Charles Gesmar Nude Drawings and Watercolors

"Fall to Grace" is an original ink and watercolor painting on paper mounted to wood by artist Robert Kraiza measuring 19in height x 9in width. Artist Statement // In my work I invoke a whimsical world inspired by Victorian and Edwardian eras. To me they represent a romantic time period that has roots that extend directly into the modern world, both good and bad. The customs and aesthetics of the period are both fascinating and breathtaking but a vast portion of the population was victim to subjugation. It has since been eradicated on paper but still permeates to this day. I am exploring an imagined supernatural world hidden just out of sight where these woman could escape. This is an evolution from my earlier work set in the same time period with a continuous thread of humans and their animal companions. Through witchcraft these women find strength in their abilities and each other to leave the oppressive world they inhabit behind and escape to the woods to their Covendom, the boundary that defines the territory of their coven. They shed their customs, their corsets, and their concerns at the edge of the forest and gather among the trees to explore their magical potential with their familiars at the side. This body of work is exploring multiple media with a consistent theme and setting; combining watercolor painting, pen and ink illustrations, and graphite drawings. All pieces are created in monochrome on hot press watercolor paper mounted on wood with a gold painted border reminiscent of daguerreotype frames. Watercolor allows me to achieve results ranging from soft ethereal layered washes similar to oil glazes to precise minute details I include in all of my works. Bio // ROBERT KRAIZA (pronounced: cry-zuh) is an illustrator and fine artist who lives and works in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He studied Media Arts and Animation at the Art Institute of Philadelphia. Interested in many media, he often paints in monochrome watercolor on a small scale, inspired by the Victorian era and whimsical dreams in both his art and personal aesthetic. Depicting fantasy worlds from the hidden life of nineteenth century witches to miniature children...

Gabryela Wasowicz is a Polish painter born in 1947. She studied at the Academy of Fine Arts of Warsaw and then at the Gerrit Rietveld Akademie in Amsterdam. Once she graduated in 197...

Despite its explicit content, this intimate scene conveys a sense of tenderness and romantic love characteristic of Chinese erotic art. Known as “spring palace paintings,” these ink and watercolor illustrations imagined the sensual delights of courtly life. Taken from an album of erotic paintings, this framed leaf departs from a tradition of depicting lovers in risqué outdoor settings by picturing an amorous coupling in a distinctly Qing-dynasty interior. The uniquely detailed surroundings shed light on the prevailing aesthetic tastes in decor and furniture of 19th-century China. Note the carved wooden headrest, blue and white censer...

Two Lovers - 1957 Original Watercolor on Paper Original 1957 watercolor depicting two nude figures, a man and a woman, laying together by Louis Nadalini (American, 1927-1995). The m...

Signed lower right, 'Gallo Giovanni' for Giovanni Gallo (Italian, 20th century) and dated 1954. Titled lower left, 'Eseguito a Pompei, 'Trionfo di Bacco'' (Done in Pompeii, 'Triumph of Bacchus...

Figure study drawing with two nudes by Michael William Eggleston (American, 20th Century). Signed with the initials "MWE" in the lower right co...

Late 20th Century watercolour on paper of a naked female figure before an open window. Signed bottom right but as yet not deciphered. Presented in carved, white painted wood frame. ...

"The Dance" by Ludovico Lipparini is a beautifully rendered work on paper in the classical tradition using graphite and gouache and created in the f...

Marta Lebek is a Polish artist born in 1978. She currently lives and works in Spain. She studied at the School of Fine Arts and specialized in the departm...

Charcoal and gouache on paper, titled ‘Phil Richards’ and dated ‘Friday Dec 8 72’ (lower left), 64cm x 48cm (72cm x 56cm framed).(Provenance: the Artist’s estate (stamped verso)). the picture is framed behind UV glass Stonehouse had an extraordinary life. As a young art student studying fashion illustration, he joined the Royal Artillery at the beginning of WWII but soon became a part of the Special Operations Executive (SOE). He was sent to France as a radio operator but three and a half months later was caught by the Gestapo, tortured, given a death sentence and then selected for slave labour. He spent the subsequent war years in three French prisons and five concentration and labour camps, including Dachau. He still managed to continue to draw in some of the camps. Following the war, Stonehouse went to the US and continued his career as a fashion artist painting for magazines like Vogue, Harper's Bazaar and Elizabeth Arden. He was also an accomplished portraitist. His work is celebrated in Brian Stonehouse...

Italian School, 16th Century Provenance: Private Collection, New York This intriguing drawing is a study by an anonymous 16th-century Italian artist after a vignette in Michelangelo’s fresco of The Last Judgement in the Sistine Chapel. The altar wall of the Sistine Chapel was already richly decorated when Pope Clement VII commissioned Michelangelo to paint his Last Judgment...

Despite its explicit content, this intimate scene conveys a sense of tenderness and romantic love characteristic of Chinese erotic art. Known as “sp...