Mid-20th Century Drawings

Pastel on paper dating from the 1930s representing the portrait of a woman. Poetic and aesthetic, this painting does not lack beauty and delicacy. It will be perfect in a vintage ...

White Bunny Drawing by Oleg Cassini for Playboy October 1979, Signed. Illustration of a woman wearing a white body suit, choker, and hat. Signed by Oleg Cassini. Notice the body suit is in the shape of the head of a bunny with clever use of the 'whiskers'. Approximate Measurements: Length: 11" Width: 14" Property from the Collection of Steven Rosengard, Chicago, Illinois This original drawing was commissioned by Playboy and included in the October 1979 issue of Playboy Magazine (pages 225-227) in a feature that included works from designers such as Bill Blass, Oleg Cassini, Edith Head, Fernando Sanchez, and Monika Tilley, among others, who create their versions of the Playboy bunny costume. Candace Collins can be seen modeling some of the designs in the feature. Oleg Cassini is an icon of twentieth-century fashion. Though born to Russian aristocracy and raised in Italy, he built a fashion empire that was unmistakably American. Cassini is perhaps best known for the hundreds of designs he created for First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy (see images 4-8), but his achievements as a collector, connoisseur, and quintessential twentieth-century man go far beyond Camelot. In 1913, Oleg Cassini was born in Paris to the Russian diplomat Count Alexander Loiewski and Countess Marguerite Cassini, a Russian aristocrat of Italian ancestry who also had an interesting link to America. The daughter of Count Arthur Cassini, Russian Ambassador to the United States during the McKinley and Roosevelt administrations, Marguerite dazzled turn-of-the-century Washington as her father’s official hostess and left her mark on the capital city. Stationed in Denmark when the Russian Revolution toppled the czar, Ambassador Cassini and family were exiled to Switzerland before settling in Florence, Italy, where young Oleg was raised. A true Renaissance man, he spoke Russian, French, and Danish before adding Italian and English; he studied medieval and modern European military history and costume and learned to draw; he learned horseback riding, fencing, and the art of chivalry; and, most importantly, he came to understand the struggles of the Russian titled class and other European aristocrats in the wake of the Russian Revolution and World War I. Countess Cassini started a successful fashion business in Florence, and soon the talented young Oleg was sent to Paris to sketch the latest collections for recreation in Italy. In Rome in his early 20s, Cassini created fashions for high society women and designed for a few films, which planted the seed for his move to Hollywood. The drive to reinvent himself brought Cassini to America in the 1930s; in his autobiography he describes arriving nearly penniless in mid-Depression New York City where his title as an exiled Russian Count meant even less than in war-devastated Europe. Down and out, Cassini struggled for employment, having sketching skills but no knowledge of the wholesale trade required for survival in Manhattan’s Seventh Avenue fashion district. However, he excelled at making connections, and Cassini slowly entered New York society. He was soon joined by younger brother Igor (who had studied in America and travelled with the young Emilio Pucci) and his parents, the once-dazzling Countess and his father, the displaced diplomat still loyal to Russia. The family settled in Washington, D.C., and Igor worked his way up the Hearst newspaper chain to become the famous society columnist Cholly Knickerbocker. In New York, Oleg Cassini married the troubled socialite Merry Fahrney (who would go on to marry eight times), but the marriage ended in scandal for Oleg, and he decided to follow his original intention and head for Hollywood. Despite initial difficulties, Cassini gained access to Hollywood’s elite (partially through his skills on the tennis court), and was soon hired as a designer at Paramount Pictures alongside the redoubtable Edith Head. In her 1941 film debut I Wanted Wings, Veronica Lake wore a memorable Cassini design. That same year, Cassini met and married the newest young Hollywood star on the scene, the beautiful 20th Century Fox–talent Gene Tierney. With the outbreak of World War II, Cassini enlisted in the Coast Guard but was transferred to the U.S. Army Cavalry which allowed officers of foreign birth. He attended basic training at Fort Riley, Kansas, and the horsemanship he learned as a boy served him greatly. He attended Officer Candidate School and reached the rank of First