William Gropper Art
American, 1897-1977
William Gropper was a painter and cartoonist who, with caricature style, focused on social concerns. Gropper was born on December 3, 1897, in New York. William Gropper was a student of Robert Henri and George Bellows at the Ferrer School from 1912–15. During the 1930s, working as a part of the Federal Arts Project, he produced some of the most gripping social protest works of the Great Depression. His subjects included industrial strikes, especially in coal mining and steel-production centers. Gropper did much illustration-cartoon work for the New York Tribune newspaper, Vanity Fair magazine and the politically left-wing publication, New Masses. Some of his other pieces focused on the hypocrisy of government figures, especially members of the United States Senate. Gropper died on January 6, 1977, in Manhasset.
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William Gropper WPA Artist Watercolor in Grisaille, circa 1932- “Uprooted”
By William Gropper
Located in Phoenix, AZ
This original watercolor by Depression Era New York artist William Gropper
relates to two of Gropper's most important Depression Era prints: “Refugees” and “Uprooted.”
Signed lower r...
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1930s William Gropper Art
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William Gropper Important New York Artist and Caricaturist Painting, "Mug-Wump"
By William Gropper
Located in Phoenix, AZ
Politically charged oil on canvas by Depression Era New York artist William Gropper.
Painting measures: 20" H x 16" W. Frame measures: 24" H x 20" W.
Signed lower right and in excell...
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Mid-20th Century William Gropper Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
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By William Gropper
Located in West Hollywood, CA
We are proud to present outstanding original oil on canvas by American artist William Gropper (1897-1977.)
William Gropper was an artist and illustrator, known for his exceptional a...
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1950s American Modern William Gropper Art
Materials
Oil
Bathers
By William Gropper
Located in West Hollywood, CA
We are proud to present outstanding original oil on canvas by American artist William Gropper (1897-1977.)
William Gropper was an artist and illustrator, known for his exceptional a...
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1940s American Modern William Gropper Art
Materials
Oil
Jewish Shtetl Klezmer Wedding Tanz Judaica Lithograph WPA Yiddish Social Realist
By William Gropper
Located in Surfside, FL
Hand signed in pencil and numbered with Roman numerals 8/24. A very small edition.
Old Lower East Side of New York or East European Shtetl. Jewish Shtetl Klezmer Musicians. humorous...
Category
Mid-20th Century Modern William Gropper Art
Materials
Lithograph
Jewish Shtetl Hasidic Wedding Dance Judaica Lithograph Yiddish Social Realism
By William Gropper
Located in Surfside, FL
Hand signed in pencil and numbered with Roman numerals 8/24. A very small edition.
Old Lower East Side of New York or East European Shtetl. Jewish Shtetl Hasidic Klezmer Musicians. ...
Category
Mid-20th Century Modern William Gropper Art
Materials
Lithograph
Horsemen
By William Gropper
Located in San Francisco, CA
This artwork titled "The Horsemen" 1935, is an original lithograph on paper by noted American artist William Gropper, 1897-1977. It is hand signed in pencil by the artist. The artwork (image) size is 9.5 x 12.75 inches, framed size is 17.5 x 20.40 inches. Published by Associated American Artists, New York, printed by George Miller. Referenced and pictured in the artist catalogue raisonne by Steinberg, page 246 and Windisch and Cole, plate #602. Custom framed in a black metal frame, with off white matting. It is in excellent condition, the frame have very minor scratches.
An example of this particular artwork is held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. and at the Portland Museum, Portland.
About the artist:
William Gropper was born in New York City's Lower East Side in 1897. He was the first of six children to parents who earned small wages working in sweatshops. At the age of fourteen, Gropper left school to help support his family. While carrying bolts of cloth for his deliveries, Gropper began to draw on scraps of paper, sidewalks, and walls. A passerby saw some of these drawings and invited Gropper to attend a life-drawing class at the Ferrer School. He studied there for three years from 1912 to 1915, attending classes taught by Robert Henri and George Bellows. From 1915 to 1918 Gropper attended the New York School of Fine and Applied Art part-time on scholarship. Gropper also won a scholarship to the National Academy of Design, but remained as a student for only a short time; the rigid and systematic institution conflicted with Gropper's belief in the personal nature of art.
