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1930s Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

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Period: 1930s
Disegno figurativo allegorico italiano stile Decò della prima metà del XX secolo
Located in Florence, IT
Il disegno in questione rappresenta una figura figura femminile nuda in piedi con le braccia alzate, in una posa solenne come fiero è il suo sguardo, ai cui piedi sta sdraiata una fi...
Category

Art Deco 1930s Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Color Pencil

"Fish"
Located in Lambertville, NJ
Jim’s of Lambertville is proud to offer this artwork by: Ramstonev Co-operative Project (1937 - 1939) In the late 1930s, Charles Ramsey became close friends with Charles Evans and ...
Category

Abstract 1930s Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Pastel

Skipping Rope, Good Housekeeping Magazine Cover
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Medium: Watercolor, Gouache and Graphite Pencil on Board Signature: Signed Lower Right Good Housekeeping Magazine Cover April 1934.
Category

1930s Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Gouache, Watercolor, Board, Graphite, Pencil

A Couple in Architectural Cityscape
Located in London, GB
BELA KADAR 1877-1956 Budapest 1877-1956 (Hungarian) Title: A Couple in Architectural Cityscape, circa 1930's Technique: Original Signed Ink Drawing on paper size: 29.5 x 2...
Category

Cubist 1930s Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Ink

Hearth And Home Magazine Cover
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Medium: Gouache on Board Signature: Signed Lower Left Hearth And Home Magazine Cover, March 1931
Category

1930s Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Board, Gouache

Wire Haired Girl and Cat
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Wire Haired Girl and Cat Pen and ink with watercolor, c. 1930 Signed with the Estate stamp "B" Provenance: Estate of the Artist By descent to his son Edward ...
Category

American Modern 1930s Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Watercolor

Femme assise nue avec un bras levé au-dessus de sa tête Seated female nude ...
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Femme assise nue avec un bras levé au-dessus de sa tête Seated female nude with an arm raised over her head Ink and watercolor on paper, n.d. Signed in pencil lower right (see photo)...
Category

French School 1930s Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Watercolor

Untitled (Study for The Aerialists)
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Untitled (Study for The Aerialists) Graphite on paper, 1932 Signed lower right in pencil: "John Steuart Curry" Dated: 1932 in pencil Exhibited: Schroeder Romero & Shredder, NYC (la...
Category

American Modern 1930s Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Graphite

"Tugboat at Dock, " Reginald Marsh, Modern WPA Industrial Ship
Located in New York, NY
Reginald Marsh Tugboat at Dock, circa 1937 Signed lower right Watercolor and pencil on paper 13 3/4 x 20 inches Housed in a Lowy frame. Provenance: Sotheby'...
Category

Modern 1930s Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Watercolor, Pencil

Poplars, a watercolor by Allen Tucker
Located in Hudson, NY
This 1930 watercolor by American artist and architect Allen Tucker is framed with museum quality, non-reflective glass and archival matting. It was gifted by the artist to his friend...
Category

American Impressionist 1930s Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

Untitled Fabric Design
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Untitled Fabric Design Gouache on paper, 1920-1935 Signed with the Atelier Stamp verso (see photo) Numbered with the Atelier Litt Archive number verso (see photo) No. 05535 ...
Category

Abstract 1930s Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Gouache

Duel - Drawing by Mino Maccari - 1935
Located in Roma, IT
Duel is a Pencil Drawing realized by Mino Maccari  (1924-1989) in 1935. Monogrammed on the lower margin. Good condition on a yellowed paper. Mino Maccari (Siena, 1924-Rome, June 1...
Category

Modern 1930s Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Watercolor, Paper

Untitled Fabric Design
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Untitled Fabric Design Gouache on paper, 1920-1935 Signed with the Atelier Stamp verso (see photo) Numbered with the Atelier Litt Archive number verso (see photo) No. 37365 ...
Category

Abstract 1930s Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Gouache

Untitled Fabric Design
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Untitled Fabric Design Gouache on paper, 1920-1935 Signed with the Atelier Stamp verso (see photo) Numbered with the Atelier Litt Archive number verso (see photo) Condition: E...
Category

Abstract 1930s Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Gouache

Untitled Fabric Design
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Untitled Fabric Design Gouache on paper, 1920-1935 Signed with the Atelier Stamp verso (see photo) Numbered with the Atelier Litt Archive number verso (see photo)No. 26190 Con...
Category

