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1930s Art

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Period: 1930s
'Study for a Mural', Maquette, Chicago, Alfred Stieglitz, Armory Show, PAFA, NAD
'Study for a Mural', Maquette, Chicago, Alfred Stieglitz, Armory Show, PAFA, NAD

'Study for a Mural', Maquette, Chicago, Alfred Stieglitz, Armory Show, PAFA, NAD

By Daniel Putnam Brinley

Located in Santa Cruz, CA

Signed lower right, 'D. Putnam Brinley' for Daniel Putnam Brinley (American, 1879–1963) and dated 1932. Artist note, lower left, 'Scale 1'' - 1'. ' American muralist and painter Dan...

Category

Art Deco 1930s Art

Materials

Watercolor, Gouache, Illustration Board

City at Night (Cityscape)
City at Night (Cityscape)

City at Night (Cityscape)

By Abram Tromka

Located in Wilton Manors, FL

Abram Tromka (1895-1964) City at Night, ca. 1940. Oil on canvas, 16 x 20 inches; 20 x 24 inches in antique oak frame. Signed lower right. Frame is of the period, but probably not ...

Category

American Modern 1930s Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

'Early Morning River Landscape, ' by Harry L. Hoffman, Oil on Canvas Painting
'Early Morning River Landscape, ' by Harry L. Hoffman, Oil on Canvas Painting

'Early Morning River Landscape, ' by Harry L. Hoffman, Oil on Canvas Painting

By Harry L. Hoffman

Located in Oklahoma City, OK

In this gilt wood framed oil on canvas waterscape, American Impressionist artist Harry Hoffman depicts the last moments of a morning sunrise over a river in predominant hues of lavender, purple, pink and blue. The sky is reflected in the water below with a sandy brown beach and large green tree in the foreground. Harry Leslie Hoffman was born in Cressona, a small community in Pennsylvania’s Schuylkill Valley. His mother was an amateur artist who encouraged her son to pursue a career in the arts. In 1893, Hoffman entered the School of Art at Yale University and studied with John Ferguson Weir, the son of Robert Walter Weir. After graduation in 1897, Hoffman moved to New York to continue his studies at the Art Students League. He also traveled to Paris and took classes at the Académie Julien. In the summer of 1902, Hoffman attended the Lyme Summer School of Art, in the town of Old Lyme on the Connecticut coast. The school was headed by Frank Vincent Dumond and was located in a boarding house owned by Florence Griswold. The school eventually grew into an artists’ colony and a center for American Impressionism. When Hoffman first arrived as a student, he was not permitted to stay in the house which was designated for the professional artists only. However, his outgoing personality soon won him many friends at the colony. In 1905, Hoffman settled in Old Lyme and worked as a full member of the artist colony. He was particularly influenced by Willard Leroy Metcalf, an Impressionist also working in Old Lyme. Fellow artists later fondly recalled Hoffman’s antics at the Griswold house, which included playing the flute and banjo, tap-dancing, singing humorous songs, and performing magic tricks. In 1910, Hoffman married another Old Lyme artist named Beatrice Pope, and the couple had one child in 1921. Hoffman and his wife often escaped New England during the harsh winter months. In the winters of 1914 and 1915 he traveled to Savannah, Georgia with fellow Old Lyme artist William Chadwick...

Category

American Impressionist 1930s Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Landscape
Landscape

Landscape

Located in Genève, GE

Work on canvas Illegible signature

Category

1930s Art

Materials

Oil

Vintage American Impressionist Nicely Framed River Landscape Oil Painting
Vintage American Impressionist Nicely Framed River Landscape Oil Painting

Vintage American Impressionist Nicely Framed River Landscape Oil Painting

Located in Buffalo, NY

Vintage American impressionist landscape oil painting. Oil on board. Framed. Signed. Provenance from a Sag Harbor, NY collection. Measuring: 20 by 18 inches overall. Handsomely fr...

