Cleveland

Cast Glass and Granite Sculpture

After Philippe-Laurent Roland (French, 1746-1816) Bust of a Young Man, 1772 Terra cotta set on painted wood pedestal Signed and dated at back 16.5 x 11 x 8 inches Philippe-Laurent R...

John Kearney (American, 1924-2014) Rocky Mountain Goat, 1991 Bronze 11 x 17 x 6 inches Born in Omaha, Nebraska, John Kearney studied at the Cranbr...

Max Kalish (American, 1891-1945) Harmony, c. 1930 Bronze with green marble base Incised signature on right upper side of base 14 x 9 x 5 inches, excluding base 17 x 10 x 8 inches, including base Born in Poland March 1, 1891, figurative sculptor Max Kalish came to the United States in 1894, his family settling in Ohio. A talented youth, Kalish enrolled at the Cleveland Institute of Art as a fifteen-year-old, receiving a first-place award for modeling the figure during studies with Herman Matzen. Kalish went to New York City following graduation, studying with Isidore Konti...

William L. Sonntag (American, 1822-1900) Connor's Brook, Maine Oil on canvas Signed lower right 20 x 31 inches 24.5 x 35.5 inches, framed William Louis Sonntag was born to a family ...

Jane Peterson (American, 1876-1965) Parrot Watercolor on paper Signed lower left 25 x 19 inches 31.25 x 25.25 inches, framed Born in 1876 in Illinois, Jane Peterson would grow into ...

George Gustav Adomeit (American, 1879-1967) Beachside Village, Maine Watercolor on paper Signed lower right 10 x 14 inches 17.75 x 21.75 inches, framed A major painter of American ...

An amazing, magical realism painting by renowned artist, Herbert Laurence Davidson (1930-2018). This painting depicts a young boy’s innocent discovery on the beach of a sand sculptur...

Louis Bosa (American, 1905-1981) Nuns in My Studio Oil on canvas Signed lower right 10 x 14 inches 15.5 x 19.5 inches, framed Born in Codroipo, a small village only a few miles from...

Edwin Willard Deming (American, 1860-1942) Man with Flute and Cougar Cast bronze sculpture with golden brown patina Signed, numbered 9/100, with Fenn F...

Joseph Glasco (American, 1925-1996) Reclining Male Figure (For Nick) 1971 India ink on paper Inscribed, signed and dated 10.25 x 14 inches 18.5 x 21 inches, framed Joseph Glasco was...

Deep rich colors on paper cut out and melded to a dry brush mix background. :: Mixed Media :: Abstract :: This piece comes with an official certificate of authenticity signed by the ...

Work sold to benefit the CLEVELAND INSTITUTE OF ART Joseph B. O’Sickey (American, 1918–2013) At the Stable, 2000 Oil on canvas Signed and dated lower right 29 x 36 inches Joseph ...

Frank Nelson Wilcox (American, 1887–1964) Wild Horses, Arizona, 1937 Watercolor on paper Signed and dated lower right, titled verso 15 x 20 inches 18 x 24 inches framed Frank Nelso...

Painted with Joint Compound and Oil. :: Mixed Media :: Abstract :: This piece comes with an official certificate of authenticity signed by the artist :: Ready to Hang: No :: Signed...

Abel Warshawsky (American, 1883-1962) Mural Study Oil on board Signed and inscribed verso 9.5 x 18 inches 15.75 x 24.25 inches, framed Impressionist painter A.G. Warshawsky was acti...

My beautiful Ideas of Wonderful Waterfalls. :: Painting :: Abstract :: This piece comes with an official certificate of authenticity signed by the artist :: Ready to Hang: No :: Sig...

Max Sandor (Austrian, 1897-1945) Native American Chief, 20th Century Bronze Signed on base 11 x 6 x 4.5 inches Condition: Arrow is missing from hand. Max Sandor (1897-1945), also k...

George Gustav Adomeit (American, 1879-1967) Shaker Lakes, c. 1900 Oil on canvasboard Signed lower right 11 x 17 inches 17.5 x 23 inches, framed A major painter of American scene sub...

Frank Nelson Wilcox (American, 1887–1964) Sunset Outside of Zion, Utah, c. 1940 Watercolor on paper Signed lower right 14 x 20 inches 18 x 24 inches framed Frank Nelson Wilcox (Oct...

