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1940s Art

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Period: 1940s
Up the Kennebec
Located in Wiscasset, ME
John Folinsbee (1892-1972) was born in Buffalo, New York and, after finishing his studies at the Art Students League in 1916, moved to New Hope, Pennsylvania where he joined a renown...
Category

Realist 1940s Art

Materials

Oil, Board

Il balcone - Mosaic by Massimo Campigli - 1947
Located in Roma, IT
Mosaic on cement panel.  Bibliography: Domus 1948, p. 38; Wagner 2003, p. 88. Exhibitions:  - "Massimo Campigli - Mediterraneità e Modernità", Darmstadt 2003, ed. Mazzotta, Klaus ...
Category

Modern 1940s Art

Materials

Mosaic

Man Power
Located in London, GB
Mechanics giving Louis Chiron’s Maserati a push. Original Publication: Picture Post – 4364 – Road Racing In Jersey – pub. 1947 (Photo Bert Hardy) A beautiful Limited Edition (ed ...
Category

1940s Art

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Au Cafe
By Elizabeth Ronget
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Frame size 42 x 52.5 inches ELISABETH RONGET "AU CAFE” OIL ON CANVAS, SIGNED FRANCE, C.1940 Elisabeth Ronget 1886-1962 Elisabeth Boehm Ronget was born in 1896 in Conitz, Polan...
Category

Cubist 1940s Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

original lithograph
Located in Henderson, NV
Medium: original lithograph. Printed in Paris by Mourlot and published by Pierre à Feu and Maeght Editeur for the Marcel Duchamp / André Breton project Surréalisme en 1947. Issued in...
Category

Surrealist 1940s Art

Materials

Lithograph

Degas, Sketch of Dancers, Ten Ballet Sketches (after)
Located in Fairfield, CT
Medium: Lithograph and stencil on vélin paper Year: 1945 Paper Size: 13 x 17 inches Inscription: Unsigned and unnumbered, as issued Notes: From the folio, Degas, Ten Ballet Sketches,...
Category

Impressionist 1940s Art

Materials

Lithograph

Matisse, Série C, var. 8 (Duthuit 9), Dessins, Thèmes et variations (after)
Located in Auburn Hills, MI
Lithograph on vélin pur fil paper. Inscription: Signed in the plate and unnumbered, as issued. Good condition. Notes: From the folio, Henri Matisse, Dessins, Thèmes et Variations, 19...
Category

Modern 1940s Art

Materials

Lithograph

"Two French Racehorses"
Located in Bristol, CT
circa 1940s watercolour depicting two racehorses with their jockeys in vivid racing silks Signed JD Reyala (LL) Image Sz: 10"H x 12"W Frame Sz: 15"H x 17"W
Category

1940s Art

Materials

Watercolor

Nave Nave Fenua
Located in Henderson, NV
The English title is "Delicious Earth". This impression (after the original woodcut) was printed on japon paper in 1943 in an edition of 250, and is one of Gauguin's beautiful Tahiti...
Category

Post-Impressionist 1940s Art

Materials

Lithograph

Vintage Mediterranean Port and Boats Landscape Painting
Located in Houston, TX
Charming painting of a Mediterranean town, two men untangle a fishnet while beach goers frolic on the shore, circa 1940. Original one-of-a-kind vintage work of art on paper displaye...
Category

Other Art Style 1940s Art

Materials

Paper, Gouache

"Animated Discourse" WPA Mid-Century American Scene Modernism Realism Figurative
Located in New York, NY
"Animated Discourse" WPA Mid-Century American Scene Modernism Realism Figurative. Chris Ritter (American, 1906 – 1976) "Animated Discourse," 19 x 24 (sight). Watercolor on paper. Si...
Category

