Jean Varda, Abstract Expressionist Collage Lithograph of Ladies About Town, 1950

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Jean Varda, Abstract Expressionist Collage Lithograph of Ladies About Town, 1950

About the Item

A delightful 1950s signed lithograph on plywood of an untitled abstract expressionist collage by important mid-century Northern California artist Jean Varda. A sextet of sophisticated women dressed to the nines are shown out and about on the town. They're doing brunch, walking the dog, and standing stylishly by with all the city their stage. Originally created by Varda as a mixed media collage, this crisply hand-crafted lithograph nicely evokes the aesthetic of the source. Delicious sherbet and chocolate-colored palette set against an olive green ground, with the grain of the plywood upon which it’s printed showing through to wonderful effect. Signed “Varda” in print at bottom right. In original frame—repainted a complementary brown at some point—with ecru mat and stepped trim. Verso with the very cool 1950s wood grain business card of Aromas, California, “Designer of Contemporary Interiors / Edna L. Bres-law-sky” affixed at bottom left. Dimensions listed are overall; sight is H 18.38 in. x W 28 in. Jean “Janko” (or “Yanko”) Varda (b. 1893-1971) was a dynamic character whose home studios in Big Sur and Monterey, California, and early embrace of the Sausalito houseboat lifestyle, which began in 1947 when he and surrealist artist Gordon Onslow Ford acquired an old ferryboat named the “Vallejo”, made him a nexus for the likes of Henry Miller, Anaïs Nin, Allen Ginsberg, Alan Watts, Roberto Matta, Wolfgang Paalen, and countless other artists, writers, poets, and musicians. Anchored just across the bay from San Francisco, the Vallejo was the scene of boisterous gatherings, elaborate costume parties, and most importantly, the creation of his art. In 1944, Henry Miller—a good friend whom he persuaded to move to Big Sur with him—wrote an article for the Berkeley-based Circle magazine titled “Varda the Master Builder”. In 1956, Wayne Thiebaud and Patrick Dullanty made a 16mm color film about Varda and his work, titled “Collages of Varda”. And in 1964, Anaïs Nin published her novel “Collages”, inspired by and featuring a character closely modeled after her dear friend. Public transit-takers of the East Bay will recognize Varda's work from a mural at the Union City BART station that he created with Alfonso Pardiñas of Byzantine Mosaics in 1972. Nin’s sublime diary entry description of a collage by Varda titled “Women Reconstructing the World” that she’d unexpectedly received in the mail not long after their first meeting is equally applicable to the work offered here: “All of woman is enclosed in a dance of forms, squares, diamonds, rectangles, parallelograms of moods and sidereal delights, subtle harmonies and pliant mysteries. They are made of intangibles, lights and space, labyrinths, and molecules which may change as you look at them. Elusive and free of gravity. They bring freedom by transcendence.”

Creator:
Jean Varda (Artist)
Dimensions:
Height: 28.5 in (72.39 cm)Width: 38.5 in (97.79 cm)Depth: 1.25 in (3.18 cm)
Style:
Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
Materials and Techniques:
Paint,Paper,Plywood,Wood,Painted
Place of Origin:
United States
Period:
1950-1959
Date of Manufacture:
1950s
Condition:
Refinished. Wear consistent with age and use. Art: very good vintage condition; a few small marks/nicks and a light scratch or two; plywood slightly raised at top right and bottom left corners. Mat: some marks and overpaint spots along top edge. Frame: repainted over black with multiple nicks.
Seller Location:
San Francisco, CA
Reference Number:
1stDibs: LU955024021162