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American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

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Style: American Modern
The Nun
Located in San Francisco, CA
This artwork "The Nun" c.1980 is a watercolor on heavy watercolor paper by California artist Charlotte Huntley. It is signed at the lower right corne...
Category

Late 20th Century American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor

"The Secretary" Minimalist Portrait in Ink on Paper by Geraldine Heib
Located in Soquel, CA
"The Secretary" Minimalist Illustrative Portrait in Ink on Paper This charming portrait by Jerry O'Day (American, 1912), depicts a tight-lipped woman with stern eyebrows in a fun and simplistic style. Her lips pop in red and the fine line detail of her hair gives texture and movement to the piece. Her rounded figure is created using basic shapes cleverly placed, dressed in a turtleneck with dangling earrings. She is looking sideways, drawing the viewer's eyes in that direction. Unsigned, but was acquired with a collection of the artist's work. Presented in a new blue mat. Mat size: 32"H x 26"W Paper size: 28.5"H x 22.5"W Image size: 15.5"H x 11.5"W Jerry O'Day is also known as Geraldine Heib. Born in Oakland, California, on June 17, 1912. Geraldine Heib assumed the name Jerry O'Day at an early age. She grew up in Washington and studied in Seattle at the Cornish School of Fine Arts. Upon moving to the San Francisco Bay area in 1938, she further studied with Bufano as a muralist for two years. O'Day wed sculptor David Lemon and had a gallery in a converted cod fishery in Belvedere from 1942 until 1963. At that time, the couple moved to a houseboat in Sausalito, where she remained until her demise on March 30, 1986. Post War California artist, Jerry O'Day studied at the Cornish School of Fine Arts in Seattle; studied with Beniamino Bufano for two years. She lived in the artist's colony at the Cod fishery with artist David Lemon on Belvedere Island in the San Francisco Bay Area from 1942 - 1963. Solo Exhibitions: City of Paris, Rotunda Gallery; Lucien Labaudt Gallery, 1963; Torrance Gallery, San Anselmo, 1955; Marin Art Gallery, Sausalito, 1956; Palace of The Legion of Honor, San Francisco, 1962; East & West Gallery, Fillmore Street, San Francisco; Landmarks Gallery, Marin County, 1991. Selected Group Exhibitions: 65th Annual Painting and Sculpture Exhibition of the San Francisco Art Association at the San Francisco Museum of Art, 1945; Fourth Winter Invitational, California Palace of The Legion of Honor, San Francisco, 1963. Source: David J Carlson...
Category

Mid-20th Century American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Ink

Two Women and a Child on the Beach at Provincetown
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Two Women and a Child on the Beach at Provincetown Unsigned. Watercolor on paper, c. 1934 A beautiful Provincetown beach scene, included in the catalogue raisonne. Please see Babcoc...
Category

1930s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor

American flag collage with a 19th C hand colored engraving of a cow
Located in Woodbury, CT
Claude Howard Stuart is an artist working in Europe and America. Watercolor, ink ,acrylic and and even cold wax and oil are the many different mediums that Claude uses on his varied and exciting works. His influences come from all the different places and experiences he has had throughout his life, as well as the varied different art styles he’s studied. Having lived in many different places around the world the styles of art, architecture, traditions and religions have all played into the art he makes.. He studies a period of art and then works with antique, vintage and original pieces to build his collage pictures making each one a unique study of a period, city or style. Claude works on his pieces to bring together a feeling of the period and art movement that is inspiring him. Sometimes Matisse and Picasso and other times old master drawings and abstracts. These set of collage...
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2010s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Mixed Media

Girl in Profile
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Girl in Profile Lithographic crayon and watercolor on thin wove paper, c. 1930 Signed twice in pencil (see photos) Provenance: Estate of the Artist Edward Somme...
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1930s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor

Rockwellian Style Watercolor by WW2 Illustrator Carol Johnson
Located in New York, NY
Carol Johnson (American, c. 1917-2003) Untitled (American Family), c. 1950 Watercolor and paper mounted to board 13 5/8 x 23 inches Signed lower right: C...
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1950s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Mixed Media, Watercolor, Board

1950s "Lounge" Mid Century Figurative Ink Drawing NYC Artist
Located in Arp, TX
Donald Stacy "Lounge" c. 1950s Ink on paper 14" x 16.5" unframed Unsigned Came from artist estate Donald Stacy (1925-2011) New Jersey Studied: Newark School of Fine Art The Art Students League Pratt Graphic Arts Center University of Paris 1953-54 University of Aix-en-Provence 1954-55 Faculty: Art Department of the New School Museum of Modern Art School of Visual Arts Stacy Studio Workshop Exhibitions: Grand Central Moderns George Wittenborn The New School Print Exhibitions, Chicago University of Oklahoma Honolulu Museum Monclair Museum Wisconsin State College Louisiana Art...
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Mid-20th Century American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Ink

