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Mid-20th Century Figurative Sculptures

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Period: Mid-20th Century
Lady with a book
Located in PARIS, FR
"Lady with a book" also known as "St. Suzanne" by Jan & Joël MARTEL (1896-1966) Sculpture in stone from Euville France circa 1935 height of the sculpture : 125 cm width of base : 25,4 x 21,2 cm total height with wooden base : 141 cm width of the wooden socle : 31 x 26 cm A similar model is reproduced in "Joël et Jan Martel, sculpteurs, 1896-1966", Ed. Gallimard Electa, 1996, page 150. Biography : The twins Jan and Joël Martel, born March 5, 1896 in Nantes and died respectively on March 16 and September 25, 1966 in Bois-de-Céné, were both of them French sculptors and decorators. As Parisian artists, they spent long moments in Vendée region, in their Mollin property, or in Saint-Jean-de-Monts, city in which one can see their last monumental work: "The Sea Birds". Their works were sculptures, monuments or fountains of Art Deco or Cubist inspiration. They also realized around 1920 interior fittings for villas. Jan and Joel Martel shared the same workshop and their work to the point of signing their compositions only by "Martel". The Martel brothers...
Category

Art Deco Mid-20th Century Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Limestone

Panthers resting
Located in PARIS, FR
"Panthers resting" by Maximilien FIOT (1886-1953) Outstanding and rare sculpture in white marble France circa 1930 height 40 cm length 66 cm Provenance : By Descent of the Boardman, Devitt and Dawkins families, New England and California. Biography : Louis-Maximilien Fiot, known as Maximilien Fiot (1886-1953) was a French sculptor. Student of the sculptor Prosper Lecourtier, he exhibited at the Paris Salon from 1910 to 1914. Member of the Salon of French Artists, Fiot obtained a third medal in 1911, then a second medal in 1913. As an animal artist, he also participated during the period between the two World Wars, like many of his confreres, in the production of war memorials. In 1930, he realized for the city of La Ferté-Alais, where his mother lived, "The Lion watching...
Category

Art Deco Mid-20th Century Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Marble

"Untitled" 1963 pre-Star Wars Space Ship Cast Bronze Signed & Dated
Located in Detroit, MI
SALE ONE WEEK ONLY This Pre-Star Wars Space Ship captures the magic, power and volume of unidentified objects that pass through our solar system and within viewing site of spaceship Earth. Titled "Untitled" this piece has the monumental quality and style of a spaceship that has been circling the universe forever. Constructed in 1963, prior to film industry creatives scaring viewers with visions of unimaginable spacecraft come to destroy earth, Julius Schmidt's imagination was unstoppable with his numerous and unique cast bronze sculptures. This extraordinary piece is a heart stopping example of what a genius creative can produce. It was exhibited in March 9 - 31, 1963 at the Otto Gerson Gallery, New York, NY. A Catalog of the show accompanies this piece. Julius Schmidt is an American sculptor who earned his B.F.A. from Cranbrook Academy of Art in 1953 and for the next two years studied sculpture under Ossip Zadkine in Paris and at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Florence, Italy. He returned to Cranbrook in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, in 1955 for his M.F.A. in sculpture. Cranbrook was designed by architect and faculty member, Eliel Saarinen who collaborated with Charles and Ray Eames on chair and furniture design. Numerous creative artists who are alumni of Cranbrook include: Harry Bertoia, Florence Knoll, Jack Lenor Larsen, Donald Lipski, Duane Hanson, Nick Cave, Hani Rashid, George Nelson, Urban Jupena (Nationally recognized fiber artist), Artis Lane (the first African-American artist to have her sculpture, "Sojourner Truth," commissioned for the Emancipation Hall in the Capital Visitor Center in Washington DC), Cory Puhlman (televised Pastry Chef extraordinaire), Thom O’Connor (Lithographs), Paul Evans (Brutalist-inspired sculpted metal furnishings), Eugene Caples (small bronze images/abstract), Morris Brose (bronze sculptures), Herb Babcock...
Category

Contemporary Mid-20th Century Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Bronze

Visage de face (Full-face Face), A.R. 508
Located in Palo Alto, CA
Created in 1963, ceramic Visage de face (Full-face Face) A.R. 508 is a round plate of red earthenware clay from the edition of 100. This work is stamped with the 'MADOURA PLEIN FEU' ...
Category

Modern Mid-20th Century Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Clay, Earthenware, Ceramic

