1940s Art

Henri Matisse (After), French (1869-1954) Le Tobogan (Toboggan) Portfolio: Jazz Year: Of Original: 1947 Year Printed: 1983 Medium: Lithograph Image Size: 11.5 x 10.5 inches Size: 15...

Charles Quest, 'Work Bench', 1949, wood engraving, edition 40. Signed, dated and numbered 9/40 in pencil. Titled and annotated 'wood engraving 1949' in pencil, in the artist’s hand, lower right margin. A fine, richly-inked impression, on off-white wove Japan, with full margins (1 3/4 to 2 inches), in excellent condition. Matted to museum standards, unframed. ABOUT THE ARTIST Charles Quest, a successful artist, and fine art instructor, worked in a variety of mediums including mosaic, stained glass, mural painting, and sculpture, but remains best known as a printmaker. Quest grew up in St. Louis, his talent evident as a teenager when he began copying the works of masters such as Michelangelo on his bedroom walls. He studied at the Washington University School of Fine Arts where he later taught from 1944 to 1971. He traveled to Europe after his graduation in 1929, and studied at La Grande Chaumière and Academie Colarossi, Paris, continuing to draw inspiration from the works of the Old Masters. After returning to St. Louis, Quest received several commissions to paint murals in public buildings, schools, and churches, including one from Joseph Cardinal Ritter to paint a replica of Velasquez's Crucifixion over the main altar of the Old Cathedral in St. Louis. Quest soon became interested in the woodcut medium which he apparently learned through his study of J. J. Lankes' A Woodcut Manual (1932) and Paul Landacre's articles in American Artist magazine ‘since no artists in St. Louis were working in wood’ at that time. Quest also revealed that for him, wood cutting and engraving were ‘more enjoyable than any other means of expression.’ In the late 1940s, his graphic works began attracting a lot of critical attention—several of his woodcuts won prizes and were acquired by major American and European museums. His wood engraving entitled ‘Lovers’ was included in the American Federation of Art's traveling print exhibition in 1947. Two years later Quest's two prize-winning prints, ‘Still Life with Grindstone’ and ‘Break Forth into Singing’ were exhibited in major American museums in a traveling show organized by the Philadelphia Print Club. His work was included in the Chicago Art Institute's exhibition, ‘Woodcut Through Six Centuries’ and the print ‘Still Life with Vise’, was purchased by the Museum of Modern Art in New York. In 1951 he was invited by artist-Curator Jacob Kainen to exhibit thirty wood engravings and color woodcuts in the Graphic Arts Division of the Smithsonian's National Museum (now known as the American History Museum). This one-man exhibition was a remarkable achievement for Quest, who had been working in the medium for only about ten years. In the press release for the show, Kainen praised the ‘technical refinement’ of Quest's work: ‘He obtains a great variety of textural effects through the use of the graver, and these dense or transparent grays are set off against whites or blacks to achieve sparkling results. His work has the handsome qualities characteristic of the craftsman and designer.’ At the time of the Smithsonian exhibition, Quest's work was represented by three New York galleries in addition to one in his home town. He had also won 38 prizes, and his prints were in the collections of the Library of Congress, the Chicago Art Institute, the Metropolitan Museum and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. In cooperation with the Art in Embassies program, his color woodcuts were displayed at the American Embassy in Paris in 1951. Recognition at home came in 1955 with his first solo exhibition in St. Louis. Press coverage of the show heralded the ‘growth of graphic arts toward rivaling painting and sculpture as a major independent medium’. Charles Quest retired from teaching in 1971 and made relatively few prints in his later years, as the rigors of the medium were too demanding. He moved to Tryon, North Carolina, with his wife Dorothy, an artist and portrait painter, and remained active as a painter until his death in 1993. An exhibition of his prints at the Bethesda Art Gallery in 1983 attracted the interest of Curator Emeritus Joseph A. Haller, S.J., who began purchasing his work for the University's collection. In 1990 Georgetown University Library's Special Collections Division became the grateful recipient of a large body of Quest's work including prints, drawings, paintings, sculpture, and stained glass, as well as his archive of correspondence and professional memorabilia. These extensive holdings, including some 260 of his fine prints, provide a rich opportunity for further study and appreciation of this versatile and not-to-be-forgotten mid-Western American artist...

Signed lower left, 'F. Laval' for Fernand Laval (French, 1886-1966) and dated 1948. Born in Dordogne, Fernand Laval arrived in Paris at the age of 26 to study art and, during the e...

Etching on papeteries vélin de Lana paper. Inscription: unsigned and unnumbered, as issued. Good condition, with full margins. Notes: From the folio, Jours de gloire, Histoire de la ...

Black and white candid capture of classic film stars Pier Angeli and Joan Crawford sitting in a bedroom with a dog. Joan Crawford was an American actress. She started her career as ...

Rochelle is an original artwork in pencil realized by Maxime Juan in 1944. Hand-signed on the lower right and dated, titled on the lower left "Rochelle". The state of preservation i...

Hawaiian Symbolism Figurative & Landscape Oil painting of Huakai Hui (Journey Together) Symbolic and surreal landscape of a female and male figure ascending stairway flanked by to...

