Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 11

Will Barnet
Circe 2

1979

$1,800
£1,395.67
€1,583.65
CA$2,580.22
A$2,805.62
CHF 1,478.29
MX$34,080.20
NOK 18,585.09
SEK 17,422.02
DKK 11,883.88

About the Item

This artwork titled "Circe" 1979 is an original colors serigraph on Wove paper by noted American artist Will Barnet, 1911-2012. It is hand signed, titled and numbered 43/100 in pencil by the artist. The image size (circle) is 18 x 18 inches, sheet size is 23.25 x 24 inches. It is in excellent condition, has never been framed. About the artist: Born in 1911 in Beverly, Massachusetts, Barnet knew by the age of ten that he wanted to be an artist. As a student, he studied with Philip Leslie Hale at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and viewed first-hand John Singer Sargent at work on the murals of the Boston Public Library. In 1930, Barnet studied at the Art Students League of New York, with Stuart Davis and Charles Locke, beginning his long association with the school. Here he concentrated on painting as well as printmaking, and, in 1936, he became the official printer for the Art Students League. There, he later instructed students in the graphic arts at the school and taught alongside the likes of Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Robert Beverly Hale and Richard Pousette-Dart. Barnet influenced a generation of artists, including James Rosenquist, Knox Martin, Emil Milan, Paul Jenkins, Ethel Fisher and Cy Twombly.[3] Barnet continued his love of teaching with positions at the Cooper Union, at Yale University, and at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. He was represented by the Bertha Schaefer Gallery in New York City.[4] Barnet had three sons, Peter, Richard, and Todd Barnet, by his first wife Mary Sinclair. Barnet later married Elena Barnet, with whom he had a daughter, Ona Barnet. Barnett's works span the various "movements" of their era, from his early social realist work to his final signature style of clean lines and carefully placed volumes of solid color in a kind of minimalist representational approach. His work is concerned with humanity, yet at his core he always remained a formalist, cerebral in his approach to the elements that make up a good picture. In his interviews he articulated his well thought out principles regarding color use, composition and subject matter, in a professorial manner reflecting the theoretical acumen he brought to his teaching. Like many American painters of his generation he was digesting the evolving trends in Europe and integrating the new visual vocabulary into his American style while remaining universal, referencing his own personal history with images of his wife, his daughter, and their family pets. As James Thomas Flexner wrote, Barnet's work "makes us experience the interplay between the personal and the universal." While remaining representational, the simple elegance of the figures and their flat surfaces reflect his exploration with abstraction. Will's artistic output spans eighty years. Few artists, other than Picasso or Monet, can claim such a long continuous period of inspired art making, nor the logical progression of moving through artistic phases: in the 1930s he was a social realist, in the 1940s a Modernist, in the 1950s an Abstract Expressionist and in the 1960s and onward he settled on a representational minimalism honed from the refinement of his earlier explorations. His early work is decidedly social realist, with sullen portraits done in dark tonalities that suggest both the struggle of the depression era and the hope in the simple love of family life. He moves out of this phase with the improving economy and in the 1940s adds vibrant color and more abstract figures, suggesting a lifting of the depression era malaise. He was a key figure in the 1940s New York movement called Indian Space Painting, artists who based their abstract and semi-abstract work on Native American art; a striking movement which had a handful of practitioners (notably Steve Wheeler). In the 1950s he evolved into his form of Abstract Expressionism, which is more studied and less "spontaneous", creating formally pleasing paintings of well ordered shape and color. His later work returned entirely to figurative painting. He is probably best known for these enigmatic portraits of family, made from the 1970s onwards, notably the Silent Seasons series, which contrasts his earlier works edginess and brooding contemplation that becomes more remarkable when compared with the more placid and pretty works which followed his second marriage. Within his oeuvre one can chart the evolution of American painting trends of which Will was on the forefront, as well as the joys and vicissitudes of his personal life, with his first marriage ending in divorce and his second marriage providing a more stable family life, reflected in the harmonious compositions of domestic tranquility of his later work. His works have entered virtually every major public collection in the United States, including, the National Gallery of Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Jewish Museum, the Art Museum of Southeast Texas, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. He has been the subject of over eighty solo exhibitions held at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, the Museum of American Art of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, the National Academy of Design Museum, the National Museum of American Art, Montclair Art Museum, the Boca Raton Museum of Art, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, and the Worcester Art Museum, among others. Barnett was also an active member of the Society of American Graphic Artists.
  • Creator:
    Will Barnet (1911, American)
  • Creation Year:
    1979
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 23.25 in (59.06 cm)Width: 24 in (60.96 cm)Depth: 0.01 in (0.26 mm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    San Francisco, CA
  • Reference Number:
    Seller: bar/cir/2/011stDibs: LU666310665392