Maqueta las toninas
Located in Miami, FL
Maqueta las Toninas, 1944 BMY-022, 1970 Edition 1/25 Bronze 22 x 22 x 10 cm 8.6 x 8.6 x 3.9 in ABOUT THE ARTIST Narvaez was born in Porlamar, Venezuela, in 1905; he was the fifth son of eleven siblings; his parents were Jose Lorenzo Narvaez and Vicenta Rivera. Don José Lorenzo, a multifaceted and creative man, sowed the seed of creativity in his son. “My father did not fit in with his fantasies of cabinetmaker, bricklayer, master builder, and self-taught architect.”1 From an early age, Francis was led to the artistic activity, he traced, carved, made replicas of the furniture and the saints restored by his father. In 1920 he obtained his first professional assignment, a San Rafael for the Church of Carupano, and, in 1922, his father authorized him to travel to Caracas to pursue his studies as an artist. He studied at the atelier of Marcos Castillo, at of the Angel Cabre y Magriña and at the Academy of Fine Arts in Caracas, where he was introduced to the painters and intellectuals of the time. In 1928 he presented his first solo exhibition at the Club Venezuela. With the money raised from the sale of the works and the support of Monsignor Sosa, and the Ministers Centeno Grau and Arcaya, he studied in Paris on a scholarship. Once there, he enrolled at the Académie Julian, where Tito Salas, Cristóbal Rojas and Arturo Michelena had also studied. It was in Paris where, unable to work in wood, he turned to stone carving. “In Paris, I didn’t have wood, so I carved a lot in stone (…), when there were demolitions I purchased chunks of stone, I would take them to the workshop and carve them.”2 His first attempts at volumetric sculptures and painting in plain colours, linked to the thematic of American miscegenation and Creole reality, can be traced back to that first trip to Paris. During his stay in the French city, Arturo Uslar Pietri, Alfredo Boulton, and Finita Vallenilla supported the artist both financially and logistically, and in February of 1930, the trio of friends arranged another exhibition for him at the Club Venezuela. Narvaez describes his exhibition as follows: “(…) in it I feel that the sculptural work is more my own, done with more assurance, a response to my pursuit of large planes, stylisation and synthesis.”3 By then, as Boulton himself noted in his book about the artist, Narvaez departed from most of the artistic traditions that prevailed by that time in Venezuela. In 1931 he returned to Caracas and established his atelier at the Barrio Obrero in Catia. The atelier became the hub of the intellectual life of the time. “In those years, the atelier of Francisco Narvaez was the hub of the greatest Venezuelan hope. Nothing comparable to it can be found either before or since.”4 From that year onwards, exhibitions, projects, trips, and awards we multiplied. He was awarded the President of the Republic of Venezuela Prize, the National Sculpture Prize of the 1st Official Venezuelan Art Salon, and the John Boulton Prize of the 3rd Annual Venezuelan Art Salon; for the Military Academy, he produced a spectacular relief entitled La Patria. In 1945, commissioned by the architect Carlos Raúl Villanueva, he produced two groups of sculptures known as Las Toninas, both located in the O’Leary Square. There, as he himself states, he incorporates some baroque patterns into the figures to the source itself: “It is a work of balance between the decorative requirements and the sculpture of planes and angles.”5 In 1948 he was awarded the National Painting Prize. In the same year, he was called upon by the architect Carlos Raul Villanueva to participate in the project for the arts integration in the Universidad Central de Venezuela. Francisco Narvaez’s public output continued with works such as the statue of Fermín Toro, La Educacion, La Ciencia, three murals (produced by María Luisa Tovar) for the Instituto de Medicina Experimental, El Cristo; el Atleta, the equestrian statue of General Rafael Urdaneta. In 1953 he was appointed Director of the School of Plastic and Applied Arts, and in July of the same year, he exhibited “Francisco Narvaez, Maderas, Piedras y Bronces” (Francisco Narvaez, Woods, Stones and Bronzes) at the Museum of Fine Arts. Narvaez is, unquestionably, one of the great Venezuelan sculptors, his work goes through various stages and interests; as the art world evolves, the artist does not remain in his initial scopes of work. His creations are not imposed by the prevailing trends or fashion but do evolve by experimenting with new materials and interests. When one peruses the artist’s lengthy list of exhibitions, commissions, and awards, it is worth remembering the Narvaez who embark on his career as a child and who, overcoming obstacles, knew how to make the most of his curiosity. He did not settle for living off his successes. He did not remain stagnant as many creators of his environment did. Narvaez managed to understand the changes in the history of art around him. We must not overlook the fact that Francisco Narvaez is an artist amid all the changes occurring in the art world. He moves from the classics to the great transformations in the art world. It is the Europe of Picasso, Braque, Arp. He observes, he is aware of what is happening in the centres of the world of art, but between his craft and his sensitivity, the result is NARVAEZ, his stamp, and his identity. Francisco Narvaez comes from tradition, and his first stage is linked to the classics, to the exploration of his heritage, but always with his very own language. Throughout his prolific career, he knew how to remain true to himself, without disregarding the influences of his surroundings or his artistic interests: his ability as a sculptor, his selection of materials, whether they were wood, stone or bronze; his choice of the subject of his work…His mastery and great craftsmanship are a constant that over time have made him a leading player in the history of contemporary Venezuelan and world art. From his beginnings, no subject was foreign to him. His paintings, drawings, aquarelles, and sketches are testimony to his prolific output. Among his themes are portraits, our traditions, still lifes, and landscapes. Narvaez is an artist who represents his time. Later, he evolved towards purer and simpler forms, abandoning figurative art for short periods. In 1956 he declared to the newspaper El Nacional: “Every day I am freeing myself, it is a soul that frees itself from the ephemeral wrappings of the circumstantial always, as well as from the inevitable weight of the anecdote. This second stage of my work is remarkably close to abstractionism, even if there are still certain figures or figurations in the sculptures that I will shortly be showing. However, pure, and absolute abstractionism, it will treat the form itself as the sole reason for its existence on the plane of artistic excellence.”6 The artistic development was his professional life. Each period of his life as an artist, he went one step further, searching, solving, seeing plenty of things and understanding how diverse expressions were transforming themselves. His hands followed his gaze and his mind, always inquisitive. He added movement to the volumes. Arturo Uslar Pietri, “Formas Nuevas”, Cromotip editions, 1956 “Francisco Narvaez is a path: the path that Venezuelan sculpture...
Category

Baroque Mid-20th Century Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Bronze

Le Pêcheur, Picasso, 1950's, Fisherman, Bowl, Ceramic, Multiples, Figurative
Located in Geneva, CH
Le Pêcheur, Picasso, 1950's, Fisherman, Bowl, Ceramic, Multiples, Figurative Ed. 100 pcs, 1955 White earthenware decorated with partially enamelled oxidized paraffin, metallic ename...
Category

Post-War Mid-20th Century Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Ceramic

Ohne Titel / Untiteled
By Roland Goeschl
Located in Wien, 9
The present work is a rare piece from Roland Goeschl's time at the academy. In the technique of chased copper, which was unusual for him, forms are modelled that are still strongly r...
Category

Contemporary Mid-20th Century Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Bronze

Untitled
Located in Barcelona, ES
Includes a Certificate of Authenticity
Category

Modern Mid-20th Century Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Wood

Kusama Pumpkins (Set of 3 works)
Located in NEW YORK, NY
Yayoi Kusama Set of 3 Pumpkins: Yellow and Black, Red & White and Red & Black Naoshima: An iconic, vibrantly colored pop art set - these small Kusama pumpkin sculptures feature the ...
Category

Pop Art Mid-20th Century Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Resin

Apollo
Located in PARIS, FR
"Apollo" by Henri Bouchard (1875-1960) An Art Deco period masterpiece! Exceptional bronze sculpture with a golden-brown patina Signed " H. Bouchard " Unique piece This work personifies Apollo, god of the Arts. Represented here as Apollo Musagète, leader of the procession of muses and winner of the serpent Python. This subject was commissioned to adorn the entrance to the Palais de Chaillot in Paris, and whose monumental bronze is still exhibited there. To participate in the Venice Biennale in 1938, Henri Bouchard had reduced in 1937 the large Apollo of the Palais de Chaillot, which had not yet been installed. Vintage cast by Bisceglia (cast founder stamp) made during the artist's lifetime. Incised dedication below signature : " à mon cher ami E. Sandoz " This is a unique cast made for the sculptor Edouard-Marcel Sandoz (1881-1971). This cast was exhibited at the 1938 Venice Biennale. France 1937 height : 82 cm width : 45 cm depth : 30 cm weight : 31,2 kgs Stickers under the bronze cast : - Sticker mentioning that this cast has been exhibited at the Venice Biennale of 1938 under the number 354 ("Biennale Internaz. d'Arte Venezia – 1938 – XVI – 354"). - Sticker mentioning that this cast went through Italian customs ("ne – merci – dogana italiana – visitate - 9622") - Damaged Sticker mentioning the name ("A…") and the address ("25…") of the owner of the cast (maybe for the workshop "Atelier Henri Bouchard", 25 rue d’Yvettes, 75016 Paris). Provenance : - Edouard-Marcel Sandoz, Paris, according to the dedication. - Property from the Collection of Seymour Stein (entrepreneur and founder of Sire Records, famous American record label ; and avid collector of 19th and 20th century fine art...
Category