Abstract 1930s Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Gouache

Untitled Fabric Design
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Untitled Fabric Design Gouache on paper, 1920-1935 Signed with the Atelier Stamp verso (see photo) Numbered with the Atelier Litt Archive number verso (see photo) No. 24680 Co...
Category

Abstract 1930s Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Gouache

Louis Icart, French, 1888-1950 Ladies in a Carriage Pastel on Paper
Located in Dallas, TX
Louis Icart (French, 1888-1950). Ladies in a carriage. Pastel on Paper. 20-5/8 x 18-1/2 inches (52.3 x 47.0 cm). Louis Icart (French, 1888-1950). Ladies in a carriage. Pastel on ...
Category

Art Deco 1930s Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper

A Triptych: The Olympic Games, Modern British Drawing, Ancient Greek, Nude
Located in London, GB
Graphite on paper Image size of rectangular works: 33 x 43 inches (84 x 109 cm) Image size of arched central work: 38 1/4 x 29 inches (97 x 73.5 cm) Provenance Private Collection o...
Category

Modern 1930s Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Graphite, Paper

"TWO MALLARDS" FLYING DUCKS FRAMED 23.25 X 27.25
Located in San Antonio, TX
Frank Weston Benson (1862-1951) Massachusetts Image Size: 15.5 x 15.5 Frame Size: 23.25 x 27.25 Medium: Charcoal on Paper Dated 1930 "Two Mallards Biography Frank Weston Benson (1862...
Category

Realist 1930s Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Charcoal

Aristide Maillol Charcoal Drawing “Nu De Dos”
Located in Dallas, TX
Aristide Maillol (Fr, 1861-1944) A very large original charcoal drawing by Aristide Maillol verified by Olivier Lorquin, Director of Galerie Dina Vierny at the Musee Maillol in Par...
Category

Modern 1930s Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper

Paul Emile Lecomte (1877-1950) La Grille (The Gate), signed watercolor
Located in Paris, FR
Paul Emile Lecomte (1877-1950) La Grille (The Gate) Signed lower left Watercolor on paper 27 x 37 cm In quite condition: yellowed by time, some stains Framed: 43 x 53 cm Paul Emile ...
Category

Post-Impressionist 1930s Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Watercolor

1930 Art Deco Furniture Study Drawing by French L' Atelier 43 Studio
Located in Atlanta, GA
This stunning furniture study project drawing was designed by L' Atelier 43 Studio in Lyon, France, in the 1930s. The study features a project for a custom-made interior bar in a typ...
Category

Art Deco 1930s Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Gouache, Pencil

Getting Ready for the Revolution - Learning How to Ride in the Subway
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Getting Ready for the Revolution - Learning How to Ride in the Subway Litho crayons on illustrator’s board, c. 1932 Signed: Adolf Dehn (VED) lower right corner (signed by Virginia De...
Category

American Modern 1930s Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Oil Crayon

Eros - Drawing by Maurice Vertès - 1930s
Located in Roma, IT
Eros is a pencil drawing realized by Maurice Vertès in the 1930s. Good conditions with slight folding.
Category

Modern 1930s Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Pencil

Art Deco Fashion Illustration Ink Drawing by G. Ferro
Located in Atlanta, GA
Original Art Deco fashion drawing, ink, and wash on Vellum paper by French artist G. Ferro. The artwork features a stylish male model with a typical Art Deco overcoat. The piece is s...
Category

Art Deco 1930s Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paint, Paper, Ink, Watercolor

Cubist Woman Study Black Pencil Drawing by Wouyart
Located in Atlanta, GA
This interesting seated woman pencil study is by French artist Wouyart (20th Century). This unique representation captures the model's expression through trace lines and shadows that...
Category

Cubist 1930s Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Pencil, Carbon Pencil

"Acrobazie" pastello 1935 cm. 19 x 25
Located in Torino, IT
Robert Falcucci (1900-1989) Famoso illustratore di manifesti famosi i suoi manifesti di corse automobilistiche e località turistiche francesi Quest'opera è vicina llo stile Futurista...
Category

Futurist 1930s Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Crayon

Preliminary Study for a Sculpture Project
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Preliminary Study for a Sculpture Project Graphite, charcoal and wash on tracing paper, c. 1930-1940 Signed upper left and lower left (see both photos) Created while the artist was l...
Category

American Modern 1930s Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Charcoal