Lieutenant (he also became an American citizen at this time, losing his title of Count). Cassini spent several years posted at Fort Riley, where Tierney joined him before he landed a convenient military post in Hollywood. As Tierney’s career thrived (she played the title role in Otto Preminger’s Laura in 1944), she was able to assert her influence over 20th Century Fox’s head Daryl Zanuck, who hired Cassini as designer for Tierney on her 1946 film The Razor’s Edge, which proved to be a brilliant showcase for his talents. The pair separated the same year and, again seeking reinvention, Cassini re-established himself in New York City as a fashion designer. By 1950, the Oleg Cassini label was born. Combining his knowledge of Old World and modern Europe, Hollywood, the tennis courts of Palm Beach and Newport, and of course, New York City, Oleg Cassini invented a new brand of fashion that was distinctly American and of its moment. For his first collection, Cassini took to the stage, narrating the looks and imbuing the scene with his personality, unusual in an industry where the designers typically remained backstage and the models were called by number over a PA. The first collection was a smash — the president of Lord & Taylor devoted all of their storefront windows to his designs — and by 1955 sales had reached $5,000,000. Oleg Cassini’s career had turned a very positive corner. Cassini spent the early 1950s traversing the country, personally selling his collections to department stores in the interior, something his predecessors had never done, and moving between the Hollywood and New York scenes. Cassini’s brother Igor coined the term “the Jet Set” for this generation that constantly flew from New York to Los Angeles (then a ten-hour flight), Las Vegas, Paris, Rome, and the Riviera. In 1954, Cassini set out to woo Grace Kelly and sent her roses every day. The two were briefly engaged before her marriage to Prince Rainier of Monaco. In December 1960, Cassini’s career-defining opportunity came when he was chosen by Jacqueline Kennedy to design her fashions for the White House. Cassini had long known Joe Kennedy and his war-hero son John, and had first met Jacqueline Bouvier before her marriage in the early 1950s. Invited by President-Elect Kennedy to meet Jacqueline at Georgetown Hospital (she had just given birth to son John Jr.) to present to her drawings of potential dresses and First Lady looks, Cassini worked furiously to prepare a new line for the First Lady. Mrs. Kennedy had always had her clothes made by the top French couturiers of the day, but for the White House she wanted an American designer. Cassini wrote in his autobiography that he told the First Lady: “‘You have an opportunity here,’ I said, ‘for an American Versailles.’ She understood completely what I was trying to communicate; she began to talk excitedly about the need to create an entirely new atmosphere at the White House. She wanted it to become the social and intellectual capital of the nation” (Oleg Cassini, In My Own Fashion, 1987, p. 327). Mrs. Kennedy loved Cassini’s design for a gown to wear to the Inaugural Gala (she had already ordered a dress from Bergdorf’s for the Inaugural Ball), and Cassini was selected as the First Lady’s designer and was soon dubbed the “Secretary of Style.” From 1960 to 1963, Oleg Cassini would design over 300 items for Mrs. Kennedy, creating the “Jackie Look” that contributed not only to a fashion revolution but also the dawn of a new age. Cassini wrote that “Jackie played a very active role in the selection of her clothes. She loved brilliant colors — pistachio, hot pink, yellow, and white among others. Her sense of style was very precise; she would make editorial comments on the sketches I sent her. She always knew exactly what she wanted; her taste was excellent” (Oleg Cassini, In My Own Fashion, 1987, p. 334). After the Camelot years, Cassini’s business flourished and grew into a major industry; his name appeared on everything from couture to tennis-, sport-, and swimwear, car interiors, housewares, and perfume. He collected beautiful and rare artwork, arms and armor, and antique furniture, and lived the lifestyle projected by his image. From this period onward, Cassini also came to live in important homes. Of his Gothic Gramercy Park townhouse on Manhattan’s 19th Street he would write imaginatively, “I walked into the foyer and immediately fell in love. It was a place unlike any other in New York, a sixteenth-century Dutch house transported brick by brick from Europe by the Wells Fargo family in the early twentieth century. There was a vaulted, twenty-foot ceiling in the living room, leaded windows, elegantly carved wood paneling...