American Modern 1940s Art

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

1944 original map "Les vins de Champagne – La côte des blancs" by Louis Larmat
Located in PARIS, FR
The 1944 original map "Atlas de la France Vinicole – Les vins de Champagne – La Côte des Blancs" by Louis Larmat is a historically significant and beautifully crafted piece of French vinous cartography. Part of Larmat's celebrated "Atlas de la France Vinicole", this map specifically focuses on the Côte des Blancs, one of Champagne's most prestigious sub-regions, renowned for its exceptional Chardonnay vineyards. Printed by Dorel in Paris, this map stands as both a functional tool for understanding Champagne’s wine geography and a work of art, capturing the essence of the region’s terroir. Louis Larmat was a distinguished French cartographer and oenologist, whose meticulous work in creating detailed maps of France's wine regions earned him a lasting legacy in the world of viticulture. His maps, including the one of La Côte des Blancs, were revolutionary at the time for their precision, detail, and artistic presentation. These maps provided winemakers, merchants, and connoisseurs with essential knowledge about the intricate vineyard landscapes that define the unique qualities of France’s wines. The Côte des Blancs, located south of Épernay, is world-famous for its Chardonnay vineyards, which produce some of the finest Blanc de Blancs Champagnes. Larmat’s map of this region showcases the specific villages and vineyard locations that contribute to the unique character of these wines. Villages such as Avize, Cramant, Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, and Oger are featured prominently, each known for producing grapes with distinct qualities due to the area’s chalky soils and cool climate. These attributes, illustrated in fine detail on the map, play a critical role in the crispness, finesse, and minerality that are hallmarks of the region's Chardonnay-based wines. Larmat’s "Côte des Blancs" map is a detailed representation of the topography of the region. It shows the rolling hills, chalk-rich subsoil, and the geographic features that are so crucial to Champagne’s terroir. The map highlights how the vineyards benefit from the exposure to the sun on the east-facing slopes, which is crucial for ripening the Chardonnay grapes. The careful shading and line work reflect the elevation and natural contours of the land, helping the viewer understand the climatic and soil conditions that make La Côte des Blancs such a prized area for viticulture. The Côte des Blancs region is especially important in Champagne production, as it is the primary source of grapes used to make Blanc de Blancs Champagnes, which are crafted exclusively from Chardonnay grapes. These wines are known for their elegance, freshness, and longevity, and Larmat’s map emphasizes the geographic factors that contribute to these qualities. The representation of key vineyards and their surrounding features offers insight into why this area is so highly regarded for Chardonnay production. Printed by Dorel in Paris in 1944, this map holds historical significance beyond its geographical content. Produced during the tumultuous final years of World War II, the map reflects the resilience and cultural importance of French winemaking during a challenging time in the country’s history. Despite the war’s disruptions, France’s dedication to documenting and preserving its wine heritage persisted, and Larmat’s maps, including this one of the Côte des Blancs, stand as a testament to that effort. The Larmat "Atlas de la France Vinicole" series was groundbreaking for its era, providing comprehensive and scientifically accurate maps of France’s wine...
Category

1940s Art

Materials

Paper, Lithograph

"Birth" 1940s Surrealist Abstract Watercolor Painting, Gray Scale Female Figure
Located in Denver, CO
"Birth" is a striking semi-abstract watercolor painting created by the talented Colorado artist, Charles Ragland Bunnell, in 1943. The artwork, crafted during Bunnell's Black and Blu...
Category

Surrealist 1940s Art

Materials

Watercolor

"High School Dance" WPA Mid-20th Century Modern American Scene Social Realism
Located in New York, NY
"High School Dance" WPA Mid-20th Century Modern American Scene Social Realism Heusing (20th Century) "High School Dance" 27 x 32 inches Oil on canvas Signed and dated '47 Lower Righ...
Category

American Realist 1940s Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Subjective Farm Landscape abstract oil painting by Ralph Rosenborg
Located in Hudson, NY
Subjective Farm Landscape 1940 Oil on canvas, 24" x 30" 37.5" x 31" x 2" framed - frame is original to this artwork Signed recto lower right: "rosenborg 40" & arrow box cypher. Signe...
Category