Disegno fronte retro figurativo toscano nudo femminile del XX secolo
Located in Florence, IT
Disegno fronte retro matita su carta, 330 x 240 mm. Su un lato, in verticale, è raffigurato un nudo femminile seduto in un ambiente domestico, colto nell'atto di voltarsi verso lo s...
Category

Other Art Style 1930s Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Pencil

WPA Post Office Mural Study Native American Scene Regionalism Social Realism
Located in New York, NY
WPA Post Office Mural Study Native American Scene Regionalism Social Realism Louise Emerson Ronnebeck (1901 - 1980) Proposal Sketch for Worland Wyoming Post Office WPA Mural Project Image: 7 x 15 inches Board 14 x 22 inches Watercolor on paper, attached to black/gray cardboard/thick paper c. 1937 Signed lower right Written in Louise's hand on mounting paper in white chalk/pencil: "Sketch for Mural...
Category

American Realist 1930s Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Cardboard, Watercolor

Port Scene in Brittany by Georges Manzana Pissarro - Charcoal on Board
Located in London, GB
Port Scene in Brittany by Georges Manzana Pissarro (1871 - 1961) Charcoal on artist's board 50 x 66 cm (19 ³/₄ x 26 inches) Signed on the reverse This work is accompanied by a certi...
Category

Post-Impressionist 1930s Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Charcoal, Board

French Art Deco Woman Singing Gouache Painting
Located in Atlanta, GA
A lovely gouache on cardboard painting featuring an Art Deco singer with a typical stylish outfit. The composition is very vibrant, using the contrast of black and white elements ag...
Category

Art Deco 1930s Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Gouache, Board, Cardboard

Study, preparatory work for “La Princesse”, watercolor and pencil on paper
Located in PARIS, FR
Raphael DELORME (1886-1962) Study, preparatory work for “La Princesse” Watercolor and pencil on paper Annotated “La Princesse” 30,5 x 22,5 cm Small folds and small stains Born in 18...
Category

Art Deco 1930s Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Watercolor, Pencil

Paul Brown Meadow Brook Steeple Chase At Ambrose Clark Estate Drypoint
Located in Bristol, CT
Meadow Brook Steeple Chase at Ambrose Clark Estate, Broad Hollow, Old Westbury, Long Island Art Sz: 7 1/2"H x 11 1/4"W Frame Sz: 15 1/4" H x 18 5/8"W
Category

1930s Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Drypoint

Paul Brown Pastel/ Charcoal "Drumming Fast" Polo Drawing
Located in Bristol, CT
Art Sz: 8 3/8"H x 13"W Frame Sz: 16 1/4"H x 20 1/4"W
Category

1930s Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Charcoal, Pastel, Bamboo Paper

The Bathers, Wood-Engraving Drawing Lithograph by John Buckland-Wright
Located in Atlanta, GA
This elegant wood-engraving charcoal drawing lithograph print was designed by John Buckland-Wright (1897-1954). The piece is signed, dated, titled, and numbered in pencil on the marg...
Category

Art Deco 1930s Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Ink, Paper

Barcelona Spain pencil drawing
Located in Barcelona, Barcelona
Eliseo Meifren Roig (1859-1940) - Barcelona - Pencil drawing Drawing measurements 9x12 cm. Frame measurements 22x25 cm.
Category

Impressionist 1930s Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Pencil, Color Pencil

Woman in profile, watercolor and pencil on paper
Located in PARIS, FR
Raphael DELORME (1886-1962) Study of a woman in profile Watercolor, gouache and pencil on paper Illegible annotation in the lower right corner 31 x 20 cm Small needle holes at the to...
Category

Art Deco 1930s Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Watercolor, Pencil

Two men's heads, ca. 1930, ink on paper
Located in PARIS, FR
Mathieu (Matei) ROSIANU (1897-1969) Two men's heads, circa 1930 Ink on paper 7 x 9 cm Born in Bucharest in 1897 to an officer in the Romanian National Guard and a mother of French ...
Category

Surrealist 1930s Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

India Ink, Ink

people on the bar terrace spanish modernism colored pencils
Located in Barcelona, Barcelona
Ricard Opisso - Bar - Colored pencils Measurements drawing 11x13cm. Frame measures 35x37 cm. Son of Alfredo Opisso y Viñas, journalist, historian and critic, and of Antonia Sala y ...
Category

Modern 1930s Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Color Pencil

Untitled-019 gouache and pencil by Vaclav Vytlacil
Located in Hudson, NY
Delightful petite abstract work by American abstract artist Vaclav Vytlacil. About this artist: Born in 1892 to Czechoslovakian parents in New York, Vaclav Vytlacil and his parents ...
Category