Richard Andres American, 1927-2013 Untitled, c. 1980 acrylic and ink on paper mounted on canvas 30 x 34 inches Richard Andres was born in Buffalo, New York in 1927. A graduate of th...

Frederick Hart is America's greatest figurative sculptor. Not only did he create works of great beauty and gravitas, he was singularly responsible for restoring to American public mo...

Robertino Fatica’s Barracks (1970) is a long, narrow painting that reads almost like a piece of architecture. At 17.5 by 122 inches, it stretches acros...

John Teyral (American, 1912-1999) Fishing Village, Sicily, c. 1965 Oil on canvas Signed upper right 37.5 x 44.5 inches, framed John Teyral was one of Cleveland's most acclaimed arti...

Joseph Glasco (American, 1925–1996) Untitled 1980 Acrylic and collage on canvas Initialed and dated verso 48 x 48 inches Joseph Glasco was born in Paul’s Valley, Oklahoma and grew u...

Frank Nelson Wilcox (American, 1887–1964) Silent Prayers at St. Malo, France, 1925 Watercolor and gouache on board Signed and dated lower right 19 x 24 inches Frank Nelson Wilcox (...

Andrew Karoly (Hungarian-American, 1893-1978)/ Louis Szántó (Hungarian-American, 1889-1965) Alice in Wonderland, 1960 Oil on canvas Signed and dated low...

Clarence Holbrook Carter (American, 1904-2000) Tenby, Coast of Wales, 1960 Acrylic on scintilla paper Signed and dated lower right 18 x 28.5 inches 26 x 36 inches, framed Clarence H...

Richard Andres (American, 1927-2013) Shore V, c. 1964 acrylic on canvas signed lower right, signed and titled verso 54 x 44 inches Richard Andres was born in Buffalo, New York in 1927. A graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Art in 1950, he was immediately drafted and served for two years in the army as a mural painter. He received his Master of Arts from Kent State in 1961. A frequent exhibitor at galleries and museums and winner of multiple May Show prizes, Andres taught art in the Cleveland Public Schools for 28 years, as well as teaching the University of Buffalo, the Cleveland Institute of Art and the Western Reserve University. Very little in Richard Andres’ childhood would have predicted his love of classical music, mid-century-modern architecture and certainly not his lifelong passion for art and in particular abstract art. Richard’s father, Raymond, had no more than a third-grade education, and his mother, Clara, was one of thirteen children – only three of whom lived into adulthood and none of whom attended high school. They lived, when Richard was a boy, in a dingy area of Buffalo, NY in a walk-up apartment situated above a tavern. Raymond and Clara supplemented the income from their factory jobs in the bar downstairs with Raymond playing ragtime on the piano and Clara serving drinks. This often left Richard and his two older brothers at home alone to fend for themselves. The two older boys, Raymond and Russell, were - unlike Richard- rather rough and tumble and entertained themselves with stickball, boxing and the like. Richard, on the other hand, from a very young age liked to draw, or better yet even, to paint with the small set of watercolors he received for Christmas one year. Paper, however, at the height of the depression, was hard to come by. Luckily, Clara used paper doilies as decoration for the apartment and Richard would contentedly paint and then cut up doilies, gluing the pieces together to create collages. At eight-years-old, he discovered the Albright-Knox Museum (then known as the Albright Art Gallery) and spent several hours a week there studying the paintings. He was particularly fond of Charles Burchfield‘s landscapes, enamored with their ‘messiness’ and thinking that they somehow captured more ‘feeling’ than works he was previously familiar with. For his tenth Christmas, he asked for and received a ‘how-to’ paint book by Elliot O’Hare. Through this self-teaching, he assembled the portfolio needed for acceptance to Buffalo Technical High School where he studied Advertising Arts. In his Junior year, he was encouraged to enter a watercolor painting, “Two Barns,” in the national 1944-45 Ingersoll Art Award Contest and was one of twelve grand prize winners – each one winning one hundred dollars. More importantly the painting was exhibited at the Carnegie Institute Galleries, which resulted in his winning a national scholarship to the Cleveland School of Art (The Cleveland Art Institute). He flourished at the art school under the tutelage of faculty members such as Carl Gaertner, as well as that of visiting artists such as William Sommer and Henry George Keller. He would say in later years that Gaertner, in particular, influenced his attitude toward life as well as art. “Gaertner,” Andres said, “believed that there was no need to be a ‘tortured artist’, that an artist should rather enjoy beauty, family, and life in general.” Free to spend his days as he chose, he wandered the Cleveland Art Museum for most of the hours he was not attending classes or painting; the remaining time was spent drinking coffee at a local hangout with art school friends – which is where he met fellow Henry Keller scholarship winner, Avis Johnson. Richard was immediately smitten with Avis, but being rather shy, it took him the entire summer of 1948 to build up his courage to ask her out. Over that summer he ‘thought about Avis’ and worked in a diner to save money. He also used the hundred-dollar prize money won in High School to visit the first Max Beckmann retrospective in the United States at the City Art Museum in St. Louis. Over a half century later he spoke of that exhibit with a reverence usually reserved for spiritual matters, “I walked in and it was like nothing I had ever seen before... the color...It just glowed.” Returning to campus in the Fall, the first thing he did was go to the coffee shop in hopes of finding Avis. He did, and she, upon seeing him, realized that she was also smitten with him. They quickly became known as ‘the couple’ on campus, and a year later, with Richard being drafted for the Korean war, they were quickly married by a Justice of the Peace, celebrating after with family at Avis’s Cleveland home. As a gift, faculty member John Paul Miller...