At the New York School of Fine and Applied Art, Gropper earned several prizes. One of these prizes was for his cartoons, which led him to be hired by the New York Tribune in 1917 to sketch for their features. A few years later through freelance work, his cartoons and drawings appeared in other newspapers and magazines, such as The Liberator, The New Masses, The New York Post, The New Yorker and Vanity Fair.
By the late 1920s Gropper was an established cartoonist and draughtsman. He sympathized with the labor movement and was a champion of peace and personal liberty. Gropper began to paint seriously, but privately, on these themes in 1921. Gropper's first exhibition of monotypes was held in 1921 at the Washington Square Book Shop in New York. At this time, he also began to do illustrations for books. Gropper took his first sketching trip in 1924 to the West with Morris Pass.
By 1930 Gropper began to receive recognition as a fine artist. In 1934, he received two mural commissions from the Schenley Corporation in New York City. In 1935, he was commissioned to paint a mural for the Hotel Taft in New York City. In 1936, Gropper received several public mural commissions: one was for the Freeport, Long Island Post Office, which was completed in 1938 and followed by another mural for the Northwestern Postal Station, Detroit, Michigan.
In his first gallery exhibition in 1936 at ACA Galleries, Gropper's work was so well received by critics, collectors, and artists that the following year he had two one-man exhibitions at ACA Galleries. In 1937, Gropper traveled west on a Guggenheim Fellowship and visited the Dust Bowl and the Hoover and Grand Coulee Dams, sketching studies for a series of paintings and a mural he painted for the Department of the Interior in Washington, DC. That same year he had paintings purchased by both the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art.
Gropper exhibited at the 1939 New York World's Fair, Whitney Museum of American Art (1924-55), Art Institute of Chicago (1935-49), Carnegie International (1937-50), Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (1939-48), and National Academy of Design (1945-48). He was a founder of the Artists Equity Association and member of the National Institute of Arts and Letters.
From 1940 to 1945 William Gropper was preoccupied with anti-Nazi cartoons...
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Mid-20th Century American Realist William Gropper Art
Materials
Lithograph
THE NEW BILL
By William Gropper
Located in Portland, ME
Gropper, Will1am (American, 1897-1977). THE NEW BILL. Lithograph, c. 1941. 11 3/4 x 16 inches (image), 14 x 19 inches (sheet).Titled and signed in pencil. In excellent condition.
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Materials
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"Unemployed" WPA American Scene Social Realism Mid 20th Century Modern
By William Gropper
Located in New York, NY
"Unemployed" WPA American Scene Social Realism Mid 20th Century Modern
William Gropper (1898 - 1977)
Unemployed
20 x 16 inches
Oil on canvas, 1937
Signed lower right
Provenance: Estate of the artist
Bio
Throughout his life, William Gropper used his artistic talents to protest social injustice. Born in New York City, he grew up there in poverty and left high school to work as a dishwasher and delivery boy. He eventually began a career in art and was able to study with Robert Henri and George Bellows from 1912 to 1915. He adopted their realistic painting style, and his own work expressed sympathy for common laborers and outrage at society's ills.
In 1919 Gropper established a reputation as a political cartoonist working for the New York Tribune. His blunt, forceful style attracted the attention of other publications, and he provided illustrations and cartoons for a variety of magazines, from the left-wing New Masses to mainstream Vanity Fair. Like many social realist artists of the 1930s, Gropper supported liberal political causes, depicting subjects such as the plight of migrant laborers and striking factory workers.
In his first gallery exhibition in 1936 at ACA Galleries, Gropper's work was so well received by critics, collectors, and artists that the following year he had two one-man exhibitions at ACA Galleries. In 1937, Gropper traveled west on a Guggenheim Fellowship and visited the Dust Bowl and the Hoover and Grand Coulee Dams, sketching studies for a series of paintings and a mural he painted for the Department of the Interior. That same year he had paintings purchased by both the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art.
Gropper exhibited at the 1939 New York World's Fair, Whitney Museum of American Art (1924-55), Art Institute of Chicago (1935-49), Carnegie International (1937-50), Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (1939-48), and National Academy of Design (1945-48). He was a founder of the Artists Equity Association and member of the National Institute of Arts and Letters.
From 1940 to 1945 William Gropper was preoccupied with anti-Nazi cartoons...
Category
1930s American Realist William Gropper Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Sephardic Jew Fez Hat Jewish Shtetl Americana Judaica Lithograph WPA Yiddish Art
By William Gropper
Located in Surfside, FL
Hand signed in pencil and numbered with Roman numerals 8/24. A very small edition.