Charming Watercolor of a Southern Home
Located in New York, NY
Unknown Artist Untitled (Country Home), 20th Century Watercolor and ink on paper 21 x 29 in. Framed: 28 1/4 x 36 1/16 x 3/4 in.
Category

20th Century American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Ink, Watercolor

“Seated Model in Red Bra”
Located in Southampton, NY
Original graphite and colored pencil drawing on archival paper of a woman seated in a red bra by the well known American artist, Raphael Soyer. Signed lower r...
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1950s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Archival Paper, Color Pencil, Graphite

[untitled] Street Scene with Fruit Vendor.
Located in New York, NY
Emilio Sanchez (1921-1999) created [untitled] “STREET SCENE WITH FRUIT VENDOR” in circa 1950. This unsigned watercolor and came to us directly from the Sanchez estate. It is stamped on the verso "Estate of Emilio Sanchez." This piece is in good to very good condition and painted to the paper's edge. The paper size is 14.88 x 15.25 inches (37.6 x 38.6 cm). “Best known for his architectural paintings and lithographs, Emilio Sanchez (1921-1999) explored the effects of light and shadow to emphasize the abstract geometry of his subjects. His artwork encompasses his Cuban heritage...
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1950s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor, Graphite

1950s "Topless" Mid Century Figurative Ink Line Drawing
Located in Arp, TX
Donald Stacy "Topless" 1952 Ink on paper 14" x 16.5" unframed Signed in pencil lower right, dated 1952 in pencil lower left Came from artist estate *Custom framing available for addi...
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Mid-20th Century American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Ink

"Bending Woodman Toy" Ink on Paper, Drawing by Jerry O Day
Located in Pasadena, CA
This minimalist ink drawing by Jerry O’Day presents a stylized articulated figure in mid-motion, its body reduced to a sequence of geometric forms linked by fine, deliberate lines. T...
Category

Late 20th Century American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Ink

The Sketch Class, Figurative Study Line Drawing
Located in Soquel, CA
Expressive line drawing figure study featuring a group of figures in a classroom by David Rosen (Canadian, 1912-2004). Unsigned, but was acquire...
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Late 20th Century American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Pen, Watercolor

Chain Gross Acrobat with Cat Original Drawing from The Acrobats series, Signed
Located in Plainview, NY
Chaim Gross (American, 1904–1991) Acrobat with Cats, ca. 1950s Original drawing from The Acrobats series, Signed and dated lower right This expressive ink and wash drawing by Chaim...
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20th Century American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper

Untitled (Study for The Aerialists)
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Untitled (Study for The Aerialists) Graphite on paper, 1932 Signed lower right in pencil: "John Steuart Curry" Dated: 1932 in pencil Exhibited: Schroeder Romero & Shredder, NYC (label), Master Drawings, Oct. 13, 2011-Nov. 12, 2011 (see photo of label) Arkansas Arts Center (label), 44th Collector Show & Sale, Nov. 30-December 30, 2012, Offered at $22,000. (see photo of label) This drawing is closely related to a painting by Curry entitled The Aerialists, 1932, once in the Erskine Collection, Cedar Rapids, Iowa. It is part of a group of preliminary drawings and three finished paintings executed by Curry around 1932 which were based on The Flying Cadonas. The painting The Flying Cadonas is an icon of American art purchased by the Whitney Museum of Art and now on permanent exhibition. There are other know studies for these works, nos. 199 through 222 and in John Steuart Curry: Rural America, page 32 (Mongerson Wunderlich, Chicago, 1990. Provenance: Mrs. Kathleen Curry (artist’s widow), included in the estate schedule of works Treadway Toomey Auction, Oak Park, Illinois, 2009 Don Joint, New York An important American Regionalist drawing. Like Grant Wood and Thomas Hart Benton, John Steuart Curry was a major American scene painter of the 1930s. His subjects were taken from American history and his most famous mural, The Tragic Prelude...
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1930s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Graphite

Beautiful Pastel Fountain Drawing
Located in New York, NY
Pastel on paper 20 1/2 x 28 1/2 in. Framed: 30 1/2 x 38 1/2 in. Signed lower right: ME...
Category

Mid-20th Century American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Pastel

