancers - Figurative Painting in Ink and Gouache
By Tom Hamil
Located in Soquel, CA
Three Dancers - Figurative Painting in Ink and Gouache Wonderful abstracted figurative gouache painting of three dancers by Tom Hamil (American, b. 1928). Three figures are shown in...
Category

Early 2000s Contemporary Figurative Paintings

Materials

Gouache, India Ink, Laid Paper

"Crianca com Peixis"
Located in Astoria, NY
Jose Carlos Martins de Porangaba (Brazilian, b. 1944), "Crianca Com Peixis" [Child With Fish], Tempera on Canvas, 1986, signed and dated lower right, Oscar Seraphico Galeria de Arte ...
Category

1980s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Tempera

Recently Viewed

View All