Abraham Walkowitz is perhaps best known for his watercolor studies of Isadora Duncan and the dance. However, Walkowitz laid claim to being the first to exhibit truly modernist paintings in the United States. After 1909, he became an intimate of Alfred Stieglitz's 291 Gallery, and while there became a participant in the debate over modern art in America. Walkowitz was an outspoken proponent of the continuous experimentation in the arts, which was his definition of modernism. As an artist, Walkowitz embodied the changing role of the modernist painter in the United States, as modernism moved from an avant-garde protest against established modes to become an accepted style and tradition.
Abraham Walkowitz was a Russian born, turn-of-the-century immigrant to the United States, who grew up in New York's Lower East Side. He first studied art at the Educational Alliance, the Cooper Union and the National Academy of Design. In 1906, he journeyed to Europe where he studied at the Académie Julian in Paris. Upon his return to the United States in 1907, he became a fully-fledged convert to modernism, and his first exhibit, at the Haas Gallery in that year, brought him a measure of notoriety as well as the attention of Stieglitz and other pioneers of non-objective art. In subsequent years, he became one of the most exhibited painters shown at the 291 Gallery, a fact which was also reflected in the pages of Stieglitz's polemical journal of modernism, camera work. As a result of this early attention, by the time of the Armory Show of 1913, to which Walkowitz contributed several paintings, his work was widely known to both fellow modernists as well as their opponents.
Walkowitz was clearly part of the new vocabulary of American art and criticism. During the 1920s and 1930s, as the first-generation modernists lost their revolutionary cast, and as American realism gained in favor, Walkowitz continued his experiments with form and line, especially in his series of Duncan studies. Although his paintings received less critical attention than they once had, Walkowitz was clearly one of the grand old folk of American modernism. During the depression, Walkowitz was politically active on behalf of unemployed artists supporting various new-deal initiatives in the arts. In the 1940s, Walkowitz gained national attention when he explored the varieties of the modernist vision in the form of an exhibit of 100 portraits of him by 100 artists. The result was widely discussed and was featured in Life magazine in 1944.
In 1945, Walkowitz traveled to Kansas, where he painted landscapes made up largely of strip mines and barns. This was his last venture in active painting — by 1946, glaucoma, which led to his eventual blindness, began to impair his vision and limit his ability to work. Walkowitz then turned to the preparation of a series of volumes of his drawings, designed to illustrate the development of modernism in the 20th century, and in so doing, established his role as a pioneer American modernist.
Abstraction
By Abraham Walkowitz
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Untitled Abstraction Pen and ink on paper, 1932 Signed and dated in ink lower center Condition: Excellent Sheet/Image size: 10 3/8 x 6 1/4 inches Frame size: 16 1/2 x 12 1/2" Provena...
Ink, Pen
Abstraction
By Abraham Walkowitz
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Signed and dated in ink lower center Provenance: Charlotte Bergman, noted collector and patron of Walkowitz. See photo for additional information.
Ink, Pen
Isadora Duncan
By Abraham Walkowitz
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Isadora Duncan Graphite with grey wash on paper mounted to cardstock Signed and dated in pencil lower right (see photo) Provenance: Charlotte Bergman, f...
Graphite
Early American modernist work by Abraham Walkowitz
By Abraham Walkowitz
Located in Colfax, CA
Early American modernist work on paper by Abraham Walkowitz. Abraham Walkowitz, (1878-1965), was born in Siberia to Jewish parents. He immigrant to the United States around 1900 wit...
Paper, Mixed Media
"Isadora Duncan Dancing #3, " Watercolor and Ink signed by Abraham Walkowitz
By Abraham Walkowitz
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Isadora Duncan Dancing #3" is an original ink and watercolor piece on cream paper by Abraham Walkowitz. The artist signed the piece in the lower center. The drawing depicts Isadora ...
Ink, Watercolor
$13,600Sale Price|62% Off
Haystacks Oil Painting, American Impressionist, Signed, 20th Century
By Abraham Walkowitz
Located in New York, NY
Haystacks by Abraham Walkowitz (1878-1965) Oil on canvas 14 x 20 inches unframed (35.56 x 50.8 cm) 19 ½ x 25 ½ inches framed (49.53 x 64.77 cm) Signed on lower right Description: Ab...
