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Rolph Scarlett Art

American, 1889-1984

Rolph Scarlett was a painter of geometric abstraction during the American avant-garde movement of the 1930s and 1940s. Scarlett was born in Guelph, Ontario, Canada in 1889, he left Canada at the age of 18 to go to New York City and returned to Canada during the years of World War I. However, by 1924, Scarlett had established New York City as his home. While he was beginning his career as an abstract painter, he was designing stage scenery for George Bernard Shaw's play, Man and Superman and the Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall. In 1939, while creating the Museum of Non-Objective Painting (later the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum), Director Hilla Rebay began to take an interest in Scarlett's work. By 1940, he had become the new museum's chief lecturer. By 1953, the Guggenheim owned nearly 60 of his paintings and monoprints. Scarlett later became a resident of the Woodstock art colony for more than 25 years and showed his work in the Woodstock exhibits.

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Artist: Rolph Scarlett
Dealer: Lawrence Fine Art
Untitled Biomorphic
By Rolph Scarlett
Located in Lawrence, NY
Pastel on paper Collection of Samuel Esses, then by descent in the family Never afraid of trying new styles, curious and opinionated, constantly engaged with the world around him, R...
Category

1950s Abstract Rolph Scarlett Art

Materials

Gouache

Untitled 6
By Rolph Scarlett
Located in Lawrence, NY
Early geometric ala Kandinsky Oil on paper Estate of Sam Esses Never afraid of trying new styles, curious and opinionated, constantly engaged with the world around him, Rolph Scarle...
Category

1930s Abstract Geometric Rolph Scarlett Art

Materials

Oil

Modernist Composition #7
By Rolph Scarlett
Located in Lawrence, NY
Oil on artist board Collection of Samuel Esses, then by descent in the family Never afraid of trying new styles, curious and opinionated, constantly engaged with the world around hi...
Category

1930s Modern Rolph Scarlett Art

Materials

Oil

Modern Composition #2
By Rolph Scarlett
Located in Lawrence, NY
Oil on artist board Collection of Samuel Esses, then by descent in the family It is possible that this is an early modernist stage design Never afraid of trying new styles, curious...
Category

1930s Modern Rolph Scarlett Art

Materials

Oil

Autumn
By Rolph Scarlett
Located in Lawrence, NY
Oil and ink on heavy cardboard; from the Samuel Esses Collection This is a very early and somewhat uncharacteristic work for the artist with its clear debt to Expressionism. Never ...
Category

1910s Expressionist Rolph Scarlett Art

Materials

Oil, Ink

Untitled Biomorphic
By Rolph Scarlett
Located in Lawrence, NY
Provenance: Estate of Samuel Esses, then by descent in the family Gouache on paper Never afraid of trying new styles, curious and opinionated, constantly engaged with the world aro...
Category

1950s Abstract Rolph Scarlett Art

Materials

Gouache

Untitled Biomorphic
By Rolph Scarlett
Located in Lawrence, NY
Provenance: Estate of Samuel Esses, by descent in the family Gouache on paper4500 Never afraid of trying new styles, curious and opinionated, constantly engaged with the world arou...
Category

1950s Abstract Rolph Scarlett Art

Materials

Gouache

Untitled Biomorphic
By Rolph Scarlett
Located in Lawrence, NY
Provenance: Estate of Samuel Esses, by descent in the family Gouache on paper Never afraid of trying new styles, curious and opinionated, constantly engaged with the world around h...
Category

1950s Abstract Rolph Scarlett Art

Materials

Gouache

Untitled Biomorphic
By Rolph Scarlett
Located in Lawrence, NY
Provenance: Estate of Samuel Esses, then by descent in the family Never afraid of trying new styles, curious and opinionated, constantly engaged with the world around him, Rolph Sc...
Category

