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Caroline Durieux Art

American, 1896-1989

Caroline Durieux was a  printmaker, painter, satirist, innovator and social activist. She was born in New Orleans and was already making sketches, by the age of four. Her formal art training was at Newcomb College (1912–17) and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (1918–20). Carl Zigrosser of the Philadelphia Museum of Art encouraged Durieux to try lithography. While living in Mexico, she learned lithography from Emilio Amero and later, worked with Diego Rivera and the other Mexican masters. Her lithographs of the 1930s and 1940s rank as some of the finest satirical pieces ever made. Durieux joined the art faculty at Newcomb College and taught there from 1938–43. She also served as the director for Louisiana’s WPA Art Project, which she administered without regard for the race of the participants, within a segregated society. In 1943, she left New Orleans to teach at Louisiana State University, wherein in the early 1950s, she began experimental work on electron printmaking, demonstrating the peaceful use of atomic technology. She also successfully produced the first color cliché verres, while simultaneously, perfecting her technique for making electron prints. Durieux’s work is exhibited in the Museum of Modern Art, the Chicago Art Institute, the National Gallery of Art, the New Orleans Museum of Art, the Library of Congress and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

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

1940s American Modern Caroline Durieux Art

Materials

Lithograph

Morning
By Caroline Durieux
Located in New Orleans, LA
Caroline Durieux created the technique (electron print) used in the depiction of "Morning".e. This is only one of 5 impressions. Some have theorized that the image is close to that of the artist's brother, Professor Charles Durieux. In the electron print technique, radioactive isotopes are mixed with printing ink. A drawing is made and exposed face-to-face to paper coated with a radio-sensitized substance. The paper is then developed and produces an exact image of the original drawing. “The image is transferred from the radioactive drawing to the sensitized paper by invisible beta rays,” says Dr. Wheeler. “Since beta rays are electrons, we named the process Electron Printing.” Caroline Durieux (American, 1896 – 1989) Printmaker, painter, satirist, innovator, social activist, Caroline Durieux was born in New Orleans and was already making sketches by the age of four. Her formal art training was at Newcomb College (1912-1917) and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (1918-1920). Carl Zigrosser of the Philadelphia Museum of Art encouraged Durieux to try lithography. While living in Mexico, she learned lithography from Emilio Amero...
Category

1950s American Modern Caroline Durieux Art

Materials

Photographic Paper, Lithograph

Generation Gap
By Caroline Durieux
Located in San Francisco, CA
This artwork titled "Generation Gap" c1978 is an original Cliche Verre on paper by noted New Orleans artist Caroline Spellman Wogan Durieux, 1896-1989. It is hand signed, titled, dated and inscribed artist proof in pencil by the artist. The image size is 8.75 x 11.75 inches, sheet size is 10.75 x 13.65 inches. It is in excellent condition, two small pieces of hanging tape from previous framing remaining on the back. About the artist: As a Southern female satirist, Caroline Spellman Wogan Durieux was a rare phenomenon in the early twentieth century. Today, she is highly regarded for her stinging lithographs that touch on human foibles as well as some of the important issues of her day. Born to a family of Creole descent in New Orleans, young Caroline was precocious; she began drawing at age four and completed a portfolio of watercolors depicting her city by the time she was twelve. She took lessons from Mary Butler, a member of the art faculty at Sophie Newcomb College, and, beginning in 1912, matriculated at the school full-time, where her instructors included Ellsworth Woodward, chair of the art department. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in design in 1916 and one in education in 1917. Awarded a scholarship by the New Orleans Art Association, Durieux pursued further coursework at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts from 1918 to 1920. Years later, she was encouraged to try lithography by Carl Zigrosser, an expert curator of prints at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, who became her mentor. With her husband Pierre Durieux—an importer of Latin American goods and later the chief representative of General Motors for South America—Caroline Durieux spent time in Cuba during the early 1920s. The couple moved in 1926 to Mexico City, where she met the great muralist Diego Rivera and became involved in the local art community. Following a short interval in New York City, Durieux went back to Mexico in 1931 and enrolled at the Academy of San Carlos (now the National University of Mexico) to study lithography. She returned to New Orleans seven years later and was hired to teach at her alma mater, Newcomb College, from 1938 to 1943. Starting in 1939, Durieux served as the director of Louisiana’s Works Progress Administration program, and her division was the only one in the state not to practice racial discrimination. This was a matter she felt strongly about, stating: “I had a feeling that an artist is an artist and it doesn’t make any difference what color he or she is.” From 1943 until her retirement in 1964, Durieux was a member of the faculty at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. Durieux’s forte was lithography, a technique popular in the mid-nineteenth century and long associated with social commentary, and her prints proved no exception. Her work in the 1930s and 1940s coincided with a rise in art that dealt with poverty, racism, and totalitarianism. She often presented stereotyped social climbers...
Category