Reginald Marsh "Brooklyn Bridge" NYC Modernism WPA Mid-Century Watercolor Modern
Located in New York, NY
Reginald Marsh "Brooklyn Bridge" NYC Modernism WPA Mid-Century Watercolor Modern Reginald Marsh (American, 1898-1954) Brooklyn Bridge, 1940, Signed and dated Reginald Marsh May 1940 (lr), Watercolor over traces of pencil on paper , 15 x 22 inches sight. Reginald Marsh was born in Paris, France in 1898, the child of artist parents. He was born over a small cafe on Paris' Left Bank. He was brought to the United States in 1900 and was drawing before he was three. He studied art at Yale University and the Art Students League, during which time he worked primarily as an illustrator for New York newspapers and magazines. After studying in Paris in 1925 and 1926, he turned seriously to painting. In 1929 he was introduced to the egg-tempera medium, which he used extensively the rest of his life. Marsh's gusto for painting the bottom crust of society contrasted curiously with his background. His parents, both well-known artists, were steeped in academic traditions. He attended Lawrenceville Academy and Yale; perhaps this elite background made it possible to paint the earthy people he did with a journalist's objectivity. An admirer of Rubens and Delacroix, he disliked modernist art; indeed, his lifelong preoccupation was with people - enjoying themselves at beaches, at amusement parks, or on crowded city streets. Marsh was a second-generation Ash Can School painter and printmaker, best known as an urban regionalist. He spent his days sketching in small notebooks...
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1940s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

Isadora Duncan
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Isadora Duncan Graphite with grey wash on paper mounted to cardstock Signed and dated in pencil lower right (see photo) Provenance: Charlotte Bergman, f...
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1910s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Graphite

Lovely Country House Pastel, Signed
Located in New York, NY
Untitled, c. 20th Century Pastel on paper Sight: 21 1/2 x 31 in. Framed: 24 1/4 x 34 1/2 x 1 1/4 in. Signed lower left
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Mid-20th Century American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Pastel

Snow-Covered Red Barn Watercolor by Kathleen Fitzgerald
Located in New York, NY
Kathleen Fitzgerald Untitled (Red Barn), c. Later 20th century Watercolor on paper Sight: 11 1/4 x 10 3/4 in. Framed: 16 x 15 x 3/4 in. Signed lower right: Kathy Fitzgerald "I am Ka...
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Late 20th Century American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

Unknown American Modernism School - Drawing of a Kitchen Interior
Located in New York, NY
Unknown American Modernism School Untitled (Kitchen), c. 1930 Pencil on paper Sight size: 10 x 12 in. Framed: 16 3/4 x 20 3/4 in.
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1930s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Pencil

A Fine, Modern 1930s Academic Anatomical Figure Study (Female Legs Feet)
Located in Chicago, IL
A Fine, Modern 1930s Academic Anatomical Figure Study of a Standing Female Model (Legs and Feet) by Notable Chicago Artist, Harold Haydon (Am. 1909-1994). A well executed, early 193...
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1930s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Charcoal

A Finely Drawn 1930s Modern Figure Study of a Female Nude Model (Back)
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...
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1930s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Charcoal

"Families near Seville, Spain" Martha Walter, Modernist Figures in Landscape
Located in New York, NY
Martha Walter Families near Seville, Spain Signed lower left Watercolor on paper 7 x 8 inches Martha Walter was best known as a painter of colorful beach scenes and landscapes. Inf...
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Early 20th Century American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

