Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 9

Fletcher Martin
"Arab Children, " Portrait of Two Figures Lithograph signed by Fletcher Martin

c. 1949

About the Item

"Arab Children" is an original lithograph by Fletcher Martin. The artist signed the piece lower right. This piece features two young children--a boy and a girl--with downcast eyes in draped fabric clothes in an interior. 12" x 8" art 22" x 18" frame Fletcher Martin was an American painter, illustrator, muralist and educator. He is best known for his images of soldier life during World War II and his sometimes brutal images of boxing and other sports. His artistic skills were largely self-taught. He worked as a printer in Los Angeles in the late 1920s, and as an assistant to Mexican muralist David Alfaro Siqueiros in the early 1930s. He taught at local art schools such as Otis Art Institute. He won commissions to paint murals for the New Deal's Section of Painting and Sculpture, including Mail Transportation (1938), painted for the San Pedro Federal Building and Post Office in Los Angeles. Under the WPA he painted a mural study for the Kellogg, Idaho post office titled Mine Rescue (1939). Local industrialists objected that it depicted the dangers of mining, while officials of the Mine & Smelt Workers Union praised it. The industrialists prevailed and Martin painted an uncontroversial mural, Discovery (1941), depicting the prospector who founded the town. The rejected mural study is now in the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Perhaps his most ambitious mural, also done under the WPA, was painted for North Hollywood High School in Los Angeles. Legends of Fernandino and Gabrileno Indians (1937) depicts overlapping scenes of Native American life and ritual, and the world being carried on the backs of giants. As an artist-correspondent for Life Magazine during World War II, he made hundreds of sketches of U.S. soldier life. Fourteen of his paintings from the North African campaign were published in the December 27, 1943 issue of Life, and brought him national recognition. Among these was Boy Picking Flowers, Tunisia, depicting a young GI finding a distraction from war. He also made illustrations of wartime London and the June 1944 Normandy Invasion. His paintings often depicted men in conflict. Trouble in Frisco (1938, Museum of Modern Art) shows a brawl between longshoremen witnessed through a ship's porthole. The Undefeated (1948–49, St. Petersburg Museum of Fine Arts) depicts the 11th round of the June 25, 1948 World heavyweight boxing championship. The title is ironic: its subject is a severely battered Jersey Joe Walcott, collapsed against the referee and about to lose to (an unseen) Joe Louis. In 1954 he painted a series of illustrations for Sports Illustrated of heavyweight champion Rocky Marciano defending his title against Ezzard Charles. Many of his most popular works were reproduced as woodcuts, lithographs or silkscreens. After the war he taught at the Art Students League Summer School in Woodstock, New York, settled in the town, and began raising a family. He experimented with abstractionism and began painting naïve images of women and children. During his career he was a visiting instructor or artist-in-residence at the University of Florida, State University of Iowa, the University of Minnesota, San Antonio Art Institute, and Washington State University. He received prizes from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 1935 (for Rural Family) and 1939 (for A Lad from the Fleet); the 1947 Lippincott Prize from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (for Dancer Dressing); and the 1949 Altman Prize from the National Academy of Design (for Cherry Twice). He was elected an associate of the National Academy of Design in 1969, and a full academician in 1974. Lots of students get trapped in the effort to be original. After fifty million paintings have been painted you can see that it is impossible to be highly original. There is always precedent. Who would want to be that original anyway? A better intent is to see that one's work is truly one's own — an honest expression of deep personal feelings. The whole history of art, which can't help but affect one, will be filtered through your own personality to produce a sort of original statement.
  • Creator:
    Fletcher Martin (1904-1979, American)
  • Creation Year:
    c. 1949
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 22 in (55.88 cm)Width: 18 in (45.72 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    Milwaukee, WI
  • Reference Number:
    Seller: 10717g1stDibs: LU60533735561
More From This SellerView All
  • "Young Girl With Hat, " Victorian Portrait Etching signed Frederick M. Spiegle
    By Frederick M. Spiegle
    Located in Milwaukee, WI
    "Young Girl With Hat" is a classical Victorian portrait etching. It is signed in graphite in the lower right by the artist, F.M. Spiegle. It depicts a Victorian girl with curly hair ...
    Category

    Late 19th Century American Realist Portrait Prints

    Materials

    Ink, Paper, Etching

  • "Sambaso after Hirosada" original lithograph signed pop art bold Japanese figure
    By Michael Knigin
    Located in Milwaukee, WI
    "Sambaso After Hirosada" is an original color lithograph by Michael Knigin from his Osaka series. This lithograph features a portrait of a traditional Japanese man in front of the Ne...
    Category