Art Deco Mid-20th Century Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Bronze

Midcentury Bronze Bust of Man
Located in Newport Beach, CA
Large, midcentury, cast bronze bust of a man mounted on a chic, veined, polished marble base of the same period.
Category

Mid-20th Century Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Marble, Bronze

Kusama Pumpkins (Set of 2 works)
Located in NEW YORK, NY
Yayoi Kusama Set of 2 Pumpkins: Red & White and Red & Black Naoshima: An iconic, vibrantly colored pop art set - these small Kusama pumpkin sculptures feature the universal polka do...
Category

Pop Art Mid-20th Century Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Resin

Replica of Wilhelm Lehmbruck's Kneeling Woman
Located in Troy, NY
This sculpture is a small replica of Wilhelm Lehmbuck's Kneeling Woman. The original sculpture is much larger at around 69.5 x 56 x 27", currently at th...
Category

Expressionist Mid-20th Century Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Wood, Plaster

Matisse's spirit Ceramic
Located in CANNES, FR
Isaac Grünewald ( 1889-1946 ) Swedish Expressionist painter . Rare & unique ceramic work ( 1940's ) Glazed stoneware . signed . decorated with n...
Category

Art Deco Mid-20th Century Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Ceramic

Haitian Outsider Art Metal Work
By Murat Brierre
Located in Surfside, FL
Murat Brierre or Murat Briere (1938–1988) was one of Haiti's principal metal sculptors. He was influenced by George Liautaud, but his work acquired its own, highly experimental style, often focusing on multi-faceted and conjoined figures, fantastically personified elements, and unborn babies visible within larger creatures. He sculpted works that reflected both Christian and Haitian Vodou themes. Murat BRIERRE was born in Mirebalais in 1938. He first worked as a builder, cabinetmaker and blacksmith before being introduced to Le Centre d’Art in 1966. After trying painting with DeWitt Peters, he realized that metal sculpture was best suited for him and studied under Georges Liautaud in order to learn the métier. He also made very beautiful linocuts. Francine Murat quickly recognized his talent and considered Brierre to be one of the best Haitian sculptors. He passed away in 1988 at the age of 50. Brierre’s works have been exhibited in France, the United States, Switzerland, Germany, Israel, Mexico and Jamaica, in such places as the Abbaye de Daoulas, the Grand Palais, the Brooklyn Museum, the Modern Art Museum of Mexico and the Musée du Montparnasse. His work is part of the permanent collections at the Waterloo Museum, the Davenport Museum, the Milwaukee Art Museum, Le Centre d’Art, the Musée d’art Haïtien du Collège Saint-Pierre and the Musée de Panthéon National Haïtien. References Phyllis Kind...
Category

Outsider Art Mid-20th Century Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Iron

Nude Couple Embracing
Located in Milford, NH
A fine modernist solid wooden sculpture of a nude couple embracing in the manner of Rodin by South African artist Herman Wald (1906-1970). Wald was born...
Category

Modern Mid-20th Century Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Wood, Paint

Ancienne Noblesse wood sculpture by Irving Lehman
Located in Hudson, NY
Irving Leeman's cubist inspired sculpture pays homage to artists such as Archipenko, Lipchitz, and Picasso. About this artist: Irving George Lehman was born in Kiev, Russia -now Uk...
Category

Abstract Mid-20th Century Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Wood

Lapin, by Sandoz, Animal, sculpture, rabbit, bronze, 1940's, brown patina
Located in Geneva, CH
Lapin, modèle 6, circa 1944-1949 Edition Leblanc-Barbedienne Bronze with a brown patina 7.5 x 4 x 2.5 cm Sandoz : Sculpteur Figuriste et Animalier 1881-1971, Catalogue Raisonné de l...
Category

Modern Mid-20th Century Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Bronze

"SAM HOUSTON" HORN CARVING 1936 TEXAS CENTENNIAL AMAZING WORK
Located in San Antonio, TX
Dan Super "SAM HOUSTON" (1873-1953) Houston Artist Image Size: 3 3/4 inches tall Medium: Carved Horn of Sam Houston to celebrate the Texas Centennial. Texas Centennial 1936 "Sam Houston Pin Cushion Holder" Biography Dan Super (1873-1953) Dan E. Super, Jr. (1873 – 1953) Dan Super had the eye of a sculptor, envisioning and then creating hundreds of objects from the elongated form of a Texas Longhorn’s tusk. At the age of six, Dan Super carved his first drawing into a piece of the horn of a Texas Longhorn. Over the next 56 years, he made utilitarian pieces like pencil cups, pin cushions, and backscratchers, realistic replicas of animals and birds, and imaginative carvings of elegant nudes. While these carvings resemble the traditional art of scrimshaw, carvings from whale bone, we’ve not been able to identify another carver who used the Texas Longhorn as his material. “My work is done with an ordinary pocketknife, hacksaw file and rasp,” Super wrote in 1937. He used the horn in every way conceivable; whole, allowing the shape to define the object he was making, flattened to make mosaic or inlay work. He incised and pierced it and carved in the round. His own hands polished the horn to a sheen. Daniel Super, Jr. was born in Houston on August 22, 1873. His father owned stock years, D. Super and Brothers Co., providing the young Super with ready access to his raw material. Throughout his life, he worked in the businesses key to the identity and success of young, booming Houston, cattle, oil, real estate and rail. In 1896 he married Lula, and took over the family business, expanding it to include a grocery. He closed the company in 1912 and got into the oil business...
Category

Realist Mid-20th Century Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Other Medium

Monumental Italian Rationalist Marble Sculptures of Hercules and Discobolo
Located in Rome, IT
This monumental pair of sculptures in "Bardiglio" marble represent Greek Athlete of Discobolo and the Hercules figure with a lion pelt, on a cylindrical base...
Category

Modern Mid-20th Century Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Marble

Tuscan Florentine Figurative Abstract Female Bronze Statue 20th century
Located in Florence, IT
The small bronze statue portrays a lady standing, with the arms lifted up to help her looking far away. It's an single cast. It can be dated to th...
Category

Post-War Mid-20th Century Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Bronze