Large Watercolor Painting John Groth, Men Wrestling, Esquire Magazine WPA Artist
Located in Surfside, FL
John August Groth (American, 1908-1988) "Wrestling Match," Watercolor painting, hand signed upper right and inscribed upper left, "Las Palmas Canary Islands Lucha Canary Wrestling". Framed Size: 21'' x 29'', 53 x 74 cm (sight); 28.5'' x 36.25'', 72 x 92 cm (frame). Depiction of a wrestling match in a city square. John August Groth (1908 - 1988) was an illustrator and art teacher. He gained recognition as a war correspondent-illustrator. He studies at the Art Institute of Chicago and at Art Students League with Todros Geller, Robert Brackman, Arnold Blanch and George Grosz. He was a member: Society of American Etchers; American Newspaper Guild; Society of Illustrators; Associate Member of the National Academy of Design; American Water Color Society. Positions : Art Director at Esquire 1933 - 1937, Parade Publications 1941 - 1944; War Correspondent for Chicago Sun 1944; American Legion Magazine 1945; Artist-Correspondent in Vietnam 1967.Teacher at Art Students LeagueHe was the first art director of Esquire Magazine and taught at the Art Students League, the Pratt Institute, and the Parsons School of Design. In 1940, he was included in an exhibition at MOMA, titled, "PM Competition: The Artist as Reporter." The exhibition included Philip Guston, Reginald Marsh, John Tworkov, John Heliker, Adolf Dehn, and Chet La More. Groth began sketching intently during the Great Depression after studying at the Art Institute of Chicago. Following the advice of an editor, he penned 100 sketches a day for years. He learned to increase his speed by listening to sports on the radio and sketching the action as fast as he could. "I would listen to the games on the radio at night, and sketch the plays. It made me very quick." His break came when Arnold Gingrich, an editor for Esquire magazine, approached him at an art show in Chicago and offered him a position. "The way (Arnold Gingrich) told it," John Groth says, "he found this barefoot, bearded kid in the park, and the next day made him art director of the world's leading men's fashion magazine. But I swear I was wearing shoes." Groth went on to work as a correspondent and illustrator for the Chicago Sun, Collier's, Sports Illustrated, and The Saturday Evening Post. He developed a passion for war zones. He covered six different wars and was one of the first correspondents in Paris after its liberation. "It is only at war that I feel complete... There, you meet all sort of men -- farmers, mechanics, college professors. It rains on them and it rains on you. The shells burst in the air, and you are there, too." He would make a splash when he beat out friend and rival, Ernest Hemingway, into Paris in 1944. Hemingway was writing for the Chicago Tribune and Groth for the Chicago Sun. Groth was in the first jeep into Paris and got the scoop. His headline read, "Yanks are in Paris!" Hemingway would later write about Groth's technique. “None of us understood the sort of shorthand he sketched in. The men would look at the sketches and see just a lot of lines. It was a great pleasure to find what fine drawings they were when we got to see them. Groth went on to illustrate such classic books as: A Christmas Carol, All Quiet on the Western Front, The Grapes of Wrath, The War Prayer, and Gone with the Wind. Deborah Churchman described Groth's work in a 1980 Washington Post article: "Groth's pictures center on the day-to-day life of people caught in terrifying circumstances -- armies occupying cities, soldiers sweeping roads for land mines, bullfighters facing death." Bernie Schonfeld, a photographer for Life Magazine said of Groth, "John is one of the gentlest people in the world, and he always gets himself into the wildest hell hole." He joined the First Congress of American Artists Against War and Fascism in 1936, along with Stuart Davis, Peter Blume...
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Mid-20th Century American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

Destroyer, American Modern Watercolor Painting by Robert Parker 1964
Located in Long Island City, NY
Executed in an American Modern style reminiscent of Lyonel Feininger, this Robert Andrew Parker watercolor painting depicts a warship at sea. The work is signed and dated lower left....
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1960s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor

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

1930s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Charcoal

WPA Mural Study Mid-Century Modern American Scene Social Realism Workers
Located in New York, NY
WPA Mural Study Mid-Century Modern American Scene Social Realism Workers Anton Refregier (1905-1979) Mural Study, Untitled 7 ¾ x 22 inches (sight) Gouache, pencil, and charcoal on board, c. 1940s Unsigned Provenance: Estate of Seymour Fogel, noted verso Thomas McCormick Gallery...
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1940s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Charcoal, Gouache, Board, Pencil

Rare 1950s Original Syndicated Ink Drawing Cartoon Strip Susie Q Smith Comic Art
Located in Surfside, FL
SUSIE Q. SMITH Medium: Newspaper comics Distributed by: King Features Syndicate First Appeared: 1945 Creators: Linda and Jerry Walter 5.5 X 17.75 Like her contemporaries, Aggie Mac...
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1950s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Ink

Magazine Cover Illustration Mid 20th Century Modern Theatre Broadway Realism WPA
Located in New York, NY
Magazine Cover Illustration Mid 20th Century Modern Theatre Broadway Realism WPA Ernest Hamlin Baker (1889 – 1975) “Today Magazine” Cover ...
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1930s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Ink, Watercolor, Gouache

Mid Century Cars Dealerships of the Future - Automotive
Located in Miami, FL
Large-scale, Mid-Century Illustration that imagines the Car Dealerships of the Future, possibly for the New York World's Fair, 1964-1965 fair, with the theme "Peace Through Underst...
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1960s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor, Illustration Board

Mid Century Modernist Judaica Rabbi Scribe Painting Outsider Art
Located in Surfside, FL
This is a 2 sided painting with a torn paper collage on the second side. Born in New York, Paul Shimon (1919 - 2011) was both an accomplished artist and composer. Considered by som...
Category

Late 20th Century American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Mixed Media

Handsome Couple in Sailboat - Collier s Magazine Illustration
Located in Miami, FL
Collier's Magazine Illustration Signed lower left Watercolor on board From the Estate of Charles Martignette. Work is framed in a period wood frame Framed under glass Framed to an...
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1940s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor, Board