More From This Seller

View All
Hana
By R.C. Gorman
Located in San Francisco, CA
This artwork titled "Hana" 1982 Is an original lithograph by renown Navajo artist Rudolph Carl Gorman, 1932-2005. It is signed, dated and numbered 199/250 in pencil by the artist. With the blind stamp of the artist and printer. The image size is 19.5 x 26 inches, the sheet size is 22 x 30 inches, framed size is 33 x 41 inches. Custom framed in a dark wood frame, with fabric matting. the artwork is in excellent condition, the frame is in very good condition, it has minor restorations, barely visible. About the artist: Born in Canyon de Chelly, Arizona and raised in a hogan on the Navajo Reservation, R.C. Gorman became one of the Southwest's best known late 20th-century artists. His signature works were Navajo women in a variety of poses. Many persons have been fascinated by the fact that he, an Indian artist, became famous in the white man's world with some calling him the "Picasso of Indian artists". Of this kind of attention, he said: "I wish people would quit pushing my being Indian. The only time I was interviewed as If I were a normal person was by the Jewish Press in Tucson. It was the first time I felt international and almost white". (Samuels 222) His parents were Carl Nelson...
Category

Late 20th Century Realist Figurative Prints

Materials

Lithograph

"Doreen" - Large original color serigraph
By R.C. Gorman
Located in San Francisco, CA
This artwork, titled "Doreen", done in 1983, is an original color serigraph by renown Navajo artist Rudolph Carl Gorman, 1932-2005. It is hand signed and numbered E.P.I. in pencil by the artist ( E.P.I. refers to "Editions Press Impression", one of ten impressions done for the publisher.) With the blind stamp of the artist and the printer, Editions Press, San Francisco. The edition size was 150 plus proofs (a total of 45 proofs). The sheet size is 26.25 x 33.25 inches, framed size is 39.25 x 45.25 inches. Custom framed in a wooden oak frame, it is floating, with a deep red liner and with natural linen matting. The artwork is in excellent condition. The frame is in very good condition, it has minor restorations, practically invisible. Medium: Serigraph on Paper Dimensions: 26 1/4" x 33 1/4" Year Produced: 1983 Edition Size: 150 plus proofs (45 proofs) About the artist: Born in Canyon de Chelly, Arizona and raised in a hogan on the Navajo Reservation, R.C. Gorman became one of the Southwest's best known late 20th-century artists. His signature works were Navajo women in a variety of poses. Many persons have been fascinated by the fact that he, an Indian artist, became famous in the white man's world with some calling him the "Picasso of Indian artists". Of this kind of attention, he said: "I wish people would quit pushing my being Indian. The only time I was interviewed as If I were a normal person was by the Jewish Press in Tucson. It was the first time I felt international and almost white". (Samuels 222) His parents were Carl Nelson...
Category

Late 20th Century Realist Figurative Prints

Materials

Screen

Benita
By R.C. Gorman
Located in San Francisco, CA
This artwork titled "Benita" first state, 1981 Is an original lithograph on Wove paper by renown Navajo artist Rudolph Carl Gorman, 1932-2005. It is signed, dated and numbered 122/180 in pencil by the artist. With the blind stamp of the artist and printer. The image size is 22 x 30 inches, the sheet size is 24 x 31.75 inches. It is in excellent condition, has never been framed, the colors are fresh bright. About the artist: Born in Canyon de Chelly, Arizona and raised in a hogan on the Navajo Reservation, R.C. Gorman became one of the Southwest's best known late 20th-century artists. His signature works were Navajo women in a variety of poses. Many persons have been fascinated by the fact that he, an Indian artist, became famous in the white man's world with some calling him the "Picasso of Indian artists". Of this kind of attention, he said: "I wish people would quit pushing my being Indian. The only time I was interviewed as If I were a normal person was by the Jewish Press in Tucson. It was the first time I felt international and almost white". (Samuels 222) His parents were Carl Nelson...
Category

