Werner Drewes Art

Original color woodblock print by Werner Drewes. In excellent condition. Unframed. Image measures: 11 1/8 x 22 7/8 inches. Pencil signed and dated lower right. Numbered in pencil low...

Werner Drewes (1899-1985) oil on canvas, 1947 Titled: “Adobe Village” Measures: 15 ½ x 36 Frame: 21 x 42 Signed lower left and also on the verso In excellent condition. Born in Nie...

Original color woodblock print by Werner Drewes. In excellent condition. Unframed. Image measures 11 1/4 x 14 1/4 inches. Pencil Signed and Dated: Proof (15) R-364. Werner Drewes (1...

Original color woodblock print by Werner Drewes. In excellent condition. Unframed. Image measures 9 1/8 x 21 inches. Pencil signed and dated lower right. Edition size in pencil lower...

Original color woodblock print by Werner Drewes. In excellent condition. Unframed. Image measures 11 x 22 3/4 inches. Pencil signed and dated lower right. Numbered in pencil lower le...

Original color woodblock print by Werner Drewes. In excellent condition. Unframed. Image measures: 9 3/4 x 23 3/4 inches. Pencil signed and dated. Numbered 2/X St. IV full color. Ros...

Original color woodblock print by Werner Drewes. In excellent condition. Unframed. Image measures 18 7/8 x 11 1/4 inches. Pencil signed and dated lower right. Edition size in pencil ...

Original watercolor on archival paper of a Rocky Mountain Meadow by the well known American artist, Werner Drewes. Signed lower right. Titled and dated 1956 on verso of sheet. Con...

A modernist fantasy winter scene created by Werner Drewes, this print brings key aspects of the period together. His cubist-inspired woodcut technique is utilized here to bring the s...

This American modernist work by acclaimed Werner Drewes, exude sunlight and a contemporary feel akin to Fairfield Porter. The colors are bold and rich and the brushwork spontaneous ...

An original woodblock print by American artist Werner Drews. This composition comes in an archival frame presentation which measures 26 x 30 on the wall. Werner Drewes (1899-1985) ...

