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"Male Nude with Sculptural Fragment, " Important Depiction of Fred McDarrah

About the Item

This drawing is a highly important and rare window into a relationship that impacted the larger world of Abstract Expressionism in New York just a few years after it was made in 1949. The artist is William Littlefield, who depicts his model, Fred McDarrah, resting in the nude with a classical female torso. In that year, Littlefield met McDarrah, an aspiring photographer and photojournalist and soon introduced him to an array of young artists in New York at the Waldorf Cafeteria, which evolved into the club. Over the years, the club's exhibitions, panel conversations, parties and events helped to coalesce the Abstract Expressionist movement, bringing together major figures in the New York School such as Willem de Kooning, Franz Kline, Ad Reinhardt, Grace Hartigan, Joan Mitchell, Robert Rauschenberg, Lee Krasner, Philip Guston, William Baziotes, Robert Motherwell, Richard Pousette-Dart, Milton Avery, Stuart Davis and others. McDarrah later captured this fleeting moment in a series of photographs published as "The Artist's World in Pictures" in 1961 and he worked for The Village Voice for decades. (Dimensions include matte.).
  • Creator:
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 18 in (45.72 cm)Width: 23.75 in (60.33 cm)Depth: 0.1 in (2.54 mm)
  • Style:
    Art Deco (Of the Period)
  • Place of Origin:
  • Period:
  • Date of Manufacture:
    1949
  • Condition:
    Drawing is in excellent condition. Matte shows wear and tear.
  • Seller Location:
    Philadelphia, PA
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU86515178373

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