Edouard Benedictus

'Poppy' — Art Deco Pochoir from the acclaimed portfolio 'RELAIS'

1930

Thomas Hart Benton, 'Goin' Home', lithograph, 1937, edition 250, Fath 14. Signed in pencil. Signed in the stone, lower right. A fine, richly-inked impression, on off-white, wove paper, with margins, in excellent condition. Published by Associated American Artists. Archivally matted to museum standards, unframed. Image size 9 7/16 x 11 7/8 inches; sheet size 10 3/4 x 13 5/16 inches. Impressions of this work are held in the following museum collections: Figge Art Museum, Georgetown University Art Collection, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Library of Congress, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. ABOUT THE ARTIST “Benton’s idiom was essentially political and rhetorical, the painterly equivalent of the country stump speeches that were a Benton family tradition. The artist vividly recalled accompanying his father, Maecenas E. Benton — a four-term U.S. congressman, on campaigns through rural Missouri. Young Tom Benton grew up with an instinct for constituencies that led him to assess art on the basis of its audience appeal. His own art, after the experiments with abstraction, was high-spirited entertainment designed to catch and hold an audience with a political message neatly bracketed between humor and local color.” —Elizabeth Broun “Thomas Hart Benton: A Politician in Art,” Smithsonian Studies in American Art, Spring 1987. Born in 1889 in Neosho, Missouri, Thomas Hart Benton spent much of his childhood and adolescence in Washington, D.C., where his father, Maecenas Eason Benton, served as a Democratic member of Congress from 1897 to 1905. Hoping to prepare Benton for a political career, his father sent him to Western Military Academy. After nearly two years at the academy, Benton persuaded his mother to support him in attending the Art Institute of Chicago for two years, followed by two additional years at the Académie Julian in Paris. In 1912, Benton returned to America and moved to New York to pursue his artistic career. One of his first jobs involved painting sets for silent films, which were being produced in Fort Lee, New Jersey. Benton credits this experience with equipping him with the skills necessary to create his large-scale murals. When World War I broke out, Benton joined the Navy. Stationed in Norfolk, Virginia, he was assigned to create drawings of camouflaged ships arriving at Norfolk Naval Station. These renderings were used to identify vessels that might be lost in battle. Benton later remarked that being a "camofleur" profoundly impacted his career: "When I came out of the Navy after the First World War," he said, "I made up my mind that I wasn’t going to be just a studio painter, a pattern maker in the fashion then dominating the art world—as it still does. I began to think of returning to the painting of subjects, subjects with meanings, which people, in general, might be interested in." While developing his Regionalist vision, Benton also taught art, first at a city-supported school and later at The Art Students League from 1926 to 1935. One of his students was a young Jackson Pollock, who regarded Benton as both a mentor and father figure. In 1930, Benton was commissioned to paint a mural for the New School for Social Research. The "America Today" mural, now permanently exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, led to many more commissions as Benton’s work gained wide recognition. The Regionalist Movement became popular during the Great Depression of the 1930s. Painters such as Benton, Grant Wood, and John Steuart Curry rejected modernist European influences, choosing instead to depict realistic images of small-town and rural life—comforting representations of the American heartland during a period of upheaval. Time Magazine referred to Benton as "the most virile of U.S. painters of the U.S. Scene," featuring his self-portrait on the cover of a 1934 issue that included a story titled "The Birth of Regionalism." In 1935, Benton left New York and returned to Missouri, where he taught at the Kansas City Art Institute. His outspoken criticism of modern art, art critics, and political views alienated him from many influential figures in both political and art circles. Nonetheless, Benton remained true to his beliefs, continuing to create murals, paintings, and prints that captured enduring images of American life. The dramatic and engaging characteristics of Benton’s artwork drawn the attention of Hollywood producers, leading him to create illustrations and posters for films, including his famous lithographs for the film adaptation of John Steinbeck’s "The Grapes of Wrath," produced by Twentieth Century Fox. During the 1930s, The Limited Editions Club of New York asked Benton to illustrate special editions of three of Mark Twain’s books...

Robert Riggs, 'Children's Ward', 2-color lithograph, c. 1940, edition c. 50, Beall 11, Bassham 76. Signed, titled, and numbered '14' in pencil. Signed in the stone, lower right. A su...