1950s Abstract Rolph Scarlett Art

Materials

Gouache

Untitled, Composition with Jagged Forms
By Rolph Scarlett
Located in Lawrence, NY
Provenance: Estate of the artist, his estate executor Harriette Tanin, New York collector Never afraid of trying new styles, curious and opinionated, constantly engaged with the wo...
Category

1940s Surrealist Rolph Scarlett Art

Materials

Oil

Girl with a Flower
By Rolph Scarlett
Located in Lawrence, NY
Gouache on Paper From the Estate of Samuel Esses and by descent Never afraid of trying new styles, curious and opinionated, constantly engaged with the world around him, Rolph Scarl...
Category

1940s Expressionist Rolph Scarlett Art

Materials

Acrylic, Gouache

Untitled (Lucifer and His Chariot)
By Rolph Scarlett
Located in Lawrence, NY
Mixed Media on Paper Never afraid of trying new styles, curious and opinionated, constantly engaged with the world around him, Rolph Scarlett more than once proved to be at the arti...
Category

1940s Surrealist Rolph Scarlett Art

Materials

Mixed Media

Portrait of a Young Man
By Rolph Scarlett
Located in Lawrence, NY
Gouache Estate of Samuel Esses Beautifully framed Never afraid of trying new styles, curious and opinionated, constantly engaged with the world around him, Rolph Scarlett more tha...
Category

1930s Expressionist Rolph Scarlett Art

Materials

Gouache

Untitled
By Rolph Scarlett
Located in Lawrence, NY
Gouache on sketchbook cover Estate of Sam Esses Never afraid of trying new styles, curious and opinionated, constantly engaged with the world around him, Rolph Scarlett more than on...
Category

1950s Surrealist Rolph Scarlett Art

Materials

Gouache

Does the Black Intrude
By Rolph Scarlett
Located in Lawrence, NY
Gouache on paper Estate of Samuel Esses Never afraid of trying new styles, curious and opinionated, constantly engaged with the world around him, Rolph Scarlett more than once prove...
Category

1950s Abstract Expressionist Rolph Scarlett Art

Materials

Gouache

Untitled Geometric
By Rolph Scarlett
Located in Lawrence, NY
Early geometric ala Kandinsky Oil on paper Estate of Sam Esses Never afraid of trying new styles, curious and opinionated, constantly engaged with the world around him, Rolph Scarle...
Category

1930s Abstract Geometric Rolph Scarlett Art

Materials

Oil

Untitled
By Rolph Scarlett
Located in Lawrence, NY
Pastel and colored pencil on paper Samuel Esses, estate of Samuel Esses, thence by descent Never afraid of trying new styles, curious and opinionated, constantly engaged with the wo...
Category

1940s Abstract Rolph Scarlett Art

Materials

Pastel

Untitled
By Rolph Scarlett
Located in Lawrence, NY
Pastel and colored pencil on paper Samuel Esses, estate of Samuel Esses, thence by descenbt Never afraid of trying new styles, curious and opinionated, constantly engaged with the ...
Category

1940s Surrealist Rolph Scarlett Art

Materials

Pastel

Untitled, Biomorphic Abstraction
By Rolph Scarlett
Located in Lawrence, NY
Gouache on board Estate of Sam Esses Never afraid of trying new styles, curious and opinionated, constantly engaged with the world around him, Rolph Scarlett more than once proved t...
Category

1940s Surrealist Rolph Scarlett Art

Materials

Gouache

Untitled
By Rolph Scarlett
Located in Lawrence, NY
Gouache on paper Estate of Sam Esses Never afraid of trying new styles, curious and opinionated, constantly engaged with the world around him, Rolph Scarlett more than once proved t...
Category

1940s Surrealist Rolph Scarlett Art

Materials

Gouache

Untitled, Woman
By Rolph Scarlett
Located in Lawrence, NY
Gouache and watercolor on paper Estate of Sam Esses Never afraid of trying new styles, curious and opinionated, constantly engaged with the world around him, Rolph Scarlett more than once proved to be at the artistic zeitgeist in a career that stretched for more than 75 years. Born in 1889, Scarlett had his first retrospective by 1928. He subscribed fully to the modernist credo. Interviewed at the time, he said: "If a futuristic painting...
Category