Abstract Expressionist 1940s Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Antique American Modernist Abstract Still Life Interior View Signed Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Vintage American modernist abstract still life oil painting. Oil on board, circa 1950. Housed in a vintage frame. Image size, 22L x 13H. Signed.
Category

Modern 1940s Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Jacques Villon - Woman - Original Etching
Located in Collonge Bellerive, Geneve, CH
Jacques Villon - Woman - Original Etching Circa 1949 Signed in pencil and numbered Dimensions : 34.8 x 25 cm
Category

Modern 1940s Art

Materials

Etching

Jean Cocteau - Portrait - Original Etching
Located in Collonge Bellerive, Geneve, CH
Jean Cocteau - Portrait - Original Etching Paris, Le Gerbier, 1946 Edition of 340 Signed in the plate Unnumbered as issued
Category

Modern 1940s Art

Materials

Etching

Never have so many owed so much to so few, original Winston Churchill poster
Located in London, GB
Original Winston Churchill Poster Lithograph 51 x 40 cm c.1940-1945 "Never in the field of human conflict have so many owed so much to so few." ...
Category

Realist 1940s Art

Materials

Lithograph

Up at Bat, The Saturday Evening Post Cover, August 10, 1940
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Price on Request. The Saturday Evening Post cover, August 10, 1940
Category

American Modern 1940s Art

Materials

Masonite, Oil

Matisse, Série K, var. 6 (Duthuit 9), Dessins, Thèmes et variations (after)
Located in Auburn Hills, MI
Lithograph on vélin pur fil paper. Inscription: Signed in the plate and unnumbered, as issued. Good condition. Notes: From the folio, Henri Matisse, Dessins, Thèmes et Variations, 19...
Category

Modern 1940s Art

Materials

Lithograph

SHASTA DAISIES
Located in Portland, ME
Whitehead, Buell (American, 1919-1993) SHASTA DAISIES. Newsom pg 32. Lithograph in colors, 1946. Edition size not known. Signed and dated in pencil, lower right. In excellent conditi...
Category

1940s Art

Materials

Lithograph

You Can't Afford to Miss Either Original Vintage WWII Poster by Sawyers 1942
Located in Boca Raton, FL
In America during WWII, every resource was poured into the war effort. With over 12 million Americans - 11% of the total population - serving in the armed forces, everything from foo...
Category

1940s Art

Materials

Lithograph

Rembrandt, Composition, Rembrandt, Drawings from the Bible (after)
Located in Fairfield, CT
Medium: Lithograph on vélin Hamilton Kilmory paper Year: 1947 Paper Size: 9.5 x 12.5 inches Inscription: Unsigned and unnumbered, as issued Notes: From the folio, Rembrandt, Drawings...
Category

Baroque 1940s Art

Materials

Lithograph

1942 RAF Handley Page "Hampden" bomber aeroplane identification poster ww2
Located in London, GB
US Naval Aviation Training Division Royal Air Force Handley Page "Hampden" Bomber - UK World War II Fighter aeroplane Original aeroplane identification poster (1942) 63x47cm A parti...
Category

Modern 1940s Art

Materials

Lithograph

Lyre Bird (Design for the cover of Poetry London), 1943, Ink, gouache and pastel
Located in New York, NY
Ceri Richards Lyre Bird (Design for the cover of Poetry London), 1943 Ink, gouache and pastel on paper Bears original Jonathan Clark & Co. label on the back of the frame Unique Frame...
Category

Modern 1940s Art

Materials

Oil Pastel, Ink, Gouache

Composition, Antarés, Marie Laurencin
Located in Auburn Hills, MI
Etching on vélin de Rives BFK à la forme paper. Paper Size: 9.8 x 7.9 inches. Inscription: Signed in the plate and unnumbered, as issued. Notes: From the album, Antarés, eaux-fortes ...
Category