Old Lower East Side of New York or East European Shtetl. Yenta gossips in the kitchen peeling. hum...
Category
Mid-20th Century Modern William Gropper Art
Materials
Lithograph
Jewish Shtetl Machers Americana Judaica Lithograph WPA Yiddish Social Realist
By William Gropper
Located in Surfside, FL
Hand signed in pencil and numbered with Roman numerals 8/24. A very small edition.
Old Lower East Side of New York or East European Shtetl. Jewish Shtetl Peddler Merchant. humorous ...
Category
Mid-20th Century Modern William Gropper Art
Materials
Lithograph
Jewish Shtetl Peddlar Americana Judaica Lithograph WPA Yiddish Social Realist
By William Gropper
Located in Surfside, FL
Hand signed in pencil and numbered with Roman numerals 8/24. A very small edition.
Old Lower East Side of New York or East European Shtetl. Jewish Shtetl Peddler Merchant. humorous ...
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Mid-20th Century Modern William Gropper Art
Materials
Lithograph
Charcoal Drawing "Waiting" Pensive Woman Americana WPA Artist
By William Gropper
Located in Surfside, FL
14x11.5 image size , 22.5x17.5 backing size
The New-York born artist William Gropper was a painter and cartoonist who, with caricature style, focused on social concerns, and was ac...
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Mid-20th Century Modern William Gropper Art
Materials
Charcoal
Jewish Shtetl Peddlar Americana Judaica Lithograph WPA Yiddish Social Realist
By William Gropper
Located in Surfside, FL
Hand signed in pencil and numbered with Roman numerals 8/24. A very small edition.
Old Lower East Side of New York or East European Shtetl. Jewish Shtetl Peddler Merchant. humorous ...
Category
Mid-20th Century Modern William Gropper Art
Materials
Lithograph
Women, Dishes, Shtetl Americana Judaica Lithograph WPA Social Realist Artist
By William Gropper
Located in Surfside, FL
Hand signed in pencil and numbered with Roman numerals 8/24. A very small edition.
Old Lower East Side of New York or East European Shtetl. Orthodox Jewish Rabbi having a glass of t...
Category
Mid-20th Century Modern William Gropper Art
Materials
Lithograph
Rabbi, Cup of Tea, Shtetl Americana Judaica Lithograph WPA Social Realist Artist
By William Gropper
Located in Surfside, FL
Hand signed in pencil and numbered with Roman numerals 8/24. A very small edition.
Old Lower East Side of New York or East European Shtetl. Orthodox Jewish Rabbi having a glass of t...
Category
Mid-20th Century Modern William Gropper Art
Materials
Lithograph
Rhythm in Blues
By William Gropper
Located in London, GB
signed ‘Gropper’ (lower right); with the artist's studio stamp (on the verso)
Category
1940s William Gropper Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
William Gropper, (Choral Group)
By William Gropper
Located in New York, NY
An early serigraph (screen print) by William Gropper. There's a harpist to provide the music and a choir master conducting. The seated members of the group are individually drawn as ...
Category
1930s Ashcan School William Gropper Art
Materials
Screen
Liberated Village
By William Gropper
Located in San Francisco, CA
This artwork titled "Liberated Village" c. 1940, is an original lithograph on paper by noted American artist William Gropper, 1897-1977. It is hans signed and titled in pencil by the artist. The artwork (image) size is 12 x 16.5 inches, framed size is 20.25 x 24.25 inches. Custom framed in a black metal frame, with off white matting. It is in excellent condition.
An example of this particular artwork is held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
About the artist:
William Gropper was born in New York City's Lower East Side in 1897. He was the first of six children to parents who earned small wages working in sweatshops. At the age of fourteen, Gropper left school to help support his family. While carrying bolts of cloth for his deliveries, Gropper began to draw on scraps of paper, sidewalks, and walls. A passerby saw some of these drawings and invited Gropper to attend a life-drawing class at the Ferrer School. He studied there for three years from 1912 to 1915, attending classes taught by Robert Henri and George Bellows. From 1915 to 1918 Gropper attended the New York School of Fine and Applied Art part-time on scholarship. Gropper also won a scholarship to the National Academy of Design, but remained as a student for only a short time; the rigid and systematic institution conflicted with Gropper's belief in the personal nature of art.