Julian Stanczak (American, 1928–2017) Red is a Red, 1969 Acrylic on canvas Signed, dated and titled verso 28 x 28 inches 29 x 29 inches, framed OpArt red geometric acrylic painting ...

Mario Spampinato (Italian 1912–2000) Nude Bronze Signed on base 17.5 in. h. x 5.75 in. w. x 6 in. d. The artist was born, raised and trained in Italy. During one of his exhibits (at San Marcos in Rome) the Director of a New York Gallery asked him to come to New York to work for him. The American Consul, before issuing his visa, asked Spampinato to create a bust of him. In exchange, the Consul paid for his passage on the boat to New York. In New York, he worked with his brother Clemente Spampinato who is a well known sculptor as well. After moving to Chicago in 1954, he discovered that there was no foundry in the Midwest that could cast his bronzes. So, he opened his own foundry called the Spampinato Art Foundry, casting in the lost wax process. He also started his own private school (Spampinato Art Workshop, Ltd) and did some teaching at the University of Chicago and conducted seminars at Lawrence University in Kansas. Many of his own works are pictured and cataloged in Volumes 2 & 3 of Bronzes: Sculptors and Founders, 1800-1930 by Harold Berman. Between 1959 and 1967, Spampinato recast a number of Charles M Russell...

Abel Warshawsky (American 1883-1962) Spring Fantasy, 1948 Oil on artist's board Signed lower right and verso 16 x 13 inches 20 x 17 inches, framed Impressionist painter A.G. Warshaw...

Layers of bright color clash into black with motion and intent. :: Painting :: Abstract :: This piece comes with an official certificate of authenticity signed by the artist :: Ready...

Joseph Glasco (American, 1925–1996) Flowers 1970 Ink on paper Signed and dated center right 10.5 x 8.5 inches 15 x 12.5 inches, framed Joseph Glasco was born in Paul’s Valley, Oklah...