Modern 1940s Art

Materials

Etching

Dramatic Storm over Sandhamn, Sweden, 1943
Located in Stockholm, SE
This striking seascape, painted in 1943 by Jacob Löfgren, most likely depicts a view from Sandhamn, a location he frequently captured in his works. Four years earlier, he created ano...
Category

Symbolist 1940s Art

Materials

Oil, Board

'Oregon Coast', Art Institute of Chicago, AIC, Works Project Association, WPA
Located in Santa Cruz, CA
Signed lower left, 'A. Vincent' for Andrew McDuffie Vincent (American, 1898-1993); inscribed verso with title, 'Oregon Coast' and dated 1945. A vibrant w...
Category

Post-Impressionist 1940s Art

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

Les Papillons, Modern Colorful Lithograph by Fernand Leger
Located in Long Island City, NY
Les Papillons Fernand Leger, French (1881–1955) Date: 1948 Lithograph on Arches (unsigned) Image Size: 20 x 16 inches Size: 25.75 x 19.5 in. (65.41 x 49.53 cm) Printer: Mourlot, Pari...
Category

Modern 1940s Art

Materials

Lithograph

'Billie the Brownie Laughing' original watercolor by Sylvia Spicuzza
Located in Milwaukee, WI
In this painting, Sylvia Spicuzza demonstrates her skill as an illustration artist, representing the Milwaukee character Billie the Brownie with a growing spring of a tree. An illustration like this could grace the pages of a children's book or illustrated magazine, or as an advertisement for Schuster’s Department Store. Watercolor, gouache and graphite on paper 8 x 5.75 inches, artwork 14 x 12 inches, frame Stamped with artist signature, below image, lower left. Presented in a new custom frame with a gold-finish neoclassical wood moulding, archival matting and mounting materials; and UV glass to inhibit fading. Born in 1908, Sylvia Spicuzza was the daughter of noted painter Francesco Spicuzza. Sylvia devoted herself to teaching art to the students of Lake Bluff Elementary School in Shorewood, WI. During this time Sylvia produced a magnificent body of work that was undiscovered until her death. Sylvia's work is rich, diverse and fascinating collection of drawings, watercolors and prints from the 1920's to the 1990's. Her style ranges from early figurative drawings to regionalism, Art Deco, lyrical abstractions of every conceivable subject (both real and imagined), as well as figurative paintings that reflect the work of Picasso, Kandinsky and Max Ernst in the 1930's and 1940's. Biomorphic and organic, Modernist images are presented with Sylvia Spicuzza's own unique sense of style, humor and fantasy. Billie the Brownie was a multi-media star of Christmas in Milwaukee from the 1920s to the 1950s. Years earlier, the writer and artist Palmer Cox...
Category

Modern 1940s Art

Materials

Paper, Watercolor, Gouache, Graphite

Original Batam Hats Cervo Italia vintage men's fashion poster
Located in Spokane, WA
Original small-format Bantam Pocket Hat. Artist: Gino Boccasile. Italian Size: 9" x 13". Behind the silhouette of the man wearing his Bantam hat is another stick figures foldi...
Category

Art Deco 1940s Art

Materials

Offset

Surrealist composition
Located in Henderson, NV
Medium: collotype (after the Miro lithograph). Printed in 1947 in an edition of 1500 by Meriden Gravure and published by Curt Valentin for "The Prints of Joan Miro" portfolio. Size: ...
Category

Surrealist 1940s Art

Materials

Photogravure

“Profil de Danseuse”
Located in Southampton, NY
Outstanding original oil on canvas painting of a young ballerina in profile. The artist is German born artist, Dietz Edzard. Signed lower left by the artist. Titled and dated verso...
Category