1940s Expressionist Rolph Scarlett Art

Materials

Mixed Media

Untitled
By Rolph Scarlett
Located in Lawrence, NY
Gouache on paper Estate s tamped Provenance: Estate of Sam Esses Never afraid of trying new styles, curious and opinionated, constantly engaged with the world around him, Rolph Scarlett more than once proved to be at the artistic zeitgeist in a career that stretched for more than 75 years. Born in 1889, Scarlett had his first retrospective by 1928. He subscribed fully to the modernist credo. Interviewed at the time, he said: "If a futuristic painting...
Category

1920s Expressionist Rolph Scarlett Art

Materials

Oil Pastel

Untitled, Surrealist Landscape
By Rolph Scarlett
Located in Lawrence, NY
Gouache on artist board Provenance: Estate of Sam Esses Never afraid of trying new styles, curious and opinionated, constantly engaged with the world around him, Rolph Scarlett mor...
Category

1940s Surrealist Rolph Scarlett Art

Materials

Gouache

Woman with Blue Eyes
By Rolph Scarlett
Located in Lawrence, NY
Goauche Provenance: Estate of Sam Esses Never afraid of trying new styles, curious and opinionated, constantly engaged with the world around him, Rolph Scarlett more than once proved to be at the artistic zeitgeist in a career that stretched for more than 75 years. Born in 1889, Scarlett had his first retrospective by 1928. He subscribed fully to the modernist credo. Interviewed at the time, he said: "If a futuristic painting...
Category

1940s Expressionist Rolph Scarlett Art

Materials

Gouache

Untitled, Surrealist
By Rolph Scarlett
Located in Lawrence, NY
Gouache on artist board Provenance: Estate of Sam Esses Never afraid of trying new styles, curious and opinionated, constantly engaged with the world around him, Rolph Scarlett mor...
Category

1940s Surrealist Rolph Scarlett Art

Materials

Gouache

Untitled Surrealist
By Rolph Scarlett
Located in Lawrence, NY
Gouache on artist board Provenance: Collection of Sam Esses Never afraid of trying new styles, curious and opinionated, constantly engaged with the world around him, Rolph Scarlett...
Category

1940s Surrealist Rolph Scarlett Art

Materials

Gouache

Untitled
By Rolph Scarlett
Located in Lawrence, NY
Never afraid of trying new styles, curious and opinionated, constantly engaged with the world around him, Rolph Scarlett more than once proved to be at the artistic zeitgeist in a career that stretched for more than 75 years. Born in 1889, Scarlett had his first retrospective by 1928. He subscribed fully to the modernist credo. Interviewed at the time, he said: "If a futuristic painting brings the casual gallery patron to an abrupt stop and forces him to spend five minutes in front of the painting, then the ends of modernism have been served," A major proponent of non-objective painting, Scarlett's career and artistic philosophy is closely linked with the early history of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York. His work, along with that of Kandinsky, Klee, and German artist Rudolph Bauer...
Category

1950s Abstract Expressionist Rolph Scarlett Art

Materials

Oil

Untitled, Surrealist
By Rolph Scarlett
Located in Lawrence, NY
Never afraid of trying new styles, curious and opinionated, constantly engaged with the world around him, Rolph Scarlett more than once proved to be at the artistic zeitgeist in a career that stretched for more than 75 years. Born in 1889, Scarlett had his first retrospective by 1928. He subscribed fully to the modernist credo. Interviewed at the time, he said: "If a futuristic painting brings the casual gallery patron to an abrupt stop and forces him to spend five minutes in front of the painting, then the ends of modernism have been served," A major proponent of non-objective painting, Scarlett's career and artistic philosophy is closely linked with the early history of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York. His work, along with that of Kandinsky, Klee, and German artist Rudolph Bauer...
Category

