James Van Fossan Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Emil Faesch (1865 Basel - 1915 Basel). Sketch of a head. Charcoal on painting cardboard, 60 x 47.5 cm (folio size), signed and dated at lower right "E. Faesch. 1888.". Minor browning. - Carved in stone - About the artwork The life-size head has an immensely present presence. This effect is due to the fact that Faesch took his cue from academic classical...

Graphite and conté crayon on paper Signed and dated, l.r. This artwork is offered by ClampArt, located in New York City. Mark Beard, born in 1956 in Salt Lake City, now lives in Ne...

Graphite on paper Signed, c.l. This artwork is offered by ClampArt, located in New York City. Mark Beard, born in 1956 in Salt Lake City, now live...

Hermann Prell (1854 Leipzig - 1922 Dresden-Loschwitz). Half-length portrait of a Pharisee, 1885. Sketch for the right-hand figure in the painting Judas Iscariot, 1886. Pencil drawing heightened with opaque white and black chalk on beige-grey wove paper (papier vélin), 34 x 27.8 cm (visible size), 52 x 45 cm (mount), signed, dated and inscribed "H. PRELL 1885 zu 'Judas'". Minor browning, collection stamp on the reverse. - In the shadow of betrayal - About the artwork This painting is the sketch for the head of the Pharisee offering the coins to Judas in one of Herrmann Prell's major works, the painting Betrayal of Judas, completed in 1886. The painting belongs to the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden and is illustrated in Adolf Rosenberg: Prell, Bielefeld and Leipzig 1901, p. 21 (Fig. 19). It is especially highlighted in Thieme-Becker (vol. 27, p. 376). Hermann Prell, Betrayal of Judas, 1886 The monumental head, which fills the picture and is distinguished by its ornamented robe, is almost a lost profile, which in the executed painting is justified by the Pharisee's turning towards Judas. Despite the fact that the sitter withdraws from the viewer by turning away, it was necessary to artistically elaborate the motivation for the purchase of one of Christ's disciples, which is why the drawing focuses on the expression of the face, while the 'accessories' are treated in a more summary manner. In characterising the face, Hermann Prell performs a balancing act: since the Pharisee, despite his destructive actions, is an actor in the history of salvation, the head must show a dignity appropriate to the event, but at the same time the physiognomy must also bear witness to the scheming attitude that led to the betrayal. To solve this dilemma, Prell draws on the traditional depictions of the heads of the apostles, shading the face to indicate the obdurate darkness of the spirit and moving the base of the nose slightly upwards while the mouth falls away, thus giving a physiognomic expression to the motivation of the action. The fatal drama of the betrayal is expressed in the monumentalisation of the head and in the thunderous white highlights that contrast with the darkness of the chalk. As a study, considered by the artist to be a work in itself, this drawing reveals the pictorial problems and brainstorming of monumental painting. About the artist In 1872 Prell, who was one of the most important exponents of monumental painting of his time, began studying painting with Theodor Grosse at the Dresden Academy of Art and continued with Carl Gussow at the Berlin Academy in 1876. Hans von Marées taught him in Rome in 1878. More influential on his work, however, were Arnold Böcklin and Max Klinger, with whom Prell had been friends since his student days and with whom he worked together on several occasions. Prell's first major work, which established his reputation as a monumental painter, were the frescoes in the banqueting hall of the Architektenhaus in Berlin in 1881/82, commissioned by the state and depicting the different periods of architecture. Prell then went to Italy for two years to study fresco painting. Other major commissions followed. These included monumental frescoes in the town halls of Worms (1884), Hildesheim (1882-92), Gdansk (1895) and Dresden, the staircase of the Silesian Museum of Fine Arts in Breslau (1893/94), the throne room of the German Embassy in Rome (1896-99) and the staircase of the Albertinum in Dresden (1900-1904). From 1886 Prell taught at the academy of arts in Berlin and in 1892 he was appointed professor at the academy of arts in Dresden. His students included Osmar Schindler and Hans Unger...

Sketchbook Page with Figures and Anatomical Details in Pencil on Paper Drawings of a man at a desk and other figurative sections by an unknown artist (19th Century). On the left sid...

Portrait. 1966. watercolor on paper, 35.5x30 cm Dzidra Ezergaile (1926-2013) Born in Riga. School years alternate with summer work in the countryside...

Portrait. Watercolor on paper, 42x37 cm Dzidra Ezergaile (1926-2013) Born in Riga. School years alternate with summer work in the countryside. In 194...

One of the characters in this scene is a mature man, kneeling with his head bowed and hands clasped near his chest in a gesture of supplication. His posture conveys a sense of humili...

REX JOHN WHISTLER (British 1905-1944) The Plain Gangster Inscribed with title Pen, brush and ink Framed 20 by 16.5 cm., 8 by 10 ½ in. (frame size 39 b...

Georges Scott (1873-1943) Portrait of Jules Lagorio 1893, signed, dated and annotated on the right : "A monsieur Jules Lagorio, Souvenir de notre excursion à l'Estaque 12 mai 1893" Pencil on paper 24 x 22 cm In fair condition : an horizontal crease in the middle of the shhet, stains ans other creases, trace of the mount (see photographs please) In its original vintage framing : 33 x 30 cm If not in perfect condition, this intimate portrait by the young artist is really intersting and charming. The mention of it as a souvenir of an excursion to l'Estaque is interesting too. L'Estaque, near Marseille was a famous place for painters of the time such as Cezanne, Braque and Renoir who painted there the sea and shores. The young Georges Scott wanted to keep the souvenir of the excursion with his friend, but we have to think of the place by the gaze of the model contemplating it. Georges Scott, or Scott de Plagnolle (his full name wasGeorges Bertin Scott de Plagnolle ), was born on June 10 1873 in Paris, he was a painter and illustrator. He studied at the Alsatian School in Paris, where he drew a lot: “I have always drawn […]. My father was a painter and illustrator. I was born in a workshop ”. Fatherless in 1884, he studied at the Beaux-Arts, then was one of the pupils of Édouard Detaille, he was a member of French artists outside the competition in 1897. Painter and illustrator, he worked for various periodicals, including Cocorico and L'Illustration where his first drawing was published on March 19, 1892 (“La catastrophe d'Anderlues”). In 1911, the Minister of War Adolphe Messimy asked Scott and Detaille for studies to renovate the uniforms of the French Army: if their projects were not adopted, some were published in newspapers such as L'Illustration in March 1912 he covered as a war correspondent for the newspaper the First Balkan War, with the Bulgarian Army. He returned to Thrace inJuly 1913 for the Second Balkan War, but with the Greek Army, meeting King Constantine. In September 1913, on the occasion of the King of Greece...

Violet Oakley (1896-1961). Portrait of a Baby, ca. 1930. Conte crayon and pencil on laid paper, sheet measuring 11 x 14 inches. Framed measurement: 13.5 x 16.5 inches. Signed low...

Late 18th Century French pastel portrait on paper of a young lady in period dress in a 'feigned oval'. In gilt wood frame presented under glass. Very much of its period and similar ...