Ecce Homo Plate X Woodcut, 1921 Signed, titled, and dated in pencil by the artist (see photos) Edition: One of two known impressions This image wwas unknown to the catloger Ingrid Rose in 1984 when she published the catalog raisonne of Drewes prints. Done while Drewes was studying at the Bauhaus. Reference: Ingrid Rose, Werner Drewes: A Catalogue Raisonne of His Prints (Munich: Verlag Kunstgalerie Esslingen, 1984), 33, one of two known impressions. Provenance: Gift of the artist to one of his Bauhaus professors. Held in East Germany until the opening of the wall Jorg Maas Kunsthandel, Berlin Other image from the suite of Ecce Homo images are available. Extremely early, rare Bauhaus works. n 1921 Drewes went to the Bauhaus in Weimar, where, after completing the compulsory preliminary course with Johannes Itten, he continued to study with Paul Klee, Oskar Schlemmer and Georg Muche and initially went to the wall painting workshop. He then traveled extensively through Europe, North America and Asia. After returning to Germany in 1927, he went back to the Bauhaus, this time to his new location in Dessau, where he studied in the classes of László Moholy-Nagy and Wassily Kandinsky. He was one of the first artists to introduce the groundbreaking concepts of the Bauhaus School in the United States through his painting, printmaking, and teaching. Werner Drewes (1899–1985) was a painter, printmaker, and art teacher. Considered to be one of the founding fathers of American abstraction, he was one of the first artists to introduce concepts of the Bauhaus school within the United States. His mature style encompassed both nonobjective and figurative work and the emotional content of this work was consistently more expressive than formal. Drewes was as highly regarded for his printmaking as for his painting. In his role as teacher as well as artist he was largely responsible for bringing the Bauhaus aesthetic to America. Early life and education Drewes was born in 1899 to Georg Drewes, a Lutheran pastor, and Martha Schaefer Drewes. The family lived in the village of Canig within Lower Lusatia, Germany. From age eight to eighteen he attended the Saldria Gymnasium, a boarding school in Brandenburg an der Havel. There, he showed talent both for painting and woodblock printing. Graduating from Saldria in 1917, he was drafted by the German army and served in France from then until the close of the war. About this period of his life he is reported to have said that the horrors of life at the front were only made tolerable by his sketchbook, a copy of Goethe's Faust and a volume of Nietzsche. For a decade following the close of the war he studied, made paintings and prints, and traveled widely. His friend, Herwarth Walden, helped shape his appreciation for expressionist literature and art. Walden produced the quarterly magazine, Der Sturm and ran a gallery of contemporary art, Galerie Der Sturm, from which, in 1919, Drewes purchased an expressionist painting by William Wauer titled Blutrausch (Bloodlust). In the same year he made the acquaintance of Heinrich Vogeler and participated in Vogeler's socialist utopian artists' commune, Barkenhoff, at Worpswede, Lower Saxony. In 1919 Drewes also enrolled at the Königlich Technischen Hochschule Charlottenburg to study architecture and the following year he studied the same subject at the Technischen Hochschule Stuttgart. Preferring art over architecture, he then enrolled in Stuttgart's school of applied arts (Kunstgewerbeschule) where he studied life drawing and learned to work with colored glass. At this time he joined a group of artists and architects associated with the newly formed Merz Akademie, a college of design, art, and media in Stuttgart. In 1921 his friendship with a French artist, Sébastien Laurent, led him to begin studies in Weimar at Bauhaus, then a new school which taught an integrated approach to the fine and applied arts. His instructors were Johannes Itten and Lyonel Feininger, whose paintings were expressionist and abstract, and Paul Klee, who taught bookbinding, stained glass, and murals. While at Bauhaus Drewes produced a portfolio of ten woodblock prints entitled "Ecce Homo." In 1923 and 1924 he studied art during travels throughout Italy, Spain, the United States, and Central America and in 1926 he traveled to San Francisco, Japan, and Korea, thence taking the Trans-Siberian railway to Manchuria, Moscow, and Warsaw. He later said the El Grecos he saw proved to be most influential in his work. While traveling, he exhibited: (1) etchings in Madrid (1923) and Montevideo (1924), oils and etchings in Buenos Aires and St. Louis (1925), and (3) etchings in San Francisco (1926). He paid his way by the sales these exhibits produced and by taking commissions to paint portraits. While in San Francisco he set up a shop from which he sold prints he had made in Spain and South America. After his return to Germany in 1927 he resumed study at Bauhaus, which had been forced to relocate in Dessau, Saxony-Anhalt. His instructors at that time were László Moholy-Nagy (metal work), Wassily Kandinsky, and (painting), and Lyonel Feininger (prints). At this time he also worked and exhibited in Frankfurt. With the rise of Nazism abstract artists found it increasingly difficult to sell their work and, in 1930, Drewes, finding the political pressure unbearable, emigrated to the United States. There, despite the world economic crisis, Drewes was able to earn a living as a professional artist. Mature style After Drewes moved to New York, Kandinsky, who was both friend and mentor, continued to exert a strong influence over his style. Later in life he said he had a hard time getting away from Kandinsky's influence as he developed his own style. In time he was able to bring a more emotional approach to his work and to base it, more than Kandinsky did, on natural forms. In 1930 Drewes had a solo exhibition at the 135th Street Branch of the New York Public Library and a two-person show at the S.P.R. Penthouse Gallery...