Oil
Woman Bathing #3 Abraham Walkowitz Nude watercolor Circa 1920s
By Abraham Walkowitz
Located in Rancho Santa Fe, CA
Signed lower left Provenance American Heritage Gallery, Inc., New York Private collection This work can be viewed at our New York City showroom by appointment.
Watercolor, Graphite, Paper
Modernist Watercolor Painting, Portrait of a Man, the Rabbi
By Abraham Walkowitz
Located in Surfside, FL
Abraham Walkowitz (March 28, 1878 - January 27, 1965) was an American painter grouped in with early American Modernists working in the Modernist style. Walkowitz was born in Tyumen,...
Paper, Watercolor
Museum Quality, Nude with Pink Towel
By Abraham Walkowitz
Located in Miami, FL
Walkowitz creates a powerful composition with the tightly cropped nude figure pushed up-close to the viewer and occupying half of the picture plane. Smaller figures lead the eye back...
Oil
Modernist Watercolor Painting, Portrait of a Man, Judaica Rabbi
By Abraham Walkowitz
Located in Surfside, FL
Abraham Walkowitz (March 28, 1878 - January 27, 1965) was an American painter grouped in with early American Modernists working in the Modernist style. Walkowitz was born in Tyumen,...
Paper, Watercolor
"Abstraction" American Modernist Geometric Pen/ Ink/Wash/Paper Black White Sepia
By Abraham Walkowitz
Located in Wellesley, MA
Abraham Walkowitz (1878 -1965) Abraham Walkowitz was a Russian-born American artist who arrived in New York in 1889 and who went to Paris in 1906 where he met the Steins and the le...
Ink, Pen
Provincetown Rooftops
By Abraham Walkowitz
Located in New York, NY
Watercolor on paper. Provenance: Zabriskie Gallery, New York. Exhibited: "Provincetown Painters 1890s-1970s," Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, New York, April 1-June 26, 1977.
Watercolor
"Abstraction" American Modernist Geometric Pen/ Ink/Wash/Paper Black White Sepia
By Abraham Walkowitz
Located in Wellesley, MA
Abraham Walkowitz (1878 -1965) Abraham Walkowitz was a Russian-born American artist who arrived in New York in 1889 and who went to Paris in 1906 where he met the Steins and the le...
Ink, Pen, Illustration Board
"Isadora Duncan (Blue), " Pen, Ink, & Watercolor signed by Abraham Walkowitz
By Abraham Walkowitz
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Isadora Duncan (Blue)" is an original mixed media drawing created by Abraham Walkowitz. It is made with pen & ink, graphite, and watercolor piece on cream paper. The artist sign...
Paper, Ink, Watercolor, Graphite
"Abstraction" American Modernist Geometric Pen/ Ink/Wash/Paper Black White Sepia
By Abraham Walkowitz
Located in Wellesley, MA
Abraham Walkowitz (1878 -1965) Abraham Walkowitz was a Russian-born American artist who arrived in New York in 1889 and who went to Paris in 1906 where he met the Steins and the le...
Ink, Pen
Abraham Walkowitz Modernist Floral Still-Life Painting, circa 1915-1920
By Abraham Walkowitz
Located in Phoenix, AZ
Original oil on board - a still life of flowers by noted Modernist artist Abraham Walkowitz, (1878-1965). Signed lower right “A. Walkowitz” and inscribed lower left “to Mr. and Mrs. ...
Paint
New York
By Abraham Walkowitz
Located in New York, NY
Signed and dated lower left: A. WALKOWITZ / 1908
Ink, Paper, Pencil, Watercolor
$6,000Sale Price|20% Off
A Sailing Ship at the Port
By Abraham Walkowitz
Located in Miami, FL
Abraham Walkowitz (1878–1965) A Sailing Ship at the Port, 1909 Watercolor on cardboard Signed lower right 'A. Walkowitz', in pencil '1909' Dimensions: 33.5 x 56 cm Born: Tyumen, Ru...