Category

Impressionist 1930s Art

Materials

Oil

Piazza di Spagna Roma
Piazza di Spagna Roma

Piazza di Spagna Roma

By Yves Brayer

Located in London, GB

'Piazza di Spagna, Roma' oil on canvas, by Yves Brayer (1933). At the bottom of the Spanish Steps, is one of the most famous squares in Rome. It owes ...

Category

Expressionist 1930s Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

In the Edge of the Great Shadow
In the Edge of the Great Shadow

In the Edge of the Great Shadow

Located in North Clarendon, VT

A beautiful oil on board of the sun setting in the mountains c. 1930 by the talented Carl G. T. Olson. From the estate of the artist. Housed in a period arts and crafts carved frame....

Category

American Impressionist 1930s Art

Materials

Oil

THREE'S A CROWD
THREE'S A CROWD

THREE'S A CROWD

By Marguerite Kirmse

Located in Santa Monica, CA

MARGUERITE KIRMSE (English/American 1885-1954) THREE’S A CROWD, c 1930 Etching, signed and titled in pencil. Plate 6 3/8 x 9 ¾ inches. Full sheet with edges on all sides. Sheet 10 5/8 x 13 5/8 inches. In good condition, save for old tape on sheet edges verso, showing through to recto. A hint of a mat line below the signature Kirmse is considered to be one of the most important etchers of Dogs. Sheet with even white tone - photos show oblique shadows From Wikipedia: Marguerite first trained as a harpist at the Royal Academy of Music but spent much of her spare time drawing animals. She went to the United States in 1910 on holiday with friends but stayed there.[4] She was not successful in advancing her musical career and focused her attention increasingly on her animal drawing, which she developed by frequent sketching trips to the Bronx Zoo.[5] In 1921 she started producing etchings of dogs...

Category

American Realist 1930s Art

Materials

Etching

Cubist Nude

Cubist Nude

Located in New Orleans, LA

A gorgeous Margaret Trumbull Jennings cubist charcoal on paper circa 1930-40. Sister of the well-known artist Alice Trumbull Mason with who she studied and travelled. Jennings studied with Hans Hofmann and the Arts Students League NYC. As well as in Europe with Lhote, Leger, and Ozenfant. These drawings were executed under Hofmann tutelage and descended in the family to Alice Mason...

Category

Cubist 1930s Art

Materials

Paper, Charcoal

Landscape from Nordingrå, 1935 by Ultramarine Johansson
Landscape from Nordingrå, 1935 by Ultramarine Johansson

Landscape from Nordingrå, 1935 by Ultramarine Johansson

Located in Stockholm, SE

Carl Johansson, also known as "Ultramarin Johansson," was a Swedish artist born in 1863 and known for his distinctive blue-toned paintings. His work often depicted landscapes, seascapes, and cityscapes, capturing the beauty and essence of Sweden's natural landscapes. We are proud to offer one of his late works from 1935 for sale. This painting depicts a beautiful landscape from Nordingrå, a small village situated on the High coast of Sweden. The beauty of Nordingrå has captured many artists in the 19th-century, inspiring many famous painters, including Helmer Osslund...

Category

Post-Impressionist 1930s Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Well - Woodcut by Maurits Cornelis Escher - 1931
Well - Woodcut by Maurits Cornelis Escher - 1931

Well - Woodcut by Maurits Cornelis Escher - 1931

Located in Roma, IT

Woodcut print realized by Escher for the series "Emblemata", and published in 1931. On Hollande van Gelder paper. Edition of 300. Unsigned, as issued. Excellent condition, matted....

Category

Modern 1930s Art

Materials

Woodcut

1937 original travel poster by Georges Fustier Genève - Geneva
1937 original travel poster by Georges Fustier Genève - Geneva

1937 original travel poster by Georges Fustier Genève - Geneva

By Georges Fustier

Located in PARIS, FR

1937 original travel poster by Georges Fustier Genève. This beautifully composed Art Deco poster depicts Lake Geneva framed by tall pines and lush gardens, with sailboats gliding acr...