Ecce Homo VII Woodcut, 1921 Signed, titled, and dated in pencil by the artist One of only three known impressions Created while the artist was studying at the Bauhaus in Weimar, Germany. Extreme rarity-One of three know impressions Note: In 1921 Drewes went to the Bauhaus in Weimar, where, after completing the compulsory preliminary course with Johannes Itten, he continued to study with Paul Klee, Oskar Schlemmer and Georg Muche and initially went to the wall painting workshop. He then traveled extensively through Europe, North America and Asia. After returning to Germany in 1927, he went back to the Bauhaus, this time to his new location in Dessau, where he studied in the classes of László Moholy-Nagy and Wassily Kandinsky. He was one of the first artists to introduce the groundbreaking concepts of the Bauhaus School in the United States through his painting, printmaking, and teaching. Condition: Excellent Missing small voids in the upper margin from removal of the original hinges. Image size: 9 7/8 x 8 3/16 inches Reference: Rose 30 Provenance: From the estate of Drewes's teacher at the Bauhaus. During the pasot WW2 the professor lived in East Germany. WERNER DREWES 1899-1985 Werner Drewes initially studied architecture before enrolling, in 1921-22, at the Bauhaus in Weimar under Klee, Kandinsky, Itten and Feininger. For four years - 1923 to 1927 - he travelled the world with his bride, before completing his Bauhaus training in Dessau in 1929. He immigrated to the United States in 1930, documenting that move to New York through series of woodcuts. In 1936/37 he was an active founder of the American Abstract Artists and participated in the Federal Arts Project in New York before moving on to a teaching career at Washington University in St. Louis. As an artist for over sixty five years, he employed various media from drawing and watercolor, through woodcut and etching, to painting and collage. Translating an early interest in subjective cubistic forms, his work evolved into nonobjective abstraction. He was creative until the day of his death. Courtesy: Toby C. Moss Werner Drewes (1899–1985) was a painter, printmaker, and art teacher. Considered to be one of the founding fathers of American abstraction, he was one of the first artists to introduce concepts of the Bauhaus school within the United States. His mature style encompassed both nonobjective and figurative work and the emotional content of this work was consistently more expressive than formal. Drewes was as highly regarded for his printmaking as for his painting. In his role as teacher as well as artist he was largely responsible for bringing the Bauhaus aesthetic to America. Early life and education Drewes was born in 1899 to Georg Drewes, a Lutheran pastor, and Martha Schaefer Drewes. The family lived in the village of Canig within Lower Lusatia, Germany. From age eight to eighteen he attended the Saldria Gymnasium, a boarding school in Brandenburg an der Havel. There, he showed talent both for painting and woodblock printing. Graduating from Saldria in 1917, he was drafted by the German army and served in France from then until the close of the war. About this period of his life he is reported to have said that the horrors of life at the front were only made tolerable by his sketchbook, a copy of Goethe's Faust and a volume of Nietzsche. For a decade following the close of the war he studied, made paintings and prints, and traveled widely. His friend, Herwarth Walden, helped shape his appreciation for expressionist literature and art. Walden produced the quarterly magazine, Der Sturm and ran a gallery of contemporary art, Galerie Der Sturm, from which, in 1919, Drewes purchased an expressionist painting by William Wauer titled Blutrausch (Bloodlust). In the same year he made the acquaintance of Heinrich Vogeler and participated in Vogeler's socialist utopian artists' commune, Barkenhoff, at Worpswede, Lower Saxony. In 1919 Drewes also enrolled at the Königlich Technischen Hochschule Charlottenburg to study architecture and the following year he studied the same subject at the Technischen Hochschule Stuttgart. Preferring art over architecture, he then enrolled in Stuttgart's school of applied arts (Kunstgewerbeschule) where he studied life drawing and learned to work with colored glass. At this time he joined a group of artists and architects associated with the newly formed Merz Akademie, a college of design, art, and media in Stuttgart. In 1921 his friendship with a French artist, Sébastien Laurent, led him to begin studies in Weimar at Bauhaus, then a new school which taught an integrated approach to the fine and applied arts. His instructors were Johannes Itten and Lyonel Feininger, whose paintings were expressionist and abstract, and Paul Klee, who taught bookbinding, stained glass, and murals. While at Bauhaus Drewes produced a portfolio of ten woodblock prints entitled "Ecce Homo." In 1923 and 1924 he studied art during travels throughout Italy, Spain, the United States, and Central America and in 1926 he traveled to San Francisco, Japan, and Korea, thence taking the Trans-Siberian railway to Manchuria, Moscow, and Warsaw. He later said the El Grecos he saw proved to be most influential in his work. While traveling, he exhibited: (1) etchings in Madrid (1923) and Montevideo (1924), oils and etchings in Buenos Aires and St. Louis (1925), and (3) etchings in San Francisco (1926). He paid his way by the sales these exhibits produced and by taking commissions to paint portraits. While in San Francisco he set up a shop from which he sold prints he had made in Spain and South America. After his return to Germany in 1927 he resumed study at Bauhaus, which had been forced to relocate in Dessau, Saxony-Anhalt. His instructors at that time were László Moholy-Nagy (metal work), Wassily Kandinsky, and (painting), and Lyonel Feininger (prints). At this time he also worked and exhibited in Frankfurt. With the rise of Nazism abstract artists found it increasingly difficult to sell their work and, in 1930, Drewes, finding the political pressure unbearable, emigrated to the United States. There, despite the world economic crisis, Drewes was able to earn a living as a professional artist. Mature style After Drewes moved to New York, Kandinsky, who was both friend and mentor, continued to exert a strong influence over his style. Later in life he said he had a hard time getting away from Kandinsky's influence as he developed his own style. In time he was able to bring a more emotional approach to his work and to base it, more than Kandinsky did, on natural forms. In 1930 Drewes had a solo exhibition at the 135th Street Branch of the New York Public Library and a two-person show at the S.P.R. Penthouse Gallery...

Gouache on paper Considered to be one of the founding fathers of American abstraction, Werner Drewes was one of the first artists to introduce concepts of the Bauhaus school within ...

Watercolor on paper Painted while studying at the Bauhaus, Dessau, Germany Considered to be one of the founding fathers of American abstraction, Werner Drewes was one of the first a...

