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Abraham Walkowitz Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

American, 1878-1965

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.

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Artist: Abraham Walkowitz
"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 ...
Category

1920s Modern Abraham Walkowitz Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Ink, Watercolor

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...
Category

1910s American Modern Abraham Walkowitz Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Graphite

Untitled (Figurative Abstraction of Isadora Duncan #7)
By Abraham Walkowitz
Located in Myrtle Beach, SC
Abraham Walkowitz, Untitled (Figurative Abstraction of Isadora Duncan #7), pencil, 1918. Signed and dated in pencil, bottom center. A fine, spon...
Category

1910s American Modern Abraham Walkowitz Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Pencil

Lower East Side Crowd
By Abraham Walkowitz
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Lower East Side Crowd Ink and ink wash on paper, c. 1910 Signed in ink lower center edge (see photo) Signed with the initials lower right corner (see p...
Category

1910s American Modern Abraham Walkowitz Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Ink

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, 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...
Category

Early 20th Century Modern Abraham Walkowitz Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Ink

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...
Category

Early 20th Century Modern Abraham Walkowitz Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

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, 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...
Category

Early 20th Century Modern Abraham Walkowitz Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, 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...
Category

Early 1900s Post-Impressionist Abraham Walkowitz Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Ink

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Previously Available Items
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...
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Early 20th Century Abraham Walkowitz Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

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Paper

City Scape
By Abraham Walkowitz
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Provenance: Zabriske Gallery, NYC Jack Rutberg Fine Arts, Los Angeles Modernism Fine Arts, NYC Exhibited: Utah Museum of Fine Arts, 1974 Edwin A. Ulrich Museum of Art, 1975 Abraham...
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1910s Cubist Abraham Walkowitz Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

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Charcoal, Watercolor

Isadora Duncan
By Abraham Walkowitz
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Isadora Duncan Graphite and wash on paper, c. 1910 Signed in pencil lower right Provenance: Charlotte Berman (1903-2002), noted art collector, friend an...
Category

1910s American Modern Abraham Walkowitz Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

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Graphite

Isadora Duncan dancing in a red dress
By Abraham Walkowitz
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Isadora Duncan dancing in a red dress Ink, watercolor and graphite on paper, c. 1913 Signed in ink lower center (see photo) Condition: Very fresh colors Tipped to archival backing board in the corners 22K Gold leaf carved frame...
Category

1910s American Modern Abraham Walkowitz Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor

Untitled (Figurative Abstraction of Isadora Duncan #6)
By Abraham Walkowitz
Located in Myrtle Beach, SC
Abraham Walkowitz, Untitled (Figurative Abstraction of Isadora Duncan #6), pen and ink, pencil, 1918. Signed in ink, dated in pencil, bottom center. A f...
Category

1910s American Modern Abraham Walkowitz Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Ink, Pen, Pencil

Untitled (Figurative Abstraction of Isadora Duncan #5)
By Abraham Walkowitz
Located in Myrtle Beach, SC
Abraham Walkowitz, Untitled (Figurative Abstraction of Isadora Duncan #5), pen and ink, pencil, 1918. Signed in ink, dated in pencil, bottom center. A f...
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1910s American Modern Abraham Walkowitz Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

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Ink, Pen, Pencil

Untitled (Figurative Abstraction of Isadora Duncan #4)
By Abraham Walkowitz
Located in Myrtle Beach, SC
Abraham Walkowitz, Untitled (Figurative Abstraction of Isadora Duncan #4), pen and ink, 1918. Signed in ink, dated in pencil, bottom center. A fine, spo...
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1910s American Modern Abraham Walkowitz Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

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Untitled (Figurative Abstraction of Isadora Duncan #3)
By Abraham Walkowitz
Located in Myrtle Beach, SC
Abraham Walkowitz, Untitled (Figurative Abstraction of Isadora Duncan #3), pen and ink, 1918. Signed in ink, dated in pencil, bottom center. A f...
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1910s American Modern Abraham Walkowitz Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

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Ink, Pen

Untitled (Figurative Abstraction of Isadora Duncan #2)
By Abraham Walkowitz
Located in Myrtle Beach, SC
Abraham Walkowitz, Untitled (Figurative Abstraction of Isadora Duncan #2), pen and ink, 1918. Signed in ink, dated in pencil, bottom center. A fine, spo...
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1910s American Modern Abraham Walkowitz Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

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Ink, Pen

Untitled (Isadora Duncan Dancing 2)
By Abraham Walkowitz
Located in Myrtle Beach, SC
Abraham Walkowitz, Untitled (Isadora Duncan Dancing 2), pencil and watercolor wash, 1910. Signed and dated in pencil. A fine, spontaneous, subtly color...
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1910s American Modern Abraham Walkowitz Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

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Watercolor, Pencil

Untitled (Isadora Duncan Dancing 1)
By Abraham Walkowitz
Located in Myrtle Beach, SC
Abraham Walkowitz, Untitled (Isadora Duncan Dancing 1), pen and ink with watercolor, c. 1920. Signed in ink. A fine, spontaneous work, with fresh colors...
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1920s American Modern Abraham Walkowitz Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Ink, Watercolor, Pen

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...
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Early 20th Century Modern Abraham Walkowitz Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

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Paper, Watercolor

Abraham Walkowitz figurative drawings and watercolors for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Abraham Walkowitz figurative drawings and watercolors available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by Abraham Walkowitz in ink, paint, paper and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 20th century and is mostly associated with the modern style. Not every interior allows for large Abraham Walkowitz figurative drawings and watercolors, so small editions measuring 7 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Chaim Gross, Raphael Soyer, and Harold Haydon. Abraham Walkowitz figurative drawings and watercolors prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $550 and tops out at $8,750, while the average work can sell for $1,500.

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