Category

1930s Art

Materials

Linen, Paper, Lithograph

Farmstead Lane - 1930's Figurative Landscape
Farmstead Lane - 1930's Figurative Landscape

Farmstead Lane - 1930's Figurative Landscape

Located in Soquel, CA

1930's Figurative landscape oil painting of a woman walking down a path through a country farm by S.E George (American, 20th Century). Possibly a Wichita, Kansas artist...

Category

American Impressionist 1930s Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Esperanto Fair Foirode Reichenberg
Esperanto Fair Foirode Reichenberg

Esperanto Fair Foirode Reichenberg

Located in Columbia, MO

Jager Esperanto Fair Foirode Reichenberg 1936 Lithograph Open edition 37 x 24 inches

Category

1930s Art

Materials

Lithograph

Copper etching - Natura morta di vasi su un tavolo - Year 1931
Copper etching - Natura morta di vasi su un tavolo - Year 1931

Copper etching - Natura morta di vasi su un tavolo - Year 1931

Located in Sant Celoni, ES

Está firmado a plancha en la parte inferior y fechado del año 1931 El estado del grabado es bueno Se presenta bien enmarcado Medidas del grabado: 12 cm. x 12,5 cm. Medidas del ma...

Category

1930s Art

Materials

Etching

Japanese Print, Horse Bowing - Signed Woodcut
Japanese Print, Horse Bowing - Signed Woodcut

Japanese Print, Horse Bowing - Signed Woodcut

Located in Paris, IDF

Mokuchu URUSHIBARA Horse bowing, c. 1930 Woodcut after on an ink drawing Signed with the artist's stamp On paper 26 x 35 cm (c. 10.2 x 13.7 in) INFORMATION : Engraving published by...

Category

Modern 1930s Art

Materials

Woodcut

Vintage American Impressionist Church Interior Architectural Framed Oil Painting
Vintage American Impressionist Church Interior Architectural Framed Oil Painting

Vintage American Impressionist Church Interior Architectural Framed Oil Painting

Located in Buffalo, NY

Vintage American school impressionist oil painting. Oil on board. Framed. Provenance from a Sag Harbor, NY collection. Measuring: 13 by 16 inches overall. Handsomely framed in a gil...

Category

Impressionist 1930s Art

Materials

Oil, Board

Japanese Print, Pair of horses playing (red) - Signed Woodcut
Japanese Print, Pair of horses playing (red) - Signed Woodcut

Japanese Print, Pair of horses playing (red) - Signed Woodcut

Located in Paris, IDF

Mokuchu URUSHIBARA Pair of horses playing (red), c. 1930 Woodcut after on an ink drawing Signed with the artist's stamp On paper 28 x 39 cm (c. 11.02 x 15.35 in) INFORMATION : Engr...

Category

Modern 1930s Art

Materials

Woodcut

Le Cafe Briard - Paris - Impressionist Figures in Landscape Oil - Edouard Cortes
Le Cafe Briard - Paris - Impressionist Figures in Landscape Oil - Edouard Cortes

Le Cafe Briard - Paris - Impressionist Figures in Landscape Oil - Edouard Cortes

By Édouard Leon Cortès

Located in Marlow, Buckinghamshire

Signed impressionist oil on canvas figures in cityscape circa 1930 by sought after French painter Edouard Cortes. The work depicts a bustling evening street scene outside the Cafe Br...

Category

Impressionist 1930s Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

'The Garden in Summer', Tsar Nicholas II, Queen Elizabeth II, Russian Imperial
'The Garden in Summer', Tsar Nicholas II, Queen Elizabeth II, Russian Imperial

'The Garden in Summer', Tsar Nicholas II, Queen Elizabeth II, Russian Imperial

By Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna

Located in Santa Cruz, CA

'The Garden in Summer' by Olga Alexandrovna. Tsar Nicholas II, Queen Elizabeth II, Russian Imperial ---- Signed lower right, 'Olga' for Her Imperial Highness, Olga Alexandrovna, Gr...

