René Georges Hermann-Paul Art

A 1928 woodcut on paper of a self-portrait of notable Chicago Modernist artist, Emil Armin. Artwork size: 10 1/2" x 8". Archivally matted to: 12 1/2" x 14 1/2. Signed, titled and numbered in pencil. Edition 7/30. Emil Armin was born in Radautz, Austria in 1883. By the age of 10, Armin was orphaned and was raised by his older siblings. He supported himself by working in restaurants and drew in his spare time. In 1905, at the age of 21, Armin immigrated to Chicago. He began studying at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1907, but financial difficulties forced him to start and stop a number of times, finally graduating in 1920. He studied with George Bellows and Randall Davey. Armin was an integral part of Chicago’s 57th Street Art Colony and exhibited in both the more avant-garde Chicago No-Jury Society Shows, as well as the more formal and conventional Chicago Society of Artists Exhibitions, the Chicago Renaissance Society and Art Institute of Chicago (1922-1949) exhibitions. He taught at Hull House...

Mixed media on paper Hand signed and titled Unique piece Mint condition

JESSIE ARMS BOTKE (1883 – 1971) PELICANS c 1927-30 Color woodcut, small edition 13 3/8” x 15 3/8”, sheet 15 x 17”. Signed in pencil. Annotated “Botke Prints” Good impression and col...

Mixed media on paper Hand signed and titled Unique piece Mint condition

A late 18th or early 19th century watercolour view of a group of figures in a village square. Though not apparently signed the work is very competent and of high quality. It is frame...

Mixed media on paper Hand signed and titled Unique piece Mint condition

Todros Geller (1889 – 1949) was a Jewish American artist and teacher best known as a master printmaker and a leading artist among Chicago’s art community.Geller was born in Vinnytsia, the Russian Empire (now Ukraine) in 1889.[2] He studied art in Odessa and continued his studies after moving to Montreal in 1906 where he immigrated to Canada. He married and moved to Chicago in 1918, where he studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago until 1923. Geller produced paintings, woodcuts, woodcarvings, and etchings. His work focused on Jewish tradition, often including moralistic themes and social commentary, shtetl, ghetto life, and the intersection of Jewish tradition with modern-day Chicago. He regarded art as a tool for social reform and he spent a large part of his career teaching art. His work was commissioned for stained glass windows, bookplates, community centers and Yiddish and English books. He was regarded as a leader in the field of synagogue and religious art. He designed stained glass window for synagogues in Omaha, Fort Worth, Dayton, Stamford, and Chicago Heights. Over the course of his career he illustrated more than 40 books. In addition to conducting classes in his studio, Geller was head of art at the Jewish People’s Institute (JPI), supervisor of art for the Board of Jewish Education and director of art for the College of Jewish Studies (which became the Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning and Leadership) and taught at Hull House. Many prominent Chicago artists studied drawing and painting under Geller. Geller was a source of inspiration to Aaron Bohrod and Mitchell Siporin, among others. Irene Gordon was also among his pupils. In 1926, Geller formed what would become a lengthy working relationship with Chicago publisher and cultural activist L. M. Shteyn (a pseudonym for Yitshak Leyb Fradkin, anglicized as L.M. Stein in his English language correspondence). Shteyn and Geller shared a similar ideology, were both considered radical progressives, were part of the Chicago Jewish Left who worked to promote the Yiddish language and they both supported the Soviet Union for its commitment to the Yiddish language and to the Jewish settlement in Birobidzhan. Shteyn's Yiddish press, the L. M. Shteyn Farlag, published at least eight monographs illustrated by Geller and four art albums dedicated to his work. Geller was one of the founding members of "Around the Palette" in Chicago in 1926, a club where artists shared their personal views of art and its role in society. The club became the "American Jewish Art Club", in 1940 and subsequently the "American Jewish Artists Club" in the early 1990s. Other founding members included Emil Armin, David Bekker, Aaron Bohrod, Fritzi Brod...

Mixed media on paper Hand signed and titled Unique piece Mint condition

Mixed media on paper Hand signed and titled Unique piece Mint condition

Mixed media on paper Hand signed and titled Unique piece Mint condition

A lovely and curious composition, circa 1780. Ink and wash on tissue thin Japon paper, adhered to period cream laid paper, 5 1/4 x 3 3/8 inches (132 x 84 mm), the full sheet. With ...

An original mid century modern woodblock print. This work is hand signed illegibly and titled "Wedding Party".