Portrait of Julienne Lullier
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Portrait of the artist’s wife. Demetre Haralamb Chiparus (also known as Dumitru Chiparus) (16 September 1886 in Dorohoi, Romania - 22 January 1947 in Paris, France) was a Romanian Art Deco* era sculptor who lived and worked in Paris. He was born in Romania, the son of Haralamb and Saveta. In 1909 he went to Italy, where he attended the classes of Italian sculptor Raffaello Romanelli. In 1912 he traveled to Paris to attend the Ecole des Beaux Arts* to pursue his art at the classes of Antonin Mercie and Jean Boucher. Demetre Chiparus died in 1947 and was buried in Bagneux cemetery, just south of Paris. The first sculptures of Chiparus were created in the realistic style and were exhibited at the Salon of 1914. He employed the combination of bronze and ivory, called chryselephantine*, to great effect. Most of his renowned works were made between 1914 and 1933. The first series of sculptures manufactured by Chiparus were the series of the children. The mature style of Chiparus took shape beginning in the 1920s. His sculptures are remarkable for their bright and outstanding decorative effect. Dancers of the Russian Ballet, French theatre, and early motion pictures were among his more notable subjects and were typified by a long, slender, stylized appearance. His work was influenced by an interest in Egypt, after Pharaoh Tutankhamen's tomb was excavated. He worked primarily with the Edmond Etling and Cie Foundry in Paris administrated by Julien Dreyfus. Les Neveux de J. Lehmann was the second foundry which constantly worked with Chiparus and produced the sculptures of his models. Chiparus rarely exhibited at the Salon. In 1923 he showed his Javelin Thrower, and in 1928 exhibited his Ta-Keo dancer. During the period of Nazi persecution and the World War II, the foundries discontinued production of work by Chiparus. The economic situation of that time was not favorable to the development of decorative arts and circumstances for many sculptors worsened. Since the early 1940s almost no works of Chiparus were sold, but he continued sculpting for his own pleasure, depicting animals in the Art Deco style. At the 1942 Paris Salon, the plaster sculptures Polar Bear...
Category

Art Deco Mid-20th Century Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Bronze

GOLDEN JESUS
Located in Santa Fe, NM
To my knowledge, as the representative for the life works of Milton Hebald, (and through extensive research over the past 20 years) this is a unique casting - not part of an edition,...
Category

American Modern Mid-20th Century Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Bronze, Gold Leaf

"The Trap" Hayward Oubre, Painted Wire Sculpture, Black Artist
Located in New York, NY
Hayward Oubre The Trap, c. 1960 Painted wire sculpture 40 H. x 16 1/2 W. x 21 D. inches Provenance: Estate of the Artist Deeply attached to his Souther...
Category

Mid-20th Century Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Wire

David Hostetler Figurative Sculpture Torso Gold Plaster Midcentury Rough Surface
Located in Nantucket, MA
Torso 1955 is a cast plaster with oil paint to resemble a bronze cast. The base is wood, carved, sanded and painted. The base shows slight wear on corners. The sculpture is perfect. ...
Category

Feminist Mid-20th Century Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Plaster, Oil

Gilbert Ledward - 1930s Watercolour Design for a Decorative Sculptural Frieze
Located in London, GB
GILBERT LEDWARD, RA, PRBS (1888-1960) Tennis, Golf, Shooting, Ice-Skating, Dreaming – Proposed Design for Decorative Frieze in the Italian Drawing Room at Eltham Palace, commissioned by Stephen Courtauld Signed and dated July 9th 1933 Watercolour and pencil 12.5 by 49.5 cm., 5 by 19 ½ in. (frame size 36 by 67 cm., 14 ¼ by 26 ¼ in.) Exhibited: The artist’s daughter; London, The Fine Art Society, A Centenary Tribute, Feb 1988, no. 43. Gilbert Ledward was born in London. He was educated at St Mark’s College, Chelsea. In 1905 he entered the Royal College of Art to study sculpture under Edouard Lanteri and in 1910 he entered the Royal Academy Schools. In 1913 he won the Prix de Rome for sculpture, the Royal Academy’s travelling award and gold medal, which allowed him to travel in Italy until the outbreak of the Wold War I. During the war he served as a lieutenant in the Royal Garrison Artillery and was appointed as an official war artist in 1918. Following the war he was largely occupied as a sculptor of war memorials including the Guards Division memorial in St James’s Park and the Household Division’s memorial in Horse Guards Parade. In 1934, supported by Eric Gill and Edwin Lutyens, he established a company called Sculptured Memorials and Headstones, which promoted better design of memorials in English churchyards. His war memorials after World War II include one in Westminster Abbey to the Submarine Service, Commandos and Airborne Forces. Ledward was Professor of Sculpture at the Royal College of Art (1927-1929) and in 1937 was elected at Royal Academician. He became President of the Royal Society of British Sculptors and a trustee of the Royal Academy. The present work is a design for an intended decorative frieze for the Italian Drawing Room of Eltham Palace. In 1935 the remains of the medieval royal palace of Eltham was rescued from decay by Stephen and Virginia Courtald who built an ultra modern Art Deco house to adjoin the existing Great Hall. They employed the architects John Seeley and Paul Edward Paget and the fashionable Mayfair interior designer the Marchese Peter Malacrida to design the strikingly glamorous 1930s interiors of the new house. The dramatic entrance hall was created by the Swedish designer Rolf Engstromer...
Category

Art Deco Mid-20th Century Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Watercolor

Clay Sculpture in Pre-Colombian Style Reproduction
Located in Troy, NY
This work is made out of ceramic terracotta and is in a Pre-Columbian style. It is a reproduction of sculptures typically found in the Colima culture in western Mexico. These origina...
Category

Folk Art Mid-20th Century Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Ceramic, Terracotta

"Hitch Hiked" Hayward Oubre, Painted Wire Sculpture, Southern Black Artist
Located in New York, NY
Hayward Oubre Hitch Hiked, 1960 Signed on Base: OUBRE 60 Painted wire sculpture 45 H. x 21 W. x 19 D. inches Provenance: Estate of the Artist Deeply at...
Category

Mid-20th Century Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Wire

Colombe sur Lit de Paille (2nd Version of Ramie 79)
Located in Long Island City, NY
Pablo Picasso’s rendering of a white dove on a black earthenware plate is a classic example of the artist’s fascination with the bird. Although prevalent throughout his work, this do...
Category

Cubist Mid-20th Century Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Ceramic

Rare Vintage Israeli Judaica Rabbi Klezmer Violinist Sculpture Frank Meisler Art
Located in Surfside, FL
Rare Vintage unusual piece. In this bronze or metal sculpture by Frank Meisler, the artist depicts a Klezmer violin player The figure seems cartoon-like with exaggerated facial featu...
Category

Folk Art Mid-20th Century Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Stone, Metal

Bronze "Eingekauertes Rind II", 1947 by Ewald Mataré
Located in Berlin, DE
Bronze with light gold patina, 1947. Hand signed by the artist. One of seven casts. Very good condition Dimensions: Height 3.35 in ( 8,5 cm ), Width 4.92 in ( 12,5 cm ), Depth 1.97 ...
Category