1930s Surrealist Rolph Scarlett Art

Materials

Gouache

Untitled
By Rolph Scarlett
Located in Lawrence, NY
Never afraid of trying new styles, curious and opinionated, constantly engaged with the world around him, Rolph Scarlett more than once proved to be at the artistic zeitgeist in a career that stretched for more than 75 years. Born in 1889, Scarlett had his first retrospective by 1928. He subscribed fully to the modernist credo. Interviewed at the time, he said: "If a futuristic painting brings the casual gallery patron to an abrupt stop and forces him to spend five minutes in front of the painting, then the ends of modernism have been served," A major proponent of non-objective painting, Scarlett's career and artistic philosophy is closely linked with the early history of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York. His work, along with that of Kandinsky, Klee, and German artist Rudolph Bauer...
Category

1950s Abstract Expressionist Rolph Scarlett Art

Materials

Gouache

Untitled Non-Objective Abstraction
By Rolph Scarlett
Located in Lawrence, NY
Oil on board Never afraid of trying new styles, curious and opinionated, constantly engaged with the world around him, Rolph Scarlett more than once proved to be at the artistic zeit...
Category

1940s Modern Rolph Scarlett Art

Materials

Oil

Abstract in Three Dimensions
By Rolph Scarlett
Located in Lawrence, NY
Gouache on paper Jo Aarons Gallery Label en verso Never afraid of trying new styles, curious and opinionated, constantly engaged with the world around him, Rolph Scarlett more than ...
Category

1940s Abstract Expressionist Rolph Scarlett Art

Materials

Gouache

Untitled
By Rolph Scarlett
Located in Lawrence, NY
Oil on masonite Never afraid of trying new styles, curious and opinionated, constantly engaged with the world around him, Rolph Scarlett more than once proved to be at the artistic z...
Category

1950s Abstract Expressionist Rolph Scarlett Art

Materials

Ink, Oil

Untitled
By Rolph Scarlett
Located in Lawrence, NY
Gouache on paper Never afraid of trying new styles, curious and opinionated, constantly engaged with the world around him, Rolph Scarlett more than once proved to be at the artistic...
Category

1940s Abstract Expressionist Rolph Scarlett Art

Materials

Gouache

Untitled, Two-Headed Woman
By Rolph Scarlett
Located in Lawrence, NY
Never afraid of trying new styles, curious and opinionated, constantly engaged with the world around him, Rolph Scarlett more than once proved to be at the artistic zeitgeist in a ca...
Category

1930s Surrealist Rolph Scarlett Art

Materials

Oil Pastel

Seated Woman
By Rolph Scarlett
Located in Lawrence, NY
Never afraid of trying new styles, curious and opinionated, constantly engaged with the world around him, Rolph Scarlett more than once proved to be at the artistic zeitgeist in a ca...
Category

1930s Cubist Rolph Scarlett Art

Materials

Oil Pastel

Untitled
By Rolph Scarlett
Located in Lawrence, NY
Gouache on paper Never afraid of trying new styles, curious and opinionated, constantly engaged with the world around him, Rolph Scarlett more than once proved to be at the artistic...
Category

1940s Surrealist Rolph Scarlett Art

Materials

Gouache

Rolph Scarlett art for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Rolph Scarlett art available for sale on 1stDibs. If you’re browsing the collection of art to introduce a pop of color in a neutral corner of your living room or bedroom, you can find work that includes elements of orange, green and other colors. You can also browse by medium to find art by Rolph Scarlett in paint, watercolor, gouache and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 20th century and is mostly associated with the abstract style. Not every interior allows for large Rolph Scarlett art, so small editions measuring 5 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Curtis Ripley, Bernd Haussmann, and Dmitri Wright. Rolph Scarlett art prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $1,200 and tops out at $75,000, while the average work can sell for $6,500.

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