Late 20th Century American Modern Caroline Durieux Art

Materials

Other Medium

Survivor
By Caroline Durieux
Located in New Orleans, LA
Caroline Durieux's "Survivor" is a pencil-signed lithograph created in 1947 in an edition of 20. It is illustrated in Carl Zigrosser's book on the artist published in 1949. Durieux on Survivor "An extra-terrestrial spotlight falls on this battered subhuman figure; he does not look directly into the light but away from it, raising his hand to it like a beggar. The worn pads on his hands and knees shows that he has walked on them, like an animal, for a long time. There is nothing to suggest that he can stand. The beam of light looks cold, machine like, impersonal. Scornful satire marks the limit of comedy for '. . . there is nothing funny about scorn which comes round again almost to the attitude of divine comedy.' Caroline Durieux (American, 1896 – 1989) Printmaker, painter, satirist, innovator, social activist, Caroline Durieux was born in New Orleans and was already making sketches by the age of four. Her formal art training was at Newcomb College (1912-1917) and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (1918-1920). Carl Zigrosser of the Philadelphia Museum of Art encouraged Durieux to try lithography. While living in Mexico, she learned lithography from Emilio Amero...
Category

1940s American Modern Caroline Durieux Art

Materials

Lithograph

Playboys (2 American male refugees from the Gatsby era preen on Mexican beach)
By Caroline Durieux
Located in New Orleans, LA
In these beady-eyed playboys, Durieux pokes some fun at the pride and pretensions of the Great Gatsby class. Here are two Americans pretending to be macho on a Mexican beach. Caroline Durieux (American, 1896 – 1989) Printmaker, painter, satirist, innovator, social activist, Caroline Durieux was born in New Orleans and was already making sketches by the age of four. Her formal art training was at Newcomb College (1912-1917) and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (1918-1920). Carl Zigrosser of the Philadelphia Museum of Art encouraged Durieux to try lithography. While living in Mexico, she learned lithography from Emilio Amero...
Category

1930s American Modern Caroline Durieux Art

Materials

Lithograph

Sub Culture
By Caroline Durieux
Located in San Francisco, CA
This artwork titled "Sub Culture" c1972 is an original color lithograph on wove paper by noted New Orleans artist Caroline Spellman Wogan Durieux, 1896-1989. It is hand signed, titled, dated and numbered 5/10 in pencil by the artist. The image size is 17.75 x 13 inches, sheet size is 19.85 x 15 inches. It is in excellent condition, some hanging tape from previous framing remaining on the back. About the artist: As a Southern female satirist, Caroline Spellman Wogan Durieux was a rare phenomenon in the early twentieth century. Today, she is highly regarded for her stinging lithographs that touch on human foibles as well as some of the important issues of her day. Born to a family of Creole descent in New Orleans, young Caroline was precocious; she began drawing at age four and completed a portfolio of watercolors depicting her city by the time she was twelve. She took lessons from Mary Butler, a member of the art faculty at Sophie Newcomb College, and, beginning in 1912, matriculated at the school full-time, where her instructors included Ellsworth Woodward, chair of the art department. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in design in 1916 and one in education in 1917. Awarded a scholarship by the New Orleans Art Association, Durieux pursued further coursework at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts from 1918 to 1920. Years later, she was encouraged to try lithography by Carl Zigrosser, an expert curator of prints at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, who became her mentor. With her husband Pierre Durieux—an importer of Latin American goods and later the chief representative of General Motors for South America—Caroline Durieux spent time in Cuba during the early 1920s. The couple moved in 1926 to Mexico City, where she met the great muralist Diego Rivera and became involved in the local art community. Following a short interval in New York City, Durieux went back to Mexico in 1931 and enrolled at the Academy of San Carlos (now the National University of Mexico) to study lithography. She returned to New Orleans seven years later and was hired to teach at her alma mater, Newcomb College, from 1938 to 1943. Starting in 1939, Durieux served as the director of Louisiana’s Works Progress Administration program, and her division was the only one in the state not to practice racial discrimination. This was a matter she felt strongly about, stating: “I had a feeling that an artist is an artist and it doesn’t make any difference what color he or she is.” From 1943 until her retirement in 1964, Durieux was a member of the faculty at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. Durieux’s forte was lithography, a technique popular in the mid-nineteenth century and long associated with social commentary, and her prints proved no exception. Her work in the 1930s and 1940s coincided with a rise in art that dealt with poverty, racism, and totalitarianism. She often presented stereotyped social climbers...
Category