Louis Lozowick, 'Winter Fun', lithograph, 1940, edition 20, 250 (1941). Flint 188. Signed in pencil, with the artist’s monogram in the stone, lower left. A...

Medium: Pen and Ink on Illustration Board Signature: Signed Lower Right Ink on Illustration Board Caricature of the cast of the Broadway production of `Another Part of the Forest` by Lillian Hellman, including (l to r) Mildred Dunnock, Percy Waram, Leo Genn, Patricia Neal...

Medium: Pen and Ink on Cardstock Signature: Signed Lower Left Caricature by George Wachsteter (1911-2004), for the long running 1943 Broadway production of `The Voice of the Turtle`, starring Peggy...

Medium: Pen and Ink on Illustration Board Signature: Signed Lower Left Triple Portrait by George Wachsteter (1911-2004), of Tony Award Winning Actor...

Medium: Pen and Ink on Illustration Board Signature: Signed Center Right Caricature by George Wachsteter (1911-2004), Henry Fonda as USN Lt Douglas Robert...

Medium: Pen and Ink on Illustration Board Signature: Signed Upper Right On 17.50" x 15.00" illustration board with an image that measures to 12.00 x 11.50." Illustration includes some blue indicating halftone. Caricature by George Wachsteter (1911-2004) for 1945 Broadway Musical...

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...

Adolfs Zardins (1890 08 II Riga, Latvia – 1967 07 II Jurmala, Latvia), painter. Only in 1990 his relatives give his artistic heritage to publicity. “I am 58, and in five Years my c...

William Ross Abrams, 'The Green Sugarbowl', color woodcut, 1949, edition 24. Signed, titled, dated, and annotated 'Artist’s proof' in pencil. A fin...

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...

Lithograph and stencil on vélin Foreign Affairs paper mounted on Foreign Affairs museum board, as issued . Unsigned and unnumbered, as issued. Good Condition. Notes: From the folio, Édouard Manet, Letters with Aquarelles, 1944. Published by Pantheon Books, New York; rendered and printed by Raymond and...

Artist: Franz Lenhart. Size: 27.5" x 39". Professional archival linen backed; ready to frame. "La Conca d'Oro dell 'alto Adige" The water flows f...

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...

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...

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...

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...

Jack Coggins Aircraft Insignia Original vintage poster, lithograph 60 x 45 cm Signed in image to bottom right This original vintage World War Two propaganda poster was initially ...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

Medium: Lithograph on vélin Hamilton Kilmory paper Year: 1947 Paper Size: 12.5 x 9.5 inches Inscription: Unsigned and unnumbered, as issued Notes: From the folio, Rembrandt, Drawings...

Pedro Pruna Ocerans (1904-1977) - Two drawings - Ink drawing Two framed drawings, all of them signed and dated. Frame measures 23x28 cm. Pere Pruna Ocerans (Barcelona, ​​1904-1977) ...

Medium: lithograph (after the drawing). Printed in France in 1943 for the rare art revue "Hommage" and published in a limited edition of 1000 on Montgolfier Annonay laid paper. Size:...

Stockings (1946) - Silver Gelatin Fibre Print (Photo by Kurt Hutton/Picture Post/Getty Images) 1946: Three pairs of stockinged legs. Original Publication: Picture Post. Additional...

Héliogravure on vélin pur fil du Marais paper, archivally hinged on a vélin pur fil du Marais backing sheet, as issued. Unsigned and unnumbered, as issued. Good condition. Notes: Fro...

Rare and well executed modernist wall plaque by Richard Kuehne. Paint on gesso plaque. Signed. Silver leaf incorporated frame as photographed.

Original HERE. Mister! AMOCO Service mid-century vintage poster. Archivally linen backed in very good condition, ready to frame. A- condition with a dime size touch-up in the low...

This piece is framed. Approximate Date: 1943 Medium: Oil on Canvas Signature: Unsigned Size: 25.00" x 37.00" Advertisement for Maxwell House Coff...

Medium: Lithograph and stencil on vélin Polifilo paper Year: 1947 Paper Size: 10.24 x 13.78 inches Inscription: Signed in the plate and unnumbered, as issued Notes: From the folio, I...

Medium: Lithograph and stencil on vélin Polifilo paper Year: 1947 Paper Size: 10.24 x 13.78 inches Inscription: Signed in the plate and unnumbered, as issued Notes: From the folio, I...

Medium: Lithograph and stencil on vélin Polifilo paper Year: 1947 Paper Size: 10.24 x 13.78 inches Inscription: Signed in the plate and unnumbered, as issued Notes: From the folio, I...

Medium: Lithograph and stencil on vélin Polifilo paper Year: 1947 Paper Size: 10.24 x 13.78 inches Inscription: Signed in the plate and unnumbered, as issued Notes: From the folio, I...

Medium: Lithograph and stencil on vélin Polifilo paper Year: 1947 Paper Size: 10.24 x 13.78 inches Inscription: Signed in the plate and unnumbered, as issued Notes: From the folio, I...