Robert Riggs, 'Psychopathic Ward', 2-color lithograph, c. 1940, edition c. 50, Beall 60, Bassham 78. Signed, titled, and numbered '14' in pencil. Signed in the stone, lower right. A ...

Helios Gomez, 'Los Presidios' (The Prisons), 1929-1930. Signed in the matrix, lower right and numbered '13', upper left sheet corner. Letterpress relief print after the original drawing, with text in black ink on buff, wove paper; the full sheet with margins. Slight toning at the sheet edges, otherwise in very good condition. From the vintage suite of 23 numbered prints, titled in five languages with Spanish verses in linotype. Matted to museum standards, unframed. As published in 'Días de Ira' (Days of Wrath), a portfolio of 23 drawings and poems on the “Spanish White Terror” by Spanish artist Helios Gómez, his first publication. Accompanied by an introduction by the 'Socialist International' and with a foreword by Romain Rolland. Printed in Berlín in 1930. Image size 7 13/16 x 5 inches; sheet size 12 15/16 x 9 5/16 inches. ABOUT THE ARTIST "Free art from representational conventions and make it live from its own dynamism; make the spectator feel the emotion of an idea thanks to pure abstract plastic art: that is, in short, my artistic aspiration... I wanted to touch the people through art". — Helios Gómez. Helios Gómez (1905–1956) was born in Triana, Seville, into a working-class Calé (gypsy) family. He received his training at the Seville Industrial Arts and Crafts School and the Cartuja factory as a painter and decorator of ceramics. His initial works were published in the anarchist Páginas Libres, and he illustrated books by local authors like Rafael Laffon and Felipe Alaiz. In 1925, he showcased his work for the first time at the Kursaal in Seville, followed by exhibitions in Madrid at the Ateneo and in Barcelona at the Dalmau Gallery the subsequent year. Gómez became increasingly aware of the need for political change, aligning himself with anarchist groups and committing to express his political beliefs through his art, writing, and speeches. His artistic career allowed him some acceptance in broader Spanish society, which still primarily viewed Romani identity as acceptable only through creative expression. Unfortunately, anti-Romani sentiment persisted, reflected in critical reviews and media coverage. His early illustrations for anarchist writer Felipe Alaiz and exhibitions at radical spaces like Café Kursaal marked the beginning of his activism. In 1927, due to his political involvement, he had to flee Spain and travel across Western Europe, connecting with avant-garde art movements and the labor movement. This experience significantly influenced his work, which incorporated elements of cubism, expressionism, and futurism. Upon returning to Spain in 1930, he settled in Barcelona and collaborated as a printmaker with the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo. Gómez later renounced anarchism and joined the Communist Party of Spain (PCE), believing that the international communist movement was the most effectively organized force opposing the rise of fascism. He participated in communist rallies and was imprisoned in Barcelona's Model prison. During the Spanish Civil War, he fought with the Communist Party. He gave an interview to the leftist magazine Crónica, where he spoke about the anti-fascist cause and praised the Soviet Union for its integration of Romani people. By 1938, he had rejoined the anarchist movement and worked on the design of the newspaper El Frente. After fleeing the country during the Nationalists' Catalonia Offensive, he was interned in French concentration camps. In the aftermath of the war, as details of the Romani Holocaust started to emerge, he embraced his Romani identity more openly, especially after his imprisonment under the Franco dictatorship. He spent time in Model prison from 1945 to 1946 and again from 1948 to 1954, during which he focused on writing. He produced two essays, including one on Romani art...

Three Models is an original lithograph realized by Paul Iribe, signed. Sheet dimension: 31,5 x 27,5 cm. With Passepartout dimension : 69 x 49 cm. In excellent condition. Here the...

Models with Toad is an original lithograph realized by Paul Iribe in 1908, signed. Sheet dimension: 31 x 27,5 cm. In excellent condition. Here the artwork is one of the illustrati...

Coleth The Lovers of Venice Carnival Original gouache and ink drawing (c. 1925) Signed bottom right On drawing paper 23 x 20 cm (c. 9 x 8 in) at view...

Alphonse Mucha (Czech, 1860-1939) Lorenzaccio Printed: 1896 Printed By: F. Champenois, Paris Hand signed in lower left. Signed in plate; Mucha, F. Champenois, Paris Lithograph paper ...