Rare and beautiful painted work by Fortunato Depero from 1948. The work bears the Signature in the lower left-hand corner. Work archived at the Archivio Unico per il catalogo delle o...

Vintage midcentury colored pencil portrait on paper of Texas artist Geneva Flores Hart Fell by Charles Berkeley Normann (1903-1985) Texas. Sign...

Rare pen drawing by Giovanni Gariboldi for Paolo Buffa.

Red chalk drawing of a reclining Female nude Signed and dated by Frank Dobson This drawing, never before on the market, comes from an important European private collection and is beautified by an antique frame in gilded wood, in almost perfect condition. The painting is also protected by glass Dimensions whit frame cm 71 x 58.5 Every item of our Gallery, upon request, is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity issued by Sabrina Egidi official Expert in Italian furniture for the Chamber of Commerce of Rome and for the Rome Civil Courts. Frank Owen Dobson (London 1886 – 1963) was a British artist and sculptor. Dobson began as a painter, and his early work was influenced by cubism, vorticism, and futurism. After World War I, however, he turned increasingly toward sculpture in a more or less realist style. Throughout the 1920s and the early 1930s he built a reputation as an outstanding sculptor and was among the first in Britain to prefer direct carving of the material rather than modelling a maquette first. The simplified forms and flowing lines of much of his sculptures, particularly his female nudes, showed the influence of African art. From 1946 to 1953 Dobson was Professor of Sculpture at the Royal College of Art. He was elected to the Royal Academy in 1953. While Dobson was one of the most esteemed artists of his time, is now seen as one of the most important British sculptors of the 20th century. Dobson grew up in Clerkenwell where attended school in Forest Gate. After eighteen months in Reynolds-Stephen's studio, Dobson moved to Devon and then to Cornwall where he lived, for two years, by selling landscape paintings. In 1906 he obtained a scholarship to study at the art institute in Hospitalfield House in Arbroath and studied there for four years. From 1910 to 1912 Dobson attended the City and Guilds of London Art School in Kennington, after which he returned to Cornwall. In Newlyn, he met Augustus John who used his influence and contacts and in, or around, 1915 Dobson created his first sculpture, a small piece in wood. In 1915, during the First World War, Dobson enlisted in The Artists Rifles and served in France from October 1916. In April 1918 he married Cordelia Clara Tregurtha. Dobson was formally invalided out of the Army in November 1918 and by then had already submitted several drawings to the British War Memorials Committee. Dobson set up a studio in the Tregurtha family home in Newlyn but towards the end of the war he took a studio in Manresa Road in Chelsea and would live there until the start of the Second World War. Throughout the 1920s Dobson focused increasingly on sculpture, exhibited work in several influential exhibitions and played a leading role in a number of artistic groups. He was the only sculptor to take part in the 1920 Group X exhibition. Dobson was a founding member of the London Artists Association and spent three years as President of the London Group between 1923 and 1927. He made bronze portraits of several public figures. At the Group X exhibition he exhibited two sculptures and studies of Ben Nicholson and his bronze head of H. H. Asquith was shown at the Leicester Galleries in late 1921. Other subjects included Osbert Sitwell, Lydia Lopokova and Tallulah Bankhead. Dobson exhibited at the Venice Biennale in both 1924 and in 1926, was featured in the 1925 Tri-National Exhibition which visited London, Paris and New York and was also included in the 1926 European artists exhibition that toured America and Canada. In March 1927 he had his first major one-man exhibition when the Leicester Galleries exhibited twenty-three of his sculptures and several bronzes. In 1930 the Tate purchased a larger-than-life sculpture from Dobson and erected it outside the gallery on Millbank. During the early 1930s Dobson continued to receive portrait commissions, most notably for Sir Edward Marsh and the actress Margaret Rawlings. Dobson worked in other media including textiles and silver, as well. His silver gilt cup, Calix Majestatis, to mark the coronation of George VI and Queen Elizabeth is now in the Royal Collection. During 1933 Dobson fractured his left arm which greatly limited his ability for heavy carving and his last monumental stone carving was to be Pax, which was first shown at the London Group in 1935. At the start of World War Two, Dobson and his second wife [Caroline] Mary Bussell, whom he had married in 1931, moved to Bristol, where a large retrospective of his work was held in March 1940. Dobson lived in the city throughout the Bristol Blitz and like several other artists painted the ruins of churches destroyed in the bombing. Dobson contacted the War Artists' Advisory Committee and offered his services as both a painter and sculptor. WAAC were reluctant to offer sculpture commissions but eventually did offer Dobson a short-term contract for two portrait busts of Naval personal. Later WAAC commissioned some paintings, including one of workers arriving for work at a factory that had been relocated to a tunnel. Dobson was appointed head of sculpture at the Royal College of Art in 1946, a post he held until his retirement in 1953. For the Festival of Britain site on the South Bank of the Thames in 1951, Dobson created London Pride. The sculpture was originally exhibited as a plaster cast but was later, after Dobson died, cast as a bronze and placed in front of the Royal National Theatre in 1987. Among his last commissions were a bronze head of Sir Thomas Lipton and the zodiac clock...

