Susan Varjavand

"Whisperings at a Cross Point" - Doorway Arch Drypoint Etching

c. 1990

"Pomme d' Amour" Mid-Century Modern Aquatint embossed Floral "Sept Tomate Original by Anne Walker Mid-Century Modern Aquatint of the Pomme d’amour or ‘Love Apple’ by Anne Walker (Be...

Delicate and detailed etching by Orpha Klinker (American, 1891-1964). At the edge of an old Adobe building, a staircase leads to the second floor. The stucco on the walls of the building is cracked, revealing the stonework below. Next to the building is a garden with Corkscrew Willow trees. One of her first projects with which Orpha impressed the public was a notable series of her large color portraits of California pioneers in the L.A.TIMES under the heading of "Speaking Of Pioneers." This led to another series on landmarks and famous tales of early California including oil paintings of historic adobes, buildings, and trees of California. Signed in plate, lower left. Paper size: 8.5"H x 10.5"W Mat size: 10"H x 12"W Orpha Klinker (American, 1891-1964) graduated from Polytechnic High School, L.A. and later studied at U.C.L.A. Art School and at the Cannon Art School. Artists Paul Lauritz and Anna A. Hills of Laguna Beach were her first art teachers. She continued her study of art at the Julian and Colarossi Academies in Europe. Some of her earliest work was in designing. Many pages of her fine pen work drawings appeared in Los Angeles newspapers, illustrating the fashions of the day, not only in clothes but in furniture and other things. Then for a time she did her work in New York City and later with the Ladies Home Journal in Philadelphia. One of her first projects with which Orpha impressed the public was a notable series of her large color portraits of California pioneers in the L.A.TIMES under the heading of "Speaking Of Pioneers." This led to another series on landmarks and famous tales of early California including oil paintings of historic adobes, buildings, and trees of California. From the Mexican border to Death Valley she roamed, meeting and painting portraits of such characters as Death Valley Scotty, Shoshone Johnny, the ancient Indian who supposedly saw the first white man come to Death Valley, Emanuel A. Speegle, "The Last of the 49'ers" (over 90 years of age) and others. Orpha was active in keeping alive the memory of one historical event in particular, the signing of the Treaty of Cahuenga ending the Mexican War...

York Avenue, Sunday Morning. 1939. Drypoint. Kraeft 78. 7 3/4 x 12 7/8 (sheet 8 x 12). Edition 100. Provenance: Estate of David Llewellyn Reese, New York. ...

Resist ground etching and engraving on cream wove paper, 22 x 39 inches (558 x 990 mm), full margins. Signed, titled, dated, and numbered 27/160 in pencil, lower margin. With the blindstamp of the printer, Robert E. Townsend, in the lower left margin. A beautiful, richly inked impression of this highly detailed, large image. In very good condition with minor mat tone, extremely minor scattered light surface soiling, and one pin-point sized dot of brown discoloration on the lower left margin, recto, well outside of image area. [Milton 99]. Milton states that there is a metaphorical evolution at the root of his body of graphic work, and with Les Belles et la Bête, Before the Hunt, he found himself at a crossroads that he viewed as a sort of artistic adolescence, which he felt demanded a natural examination of mysteries of sexual awakening. The image is brimming with fantastical images and metaphors for the confrontation of sexual exploration; a Freudian analyst appears in the left of the image, scattered tableaus of paired figures...