Watercolor
$235
H 24 in W 20 in D 0.13 in
A Finely Drawn, 1950s Mid-Century Modern Figure Study, Standing Male Nude Model
By Harold Haydon
Located in Chicago, IL
A Very Finely Drawn Mid-Century Modern Figure Study of a Standing Young Male Nude Model (Torso) by Notable Chicago Modern Artist, Harold Haydon (Am. 1909-1994). A well executed stu...
Graphite, Paper
$1,200
H 16.5 in W 13.75 in D 0.75 in
"I Think I Will" Modern Oval Drawing of a Nude Woman with Wings and Boots
By Charles Pebworth
Located in Houston, TX
Modern oval figurative drawing of a nude, tattooed woman with wings and cowboy boots by Houston, TX artist Charles Pebworth. Signed by the artist next to the figure's right hip. Hung...
Ink, Pen
$1,950
H 19.5 in W 23.5 in D 1 in
“Bermuda Coast” Henrietta Dunn Mears American Impressionist Oil on Board Signed
By Henrietta Dunn Mears
Located in Yardley, PA
A vibrant Bermuda seascape depicting the rocky shoreline with turquoise waters breaking against sunlit boulders beneath a sweeping tree. Mears uses bold, textured brushstrokes and a ...
Oil, Board
Emile Albert Gruppe “Winter - Gloucester MA”
By Emile Albert Gruppe
Located in Dallas, TX
Emile Albert Gruppe (American, 1896-1978) "Winter - Gloucester, Mass" Oil on canvas Signed "Emile A. Gruppe" (lower right) Canvas: 20 x 24 Inchesinches Framed: 27 x 31 inches Prove...
Canvas, Oil
$6,500
H 25 in W 31 in D 2 in
Horse at the Golden Hills, California , Impressionist California landscaper.
By Lynn Gertenbach
Located in La Canada Flintridge, CA
Lynn Gertenbach's "Ride at Golden Hills" is a remarkable oil painting that captures a serene moment of a lady riding a horse under a tree, surrounded by lush grass and vibrant scener...
Oil
$6,000
H 11 in W 14 in
NYC Watercolor Drawing American Modern 20th Century Modernism Mid-Century WPA
By David Fredenthal
Located in New York, NY
NYC Watercolor Drawing American Modern 20th Century Modernism Mid-Century WPA. David Fredenthal (1914-1958) "View of New York from New Jersey,"7 x 10 inches. Watercolor on Paper, c. 1948. Signed lower right. David Fredenthal (1914 - 1958) was one ot America's most respected watercolor artists. He was famous for his bold, intensely vigorous and complex paintings and drawings that expressed his deep feeling for excitement with life and living. He was a draftsman with seemingly a special gift for catching anything, physically and emotionally on the spot, and he never went anywhere without three or four loaded pens and a sketchbook in his pocket. As part of the WPA project he executed a number of murals including the Sports Pavilion on the Heinz Building of the New York World's Fair 1939. Some of his fresco and mural techniques were inspired by his friendship with Diego Rivera who had admired and encouraged him in the early 1930's. After he won a traveling scholarship to Europe from The Museum of Modern Art at age 19, he was the recipient of two Guggenheim grants in Painting. He had his first solo exhibition at the Downtown Gallery in New York in 1937 at age 23, and many others after that including the Whitney Museum of American Art in 1947. Because of Fredenthal's prodigious drawing gifts, he was chosen by Erskine Caldwell to illustrate his novel "Tobacco Road...