Medium: heliogravure (after the etching from Goya's Tauromaquia series). Printed in 1947 in a limited edition of 500 on Guarro laid paper, and published in Barcelona by Ediciones Ome...

This late 1940s portrait photograph, captured by society photographer Slim Aarons, features actress Joan Fontaine (1917 - 2003) and co-star Joseph Cotten (1905 - 1994) receive direct...

Medium: Lithograph and stencil on vélin Polifilo paper Year: 1947 Paper Size: 13.78 x 10.24 inches Inscription: Signed in the plate and unnumbered, as issued Notes: From the folio, I...

Medium: Lithograph and stencil on vélin Polifilo paper Year: 1947 Paper Size: 13.78 x 10.24 inches Inscription: Signed in the plate and unnumbered, as issued Notes: From the folio, I...

Medium: Lithograph and stencil on vélin Polifilo paper Year: 1947 Paper Size: 13.78 x 10.24 inches Inscription: Signed in the plate and unnumbered, as issued Notes: From the folio, I...

Medium: Lithograph and stencil on vélin Polifilo paper Year: 1947 Paper Size: 13.78 x 10.24 inches Inscription: Signed in the plate and unnumbered, as issued Notes: From the folio, I...

Medium: Lithograph and stencil on vélin Polifilo paper Year: 1947 Paper Size: 13.78 x 10.24 inches Inscription: Signed in the plate and unnumbered, as issued Notes: From the folio, I...

Medium: Lithograph and stencil on vélin Polifilo paper Year: 1947 Paper Size: 13.78 x 10.24 inches Inscription: Signed in the plate and unnumbered, as issued Notes: From the folio, I...

Medium: Lithograph and stencil on vélin Polifilo paper Year: 1947 Paper Size: 13.78 x 10.24 inches Inscription: Signed in the plate and unnumbered, as issued Notes: From the folio, I...

Matiz managed to create intimate portraits, in which Frida seemed happy to surrender to her lens. The result was dynamic portraits of Khalo, a wonderful example of both the photograp...

This work is part of our exhibition - America Coast to Coast: Artists of the 1940s Army Poker, c. 1943, probably tempera on board, signed upper right, 16 x 20 inches, inscribed verso a) “Army Poker / Mervin Honig / 421 W 42 St. N.Y.C.,” b) “Mervin Honig / US Army Air Force – Seymour Johnson Field – Goldsboro, NC / Circa 1943,” and c) “(This painting was done before men was (sic) shipped off to the Mariana Islands (Saipan) The Second World War.” Note: four pencil sketches for this work included Mervin Honig was a New York-based painter and illustrator who is best known for his realistic depictions of everyday life and sports themes. Honig was raised in Brooklyn and recalled almost never being without a paintbox in hand from the time he started elementary school. Honig had a deep reverence for the Old Master painters, Vermeer and Bellini, as well as the Americans Winslow Homer and Thomas Eakins. He initially studied art from 1939 through 1941 with Francis Criss. At the outbreak of World War II, Honig worked as a mechanic for Republic Aviation, but in August 1942, he enlisted in the US Army Air Corps and was stationed at Seymour Johnson Field in Goldsboro, North Carolina. During the war, Honig began to exhibit nationally, including as part of the Portrait of America exhibitions which originated at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and traveled around the country, as well as at the Carnegie Institute in Pittsburgh. He painted Army Poker in 1943 while stationed at Johnson Field. In this work, Honig draws inspiration from Paul Cezanne's The Card Players (Metropolitan Museum of Art), with a similar placement of the four figures, but Cezanne's table is replaced with an Army cot, the pipe rack with a soldier's mess kit and the drapery in the right background with a heap of discarded uniforms. Unlike the vibrancy of Cezanne's composition, the limited palette of Honig's work suggests the drabness and monotony of stateside Army life. After being discharged from military service, Honig furthered his studies with Amadee Ozenfant in 1946 and Hans Hoffman from 1947 through 1950. Additional exhibitions included the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Brooklyn Museum, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the National Academy of Design, the Wadsworth Atheneum, the Provincetown Art Association, and the National Academies Galleries of the Allied Artists Association. He was represented by the venerable Frank Rehn...

Medium: lithograph (after the drawing). Printed in France in 1943 for the rare art revue "Hommage" and published in a limited edition of 1000 on Montgolfier Annonay laid paper. Size:...

Héliogravure on vélin pur fil du Marais paper, archivally hinged on a vélin pur fil du Marais backing sheet, as issued. Unsigned and unnumbered, as issued. Good condition. Notes: Fro...

This oil on board is by James McCracken (1875-1967). It is a lush, exotic composition, depicting a Buddha statue atop a lotus flower. There are other flowers in the background as wel...

Lithograph on vélin d'Arches paper. Inscription: Unsigned and unnumbered, as issued. Good condition. Notes: From the folio, Divertissement, 1943. Published by Tériade, éditeur, Édit...

Lithograph entitled "Apples, Glass and Knife", from the suite "Dans L'Atelier de Picasso". Printed by Mourlot Frères, Paris, in an edition of 50.