Carl Hofer Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

"#70 – I AM TIRED" is from Amy Williams' series "A Farewell to Arms" – wherein the artist works directly onto page 70 of a found copy of Ernest Hemingway'...

"#220 – PEACE" is from Amy Williams' series "A Farewell to Arms" – wherein the artist works directly onto page 220 of a found copy of Ernest Hemingway's W...

A Distinctive, 1950s Mid-Century Modern Cubist Figure Study by Noted Chicago Artist, Harold Haydon (Am. 1909-1994). A visually striking charcoal composite study of three figures, ex...

A Dynamic, 1945 Mid-Century Modern Cubist Studio Scene, Artist's Sketch Class by Noted Chicago Painter, Harold Haydon (Am. 1909-1994). Artwork size: 11 x 8 1/2 inches, unframed, mo...

Mid-century lyrical surrealist abstract watercolour on paper by French artist Jean Clerté, signed and dated bottom right. Presented in mid-century frame. Jean Clerté , born in 1930 in Saint-Savin-sur-Gartempe in Vienne, is a French painter, engraver, draftsman, watercolourist and sculptor . This work is a great example of his more humorous and expressive work influenced by Alechinsky from the late 1960s onwards. There is a light playfulness and yet the watercolours are more vivid than his previous palette. Jean Clerté works in series. His sequential narrations testify both to a youthful spontaneity and to a perfect mastery in the distribution of forms and images on the painted surface. The narration is not only an accumulation of juxtaposed fragments and symbols, it forms a whole, it takes on and gives meaning. In general, we can say of Clerté that he practices an “eco-art” that feeds on primary hungers: the feeling of being united with nature, the vegetable, the mineral, the aquatic. In his colourful canvases, his inks, his boxes, his objects, like a shaman on the path of his dreams, the painter Clerté mounts an assault on beasts and demons, elves and gnomes. From the Poitevin marshes to the tropical forests emerges a fauna caught in the meanders of a design that marvels at the appearance of these grotesque idols. Jean Clerté began to draw and paint at a very young age, and at the age of 15 he enrolled at the École des Beaux-Arts in Poitiers. Then in 1949, curious about the capital, he moved to Paris. Having very few financial resources, he could not continue his studies at first, worked as a model to survive, and met other artists; he was then admitted to the studio of Ossip Zadkine and, from 1952, he was also able to study engraving at Atelier 17 of Stanley William Hayter, an English engraver and printer living in Paris associated in the 1930s with surrealism. At the end of the 1960s, he worked alongside Pierre Alechinsky, founding member of the Cobra movement, engraving Alechinsky's originals, benefiting from his advice, and discovering acrylic as a medium. From 1976, Jean Clerté became associate professor at Hayter. Clerté had taught previously, in 1971 at the Salzburg Summer University and in 1972 he gave courses at the Paris-Sorbonne University . In 1981, he was appointed professor at the School of Decorative Arts , where he had Maïlys Seydoux-Dumas as a student and, from 1983 to 1988, he was Alechinsky's assistant professor at the Paris School of Fine Arts. His first works are part of the current of lyrical abstraction, and are nourished by impressions of nature (landscape motifs, e.g. forest fires, waterscapes), then around 1968, encouraged by Alechinsky, he rejects abstraction, and his work becomes more figurative with expressive and humorous elements. From this period his colours are more subdued, often with pastel tones, he works on series. Jean Clerté has created a world in a space where drawing, painting, objects participate in a playful figuration. From his drawings were born sculptures and sometimes mobiles (Le Moulin à dessin). If it is the artist who makes astonishing, polychrome, whimsical “toys”, it is the painter who appeals to adults through his caustic and satirical humour. His first exhibitions in France took place at the Galerie Massol , then at the Galerie Pascal...

A Stylish, 1940s Art Deco Cubist Drawing of a Seated Female, "The Telephone Call", by Note Chicago Modern Artist, Harold Haydon (Am. 1909-19940. A striking charcoal drawing executed...

A Striking, 1950s Mid-Century Modern Cubist Portrait of a Young Man by Noted Chicago Artist, Harold Haydon (Am. 1909-1994). A small gem, this charming studio portrait study is charc...

Pen, ink, marker, pencil, watercolor & colored pencils on paper Michael Alan is an American artist born in 1977 who lives & works in New York, USA. As a multidisciplinary artist. Hi...

Black and white figurative drawing by Texas artist William Anzalone. The drawing depicts nude women dressing up. Signed by the artist at the bottom right. Framed in a beautiful black modern frame. Dimensions Without Frame: H 16.63 in. x W 21.5 in. Artist Biography: William Anzalone was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1935. He was educated at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology...

Marker, gouache, ink, colored pencil, and collage on gold paper Michael Alan is an American artist born in 1977 who lives & works in New York, USA. As a mul...

Bernardo Navarro Tomas (Cuba, 1977) 'Untitled', 2017 mixed media on japanese paper 12.3 x 17 in. (31 x 43 cm.) ID: NAA-308 Hand-signed by author

Monotype Dramatic imagery from Tom Bennett’s series of monotypes, blending surrealistic mindscapes with stark realism About Tom Bennett: With quick brushstrokes, Tom Bennett creates representational images of human figures and animals, emphasizing movement in a manner reminiscent of Lucien Freud, Edgar Degas and the photographer Eadweard Muybridge. Elongated and blurry, the horse racing up a hill (Canter Fritz, 2002) and the sinister cat landing a leap (Chien Blanc, 1998) elicit a sense of foreboding enhanced by Bennett’s somber palette; his female figures too reflect a grim sense of humor with their distorted nude bodies. The face of Untitled Figure (1997), for example, is obscured by layers of dark paint. Classically trained as a painter, he initially worked in oil on canvas but discovered that monotype printing enabled him to “literally push the image around,” creating an essential element of motion. To overcome the limited scale of monotypes, however, he switched to painting on slick-surfaced plastic. Tom Bennett’s practice is rooted in the classical tradition where painting and drawing from life is highly regarded. Bennett’s work is heavily influenced by Francis Bacon, Frank Auberbauch and foremost his father, Harry Bennett, who was also an artist. Tom’s time living abroad in Spain and traveling through Eastern Europe and Africa provided the artistic freedom to explore many of the techniques and subject matter that continue to define his practice. Bennett was born and raised in Connecticut. His mediums include monotypes, oil on paper, canvas or styrene board. In a technique that Tom started over 4 years ago, several of his monotypes have been painted over with oil paint using a palette knife, brush, or his fingers to re-purpose the underlying image. These works are a testament to Bennett’s ability to quickly and concisely compose an image with expressive brush strokes, foreshortened figures and expertly rendered light. Tom’s work has been featured in group and solo exhibitions worldwide. Bennett lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. He is currently represented by Tabla Rasa...