Category

Impressionist 1930s Art

Materials

Oil, Board

French 1930s Art Deco Society Portrait, Lady with a Diamond Earring.
French 1930s Art Deco Society Portrait, Lady with a Diamond Earring.

French 1930s Art Deco Society Portrait, Lady with a Diamond Earring.

Located in Cotignac, FR

French Art Deco, oil on canvas, society female portrait by Dembinkski (probably Anton J.) Signed, dated and located (Paris) bottom left. In later wood and gilt frame. A charming and...

Category

1930s Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

American School Signed Framed Nude Woman Portrait Impressionist Oil Painting
American School Signed Framed Nude Woman Portrait Impressionist Oil Painting

American School Signed Framed Nude Woman Portrait Impressionist Oil Painting

Located in Buffalo, NY

Vintage American school impressionist nude interior scene oil painting. Oil on canvas. Signed. Framed. Provenance from a Sag Harbor, NY collection. Measuring: 18 by 21 inches overall...

Category

Impressionist 1930s Art

Materials

Oil, Canvas

Japanese Print, The Cat - Signed Woodcut
Japanese Print, The Cat - Signed Woodcut

Japanese Print, The Cat - Signed Woodcut

Located in Paris, IDF

Mokuchu URUSHIBARA The Cat, c. 1930 Woodcut after on an ink drawing Signed with the artist's stamp On paper 27 x 39 cm (c. 10,6 x 15,3 in) INFORMATION : Engraving published by Moku...

Category

Modern 1930s Art

Materials

Woodcut

Industry and Commerce
Industry and Commerce

Industry and Commerce

Located in Los Angeles, CA

This mural study is part of our exhibition America Coast to Coast: Artists of the 1930s Industry and Commerce, 1936, tempera on panel, 16 ½ x 39 ½ inches, signed verso “John Ballator, Portland Ore.” provenance includes: J.C. Penney Company, represented by Russell Tether Fine Arts Assoc.; presented in a newer wood frame About the Painting Industry and Commerce is a prime example of WPA Era muralism. Like a Mediaeval alter, this mural study is filled with icons, but the images of saints and martyrs are replaced with symbols of America's gospel of prosperity through capitalism. Industry and Commerce has a strong narrative quality with vignettes filling the entire surface. Extraction, logistics, design, power generation, and manufacturing for printing, chemicals, automobiles and metal products are all represented. To eliminate any doubt about the mural's themes, Ballator letters a description into the bottom of the study. Ballator also presents an idealized version of industrial cooperation, as his workers, lab-coated technicians and tie-wearing managers work harmoniously toward a common goal in the tidy and neatly designed environments. Although far from the reality of most industrial spaces, Ballator's study reflects the idealized and morale boosting tone that many mural projects adopted during the Great Depression. About the Artist John R Ballator achieved success as a muralist, lithographer, and teacher during the Great Depression. Born in Oregon, he studied at the Portland Museum Art School, the University of Oregon and at Yale University where he received a Bachelor of Fine Art. In 1936, Ballator was commissioned to paint a mural panel for the new Department of Justice Building in Washington DC, an important project that spanned five years with several dozen artists contributing a total of sixty-eight designs. Ballator completed murals for the St. Johns Post Office and Franklin High School, both in Portland, Oregon. He also contributed to the 1938 murals at Nathan Hale School in New Haven, Connecticut. During the late 1930s, Ballator taught art for several years at Washburn College in Topeka, Kanas, where he completed a mural for the Menninger Arts & Craft Shop before accepting a professorship at Hollins College...

Category

American Realist 1930s Art

Materials

Tempera

Woman in Candle Light , Oil on Canvas, Signed, 1930
Woman in Candle Light , Oil on Canvas, Signed, 1930

Woman in Candle Light , Oil on Canvas, Signed, 1930

Located in Stockholm, SE

This candle light oil painting signed “Emil Lindgren, Leksand 1930” depicts a young Dalecarlia (dalkulla, (a woman from Dalarna)) standing in an interior, dressed in the folk costume...