    1970s Pop Art Portrait Prints

    Materials

    Lithograph, Ink

  • Original Lithograph Native American Figure Portrait Male Tribe Bold Stoic Signed
    By Leonard Baskin
    Located in Milwaukee, WI
    "Red Cloud-Oglala" is an original color lithograph by Leonard Baskin. It is an artists proof, and signed in the lower right under the image. It is a portrait of one of the most well ...
    Category

    1990s Figurative Prints

    Materials

    Lithograph

  • Original Lithograph Native American Figure Portrait Male Tribe Bold Stoic Signed
    By Leonard Baskin
    Located in Milwaukee, WI
    "Magpie Eagle Feathers" is an original lithograph proof for Fox Graphics signed by the artist Leonard Baskin. It depicts a Cheyenne man named Magpie Eagle Feathers in a black hat against a blue background. Artwork Size: 38 1/2" x 26 3/4" Frame Size: 49 3/4" x 37 1/2" Artist Bio: Leonard Baskin (1922-2000) was an american artist born in New Jersey and taught art classes in Massachusetts. He has received many public commissions (including a bas relief for the FDR Memorial), honors, and his work is owned by many major museums around the world. Additionally, Baskin was a teacher at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts. As a champion for human rights, Baskin created many pieces celebrating those who were seldom recognized. Baskin’s interest in nineteenth century Native Americans was roused into acute attendance from ignorant indifference, when the National Park Service asked him to provide illustrations for the handbook that described the then called “Custer National Park”, now called “Little Big...
    Category

    1990s Contemporary Portrait Prints

    Materials

    Lithograph, Ink

  • Original Lithograph Native American Female Figure Mystery Secret Society Signed
    By Leonard Baskin
    Located in Milwaukee, WI
    "Cheyenne Woman in the Robes of a Secret Society" is an original lithograph by Leonard Baskin. It depicts a Native American woman in pale green robes. The title is written on the lef...
    Category

    1990s Portrait Prints

    Materials

    Lithograph, Ink

  • Original Lithograph Native American Male Figure Geronimo Portrait Tribe Signed
    By Leonard Baskin
    Located in Milwaukee, WI
    "Geronimo - Apache" is an original color lithograph by Leonard Baskin. TThis is a proof purchased directly from the artist. Baskin signed the work in the lower right margin and label...
    Category

    1990s Portrait Prints

    Materials

    Lithograph, Ink

You May Also Like
  • Of Light, White Sleeping Women in Childbed from the Rilke Portfolio
    By Ben Shahn
    Located in Mount Vernon, NY
    The Rilke Portfolio by Ben Shahn contained 24 prints from the Atelier Mourlot in New York. The Munn Collection offers 7 unframed lithographs from the o...
    Category

    1960s American Realist Portrait Prints

    Materials

    Lithograph

  • Partings Long Seen Coming from the Rilke Portfolio
    By Ben Shahn
    Located in Mount Vernon, NY
    The Rilke Portfolio by Ben Shahn contained 24 prints from the Atelier Mourlot in New York. The Munn Collection offers 7 unframed lithographs from the o...
    Category

    1960s American Realist Portrait Prints

    Materials

    Lithograph

  • Many Cities from the Rilke Portfolio
    By Ben Shahn
    Located in Mount Vernon, NY
    The Rilke Portfolio by Ben Shahn contained 24 prints from the Atelier Mourlot in New York. The Munn Collection offers 7 unframed lithographs from the o...
    Category

    1960s American Realist Portrait Prints

    Materials

    Lithograph

  • To Childhood Illnesses from the Rilke Portfolio
    By Ben Shahn
    Located in Mount Vernon, NY
    The Rilke Portfolio by Ben Shahn contained 24 prints from the Atelier Mourlot in New York. The Munn Collection offers 7 unframed lithographs from the o...
    Category

    1960s American Realist Portrait Prints

    Materials

    Lithograph

  • Original Patriotic League vintage poster Christy Girl
    By Howard Chandler Christy
    Located in Spokane, WA
    Original vintage poster: Patriotic League . Original Howard Chandler Christy's 1918 "Patriotic League" authentic World War 1 lithographic poster. Linen-backed and in excellent condition. This Christy girl...
    Category

    1910s American Realist Portrait Prints

    Materials

    Lithograph

  • Original Help the Greatest Mother in the World, The War Chest, vintage poster
    Located in Spokane, WA
    Original vintage poster: Help the Greatest Mother in the World, The War Chest. Archivally linen backed. Very clean. Artist: Alonzo Earl Foringer. Lithograph, circa 1917-1918. Excellent condition. Note that this image was printed also with a red cross on it as a variation. Loosely based on Michelangelo's "Pieta," the image in this poster depicts a monumental Red Cross nurse...
    Category

    1910s American Realist Portrait Prints

    Materials

    Lithograph

Recently Viewed

View All