Abstract Expressionist 1930s Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Gouache, Cardboard, Pencil

Still Life at a Table, Study in Yellow by Artist Harold Haydon
Located in Chicago, IL
A ca. 1931 delightful watercolor still life at a table; a study in yellow by artist Harold Haydon. Harold Emerson Haydon was born in Fort William, Ont...
Category

American Modern 1930s Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Ink, Watercolor, Pen

Untitled (Study of Classical Drapery)
Located in Chicago, IL
A graphite on paper, study of a classical drapery by artist Jan Matulka. The image is drawn on the back of a typewritten, folded sheet of stationery, from Dyer, Hudson & Co., New Yo...
Category

American Modern 1930s Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Graphite

Study, preparatory work for “La Princesse”, watercolor and pencil on paper
Located in PARIS, FR
Raphael DELORME (1886-1962) Study, preparatory work for “La Princesse” Watercolor and pencil on paper Annotated “La Princesse” 30,5 x 22,5 cm Small folds and small stains Born in 18...
Category

Art Deco 1930s Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Pencil, Watercolor

Man with coin, ca. 1930, pencil on paper
Located in PARIS, FR
Mathieu (Matei) ROSIANU (1897-1969) Man with coin Pencil on paper Workshop stamp on reverse 8 x 5,5 inch Born in Bucharest in 1897 to an officer in the Romanian National Guard and ...
Category

Surrealist 1930s Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Pencil

Trois Faunes, 1938 ink on paper beautiful drawing
Located in Jerusalem, IL
Beautiful drawing Trois Faunes, 1938 ink on paper by the French artist Jean Cocteau.
Category

1930s Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Ink

Two Women and a Child on the Beach at Provincetown
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Two Women and a Child on the Beach at Provincetown Unsigned. Watercolor on paper, c. 1934 A beautiful Provincetown beach scene, included in the catalogue raisonne. Please see Babcoc...
Category

American Modern 1930s Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Watercolor

Forest Scene, Study in Yellow by artist Harold Haydon
Located in Chicago, IL
A ca. 1931 charming watercolor forest scene; a study in yellow by artist Harold Haydon. Harold Emerson Haydon was born in Fort William, Ontario, Canad...
Category

American Modern 1930s Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Ink, Pen, Watercolor, Paper

An Interior Scene, Study in Yellow by Artist Harold Haydon
Located in Chicago, IL
A ca. 1931 charming watercolor interior scene; a study in yellow by artist Harold Haydon. Harold Emerson Haydon was born in Fort William, Ontario, Can...
Category

American Modern 1930s Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Ink, Watercolor, Pen

Still Life at a Table, Study in Yellow by Artist Harold Haydon
Located in Chicago, IL
A ca. 1931 delightful watercolor still life at a table; a study in yellow by artist Harold Haydon. Harold Emerson Haydon was born in Fort William, Ont...
Category

American Modern 1930s Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Ink, Watercolor, Pen

Graphite on Paper Architectural Study by artist Frances Poe
Located in Chicago, IL
A wonderful Art Deco drawing by Illinois woman artist and illustrator Frances Poe.
Category

Art Deco 1930s Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Graphite

Still Life at a Table, Study in Yellow by Artist Harold Haydon
Located in Chicago, IL
A ca. 1931 delightful still life at a table; a study in yellow by artist Harold Haydon. Harold Emerson Haydon was born in Fort William, Ontario, Canad...
Category

American Modern 1930s Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Ink, Watercolor, Pen