Mid-20th Century Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Bronze

Balancing Elephant, Circa 1930s, Art Deco, Louis-Albert Carvin (1875-1951)
Located in SANTA FE, NM
Balancing Elephant Louis-Albert Carvin (France, 1875-1951) Bronze, marble Circa 1930s, Art Deco 8 x 7.5 x 2 (4 1/4 x 7 1/2 x 1 7/8 figure) inches Artist Louis-Albert Carvin, born in Paris in 1875, was exposed to art from an early age through his painter father. Carvin's formal education in art began at the École des Beaux-Arts, where he studied under artists like Émmanuel Frémiet and Georges Gardet. Over the years, artist Louis-Albert Carvin became a renowned sculptor, dedicating his life’s work to the modeling of human and animal figures. He studied under Fremiet and Gardet and became a member of the Société des Artistes Français, exhibiting at the Salon des Artists Francais from 1894 until 1933 winning the Medal of Honor in his first year in 1894. Remarkably, he sculpted La Muse de l’Aviation, the bronze trophy...
Category

Art Deco Mid-20th Century Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Marble, Bronze

Fisherman
By Francesco Messina
Located in Roma, RM
Francesco Messina (Linguaglossa 1900 – Milan 1995), Fisherman (1930) Bronze sculpture measuring 131 x 52 x 65 cm, signed and dated 1930 on the base. Francesco Messina’s Fisherman w...
Category

Realist Mid-20th Century Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Bronze

Wolf with Bone, Wildlife Bronze on Wood Base, Western Art Sculpture
By Charles Marion Russell
Located in Whitefish, MT
Posthumous C.M. Russell (1864-1926) Bronze on wood plaque Foundry: Cottonwood 8" x 11" x 7" Edition #59/100 Charles Marion Russell (1864–1926) masterfu...
Category

American Impressionist Mid-20th Century Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Bronze

Large Modern Giraffe Sculpture by Manuel Carbonell Latin American Circa 1967
Located in Rochester, NY
A large and early sand cast aluminum modernist sculpture of a giraffe by Cuban American artist Manuel Carbonell. Pedestal included. Measures: Height is 73” with base. Carbonell’s early sculptures where sand cast and unique. This is an edition of 1/1. Included is the original sketch of the work. Signed, circa 1967. Provenance: Ted Materna. Materna discovered Carbonell in the early 1960s. He produced Carbonell's gallery catalogs and helped promote him through his public relations firm in NYC. Manuel Carbonell (1918-2011) was regarded as the last of the Cuban Master Sculptors. He was part of the generation of Cuban artists, which includes Wifredo Lam and Agustin Cardenas, that studied at the Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes "San Alejandro", Havana Cuba. Carbonell's inexhaustible vision and his ever changing-style are the product of a brilliant talent and academic background. Ceaselessly searching for the essence of form and the absence of details, he empowered a sense of strength, monumentality and simplicity to his work. Exhibited in New York's Schoneman Gallery for over 17 years. In 1976, he presented to the White House "The Bicentennial Eagle," now part of the Smithsonian collection. He is known for two of Miami's largest landmarks: the 53-foot bronze monument...
Category

Modern Mid-20th Century Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Metal

Rare Vintage Israeli Judaica Rabbi Praying Mechanical Sculpture Frank Meisler
Located in Surfside, FL
Rare Vintage unusual piece. In this bronze or metal sculpture by Frank Meisler, the artist recreates a Rabbi at prayer. The figure seems cartoon-like with exaggerated facial features...
Category

Folk Art Mid-20th Century Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Stone, Metal

Taureau et Toreador, Picasso, Bull, Corrida, Design, Tile, Ceramic, 1950's
Located in Geneva, CH
Taureau et Toreador, Picasso, Bull, Corrida, Design, Tile, Ceramic, 1950's Taureau et Toreador Unique work 11.2.1957 Painted and partially glazed ceramic, hexagonal tomette tile 15 ...
Category

Post-War Mid-20th Century Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Ceramic

Modernist Hand Forged Iron Mosaic Sculpture Animal Ram Israeli David Palombo
Located in Surfside, FL
Heavy Hand Forged Brutalist Iron Ram or Goat Sculpture David Palombo was an Israeli sculptor and painter. He was born in Turkey to a traditional family and immigrated to the Land of Israel with his parents in 1923. They lived in the Nahalat Shiva neighborhood of Jerusalem. In 1940 he began his studies at Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, and from 1942 was a student of sculptor Ze’ev Ben-Zvi. For a period of time, Palombo was an assistant at Ben-Zvi’s studio and also taught at Bezalel. During this period he was also a member of the “Histadrut HaNoar HaOved VeHaLomed” (The General Federation of Students and Young Workers in Israel). In the 1940s he took art lessons at night. In 1948 he went to Paris, where he visited the studio of the sculptor Constantin Brancusi whose work influenced him. Around 1958 he married the artist Shulamit Sirota. In 1960 he quit his job to devote himself to art. In 1964 he married for the second time to the artist Yona Palombo. The two of them went to live in an abandoned home on Mount Zion in Jerusalem. In 1966 he was killed when the motorcycle on which he was riding ran into a chain stretched across the street to prevent the desecration of Shabbat. His widow opened a museum in their home that was active until the year 2000. Work by Palombo is included in the Judaic collection of the Jewish Museum (a well known Hanukkah menora). Palombo executed the impressive metal gates of the Tent of Remembrance at the Yad Vashem, the memorial to the martyrs of the holocaust, as well as the gates to the Knesset Building the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco award) awarded him a scholarship for study in Japan. He worked in marble, granite, bronze, iron and steel. as well as with glass mosaic tiles. Palombo’s early works, in the 1950s, were influenced by modernist sculptors such as Brancusi. These works were composed of abstract images from nature and were carved out of stone or wood. At the end of the 1950s he began making metal sculptors, using the technique of welding. His work took on a more abstract and expressive character. Education 1940 Painting with Isidor Ascheim, New Bezalel School for Arts and Crafts, Jerusalem 1942 Sculpture with Zeev Ben Zvi, Jerusalem 1956 Mosaic, Ravenna, Italy 1958 Welding Course Awards And Prizes 1966 UNESCO Award Exhibitions: Sculpture in Israel, 1948-1958 Mishkan Museum of Art, Kibbutz Ein Harod Artists: Zvi Aldouby, Yitzhak Danziger, Arieh Merzer, Dov Feigin, Aaron Priver, David Palumbo, Menashe Kadishman, Kosso Eloul, Yehiel Shemi, Zahara Schatz. The Spring Exhibition of Jerusalem Artists, Artists' House, Jerusalem Artists: Palombo, David Bezalel Schatz, Mordechai Levanon, Fima, Ludwig Blum 12 Artists, The Bezalel National Museum, Jerusalem Avraham Ofek, Aviva Uri, Avigdor Arikha, Yosl Bergner, Lea Nikel, Palombo, Ruth Zarfati, General Exhibition, Art in Israel 1960 Tel Aviv Museum of Art Artists: Naftali Bezem, Nachum Gutman, Shraga Weil, Shraga, Marcel Janco, Ruth Schloss
Category

