Unknown

Portrait of Georgia O'Keeffe

1990

Pop Art portrait of a young Bob Dylan, a 1967 etching by Marc Foster Grant (American, 20th Century). Signed and dated "Marc Grant '67" lower right. Titled "...

Mid-century portrait of a young girl by a window by acclaimed California artist Ben Messick (American, 1891-1981). Signed "Ben Messick" in plate, and in pencil in the lower right corner, by the estate. Presented in an off-white mat. Unframed. Paper size: 12"H x 12"W The following is submitted by Jim Lafferty whose sources include the autobiography of the artist: William Washington Messick married Sarah A. Bristow January 2,1889 and from this marriage a son, Benjamin Newton Messick was born on January 9, 1891 on a farm near Strafford, Missouri. His art talent was apparent from the time he was a child and later recognized by his commanding officer in World War I. He completed his training in Los Angeles at Chouinard in the late-1920s and is well-known for his Regionalist scenes and Modernist paintings. He was an instructor at Chouinard through the 1950s & influenced a generation of LA Modernists. Little is recorded in his autobiography about Messick's life from his teen years and service during the War. He enrolled at Chouinard Institute in the Fall of 1925, and was given a three-year scholarship by Mrs. Chouinard. In 1925 he won a cash award at the Los Angeles County Fair for a group of pen and charcoal drawings done in the parks and streets of Los Angeles. These works give the appearance of being spontaneous and fluid. In 1930 Messick left Chouinard as a full-time student and rented an apartment on West Eighth Street to use as a studio and living quarters. He had his own ideas on what he was trying to accomplish in art. "If you should ask what is the message of my drawings, I should say that they may explain themselves or may be just a technical exercise." By the mid 1940s, Messick's position in the art world had been well established as a teacher, painter, printmaker, writer and critic. Over his life time he had over 400 shows and exhibitions. Starting in 1939 he produced a number of stone lithographs that appear to the untrained eye as original drawings. To Messick the image was the most important aspect of his lithographs, and his signature in the plate was sufficient. Hand signing each lithograph did not seem necessary to him. He exhibited prints widely including the Albany Print Club and the Metropolitian Museum. To further substantiate the authenticity of Messick's prints the Eclectic Gallery under the authority of the Messick family posthumously pencil signed each estate-acquired stone lithograph. Messick had a childhood fascination with the circus and started drawing and painting the circus in 1935. His circus work, especially his clown studies, and his lithographs became his trademark work for in the 1940s and 1950s. A critic for ART REVIEW described his Big Top work this way: "His circus canvases...

Limited edition offset print of the original photorealistic painting, a portrait that portrays a historical reenactment of a civil war volunteer by James Bama...

Highly detailed and realistic portrait lithograph of the modernist watercolor artist Sam Colburn (American, 1909-1993) by Jack Coughlin (American, b. 193...

Brussels: J. Bouwens, 1867. Etching with aquatint and engraving on laid Japan paper, 9 3/4 x 6 1/2 inches (247 x 163 mm), full margins. Fifth state (of 5). Scattered moderate foxing....

"Portrait of Stefan George" is an original woodcut on brown-colored paper, realized by Reinhold Lepsius (1857-1922). The state of preservation of the ar...

Das Geneckte Hündchen is a black and white etching on paper, realized by the German artist, Karl Koepping. From the portfolio “Deutscher Kunstverein zu Berlin “ published by Vereinsgabe, Berlin, in 1904-1905 and composed by a frontispiece, a index, and eleven etchings by Hans Herrmann,Fritz Klimsch, Graf Leopold Von Kalckreuth, Franz Skarbina, Ludwig Hofmann, Reinhold Lepsius...

Junge Frau mit Blumenvase (Young Woman with a flower vase) is a wonderful black and white etching with aquatint and drypoint interventions on cream-colored paper, realized in 1910 b...