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Louis Lozowick
'Mural Study: Lower Manhattan' — WPA Era Precisionism

1935

About the Item

Louis Lozowick, 'Mural Study: Lower Manhattan', lithograph, edition 10 or fewer, 1936. Flint 135. Signed and dated in pencil. Signed in the stone, lower right. A fine, richly-inked impression, on cream, wove paper with full margins ( 1 1/2 to 2 3/8 inches), in excellent condition. Signed and dated '36 in pencil. Printed by master lithographer Theodore Cuno. Extremely rare. Archivally matted to museum standards, unframed. Image size 13 5/16 x 7 3/16 inches (338 x 182 mm); sheet size 17 1/8 x 11 3/8 inches (435 x 289 mm). ABOUT THIS WORK This historical image is Lozowick’s study for one of a pair of murals commissioned by the Treasury Relief Art Project for the Post Office at 33rd Street and 8th Avenue in New York City. The 107-year-old James A. Farley Building has now been converted into an extension of Pennsylvania Station—a grand train hall for passengers of Amtrak and the Long Island Rail Road. Impressions of this lithograph are in the permanent collections of the following institutions: Iowa State University Museum, Smithsonian American Art Museum, U.S. Treasury Collection, Wolfsonian (Florida International University). ABOUT THE ARTIST Born in Russia in 1892, Lozowick came to this country at the age of 14 to join his brother in New York City. By 1919 he had attended art school, finished college, served in the army, and traveled throughout the United States visiting major cities which would later become subjects of his work. From 1919 to 1924 Lozowick lived and traveled throughout Europe, staying in Paris, Berlin, and Moscow. In 1920 he began his Machine Age drawings, the ‘Machine Ornament’ series and three years later he made his first print. Having assimilated European Constructivist and Cubist theories, and the Bauhaus manifesto promoting the integration of applied and fine art, Lozowick was inspired to present the rapidly growing New York City skyline with its monumental skyscrapers as modern symbols of optimism. Like many other Depression-era artists, he identified closely with the common worker and valued the exacting craft and artisanship dictated by the printmaking process. His versatility and range of interests were exemplified by his stage sets for the 1926 production of Georg Kaiser’s play “Gas,” the first Constructivist production seen in America. A year later, his images and essay were centerpieces in the pivotal 1927 Machine Age Exposition in New York. Assigned to the WPA New York Graphic Arts Division in 1935, he left in 1936 to accept a commission from the prestigious Treasury Relief Art Project for two large oil paintings for the Post Office at 33rd Street in Manhattan. The featured work above, 'Mural study: Lower Manhattan,' is one of his two preliminary lithographic studies for these striking murals. Returning to the Project in 1938, Lozowick continued to experiment with various printmaking mediums, including wood engraving, drypoint, and screen printing, until the end of his appointment in 1940. During the next three decades, encouraged by curator Carl Zigrosser of the Weyhe Gallery, he devoted himself primarily to lithography, mounting several solo exhibitions at major New York galleries, and a retrospective at the Whitney Museum of American Art in 1972. Louis Lozowick is widely recognized as a key figure in America's Precisionist movement and a leader in mid-20th-century modernist printmaking. His graphic works and paintings have been acquired by numerous museums, including the Art Institute of Chicago, Brooklyn Museum, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art, New York Public Library, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Smithsonian American Art Museum, U. S. Library of Congress, and the Whitney Museum of American Art.
  • Creator:
    Louis Lozowick (1892 - 1973, American)
  • Creation Year:
    1935
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 12.82 in (32.57 cm)Width: 8.88 in (22.56 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    Myrtle Beach, SC
  • Reference Number:
    Seller: 1036321stDibs: LU53233889772
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