Arte Povera Mid-20th Century Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Iron

Untitled (Roi David)
Located in Palo Alto, CA
Marc Chagall Untitled (Roi David), 1954 is a rare and imaginative culmination of the collaboration between Marc Chagall and the Fucina degli Angeli. This work is from the beginning of Chagall’s usage of Murano glass as a means of expression. In 1954, Chagall was invited into the Fucina degli Angeli by Egidio Costantini who was the master glass blower at the time. This stunning and mesmeric sculpture beckons the eyes through the use of vivid, bold colors that blend seamlessly together. Blue, purple, teal and hints of red coalesce in the center of the glass plate, creating the backdrop for a whimsical scene placed in the foreground. A man in a crown kneels in the center of the work, preoccupied with the string instrument delicately constructed in his hands. Gilded flecks of gold are highlighted around the crown and instrument, showing us the depth of the lyrical poet. The transparent glass allows us to follow suite of the man, becoming entranced and lost in thought. Created in 1954 in the Fucina degli Angeli in Venice, Italy, this Murano glass sculpture was realized by master glass artist Egidio Costantini (Brindisi, 1912- Venice, 1998) in collaboration Marc Chagall, (Vitebsk, 1887 – Saint-Paul, 1985). This work is inscribed ‘M. Chagall E. Costantini 1954 © Fucina degli Angeli’ on verso and is an artist proof. Catalogue Raisonné: Marc Chagall Untitled (Roi David), 1954 is fully documented and referenced in the below catalogue raisonnés and texts (copies will be enclosed as added documentation with the invoices that will accompany the sale of the work). Egidio Costantini: Il Maestro dei Maestri. Brussels: Espace Kiron and Espace Medicis, 1990. A different Chagall glass...
Category

Modern Mid-20th Century Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Glass

Horse
Located in Greenwich, CT
Figure of a horse , French 1940's , on a marble base appears unsigned finely carved, beautiful rendering, nice patina
Category

Mid-20th Century Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Bronze

Industrial Machine Age American Scene WPA Mid 20th Century 1939 SF World's Fair
Located in New York, NY
Industrial Machine Age American Scene WPA Mid 20th Century 1939 SF World's Fair HAIG PATIGIAN (American/Armenian, 1876-1950) Aeronautics Pediments Two Plaster Casts, c. 1930s each 13.25 x 14.75 x 6 inches It's possible these moquettes were created for the 1939 World's Fair, the Golden Gate International Exhibition in San Francisco. Provenance: Private Collection of Lois M. Wright, Author of "A Catalogue of the Life Works of Haig Patigian, San Francisco Sculptor, 1876-1950),” 1967 Loan to Oakland Museum of California (Oakland, CA) BIO Haig Patigian is noted for his classical works, which are especially numerous in public venues in San Francisco, California. Patigian was born in Van, Armenia, which at that time was under Turkish rule. Haig was the son of Avedis and Marine Patigian, both teachers in the American Mission School there. He and his older brother showed an aptitude for art early on and were encouraged by their parents. Their father himself had taken up the new hobby of photography. The 1880s were harsh times, however, for many Armenians under an oppressive rule by the Turkish government. Many people were fleeing to the safety of the United States. Suspicious Turkish authorities accused his father of photographing city structures for the Russian government, and in 1888 he fled for his life to America. Haigs father made his way to Fresno, California, and began life anew as a ranch hand. Within two years he sent for his wife, as well as Haig, his three sisters and brother, and in 1891 the Patigians made the journey from Armenia. Haigs father, an industrious man, worked on various farms, and eventually bought his own ranch and vineyard. It was among fertile farmland of Fresno that Haig grew up. Young Haigs education consisted of teachings by his parents and by intermittent attendance in public schools. Although he had dreams of becoming an artist, he did not have the opportunity for formal study of art, and began working long days in the vineyards around Fresno. At age seventeen, Haig made a step towards his dreams and apprenticed himself to learn the trade of sign painting. In his spare time he nurtured his interest in art by painting nature and life scenes with watercolors and oil paints. When his sign-painting mentor left Fresno, Haig opened his own shop and made a name for himself in the town. San Francisco, in the meantime, had been attracting artists since the Gold Rush and had become a thriving art center. Within a few years, Haig had put aside several hundred dollars to move to San Francisco, joining his brother who was already working there as an illustrator. In 1899, when he was twenty-three, Haig had saved enough money to enroll at the Mark Hopkins Art Institute in San Francisco. Like many aspiring artists of his time, Patigian supported himself by working as a staff artist in the art department of a local newspaper, and in the winter of 1900, nearing his 24th birthday, Haig began work for the San Francisco Bulletin, producing cartoons, black and white illustrations, as well as watercolors. In 1902 tragedy struck Haig and his family. His 29-year-old brother died of pneumonia, and then his frail mother died a short time later. Five months more saw his youngest sister, just out of high school, die too. Saddened and depressed, Haig moved out of the studio he had shared with his brother, and into a dilapidated studio in a poor section of town. During this time of sadness, Haig fed a growing interest in sculpture. In 1904 Haig created what he later called his "first finished piece in sculpture". The work, called "The Unquiet Soul", depicted a man thrown back against a rock while waves lash at his feet. The body was tense and twisted, with one hand, in Haig's own words, "searchingly leaning and clutching the rock, while the other masks his troubled head". The Press Club of San Francisco, which Haig had joined in 1901, put "The Unquiet Soul" on exhibition and local headlines proclaimed "Local Newspaper Artist Embraces Sculptor's Art", and "First Work Predicts Brilliant Future". With the support of friends and community acclaim, the young illustrator left his newspaper job and became a professional sculptor. The path of his new career was not easy though. Haig had never made much money working for the newspaper and his father needed help with growing debt from funeral expenses and business problems. From time to time Haig sold some artwork, but also occasionally borrowed from friends to pay the rent. He was the classic 'starving artist'. In the spring of 1905 a white-bearded 81-year-old stranger knocked on Haig's door. It was George Zehndner, from Arcata, California. Zehndner had been born in Bavaria, Germany in 1824, the son of a farmer. In 1849 he had come to America looking for prosperity, settling in Indiana, where he worked on a farm and learned English. He found his way to the West Coast in 1852. Penniless, he worked in various jobs from San Francisco to Sacramento, then found some luck working in the gold fields of Weaverville in Trinity County, and eventually moving to a farm on 188 acres near Arcata. In his 77th year in May of 1901, Zahndner had taken a trip to San Jose, where he stood in a crowd to see a man he thought much of, President William McKinley. McKinley was popular as 'the first modern president' partially because he realized going out to meet the common person increased his support. In September of that year, however, an anarchist assassinated the president while he stood in a receiving line at the Pan-American Exhibition in Buffalo, New York. Soon after, the city of San Jose erected a statue of the slain president in St. James Park. Zehndner took a second trip to San Jose where he visited the McKinley monument. Touched, Zehndner decided that, no matter the cost, his town of Arcata too would memorialize McKinley. George Zehndner had read about Haig in a newspaper article and asked if Patigian would create a heroic statue of the late President McKinley for Arcata. When asked how much it would cost, Haig responded, despite his borderline poverty, with the fabulous sum of $15,000. Zehndner agreed. The President was to be portrayed standing, wearing an overcoat, with his feet planted squarely on the ground. In the finished statue, one hand is held out before him in a typical posture of speaking, with the other hand holding the speech as his side. The 9-foot statue...
Category