Paper, Watercolor
$125,000
H 18.5 in W 22 in D 1 in
"NY Street Signs" Mid-20th Century WPA 1938 Modernist Abstract Realism Pop Art
By Stuart Davis
Located in New York, NY
"NY Street Signs" Mid-20th Century WPA 1938 Modernist Abstract Realism Pop Art Stuart Davis (American, 1892-1964) "Street Signs" Modernist gouache and traces of pencil on paper in the proto-pop art style Davis is celebrated for, 1938, signed to lower right, framed. Image: 11 1/4 x 15 1/4 inches. Frame by Bark: 18 1/2 x 22 inches. LITERATURE: A, Boyajian, M. Rutkowski, Stuart Davis, A Catalogue Raisonne, Vol. 2, New Haven, Connecticut, 2007, vol. II, p. 632, no. 1232, illustrated. EXHIBITIONS: ACA Galleries, New York American Artists' Congress: Group Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture, Dec. 3-16, 1939 (SDAB I, 12/3/39, p. 129). Outlines Gallery, Pittsburgh, Stuart Davis, Mar. 3-16, 1946. Coleman Art Gallery, Philadelphia, 5 Prodigal Sons: Former Philadelphia Artists: Ralston Crawford, Stuart Davis, Charles Demuth, Julian Levi, Charles Sheeler, Oct 4 - 30, 1947 (pamphlet), no. 12. PROVENANCE: The artist; Mr. and Mrs. Frank Bowles, New York, Apr. 3, 1956; thence by descent, Private Collection, New York. NOTES: According to the Catalogue Raissonne, "the title 'Street Signs' is recorded in the artist's account books...
Paper, Gouache, Pencil
$3,850
H 9.75 in W 7.75 in D 1.5 in
Sol Lewitt - original drawing - geometric abstraction (signed twice), Framed
By Sol LeWitt
Located in New York, NY
Sol Lewitt - original drawing - geometric abstraction (signed twice), 1980 Marker drawing on postmarked (franked) postcard - signed and inscribed twice original drawing black felt ti...
Postcard, Permanent Marker
$6,500
H 22.25 in W 28.25 in D 2 in
“October Morning Matunuck" c. 1925 by Frank Convers Mathewson Rhode Island Oil
Located in Yardley, PA
About this work: “Birches and Huckleberry, October Morning Matunuck" c. 1925 by Frank Convers Mathewson (American, 1862-1941). A stunningly beautiful autumn view of Matunuck, Rhode ...
Oil, Board
$235
H 24 in W 20 in D 0.13 in
A Finely Drawn, 1950s Mid-Century Modern Figure Study, Standing Male Nude Model
By Harold Haydon
Located in Chicago, IL
A Very Finely Drawn Mid-Century Modern Figure Study of a Standing Young Male Nude Model (Torso) by Notable Chicago Modern Artist, Harold Haydon (Am. 1909-1994). A well executed stu...
Graphite, Paper
$1,250
H 25 in W 21 in D 2 in
American Impressionist Landscape - Listed Pennsylvania artist Ira Deen, ca 1930s
Located in Baltimore, MD
A dramatic landscape by well-listed Pennsylvania artist Ira Deen. This is one of the largest and most lively of his works that I have ever seen. The scene depicts a late summer/early...
Oil
$235
H 24 in W 20 in D 0.13 in
A Finely Drawn, 1950s Mid-Century Modern Figure Study, Seated Male Nude Model
By Harold Haydon
Located in Chicago, IL
A Very Finely Drawn Mid-Century Modern Figure Study of a Seated Young Male Nude Model by Notable Chicago Modern Artist, Harold Haydon (Am. 1909-1994). A well executed studio figure...
Graphite, Paper
SELF PORTRAIT
By Abraham Walkowitz
Located in Santa Monica, CA
ABRAHAM WALKOWITZ (1878 – 1965) SELF PORTRAIT 1902 Etching, signed in pencil and annotated lower left, W imp. Image 6 x 4 1/2”, on simili japon paper, sheet 9 1/8 x 7 1/8”. Very sli...
Etching
Sold
H 31 in W 24 in D 2 in
Antique American Modernist Flower Still Life Heydenryk Frame Signed Painting
By Abraham Walkowitz
Located in Buffalo, NY
Antique American modernist still life painting by Abraham Walkowitz (1878 - 1965). Watercolor on paper. Signed. Framed. Measuring: 24 by 31 inches overall, and 17.25 by 24.25 paintin...
Watercolor, Archival Paper
Sold
H 6.75 in W 5.25 in
"Abstraction" American Modernist Geometric Pen/ Ink/Wash/Paper Black White Sepia
By Abraham Walkowitz
Located in Wellesley, MA
Abraham Walkowitz was a Russian-born American artist who arrived in New York in 1889 and who went to Paris in 1906 where he met the Steins and the leaders of the avant-garde, as well...