Antique reprint of the first half of the 20th century, engraved reproduction depicting a famous drawing by Giuseppe Zocchi represents the composition o...

Dutch painting of the 20th Century. Work in Impressionist style oil on canvas depicting View of cathedral of good pictorial hand. Highly detailed painting with pleasant color use, of...

This strong and confident drawing of a standing male nude was made by Allyn Cox, probably for one of an array of murals he painted in the 1920s, 30s and 40s, starting with an series of paintings for the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library at UCLA in 1925. Son of Kenyon Cox...

Paul Wightman Williams, American (20th century). This diminutive mixed-media watercolor, pastel, and ink on paper depicts a haunting abstracted face. It is float-mounted in a faux-g...

Lucio Fontana. "Concepto spaziale", 1965. China ink on paper. Dimensions: 30 x 20 cm. With certificate. This is a preparatory work that is re...

This beautiful work features on the front a lithograph from a 1958 drawing by Henry Moore from the series 'Heads, figures and ideas'. on the verso an origi...

Miniature signed and framed watercolor Portrait of a woman.

Pen and ink drawing by artist Walter Stawuszewski (20th Century) The drawing depicts a muscular man kneeling. Many of Walter Stawuszewski's art pi...

William P. Katz, American (1926-2003) "Embarrassed Over Walking the Dog" Mixed media acrylic, pen & ink on linen, 1961. Signed and dated lower right, wit...

Mid-century artwork by Italian artist August Mosca. "Two Sleeping Girls" in silver point and ink with wood frame. Please confirm location.

Drawn during the time when Paul Cadmus produced some of his most famous -- and infamous -- paintings with satiric themes such as "Shore Leave" and "The Fleet's in," but presaging his lifelong interest in the male nude, this set of four scenes depict male figures in scenes that would be familiar to artists going back to Roman and Greek times. One scene depicts two nudes in a wrestling match, another shows several nude figures in a headlong run, a third shows two men in battle, and the fourth depicts a nude figure taming a rearing horse. No doubt inspired by Classical sculptures, this set of drawings captures the energy and dynamics of interacting male figures, but without the very fine detail that he would bring to his countless male nude drawings in the 1950s, 60s and later. The drawings are signed, and the reverse retains an owner's label indicating the drawing was in the collection of William Tregoning, a gallerist who amassed a large collection of male figural art...

Wonderful and darkly intriguing original artwork by renowned American Modernist artist and California artist benefactor Millard Sheets (1907-1989) featuring wartime boats caught in stormy seas. Very evocative and certainly quite relevant to the time it was created taken in the context of the war. The work is hand pencil signed and dated (1942) by Sheets on the mat just below the artwork. Provenance: Property from the estate of Millard Sheets. Would be a great addition to any collectors of his work or Mid-Century Modern artist or an eye-catching stand-alone accent artwork in about any setting. Sheets many awards include: Watson F. Blair Purchase Prize, Chicago Art Institute (1938) Philadelphia Watercolor Club Prize (1939) Dana Watercolor Medal, Pennsylvania Academy of fine Arts (1943) Drawing Prize, Los Angeles County Museum of Art (1946) Gold Brush Award, Artists Guild of Chicago, Award of the Year (1951) Honorary Doctor of Laws, University of Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana (1964) His works can be found in numerous permanent collections, public settings, and international museums including: The Museum of Modern Art, New York Scripps College, CA The White House (Washington, DC) The San Diego Museum The Los Angeles Public Library...

Unique set of seven decoration projects signed Alfred Guyard, France 1930. From the child's room to the terrace of the Drouot restaurant (Paris), from the director's office to the di...