Mercedes Matter, New York School Abstract Figures
Located in New York, NY
Mercedes Carles Matter (1913 - 2001) Untitled, circa 1937 Pastel on paper 16 x 13 1/2 inches Estate stamped on the reverse Provenance: Estate of the artist Spanierman Gallery, New York Private Collection, Pennsylvania circa 2013 Private Collection, New York, 2021 Mercedes Matter was born in New York in 1913. Her father, the American modernist Arthur B. Carles, had studied with Matisse. Her mother, Mercedes de Cordoba, was a model for Edward Steichen. Ms. Matter grew up in Philadelphia, New York and Europe. She began painting under her father's supervision at age 6, and studied art at Bennett College in Millbrook, N.Y., and then in New York City with Maurice Sterne, Alexander Archipenko and Hans Hofmann. In the late 1930's, she was an original member of the American Abstract Artists organization and worked for the federal Works Progress Administration, assisting Fernand Léger on his mural for the French Line passenger ship company. Léger introduced her to Herbert Matter, the Swiss graphic designer and photographer, whom she married in 1939. The Matters were active in the emerging New York art scene and also traveled frequently to Europe. Their closest friends included Jackson Pollock, Lee Krasner, Franz Kline, Philip Guston, Alexander Calder and Willem de Kooning. They were also close to Alberto Giacometti, who was an important artistic role model for Mrs. Matter and a frequent photographic subject for her husband. Beginning in 1953, Mrs. Matter taught at the Philadelphia College of Art (now University of the Arts), Pratt Institute and New York University. Based on her teaching experiences she wrote an article for Art News in 1963 titled ''What's Wrong with U.S. Art Schools?'' In it, she lamented the phasing out of the extended studio classes required to initiate ''that painfully slow education of the senses,'' which she considered an artist's life work. The article prompted a group of Pratt students to ask her to form a school based on her ideas, which led, in 1964, to the founding of the New York Studio School. Originally in a loft on Broadway, the school gained almost immediate support from the Kaplan Fund, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and the Ford Foundation. It granted no degrees, had only studio classes and emphasized drawing from life. Its teachers, chosen by the students, included the artists Guston, Bradley Walker Tomlin, Charles Cajori, Louis Finkelstein...
Category

Abstract Expressionist 1930s Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Pastel, Oil Pastel

Antique Seaside Watercolor Lancashire England 1933
Located in Douglas Manor, NY
3828 Antique English watercolor of Blackpool from Cleveley Lancashire England Image size 9.25x13.25"
Category

1930s Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Watercolor

Biplanes In Flight
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Medium: Watercolor and Gouache Signature: Signed and Dated Lower Left "John Lavalle 1930"
Category

1930s Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Gouache, Watercolor

Ideal Decoration - Drawing by Carlo Parisi - 1935
Located in Roma, IT
Ideal Decoration is an Artwork realized by the artist Carlo Parisi (1922-2007) in 1935. Black and white drawing on paper. Good conditions. Carlo Parisi...
Category

Modern 1930s Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Pencil

American Veterans Remembrance Day Poster Study (National Poppy Day, Am. Legion)
Located in Chicago, IL
A wonderful study for an American Veterans Remembrance Day Poster Study (National Poppy Day, American Legion) by Elaine Jeanne Glickman (Ginsburg), created at Ferry Hall in Lake Fore...
Category

American Modern 1930s Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Board, Watercolor