Category

Other Art Style 1930s Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Palo Colorado, South of Carmel, c. 1934
Palo Colorado, South of Carmel, c. 1934

Palo Colorado, South of Carmel, c. 1934

By Albert Thomas DeRome

Located in Pasadena, CA

Acquired by a private collector, Palo Alto, San Carlos and Oceanside, California, from Bingham Gallery in the Fairmont Hotel, San Jose, California; By descent to a private collector,...

Category

Impressionist 1930s Art

Materials

Oil, Panel

Lyngenfjord Mountain Landscape, Norway
Lyngenfjord Mountain Landscape, Norway

Lyngenfjord Mountain Landscape, Norway

Located in Stockholm, SE

The subject is a tranquil mountainous landscape from the Lyngenfjord region, framed by the dramatic peaks of the Lyngen Alps in the distance. In the center rises a distinctive double...

Category

1930s Art

Materials

Oil, Board

The Broken Mirror
The Broken Mirror

The Broken Mirror

By Ron Blumberg

Located in West Hollywood, CA

Presenting an exceptional ealry oil painting by American artist Ron Blumberg (1908-2002). The Broken Mirror, is an original oil on canvas, signed, dated...

Category

Art Deco 1930s Art

Materials

Oil

Studio Bruckman

Studio Bruckman

By Lodewyk Bruckman

Located in West Hollywood, CA

Lodewijk Bruckman(1903-1995), was a professional artist along with his twin brother Karel. They lived and worked in the Hague in Holland. Lodewijk was a student at the Royal Academy of Art, The Hague, Holland. Exhibited at Raymond Agler Fine Arts Gallery, Gloucester, Cooley Gallery; T. Scott & Fowles Gal, NYC (1948, Boston Arts Festival, (1953, 1957, both prize winners), Cape Cod Museum of Art, Provincetown Art...

Category

1930s Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

North on West Street (West Side Highway NYC Cityscape)
North on West Street (West Side Highway NYC Cityscape)

North on West Street (West Side Highway NYC Cityscape)