Frank Nelson Wilcox (American, 1887–1964) Two Old Pecan Trees, 1932 Watercolor on paper mounted on board Signed lower right 21 x 28.25 inches 27 x 35.25 inches, as framed Exhibited: 1932 May Show (1st Place) Cleveland Museum of Art; Poetics of Place: Charles Burchfield and His Contemporaries, 2001 Cleveland Artist's Foundation. Frank Nelson Wilcox (October 3, 1887 – April 17, 1964) was a modernist American artist and a master of watercolor. Wilcox is described as the "Dean of Cleveland School painters," though some sources give this appellation to Henry Keller or Frederick Gottwald. Wilcox was born on October 3, 1887 to Frank Nelson Wilcox, Sr. and Jessie Fremont Snow Wilcox at 61 Linwood Street in Cleveland, Ohio. His father, a prominent lawyer, died at home in 1904 shortly before Wilcox' 17th birthday. His brother, lawyer and publisher Owen N. Wilcox, was president of the Gates Legal Publishing Company or The Gates Press. His sister Ruth Wilcox was a respected librarian. In 1906 Wilcox enrolled from the Cleveland School of Art under the tutelage of Henry Keller, Louis Rorimer, and Frederick Gottwald. He also attended Keller's Berlin Heights summer school from 1909. After graduating in 1910, Wilcox traveled and studied in Europe, sometimes dropping by Académie Colarossi in the evening to sketch the model or the other students at their easels, where he was influenced by French impressionism. Wilcox was influenced by Keller's innovative watercolor techniques, and from 1910 to 1916 they experimented together with impressionism and post-impressionism. Wilcox soon developed his own signature style in the American Scene or Regionalist tradition of the early 20th century. He joined the Cleveland School of Art faculty in 1913. Among his students were Lawrence Edwin Blazey, Carl Gaertner, Paul Travis, and Charles E. Burchfield. Around this time Wilcox became associated with Cowan Pottery. In 1916 Wilcox married fellow artist Florence Bard, and they spent most of their honeymoon painting in Berlin Heights with Keller. They had one daughter, Mary. In 1918 he joined the Cleveland Society of Artists, a conservative counter to the Bohemian Kokoon Arts Club, and would later serve as its president. He also began teaching night school at the John Huntington Polytechnic Institute at this time, and taught briefly at Baldwin-Wallace College. Wilcox wrote and illustrated Ohio Indian Trails in 1933, which was favorably reviewed by the New York Times in 1934. This book was edited and reprinted in 1970 by William A. McGill. McGill also edited and reprinted Wilcox' Canals of the Old Northwest in 1969. Wilcox also wrote, illustrated, and published Weather Wisdom in 1949, a limited edition (50 copies) of twenty-four serigraphs (silk screen prints) accompanied by commentary "based upon familiar weather observations commonly made by people living in the country." Wilcox displayed over 250 works at Cleveland's annual May Show. He received numerous awards, including the Penton Medal for The Omnibus, Paris (1920), Fish Tug on Lake Erie (1921), Blacksmith Shop (1922), and The Gravel Pit (1922). Other paintings include The Trailing Fog (1929), Under the Big Top (1930), and Ohio Landscape...

Clarence Holbrook Carter (American, 1904-2000) In and Out, 1963 Acrylic on paper Signed and dated lower right 22 x 30 inches Figural abstract vibrant yellow geometric painting. Cl...

Edwin Mieczkowski (American, 1929-2017) Curved Dimensions, 1965 Acrylic on board Signed, dated and titled verso 30 x 29.75 inches Edwin Mieczkowski, born in Pittsburgh, was a leader of geometric and perceptual abstraction during the latter part of the 20th century. Mieczkowski's work first came to prominence in "The Responsive Eye" exhibition, the nation's first major exhibition of perceptual art, held at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1965. Mieczkowski was also featured in the 1964 article in Timemagazine that first used the term "Op Art" to describe paintings that manipulated visual cues in order to reorder and excite viewers' perceptual responses. With a complex aesthetic that over time has transcended mere tricks of optical art, Mieczkowski has spent nearly four decades producing geometrically paintings, drawings and sculptures, a genre of modern art that is known broadly as perceptual abstraction. His output of static and dynamic forms create a body of work, still largely intact, that uses visually disorienting, meticulously arranged lines, dazzling kaleidoscopic colors, and alluring juxtapositions of hue and tone, to playfully and seductively present new challenges for the viewer's eyes. The desired result is an optical effect of perpetual motion, harmonics and rhythm. . . . Along with Frank Hewitt and Ernst Benkert, Mieczkowski was a co-founder in 1959 of the Anonima* group that worked together in Cleveland and New York and declared itself free from the pressures of the art market and the pursuit of personal fame. Members of Anonima often left their works unsigned and vowed to shun the usual art market venues such as commercial galleries, biennials and competitions. Instead, they engaged in a rigorous, self-imposed program of painting exercises to explore the effects of geometry and color on visual perception. Although Mieczkowski's work hung side-by-side in the MOMA "Responsive Eye" exhibition with such colleagues as Josef Albers, Victor Vasarely, Richard Anuszkiewicz, Morris Louis, Kenneth Noland, Carlos Cruz...

Raphael Gleitsmann (American, 1910-1995) European Cemetery, 1948 Watercolor on paper Signed and dated lower left 20.5 x 32 inches 26.5 x 37 inches, framed Raphael Gleitsmann, born i...