Untitled (Wizard Fantasy)
By Morris Louis
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Untitled (Wizard Fantasy) Pen and ink on paperboard, 1948 Signed and dated by the artist lower right Extremely rare "Middle Period" drawing. One of two drawings that were given by the artist to Jeanette Kear, Chevy Chase, MD which were signed and dated by the artist. All others in the exhibition are from sketchbooks and have the estate stamp and numbering. Exhibited at National Collection of Fine Arts, Smithsonian Institution, Dec. 6 1979-Feb. 3, 1980 and Fogg Museum of Art, Harvard University, Feb. 22-April6, 1980 Illustrated twice in the resulting catalog, The Drawings of Morris Louis, by Diane Upright Headly, Harvard Univeristy and author of the catalog essay and entries. (See photos) Condition: Mounted to paper board by owner, Jeanette Kear for framing Glazed with glass Image size: 13 7/8 x 16 5/8 inches Frame size: 20 x 23 x 3/4 inches Provenance: Jeanette F. Kear, Chevy Chase, MD Illustrated: National Collection of Fine Art, 1979: "The Drawings of Morris Louis," Catalog No. 1, illustrated D1, reproduced p. 73 Morris Louis Bernstein (November 28, 1912 – September 7, 1962), known professionally as Morris Louis, was an American painter. During the 1950s he became one of the earliest exponents of Color Field painting. While living in Washington, D.C., Louis, along with Kenneth Noland and other Washington painters, formed an art movement that is known today as the Washington Color Schoo Early life and education From 1929 to 1933, he studied at the Maryland Institute of Fine and Applied Arts (now Maryland Institute College of Art) on a scholarship, but left shortly before completing the program. Louis worked at various odd jobs to support himself while painting, and in 1935 was president of the Baltimore Artists' Association. From 1936 to 1940, he lived in New York City and worked in the easel division of the Works Progress Administration Federal Art Project. During this period, he knew Arshile Gorky, David Alfaro Siqueiros, and Jack Tworkov. He also dropped his last name. Work Color field painting He returned to his native Baltimore in 1940 and taught privately. In 1948, he pioneered the use of Magna paint—a newly developed oil-based acrylic paint made for him by his friends, New York paintmakers Leonard Bocour and Sam Golden. In 1952, Louis moved to Washington, D.C. Living in Washington, D.C., he was somewhat apart from the New York scene and he was working almost in isolation. During the 1950s he and a group of artists that included Kenneth Noland, Gene Davis, Thomas Downing, Howard Mehring, Anne Truitt and Hilda Thorpe...
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1940s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Graphite

A Man s Mother, Saturday Evening Post Original Watercolor Illustration 1940
Located in Long Island City, NY
An original watercolor illustration by Nicholas Riley, American (1900 - 1944) for the Saturday Evening Post 10/19/1940. The painting...
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1940s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor

Glassblowers WPA American Scene Mid- 20th Century Modern Figurative Workers 1932
Located in New York, NY
Glassblowers WPA American Scene Mid- 20th Century Modern Figurative Workers. Dated and signed "32 Harry Gottlieb" lower right. Sight: 13 1/8" H x 18 1/4" W. Harry Gottlieb, painter, screenprinter, educator, and lithographer, was born in Bucharest, Rumania. He emigrated to America in 1907, and his family settled in Minneapolis. From 1915 to 1917, Gottlieb attended the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. After a short stint as an illustrator for the U.S. Navy, Gottlieb moved to New York City; he became a scenic and costume designer for Eugene O"Neill's Provincetown Theater Group. He also studied at the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts and the National Academy of Design. He was one of America's first Social Realist painters, influenced by that Robert Henri-led movement in New York City where Gottlieb settled in 1918. He was also a pioneer in screen printing, which he learned while working for the WPA. He married Eugenie Gershoy, and the couple joined the artist colony at Woodstock, New York. He lectured widely on art education. In 1923, Gottlieb settled in Woodstock, New York and in 1931, spent a a year abroad studying under a Guggenheim Fellowship. In 1935, he joined the Federal Art Project...
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1930s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Gouache

"We ll Take This One" Gymnastic Lovers
Located in Miami, FL
Dink Siegel is first a conceptual artist and then a cartoonist. In the present work, Siegel depicts the interior of a bed store. He captures an exuberant moment that features an att...
Category

1960s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Mixed Media, Gouache, Illustration Board

New Orleans Sportin House
Located in Fairlawn, OH
New Orleans Sportin House Pen and ink on paper, 1951 Signed in ink, titled and dated in pencil (see photos) Condition: Corners are pasted to support sheet, some staining in image. Im...
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1950s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Ink

A Humorous, Mid-Century Modern Cartoon Drawing, Returning Soldier Stray Dog
Located in Chicago, IL
A Quirky, Humorous 1950s Mid-Century Modern Cartoon Illustration Ink Drawing by Notable Chicago Artist, Harold Haydon (Am. 1909-1994). Depicting a young soldier returning home, dise...
Category

Mid-20th Century American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Ink