At the New York School of Fine and Applied Art, Gropper earned several prizes. One of these prizes was for his cartoons, which led him to be hired by the New York Tribune in 1917 to sketch for their features. A few years later through freelance work, his cartoons and drawings appeared in other newspapers and magazines, such as The Liberator, The New Masses...
Category
Mid-20th Century American Realist William Gropper Art
Materials
Lithograph
UNTITLED DRAWING
By William Gropper
Located in Portland, ME
Gropper, William (American, 1897-1977). UNTITLED DRAWING. Blue chalk
on fibrous handmade paper. Signed lower right, and inscribed at left
to Irwin and Sarah Lefcourt. 26 1/2 x 20 1/...
Category
Mid-20th Century William Gropper Art
Materials
Chalk
"Senator" William Gropper, Social Realism, WPA Political Art, Caricature
By William Gropper
Located in New York, NY
William Gropper
Senator
Signed lower center
Oil on board
16 x 12 1/4 inches
ACA Galleries, New York
Private Collection, New York
Bonhams, American Art Online, August 23, 2023, Lot 3...
Category
Mid-20th Century American Realist William Gropper Art
Materials
Oil, Board
Family at the Beach WPA Modernism American Scene Social Realism Mid 20th Century
By William Gropper
Located in New York, NY
Family at the Beach WPA Modernism American Scene Social Realism Mid 20th Century
William Gropper (1898 - 1977)
"Family at the Beach"
27 1/2 x 19 1/2 inches
Mixed media on paper, c. 1940
Signed lower left
Provenance: Estate of the artist.
The drawing will ship from the home of Mr. Gropper's grandson.
Bio
Throughout his life, William Gropper used his artistic talents to protest social injustice. Born in New York City, he grew up there in poverty and left high school to work as a dishwasher and delivery boy. He eventually began a career in art and was able to study with Robert Henri and George Bellows from 1912 to 1915. He adopted their realistic painting style, and his own work expressed sympathy for common laborers and outrage at society's ills.
In 1919 Gropper established a reputation as a political cartoonist working for the New York Tribune. His blunt, forceful style attracted the attention of other publications, and he provided illustrations and cartoons for a variety of magazines, from the left-wing New Masses to mainstream Vanity Fair. Like many social realist artists of the 1930s, Gropper supported liberal political causes, depicting subjects such as the plight of migrant laborers and striking factory workers.
In his first gallery exhibition in 1936 at ACA Galleries, Gropper's work was so well received by critics, collectors, and artists that the following year he had two one-man exhibitions at ACA Galleries. In 1937, Gropper traveled west on a Guggenheim Fellowship and visited the Dust Bowl and the Hoover and Grand Coulee Dams, sketching studies for a series of paintings and a mural he painted for the Department of the Interior. That same year he had paintings purchased by both the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art.
Gropper exhibited at the 1939 New York World's Fair, Whitney Museum of American Art (1924-55), Art Institute of Chicago (1935-49), Carnegie International (1937-50), Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (1939-48), and National Academy of Design (1945-48). He was a founder of the Artists Equity Association and member of the National Institute of Arts and Letters.
From 1940 to 1945 William Gropper was preoccupied with anti-Nazi cartoons...
Category
1940s American Modern William Gropper Art
Materials
Paper, Ink, Watercolor, Gouache
16 William Gropper Oil Painted Dishes
By William Gropper
Located in Sharon, CT
Four sets of four: cup, saucer, dinner plate and bowl, with paintings of mythological subjects on each by William Gropper. Russel Wright "American Modern" Steubenville provides the s...
Category
Mid-20th Century American Modern William Gropper Art
Materials
Ceramic
A Man and his Wine, Illustrative Wax Crayon Drawing by William Gropper
By William Gropper
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: William Gropper, American (1897 - 1977)
Title: A Man and His Wine
Year: Circa 1950
Medium: Crayon Drawing on Paper, signed in pencil l.l.
Size: 11 x 9 in. (27.94 x 22.86 cm)
...
Category
1950s American Modern William Gropper Art
Materials
Wax Crayon
The Whip - Social Realism
By William Gropper
Located in Miami, FL
Work is marked on reverse "Rhythm" and "The Whip." on verso - We are not sure the exact meaning of this work.
Gropper was a social realist and a radical of his time and a commenta...