Joseph Glasco (American, 1925–1996) For Marie, 1982 Ink on paper Signed and dated lower left 8 x 10 inches 15.75 x 18.75 inches, framed Joseph Glasco was born in Paul’s Valley, Okla...

Clarence Holbrook Carter (American, 1904–2000) Yellow Mandala, c. 1970s Acrylic on canvas 39 x 36 inches 41 x 38.25 inches, framed Clarence Holbrook Carter achieved a level of natio...

Louis Bosa (American, 1905-1981) The Serenade, c. 1950 Oil on board Signed lower left 7.5 x 23.5 inches 15 x 31 inches framed Born in Codroipo, a small village only a few miles from...

Frederick Carl Gottwald (American, 1858-1941) Docked in the Mudflats, c. 1900 Oil on canvas Signed lower left 16 x 20 inches 26 x 30 inches, framed Gottwald, originally from Vienna,...

Frank Nelson Wilcox (American, 1887–1964) On the Top, Montana, 1952 Watercolor and gouache on board Signed and dated lower right 22 x 30 inches 25.5 x 34 inches framed Frank Nelso...

Clarence Holbrook Carter (American, 1904-2000) Transection with Architectural Forms, c. 1980s Acrylic and graphite on board 12 x 20 inches A surrealist mid-century figural abstract ...

Giovanni Nicolini (Italian, 1872–1956) Bronze Group Celebrating the Noble Yeomanry Signed G. Nicolini 15.5 in. h. x 15.5 in. w. x 8 in. w., total Gi...

Frank Nelson Wilcox (American, 1887–1964) The Adobe, c. 1940-41 Watercolor on paper Signed lower right 14 x 20 inches 18.5 x 24 inches framed Frank Nelson Wilcox (October 3, 1887 –...

Frederick Hart is America's greatest figurative sculptor. Not only did he create works of great beauty and gravitas, he was singularly responsible for restoring to American public mo...

For many years Susan Squires goal has been to create encaustic paintings as meaningful, evocative experiences for herself and for the viewer. She wa...

Ora Coltman (American, 1858-1940) Interior Scene with Lady in Green Gown, 1935 Oil on canvasboard Signed and dated lower right 19 x 16 inches 24.25 x 21.25 inches, framed Ora Coltma...

Dean Drahos (American, 1937-2010) Rose Mallow Ephemeral, 1997 Acrylic on canvas Signed and dated on right side panel, titled in stencil on both sides of panels of canvas 16 x 16 inch...

George Gustav Adomeit (American, 1879-1964) Barn Scene Oil on canvas mounted to masonite Signed lower right 16 x 20 inches 21.5 x 25.5 inches, framed A major painter of American sce...

Robertino Fatica was born in 1948 in Cleveland, Ohio. In 1970 he completed a three-year program at the Cooper School of Art in Cleveland. Following that, Fatica served in the U.S. Ar...

Turkey in the Trees, c. 1922 Watercolor on paper Signed lower right 22 x 29 inches Frank Nelson Wilcox (October 3, 1887 – April 17, 1964) was a modernist American artist and a mast...

Frank Nelson Wilcox (American, 1887-1964) Construction on the Pass, Montana, c. 1950 Unsigned Watercolor on Whatman board 22 x 30 inches Provenance: From the estate of Frank Nelson Wilcox Frank Nelson Wilcox (October 3, 1887 – April 17, 1964) was a modernist American artist and a master of watercolor. Wilcox is described as the "Dean of Cleveland School painters," though some sources give this appellation to Henry Keller or Frederick Gottwald. Wilcox was born on October 3, 1887 to Frank Nelson Wilcox, Sr. and Jessie Fremont Snow Wilcox at 61 Linwood Street in Cleveland, Ohio. His father, a prominent lawyer, died at home in 1904 shortly before Wilcox' 17th birthday. His brother, lawyer and publisher Owen N. Wilcox, was president of the Gates Legal Publishing Company or The Gates Press. His sister Ruth Wilcox was a respected librarian. In 1906 Wilcox enrolled from the Cleveland School of Art under the tutelage of Henry Keller, Louis Rorimer...

Joseph Glasco (American, 1925-1996) Reclining Figure, facing right (Nikos) 1971 India ink on paper Signed and dated middle right 26 x 38.25 inches In original frame. Joseph Glasco ...