Ink, Pen
Modernist Drawing, Portrait of a Man
By Abraham Walkowitz
Located in Surfside, FL
Abraham Walkowitz (March 28, 1878 - January 27, 1965) was an American painter grouped in with early American Modernists working in the Modernist style. Walkowitz was born in Tyumen,...
Paper, Ink
Untitled (Nude Woman)
By Abraham Walkowitz
Located in Astoria, NY
Abraham Walkowitz (Russian/American, 1878-1965), Nude Woman, Watercolor on Paper, signed in pencil lower right, linen covered frame. Image: 13" H x 9.5" W; frame: 20.25" H x 16.25" W...
Paper, Watercolor
Landscape, France (Abstraction)
By Abraham Walkowitz
Located in New York, NY
Watercolor on cream laid paper. Signed by the artist, inscribed "Paris" and dated in lower right in ink. Framed dimension overall 18 x 24 x 1.5 inches.
Watercolor
New York Improvisation
By Abraham Walkowitz
Located in Miami, FL
Abraham Walkowitz (1878–1965) New York Improvisation, 1910 Ink wash on paper Signed lower right 'A. Walkowitz 1910' Titled and dated on Zabriskie Gallery label enclosed in clear sle...
Ink
Improvisations of New York
By Abraham Walkowitz
Located in Miami, FL
Abraham Walkowitz (1878–1965) Improvisations of New York, 1910 Watercolor and pencil on paper Signed lower right 'A. Walkowitz 1910' Dimensions: 7 x 5 inches (paper) Titled on Berna...
Watercolor
Sold
H 14 in W 16 in
"Abstract Cityscape" NYC Early 20th Century American Scene Social Realism Ashcan
By Abraham Walkowitz
Located in New York, NY
"Abstract Cityscape" NYC Early 20th Century American Scene Social Realism Ashcan Abraham Walkowitz (American, 1878-1965) Abstract Cityscape Sight: 6 1/4' x 8 1/2 inches Mixed media...
Paper, Mixed Media
"Untitled Abstraction"
By Abraham Walkowitz
Located in Wellesley, MA
Abraham Walkowitz (1878 -1965) NOTE: This drawing is signed 'A.W' lower left in ink. The provenance is Estate of the Artist. Abraham Walkowitz was a Russian-born American artist who arrived in New York in 1889 and who went to Paris in 1906 where he met the Steins and the leaders of the avant-garde, as well as famed dancer Isadora Duncan in Rodin’s studio. The meeting was electric. Isadora became the subject of many now famous watercolors, whose fluid gestures drawn in pen...
Paper, India Ink
Sold
H 6.75 in W 2.63 in D 0.01 in
Abraham Walkowitz Delightful Original Watercolor, circa 1920s, Isadora Duncan
By Abraham Walkowitz
Located in Phoenix, AZ
Original pen and ink with watercolor by American Modernist Abraham Walkowitz (1878-1965) Depicting one of his favorite subjects, Isadora Duncan, the “Mother of Modern Dance.” In exce...
Paper
Sold
H 12.25 in W 8.75 in
Modernist Watercolor Painting, Portrait of a Man, Judaica Rabbi
By Abraham Walkowitz
Located in Surfside, FL
Abraham Walkowitz (March 28, 1878 - January 27, 1965) was an American painter grouped in with early American Modernists working in the Modernist style. Walkowitz was born in Tyumen, Siberia to Jewish parents. He emigrated with his mother to the United States in his early childhood. He studied at the National Academy of Design in New York City and the Académie Julian in Paris under Jean-Paul Laurens. Walkowitz and his contemporaries later gravitated around photographer Alfred Stieglitz's 291 Gallery, originally titled the Little Galleries of the Photo-Secession, where the forerunners of modern art in America gathered and where many European artists were first exhibited in the United States. During the 291 years, Walkowitz worked closely with Stieglitz as well as Arthur Dove, Marsden Hartley, and John Marin (often referred to as "The Stieglitz Quartet"). Early Career and Training Portrait of Abraham Walkowitz - 1907 - Max Weber - Brooklyn Museum Walkowitz was drawn to art from childhood. In a 1958 oral interview with Abram Lerner...
Paper, Watercolor