Category
1960s Conceptual William Gropper Art
Materials
Oil, Masonite
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ink, watercolor and charcoal on paper,
Hand signed lower right, artist studio label with title en verso
19 1/2 in. x 25 1/8 in., unframed.
Provenance: Grosvenor Gallery, London
Titled "War" this dance macabre is a large, powerful anti war...
Category
Mid-20th Century Modern William Gropper Art
Materials
Watercolor, Charcoal, Ink
Judaica Painting Bar Mitzvah Boy, Cheder Lessons
By William Gropper
Located in Surfside, FL
Genre: Judaica
Subject: Religious
Medium: Watercolor, Ink, Mixed Media
Surface: Paper
Country: United States
Dimensions: 13.75" x 10"
Dimensions w/Frame: 19.75" x 15.5
Born to Harry and Jenny Gropper in 1897, William was raised in New York City's Lower East Side. His parents were Jewish immigrants from Romania and Ukraine, and young William grew up in relative poverty, watching his family struggle to achieve that sought-after American dream. His father, a bright and college-educated man, was unable to find employment that worthy of his intellect. His mother, meanwhile, worked as a seamstress from home. Coupled with the devastating loss of an aunt to the infamous Triangle Factory fire of 1911, significant childhood factors created the foundation that led to Gropper’s exploration of the American experience.
Early on, Gropper displayed an extraordinary, natural skill for art. By 1912, he was already studying under the instruction of George Bellows and Robert Henri at the Ferrer School in Greenwich Village. During his time at school, Gropper was also awarded a prestigious scholarship to study at the National Academy of Design. However, he refused to fit into convention and was swiftly expelled from the Academy. After his expulsion, Gropper returned home to help financially by assisting his mother and taking a shop position. However, he didn't abandon art academia and soon presented a portfolio to the New York School of Fine Art which earned him a scholarship for study.
Gropper obtained his first significant job as a cartoonist for the New York Tribune in 1917. While working as a staff cartoonist for the Tribune, he also contributed drawings to publications like Vanity Fair, New Masses, The Nation, and Freiheit. His interest in the welfare of the American worker...
Category
Mid-20th Century Modern William Gropper Art
Materials
Watercolor, Gouache
"Carnival in New York, " William Gropper, City Street Scene Fair with Figures
By William Gropper
Located in New York, NY
William Gropper
Carnival in New York, 1964
Signed and dated lower right
Oil on canvas
27 x 41 inches
Provenance:
Private Collection, Haverstraw, New York
William Gropper was a painter and political cartoonist who is best remembered for his striking social commentary. He was born in 1897 on the Lower East Side in New York City to a large, poor immigrant family. Due to the family's financial difficulties, Gropper was forced to leave school at a very young age and work in a garment sweatshop with his mother and siblings. Several years later, he enrolled in art classes at the socially progressive Ferrer School where he received instruction from noted Ashcan artists Robert Henri and George Bellows. Gropper later recalled the influence of these men saying, "Right then, I began to realize that you don't paint with color—you paint with conviction, freedom, love and heartaches, with what you have."
Following his time at the Ferrer School, Gropper continued his education at the Chase School, later known as Parson's School of Design. After graduation, Gropper briefly illustrated for the New York Tribune, during which time he began contributing to socialist publications, such as The New Masses...
Category
1960s American Realist William Gropper Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
“The Circus Performer”
By William Gropper
Located in Southampton, NY
Original gouache on archival paper of a female circus performer by the American artist, William Gropper. Signed "Gropper" lower right. Condition is go...
Category
1950s Modern William Gropper Art
Materials
Gouache, Archival Paper
Wedding Dancer, Shtetl Series
By William Gropper
Located in Surfside, FL
As a politically passionate, unconventional figure in the art world, William Gropper tested the limits of expression through his cartoons, murals, and oil paintings. With a preference for theme over aesthetic, Gropper believed that art should reflect the human condition and experience. Visual art became the means by which Gropper communicated his concern for labor and economic issues, making him an ideal representative of Social-Realism. Throughout his life, he would be called a radical (even being subpoenaed by Congress for communism) and would tirelessly create socially relevant art for the public.