Louis Kley (French, 1833-1911) The Lizard, 19th Century Gilt bronze and marble Signed to base 6.25 x 4.5 x 3 inches In Greco-Roman times, the lizard represented good fortune and reg...

August Frederick Biehle (1885-1979) Stone Quarry, Berlin Heights, 1920 Gouache and graphite on paper laid on cardboard Signed and dated lower left 24 x 18 inches 27.5 x 21.5 inches, ...

Waylande Gregory (American, 1905-1971) Polo Player, c. 1930s Ceramic Inscribed signature on bottom 11 x 8.5 inches Waylande Gregory was considered a major American sculptor during the 1930's, although he worked in ceramics, rather than in the more traditional bronze or marble. Exhibiting his ceramic works at such significant American venues for sculpture as the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City and at the venerable Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia, he also showed his ceramic sculptures at leading New York City galleries. Gregory was the first modern ceramist to create large scale ceramic sculptures, some measuring more than 70 inches in height. Similar to the technique developed by the ancient Etruscans, he fired his monumental ceramic sculptures only once. Gregory was born in 1905 in Baxter Springs, Kansas and was something of a prodigy. Growing up on a ranch near a Cherokee reservation, Gregory first became interested in ceramics as a child during a native American burial that he had witnessed. He was also musically inclined. In fact, his mother had been a concert pianist and had given her son lessons. At eleven, he was enrolled as a student at the Kansas State Teacher's College, where he studied carpentry and crafts, including ceramics. Gregory's early development as a sculptor was shaped by the encouragement and instruction of Lorado Taft, who was considered both a major American sculptor as well as a leading American sculpture instructor. In fact, Taft's earlier students included such significant sculptors as Bessie Potter Vonnoh and Janet Scudder. But, Taft and his students had primarily worked in bronze or stone, not in clay; and, Gregory's earliest sculptural works were also not in ceramics. In 1924, Gregory moved to Chicago where he caught the attention of Taft. Gregory was invited by Taft to study with him privately for 18 months and to live and work with him at his famed "Midway Studios." The elegant studio was a complex of 13 rooms that overlooked a courtyard. Taft may have been responsible for getting the young man interested in creating large scale sculpture. However, by the 1920's, Taft's brand of academic sculpture was no longer considered progressive. Instead, Gregory was attracted to the latest trends appearing in the United States and Europe. In 1928 he visited Europe with Taft and other students. "Kid Gregory," as he was called, was soon hired by Guy Cowan, the founder of the Cowan Pottery in Cleveland, Ohio, to become the company's only full time employee. From 1928 to 1932, Gregory served as the chief designer and sculptor at the Cowan Pottery. Just as Gregory learned about the process of creating sculpture from Taft, he literally learned about ceramics from Cowan. Cowan was one of the first graduates of Alfred, the New York School of Clayworking and Ceramics. Alfred had one of the first programs in production pottery. Cowan may have known about pottery production, but he had limited sculptural skills, as he was lacking training in sculpture. The focus of the Cowan Pottery would be on limited edition, table top or mantle sculptures. Two of the most successful of these were Gregory's "Nautch Dancer," (fig. 1) and his "Burlesque Dancer," (fig. 2). He based both sculptures on the dancing of Gilda Gray, a Ziegfield Follies girl. Gilda Gray was of Polish origin and came to the United States as a child. By 1922, she would become one of the most popular stars in the Follies. After losing her assets in the stock market crash of 1929, she accepted other bookings outside of New York, including Cleveland, which was where Gregory first saw her onstage. She allowed Gregory to make sketches of her performances from the wings of the theatre. She explained to Gregory, "I'm too restless to pose." Gray became noted for her nautch dance, an East Indian folk dance. A nautch is a tight, fitted dress that would curl at the bottom and act like a hoop. This sculpture does not focus on Gray's face at all, but is more of a portrait of her nautch dance. It is very curvilinear, really made of a series of arches that connect in a most feminine way. Gregory created his "Burlesque Dancer" at about the same time as "Nautch Dancer." As with the "Nautch Dancer," he focused on the movements of the body rather than on a facial portrait of Gray. Although Gregory never revealed the identity of his model for "Burlesque Dancer," a clue to her identity is revealed in the sculpture's earlier title, "Shimmy Dance." The dancer who was credited for creating the shimmy dance was also Gilda Gray. According to dance legend, Gray introduced the shimmy when she sang the "Star Spangled Banner" and forgot some of the lyrics, so, in her embarrassment, started shaking her shoulders and hips but she did not move her legs. Such movement seems to relate to the "Burlesque Dancer" sculpture, where repeated triangular forms extend from the upper torso and hips. This rapid movement suggests the influence of Italian Futurism, as well as the planar motion of Alexander Archipenko, a sculptor whom Gregory much admired. The Cowan Pottery was a victim of the great depression, and in 1932, Gregory changed careers as a sculptor in the ceramics industry to that of an instructor at the Cranbrook Academy in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. Cranbrook