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Item Ships From: Chicago
Blue Sheila
By Maggie Meiners
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Printed on archival Moab Lasal Exhibition Luster Editions of 12 SILHOUETTES Humans have always adorned both themselves and their surroundings—even the earliest cave drawings are evi...
Category

2010s Contemporary Chicago - Art

Materials

Archival Pigment

Kostume, Plakate, und Dekorationen, "Lo Hesse"
By Walter Schnackenberg
Located in Chicago, IL
Walter Schnackenberg’s style changed several times during his long and successful career. Having studied in Munich, the artist traveled often to Paris where he fell under the spell of the Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec’s colorful and sensuous posters depicting theatrical and decadent subjects. Schnackenberg became a regular contributor of similar compositions to the German magazines Jugend and Simplicissimus before devoting himself to the design of stage scenery and costumes. In the artist’s theatrical work, his mastery of form, ornamentation, and Orientalism became increasingly evident. He excelled at combining fluid Art Nouveau outlines, with spiky Expressionist passages, and the postures and patterns of the mysterious East. In his later years, Schnackenberg explored the unconscious, using surreal subject matter and paler colors that plainly portrayed dreams and visions, some imbued with political connotations. His drawings, illustrations, folio prints, and posters are highly sought today for their exceedingly imaginative qualities, enchanting subject matter, and arresting use of color. SCHNACKENBERG: KOSTUME, PLAKATE UND DEKORATIONEN, a cardboard bound art book consisting of 43 prints of work by Walter Schnackenberg, 30 of which are color lithographs that are signed and some are titled and dated in the plate, as well as black and white prints and photographs with accompanying text by Oskar Bie; lithographs printed at Kunstanstalt Oskar Consee in Munich, other images printed by Gesellschaft Pick & Co. in Munich, the text and cover with color images by Schnackenberg front and verso printed by R. Oldenbourg in Munich; published by Musarion Verlag, Munich, 1920. The majority of Walter Schnackenberg’s artistic output was destroyed by bomb attacks in Munich in 1944. The highly publicized 2013 auction in New York of the recovered pre-war poster collection once belonging to German poster aficionado, Hans Sachs...
Category

1910s Expressionist Chicago - Art

Materials

Lithograph

Corvus Quietus V
By Kent Williams
Located in Chicago, IL
Kent Williams’ work melds the rigor of technical prowess with the iconoclast’s impulse to disrupt. Juxtaposing beautifully rendered classical forms with elements of abstraction and s...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Chicago - Art

Materials

Mixed Media

Tibetan Thangka of Sakyamuni, c. 1880
Located in Chicago, IL
Historically in Buddhist Tibet, patrons and monks commissioned thangka art, or sacred painting, to focus their meditations and prayers. This 19th-century Tibetan Thangka, painted in rich red, green, and blue pigments, still maintains incredible vibrancy. The central figure is the Sakyamuni Buddha, seated in the diamond position with alms bowl...
Category

19th Century Chicago - Art

Materials

Linen, Silk, Pigment

"The Disappointed" Copper Plate Heliogravure
By Ferdinand Hodler & R. Piper & Co.
Located in Chicago, IL
2018 marks the centenary anniversary of Ferdinand Hodler’s death. In that 100 years time, the art world’s esteem of this important artist has proved fickle. It has shifted from extolling his artistic merits during his lifetime to showing something of a feigned disdain- more reflective of the world political order than a true change of heart for Hodler’s work. After years of Hodler being all but a footnote in the annals of art history and generally ignored, finally, the pendulum has righted itself once again. Recent retrospective exhibitions in Europe and the United States have indicated not only a joyful rediscovery of Hodler’s art but a firm conviction that his work and world view hold particular relevance today. DAS WERK FERDINAND HODLERS is not only a collection of printed work reflecting the best of all of his painted work created up to 1914 just before the outbreak of World War I, the portfolio itself is an encapsulation of Hodler’s ethos, Parallelisme. Hodler developed his philosophy of Parallelisme as a unifying approach to art which strips away detail in search of harmony. By means of abstraction, symmetry and repetition, Hodler sought ways to depict Nature’s essence and her fundamental, universal order. He believed these universal laws governing the natural, observable world extend to the spiritual realm. Symbolist in nature with Romantic undertones, his works are equally portraits of these universal concepts and feelings governing all life as they are a visual portrait in the formal sense. Whether his subject is a solitary tree, a moment in battle, mortal fear, despair, the awe inspired by a vast mountain range, a tender moment or even the collective conviction in a belief, Hodler unveils this guiding principle of Parallelisme. Several aspects of Hodler’s portfolio reinforce his tenets of Parallelisme. The Table of Contents clearly preferences a harmonious design over detail. The two columns, consisting of twenty lines each, list the images by order of appearance using their German titles. The abbreviated titles are somewhat cryptic in that they obscure the identities of the sitters. Like the image Hodler presents, they are distillations of the sitter without any extraneous details. This shortening was also done in an effort to maintain a harmonious symmetry of the Table of Contents, themselves, and keep titles to a one-line limit. The twenty-fourth title: “Bildnis des Schweizerischen Gesandten C.” was so long, even with abbreviation, that it required two lines; so, for the sake of maintaining symmetry, the fortieth title: “Bauernmadchen” was omitted from the list. This explains why the images are not numbered. Hodler’s reasoning is not purely esoteric. Symmetry and pattern reach beyond mere formal design principles. Finding sameness and imposing it over disorder goes to the root of Hodler’s identity and his art. A Swiss native, Hodler was bi-lingual and spoke German and French. Each printed image, even number forty, have titles in both of Hodler’s languages. Certainly, there was a market for Hodler’s work among francophones and this inclusion may have been a polite gesture to that end; however, this is the only place in the portfolio which includes French. With German titles at the lower left of each image, Hodler’s name at bottom center and corresponding French titles at the lower right of each image, there is a harmony and symmetry woven into all aspects of the portfolio. This holds true for the page design, as it applies to each printed image and as it describes the Swiss artist himself. Seen in this light, Hodler’s portfolio of printed work is the epitome of Hodler’s Parallelisme. DAS WERK FERDINAND HODLERS is also one of the most significant documents to best tell the story of how Hodler, from Switzerland, became caught between political cross-hairs and how the changing tides of nations directly impacted the artist during his lifetime as well as the accessibility of his art for generations to come. The Munich-based publisher of the portfolio, R. Piper & Co., Verlag, plays a crucial role in this story. Publishing on a wide range of subjects from philosophy and world religion to music, literature and the visual arts; the publisher’s breadth of inquiry within any one genre was equal in scope. Their marketing strategy to publish multiple works on Hodler offers great insight as to what a hot commodity Hodler was at that time. R.Piper & Co.’s Almanach, which they published in 1914 in commemoration of their first ten years in business, clearly illustrates the rapid succession- strategically calculated for achieving the deepest and broadest impact - in which they released three works on Hodler to hit the market by the close of 1914. DAS WERK FERDINAND HODLERS was their premier publication. It preceded C.A. Loosli’s Die Zeichnungen Ferdinand Hodlers, a print portfolio after 50 drawings by Hodler which was released in Autumn of 1914 at the mid-level price-point of 75-150 Marks; and a third less expensive collection of prints after original works by Hodler, which had not been included in either of the first two portfolios, was released at the end of that year entitled Ferdinand Hodler by Dr. Ewald Bender. The title and timing of DAS WERK FERDINAND HODLERS' debut leaves little doubt as to the connection it has with another avant-garde portfolio of art...
Category

1910s Symbolist Chicago - Art

Materials

Paper

The Rolling Stones on a TV show by Terry O'Neill - Lifetime print - 16/50
By Terry O'Neill
Located in Chicago, IL
The Rolling Stones during a rehearsal for ABC’s ‘Thank Your Lucky Stars’ TV pop music show, 1964. From left to right Brian Jones, Bill Wyman, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. Paper s...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Chicago - Art