Born to Harry and Jenny Gropper in 1897, William was raised in New York City's Lower East Side. His parents were Jewish immigrants from Romania and Ukraine, and young William grew up in relative poverty, watching his family struggle to achieve that sought-after American dream. His father, a bright and college-educated man, was unable to find employment that worthy of his intellect. His mother, meanwhile, worked as a seamstress from home. Coupled with the devastating loss of an aunt to the infamous Triangle Factory fire of 1911, significant childhood factors created the foundation that led to Gropper’s exploration of the American experience.
Early on, Gropper displayed an extraordinary, natural skill for art. By 1912, he was already studying under the instruction of George Bellows and Robert Henri at the Ferrer School in Greenwich Village. During his time at school, Gropper was also awarded a prestigious scholarship to study at the National Academy of Design. However, he refused to fit into convention and was swiftly expelled from the Academy. After his expulsion, Gropper returned home to help financially by assisting his mother and taking a shop position. However, he didn't abandon art academia and soon presented a portfolio to the New York School of Fine Art which earned him a scholarship for study.
Gropper obtained his first significant job as a cartoonist for the New York Tribune in 1917. While working as a staff cartoonist for the Tribune, he also contributed drawings to publications like Vanity Fair, New Masses, The Nation, and Freiheit. His interest in the welfare of the American worker, class inequality, and social injustice was central in his work. After publishing the graphic novel Alley Oop in 1930, Gropper's illustration career extended well into the decade. However, he was never exempt from controversy, and his 1935 Vanity Fair cartoon; prompted anger from the Japanese government.
As an involved labor organizer and activist, Gropper continued to bring attention to his radical reputation with visits to the Soviet Union and Poland. However, his concern with European politics and U.S. social causes didn't slow down his artistic career, and by the late 1930s, he had produced significant murals for American cities like Washington D.C. His 1938 mural Construction of a Dam was commissioned for the Department of the Interior and represents the Social-Realism style that depicts experiences of the worker and everyday societal life. Measuring at a staggering 27ft by 87ft, the piece portrays muscular, robust American laborers scaling rocky hillsides, building infrastructure, and operating heavy machinery. The mural feels undeniably American with golden scenery, denim blues, and steely gray colors. Gropper fits perfectly into Social-Realism because the style exhibits an illustrative flair with strong lines and simple, bold hues.
The inspiration for Construction of a Dam sprang from his 1937 travels to the poverty-stricken Dust Bowl area. The trip was sponsored by a Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship, and his drawings of the Grand Coulee and Boulder Dams...
Category
Mid-20th Century Modern William Gropper Art
Materials
Lithograph
"Doomsday Rhapsody" Contemporary Social Realism Mid 20th Century Political Large
By William Gropper
Located in New York, NY
"Doomsday Rhapsody" Contemporary Social Realism Mid 20th Century Political Large. 42 x 52 inches. Signed lower right
Provenance: Estate of the artist.
BIO
William Gropper (1897- 1977)
Throughout his life, William Gropper used his artistic talents to protest social injustice. Born in New York City, he grew up there in poverty and left high school to work as a dishwasher and delivery boy. He eventually began a career in art and was able to study with Robert Henri and George Bellows from 1912 to 1915. He adopted their realistic painting style, and his own work expressed sympathy for common laborers and outrage at society's ills.
In 1919 Gropper established a reputation as a political cartoonist working for the New York Tribune. His blunt, forceful style attracted the attention of other publications, and he provided illustrations and cartoons for a variety of magazines, from the left-wing New Masses to mainstream Vanity Fair. Like many social realist artists of the 1930s, Gropper supported liberal political causes, depicting subjects such as the plight of migrant laborers and striking factory workers.
In his first gallery exhibition in 1936 at ACA Galleries, Gropper's work was so well received by critics, collectors, and artists that the following year he had two one-man exhibitions at ACA Galleries. In 1937, Gropper traveled west on a Guggenheim Fellowship and visited the Dust Bowl and the Hoover and Grand Coulee Dams, sketching studies for a series of paintings and a mural he painted for the Department of the Interior. That same year he had paintings purchased by both the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art.
Gropper exhibited at the 1939 New York World's Fair, Whitney Museum of American Art (1924-55), Art Institute of Chicago (1935-49), Carnegie International (1937-50), Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (1939-48), and National Academy of Design (1945-48). He was a founder of the Artists Equity Association and member of the National Institute of Arts and Letters.
From 1940 to 1945 William Gropper was preoccupied with anti-Nazi cartoons...