Note, graphite, pastel, mylar, paper, layered drawing, female figure, nude
Located in Brooklyn, NY
This work features graphite on mylar over cut paper, aligned to amplify the forms while maintaining the delicacy of the drawing. These recently discovered 1984 oversize works on myla...
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1980s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Pastel, Mixed Media, Archival Paper, Mylar

1945 Pastel Drawing Girl with Flower American Modernist
Located in Surfside, FL
Born in Brooklyn, New York, Frank Kleinholz was a painter based in New York City whose work spanned several art movements including Expressionism and Social Realism. His early works ...
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1940s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Oil Pastel

"There are Two of You" Early Modern Original Foley s Ad Layout of Woman Mirror
Located in Houston, TX
Early modern original watercolor and gouache ad layout for Foley's by Houston portraitist Robert C. Joy. The work features a central reflection of a woman doing her makeup while wear...
Category

Early 20th Century American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor, Gouache

Seated Couple
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Inspiration (Seated Couple) Graphite on paper, c. 1967 Signed twice in pencil by the artist on recto (see photos) Condition: Excellent Image size: 13 x 16 inches Note: Although not t...
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1960s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Graphite

Rare 1950s Original Syndicated Ink Drawing Cartoon Strip Susie Q Smith Comic Art
Located in Surfside, FL
SUSIE Q. SMITH Medium: Newspaper comics Distributed by: King Features Syndicate First Appeared: 1945 Creators: Linda and Jerry Walter 6.5 X 18 Like her contemporaries, Aggie Mack, Candy and Patsy Walker (before her conversion to a superhero), Susie Q. Smith was a female Archie-type — not exactly an imitator, because Archie, who had started only four years earlier, hadn't yet become popular enough to spawn imitators, but part of his genre. She attended high school, where her teachers often seemed unreasonable to her, interacted with the opposite gender in a typically adolescent way, and her parents didn't completely understand her. And she was cute and perky as only a teenage girl can be. Susie was the star of a comic strip distributed by King Features, the biggest of the comic strip syndicates, whose other offerings have ranged from Jackys Diary to Prince Valiant...
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1950s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Ink

Wire Haired Girl and Cat
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Wire Haired Girl and Cat Pen and ink with watercolor, c. 1930 Signed with the Estate stamp "B" Provenance: Estate of the Artist By descent to his son Edward ...
Category

1930s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor

Quick Change
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Quick Change Watercolor on paper, 1930-1931 Signed lower right: Honore Guilbeau Illustrated in American Art Review, August 2014, page 84 in an article by Dr. M...
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1930s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor

Hells Angel on his Hog
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Hells Angel on his Hog Pen and ink on paper, 1969 Signed 'Longstreet' lower right (see photo) Titled and dated upper right Condition: excellent Image/Sheet size: 11 x 8 1/2 inches Pr...
Category

1960s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Ink

A Man and his Wine, Illustrative Wax Crayon Drawing by William Gropper
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: William Gropper, American (1897 - 1977) Title: A Man and His Wine Year: Circa 1950 Medium: Crayon Drawing on Paper, signed in pencil l.l. Size: 11 x 9 in. (27.94 x 22.86 cm) ...
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1950s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Wax Crayon

Eve, female, nature, animals elephant giraffe
Located in Brooklyn, NY
These collages were created first in the presence of a model, working quickly, in charcoal and pastel, and again, later, alone, furiously tearing and pasting images from magazines, v...
Category

2010s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Mixed Media, Archival Paper

Mission Impossible Original TV Guide Drawing Illustration Caricature Mid Century
Located in New York, NY
"Mission Impossible" Original TV Guide Drawing Illustration Caricature Mid Century NYC with Greg Morris, Barbara Bain, and Steve Hill. This original drawing...
Category

1960s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Ink, Board

Nude, 1959, Ink and Watercolor, Figure, Mid-Century, American
Located in Wiscasset, ME
Born in Barranquilla, Colombia in 1923, Knox Martin moved with his family to New York City in 1927. He attended The Art Students League of New York from 1946 to 1950 under the GI Bil...
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20th Century American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Ink, Watercolor

Wire Haired Girl and Cat
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Wire Haired Girl and Cat Pen and ink with watercolor, c. 1930 Signed with the Estate stamp "B" Provenance: Estate of the Artist By descent to his son Edward ...
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1930s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor