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Malaga Sunset - Gyotaku Style Sumi Ink Painting of an Octopus
By Jeff Conroy
Located in Chicago, IL
A small octopus is inked in the Japanese style of Gyo-Taku print making. Using sumi ink to "print" the octopus, the artist then embellishes it with colored pencil to convey an extraordinary dimensionality. By printing it on hand-made Mulberry paper, in this case a paper from the bygone Disco age, the artist achieves a beautiful aesthetic. The artwork is unframed. Please contact the gallery for framing options. Jeff Conroy Malaga Sunset sumi ink and colored pencil on mulberry paper 12.50h x 18.50w in 31.75h x 46.99w cm JEC137 Gyotaku - A Japanese word translated from "gyo" meaning fish and "taku" meaning stone impression and is believed to get its inspiration from Chinese stone rubbings of calligraphy, which then gave rise to printing . This tradition dates back to the mid-1800s and was used by fishermen to record their catches, but has also become an art form of its own. Prints were made using Sumi ink and Washi paper. It is rumored that Samurai would settle fishing competitions using Gyotaku prints...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Chicago - Art

Materials

Sumi Ink, Watercolor, Mulberry Paper, Color Pencil

Crow's Feet Study - Original Oil Painting on Panel, Framed
By Tina Figarelli
Located in Chicago, IL
Tina Figarelli is a classically trained artist whose favorite subject matter in her artwork is ideas with a strong narrative. Tina leaves the viewer hin...
Category

2010s Contemporary Chicago - Art

Materials

Oil, Panel

A 1946 Mid-Century Modern Surrealist Male Portrait Study, Binocular Vision
By Harold Haydon
Located in Chicago, IL
A 1946 Mid-Century Modern Surrealist Male Portrait Study by Noted Chicago Artist, Harold Haydon (Am. 1909-1994). A compelling portrait study, perhaps a self portrait of the artist,...
Category

Mid-20th Century Surrealist Chicago - Art

Materials

Paper, Charcoal

Princess Eagle, Painting, Oil on Canvas
By Nathalie Gribinski
Located in Yardley, PA
This painting is telling a story. There are a lot of different characters. We all don't see the same things but overall this means love and interaction. :: Painting :: Abstract :: Th...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Chicago - Art

Materials

Oil

Italian Garden Landscape, Gustav Klimt An Aftermath collotype, 1931
By (after) Gustav Klimt
Located in Chicago, IL
Original 1931 collotype created from Gustav Kilmt’s Italian Garden Landscape, oil on canvas, 1913. Published by Max Eisler and printed by Österreichischer Staatsdruckerei (Austrian State Printing Office), Vienna, in an edition of 500. In 1931, Max Eisler published the most notable posthumous collection of Gustav Klimt works to date. Using a complex gravure process, Klimt’s original...
Category

1930s Vienna Secession Chicago - Art

Materials

Paper

Orient Cycles by Edward Penfield, Bicycle motorcycle lithograph, 1897
By Edward Penfield
Located in Chicago, IL
The Waltham Manufacturing Company was co-founded in 1893 in New York by Charles Metz and three business partners. The company's designer, Metz, called his cycles “Orient racing bicycles,” named after the Orient Fire Insurance...
Category

1890s Art Nouveau Chicago - Art

Materials

Lithograph

Bosch-Licht (Headlights) by Lucian Bernhard, Automobile design lithograph
Located in Chicago, IL
Lucian Bernhard was an award-winning graphic, interior, and typography designer and highly influential to the world of 20th century graphic and poster ...
Category

1890s Art Deco Chicago - Art

Materials

Lithograph

"The Reformation, Hannover" Copper Plate Heliogravure
By Ferdinand Hodler & R. Piper & Co.
Located in Chicago, IL
2018 marks the centenary anniversary of Ferdinand Hodler’s death. In that 100 years time, the art world’s esteem of this important artist has proved fickle. It has shifted from extol...
Category

1910s Symbolist Chicago - Art

Materials

Paper

An Intimate 1930s Modern Charcoal Study of a Seated Young Male at a Lake House
By Harold Haydon
Located in Chicago, IL
An Intimate, 1930s Modern Charcoal Study of a Seated Young Male Figure by Notable Chicago Artist, Harold Haydon (Am. 1909-1994). Most likely completed circa 1932 at a summer lake ho...
Category

1930s American Modern Chicago - Art

Materials

Paper, Charcoal

A Fine 1930s, Modern Academic Figure Study Drawing of a Standing Male Nude Model
By Harold Haydon
Located in Chicago, IL
A Fine 1930s, Modern Academic Figure Study Drawing of a Standing Male Nude Model by Notable Chicago Artist, Harold Haydon (Am. 1909-1994). An exceptionally well executed, early 1930...
Category

1930s American Modern Chicago - Art

Materials

Charcoal, Paper

A Fine 1930s, Modern Academic Figure Study Drawing of a Standing Male Nude Model
By Harold Haydon
Located in Chicago, IL
A Fine 1930s, Modern Academic Figure Study Drawing of a Standing Male Nude Model by Notable Chicago Artist, Harold Haydon (Am. 1909-1994). An exceptionally well executed, early 1930...
Category

1930s American Modern Chicago - Art

Materials

Paper, Charcoal

"Jubilee Car, " Mixed-Media Sculpture, 2018
Located in Chicago, IL
Chicago-based artist Patrick Fitzgerald uses his works as a means of resurrecting the idyllic worlds he once found in the industrial surroundings of his youth. Raised in Grand Rapids...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Outsider Art Chicago - Art

Materials

Wood, Paper, Mixed Media, Oil, Acrylic

70's Kitchen - Gyotaku Style Sumi Ink Painting of an Octopus on Mulberry Paper
By Jeff Conroy
Located in Chicago, IL
Those of us of a certain age can't forget the color palette of the 70's - avocado green, burnt orange, and brown - lots of brown! Here, artist Jeff Conroy takes those fond memories of his childhood and brings them to life in this small octopus Gyotaku ink print. Using sumi ink to "print" the octopus, the artist then embellishes it with colored pencil to convey an extraordinary dimensionality. By printing it on hand-made Mulberry paper, in this case a paper that mimics the movement of water in subtle shades of brown, the artist achieves a beautiful aesthetic. The artwork is matted and framed in a simple white wooden frame measuring 18.25h x 24.25w x 1d inches. Jeff Conroy 70s Kitchen...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Chicago - Art

Materials

Sumi Ink, Watercolor, Mulberry Paper, Color Pencil

Lombardi Huddle, Green Bay Packer Coach Vince Lombardi 1966 by Art Shay
By Art Shay
Located in Chicago, IL
Famed Green Bay Packer coach Vince Lombardi photographed at Lambeau Field in 1966 by Art Shay. The angle of this shot is particularly interesting. Art was definitely up close and personal with the coach and players that day! This photograph is not framed. Please contact the gallery for framing options. Art Shay Lombardi Huddle, 1966 silver gelatin print, printed later 20h x 16w in 50.80h x 40.64w cm ASY15080 “Art Shay’s photography shakes you up, sets you down gently, pats you on the head and then kicks you in the ass.” Roger Ebert “[Shay’s work] ranks with some of the greats of the 20th century.” Ellen & Richard Sandor, Renowned photo collectors “I’ve admired Art Shay’s work for almost forty years, and he keeps getting better. He can do anything with a camera, but what he mostly does is capture real moments and transform them into visual poetry. His work continues to be an inspiration to me.” William Friedkin, Director of French Connection “Art Shay is one of our finest photographers. His work over the past fifty years has artfully captured the beauty, humor, and pathos of America.” Studs Terkel “Art Shay is one of the best photojournalists I know. I’ve been a fan of his work since the early 1950s - before the launch of playboy magazine.” Hugh Hefner “Algren, Terkel, Royko, they gave us a voice. Art Shay gave us a face.” Tony Fitzpatrick, Chicago Artist “Art Shay is America’s Cartier-Bresson.” Thomas Dyja, author of The Third Coast “Chicago’s Art Shay in many ways is to American photography what Nelson Algren was to American writing: that rare and absolutely necessary citizen who’s blessed with a cold eye, a clear head, and a warm heart. What is it about Chicago that keeps giving us men like this?” Russell Banks, Novelist “The best images of Simone de Beauvoir and her times have been passed down to us by Henri Cartier-Bresson, Gisele Freund, Robert Doisneau, Georges Brassai, and in America, the Chicago-based Art Shay, all world-class photographers.” Christophe Loviny, Art Editor, Paris “Art Shay is the best photo-journalist Chicago ever produced.” Arthur Siegel...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Chicago - Art