By De Hirsch Margules

Located in Wilton Manors, FL

De Hirsh Margules (1899-1965). North on West Street , 1939. Watercolor on Arches wove paper. Signed and dated in pencil by artist lower margin. Sheet measures 15 x 22 inches. Framed measurement: 27 x 34 inched. Incredibly vibrant and saturated color with no fading or toning of sheet. Provenance: Babcock Galleries, NYC De Hirsh Margules (1899–1965) was a Romanian-American "abstract realist" painter who crossed paths with many major American artistic and intellectual figures of the first half of the 20th century. Elaine de Kooning said that he was "[w]idely recognized as one of the most gifted and erudite watercolorists in the country". The New York Times critic Howard Devree stated in 1938 that "Margules uses color in a breath-taking manner. A keen observer, he eliminates scrupulously without distortion of his material." Devree later called Margules "one of our most daring experimentalists in the medium" Margules was also a well-known participant in the bohemian culture of New York City's Greenwich Village, where he was widely known as the "Baron" of Greenwich Village.[1] The New York Times described him as "one of Greenwich Village's best-known personalities" and "one of the best known and most buoyant characters about Greenwich Village. Early Life De Hirsh Margules was born in 1899 in the Romanian city of Iași (also known as Iasse, Jassy, or Jasse). When Margules was 10 weeks old, his family immigrated to New York City. Both of his parents were active in the Yiddish theater, His father was Yekutiel "Edward" Margules, a "renowned Jewish actor-impresario and founder of the Yiddish stage." Margules' mother, Rosa, thirty-nine years younger than his father, was an actress in the Yiddish theater and later in vaudeville. Although Margules appeared as a child actor with the Adler Family[11] and Bertha Kalich, his sister, Annette Margules, somewhat dubiously continued in family theater and vaudeville tradition, creating the blackface role of the lightly-clad Tondelayo (a part later played on film Hedy Lamarr) in Earl Carroll's 1924 Broadway exoticist hit, White Cargo. Annette herself faced stereotyping as an exotic flower: writing about her publicist Charles Bouchert stated that "Romania produces a stormy, temperamental type of woman---a type admirably fitted to portray emotion." His brother Samuel became a noted magician who appeared under the name "Rami-Sami." Samuel later became a lawyer, representing magician Horace Goldin, among others. A family portrait including a young De Hirsh, a portrait of Rosa and Annette together, and individual photos of Rosa and Edward can be found on the Museum of the City of New York website. At around age 9 or 10, Margules took art classes with the Boys Club on East Tenth Street, and his first taste of exhibition was at a student art show presented by the club. By age 11, he had won a city-wide prize (a box camera) at a children's art show presented by the department store Wanamakers. As a young teenager, Margules was already displaying a characteristic kindness and loyalty. Upon hearing that two friends (one of them was author Alexander King), were in trouble for breaking a school microscope, the nearly broke Margules gave them five dollars to repair the microscope . Margules had to approach a wealthy man that Margules had once saved on the subway from a heart attack. Margules didn't reveal the source of the five dollars to King until twenty-five years later. In his late teens, Margules studied for a couple of months in Pittsburgh with Edwin Randby, a follower of Western painter Frederic Remington. Thereafter he pursued a two-year course of studies in architecture, design and decoration at the New York Evening School of Art and Design, while working as a clerk during the day at Stern's Department Store. He was encouraged in these artistic pursuits by his neighbor, the painter Benno Greenstein (who later went by the name of Benjamin Benno). Artistic career In 1922, Margules began work as a police reporter for the City News Association of New York .Margules then considered himself something of an expert on art, and the painter Myron Lechay is said to have responded to some unsolicited analysis of his work with the remark "Since you seem to know so much about it, why don't you paint yourself?" This led to study with Lechay and a flurry of painting. Margules' first show was in 1922 at Jane Heap's Little Review Gallery. Thereafter Margules began to participate in shows with a group including Stuart Davis, Jan Matulka, Buckminster Fuller (exhibiting depictions of his "Dymaxion house") in a gallery run by art-lover and restaurateur Romany Marie on the floor above her cafe. Jane Heap, left, with Mina Loy and Ezra Pound During the 1920s, Margules traveled outside of the country a number of times. In 1922, with the intent of reaching Bali, he took a job as a "'wiper on a tramp steamer where [he] played nursemaid to the engine." He reached Rotterdam before he turned back. He would return to Rotterdam shortly thereafter. In 1927, Margules took a lengthy leave of absence from his day job as a police reporter in order to travel to Paris, where he "set up a studio in Montmartre's Place du Tertre, on the top floor of an almost deserted hotel, a shabby establishment, lacking both heat and running water." He studied at the Louvre and traveled to paint landscapes in provincial France and North Africa. Margules also joined the "Noctambulist" movement and experimented with painting and showing his artwork in low light.Jonathan Cott wrote that: the painter De Hirsch Margulies sat on the quays of the Seine and painted pictures in the dark. In fact, the first exhibition of these paintings, which could be seen only in a darkened room, took place in [ Walter Lowenfels'] Paris apartment. Elaine de