Eileen Lake
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Eileen Lake Crayon on paper, early1930's Initialed in pencil lower right (see photo) Titled and annotated verso "Eileen Lake, early 1930s girlfriend" Note: Eileen Hall Lake was an American poet and Adolf Dehn's girlfriend in the early 1930s. Provenance: Estate of the artist By descent Adolf Dehn, American Watercolorist and Printmaker, 1895-1968 Adolf Dehn was an artist who achieved extraordinary artistic heights, but in a very particular artistic sphere—not so much in oil painting as in watercolor and lithography. Long recognized as a master by serious print collectors, he is gradually gaining recognition as a notable and influential figure in the overall history of American art. In the 19th century, with the invention of the rotary press, which made possible enormous print runs, and the development of the popular, mass-market magazines, newspaper and magazine illustration developed into an artistic realm of its own, often surprisingly divorced from the world of museums and art exhibitions, and today remains surprisingly overlooked by most art historians. Dehn in many regards was an outgrowth of this world, although in an unusual way, since as a young man he produced most of his illustrative work not for popular magazines, such as The Saturday Evening Post, but rather for radical journals, such as The Masses or The Liberator, or artistic “little magazines” such as The Dial. This background established the foundation of his outlook, and led later to his unique and distinctive contribution to American graphic art. If there’s a distinctive quality to his work, it was his skill in introducing unusual tonal and textural effects into his work, particularly in printmaking but also in watercolor. Jackson Pollock seems to have been one of many notable artists who were influenced by his techniques. Early Years, 1895-1922 For an artist largely remembered for scenes of Vienna and Paris, Adolf Dehn’s background was a surprising one. Born in Waterville, Minnesota, on November 22, 1895, Dehn was the descendent of farmers who had emigrated from Germany and homesteaded in the region, initially in a one-room log cabin with a dirt floor. Adolf’s father, Arthur Clark Dehn, was a hunter and trapper who took pride that he had no boss but himself, and who had little use for art. Indeed, during Adolf’s boyhood the walls of his bedroom and the space under his bed were filled with the pelts of mink, muskrats and skunks that his father had killed, skinned and stretched on drying boards. It was Adolf’s mother, Emilie Haas Dehn, a faithful member of the German Lutheran Evangelical Church, who encouraged his interest in art, which became apparent early in childhood. Both parents were ardent socialists, and supporters of Eugene Debs. In many ways Dehn’s later artistic achievement was clearly a reaction against the grinding rural poverty of his childhood. After graduating from high school in 1914 at the age of 19—an age not unusual in farming communities at the time, where school attendance was often irregular—Dehn attended the Minneapolis School of Art from 1914 to 1917, whose character followed strongly reflected that of its director, Munich-trained Robert Kohler, an artistic conservative but a social radical. There Dehn joined a group of students who went on to nationally significant careers, including Wanda Gag (later author of best-selling children’s books); John Flanagan (a sculptor notable for his use of direct carving) Harry Gottlieb (a notable social realist and member of the Woodstock Art Colony), Elizabeth Olds (a printmaker and administrator for the WPA), Arnold Blanch (landscape, still-life and figure painter, and member of the Woodstock group), Lucille Lunquist, later Lucille Blanch (also a gifted painter and founder of the Woodstock art colony), and Johan Egilrud (who stayed in Minneapolis and became a journalist and poet). Adolf became particularly close to Wanda Gag (1893-1946), with whom he established an intense but platonic relationship. Two years older than he, Gag was the daughter of a Bohemian artist and decorator, Anton Gag, who had died in 1908. After her husband died, Wanda’s mother, Lizzi Gag, became a helpless invalid, so Wanda was entrusted with the task of raising and financially supporting her six younger siblings. This endowed her with toughness and an independent streak, but nonetheless, when she met Dehn, Wanda was Victorian and conventional in her artistic taste and social values. Dehn was more socially radical, and introduced her to radical ideas about politics and free love, as well as to socialist publications such as The Masses and The Appeal to Reason. Never very interested in oil painting, in Minneapolis Dehn focused on caricature and illustration--often of a humorous or politically radical character. In 1917 both Dehn and Wanda won scholarships to attend the Art Students League, and consequently, in the fall of that year both moved to New York. Dehn’s art education, however, ended in the summer of 1918, shortly after the United States entered World War I, when he was drafted to serve in the U. S. Army. Unwilling to fight, he applied for status as a conscientious objector, but was first imprisoned, then segregated in semi-imprisonment with other Pacifists, until the war ended. The abuse he suffered at this time may well explain his later withdrawal from taking political stands or making art of an overtly political nature. After his release from the army, Dehn returned to New York where he fell under the spell of the radical cartoonist Boardman Robinson and produced his first lithographs. He also finally consummated his sexual relationship with Wanda Gag. The Years in Europe: 1922-1929 In September of 1921, however, he abruptly departed for Europe, arriving in Paris and then moving on to Vienna. There in the winter of 1922 he fell in love with a Russian dancer, Mura Zipperovitch, ending his seven-year relationship with Wanda Gag. He and Mura were married in 1926. It was also in Vienna that he produced his first notable artistic work. Influenced by European artists such as Jules Pascin and Georg Grosz, Dehn began producing drawings of people in cafes, streets, and parks, which while mostly executed in his studio, were based on spontaneous life studies and have an expressive, sometimes almost childishly wandering quality of line. The mixture of sophistication and naiveté in these drawings was new to American audiences, as was the raciness of their subject matter, which often featured pleasure-seekers, prostitutes or scenes of sexual dalliance, presented with a strong element of caricature. Some of these drawings contain an element of social criticism, reminiscent of that found in the work of George Grosz, although Dehn’s work tended to focus on humorous commentary rather than savagely attacking his subjects or making a partisan political statement. Many Americans, including some who had originally been supporters of Dehn such as Boardman Robinson, were shocked by these European drawings, although George Grocz (who became a friend of the artist in this period) admired them, and recognized that Dehn could also bring a new vision to America subject matter. As he told Dehn: “You will do things in America which haven’t been done, which need to be done, which only you can do—as far at least as I know America.” A key factor in Dehn’s artistic evolution at this time was his association with Scofield Thayer...
Category

American Realist 1930s Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Oil Crayon

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