James Montgomery Flagg Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

This vigorous drawing has long been attributed to Polidoro da Caravaggio: The Abduction of the Sabine Women is one of the scenes that Polidoro depicted between 1525 and 1527 on the façade of the Milesi Palazzo in Rome. However, the proximity to another drawing inspired by this same façade, kept at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, and to other drawings inspired by Polidoro kept at the Musée du Louvre, leads us to propose an attribution to Biagio Pupini, a Bolognese artist whose life remains barely known, despite the abundant number of drawings attributed to him. 1. Biagio Pupini, a Bolognese artist in the light of the Roman Renaissance The early life of Biagio Pupini, an important figure of the first half of the Cinquecento in Bologna - Vasari mentions him several times - is still poorly known. Neither his date of birth (probably around 1490-1495) nor his training are known. He is said to have been a pupil of Francesco Francia (1450 - 1517) and his name appears for the first time in 1511 in a contract with the painter Bagnacavallo (c. 1484 - 1542) for the frescoes of a church in Faenza. He then collaborated with Girolamo da Carpi, at San Michele in Bosco and at the villa of Belriguardo. He must have gone to Rome for the first time with Bagnacavallo between 1511 and 1519. There he discovered the art of Raphael, with whom he might have worked, and that of Polidoro da Caravaggio. This first visit, and those that followed, were the occasion for an intense study of ancient and modern art, as illustrated by his abundant graphic production. Polidoro da Caravaggio had a particular influence on the technique adopted by Pupini. Executed on coloured paper, his drawings generally combine pen, brown ink and wash with abundant highlights of white gouache, as in the drawing presented here. 2. The Abduction of the Sabine Women Our drawing is an adaptation of a fresco painted between 1525 and 1527 by Polidoro da Caravaggio on the façade of the Milesi Palace in Rome. These painted façades were very famous from the moment they were painted and inspired many artists during their stay in Rome. These frescoes are now very deteriorated and difficult to see, as the palace is in a rather narrow street. The episode of the abduction of the Sabine women (which appears in the centre of the photo above) is a historical theme that goes back to the origins of Rome and is recounted both by Titus Livius (Ab Urbe condita I,13), by Ovid (Fasti III, 199-228) and by Plutarch (II, Romulus 14-19). After killing his twin brother Romus, Romulus populates the city of Rome by opening it up to refugees and brigands and finds himself with an excess of men. Because of their reputation, none of the inhabitants of the neighbouring cities want to give them their daughters in marriage. The Romans then decide to invite their Sabine neighbours to a great feast during which they slaughter the Sabines and kidnap their daughters. The engraving made by Giovanni Battista Gallestruzzi (1618 - 1677) around 1656-1658 gives us a good understanding of the Polidoro fresco, allowing us to see how Biagio Pupini reworked the scene to extract this dynamic group. With a remarkable economy of means, Biagio Pupini takes over the left-hand side of the fresco and depicts in a very dense space two main groups, each consisting of a Roman and a Sabine, completed by a group of three soldiers in the background (which seems to differ quite significantly from Polidoro's composition). The balance of the drawing is based on a very strongly structured composition. The drawing is organised around a median vertical axis, which runs along both the elbow of the kidnapped Sabine on the left and the foot of her captor, and the two main diagonals, reinforced by four secondary diagonals. This diamond-shaped structure creates an extremely dynamic space, in which centripetal movements (the legs of the Sabine on the right, the arm of the soldier on the back at the top right) and centrifugal movements (the arm of the kidnapper on the left and the legs of the Sabine he is carrying away, the arm of the Sabine on the right) oppose each other, giving the drawing the appearance of a whirlpool around a central point of support situated slightly to the left of the navel of the kidnapper on the right. 3. Polidoro da Caravaggio, and the decorations of Roman palaces Polidoro da Caravaggio was a paradoxical artist who entered Raphael's (1483 - 1520) workshop at a very young age, when he oversaw the Lodges in the Vatican. Most of his Roman work, which was the peak of his career, has disappeared, as he specialised in facade painting, and yet these paintings, which are eminently visible in urban spaces, have influenced generations of artists who copied them abundantly during their visits to Rome. Polidoro Caldara was born in Caravaggio around 1495-1500 (the birthplace of Michelangelo Merisi, known as Caravaggio, who was born there in 1571), some forty kilometres east of Milan. According to Vasari, he arrived as a mason on the Vatican's construction site and joined Raphael's workshop around 1517 (at the age of eighteen according to Vasari). This integration would have allowed Polidoro to work not only on the frescoes of the Lodges, but also on some of the frescoes of the Chambers, as well as on the flat of Cardinal Bibiena in the Vatican. After Raphael's death in 1520, Polidoro worked first with Perin del Vaga before joining forces with Maturino of Florence (1490 - 1528), whom he had also known in Raphael's workshop. Together they specialised in the painting of palace façades. They were to produce some forty façades decorated with grisaille paintings imitating antique bas-reliefs. The Sack of Rome in 1527, during which his friend Maturino was killed, led Polidoro to flee first to Naples (where he had already stayed in 1523), then to Messina. It was while he was preparing his return to the peninsula that he was murdered by one of his assistants, Tonno Calabrese, in 1543. In his Vite, Vasari celebrated Polidoro as the greatest façade decorator of his time, noting that "there is no flat, palace, garden or villa in Rome that does not contain a work by Polidoro". Polidoro's facade decorations, most of which have disappeared as they were displayed in the open air, constitute the most important lost chapter of Roman art of the Cinquecento. The few surviving drawings of the painter can, however, give an idea of the original appearance of his murals and show that he was an artist of remarkable and highly original genius. 4. The façade of the Milesi Palace Giovanni Antonio Milesi, who commissioned this palace, located not far from the Tiber, north of Piazza Navona, was a native of the Bergamo area, like Polidoro, with whom he maintained close friendly ties. Executed in the last years before the Sack of Rome, around 1526-1527, the decoration of Palazzo Milesi is considered Polidoro's greatest decorative success. An engraving by Ernesto Maccari made at the end of the nineteenth century allows us to understand the general balance of this façade, which was still well preserved at the time. The frescoes were not entirely monochrome, but alternated elements in chiaroscuro simulating marble bas-reliefs and those in ochre simulating bronze and gold vases...