Vibeke Alfelt was born in 1934 as the daughter of the artist couple Else Alfelt and Carl-Henning Pedersen. Vibeke Alfelt made her debut as an artist at the age of 14, when she participated with her father in the Cobra group...

A stunning vintage boho original pencil sketch of man. An amazing 1935 rendering with incredible attention to detail. Acquired from a Palm Beach estate.

Original charcoal pencil drawing framed & signed by Artist ‘Kirsten' Number 6/30 ETAT II Title - 'Eget Truk The Drawing was purchased in Copenhagen and framed in the UK in a black ...

Vintage 1967 original Etching titled, dated, signed and numbered "St. Petersburg" #6/6 H. Valoff 1967. 1967 Original Etching by Artist H. Valoff is framed and ready to hang. St. ...

Paul Wightman Williams, American (20th century). Gouache, ink, and pastel or charcoal on paper. Signed "WW" and dated "44". Unframed. This diminutive figural painting features an i...

Series of Six Architectural Drawings Italy, '40 - '50 Signed and dated "P. Sinisi" (between 1948 - 1951) Pencil on paper black frame 67 x 52 x 1.2 cm (with frame) 48 x 33.5 ...

Pointillist composition by Dora Maar. Authenticity stamp of the auction that took place in 1998 in Paris. Black ink on cream white paper. 20th century, undated. Frame not inclu...

This drawing is representing a nude woman. The frame is in a brown color, and the drawing is done on a white support. It has made circa 1940. Art Deco Period. by VAN DOREN (Raymond...

Painting, drawing of dancers from the mid-century time, circa 1950. It is signed H. Sjardi. The drawing has an original green bamboo frame. The pain...

A framed watercolor and gouache on paper depicting sliced watermelon on a color block background, signed Tamayo and dated 1945 as shown. The work was in keeping with the style of Rufino Tamayo and it retains a paper label from Salon de la Plastica Mexicana, listing the detail info. SPM was formed in 1949 to promote contemporary Mexican artists...

Italian painting from the first half of the 20th century. Artwork oil on canvas, first canvas, depicting a fabulous mountain view with chalet of excellent pictorial quality. Painting of good size and good luminosity characterized by particular shades of color in the snow-capped mountains. The contrast with the bright green of the lawn and the intense green of the forest with the numerous shades of the snow in the upper part is pleasant (see photo). Painting signed C. Bentivoglio on the bottom left (see photo) attributable to the famous painter Cesare Bentivoglio...

Italian painting from the first half of the 20th century. Artwork oil on panel depicting a countryside landscape with a cart in post-impressionist style of good pictorial quality. Pa...

Walter Henry Williams Sunflowers at Sunset woodcut, signed, numbered, 1959, USA. Walter Henry Williams, Sunflowers, 1959 woodcut in colors on thi...

Vintage 1960s original etching titled, Signed and numbered "The Underworld" #4/10 H. Valoff 1960s. 1960s original etching by artist H. Valoff is framed and ready to hang. The und...

Vintage 1962 original Etching titled, dated, signed and numbered "Moscow Symposium" #4/4 H. Valoff 1962. 1962 original etching by Artist H. Valoff is framed and ready to hang. Mo...

Vintage 196s Original Etching Titled, Signed and Numbered "Dreams" #4/10 H. Valoff 1960s. 1960s Original Etching by Artist H. Valoff is framed and ready to hang. Dreams Is it's t...

1960s Fine Chinese Art Child Being Carried on Man's Back Scenic Road Travel Frame 16.5 tall x 12.75 w x .75 thick, art 11.5 x 8 w Original vintage condition unrestored See images pro...

Framed drawing ‘Rider in a Spring Landscape’ by Vicke Lindstrand, Sweden, 1950s. Ink on paper. Signed. Measures: H: 39.5 cm / 15 1/2'' W: 34 cm / 13 1/4''.

A fantastic vintage Boho original sketch. Signed by the legendary Cadmus. A chic line drawing of a nude male. Acquired from a Palm Beach estate.