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Gerlach's Allegorien Plate #78: "Dance & Wine" Lithograph by Carl Otto Czeschka
By Carl Otto Czeschka
Located in Chicago, IL
after Carl Otto Czeschka, (1878-1960), Austrian A leading member of the Vienna Secession and later the Wiener Werkstätte (Viennese Workshop), Carl Otto Czeschka was a vital figu...
Category

1890s Vienna Secession Chicago - Art

Materials

Lithograph

Qing Dynasty Floral Bed Canopy Painting
Located in Chicago, IL
Thoughts of a long, happy life greeted the young couple who gazed up from their bed on this canopy panel. Adorned with chrysanthemums and peaches, both symbols of longevity, the lyri...
Category

19th Century Qing Chicago - Art

Materials

Paint, Wood Panel, Lacquer

"Celadon Shadow, " Mixed Media Collage
By Michael Thompson
Located in Chicago, IL
Based in Chicago, IL, contemporary artist Michael Thompson creates unique kites, collages and mixed media works assembled from material fragments of past and present collected in his...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Chicago - Art

Materials

Fabric, Wood, Paint, Charcoal, Pigment

Safari Bath, 1955
By Art Shay
Located in Chicago, IL
“Art Shay’s photography shakes you up, sets you down gently, pats you on the head and then kicks you in the ass.” Roger Ebert “[Shay’s work] ranks with some of the greats of the 20...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Chicago - Art

Materials

Archival Pigment

Untitled by Ken Price
By Ken Price
Located in Morton Grove, IL
Ken Price silkscreen on Arches 88 paper 14.875 x 12.375” 1981 edition of 150 stamped by Ken Price, SOMA Fine Art Press and Arabesque Books
Category

1980s Contemporary Chicago - Art

Materials

Screen

A Stylized, Modern 1930s Art Deco Drawing of Two Young Men Planting a Tree
By Harold Haydon
Located in Chicago, IL
A Stylized, 1930s Art Deco Pastel Landscape Drawing of Two Young Men Planting a Tree by Notable Chicago Modern Artist, Harold Haydon (Am. 1909-1994). Artwork size: 9 x 12 inches, u...
Category

1930s American Modern Chicago - Art

Materials

Paper, Charcoal, Pastel

Kostume, Plakate, und Dekorationen, "Dancer in an Oriental Pageant"
By Walter Schnackenberg
Located in Chicago, IL
Walter Schnackenberg’s style changed several times during his long and successful career. Having studied in Munich, the artist traveled often to Paris where he fell under the spell o...
Category

1910s Expressionist Chicago - Art

Materials

Paper

A Fine 1930s, Art Deco Modern Academic Figure Study Drawing, Standing Male Model
By Harold Haydon
Located in Chicago, IL
A Fine 1930s, Art Deco Modern Academic Figure Study Drawing of a Standing Male Nude Model by Notable Chicago Artist, Harold Haydon (Am. 1909-1994). An exceptionally well executed ea...
Category

1930s American Modern Chicago - Art

Materials

Paper, Charcoal

Studio 54 - Cherry Blossom - Gyotaku Style Sumi Ink Painting of an Octopus
By Jeff Conroy
Located in Chicago, IL
A small octopus is inked in the Japanese style of Gyo-Taku print making. Using sumi ink to "print" the octopus, the artist then embellishes it with colored pencil to convey an extraordinary dimensionality. By printing it on hand-made Mulberry paper, in this case a paper from the bygone Disco age, the artist achieves a beautiful aesthetic. The artwork is unframed. Please contact the gallery for framing options. Jeff Conroy Studio 54 - Cherry Blossom sumi ink and colored pencil on mulberry paper 14.50h x 19.75w in 36.83h x 50.16w cm JEC146 Gyotaku - A Japanese word translated from "gyo" meaning fish and "taku" meaning stone impression and is believed to get its inspiration from Chinese stone rubbings...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Chicago - Art

Materials

Sumi Ink, Watercolor, Mulberry Paper, Color Pencil

Incredulity -American Civil War Soldier, After Caravaggio, Original Oil on Linen
By William Blake (b. 1991)
Located in Chicago, IL
Caravaggio painted "The Incredulity of St. Thomas" with Christ looking down as he pilots Thomas’ hand to his side. Not looking at Thomas or the others, but to his wound. He seems interested in the proof of his embodiment. He wants to know that this is real. He too, questions his body, his life and death. As for the paintings, William uses materials and methods of the Civil War era. The linen on which he paints was in use at that time as well as the tubed oil paints. He is one of the few artists who tacks his canvas to the stretchers using similar tacks that would have been used by Winslow Homer. While he leaves the works unframed for this reason, the artwork could certainly be framed. This artwork is unframed. Contact the gallery for framing options. Reenactment is a material culture where the feel of authentic wool has transformative power. The closer you can recreate the “kit” of the authentic soldier the closer you are to that past. In the pursuit of touching the past there are questions- Is this real? Did this happen? Is this me? Is this us? The gesture of piloting a finger into the side represents these repetitive questions. - William Blake Known for his highly charged depictions of Civil War reenactments, William Blake’s powerful paintings show the recursive bodies of reenactors as they gesture across time. Participating in over 40 reenactment events, Blake currently interprets as the artist-correspondent Winslow Homer at these battle reenactments. He immerses himself in the materiality of his own obsession by constructing period clothes, camping on battlefields, and documenting the reenactment similar to Homer’s documentation of the authentic war. The figures in the paintings reverberate the past with respect and with a desire to educate, humble, and play. With each annual iteration of American Civil War...
Category

2010s Contemporary Chicago - Art

Materials

Linen, Oil

"Eupholus Bennetti (Blue Beetle)" Realism Painting/Drawing
By Zane York
Located in Chicago, IL
Zane York deftly walks the line between playfulness and profundity. Drawing inspiration from the inherent strangeness of the natural world, York imbues quotidian scenes with subtle e...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Chicago - Art