Late 20th Century American Modern Caroline Durieux Art

Materials

Lithograph

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Previously Available Items
Peace
By Caroline Durieux
Located in New Orleans, LA
Caroline Durieux created the technique (electron print) used in the depiction of Peace, a satirical take on how we seem to seek peace by bombing the hell out of countries This is #8 of only ten impressions. In the electron print technique, radioactive isotopes are mixed with printing ink. A drawing is made and exposed face-to-face to paper coated with a radio-sensitized substance. The paper is then developed and produces an exact image of the original drawing. “The image is transferred from the radioactive drawing to the sensitized paper by invisible beta rays,” says Dr. Wheeler. “Since beta rays are electrons, we named the process Electron Printing.” Caroline Durieux (American, 1896 – 1989) Printmaker, painter, satirist, innovator, social activist, Caroline Durieux was born in New Orleans and was already making sketches by the age of four. Her formal art training was at Newcomb College (1912-1917) and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (1918-1920). Carl Zigrosser of the Philadelphia Museum of Art encouraged Durieux to try lithography. While living in Mexico, she learned lithography from Emilio Amero...
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1970s American Modern Caroline Durieux Art

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Photographic Paper, Lithograph

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1940s American Modern Caroline Durieux Art

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Color

In Memoriam (Loving portrait of the artist's nanny near turn of 20th Century)
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Located in New Orleans, LA
Caroline Durieux created the technique (electron print) used in the depiction of Kanke, the black woman who took care of the artist when she was young. The nanny was the first person to encourage Durieux's artistic expression because she allowed Durieux to draw with brick in the courtyard of the family home. This is only one of ten impressions. In the electron print technique, radioactive isotopes are mixed with printing ink. A drawing is made and exposed face-to-face to paper coated with a radio-sensitized substance. The paper is then developed and produces an exact image of the original drawing. “The image is transferred from the radioactive drawing to the sensitized paper by invisible beta rays,” says Dr. Wheeler. “Since beta rays are electrons, we named the process Electron Printing.” Caroline Durieux (American, 1896 – 1989) Printmaker, painter, satirist, innovator, social activist, Caroline Durieux was born in New Orleans and was already making sketches by the age of four. Her formal art training was at Newcomb College (1912-1917) and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (1918-1920). Carl Zigrosser of the Philadelphia Museum of Art encouraged Durieux to try lithography. While living in Mexico, she learned lithography from Emilio Amero...
Category

1940s American Modern Caroline Durieux Art

Materials

Lithograph, Photographic Paper

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Caroline Durieux depicts three women sharing the latest gossip in this witty and satirical image. "Revelations" is a pencil-signed lithograph created by Durieux in 1945 in an edition...
Category

1940s American Modern Caroline Durieux Art

Materials

Lithograph

Plantation Garden
By Caroline Durieux
Located in New Orleans, LA
Caroline Durieux's image captures a lone figure in her garden in this southern plantation in Louisiana. "Plantation Garden" is a lithograph created by Durieux in 1946 in an edition o...
Category

1940s American Modern Caroline Durieux Art

Materials

Lithograph

Caroline Durieux art for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Caroline Durieux art available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by Caroline Durieux in lithograph, paper, photographic 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 Caroline Durieux art, so small editions measuring 8 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Douglas Gorsline, Arthur William Heintzelman., and Lynd Ward. Caroline Durieux art 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 $2,240, while the average work can sell for $1,600.

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