Post-Impressionist 1940s Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Dusk
By Hope Shipee Bunin
Located in Milford, NH
A fine figural oil painting of a mother and three children with worried looks on their faces as military planes fly overhead by American artist Hope Shipee Bunin (1908-1970). Bunin w...
Category

American Impressionist 1940s Art

Materials

Oil, Panel

Degas, Le Coucher, E. Degas Monotypes (after)
Located in Fairfield, CT
Medium: Engraving on vélin du Marais paper Year: 1948 Paper Size: 12.25 x 9.125 inches; image size: 6.5 x 4.75 inches Inscription: Unsigned and unnumbered, as issued Notes: From the ...
Category

Impressionist 1940s Art

Materials

Engraving

Degas, Les Femmes, E. Degas Monotypes (after)
Located in Fairfield, CT
Medium: Engraving on vélin du Marais paper Year: 1948 Paper Size: 12.25 x 9.125 inches; image size: 4.75 x 6.5 inches Inscription: Unsigned and unnumbered, as issued Notes: From the ...
Category

Impressionist 1940s Art

Materials

Engraving

Albert Einstein
Located in Santa Monica, CA
Karsh is a master 20th Century photographer. Karsh is known for his portraits of authors, scientists, artists, statesmen, musicians, and other dis...
Category

1940s Art

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Portrait of a Black Woman, Maxine - Mid-Century WPA
Located in Miami, FL
A charming portrait of a Black woman with stylized hairstyle of the period - Midtown Galleries label on verso, Unframed Signed and date...
Category

Art Deco 1940s Art

Materials

Oil, Canvas

Surrealist composition
Located in Henderson, NV
Medium: collotype (after the Miro lithograph). Printed in 1947 in an edition of 1500 by Meriden Gravure and published by Curt Valentin for "The Prints of Joan Miro" portfolio. Size: ...
Category

Surrealist 1940s Art

Materials

Photogravure

'Signes' — Mid-Century Modernist Abstraction
Located in Myrtle Beach, SC
Jean Arp, Signes, woodcut, edition 50, 1949. A fine, black impression, with all the fine lines printing clearly, on cream wove paper; the full sheet with wide margins (1 5/8 to 6 7/8 inches), in excellent condition. Signed and numbered '8/50' in pencil. Matted to museum standards, unframed. ABOUT THE ARTIST Jean Arp was born Hans Arp on September 16, 1886, in Strassburg. In 1904, after leaving the Ecole des Arts et Métiers, Strasbourg, he visited Paris and published his poetry for the first time. From 1905 to 1907, Arp studied at the Kunstschule, Weimar, and in 1908 went to Paris, where he attended the Académie Julian. In 1909, he moved to Switzerland and in 1911 was a founder of the Moderner Bund group there. The following year, he met Robert and Sonia Delaunay in Paris and Vasily Kandinsky in Munich. Arp participated in the Erste deutsche Herbstsalon in 1913 at the gallery Der Sturm, Berlin. After returning to Paris in 1914, he became acquainted with Guillaume Apollinaire, Max Jacob, Amadeo Modigliani, and Pablo Picasso. In 1915, he moved to Zurich, where he executed collages and tapestries, often in collaboration with his future wife Sophie Taeuber (who became known as Sophie Taeuber-Arp after they married in 1922). In 1916, Hugo Ball...
Category

Abstract 1940s Art

Materials

Woodcut

Jacques Martin Ferrieres Artist’s Own Farmhouse
Located in Dallas, TX
Jacques Martin-Ferrières (French, 1893-1972) La grille d'entrée principale de l'Artaudière, 1945 Oil on canvas Canvas: 36.25 x 28.75 inches (92.1 x 73.0 cm) Framed Dimensions 41.5 X ...
Category

Post-Impressionist 1940s Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Cargo Transfer
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Medium: Oil on Canvas Signature: Signed Lower Right
Category

