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Rolph Scarlett Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

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
"Untitled Study"
By Rolph Scarlett
Located in Lambertville, NJ
Jim’s of Lambertville is proud to offer this artwork. Signed lower right. Rolph Scarlett (1889 - 1984) A major exponent of non-objective painting, Rolph Scarlett's career and art...
Category

20th Century Abstract Geometric Rolph Scarlett Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Watercolor

Rolph Scarlett Original Watercolor Dated 1952, Geometric Abstraction
By Rolph Scarlett
Located in Phoenix, AZ
Abstract watercolor by Rolph Scarlett, signed lower left. A great example by Scarlett. Measures: 19" H x 21" W image size. New modernist custom-made frame. Size: 24 1/4" H x 26 3/4" ...
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Mid-20th Century Rolph Scarlett Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper

“Floating Forms”
By Rolph Scarlett
Located in Southampton, NY
Mid century modern gouache on paper by the well known Canadian/American artist, Rolph Scarlett. Signed and dated in blue pen lower left, 1947. Condition: Good. Framed in thin black matte painted frame with acid free white mat. Not examined out of frame. Overall framed 14.25 by 17 inches. ROLPH SCARLETT (1889-1984) Rolph Scarlett was born 1889 in Guelph, Ontario. His long life as an artist began in his teens as a jewelry designer and fabricator. At the age of fourteen he began to design jewelry professionally, a craft which he continued off and on for the rest of his life. His desire to learn more about art took him to New York in 1908, when American artists were just beginning to experience strong influences from major modern European artists of the day such as Cezanne and Picasso. Throughout his long career he produced, oil paintings, many works on paper, unique sculptured jewelry, modernist style industrial and furniture designs. Currently there are over 800 of his designs at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts Design Collection. In 1928 he moved to Hollywood, California where he became a very successful stage and set designer. In the mid-1930s he met the director of the Museum of Non-objective Art in New York ( Hilla Rebay). He became her close associate and advisor in organizing and running the museum. He was Chief lecturer at the museum (1939 -1946) teaching the new modernism and abstraction to the new generation of artists in the New York art community. Hilla Rebay would introduce him as “Rolph Scarlett, my great find”. So considerable was her enthusiasm for Scarlett, that she and Solomon Guggenheim bought over sixty of his paintings and monotypes for the museum. After Kandinsky and Bauer, there was more of Scarlett’s work in the collection than any other artists. He participated in many of the museum exhibitions and galleries and was regularly exhibiting his work in Los Angeles, the San Francisco Art Museum, the Art Institute in Chicago, the Modern Age Gallery in N.Y., the Metropolitan Museum, the Whitney Museum and the Museum of Modern Art. He studied for a time at the Art Student League with William Merrit...
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1940s Modern Rolph Scarlett Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Gouache

Untitled Abstract Expressionist painting on paper mid century modern art
By Rolph Scarlett
Located in New York, NY
Rolph Scarlett Untitled Abstract Expressionist Painting, ca. 1960 Gouache, Ink, Watercolor on Paper . Hand signed, with original Jonas Aarons Gallery label 23 × 18 3/4 inches Signed ...
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Mid-20th Century Abstract Expressionist Rolph Scarlett Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Watercolor, Gouache

Untitled (Abstraction)
By Rolph Scarlett
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Untitled (Abstraction) Ink on textured paper, c. 1958 Signed lower right "Scarlett" (see photo) Condition: Excellent Archival framing with OP3 Acrylic Sheet size: 21 3/4 x 30 inches Frame size: 28 1/2 x 36 1/2 inches Note: A rare mid to late 1950s example of the artist's abstract expressionist style. Provenance: estate of the artist Private Collection, Hudson River Valley, New York Rolph Scarlett B. 1889, GUELPH, ONTARIO; D. 1984, WOODSTOCK, NEW YORK Born on June 13, 1889 in Guelph, Canada, and into an artistic family, Rolph Scarlett spent his teenage years as an apprentice in his uncle’s jewelry firm and briefly studied at the Art Students League, New York. While working in the jewelry industry, Scarlett found time to paint and design theatrical sets in his free time, including one for the 1928 world premiere of Eugene O’Neill’s drama Lazarus Laughed (1926). In 1923, while on a business trip to Switzerland, Scarlett had met the artist Paul Klee and soon after abandoned his figurative painting style in favor of an abstract language that suggested more universal, cosmic truths. In 1937, after permanently settling in New York, Scarlett became acquainted with the artist and curator Hilla Rebay, the first director of the Museum of Non-Objective Painting (renamed the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in 1952). Rebay provided Scarlett with a Guggenheim Foundation scholarship to paint full-time and obtained several of his paintings for the museum’s collection. From 1940 to 1946, Scarlett served as the museum’s chief lecturer, giving Sunday afternoon talks on art. Through Rebay, Scarlett became acquainted with the nonobjective works of Rudolf Bauer and Vasily Kandinsky and further refined his abstract style. Works from this era such as Yellow Bar (1942) are defined by overlapping geometric planes of bright, primary colors set against mute backgrounds. Scarlett avoided any reference to the outside world and believed that nonobjective painting was an act, in his words, of “pure creation.” During his lifetime, solo shows of his work were held at the Jacques Seligmann Gallery, New York (1949); Sioux City Art Center, Iowa (1951); and Washburn Gallery...
Category

1950s Abstract Rolph Scarlett Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Ink

UNTITLED ABSTRACTION
By Rolph Scarlett
Located in Portland, ME
Scarlett, Rolph (American, born Canada, 1889-1984). UNTITLED ABSTRACTION. Colored pencils on paper, not dated. Signed, lower right. 5 5/8 x 8 1/4 inches (image), 6 x 8 3/4 inches, (s...
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Mid-20th Century Rolph Scarlett Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Color Pencil

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“Untitled Abstract”
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Artist: Rolph Scarlett, Canadian (1889 - 1984) Title: Untitled Year: 1964 Medium: Gouache On Paper, signed and dated Size: 13.75 x 16.5 in. (34.925 x 41.91 cm)
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Located in Long Island City, NY
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1930s Rolph Scarlett Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Rolph Scarlett drawings and watercolor paintings for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Rolph Scarlett drawings and watercolor paintings available for sale on 1stDibs. If you’re browsing the collection of drawings and watercolor paintings 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 and other colors. You can also browse by medium to find art by Rolph Scarlett in gouache, paint, watercolor 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 drawings and watercolor paintings, so small editions measuring 11 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Werner Drewes, Fritz Bultman, and Laura Newman. Rolph Scarlett drawings and watercolor paintings prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $1,875 and tops out at $6,500, while the average work can sell for $4,500.

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