Whimsical Fishing Illustration Cartoon 1938 Mt Tremblant Ski Lodge William Steig
Located in Surfside, FL
Lighthearted Illustration of Outdoor Pursuits This one of a fisherman signed "W. Steig" Provenance: from Mrs. Joseph B. Ryan, Commissioned by Joe Ryan for the bar at his ski resort, Mount Tremblant Lodge, in 1938. Mont Tremblant, P.Q., Canada Watercolor and ink on illustration board, sights sizes 8 1/2 x 16 1/2 in., framed. In 1938 Joe Ryan, described as a millionaire from Philadelphia, bushwhacked his way to the summit of Mont Tremblant and was inspired to create a world class ski resort at the site. In 1939 he opened the Mont Tremblant Lodge, which remains part of the Pedestrian Village today. This original illustration is on Whatman Illustration board. the board measures 14 X 22 inches. label from McClees Galleries, Philadelphia, on the frame backing paper. William Steig, 1907 – 2003 was an American cartoonist, sculptor, and, in his later life, an illustrator and writer of children's books. Best known for the picture books Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, Abel's Island, and Doctor De Soto, he was also the creator of Shrek!, which inspired the film series of the same name. He was the U.S. nominee for both of the biennial, international Hans Christian Andersen Awards, as a children's book illustrator in 1982 and a writer in 1988. Steig was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1907, and grew up in the Bronx. His parents were Polish-Jewish immigrants from Austria, both socialists. His father, Joseph Steig, was a house painter, and his mother, Laura Ebel Steig, was a seamstress who encouraged his artistic leanings. As a child, he dabbled in painting and was an avid reader of literature. Among other works, he was said to have been especially fascinated by Pinocchio.He graduated from Townsend Harris High School at 15 but never completed college, though he attended three, spending two years at City College of New York, three years at the National Academy of Design and a mere five days at the Yale School of Fine Arts before dropping out of each. Hailed as the "King of Cartoons" Steig began drawing illustrations and cartoons for The New Yorker in 1930, producing more than 2,600 drawings and 117 covers for the magazine. Steig, later, when he was 61, began writing children's books. In 1968, he wrote his first children's book. He excelled here as well, and his third book, Sylvester and the Magic Pebble (1969), won the Caldecott Medal. He went on to write more than 30 children's books, including the Doctor DeSoto series, and he continued to write into his nineties. Among his other well-known works, the picture book Shrek! (1990) formed the basis for the DreamWorks Animation film Shrek (2001). After the release of Shrek 2 in 2004, Steig became the first sole-creator of an animated movie franchise that went on to generate over $1 billion from theatrical and ancillary markets after only one sequel. Along with Maurice Sendak, Saul Steinberg, Ludwig Bemelmans and Laurent de Brunhofff his is one of those rare cartoonist whose works form part of our collective cultural heritage. In 1984, Steig's film adaptation of Doctor DeSoto directed by Michael Sporn was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. As one of the most admired cartoonists of all time, Steig spent seven decades drawing for the New Yorker magazine. He touched generations of readers with his tongue–in–cheek pen–and–ink drawings, which often expressed states of mind like shame, embarrassment or anger. Later in life, Steig turned to children's books, working as both a writer and illustrator. Steig's children's books were also wildly popular because of the crazy, complicated language he used—words like lunatic, palsied, sequestration, and cleave. Kids love the sound of those words even if they do not quite understand the meaning. Steig's descriptions were also clever. He once described a beached whale as "breaded with sand." Throughout the course of his career, Steig compiled his cartoons and drawings into books. Some of them were published first in the New Yorker. Others were deemed too dark to be printed there. Most of these collections centered on the cold, dark psychoanalytical truth about relationships. They featured husbands and wives fighting and parents snapping at their kids. His first adult book, Man About Town, was published in 1932, followed by About People, published in 1939, which focused on social outsiders. Sick of Each Other, published in 2000, included a drawing depicting a wife holding her husband at gunpoint, saying, "Say you adore me." According to the Los Angeles Times, fellow New Yorker artist...
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1930s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

India Ink, Watercolor, Illustration Board

Ink Drawing Man in Suit and Hat with Nude
By Jonathan Shahn
Located in Surfside, FL
Provenance: Hinckley & Brohel Gallery Jonathan Shahn, Born 1938 has been making sculpture, drawings and prints of the human figure since the early 1960s. He teaches at the Art Studen...
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20th Century American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Ink