1940s Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Alongside
Located in Missouri, MO
Alongside, 1941 Tod Lindenmuth (American, 1885-1976) Color Woodblock Print 9 x 7 inches 19.75 x 14.5 inches with frame Signed Lower Right Titled and Dated Lower Left A founder of the Provincetown Art Association and one of the original Provincetown Printers, Tod Lindenmuth was a semi-abstract painter and graphic artist who did much to promote modernist styles. Although he was much influenced by Abstract Expressionism, his subject matter was realistic enough to be recognizable. He did linoleum cuts and was one of the first to work with that medium, and towards the end of his life, he experimented with collage. In the 1930s, he had commissions for the Public Works of Art Project and the Works Progress Administration. Lindenmuth was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania. He studied with Robert Henri at the New York School of Art in Manhattan, and in Provincetown with E. Ambrose Webster and George Elmer Browne. He first exhibited in Provincetown in 1915, and between 1917 and 1928 served on the jury for the Provincetown Art Association's 'First Modernistic Exhibition". He exhibited regularly with the Society of Independent Artists in New York. He married artist and illustrator Elizabeth Boardman Warren...
Category

American Modern 1940s Art

Materials

Color

Rodeo (Cowgirl)
Located in Denton, TX
Edition of 60 Signed and numbered in pencil on print verso. Harold “Doc” Edgerton was born in 1903, in Fremont, Nebraska. During his summers as a teenager, he worked in his uncle’s ...
Category

Modern 1940s Art

Materials

Silver Gelatin

The Blitz: A Civil Defence Firefighter before St Paul's Cathedral, London 1940
Located in London, GB
To see our other World War Two art, scroll down to "More from this Seller" and below it click on "See all from this seller." The Blitz: A Civil Defence Firefighter In Action before St Paul's Cathedral with Search Lights...
Category

Realist 1940s Art

Materials

Charcoal

Switch Engines, Erie Yards, Jersey City, Stone No. 3
Located in New York, NY
Reginald Marsh (1898-1954), Switch Engines, Erie Yards, Jersey City, Stone No. 3, lithograph, 1948, signed in pencil lower right. Reference: Sasowsky 30, o...
Category

American Impressionist 1940s Art

Materials

Lithograph

Original "Less Dangerous than Careless Talk" vintage World War Two poster
Located in Spokane, WA
Original “Less Dangerous than Careless Talk” vintage World War Two poster. Archivally linen=backed in fine condition A-, ready to frame. Bright colors and excellent detail. Very clean. The images shown are the exact poster you will receive. A- "Less Dangerous than Careless Talk" is a World War II propaganda poster designed to caution against the dangers of loose lips...
Category

American Realist 1940s Art

Materials

Offset

Basic Form Problems, 1940s Geometric Abstract Oil Painting, Green Blue Orange
Located in Denver, CO
This original vintage 1940s abstract oil painting, titled "Basic Form Problems," is a striking example of transcendental modern art by renowned New Mexico artist Ralph Anderson. The ...
Category

Abstract Geometric 1940s Art

Materials

Oil

Surrealist composition
Located in Henderson, NV
Medium: collotype (after the Miro lithograph). Printed in 1947 in an edition of 1500 by Meriden Gravure and published by Curt Valentin for the rare portfolio "The Prints of Joan Miro...
Category

Surrealist 1940s Art

Materials

Photogravure

Surrealist composition
Located in Henderson, NV
Medium: collotype (after the Miro lithograph). Printed in 1947 in an edition of 1500 by Meriden Gravure and published by Curt Valentin for the rare portfolio "The Prints of Joan Miro...
Category

Surrealist 1940s Art

Materials

Photogravure

Surrealist composition
Located in Henderson, NV
Medium: collotype (after the Miro lithograph). Printed in 1947 in an edition of 1500 by Meriden Gravure and published by Curt Valentin for "The Prints of Joan Miro" portfolio. Size: ...
Category