American Modern Mid-20th Century Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Plaster

Portrait of Arthur Miller
Located in East Grinstead, GB
Portrait of Arthur Miller, bronze plaque on granite, signed Bronze 9.5” x 12.5”, granite 13.5”x16.75”, item weight 80lbs
Category

Mid-20th Century Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Granite, Bronze

Tête de femme couronnée de fleurs, Picasso, 1950's, ceramic, design, clay
Located in Geneva, CH
Tête de femme couronnée de fleurs, Picasso, 1950's, ceramic, design, clay Tête de femme couronnée de fleurs Ed. 37/50 pcs 20.03.1954 White earthenware clay 23 x 15 x 18 cm Signed by...
Category

Post-Modern Mid-20th Century Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Clay, Earthenware

Latin American Sculpture by Raúl Valdivieso
Located in Washington, DC
Bronze sculpture by Latin American sculptor Raúl Valdivieso (Chilean, 1931-1993). Valdivieso is known for his reinterpretation of the classic organic forms and human figures. Raúl Valdiveso was born September 9, 1931 in Santiago, Chile. In 1952 he began his studies at the School of Fine Arts at the University of Chile. There he took to sculpture and studied under professors like Marta Colvin...
Category

Abstract Mid-20th Century Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Bronze

Tête de Faune, Picasso, Unique work, 1960's, Terracotta, Tiles, Design, Sculptur
Located in Geneva, CH
Tête de Faune, Picasso, Unique work, 1960's, Terracotta, Tiles, Design, Sculptur Tête de faune Unique work 14.03.1961 Painted and glazed terracotta tile...
Category

Post-War Mid-20th Century Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Terracotta

Pair of Mini-Caryatids - Sculpture by M. Berrocal - 1960s
Located in Roma, IT
Pair of Mini-Caryatids, Nickel Plated 24 Element Puzzle Sculpture, 1968-1969, Miguel Berrocal. Signature and number engraved. Edition of 9500 pieces. Ref. Catalogo general/obras re...
Category

Contemporary Mid-20th Century Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Metal

Earth, Ceramic Figural Female Head by Cleveland School Artist
Located in Beachwood, OH
Edris Eckhardt (American, 1905-1998) Earth, c. 1939 Signed on base Glazed earthenware 20.5 x 7.5 x 7 inches Born in Cleveland, Ohio January 28, 1905, Edris was given the name Edythe Aline Eckhardt. After graduating from Cleveland's East High she enrolled in the painting program at Cleveland School of Art. While enrolled in school she worked part-time at Cowan Pottery where she learned production techniques and firing schedules of various ceramic materials. She switched her choice of study at CIA to sculpture and graduated from Cleveland's School of Art in 1932. Edythe changed her name to the non-gender-specific name Edris in her mid-twenties after being passed over for an award to study sculpture in Europe for one year. Following graduation Edris studied sculpture with Alexander Archipenko in Woodstock, New York. She returned to Cleveland that same year. She was hired as a faculty member of Cleveland School and taught at the institution for 30 years. From 1935-1942 Ms. Eckhardt was the head of the Ceramics and Sculpture division of the Federal Art Project (later known as Works Progress Administration - WPA) of Cleveland. During this time frame she won first prize of the 1936 Cleveland Museum of Art May Show for her Alice in Wonderland figure, third Prize in the 1937 May Show for a Song of the South...
Category

Art Deco Mid-20th Century Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Earthenware, Ceramic

Colonial West African Baule Baoule Figure Sculpture Woman wearing loincloth
Located in Norwich, GB
An elegant African sculpture from the West African Baoulé or Baule people, depicting a young woman wearing a loincloth. Smooth black lightly worn patina.
Category

Tribal Mid-20th Century Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Wood

Italy Florence Ceramic Animal Goat Sculpture Signed Fantoni 20th century
Located in Florence, IT
Marcello Fantoni is a florentine artist specialized in ceramic. He followed the courses at the Art Institute in Florence, having Libero Andreotti and Bruno Innocenti as his Scultping proefessors and Gianni...
Category

Other Art Style Mid-20th Century Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Ceramic

Large Aharon Bezalel Israeli Modernist Bronze Brutalist Puzzle Sculpture Figures
Located in Surfside, FL
Aharon Bezalel (Afghani-Israeli, 1925-2012) Family Grouping Hand signed in with initials in English Figures fit together like puzzle pieces in solid cast bronze with original patina. Aharon Bezalel (born Afghanistan 1926) Born in Herat, Afghanistan in 1926 and immigrated to Israel at an early age. His father, Reuven Bezalel, was a rabbi and kabbalist. As a youth Aharon studied gold and silver casting as well as applied arts and worked in these fields as a silversmith and judaica craftsman, and was a student of the sculptor Zev Ben-Zvi at the Bezalel Academy for Art & Design where he also studied with Isidor Ascheim and Mordecai Ardon. There he absorbed the basic concepts of classic and modernist art and interpreted, according to them, ideas based on ancient Hebrew sources. He also studied miniature carving with the artists Martin and Helga Rost applying himself at their workshop. Aharon Bezalel worked and resided in Jerusalem, he taught art for many years. His sculptures - works of wood, bronze, aluminum, Plexiglas - were shown at his studio in Ein Kerem. “I saw myself as part of this region. I wanted to find the contact between my art and my surroundings. Those were the first years of Jean Piro’s excavations at the Beer-Sheba mound. They found there, for example, the Canaanite figurines that I especially liked and that were an element that connected me with the past and with this place.” “…a seed and sperm or male and female. These continue life. The singular, the individual alone, cannot exist; I learned this from my father who dabbled with the Kabbalah.” (Aharon Bezalel, excerpt from an interview with David Gerstein) “The singular in Aharon Bezalel’s work is always potentially a couple if not a threesome, the one is also the many: when the individual is revealed within the group he will always seek a huddling, a clinging together. The principle of modular construction is required by this perception of unity and multiplicity, as modular construction in his work is an act of conception or defense. His work bears a similarity to Berrocal as well as affinities to Henry Moore, Lynne Chadwick and Kenneth Armitage. Two poles of unity, potentially alone, exist in A. Bezalel’s world: From a formal, sculptural sense these are the sphere and pillar, metaphorically these are the female in the final stages of pregnancy and the solitary male individual. Sphere-seed-woman; Pillar-strand-man. The disproportional, small heads in A. Bezalel figures leave humankind in it’s primal physical capacity. The woman as a pregnancy or hips, the man as an aggressive or defensive force, the elongated chest serves as a phallus and weapon simultaneously. (Gideon Ofrat) EIN HAROD About the Museum's Holdings: Israeli art is represented by the works of Reuven Rubin, Zaritzky, Nahum Gutman...
Category

