1880s Interior Drawings and Watercolors

"Men in Barracks" WPA Mid 20th Century American Scene Realism Gay Modernism WWII. 18 x 24 inches Watercolor on paper. c. 1940s. Signed lower right. BIO ...

Elegant & fabulously rare, original Philippe Jullian (1919-1977) (ink signed LR) watercolour depicting a lavish Moorish opium salon interior with a reclining nude portrait on the wall and two monkeys with their turban clad handler. Sagittarius Gallery, NY label inscribed Jullian No. 18 on verso Art Sz: 8 3/4"H x 11 1/8"W Frame Sz: 16"H x 18"W w/ Hermes orange mat & antique bamboo frame Provenance: The estate of D. D. Ryan (1928-2007), noted fashion editor at Harper's Bazaar, an associate of Halston and a regular on best-dressed lists! Another widely appreciated achievement is her association with the creation of Eloise, the fictional little girl who lives at the Plaza Hotel. Eloise began as a character that Kay Thompson, a cabaret singer, portrayed to amuse her friends, of whom Ms. Ryan was one. Ms. Ryan urged her to write a book, put her together with Hilary Knight, the illustrator, and never stopped pushing her to finish the job. The result was “Eloise,” published in 1955 and a best seller the next year, and its popular sequels. “The book would never have existed without D. D. Never,” Mr. Knight said in an interview Thursday. “She would have just dropped it and gone on to something else.” Beyond her historic Eloise moment, Ms. Ryan thrived at the crossroads of New York’s fashion and artistic worlds, seeming to make a statement every time she dressed, almost always in clothes she made herself, always recognizable with her famous precisely stylized eyebrows. Her first job in Manhattan was as an assistant to the photographer Richard Avedon; she was photo editor at Harper’s Bazaar under the legendary editor Diana Vreeland, and she designed the costumes for Stephen Sondheim’s 1970 Broadway musical “Company.” Her social circle included Cole Porter, Andy Warhol, Mr. Sondheim and Truman Capote. When she recommended a new pair of sandals or a piece of costume jewelry — only “really good costume jewelry...

NYC Subway Riders Mid 20th Century American Scene Social Realism WPA Modern 1930s Daniel Celentano (1902 - 1980) Subway Scene, 1930s 8 x 9 inches Ink and wash on paper Singed lower ...

A classic Emil Ganso nude. Quite large, the sheet is 14 1/8 x 21 inches and the image goes all the way across the sheet from left to right. Very delicately drawn - especially for Ganso.

Signed lower left. Vixseboxse Art Galleries, OH label verso. Exhibited: Thirteenth Annual May Show, Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH, 1931 Kae Dorn Cass was born in 1901 and ...

CLAUDE ALLIN SHEPPERSON, ARA, ARWS (1867-1921) Petrushka – Scene from the Ballets Russes Signed l.l.: Shepperson Watercolour over traces of pencil on paper Framed 30.5 by 45.5 cm., 12 by 18 in. (frame size 52.5 by 66 cm., 20 ¾ by 26 in.) Provenance: Richard C Davis...

"Animated Discourse" WPA Mid-Century American Scene Modernism Realism Figurative. Chris Ritter (American, 1906 – 1976) "Animated Discourse," 19 x 24 (sight). Watercolor on paper. Si...

Born in Szeged, Hungary, he became one of the better known and successful illustrators of the Golden Age of Illustration, completing over 100 books. Among them are "A Treasury of Verse for Little Children," "The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam," and "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner." He is probably best known for pen and ink drawings of mythology subjects geared towards children. He studied at Budapest Technical University and attended art schools in Munich and Paris before moving to London at age 23. In 1907, he began illustrating children's books and did a series of annual gift books...

Edouard Bernard DEBAT-PONSAN (Toulouse 1847 – 1913 Paris) By the Fireside Ink, wash, and gouache on paper 15 3/8 x 15 3/4 in 39 x 40 cm Monogrammed lower right “DP” Provenance Private collection, France This work is a preparatory study related to the artist’s painting Before the Ball...

JOHN GEORGE SOWERBY (1849-1914) Phoebe - The Open Window Watercolour heightened with white Unframed, in mount only 8 by 7 cm., 3 by 2 ¼ in. (mount size 25.5 by 20 cm., 10 by 8 in.) Reproduced: J G Sowerby & Thomas Crane, At Home, Marcus Ward & Co, 1881, p.42. The current work was reproduced in Sowerby and Crane’s 1881 children’s book, At Home, where is accompanied by the following verse: All the morning, all the morning, Sat she till her tasks were done; While without were birds and blossoms, And the pleasant sun. And the leaves in ev’ry rustle, And the birds in ev’ry song:- “Phoebe, Phoebe, are you coming? Phoebe, don’t be long!” Whispered thro’ the open window Gentle breezes, passing by:- “Phoebe, are you coming, Phoebe? Come before we die!” Till the clock, with joyful measure, Struck the hour when work is o’er; Crying “Ponto’” Phoebe vanished Through the open door. Whither sped out nimble Phoebe? She is in the study now; Ponto heard her with she called him, - Answered back “Bow-wow!’ “Ponto, tho’ the birds and garden, Called me all the morning thro’ I had first to do my lessons – So I think should you.” Poor old Ponto! He is longing, Longing for his game of play, And the garden – ah: but Phoebe Has a word to say. “Beg then – beg, sir – do you hear me? No, no, Ponto, that is wrong; Paws up! Steady! Ah, that’s better! Good dog, come along!” John George Sowerby was born into a prosperous Gateshead family of glass manufactures and artists. He inherited the family business, the Ellison Glass Works, one of the world’s largest producers of pressed glass, where he introduced designs inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement. Initially he combined his energies at the glass works with his work as an illustrator and painter of landscapes and floral subjects with a Pre-Raphaelite intensity, strong colours and rich detail. He exhibited many of these paintings at the Royal Academy. In the 1880s he collaborated with Newcastle artist, Henry Hetherington Emmerson, on illustrations for the children’s books Afternoon Tea (1880) and The May Blossom (1881). Although were critically very well received but the publications were attacked by Kate Greenaway who considered them too close to her own work. Sowerby then went on to produce highly aesthetic illustrated books At Home (1881) and At Home Again (1883), with decorations by Thomas Crane. Gleeson White, editor of The Studio magazine stated that in Afternoon Tea Sowerby “set a new fashion for ‘aesthetic’ little quartos’ (The Studio, 1897). Roger Dixon in Belfast Publishing (Oxford University Press, 2011, p.79) considered these At Home and At Home Again to be “among the loveliest books ever produced.” Never very wise as a business man, in the early 1880s he left Ellison Glass Works being declared bankrupt in 1884. He returned to the works again as a paid employee. Sowerby’s daughter, Millicent Sowerby...

Dorothy Varian (1895-1985) was based in New York City and Woodstock, NY. This is a courtroom scene that captures the intensity of the situation. It is s...

JOHN DRONSFIELD (1900-1951) Stage Set Design with Shields Signed l.r.: Dronsfield Watercolour and pencil Unframed, in mount only 38 by 36 cm., 15 by 14 in. (mount size 51 by 49 cm...