Surrealist 1940s Art

Materials

Photogravure

Surrealist composition
Located in Henderson, NV
Medium: collotype (after the Miro lithograph). Printed in 1947 in an edition of 1500 by Meriden Gravure and published by Curt Valentin for "The Prints of Joan Miro" portfolio. Size: ...
Category

Surrealist 1940s Art

Materials

Photogravure

Surrealist composition
Located in Henderson, NV
Medium: collotype (after the Miro lithograph). Printed in 1947 in an edition of 1500 by Meriden Gravure and published by Curt Valentin for "The Prints of Joan Miro" portfolio. Size: ...
Category

Surrealist 1940s Art

Materials

Photogravure

Surrealist composition
Located in Henderson, NV
Medium: collotype (after the Miro lithograph). Printed in 1947 in an edition of 1500 by Meriden Gravure and published by Curt Valentin for "The Prints of Joan Miro" portfolio. Size: ...
Category

Surrealist 1940s Art

Materials

Photogravure

Study for Demoiselles d'Avignon
Located in OPOLE, PL
Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) - Study for Demoiselles d'Avignon Lithograph from 1946. Dimensions of work: 48 x 32.8 cm Publisher: Pantheon. The work is in Excellent condition. Fast...
Category

Modern 1940s Art

Materials

Lithograph

Soul Ascending-Serigraph, Regional Art Editions-Detroit
Located in Clinton Township, MI
Soul Ascending-Serigraph from original watercolor by Gwen Lux. Regional Art Editions-Detroit. Measures 23 x 14.25 inches and is unframed. The piece is in Good...
Category

1940s Art

Materials

Screen

Untitled [Abstraction]
Located in New York, NY
Gouache on paper, 18 7/8 x 14 3/4 in. Signed (at lower right): Morris; (with monogram, on the back): GLKM [monogram] / 1932 [sic] Executed circa late 1940s A passionate advocate of abstract art during the 1930s and 1940s, George L. K. Morris was active as a painter, sculptor, editor, and critic. An erudite man with an internationalist point of view, Morris eschewed the social, political, and figural concerns that preoccupied so many artists of Depression-era America, believing that painters should focus their attention on the beauty, refinement, and simplicity of pure form instead. His goal, he said, was “to wedge the expression further and further into the confines of the canvas until every shape takes on a spatial meaning” (as quoted in Ward Jackson, “George L. K. Morris: Forty Years of Abstract Art,” Art Journal 32 [Winter 1972–73], p. 150). Born into an affluent family in New York City, Morris was a descendent of General Lewis Morris, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. From 1918 until 1924, he attended the Groton School in Connecticut, studying classics and art. He continued to focus on literature and art while attending Yale University (1924–28), an experience that prepared him well for his future activity as an artist-critic. After graduating in 1928, Morris studied at the Art Students League of New York, working under the realist painters John Sloan and Kenneth Hayes Miller, as well as Jan Matulka, the only modernist on the faculty. In the spring of 1929, Morris traveled to Paris with Albert E. Gallatin, a family friend and fellow painter who introduced him to leading members of the Parisian avant-garde, including Jean Arp, Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, Jean Hélion, and Piet Mondrian. Morris also took classes at the Académie Moderne, studying under Fernand Léger and Amédée Ozenfant, important exponents of Synthetic Cubism who influenced his aesthetic development. Indeed, after experimenting with the simplified forms of Modernism for a few years, Morris moved on to abstraction by 1934, adopting a hard-edged, geometric approach inspired by Leger’s cubist style and the biomorphic shapes of Arp and Joan Miró. Following his return to New York in 1930, Morris built a white-walled, open-spaced studio (inspired by that of Ozenfant, which had been designed by Le Corbusier) on the grounds of Brockhurst, his parents’ 46-acre estate in Lenox, Massachusetts. In 1935, he married the painter and collagist Estelle “Suzy...
Category

American Modern 1940s Art

Materials

Paper, Gouache

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