Category
1970s Contemporary William Gropper Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
WPA Social Realism American Scene Political Cartoon Depression Era Mid-Century
By William Gropper
Located in New York, NY
WPA Social Realism American Scene Political Cartoon Depression Era Mid-Century. Signed lower left. The drawing is unframed.
Provenance: The estate o...
Category
1930s American Realist William Gropper Art
Materials
Paper, Ink
Job Hunters WPA Depression Era Mid 20th Century American Scene Social Realism
By William Gropper
Located in New York, NY
Job Hunters WPA Depression Era Mid 20th Century American Scene Social Realism. Signed lower left. Unframed. 12 1/2 x 9 1.2 inches. c. 1925/26
This drawing is published in the Willia...
Category
1930s American Realist William Gropper Art
Materials
Paper, Ink
Americana, Lawyer in Court, Politician, Gouache Painting WPA Art William Gropper
By William Gropper
Located in Surfside, FL
William Gropper Original Gouache on Paper
Hand signed lower right
33.5 x 27.5 image 26 x 20.5
The New-York born artist William Gropper was a painter and cartoonist who, with caricature style, focused on social concerns, and was actively engaged in support of the organized labor movement throughout his career. This original watercolor drawing is done in the iconic style of the artist's oeuvre.
Born to Harry and Jenny Gropper in 1897, William was raised in New York City's Lower East Side. His parents were Jewish immigrants from Romania and Ukraine, and young William grew up in relative poverty, watching his family struggle to achieve that sought-after American dream. His father, a bright and college-educated man, was unable to find employment that worthy of his intellect. His mother, meanwhile, worked as a seamstress from home. Coupled with the devastating loss of an aunt to the infamous Triangle Factory fire of 1911, significant childhood factors created the foundation that led to Gropper’s exploration of the American experience.
Early on, Gropper displayed an extraordinary, natural skill for art. By 1912, he was already studying under the instruction of George Bellows and Robert Henri at the Ferrer School in Greenwich Village. During his time at school, Gropper was also awarded a prestigious scholarship to study at the National Academy of Design. However, he refused to fit into convention and was swiftly expelled from the Academy. After his expulsion, Gropper returned home to help financially by assisting his mother and taking a shop position. However, he didn't abandon art academia and soon presented a portfolio to the New York School of Fine Art which earned him a scholarship for study.
Gropper obtained his first significant job as a cartoonist for the New York Tribune in 1917. While working as a staff cartoonist for the Tribune, he also contributed drawings to publications like Vanity Fair, New Masses, The Nation, and Freiheit. His interest in the welfare of the American worker, class inequality, and social injustice was central in his work. After publishing the graphic novel Alley Oop in 1930, Gropper's illustration career extended well into the decade. However, he was never exempt from controversy, and his 1935 Vanity Fair cartoon; prompted anger from the Japanese government.
As an involved labor organizer and Social Realist activist, Gropper continued to bring attention to his radical reputation with visits to the Soviet Union and Poland. However, his concern with European politics and U.S. social causes didn't slow down his artistic career, and by the late 1930s, he had produced significant murals for American cities like Washington D.C. His 1938 mural Construction of a Dam was commissioned for the Department of the Interior and represents the Social-Realism style that depicts experiences of the worker and everyday societal life. Measuring at a staggering 27ft by 87ft, the piece portrays muscular, robust American laborers scaling rocky hillsides, building infrastructure, and operating heavy machinery. The mural feels undeniably American with golden scenery, denim blues, and steely gray colors. Gropper fits perfectly into Social-Realism because the style exhibits an illustrative flair with strong lines and simple, bold hues.
The inspiration for Construction of a Dam sprang from his 1937 travels to the poverty-stricken Dust Bowl area. The trip was sponsored by a Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship, and his drawings of the Grand Coulee and Boulder Dams...
Category
Mid-20th Century Modern William Gropper Art
Materials
Watercolor, Ink, Gouache
William Gropper art for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a wide variety of authentic William Gropper 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 yellow and other colors. You can also browse by medium to find art by William Gropper in lithograph, paint, oil paint and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 20th century and is mostly associated with the modern style. Not every interior allows for large William Gropper art, so small editions measuring 11 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Byron Browne, David Klein, and Thomas Hart Benton. William Gropper art prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $400 and tops out at $172,008, while the average work can sell for $800.