Materials

Ink, Oil, Color Pencil

Kostume, Plakate, und Dekorationen, "Läderlappen"
By Walter Schnackenberg
Located in Chicago, IL
Walter Schnackenberg’s style changed several times during his long and successful career. Having studied in Munich, the artist traveled often to Paris where he fell under the spell of the Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec’s colorful and sensuous posters depicting theatrical and decadent subjects. Schnackenberg became a regular contributor of similar compositions to the German magazines Jugend and Simplicissimus before devoting himself to the design of stage scenery and costumes. In the artist’s theatrical work, his mastery of form, ornamentation, and Orientalism became increasingly evident. He excelled at combining fluid Art Nouveau outlines, with spiky Expressionist passages, and the postures and patterns of the mysterious East. In his later years, Schnackenberg explored the unconscious, using surreal subject matter and paler colors that plainly portrayed dreams and visions, some imbued with political connotations. His drawings, illustrations, folio prints, and posters are highly sought today for their exceedingly imaginative qualities, enchanting subject matter, and arresting use of color. SCHNACKENBERG: KOSTUME, PLAKATE UND DEKORATIONEN, a cardboard bound art book consisting of 43 prints of work by Walter Schnackenberg, 30 of which are color lithographs that are signed and some are titled and dated in the plate, as well as black and white prints and photographs with accompanying text by Oskar Bie; lithographs printed at Kunstanstalt Oskar Consee in Munich, other images printed by Gesellschaft Pick & Co. in Munich, the text and cover with color images by Schnackenberg front and verso printed by R. Oldenbourg in Munich; published by Musarion Verlag, Munich, 1920. The majority of Walter Schnackenberg’s artistic output was destroyed by bomb attacks in Munich in 1944. The highly publicized 2013 auction in New York of the recovered pre-war poster collection once belonging to German poster aficionado, Hans Sachs has reintroduced the world to Walter Schnackenberg’s graphic genius and priceless ephemeral art from a lost era. Besides the museum world, designer Karl Lagerfeld is one of the most prodigious collectors of Schnackenberg. Flipping through the pages of Kostume, Plakate und Dekorationen, it becomes quite clear that Schnackenberg’s collection is ground zero at the crossroads of early modern fashion where the cult of celebrity meets up with dance, music, theater and cabaret, film and the graphic medium. Berlin and Munich under Germany’s Weimar Republic in the first quarter of the 20th century produced just the atmosphere to feed this burgeoning industry. Rising inflation sparked a recklessness to live large for the moment and heightened a desire for escapism. An influx of Indian and East Asian dancers and musicians added to the artsy bohemian cultural mix. A new decadence and tolerance resulted. Film boldly featured provocative subject matter. Cabarets became popular venues giving rise to the demi-monde in which people from all social stations mixed more freely in a thriving underground economy and culture where there was a blurring of boundaries and of social codes. Noted art historian and cultural doyen, Oskar Bie astutely observes in his introduction to Schnackenberg’s publication that what unites the images is fantasy and advertisement. Schnackenberg uses the eye as an instrument to brilliantly construct and convey this double message. His personages never directly confront the viewer. Their eyes gaze off in the distance like those of the screenplayer and film star Hedamaria Scholz in Schnackenberg’s “Die Rodelhexe” movie poster. Their eyes follow the path of a dance composition or become a transfixed and ogling male gaze such as the iconic 1911 Odeon Casino poster...
Category

1910s Expressionist Chicago - Art

Materials

Lithograph

A Very Finely Drawn 1930s Modern Figure Study of a Standing Female Nude Model
By Harold Haydon
Located in Chicago, IL
A Very Finely Drawn, 1930s Modern Figure Study of a Standing Female Nude Model (Back) by Notable Chicago Modern Artist, Harold Haydon (Am. 1909-1994). An early composite charcoal d...
Category

1930s American Modern Chicago - Art

Materials

Charcoal, Paper

Behave Yourself! Alberto Vargas, Shelley Winters film pin-up poster, 1951
Located in Chicago, IL
Original 1951 poster for Behave Yourself! starring Shelley Winters with art by pin-up master Alberto Vargas. This poster was acquired directly from th...
Category

1950s Chicago - Art

Materials

Offset

Walking Cat - Large Scale Bronze Animal Sculpture with Mosaic Patterned Surface
By Mary Block
Located in Chicago, IL
Mary Block Walking Cat bronze 39h x 65w x 15d in 99.06h x 165.10w x 38.10d cm MBK001 Mary Block b. 1951, St. Louis, MO Education 1975 Mechanical Engineering Department, Stainless Steel Casting in Cooperation with Alloy Casting Corporation. University of Illinois - Champaign 1974 Master of Fine Arts Candidate. School of Fine Arts. University of Iowa. 1973 Bachelor of Fine Arts. College of Fine Arts. University of Illinois – Champaign Exhibitions 2022 Kiss Me, Its Snowing, Gallery Victor Armendariz, Chicago, IL Illinois Artists’ List, Curator: K. Eaton. Mary Block Sculpture and Print: A Dialogue Between Form and Image. University of Illinois. School of Art and Design, Link Gallery. Champaign/Urbana. 1996 ASID Showcase, Chicago, IL 1995 New Glass Review, Corning Museum. Corning, NY. International Exhibition/Catalog featuring innovative glass sculpture. 1996 Solo Exhibition, Nina Own Gallery, Chicago, IL 1996 Gallery Artists, Nina Owen Gallery. Chicago, IL 1995 Gallery Artists, Nina Owen Gallery. Chicago, IL 1995 Sandy and Dave, Group Exhibition. North Shore/Skokie Sculpture Park. Skokie, IL 1994 Sandy and Dave, Group Exhibition. North Shore/Skokie Sculpture Park. Skokie, IL 1992 Twenty Women, Adler Cultural Center. Libertyville, IL 1991 The Discerning Eye-National Exhibition, Charles A. Wustum Museum. Racine, WI 1988 North Shore Skokie Sculpture Walk, Curator: J. Folise. McCormick Blvd, Skokie, IL Public Commissions 2022 Skyway Prints, Delta Airlines. Skyway Lounge, O’Hare Airport, Chicago, IL 2018 Mindfulness Center Sculpture, Roslyn Road School, Barrington. IL 2011 Grove School Children’s Amphitheater, Ft. Grove School, Barrington, IL 2007 Generations, Village Hall of Deerfield, Deerfield, IL 1999 Lifetime Learners, Danville Community College. Danville, IL 1997 Heroic Women Collection, Las Sendes Sculpture Park, Phoenix, AZ 1996 Wrapped Figure, Columbia College, Chicago, IL Book With Hands Memorial, Oak Grove...
Category

2010s Contemporary Chicago - Art

Materials

Bronze

R. Layni, Zeichnungen folio, "Kneeling Female Semi-Nude" Collotype plate XII
Located in Chicago, IL
Egon Schiele (1890 – 1918), AUSTRIA “ART CANNOT BE MODERN, ART IS PRIMORDIALLY ETERNAL.” -SCHIELE Defiantly iconoclastic in life and art, Egon Schiele is esteemed for his masterful draftsmanship and precocious insight into the human condition. Part of the first wave of Austrian Modernism, he was swept away by the Viennese fascination with the tension between Life and Death (known in the works of Freud and his later interpreters as Eros and Thanatos). Life, identified with attraction, love, sexuality, and reproduction, and Death, represented by distortion, disease, repulsion, and hysteria, often appeared in the same composition, thereby suggesting the frightening life cycle of the human mind and body. Young throughout his career, Schiele universalized his childhood traumas, thriving libido, insecurities, fears, and longings. His contorted line, jarring contrasts, and flat areas of color, demonstrate an early alliance with Expressionist philosophy and artists who were relentlessly frustrated by conventionality in all its forms. Schiele’s work embodied man’s disorientation and confusion in a seemingly absurd world, a world plagued by disease and war. It continues to be astonishingly relevant today, not just because it helped define Modernism but also because it revealed the dark and immutable aspects of the human condition. Zeichnungen is a fine art print portfolio published by Verlag der Buchhandlung Richard Lanyi, Vienna, 1917, printed by Max Jaffe...
Category

1910s Vienna Secession Chicago - Art

Materials

Paper

A Fine 1930s, Modern Academic Figure Study Drawing, Seated Male Model (Back)
By Harold Haydon
Located in Chicago, IL
A Fine 1930s Modern Academic Figure Study Drawing, Seated Male Nude Model (Back) by Notable Chicago Artist, Harold Haydon (Am. 1909-1994). An exceptionally well executed early 1930s...
Category

1930s American Modern Chicago - Art

Materials

Paper, Charcoal

Golden Eyes - Portrait of a Woman with a Piercing Gaze, Original Oil Painting
By Richard Gibbons
Located in Chicago, IL
Richard Gibbons' painting "Golden Eyes" shows a portrait of a beautiful young woman. Her piercing gaze brings the viewer in for a closer look. Her sultry, yellow eyes are intoxicatin...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Chicago - Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil, Board