Sandu Darie Laver Cuban pen ink graphite drawing, COA, Circa 1955. Offered for sale is a 1950s abstract pen, ink, and graphite drawing on paper by Romanian-born artist Sandu Darie Laver (Romania, 1908-Cuba, 1991). This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity signed and dated Pedro de Oraa...

This is an example of a hand-drawn scaled drawing of the ‘Top of New Dining Table (DRW.79)’, 17th December 1952. The drawings depicts the top view of what seems to be a ‘simplified’ version of Finn Juhl’s Silver Table, or more commonly known as the ‘Judas Table...

Italian painting of the mid-twentieth century. Work oil on masonite depicting Young gipsy with flowers and candle of good pictorial hand. Picture of beautiful measure, signed and dat...

Thirties female portrait. Chalk drawing in original silver gilt carved frame “Muriel 1930 by Charles to Elizabeth" United States, 1930. Dimensions in...

This is an example of a hand-drawn 1:4 scale orthographic drawing of the ‘Conversation Armchair in Maple-Walnut’, 1st March, 1951 by Finn Juhl. The drawings depicts the font view, side on, back, top view and the detail of the armrest.The drawings were sent to Baker Furniture in Michigan...

Framed drawing ‘Couple in a Spring Landscape’ by Vicke Lindstrand, Sweden, 1950s. Ink on paper. Measures: H: 38 cm / 15'' W: 34 cm / 13 1/4''.

Vide Jansson, Träsnitt Graphics Work with the artist's signature and title (in pencil) Working dimensions 53/73 The work is framed Vide Jansson was born in 1924, died in 2007. He was a Swedish graphic artist, painter and sculptor. Jansson studied at the Otte Sköld painting school in Stockholm. He continued his education in Spain and France. In 1958 he founded Grödingegruppen, which included himself, Rune Pettersson and Nalle Werner...

Ivan Alexandrovich Gerassimoff, 1885-1954, was active in the 30s in Shanghai and Harbin, moving to Tashkent after WWII. His style was strongly influenced by Alexander Yakovlev, a not...

Italian painting from the first half of the 20th century. Artwork oil on canvas depicting still life with fruit of good pictorial quality. Nice sized and pleasantly furnished paintin...

Harbor scene of drying fishing nets on the Texas Gulf Coast by Michael Simon (1905-2002), a noted Rockport, Texas artist, teacher and philosopher, circa ...

Original pen & ink drawing by well-known Cuban artist Victor Manuel (1897-1969). The subject is a man and woman seated near the water. This pen and in...

Colorful but contemplative, this serene original vintage pastel of 2 figures is lovely. It is signed by the artist and is dated 1965. A beautiful accompaniment to any room and adds a...

John F. Kennedy Portrait - original drawing in pencil and charcoal on paper, realized by Detlef Henze, hand-signed, dated December 25, 1963. Provenance. Private collection Charcoal...

HELENA BOUCHER (Unknown/Unidentified Artist) - Vintage pastel landscape drawing on buff paper - featuring a horse in the foreground set agains...

A fabulous vintage Boho 1930s original drawing. A chic pencil sketch of a nude male. Acquired from a Palm Beach estate.

Unknown artist, pencil and watercolor on cardboard. Portrait of a young woman with a pencil. Signed Lam, Paris 1951. In excellent condition. Measures : 27.5 cm. x 35.5 cm. Total...

Vintage Chinese Asian Artistry Fisherman in Boat Framed Wall Art Yang Chun Floods No information available Preowned vintage unrestored condition 24 h...

Original charcoal and graphite drawing by Chicago artist Jean Crawford Adams (1884-1972) The work bears a beautiful custom frame measuring 29 ½ x 23 ½. The drawing measures 24"h x 19"w and is signed lower left “Jean Crawford Adams.” This work is a wonderful Industrial subject from the period and is in excellent condition. Born in Chicago, Illinois, Jean Adams...

Beautifully drawn, clearly by an important artist, this depiction of two nude male figures sitting in the foreground of a columned facade -- perhaps alluding to the Classical sculpture of ancient Greece -- is not signed, perhaps due to the subtly homoerotic nature of the scene. The two figures have the solidity and gravity of high style Art Deco art, and may represent the academic, early work of a great master such as Glyn Philpot or John Craxton...

A vintage hand made drawing poster. Made in Italy typical home decor of the time. Good conditions.