was perhaps the most prestigious place to study modern design in America. Its faculty included the architect Eliel Saarinen and sculptor Carl Milles. Although Gregory was only at Cranbrook for one and one half years, he created some of his finest works there, including his "Kansas Madonna" (fig. 3). But, after arriving at Cranbrook, the Gregory's had to face emerging financial pressures. Although Gregory and his wife were provided with complimentary lodgings, all other income had to stem from the sale of artworks and tuition from students that he, himself, had to solicit. Gregory had many people assisting him with production methods at the Cowan Pottery, but now worked largely by himself. And although he still used molds, especially in creating porcelain works, many of his major new sculptures would be unique and sculpted by hand, as is true of "Kansas Madonna." The scale of Gregory's works were getting notably larger at Cranbrook than at Cowan. Gregory left the surface of "Kansas Madonna" totally unglazed. Although some might object to using a religious title to depict a horse nursing its colt, it was considered one of Gregory's most successful works. In fact, it had a whole color page illustration in an article about ceramic sculpture titled, "The Art with the Inferiority Complex," Fortune Magazine, December, 1937. The article notes the sculpture was romantic and expressive and the sculpture was priced at $1,500.00; the most expensive sculpture in the article. Gregory was from Kansas, and "Kansas Madonna" should be considered a major sculptural document of Regionalism. Gregory and his wife Yolande moved to New Jersey in the summer of 1933. And the artist began construction on his new home in the Watchung Mountains of Bound Brook (Warren today) in 1938. His enormous, custom kiln was probably constructed at the start of 1938. Gregory's new sculptures were the largest ceramic sculptures in western art, in modern times. To create these works of ceramic virtuosity, the artist developed a "honeycomb" technique, in which an infrastructure of compartments was covered by a ceramic "skin." Science and atomic energy were a theme in Gregory's most significant work, the "Fountain of the Atom" (fig. 4), at the 1939 New York's World Fair. This major work included twelve monumental ceramic figures at the fairground entrance from the newly constructed railway entrance, giving the work great visibility and prominence. The framework of the fountain itself was of steel and glass bricks. It consisted of a bluish green pool which was sixty five feet in diameter. Above it were two concentric circular tiers, or terraces, as Gregory called them; the first wider than the second. On the first terrace were eight "Electrons," comprised of four male and four female terra cotta figures, each approximately 48 inches high. These relate to the valance shell of the atom. Above them on a narrower terrace, were the much larger and heavier terra cotta figures depicting the four elements, each averaging about 78 inches in height and weighing about a ton and a half. Of the four, "Water" and "Air" were male, while "Earth" and "Fire" were female. This terrace represents the nucleus of the atom. In the center of the fountain, above the "Elements," was a central shaft comprised of sixteen glass tubes from which water tumbled down from tier to tier. At the top, a colorful flame burned constantly. The glass block tiers were lit from within, the whole creating a glowing and gurgling effect. Since the fair was temporary, the figures could be removed after its closing. But the credit for the design of the structure of the fountain belongs to collaborator Nembhard Culin, who was responsible for several other structures on the fair grounds as well. Although Gregory created a figure of "Fire" for the "Fountain of the Atom," he also executed a second, slightly smaller but more defined version which he exhibited at various locations (including Cranbrook, Baltimore Museum, etc.) in 1940-1941, during the second year of the fair (fig.5). Measuring 61 inches in height, "Fire" may be a metaphor for sexual energy, as well as atomic energy. Gregory stated, "Fire is represented by an aquiline female figure being consumed in endless arabesques of flame." Portraiture was also a significant focus of Gregory's sculpture. Gregory produced many commissioned portraits of local people as well as celebrities. He created Albert Einstein's portrait from life (fig. 6, ca. 1940) after Einstein had seen Gregory's "Fountain of the Atom." He also sculpted some of the leading figures in entertainment, including 2 sculptures of Henry Fonda, who became a personal friend. Gregory also sculpted a series of idealized female heads, both in terra cotta and in porcelain. These include "Girl with Olive" (ca. 1932) and "Cretan Girl;"(ca. 1937) both are very reductive and almost abstract works that call to mind Constantine Brancusi's "Mademoiselle Pogany" (1912, Philadelphia Museum of Art). But perhaps one of his most original female heads is "Head of a Child" (fig. 7, ca. 1933), a sensitive white glazed terra cotta portrayal with elaborately crafted braded hair, was originally created as one of a pair. Gregory also produced sculptural works for the Works Progress Administration. The WPA was a work relief project that greatly helped artists during the great depression. Founded by the Federal Government in 1935, an estimated 2500 murals were produced. Among these public works were the iconic post office murals. But, among the painted murals were also sculptural relief murals including Gregory's "R.F.D.," 1938, for the Columbus, Kansas Post Office. But, Gregory's largest WPA relief...

