Ira Moskowitz

'Navajo Courtship Dance' — Southwest Regionalism, American Indian

1946

Louis Lozowick, 'Angry Skies (Andante Cantabile)', lithograph, 1935; edition 10, AAA 250; Flint 123. Signed in pencil. Signed in the stone, lower left. A fine, richly-inked impressio...

Ira Moskowitz, 'Relic of the Insurrection of 1845' also 'Taos Pueblo with Ruin)', lithograph, 1944, edition 30, Czestochowski 121. Signed and titled in pencil. Signed and dated in the stone, lower right. A fine, richly-inked impression, on cream wove paper, with full margins (1 3/8 to 1 15/16 inches). Very pale light toning within a previous mat opening, otherwise in excellent condition. Matted to museum standards, unframed. Image size 11 5/8 x 15 1/2 inches (296 x 394 mm); sheet size 15 1/8 x 19 inches (384 x 483 mm). ABOUT THE IMAGE The Taos Revolt was a populist insurrection in January 1847 by Hispano and Pueblo allies against the United States occupation of present-day northern New Mexico during the Mexican–American War. The rebels killed provisional governor Charles Bent and several other Americans. In two short campaigns, United States troops and militia crushed the rebellion of the Hispano and Pueblo people. The New Mexicans, seeking better representation, regrouped and fought three more engagements, but after being defeated, they abandoned open warfare. The hatred of New Mexicans for the occupying American army, combined with the rebelliousness of Taos residents against imposed outside authority, were causes of the revolt. In the uprising's aftermath, the Americans executed at least 28 rebels. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1850 guaranteed the property rights of New Mexico's Hispanic and American Indian residents. ABOUT THE ARTIST Ira Moskowitz was born in Galicia, Poland, in 1912, emigrating with his family to New York in 1927. He enrolled at the Art Student's League and studied there from 1928-31. In 1935, Moskowitz traveled to Paris and then lived until 1937 in what is now Israel. He returned to the United States in 1938 to marry artist Anna Barry in New York. The couple soon visited Taos and Santa Fe in New Mexico, returning for extended periods until 1944, when they moved there permanently, staying until 1949. During this especially productive New Mexico period, Moskowitz received a Guggenheim fellowship. His work was inspired by the New Mexico landscape and the state’s three cultures (American Southwest, Native American, and Mexican). He focused on Pueblo and Navajo life, producing an extensive oeuvre of authentic American Indian imagery. He and Anna also visited and sketched across the border in Old Mexico. While in the Southwest, Moskowitz flourished as a printmaker while continuing to produce oils and watercolors. Over 100 of Moskowitz’s works depicting Native American ceremonies were used to illustrate the book American Indian Ceremonial Dances by John Collier, Crown Publishers, New York, 1972. After leaving the Southwest, printmaking remained an essential medium for the artist while his focus changed to subject matter celebrating Judaic religious life and customs. These works were well received early on, and Moskowitz was content to stay with them the rest of his life. From 1963 until 1966, Moskowitz lived in Paris, returning to New York City in 1967, where he made his permanent home until he died in 2001. Shortly before his death, Zaplin-Lampert Gallery of Santa Fe staged an exhibition of the artist's works, December 2000 - January 2001. Other one-person shows included the 8th Street Playhouse, New York, 1934; Houston Museum, 1941; and the San Antonio Museum, 1941. The artist’s work was included in exhibitions at the Art Students League, Art Institute of Chicago, Philadelphia Print Club, College Art Association (promotes excellence in scholarship and teaching), and the International Exhibition of Graphic Arts (shown at MOMA, 1955). Moskowitz’s lithographs of American Indian...

This original lithograph by renowned modernist Arnold Ronnebeck (1885-1947) depicts a charming home in Gregory Point, near Central City, Colorado. Created during the 1930s, this piec...

Caroline Durieux's image captures a lone figure in her garden in this southern plantation in Louisiana. "Plantation Garden" is a lithograph created by Durieux in 1946 in an edition of 20. It is signed in pencil. Durieux shared her feeling about this piece with these reflections. “The spectrum analysis of satire runs from the red of invective at one end to the violet of the most delicate irony at the other.” David Worcester 16, "The Art of Satire". The feeling expressed in Plantation Garden is that of a dirge with ironic overtones; it is sad, nostalgic yet satirical. The bent figure of the old lady, the ancient trees, the static moss, all seem to belong to the past; even the lady is old. For contrast, a ray of late afternoon sun lights up the only young note in the picture: perennials in the foreground. When “we are satirical and we are friendly at the same time, the consciousness of the friendship gives a regretful and tender touch to the satire, and the sting of the satire makes the friendship a trifle humble and sad.” George Santayna 255, "The Sense of Beauty". This concept of satire mixed with friendship comes closer to humor because there is less censure involved. In "Plantation Garden", the satire is tempered by a feeling of empathy. Caroline Durieux (American, 1896 – 1989) Printmaker, painter, satirist, innovator, social activist, Caroline Durieux was born in New Orleans and was already making sketches by the age of four. Her formal art training was at Newcomb College (1912-1917) and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (1918-1920). Carl Zigrosser of the Philadelphia Museum of Art encouraged Durieux to try lithography. While living in Mexico, she learned lithography from Emilio Amero...