Werner Drewes Untitled Mid Century Modern Abstract Woodcut, 1974 Woodcut fold-out card on Rives BFK paper with deckled edges 9 1/5 × 6 1/4 inches Unframed Rarely seen, this twice sig...

Abstract oil on canvas painting by Werner Drewes painted in vibrant shades of green, blue, and red from 1944. Signed by the artist in the lower right corner of the canvas. Presented ...

WERNE DREWES (1899-1985) UNTITLED, 1934 Woodcut on paper, Signed, numbered, and dated in pencil Ed. 15/20. Image 13 3/8 x 11 1/8 inches. Full sheet, 17 x 12 1/8 inches deckle edge o...

Werner Drewes (1899-1985). Composition 209, 1939. oil on canvas, 20 x 24 inches; 28 x 32 inches in original frame. Signed and dated with artist monogram lower left and again on verso...

WERNER DREWES (German-American 1899-1985) TREE AT NIGHT, 1964 (Rose 241) Color woodcut Signed titled, dated and numbered 40 /210 all in pencil below image. Image 11 1/8 x 15 7/8 inc...

Werner Drewes brought his modernist vision to this subject but created, in my opinion, a great work of the Etching Revival. The reference is Rose 183. It...

WERNER DREWES (1899 - 1985) CASTLE ROCK WYOMING (Jackson Hole), (Rose RIII 194) Color woodcut Total edition XXX, Signed, annotated AP and dated '58 in...

'Harlem Beauty' ('Negress', 'Negro Girl', 'Black Girl'), woodcut, 1930, edition 30, Rose lll.42. Signed, dated, numbered '1 - XXX', and titled 'Negress' in ...

Twin Formation in Gray, color woodcut, 1982, edition 30, Rose III.400. Signed, dated and numbered I7/XXX in pencil, annotated 415 and titled in the bottom left sheet edge. A fine impression with fresh, rich colors, on heavy off-white Japan paper; the full sheet with wide margins (1 3/4 to 3 1/4 inches), in good condition. Printed in black, dark gray, medium gray, yellow/orange, and lemon yellow. Matted to museum standards, unframed. An impression of this work is included in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum. ABOUT THE ARTIST Painter, printmaker, and art teacher, Werner Drewes (1899–1985) was among the founding fathers of American abstraction. A student at the famed Bauhaus in the 1920s, he studied under Lyonel Feininger, Paul Klee, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy and Wassily Kandinsky. Following his emigration to the United States in 1930, he was instrumental in introducing modernist Bauhaus concepts and esthetics to America. Drewes’ boldly dynamic and emotionally expressive work, which encompassed both non-objective and figurative genres, brought him critical acclaim and numerous gallery and institutional exhibitions throughout his artistic career. Drewes' graphic work can be found in most major American art museums including, the Ackland Art Museum, The Art Institute of Chicago, Bauhaus Archive...

This modernist work by acclaimed Werner Drewes, exude sunlight and a contemporary feel akin to Fairfield Porter. The colors are bold and rich and the brushwork spontaneous and bold....

Pencil drawing on paper from 1944. Signed and dated with cypher. Paper size 4 x 6" (10 x 15.1 cm). Werner Drewes (1899-1985), painter, printmaker, educator and lecturer, was...

Werner Drewes, 'Pointed Shapes and Black Half Moon', etching, 1935, edition 20, Rose l.198. Signed, dated, and numbered 'I-XX' in pencil. A fine, rich impression, in warm black ink...

Werner Drewes, 'Small Forms on Crossing Bands', drypoint and roulette, 1935, edition 20, Rose 1.197. Signed in pencil. A fine, rich impression, in warm black ink, on cream wove paper...

Drawing, 1938. Signed and dated with the artist cypher. Paper size 7 9/16 x 6 1/4" (19.3 x 15.8 cm). Werner Drewes (1899-1985), painter, printmaker, educator and lecturer, wa...

'New Rochelle - Before the Wind', drypoint, 1931, edition 30 (only a few impressions printed), Rose l.163. Signed, dated '1932' and numbered '1 – XXX' in ...

Werner Drewes. Circle and Square, 1980. Rose 386. Number 1 in an edition of 20. Signed and dated in pencil lower right margin: "Drewes -80-"; numbered in pencil lower left margin: "N...

This gouache painting by Werner Drewes was created in 1942. Signed with a pen in the lower right. Cypher and date are just under the signature. Painted to the papers edge - the pap...

Werner Drewes (1899-1983), Farm in the Woods, woodcut, 1933, signed and dated in pencil lower right (also numbered 1-xxx and titled lower left). Reference: Rose 83. In very good cond...