"In Foreign Parts" Eugene Higgins, Southwestern Pueblo, Modern Figurative
By Eugene Higgins
Located in New York, NY
Eugene Higgins In Foreign Parts, circa 1913 Signed lower right Watercolor on paper Sight 17 x 13 inches Born William Victor Higgins in 1884 to a Shelbyville, Indiana farm family where the only art Victor was aware of as a child was his father's love of flowers. "He loved their forms and their colors, and he tended his garden as a painter might work a canvas." At the age of nine, Victor met a young artist who traveled the Indiana countryside painting advertisements on the sides of barns. He purchased paints and brushes so the young Higgins could practice his own artwork on the inside of his father's barn. He also taught Victor about art museums and especially about the new Chicago Art Institute. This information never left the young artist, and he saved his allowance until his father allowed him at the age of fifteen to attend Chicago Art Institute. He worked a variety of jobs to finance his studies both there and at the Academy of Fine Arts. Victor Higgins traveled to New York in 1908, where he met Robert Henri, who became a significant influence by depicting every-day scenes and stressing the importance of the spirit and sense of place as important factors in painting. Higgins was also greatly affected by the New York Armory Modernism Show of Marsden Hartley in 1913. While Victor Higgins was in Chicago he met former mayor and avid collector Carter H. Harrison who was to prove instrumental in the growth of Higgins career for several years. Harrison agreed to support Higgins for four years to go to Paris and Munich and paint and study in the great museums in Europe. While at the Academie de la Grande Chaumier in Paris (1910-1914) he met Walter Ufer, who was another Chicago artist being sponsored by Carter Harrison. This meeting was not only a life-long friendship, but the beginning of a great change in the way Higgins looked at "American" art. He decided that America needed it's own authentic style rather than the 19th Century classic style he was taught in Europe. Very soon after returning to Chicago in 1914, Harrison sent him and Walter Ufer on a painting trip to Taos, New Mexico for a year in exchange for paintings. Higgins made other similar agreements and was able to support himself with his painting. This trip was a life-changing experience and introduced Higgins to the authentic America he had been looking for. In 1914 Taos was an isolated village about twelve hours from Santa Fe on an impossible dirt road. But the colorful life of the pueblo people and the natural beauty drew a collection of artists who became the Taos art colony, from which the Taos Society of Artists was founded in 1915. Victor Higgins became a permanent resident within a year of his arrival and a member of the society in 1917, exhibiting with Jane Peterson in 1925 and with Wayman Adams and Janet Scudder in 1927. The members would travel around the country introducing the Southwest scenes with great success. He remained a member until the Society's dissolution in 1927. Higgins was the youngest member of the group of seven. Other members were Joseph Henry Sharp, Bert Phillips...
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1910s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

Modernist Watercolor Painting "Passages in Darkness" NYC Businessmen
By Elinore Schnurr-Colflesh
Located in Surfside, FL
Schnurr has an art studio in Long Island City, Queens, New York. Over the years she has exhibited widely. Her most recent solo shows were at the H. Pelham Curtis Gallery at the New Canaan Library in New Canaan, Connecticut and the Dougherty Gallery at Crescent Grill in Long Island City, both in 2014; in 2011 she was one of four artists representing the United States in Nordart 2011 at Kunstwerk Carlshutte, Budelsdorf, Germany. Previous solo exhibitions were at the Atlanta Art...
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1980s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor

"Good Health Week" American Scene Modern Social Realism Double Sided WPA Era
Located in New York, NY
"Good Health Week" American Scene Modern Social Realism Double Sided WPA Era Jo Cain (1904 - 2003) Good Health Week – double sided 13 3/4 x 20 1/2 in...
Category

1930s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Ink, Gouache

Moonlight, oversize drawing of contemplative young woman, monochromatic
Located in Brooklyn, NY
This work was intentionally torn and mended along the curve through the center of the work. It predates the artist's full immersion, years later into torn and re-pasted collages, us...
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2010s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Mixed Media, Watercolor, Archival Paper, Graphite

Couple Having Sex: That s a Wrap, Playboy cartoon Illustration
Located in Miami, FL
Dink Siegel is one of those rare conceptual Artists who are also called cartoonists, capable of clearly and effectively communicating a complex narrative in a single picture. Beside...
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1970s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Mixed Media

"Bathers" American Scene Social Realism 20th Century Modernism Ashcan Fauvism
Located in New York, NY
"Bathers" American Scene Social Realism 20th Century Modernism Ashcan Fauvism Charles Demuth (1883-1935) "Bathers" 10 1/2 x 8 1/4 inches watercolor on paper, c. 1930 Signed lower le...
Category

1930s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

American Modern figurative drawings and watercolors for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic American Modern figurative drawings and watercolors available for sale on 1stDibs. Works in this style were very popular during the 21st Century and Contemporary, but contemporary artists have continued to produce works inspired by this movement. If you’re looking to add figurative drawings and watercolors created in this style to introduce contrast in an otherwise neutral space in your home, the works available on 1stDibs include elements of orange, yellow and other colors. Many Pop art paintings were created by popular artists on 1stDibs, including Donald Stacy, Alfred Bendiner, Irene Pattinson, and Frank Wilcox. Frequently made by artists working with Paint, and Watercolor and other materials, all of these pieces for sale are unique and have attracted attention over the years. Not every interior allows for large American Modern figurative drawings and watercolors, so small editions measuring 0.25 inches across are also available. Prices for figurative drawings and watercolors made by famous or emerging artists can differ depending on medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $85 and tops out at $243,750, while the average work sells for $1,200.

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