Howard Tangye (b.1948, Australia) has been an influential force in fashion for decades. Lecturing at London’s Central Saint Martins for 35 years, including 16 years as head of BA Wom...

A wonderful study for an American Veterans Remembrance Day Poster Study (National Poppy Day, American Legion) by Elaine Jeanne Glickman (Ginsburg), created at Ferry Hall in Lake Fore...

Signed lower right, 'Stuart Miller' (American, 20th Century) and painted circa 1965.

Howard Tangye (b.1948, Australia) has been an influential force in fashion for decades. Lecturing at London’s Central Saint Martins for 35 years, including 16 years as head of BA Wom...

Scottish artist Robert Carrick (1829-1904) is renowned for his landscape and figurative paintings in oil and watercolor. This painting features detailed drawings of figures in the foreground with wagon, and the town and scenery in the background, painted over in watercolor in rich raw umber and red-brown tones in the foreground and blue green tones in the background. Carrick showed promise at a young age, exhibiting his work at the Royal Academy age 16. He was a member of the Royal Institute. This two-toned watercolor work has detailed figures, wagon with hay in the forefront above a view of Dunoon town near Glasgow as it was long ago. Signed by the artist, lower left with an inscription that reads: 'View of Dunoon, Argyllshire drawn by Robert Carrick, Glasgow, for David Allan'. Verso includes a copy of the same inscription. Saltire Gallerie replaced the cracked and dirty plain glass with art glass and added an acid-free paper behind the work. While doing this work we found an art giclee, included with the painting. Presented in a patterned wooden frame with art glass. Dunoon was a thriving town on the river at the time of this work, and later became part of Glasgow. The view from above the town is a popular one, as Saltire Gallerie has another view of Dunoon from above by Scottish artist Patrick Downie...

Original artwork for Manville Card Company. Circa 1975. Condition is very good. Watercolor and gouache on heavy card stock. Will be sold with original Christmas card with notations. Sheet size 9 by 10...

Arabian Charger Seller" by Antonio Rivas (Spanish, 1845-1911) stands as an exquisite example of Orientalism, a 19th-century artistic movement that sought to depict the rich and diverse cultures of the East. Rivas, a master of his craft, delves into this genre with a keen eye for detail and a dedication to authenticity that brings the scene to life. In this antique watercolor on paper...

SEDUCTRESS is a unique original mixed media watercolor and graphite on paper, hand drawn and painted by the Dutch artist Nico Vrielink. SEDUCTRESS portrays a dark haired young woman wearing an off-shoulder evening gown and long elegant evening gloves looking sideways over her shoulder, seductively posing on a modern settee, her warm coral pink lipstick, rose lavender eye shadow and warm rose blushed cheeks enhancing her passionate mood. SEDUCTRESS is an erotic fashion portrait of expressive, modern boudoir art...

Inscribed: 3. una Madonna che va in Egitto, verso, and Madonna che va in Egitto, recto Provenance: Private Collection, UK, since 1999 This expressive and boldly executed drawing is the work of Luca...

Original vintage artwork for the Manville Greeting Card Company., Artist unknown. Not signed. Watercolor and gouache on heavy card stock Dated...

Hank Aaron, nicknamed "Hammer" or "Hammerin' Hank", was an American professional baseball right fielder who played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball, from 1954 through 1976, primarily with the Braves Organization. Hall of Fame Induction 1982 Ted Williams was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire 19-year Major League Baseball career, primarily as a left fielder for the Boston Red Sox from 1939 to 1960; his career was interrupted by military service during World War II and the Korean War. Induction into The Hall of Fame 1972 Stanley Frank Musial, nicknamed Stan the Man, was an American baseball outfielder and first baseman. He spent 22 seasons in Major League Baseball, playing for the St. Louis Cardinals, from 1941 to 1944 and from 1946 to 1963. Hall of Fame Induction 1969 Willie Howard Mays Jr., nicknamed "The Say Hey Kid", is an American former professional baseball center fielder. He spent almost all of his 22-season Major League Baseball career playing for the New York/San Francisco Giants before finishing his career with the New York Mets Hall of Fame Induction 1979 Margie Lawrence...