Gerlach's Allegorien Plate #75: "Hunting, Fishing, Rowing, Cycling"
By Koloman Moser
Located in Chicago, IL
Koloman Moser (1868 –1918), AUSTRIAN Instead of applying his flair and art education solely to painting, Koloman Moser embodied the idea of Gesamt Kunstwerk (all-embracing art work) by designing architecture, furniture, jewelry, graphics, and tapestries meant to coordinate every detail of an environment. His work transcended the imitative decorative arts of earlier eras and helped to define Modernism for generations to come. Moser achieved a remarkable balance between intellectual structure (often geometric) and hedonistic luxury. Collaborating with Gustav Klimt and Josef Hoffmann, the artist was an editor and active contributor to Ver Sacrum, (Sacred Spring), the journal of the Viennese Secession that was so prized for its aesthetics and high quality production that it was considered a work of art. The magazine featured drawings and designs in the Jugendstil style (Youth) along with literary contributions from distinguished writers from across Europe. It quickly disseminated both the spirit and the style of the Secession. In 1903 Moser and Hoffmann founded and led the Wiener Werkstatte (Viennese Workshop) a collective of artisans that produced elegant decorative arts items, not as industrial prototypes but for the purpose of sale to the public. The plan, as idealistic then as now, was to elevate the lives of consumers by means of beautiful and useful interior surroundings. Moser’s influence has endured throughout the century. His design sensibility is evident from the mid-century modern furniture of the 1950s and ‘60s to the psychedelic rock posters...
Category

1890s Vienna Secession Chicago - Art

Materials

Lithograph

Ocean Rest - Illuminated Paper Lantern on Vivid Blue Water, Acrylic on Panel
By Christina Haglid
Located in Chicago, IL
The fragility of the environment has always played an important role in Christina Haglid's work. As a child growing up on the East Coast, the ever changing seaside landscapes intrig...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Chicago - Art

Materials

Acrylic, Panel

Lidded Jar with Signed Box by Shoji Hamada (INV# NP3626)
By Shoji Hamada
Located in Morton Grove, IL
Shoji Hamada Lidded Jar with Signed Box stoneware and glaze 4.5 x 5.75 x 5.75" date unknown signed
Category

1980s Contemporary Chicago - Art

Materials

Stoneware, Wood, Glaze

Cabana A - Abstracted Urban Landscape of Tower at Milano Centrale Train Station
By Albert Vidal Moreno
Located in Chicago, IL
From its opening in 1931, Milano Centrale station was watched and worked by an army of more than 130 people in 7 different signal towers, 2 of which were of the bridge type across tracks. One of those towers is seen here in Albert Vidal's aptly titled work "Cabina A" - the closest of the switching towers to the main station. The loose, abstract brush strokes and warm color palette come together in this remarkable urban landscape painting. The bottom of the painting is marked with Vidal's signature - a series of numbers. The artist has carried the painting over the edges, thus allowing it to remain unframed. Alternate framing options can be discussed with the gallery. Albert Vidal Cabina A acrylic on canvas 51h x 51w in 129.54h x 129.54w cm AV0016 Albert Vidal b. 1969 INDIVIDUAL EXIBITIONS 2012 February. Sala Parés, Barcelona. 2011 October. Gallery Sibman. Paris. 2010 April. Gallery Sibman. Paris. 2009 February. Sala Parés. Barcelona. 2007 June. Uniglavas Gallery. Tokyo. Japan. 2006 May. Sala Pares. Barcelona. 2005 October. Juan Amiano Gallery. Pamplona. 2003 October. Sala Parés. Barcelona. 2002 September - October. Galeria Juan Amiano. Pamplona. 2001 February-March. Sala Parés. Barcelona. 2000 March. Auditorio Municipal. Montcada i Reixac. Barcelona. 1999 January-February. Galeria Tuset. Barcelona. 1995 December. Sala Lola Anglada. Barcelona. 1993 April - May. Sala Albareda. Barcelona. 1991 December. Sala “ Ca N´Amatller”. Molins de Rei Cyty Council. Barcelona. COLLECTIVE EXIBITIONS 2021 Es-Scape, Gallery Victor Armendariz, Chicago, IL 2019 Earth Wind Fire, Gallery Victor Armendariz, Chicago, IL 2017 Scene Change, Gallery Victor Armendariz, Chicago Coming Attractions, Gallery Victor Armendariz, Chicago 2010 40x40. Sala Parés. Barcelona. 2008 December. Sala Parés. Barcelona. 2008 Septembre. 50 years of “Premi Pintura Jove”. Sala Parés. Barcelona. 2008 April. La Cave. Geneve . Switzerland. 2008 March. “Urbe”. Jordi Barnadas Gallery. Barcelona. 2007 February. Nichido Gallery. 42 Showakai Exhibition. Tokyo. Japan. 2006 April. “NYC” , Ariel Sibony Gallery. Paris. 2005 November. Barnadas Gallery. Barcelona. 2004 Sala Parés. Barcelona. 2004 Sala Barnadas. Barcelona. 2002 July. Galeria Gaudi. River North Festival Absolut Vision. Chicago. US 2002 May. ARTEXPO. Sala Parés. Barcelona. 2001 December. Galeria Barnadas. Barcelona. 2001 September-October. Galeria Giart . Girona. 2001 July. Sala "Ca La Pruna" - Pals. Girona. 2000 February- April. Jeunes talents catalans, Maison de la Catalogne. Paris. 1999 September. Sala Parés. Barcelona. Premi a la Pintura Jove. 1999 September-November. Realisme a Catalunya. Centre d´Art Santa Mónica. Barcelona . 1999 May. ARTEXPO. Galeria Tuset. Barcelona. 1998 September. Sala Parés. Barcelona. Premi a la Pintura Jove. 1998 July-August. Estudi d´Art. Calella de Palafrugell...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Chicago - Art