Late 20th Century Realist Figurative Prints

Materials

Lithograph

Woman From Paris
By R.C. Gorman
Located in San Francisco, CA
This artwork, "Woman From Paris" 1979 (State I) is an original lithograph on creme Arches paper by renowned Navajo artist Rudolph Carl (R.C.) Gorman, 1932-2005. It is signed, dated and numbered 129/150 in pencil by the artist. The sheet size is 21.75 x 29 inches. It is in excellent condition, has never been framed, the colors are fresh and bright. About the artist: Born in Canyon de Chelly, Arizona and raised in a hogan on the Navajo Reservation, R.C. Gorman became one of the Southwest's best known late 20th-century artists. His signature works were Navajo women in a variety of poses. Many persons have been fascinated by the fact that he, an Indian artist, became famous in the white man's world with some calling him the "Picasso of Indian artists". Of this kind of attention, he said: "I wish people would quit pushing my being Indian. The only time I was interviewed as If I were a normal person was by the Jewish Press in Tucson. It was the first time I felt international and almost white". (Samuels 222) His parents were Carl Nelson...
Category

Late 20th Century Realist Figurative Prints

Materials

Paper, Lithograph

Summer Queen
Located in San Francisco, CA
This artwork titled "Summer Queen" c.1980 is an original color lithograph on wove paper by American artist Robert Raymond Anderson, 1945-2010. ...
Category

Late 20th Century American Modern Figurative Prints

Materials

Lithograph

Pensive Woman
By Barbara A. Wood
Located in San Francisco, CA
This artwork Titled "Pensive Woman" is an original seriolithograph (serigraph with lithograph) by American artist Barbara A. wood, born 1926. It is hand ...
Category

Late 20th Century Modern Figurative Prints

Materials

Other Medium

You May Also Like

ARIADNE 1980 Signed Limited Edition Screen Print
By Will Barnet
Located in Rochester Hills, MI
Will Barnet Ariadne - 1980 Print - Silkscreen on Heavy Paper 31 ¼'' x 23 ½' inches Edition: Signed, Titled, and Marked  in Roman numeral XXX ( from the edition to 50 - L) unframed ex...
Category

1980s Figurative Prints

Materials

Screen

WOMAN AND CATS
By Will Barnet
Located in Portland, ME
Barnet, Will. WOMAN AND CATS. Cole 134. Lithograph in colors, 1969. Edition of 100, titled and signed in pencil. Printed on Arches by Mourlot, NY. 21 x 22 1/2 inches. In excellent co...
Category

Mid-20th Century American Modern Figurative Prints

Materials

Lithograph

The Caller
By Will Barnet
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Will Barnet, American (1911 - 2012) Title: The Caller Year: 1974 - 1976 Medium: Oil on Canvas, signed and dated l.r. Size: 91.5 x 31.5 in. (232....
Category

1970s Contemporary Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

The Caller
Price Upon Request
Reclining Woman (framed hand signed lithograph)
By Will Barnet
Located in Aventura, FL
Lithograph in colors on paper. Hand signed, dated, titled and numbered lower margin by Will Barnet. From edition of 300. Image size 29.5 x 38 inches. Sheet size 33 x 41 inches. F...
Category

1980s Contemporary Portrait Prints

Materials

Paper, Lithograph

The Cat, Signed Modern Screenprint by Will Barnet
By Will Barnet
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Will Barnet, American (1911 - 2012) Title: The Cat Year: 1997 Medium: Screenprint on Arches, signed in pencil Edition: AP Image Size: 16 x 7 inches Siz...
Category

1990s American Modern Figurative Prints

Materials

Screen

GLADYS
By Will Barnet
Located in Portland, ME
Barnet, Will. GLADYS. Szoke 38. Lithograph, 1936. Edition of 10. Signed, dated and titled in ink, and stamped "Federal Art Project/NYC WPA. 14 1/2 x 10 inches, 370 x 253 mm. Scarce. ...
Category

1930s Portrait Prints

Materials

Lithograph