Nell Blaine Furniture
American, 1922-1996
Nell Blaine, painter of still lifes and landscapes in brilliant colors, created abstract work that gives the appearance of being done in a carefree, totally lighthearted manner but in fact is the result of years of disciplined study. It is also an effect achieved after rehabilitation from polio, which nearly took her life.
Suffering a paralyzed right hand, she taught herself to paint with her left hand, and she devoted much time to applying colors, some times as many as fifty varieties. She attributed her fascination with color with its discovery when she was two years old and corrective eye surgery allowed her to see color for the first time.
Blaine was raised in the Richmond, Virginia, where she grew to hate the prevalent racial discrimination and left home at an early age. In high school, she was skilled enough to begin selling her artwork, which was mostly posters and portraits. She attended the Richmond School of Art, now Virginia Commonwealth University, between 1939 and 1942 but left its classical realist curriculum when one of the instructors introduced her to modern art.
She used money she had earned from commercial art and went to New York and studied with Hans Hofmann, teacher of Abstract Expressionism. Shortly after, she married a jazz musician and immersed herself in the world of jazz, beating drums and improvising expressive dances, and associating with Charlie Parker, Dizzie Gillespie, and Beat Generation writer Jack Kerouac. Her paintings of that time reflect her strong developing sense of relationship between jazz and abstract art.
In 1944 at age twenty two, she became the youngest member of the American Abstract Artists and exhibited hard-edged geometric paintings, mostly black and white with accents of bright colors. She joined a cooperative of abstract artists and worked so hard at organizing shows that some referred to it as the Blaine Street Gallery.
She was a strong personality who had special influence on Larry Rivers and Jane Freilicher and appeared to thrive in the New York art scene of the 1940s. However, she decided that her lifestyle was unhealthy, and she left the city, had a period of seclusion, and then went to France where she admired the work of Gustave Courbet, Jean Antoine Watteau, Eugene Delacroix, and Nicholas Poussin and took up figurative art in an abstract style.
She became known as a "painterly realist," and added landscapes and interiors to her subject matter. She earned fellowships to Yaddo and the MacDowell Colony and began spending at least half the year in Gloucester, Massachusetts. She also traveled in Mexico.
In 1959 on the island of Mykonos, Greece, she had polio. Her New York art friends in an exhibition of seventy-one artists raised money for extensive treatment at Mount Sinai Hospital. After recovery, she settled in a studio on Riverside Drive, spent her summers in Gloucester, and painted from her wheelchair. She died in 1996.to
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
6
10,358
3,929
2,500
2,241
Creator: Nell Blaine
"Abstraction" India Ink on Paper by Nell Blaine, USA, 1948
By Nell Blaine
Located in New York, NY
During her first years in New York Blaine's work, which had previously been tightly realist, turned abstract, inspired by Mondrian, Leger and Jean Helion. At one time she was the you...
Category
1940s American Vintage Nell Blaine Furniture
Materials
Paper
Related Items
Abstract Expressionist Ink Drawing on Paper by Salvatore Grippi 1953
By Salvatore Grippi
Located in Brooklyn, NY
This ink figurative abstract Expressionist piece on paper is signed by its creator, noted New York School artist Salvatore Grippi. Though undated, the piece is similar in form and st...
Category
1950s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Nell Blaine Furniture
Materials
Paper
Abstract, Ink on Paper Drawing, Signed on the Back
Located in Naples, IT
Abstract - drawing made with china ink on paper, signed on back, illegible signature.
Category
1980s Italian Post-Modern Vintage Nell Blaine Furniture
Materials
Paper
21st C India Ink Drawings '2 Available/Sold Separately' by Elliot Bergman
By Elliot Bergman
Located in Wainscott, NY
21st Century Black India Ink Drawings framed in Handmade Steel by Elliot Bergman
They are heavily layered and distinctly textured.
Bergman utilizes both traditional tools and foun...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Nell Blaine Furniture
Materials
Metal
$4,500 / item
H 65.5 in W 47.75 in D 1.25 in
Midcentury Abstract Expressionist Ink Drawing on Paper by Salvatore Grippi, 1953
By Salvatore Grippi
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Midcentury abstract expressionist ink drawing on paper by Salvatore Grippi, 1953. Measures: 9.5" x 12".
This ink wash figurative abstract Expressionist piece on paper is signed by it...
Category
1950s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Nell Blaine Furniture
Materials
Paper
$2,640 Sale Price
44% Off
H 1 in W 12 in D 9.5 in
Robert Freiman Watercolor and Ink on Paper, 1956
By Robert Freiman
Located in St.Petersburg, FL
A charming 1956 Robert Freiman watercolor and ink on paper.