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

"Portrait of Swiss Political Attachee, Carlin" Copper Plate Heliogravure
By Ferdinand Hodler & R. Piper & Co.
Located in Chicago, IL
2018 marks the centenary anniversary of Ferdinand Hodler’s death. In that 100 years time, the art world’s esteem of this important artist has proved fickle. It has shifted from extolling his artistic merits during his lifetime to showing something of a feigned disdain- more reflective of the world political order than a true change of heart for Hodler’s work. After years of Hodler being all but a footnote in the annals of art history and generally ignored, finally, the pendulum has righted itself once again. Recent retrospective exhibitions in Europe and the United States have indicated not only a joyful rediscovery of Hodler’s art but a firm conviction that his work and world view hold particular relevance today. DAS WERK FERDINAND HODLERS is not only a collection of printed work reflecting the best of all of his painted work created up to 1914 just before the outbreak of World War I, the portfolio itself is an encapsulation of Hodler’s ethos, Parallelisme. Hodler developed his philosophy of Parallelisme as a unifying approach to art which strips away detail in search of harmony. By means of abstraction, symmetry and repetition, Hodler sought ways to depict Nature’s essence and her fundamental, universal order. He believed these universal laws governing the natural, observable world extend to the spiritual realm. Symbolist in nature with Romantic undertones, his works are equally portraits of these universal concepts and feelings governing all life as they are a visual portrait in the formal sense. Whether his subject is a solitary tree, a moment in battle, mortal fear, despair, the awe inspired by a vast mountain range, a tender moment or even the collective conviction in a belief, Hodler unveils this guiding principle of Parallelisme. Several aspects of Hodler’s portfolio reinforce his tenets of Parallelisme. The Table of Contents clearly preferences a harmonious design over detail. The two columns, consisting of twenty lines each, list the images by order of appearance using their German titles. The abbreviated titles are somewhat cryptic in that they obscure the identities of the sitters. Like the image Hodler presents, they are distillations of the sitter without any extraneous details. This shortening was also done in an effort to maintain a harmonious symmetry of the Table of Contents, themselves, and keep titles to a one-line limit. The twenty-fourth title: “Bildnis des Schweizerischen Gesandten C.” was so long, even with abbreviation, that it required two lines; so, for the sake of maintaining symmetry, the fortieth title: “Bauernmadchen” was omitted from the list. This explains why the images are not numbered. Hodler’s reasoning is not purely esoteric. Symmetry and pattern reach beyond mere formal design principles. Finding sameness and imposing it over disorder goes to the root of Hodler’s identity and his art. A Swiss native, Hodler was bi-lingual and spoke German and French. Each printed image, even number forty, have titles in both of Hodler’s languages. Certainly, there was a market for Hodler’s work among francophones and this inclusion may have been a polite gesture to that end; however, this is the only place in the portfolio which includes French. With German titles at the lower left of each image, Hodler’s name at bottom center and corresponding French titles at the lower right of each image, there is a harmony and symmetry woven into all aspects of the portfolio. This holds true for the page design, as it applies to each printed image and as it describes the Swiss artist himself. Seen in this light, Hodler’s portfolio of printed work is the epitome of Hodler’s Parallelisme. DAS WERK FERDINAND HODLERS is also one of the most significant documents to best tell the story of how Hodler, from Switzerland, became caught between political cross-hairs and how the changing tides of nations directly impacted the artist during his lifetime as well as the accessibility of his art for generations to come. The Munich-based publisher of the portfolio, R. Piper & Co., Verlag, plays a crucial role in this story. Publishing on a wide range of subjects from philosophy and world religion to music, literature and the visual arts; the publisher’s breadth of inquiry within any one genre was equal in scope. Their marketing strategy to publish multiple works on Hodler offers great insight as to what a hot commodity Hodler was at that time. R.Piper & Co.’s Almanach, which they published in 1914 in commemoration of their first ten years in business, clearly illustrates the rapid succession- strategically calculated for achieving the deepest and broadest impact - in which they released three works on Hodler to hit the market by the close of 1914. DAS WERK FERDINAND HODLERS was their premier publication. It preceded C.A. Loosli’s Die Zeichnungen Ferdinand Hodlers, a print portfolio after 50 drawings by Hodler which was released in Autumn of 1914 at the mid-level price-point of 75-150 Marks; and a third less expensive collection of prints after original works by Hodler, which had not been included in either of the first two portfolios, was released at the end of that year entitled Ferdinand Hodler by Dr. Ewald Bender. The title and timing of DAS WERK FERDINAND HODLERS' debut leaves little doubt as to the connection it has with another avant-garde portfolio of art...
Category

1910s Symbolist Chicago - Art

Materials

Paper

Tabular, Antarctica by Paul Nicklen - Contemporary Seascape Photography
By Paul Nicklen
Located in Chicago, IL
Tabular Iceberg Alley, Antarctica, 2007. 23 x 60 in / 58.4 x 152.4 cm / Edition of 15 35 × 90 in / 88.9 x 228.6 cm / Edition of 10 60 × 152 in / 152.4 × 386.1 cm / Edition of 7 "The...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Chicago - Art

Materials

Archival Pigment

Kostume, Plakate, und Dekorationen, "Erry & Merry"
By Walter Schnackenberg
Located in Chicago, IL
Walter Schnackenberg’s style changed several times during his long and successful career. Having studied in Munich, the artist traveled often to Paris where he fell under the spell of the Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec’s colorful and sensuous posters depicting theatrical and decadent subjects. Schnackenberg became a regular contributor of similar compositions to the German magazines Jugend and Simplicissimus before devoting himself to the design of stage scenery and costumes. In the artist’s theatrical work, his mastery of form, ornamentation, and Orientalism became increasingly evident. He excelled at combining fluid Art Nouveau outlines, with spiky Expressionist passages, and the postures and patterns of the mysterious East. In his later years, Schnackenberg explored the unconscious, using surreal subject matter and paler colors that plainly portrayed dreams and visions, some imbued with political connotations. His drawings, illustrations, folio prints, and posters are highly sought today for their exceedingly imaginative qualities, enchanting subject matter, and arresting use of color. SCHNACKENBERG: KOSTUME, PLAKATE UND DEKORATIONEN, a cardboard bound art book consisting of 43 prints of work by Walter Schnackenberg, 30 of which are color lithographs that are signed and some are titled and dated in the plate, as well as black and white prints and photographs with accompanying text by Oskar Bie; lithographs printed at Kunstanstalt Oskar Consee in Munich, other images printed by Gesellschaft Pick & Co. in Munich, the text and cover with color images by Schnackenberg front and verso printed by R. Oldenbourg in Munich; published by Musarion Verlag, Munich, 1920. The majority of Walter Schnackenberg’s artistic output was destroyed by bomb attacks in Munich in 1944. The highly publicized 2013 auction in New York of the recovered pre-war poster collection once belonging to German poster aficionado, Hans Sachs has reintroduced the world to Walter Schnackenberg’s graphic genius and priceless ephemeral art from a lost era. Besides the museum world, designer Karl Lagerfeld is one of the most prodigious collectors of Schnackenberg. Flipping through the pages of Kostume, Plakate und Dekorationen, it becomes quite clear that Schnackenberg’s collection is ground zero at the crossroads of early modern fashion where the cult of celebrity meets up with dance, music, theater and cabaret, film and the graphic medium. Berlin and Munich under Germany’s Weimar Republic in the first quarter of the 20th century produced just the atmosphere to feed this burgeoning industry. Rising inflation sparked a recklessness to live large for the moment and heightened a desire for escapism. An influx of Indian and East Asian dancers and musicians added to the artsy bohemian cultural mix. A new decadence and tolerance resulted. Film boldly featured provocative subject matter. Cabarets became popular venues giving rise to the demi-monde in which people from all social stations mixed more freely in a thriving underground economy and culture where there was a blurring of boundaries and of social codes. Noted art historian and cultural doyen, Oskar Bie astutely observes in his introduction to Schnackenberg’s publication that what unites the images is fantasy and advertisement. Schnackenberg uses the eye as an instrument to brilliantly construct and convey this double message. His personages never directly confront the viewer. Their eyes gaze off in the distance like those of the screenplayer and film star Hedamaria Scholz in Schnackenberg’s “Die Rodelhexe” movie poster. Their eyes follow the path of a dance composition or become a transfixed and ogling male gaze such as the iconic 1911 Odeon Casino poster...
Category

1910s Expressionist Chicago - Art

Materials

Lithograph

Disposition XXX
By J Louis
Located in Chicago, IL
J Louis is both an heir and a heretic; carrying on a rich artistic tradition while subtly challenging its conventions. Evoking the lush atmospherics of Impress...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Chicago - Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

A Compelling 1951 Mid-Century Modern Portrait of a Young Man by Harold Haydon
By Harold Haydon
Located in Chicago, IL
A Compelling, 1951 Mid-Century Modern Portrait of a Young Man by Noted Chicago Artist, Harold Haydon (Am. 1909-1994). Artwork size: 12 x 9 1/2 inches. Artwork is unframed, matted/...
Category

Mid-19th Century American Modern Chicago - Art

Materials

Paper, Charcoal

David & Goliath - Caravaggio Inspired Monumental Double Self-Portrait, Charcoal
By Christopher Ganz
Located in Chicago, IL
-ARTIST STATEMENT- I depict my person in multiplicity with different selves representing dramatis personae. My likeness is both implicit and symbolic in the portrayal of my narrative; the drama involved in creating art and the artist’s role in society. I use realism to invite the viewer into mysterious inner worlds that are layered reflections of the outer. Dehumanizing environments are imbued with art historical references as a critique of power structures. The artist is an Everyman who is at odds with society and his self. Visually my work is a celebration of society’s dark undercurrents and its overlooked absurdities. I use charcoal and printmaking media as their tenebrous values add a fitting metaphor. The nuances of light and shadow seduce viewers into a world their better judgment would have them avoid. This provokes a sense of disquietude that causes viewers to assess our world through the austerity of a colorless, yet not humorless, light. -BIO- Christopher Ganz grew up in Northeast Ohio and from early on had a fertile imagination and an interest in art. Christopher's artistic education truly began at the University of Missouri, where his love of the human form led to many figure drawing classes and his exposure to the wonders of printmaking. Christopher's then went onto graduate school at Indiana University and a summer abroad program in Italy was a dream realized. Christopher then grasped charcoal with a renewed vigor and large, sfumato-laden drawings ensued. Christopher's artistic influences are many; from a seminal exposure to Dore's engravings of the Divine Comedy, to Rembrandt, Caravaggio, Goya, and up to Lucian Freud, Mark Tansey...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Chicago - Art