For many years Susan Squires goal has been to create encaustic paintings as meaningful, evocative experiences for herself and for the viewer. She wa...

William Zorach (American 1891-1966) First Steps, 1918 Bronze 8.5 x 5 x 4 inches, including base Born in 1887 in Lithuania, William Zorach immigrated with his family to the United States when he was just four years old, settling in Cleveland, Ohio. Zorach displayed an exceptional artistic talent at a young age and, at the recommendation of his seventh-grade teacher, began studying lithography at night at the Cleveland School of Art. It was not long before he was apprenticing at a lithography company in Cleveland. It was there that he realized he wanted to become an artist - to escape the commercial end of the field in which he was suddenly immersed. In 1907, Zorach saved enough money to move to New York and study art at the National Academy of Design, where he received several awards for his paintings and drawings. He continued his studies in Paris in 1910 at La Palette. This year abroad would turn out to be quite fruitful because in Paris he was greatly influenced by the Cubist and Fauvist movements and had several paintings exhibited at the Salon d'Automme. This influence and subsequent success fueled his career back in the states where he was honored with his first one-man exhibition. Due to this new-found stability, he married a young woman he met at school in Paris, and they moved to New York and set up a studio. Shortly after, their work was accepted into the famous 1913 Armory Show. For the next nine years, Zorach continued to think of himself as a painter, although he had already begun to experiment in sculpting. He was experiencing modest success with his painting and was therefore reluctant to abandon it completely. However, he was impelled toward sculpting, and in 1922, he painted his last oil. Zorach's involvement with sculpture began largely be accident. While he was working on a series of wood-block prints, Zorach suddenly became more interested in the butternut panel than the print and turned the panel into a carved relief. With no formal training as a sculptor, Zorach's first sculptures were of wood and his carving tools were primitive, such as a jack-knife. I n fact, his early works have a certain stylized look, suggesting the influence of various primitive arts such as African and American folk. Zorach found his sculptural direction by instinct, but was not unaware of what other sculptors were doing, both here and abroad. He soon allied himself with a growing number of modern sculptors who believed in the esthetic necessity of carving their own designs directly in the block of stone or wood rather than modeling them in clay. From the beginning he found a deep satisfaction in the slow and patient process of freeing the image from its imprisoning block, watching the forms emerge and appear. "The actual resistance of tough material is a wonderful guide," Zorach said in a lecture on direct sculpture in 1930. The sculptor "cannot make changes easily, there is no putting back tomorrow what was cut away today. His senses are constantly alert. If something goes wrong there is the struggle to right the rhythm. And slowly the vision grows as the work progresses." Zorach also found that the material itself had a constantly modifying effect on the artist's vision. The grain of the wood, the markings in the stone, the shape of the log or boulder all set limits and suggested possibilities. He was always sensitive to the characteristic qualities of his material and occasionally let them play a major role in determining his forms. In works such as these, the feel of the original material is preserved in the finished piece and is often heightened by leaving parts of the original surface untouched and other areas roughly marked by the sculptors tools...