Kooning remarked that studying the works of the Noctambulists confirmed Margules' "direction toward the use of primary colors for perverse effects of heavy shadow." It was also in Paris that Margules initially conceived his idea of "Time Painting", where a painting is divided into sectors, each representing a different time of day, with color choices meant to evoke that time of day. In Paris, his social circle included Lowenfels, photographer Berenice Abbott, publisher Jane Heap, composer George Anthiel, sculptor Thelma Wood, painter André Favory, writer Norman Douglas, writer and editor George Davis, composer and writer Max Ewing, and writer Michael Fraenkel. Upon his return to New York in 1929, Margules attended an exhibition of John Marin's paintings. While at the exhibition, he "launched into an eloquent explanation of Marin to two nearby women", and was overheard by an impressed Alfred Stieglitz. The famous photographer and art promoter invited Margules to dine with his wife, the artist Georgia O'Keeffe, and his assistant, painter Emil Zoler. Stieglitz thereafter became a friend and mentor to Margules, becoming for him "what Socrates was to his friends." Alfred Stieglitz Stieglitz introduced Margules to John Marin, who quickly became the most important painterly influence upon Margules. Elaine de Kooning later noted that Margules was "indebted to Marin and through Marin to Cézanne for his initial conceptual approach - for his constructions of scenes with no negative elements, for skies that loom with the impact of mountains." Margules himself said that Marin was his "father and ... academy." The admiration was by no means unreciprocated: Marin said that Margules was "an art lover with abounding faith and sincerity, with much intelligence and quick seeing." Stieglitz also introduced Margules to many other artistic and intellectual figures in New York. With the encouragement of Alfred Stieglitz, Margules in 1936 opened a two-room gallery at 43 West 8th Street called "Another Place." Over the following two years there were fourteen solo exhibitions by Margules and others, and the gallery was well-respected by the press. It was in this gallery that the painter James Lechay, Myron's brother, exhibited his first painting. In 1936, Margules first saw recognition by major art museums when both the Museum of Modern Art and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston purchased his works. In 1942, Margules gave up working as a police reporter, and apparently dedicated himself thereafter solely to an artistic vocation. "The Baron of Greenwich Village"[edit] Margules made his mark not only as an artist, but also as an outsized personality known throughout Greenwich Village and beyond. To local residents, Margules was known as the "Baron", after Baron Maurice de Hirsch, a prominent German Jewish philanthropist. Margules was easily recognizable by the beret he routinely wore over his long hair. Writer Charles Norman said that he "dressed with a flair for sloppiness." He was said to "know everybody" in Greenwich Village, to the extent that when the novelist and poet Maxwell Bodenheim was murdered, Margules was the first one the police sought to identify the body. Margules' letters show him interacting with art world figures such as Sacha Kolin, John Marin and Alfred Stieglitz, as well as with prominent figures outside the art world such as polymath Buckminster Fuller and writer Henry Miller. Most of his friends and acquaintances found Margules a generous and voluble man, given to broadly emotionally expressive gestures and acts of kindness and loyalty. In 1929, he exhibited an example of this loyalty and fellow-feeling when he appeared in court to fight what the wrongful commitment of his friend, writer and sculptor Alfred Dreyfuss, who appeared to have been a victim of an illicit attempt to block an inheritance. The Greenwich Village chronicler Charles Norman described the bone-crushing hugs that Margules would routinely bestow on his friends and acquaintances, and speaks of the "persuasive theatricality" that Margules seemed to have inherited from his actor parents. Norman also wrote about Margules' routine acts of kindness, taking in homeless artists, constantly feeding his friends and providing the salvatory loan where needed. Norman also notes that Margules was blessed with a loud and good voice, and was apt to sing an operatic air without provocation. The writer and television personality Alexander King said I think the outstanding characteristics of my friend's personality are affirmation, emphasis, and overemphasis. He chooses to express himself predominantly in superlatives and the gestures which accompany his utterances are sometimes dangerous to life and limb. Of the bystanders, I mean. King also spoke with affectionate amusement about Margules' pride in his cooking, speaking of how "if he should ever invite you to dinner, he may serve you a hamburger with onions, in his kitchen-living room, with such an air of gastronomic protocol, such mysterious hints and ogliing innuendoes, as if César Ritz and Brillat-Savarin had sneaked out, only a moment before, with his secret recipe in their pockets." Margules was such a memorable New York personality that comic book writer Alvin Schwartz imagined him at the Sixth Avenue Cafeteria in a risible yet poignant debate with Clark Kent about whether Superman had the ability to stop Hitler. Margules' entrenchment in the Greenwich Village milieu can be seen in a photograph from Fred McDarrah's "Beat Generation Album" of a January 13, 1961 writers' and poets' meeting to discuss "The Funeral of the Beat Generation", in Robert Cordier [fr]'s railroad flat at 85 Christopher Street. Among the people in the same photograph are Shel Silverstein...

Category

American Modern 1930s Art

Materials

Watercolor, Rag Paper