Materials

Charcoal, Archival Paper

Kostume, Plakate, und Dekorationen, "Lena Amsel"
By Walter Schnackenberg
Located in Chicago, IL
Walter Schnackenberg’s style changed several times during his long and successful career. Having studied in Munich, the artist traveled often to Paris where he fell under the spell of the Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec’s colorful and sensuous posters depicting theatrical and decadent subjects. Schnackenberg became a regular contributor of similar compositions to the German magazines Jugend and Simplicissimus before devoting himself to the design of stage scenery and costumes. In the artist’s theatrical work, his mastery of form, ornamentation, and Orientalism became increasingly evident. He excelled at combining fluid Art Nouveau outlines, with spiky Expressionist passages, and the postures and patterns of the mysterious East. In his later years, Schnackenberg explored the unconscious, using surreal subject matter and paler colors that plainly portrayed dreams and visions, some imbued with political connotations. His drawings, illustrations, folio prints, and posters are highly sought today for their exceedingly imaginative qualities, enchanting subject matter, and arresting use of color. SCHNACKENBERG: KOSTUME, PLAKATE UND DEKORATIONEN, a cardboard bound art book consisting of 43 prints of work by Walter Schnackenberg, 30 of which are color lithographs that are signed and some are titled and dated in the plate, as well as black and white prints and photographs with accompanying text by Oskar Bie; lithographs printed at Kunstanstalt Oskar Consee in Munich, other images printed by Gesellschaft Pick & Co. in Munich, the text and cover with color images by Schnackenberg front and verso printed by R. Oldenbourg in Munich; published by Musarion Verlag, Munich, 1920. The majority of Walter Schnackenberg’s artistic output was destroyed by bomb attacks in Munich in 1944. The highly publicized 2013 auction in New York of the recovered pre-war poster collection once belonging to German poster aficionado, Hans Sachs has reintroduced the world to Walter Schnackenberg’s graphic genius and priceless ephemeral art from a lost era. Besides the museum world, designer Karl Lagerfeld is one of the most prodigious collectors of Schnackenberg. Flipping through the pages of Kostume, Plakate und Dekorationen, it becomes quite clear that Schnackenberg’s collection is ground zero at the crossroads of early modern fashion where the cult of celebrity meets up with dance, music, theater and cabaret, film and the graphic medium. Berlin and Munich under Germany’s Weimar Republic in the first quarter of the 20th century produced just the atmosphere to feed this burgeoning industry. Rising inflation sparked a recklessness to live large for the moment and heightened a desire for escapism. An influx of Indian and East Asian dancers and musicians added to the artsy bohemian cultural mix. A new decadence and tolerance resulted. Film boldly featured provocative subject matter. Cabarets became popular venues giving rise to the demi-monde in which people from all social stations mixed more freely in a thriving underground economy and culture where there was a blurring of boundaries and of social codes. Noted art historian and cultural doyen, Oskar Bie astutely observes in his introduction to Schnackenberg’s publication that what unites the images is fantasy and advertisement. Schnackenberg uses the eye as an instrument to brilliantly construct and convey this double message. His personages never directly confront the viewer. Their eyes gaze off in the distance like those of the screenplayer and film star Hedamaria Scholz in Schnackenberg’s “Die Rodelhexe” movie poster. Their eyes follow the path of a dance composition or become a transfixed and ogling male gaze such as the iconic 1911 Odeon Casino poster...
Category

1910s Expressionist Chicago - Art

Materials

Lithograph

An Introspective, 1950s Mid-Century Modern Portrait "Head of a Young Girl"
By Francis Chapin
Located in Chicago, IL
An Introspective, 1950s Mid-Century Modern Portrait "Head of a Young Girl" by Noted Chicago Artist, Francis Chapin (Am. 1899-1965). Artwork size: 15” x 12 1/2” (Framed size: 19 1/...
Category

Mid-20th Century American Modern Chicago - Art

Materials

Masonite, Oil

Gerlach's Allegorien Plate #85: "Hunting" Lithograph by Carl Otto Czeschka
By Carl Otto Czeschka
Located in Chicago, IL
after Carl Otto Czeschka, (1878-1960), Austrian A leading member of the Vienna Secession and later the Wiener Werkstätte (Viennese Workshop), Carl Otto Czeschka was a vital figu...
Category

1890s Vienna Secession Chicago - Art

Materials

Lithograph

A Fabulous 1960s Mid-Century Modern Painting of an Embracing Couple, Lovers
Located in Chicago, IL
A Fabulous 1960s Mid-Century Modern Painting of an Embracing Couple, Lovers, by noted Chicago Artist, Rudolph Pen. A wonderful example of the artist's uniquely expressive, abstract...
Category

Mid-20th Century American Modern Chicago - Art

Materials

Masonite, Oil

Over The Top, Portrait Of A Young Woman, Painting, Oil on Canvas
By Leon Sarantos
Located in Yardley, PA
This painting is a portrait of a woman, who is a lively, young student at the University of Chicago. I am an architect, as well as an artist, and I am inspired by the beauty of the ...
Category

2010s Contemporary Chicago - Art

Materials

Oil

Max Eisler Eine Nachlese folio "Litzlberg on Lake Attersee" collotype
By (after) Gustav Klimt
Located in Chicago, IL
After Gustav Klimt, Max Eisler Plate #8, Litzlberg on Lake Attersee; blue monochrome collotype after the 1915 painting in oil on canvas. GUSTAV KLIMT EINE NACHLESE (GUSTAV KLIMT AN ...
Category

1930s Vienna Secession Chicago - Art

Materials

Paper

Woman at Rest, Nude Female, Pastel and Charcoal Drawing on Green Paper
By Christopher Ganz
Located in Chicago, IL
The loose style of this drawing comes together quickly to convey the relaxed state of this nude female. The pastel accents bring a beautiful warmth to this drawing. Christopher Ganz Woman at Rest, 2013 pastel and charcoal on green paper 23h x 18w in 58.42h x 45.72w cm CG0062 -ARTIST STATEMENT- I depict my person in multiplicity with different selves representing dramatis personae. My likeness is both implicit and symbolic in the portrayal of my narrative; the drama involved in creating art and the artist’s role in society. I use realism to invite the viewer into mysterious inner worlds that are layered reflections of the outer. Dehumanizing environments are imbued with art historical references as a critique of power structures. The artist is an Everyman who is at odds with society and his self. Visually my work is a celebration of society’s dark undercurrents and its overlooked absurdities. I use charcoal and printmaking media as their tenebrous values add a fitting metaphor. The nuances of light and shadow seduce viewers into a world their better judgment would have them avoid. This provokes a sense of disquietude that causes viewers to assess our world through the austerity of a colorless, yet not humorless, light. -BIO- Christopher Ganz grew up in Northeast Ohio and from early on had a fertile imagination and an interest in art. Christopher's artistic education truly began at the University of Missouri, where his love of the human form led to many figure drawing classes and his exposure to the wonders of printmaking. Christopher's then went onto graduate school at Indiana University and a summer abroad program in Italy was a dream realized. Christopher then grasped charcoal with a renewed vigor and large, sfumato-laden drawings ensued. Christopher's artistic influences are many; from a seminal exposure to Dore's engravings of the Divine Comedy, to Rembrandt, Caravaggio, Goya, and up to Lucian Freud, Mark Tansey...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Chicago - Art

