Gaston La Touche Art

Thomas Sparacino (American, 1942-2011) "Family" Mixed Media Painting c.1972 Fantastic mixed media painting by Bay Area artist and teacher T. Sparacino. Dimensions 22 1/2" x 16". T...

WILLIAM SHACKLETON, NEAC (1872-1933) Sorting the Catch – Study for The Mackerel Nets Oil on paper, unframed 32 by 46.5 cm., 12 ½ by 18 ¼ in. (mou...

MODERNIST DRAWING New Hope Mid-Century WPA Abstract Non-Objective Jazz Modern. Signed with a "Ramstonev" stamp lower right. RAMSTONEV Cooperative Art Project (1937-1939). In the late 1930s, Charles Ramsey became close friends with Charles Evans and Louis Stone. He persuaded them to join him teaching his New Hope summer classes in non-objective painting. Soon, a history-making collaboration began. In 1937, meeting in Evans' studio at the rear of Cryer's Hardware store on Main Street in New Hope, a decision was made to establish the Co-Operative Painting Project. They were intrigued by the cooperative ad-lib process by which jazz musicians created their music. Believing this to be the quintessential American contribution to music, they theorized that a similar result might be obtainable with art, a "visual jam session." This particlarly fascinated Ramsey, who was a jazz buff and had a large collection of jazz records. The objective was to jointly collaborate in the creation of a painting as well as applying collective criticism during its creation. By creating forward movement by general consent, they believed they could produce a higher level of beauty. By consensus it was decided that subject matter would be non-objective. Up to eight people would participate and stop when the painting "felt" finished by common agreement. These co-operative works were done in several different mediums- the majority in pastel, but some in watercolor, gouache, graphite or cut paper collage. On occasion, the group would create a series, as opposed to a single work, created in steps by three or four artists. One of the occasional participants was famed New Hope poet, Stanley Kunitz. These series could range in number from four to sixteen paintings in each. The first of a series would be very basic and the last a fully finished work. In the scope of importance among the New Hope Modernist...

Sam Norkin's original caricature of Liza Minnelli in "FLORA THE RED MENACE" Off Broadway Musical Theatrical Caricature. Published in the NY Daily News on May 9, 1965. Ink and gouache on board; dimensions: 23" x 15 1/4. Framed Samuel Norkin (1917-2011) was a Brooklyn, New York-born cartoonist who specialized in theatre caricatures for more than seven decades. His drawings of theatre, opera, ballet and film celebrities appeared in Variety, Backstage, The Philadelphia Enquirer, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe and many other publications. Norkin learned composition and anatomy from the muralist Mordi Gassner...

BYE BYE BIRDIE Original 1960 Broadway Musical Costume Drawing Tony Award Elvis. Miles White (1915 – 2000) BYE BYE BIRDIE 11 x 8 inches Mixed Media on...

"#159 – SLEEP" is from Amy Williams' series "A Farewell to Arms" – wherein the artist works directly onto page 159 of a found copy of Ernest Hemingway's WWII romance novel. The artis...

"#186 – WOUNDED WERE COMING" is from Amy Williams' series A Farewell to Arms – wherein the artist works directly onto pages of a found copy of Ernest Hemingway's WWII romance novel. The artist selects certain words and phrases from page 186 to isolate as a poem, and then draws, inks, redacts and paints the rest of the page according to the text. The resulting poem reads "The wounded were coming / men that were scared / I felt the rain in my face / It was getting dark." – Hemingway's novel is a doomed romance between a wounded American soldier and an Italian nurse – note the feminine form on the page, with a "dress" or apron that looks skeletal, bloody and rained upon, all at once. From Amy Williams – "My recent work is focused on making treated book pages using a found vintage...

ABSTRACT American Woman Abstract Non-objective Mid 20th Century Modern Drawing Irene Rice Pereira (1902-1971) Abstract 8 1/2 x 5 1/2 inches Watercolor, gouache, and ink on black paper Signed lower right Framed by Bark BIO rene Pereira was born in 1902 in Chelsea, Massachusetts and grew up in Great Barrington. She was strongly influenced by her mother who was an amateur artist. Irene began art lessons at the age of fifteen; she took a secretarial job because her father had died. She took art classes at the Art Students League in New York City. At the age of twenty-one she married the first of three husbands, Humberto Pereira, whose name she kept. She traveled extensively in Europe and North Africa and was much inspired by the expansive vistas of the Sahara Desert. Returning to New York, she began incorporating these visions into her work, increasingly experimental in her styles and methods. At first she painted on canvas, then she devised a means of actually incorporating light into her works by painting on layers of glass and mounting the layers together. In 1942 she married George Brown, an engineer, who helped her experiment with a variety of materials. By the 1950s she became more interested in writing poetry and, divorced from Brown in 1952, she married George Reavey, an Irish Poet...

Linda Turner, raised both in NYC and Northern Virginia, resides in Brooklyn, NY. She achieved a BFA in Surface Design/Textile Design from the Fashion Inst...

Linda Turner, raised both in NYC and Northern Virginia, resides in Brooklyn, NY. She achieved a BFA in Surface Design/Textile Design from the Fashion Inst...

Bless You All Tony Award Broadway Costume Design Mid 20th Century Theatre Modern. Miles White (1915 – 2000) "Bless You All," 15 x 11 (sight) inches. Mixed media on paper. The musical opened December 13, 1950 at the Mark Hellinger Theatre. Miles won the 1951 Tony Award for Costume Design. Miles was one of my closest friends for the last 20 years of his life. We live with one of his two Tony Awards and a dozen drawings. BIO White was a top Broadway and Hollywood costume designer. The artist created the costumes for the original Broadway productions of OKLAHOMA, CAROUSEL, PAL JOEY and BYE BYE BIRDIE...

"#224 – ABANDONED, SEPARATED" is from Amy Williams' series A Farewell to Arms – wherein the artist works directly onto page 224 of a found copy of Ernest ...