Expressionist Mid-20th Century Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Bronze

Reclining Figure (woman)
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
William King (1925-2015). Reclining figure, ca. 1965. Cast and welded bronze, 7 x 9.5 x 5 inches. Unsigned. William King, a sculptor in a variety of materials whose human figures traced social attitudes through the last half of the 20th century, often poking sly and poignant fun at human follies and foibles, died on March 4 at his home in East Hampton, N.Y. He was 90. His death was confirmed by Scott Chaskey, who is married to Mr. King's stepdaughter, Megan Chaskey. Mr. King worked in clay, wood, bronze, vinyl, burlap and aluminum. He worked both big and small, from busts and toylike figures to large public art pieces depicting familiar human poses -- a seated, cross-legged man reading; a Western couple (he in a cowboy hat, she in a long dress) holding hands; a tall man reaching down to tug along a recalcitrant little boy; a crowd of robotic-looking men walking in lock step. But for all its variation, what unified his work was a wry observer's arched eyebrow, the pointed humor and witty rue of a fatalist. His figurative sculptures, often with long, spidery legs and an outlandishly skewed ratio of torso to appendages, use gestures and posture to suggest attitude and illustrate his own amusement with the unwieldiness of human physical equipment. His subjects included tennis players and gymnasts, dancers and musicians, and he managed to show appreciation of their physical gifts and comic delight at their contortions and costumery. His suit-wearing businessmen often appeared haughty or pompous; his other men could seem timid or perplexed or awkward. Oddly, or perhaps tellingly, he tended to depict women more reverentially, though in his portrayals of couples the fragility and tender comedy inherent in couplehood settled equally on both partners. Mr. King's work is in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, among other places, and he had dozens of solo gallery shows in New York and elsewhere. But the comic element of his work probably caused his reputation to suffer. Reviews of his exhibitions frequently began with the caveat that even though the work was funny, it was also serious, displaying superior technical skills, imaginative vision and the bolstering weight of a range of influences, from the ancient Etruscans to American folk art to 20th-century artists including Giacometti, Calder. and Elie Nadelman. The critic Hilton Kramer, one of Mr. King's most ardent advocates, wrote in a 1970 essay accompanying a New York gallery exhibit that he was, "among other things, an amusing artist, and nowadays this can, at times, be almost as much a liability as an asset." A "preoccupation with gesture is the focus of King's sculptural imagination," Mr. Kramer wrote. "Everything that one admires in his work - the virtuoso carving, the deft handling of a wide variety of materials, the shrewd observation and resourceful invention - all this is secondary to the concentration on gesture. The physical stance of the human animal as it negotiates the social arena, the unconscious gait that the body assumes in making its way in the social medium, the emotion traced by the course of a limb, a torso, a head, the features of a face, a coiffure or a costume - from a keen observation of these materials King has garnered a large stock of sculptural images notable for their wit, empathy, simplicity and psychological precision." William Dickey King...
Category

Abstract Mid-20th Century Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Bronze

Standing Bather with Ponytail
Located in New York, NY
Bronze sculpture. Incised with the artist's signature, upper part of the base.
Category

Modern Mid-20th Century Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Bronze

Untitled Figure with X on Chest by Charlie Willeto, Navajo Folk Art, wood, paint
Located in Santa Fe, NM
Untitled Figure with X on Chest by Charlie Willeto, Navajo Folk Art, wood, paint Vintage
Category

Folk Art Mid-20th Century Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Wood, Paint

Portrait of Ni-Polog
Located in New York, NY
Signed, dated, and inscribed on the verso: Malvina Hoffman/ Den Pasar/ “Nipolog”-/ © 1932/ Bali Provenance: The artist; her estate. Literature: Mal...
Category

Realist Mid-20th Century Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Terracotta

Fregoli - Sculpture by Arrighini Nicola - 1930
Located in Roma, IT
Arrighini Nicola (Pietrasanta 1905-1977) a sculptor of Pietrasanta (Italy) in 1930 decided to create, in white Carrara marble on black marble basis, the Mask of Leopoldo Fregoli, o...
Category

Modern Mid-20th Century Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Marble

Art Deco Venetian Mask Handcarved Wood Panel Wall Sculpture
Located in Atlanta, GA
This French Art-Deco hand-carved wooden panel or wall-mounted sculpture features a stunning Venetian mask. This high-dimensional panel is made of natural wood with a warm tone and re...
Category

Art Deco Mid-20th Century Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Wood

Quinto Martini Female Nude Sculpture 20 century terracotta signed.
Located in Florence, IT
This small terracotta statue portrays a lady laying on a very sensual and athletic position. Is signed on the base Quinto M. Even if it's not dated, we can premusably suggest a perio...
Category

Other Art Style Mid-20th Century Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Terracotta

Isabella
Located in West Hollywood, CA
Presenting an original carved wood sculpture by American WPA artist Avis Zeidler Nemkoff. "Isabella", is a hand carved wood sculpture measuring 18.5 inches tall, exceptional original condition, originally acquired from the estate of the artist who resided in Northern California. This is a magnificent one of a kind hand carved wood sculpture, c.1938. Please contact the gallery for additional information •Avis Zeidler was born in Madison, Wisconsin, in 1908. •It is not known when Zeidler moved to California. However, in the 1930s she majored in art at the University of California. •Later, she enrolled at the California School of Fine Arts after receiving a scholarship for her studies there. She studied with Ray Boynton, Lucien Labaudt, Karl Eugen Neuhaus, and Ralph Stackpole...
Category

American Modern Mid-20th Century Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Wood

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