Materials

Paper, Charcoal, Pastel

Leopard's Gaze, Antarctica by Paul Nicklen - Contemporary Wildlife Photography
By Paul Nicklen
Located in Chicago, IL
Leopard’s Gaze Antarctica, 2006 24 in x 36 in (61 x 91.4 cm) Edition of 20 - $3,500 31 in x 46.5 in (78.7 x 118.1 cm) Edition of 15 40 in x 60 in (101.6 x 152.4 cm) Edition of 10 "...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Chicago - Art

Materials

Archival Pigment

"Cherry Tree in Bloom" Copper Plate Heliogravure
By Ferdinand Hodler & R. Piper & Co.
Located in Chicago, IL
2018 marks the centenary anniversary of Ferdinand Hodler’s death. In that 100 years time, the art world’s esteem of this important artist has proved fickle. It has shifted from extolling his artistic merits during his lifetime to showing something of a feigned disdain- more reflective of the world political order than a true change of heart for Hodler’s work. After years of Hodler being all but a footnote in the annals of art history and generally ignored, finally, the pendulum has righted itself once again. Recent retrospective exhibitions in Europe and the United States have indicated not only a joyful rediscovery of Hodler’s art but a firm conviction that his work and world view hold particular relevance today. DAS WERK FERDINAND HODLERS is not only a collection of printed work reflecting the best of all of his painted work created up to 1914 just before the outbreak of World War I, the portfolio itself is an encapsulation of Hodler’s ethos, Parallelisme. Hodler developed his philosophy of Parallelisme as a unifying approach to art which strips away detail in search of harmony. By means of abstraction, symmetry and repetition, Hodler sought ways to depict Nature’s essence and her fundamental, universal order. He believed these universal laws governing the natural, observable world extend to the spiritual realm. Symbolist in nature with Romantic undertones, his works are equally portraits of these universal concepts and feelings governing all life as they are a visual portrait in the formal sense. Whether his subject is a solitary tree, a moment in battle, mortal fear, despair, the awe inspired by a vast mountain range, a tender moment or even the collective conviction in a belief, Hodler unveils this guiding principle of Parallelisme. Several aspects of Hodler’s portfolio reinforce his tenets of Parallelisme. The Table of Contents clearly preferences a harmonious design over detail. The two columns, consisting of twenty lines each, list the images by order of appearance using their German titles. The abbreviated titles are somewhat cryptic in that they obscure the identities of the sitters. Like the image Hodler presents, they are distillations of the sitter without any extraneous details. This shortening was also done in an effort to maintain a harmonious symmetry of the Table of Contents, themselves, and keep titles to a one-line limit. The twenty-fourth title: “Bildnis des Schweizerischen Gesandten C.” was so long, even with abbreviation, that it required two lines; so, for the sake of maintaining symmetry, the fortieth title: “Bauernmadchen” was omitted from the list. This explains why the images are not numbered. Hodler’s reasoning is not purely esoteric. Symmetry and pattern reach beyond mere formal design principles. Finding sameness and imposing it over disorder goes to the root of Hodler’s identity and his art. A Swiss native, Hodler was bi-lingual and spoke German and French. Each printed image, even number forty, have titles in both of Hodler’s languages. Certainly, there was a market for Hodler’s work among francophones and this inclusion may have been a polite gesture to that end; however, this is the only place in the portfolio which includes French. With German titles at the lower left of each image, Hodler’s name at bottom center and corresponding French titles at the lower right of each image, there is a harmony and symmetry woven into all aspects of the portfolio. This holds true for the page design, as it applies to each printed image and as it describes the Swiss artist himself. Seen in this light, Hodler’s portfolio of printed work is the epitome of Hodler’s Parallelisme. DAS WERK FERDINAND HODLERS is also one of the most significant documents to best tell the story of how Hodler, from Switzerland, became caught between political cross-hairs and how the changing tides of nations directly impacted the artist during his lifetime as well as the accessibility of his art for generations to come. The Munich-based publisher of the portfolio, R. Piper & Co., Verlag, plays a crucial role in this story. Publishing on a wide range of subjects from philosophy and world religion to music, literature and the visual arts; the publisher’s breadth of inquiry within any one genre was equal in scope. Their marketing strategy to publish multiple works on Hodler offers great insight as to what a hot commodity Hodler was at that time. R.Piper & Co.’s Almanach, which they published in 1914 in commemoration of their first ten years in business, clearly illustrates the rapid succession- strategically calculated for achieving the deepest and broadest impact - in which they released three works on Hodler to hit the market by the close of 1914. DAS WERK FERDINAND HODLERS was their premier publication. It preceded C.A. Loosli’s Die Zeichnungen Ferdinand Hodlers, a print portfolio after 50 drawings by Hodler which was released in Autumn of 1914 at the mid-level price-point of 75-150 Marks; and a third less expensive collection of prints after original works by Hodler, which had not been included in either of the first two portfolios, was released at the end of that year entitled Ferdinand Hodler by Dr. Ewald Bender. The title and timing of DAS WERK FERDINAND HODLERS' debut leaves little doubt as to the connection it has with another avant-garde portfolio of art prints, Das Werk Gustav Klimts, released in 5 installments from 1908 -1914 by Galerie Miethke in Vienna. Hodler, himself, was involved in Klimt’s ground-breaking project. As the owner of Klimt’s 1901 painting, “Judith with the Head of Holifernes” which appears as the ninth collotype print in the second installment of Das Werk Gustav Klimts, Hodler was obliged to grant access of the painting to the art printers in Vienna for them to create the collotype sometime before 1908. Hodler had been previously invited in 1904 to take part in what would be the last exhibition of the Vienna Secession before Klimt and others associated with Galerie Miethke broke away. In an interview that same year, Hodler indicated that he respected and was impressed by Klimt. Hodler’s esteem for Klimt went beyond the art itself; he emulated Klimt’s method aimed at increasing his market reach and appeal to a wider audience by creating a print portfolio of his painted work. By 1914, Hodler and his publisher had the benefit of hindsight to learn from Klimt’s Das Werk publication. Responding to the sluggish sales of Klimt’s expensive endeavor, Hodler’s publisher devised the same diversified 1-2-3 strategy for selling Hodler’s Das Werk portfolio as they did with regards to all three works on Hodler they published that year. For their premium tier of DAS WERKS FERDINAND HODLERS, R. Piper & Co. issued an exclusive Museum quality edition of 15 examples on which Hodler signed each page. At a cost of 600 Marks, this was generally on par with Klimt’s asking price of 600 Kronen for his Das Werk portfolio. A middle-tiered Preferred edition of 30, costing somewhat less and with Hodler’s signature only on the Title Page, was also available. The General edition, targeting the largest audience with its much more affordable price of 150 Marks, is distinguishable by its smaller size. Rather than use the subscription format Miethke had chosen for Klimt’s portfolios which proved to have had its challenges, R. Piper & Co. employed a different strategy. In addition to instantly gratifying the buyer with all 40 of the prints comprising DAS WERK FERDINAND HODLERS and the choice among three price points, they advertised in German journals a fourth possibility of ordering single prints from them directly. These printed images are easily discernible from the three complete folio editions. The paper size of the single purchased images is of the larger format like the Museum and Preferred editions, measuring 65 h x 50 w cm; however, the paper itself is the same copper print paper used in the General edition and then mounted on poster board. The publishing house positioned itself to be a direct retailer of Hodler’s art. They astutely recognized the potential for profitability and the importance, therefore, of having proprietary control over his graphic works. R. Piper & Co. owned the exclusive printing rights to Hodler’s best work found in their three publications dating from 1914. That same year, a competing publication out of Weimar entitled Ferdinand Hodler: Ein Deutungsversuch von Hans...
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