Robert J Freiman (b. 1917 - d. 1991), deaf from birth, was born in New York City and attended the Lexington School for the Deaf. He studied art at the National Academy of Design, Pratt Institute, the Art Students League, the Parsons School of Design, and, in Paris, at the Ecole des Beaux Arts. Freiman’s spectrum of styles evolved considerably over the course of his long career, ranging from early portraiture and realistic landscape to mixed-media works using watercolor, acrylic, and pen. He was a regular exhibitor at the Sidewalk Art...
Category
1950s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Nell Blaine Furniture
1943 Abstract Art Ink on Paper Drawing signed Winkler
Located in Chula Vista, CA
AMBIANIC presents
Art Ink on Paper Abstract Drawing
signed Martin Kenneth Winkler 4-8-43
13.75 x 16.25 x 1 thick Art 9 x 11.5
parabola hyperbola
Preowned original vintage condition....
Category
Mid-20th Century American Modern Nell Blaine Furniture
Materials
Paper
Middle Eastern Pen & Ink Drawing On Paper
Located in Chicago, IL
Pen and ink drawing on paper depicting Middle Eastern musicians and horse in a dream like sequence, signed. Distressed wood frame measurements 31.25" H x 13" W x 1" D
Category
1960s Vintage Nell Blaine Furniture
Materials
Pen
Three Women Carrying Bundles by Francisco Narvaez, Ink on Paper
Located in Southampton, NY
Three Women Carrying Bundles by Francisco Narvaez, Ink on Paper
This is a mid-20th century ink drawing signed by Narváez. The artwork depicts three figures, possibly women or childre...
Category
20th Century Mexican Nell Blaine Furniture
Materials
Paper
Robert Freiman Watercolor and Ink on Paper, 1957
By Robert Freiman
Located in St.Petersburg, FL
A Classic midcentury watercolor and ink on paper by Robert Freiman, signed and dated 1957.
Robert J Freiman (b. 1917 - d. 1991), deaf from birth, was born in New York City and attended the Lexington School for the Deaf. He studied art at the National Academy of Design, Pratt Institute, the Art Students League, the Parsons School of Design, and, in Paris, at the Ecole des Beaux Arts. Freiman’s spectrum of styles evolved considerably over the course of his long career, ranging from early portraiture and realistic landscape to mixed-media works using watercolor, acrylic, and pen. He was a regular exhibitor at the Sidewalk Art...
Category
1950s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Nell Blaine Furniture
Jacques Deperthes ink on paper
Located in grand Lancy, CH
Jacques Deperthes ink on paper signed and dated 1968
Category
1960s French Vintage Nell Blaine Furniture
Materials
Glass, Wood, Paper
Vintage MCM Abstract Ink on Paper
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
Immerse your space in the compelling aesthetics of the mid-20th century with this striking vintage abstract ink on paper artwork. Characterized by its bold, graphic black shapes agai...
Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Nell Blaine Furniture
Materials
Glass, Wood, Paper
Robert Motherwell Ink on Paper, 1976
By Robert Motherwell
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
Robert Motherwell, Untiled, Ink on Paper, 1976
Robert Motherwell (American, 1915-1991)
Ink on handmade paper 11 inches high x 16 inches wide
This work is framed in an Italian gil...
Category
20th Century American Modern Nell Blaine Furniture
Materials
Glass, Giltwood, Paper
Previously Available Items
Nell Blaine "Abstraction with Blue, Red and Yellow" Oil on Canvas, USA, 1944
By Nell Blaine
Located in New York, NY
Blaine's work had begun as "tightly realist" but transformed to an abstract style, which was inspired by artists such as Piet Mondrian and Fernand Leger. Blaine later explained, "[By...
Category
1940s American Vintage Nell Blaine Furniture
Materials
Canvas
H 51 in W 70.25 in D 2 in
"Abstraction CH Collection #H" Gouache on Paper by Nell Blaine, USA 1940s
By Nell Blaine
Located in New York, NY
During her first years in New York Blaine's work, which had previously been tightly realist, turned abstract, inspired by Mondrian, Leger and Jean Helion. At one time she was the you...
Category
1940s American Vintage Nell Blaine Furniture
Materials
Paper
Nell Blaine furniture for sale on 1stDibs.
Nell Blaine furniture are available for sale on 1stDibs. These distinctive items are frequently made of paper and are designed with extraordinary care. There are many options to choose from in our collection of Nell Blaine furniture, although beige editions of this piece are particularly popular. If you’re looking for additional options, many customers also consider furniture by Salvatore Grippi, Robert Levin, and William Littlefield. Prices for Nell Blaine furniture can differ depending upon size, time period and other attributes — on 1stDibs, these items begin at $4,500 and can go as high as $6,500, while a piece like these, on average, fetch $6,500.