American Modern Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Original Painting Published Fortune Mag Cover 1935 Jewels Jewelry Illustration Antonio Petruccelli (1907 – 1994) Fortune cover published, Decembe...

Original Painting New Yorker Cover Proposal American Scene Modern Santa's Feet Antonio Petruccelli (1907 - 1994) Santas Feet At Midnight New Yorker c...

Dramatic imagery from FILM NOIR series of black and white monotypes, blending surrealistic mindscapes with stark realism About Tom Bennett: With quick brushstrokes, Tom Bennett crea...

Dramatic imagery from FILM NOIR series of black and white monotypes, blending surrealistic mindscapes with stark realism About Tom Bennett: With quick brushstrokes, Tom Bennett crea...

Oil on paper. Signed and dated 'Walinska 57' (lower left). image size 20 x 13 1/2 in. framed size 28 1/3 x 22 1/2 inches Provenance Martha Jackson Gallery Anderson Gallery, Buffalo...

A Finely Drawn 1930s Modern Figure Study of a Standing Male Nude Model by Notable Chicago Artist, Harold Haydon (Am. 1909-1994). An early charcoal drawing by Haydon showing his exc...

Nestor Hippoyle Fruge (American, 1914/16 - 2011/12) Signed: N Fruge 51 (Lower, Left) " Pirate's Alley, French Quarter ," 1951 (New Orleans) Watercolo...

A Finely Drawn 1930s Modern Figure Study of a Standing Male Nude Model (Torso) by Notable Chicago Artist, Harold Haydon (Am. 1909-1994). An early charcoal drawing by Haydon showing...

A Finely Drawn 1930s Modern Figure Study of a Standing Male Nude Model (Torso) by Notable Chicago Artist, Harold Haydon (Am. 1909-1994). An early charcoal drawing by Haydon showing...

A Finely Drawn, 1930s Modern Figure Study of a Standing Female Nude Model (Back) by Notable Chicago Artist, Harold Haydon (Am. 1909-1994). An early charcoal drawing by Haydon showi...

August Frederick Biehle (American, 1885-1979) Abstract Floral Still Life Watercolor and pencil on paper Signed lower right 24 x 19 inches 29.5 x 24.5 inches, framed A versatile pain...

Cartoon art is the original Conceptual Art. Renowned British Illustrator Smilby (Francis Wilford Smith) conceptualizes a Playboy cartoon so good that no caption is needed. The exist...

"Seated Cat" is an original charcoal drawing by Sylvia Spicuzza. The artist stamped her signature lower right and wrote the title in charcoal lower left. This piece is a study of a b...

Original Painting. Fortune Mag Cover Published 1938. American Scene Modern WPA Antonio Petruccelli (1907 - 1994) Fortune cover published, January ...

Andy Warhol is arguably the most important American artist of the 20th century. In the 1950s, he was an in-demand and celebrated illustrator working for New York's toniest publicatio...

A stylish, vintage, 1940s fashion study featuring a standing female model dressed in sunglasses wearing an elegant design for women's beach wear. Artwork size: 11 x 8 1/2 inches. ...

A stylish, vintage, 1940s fashion study featuring colorful designs for women's red Robin Hood hat, suit and coat. Artwork size: 11 x 8 1/4 inches. Archivally matted to 16 x 12 in...

A stylish, vintage, 1940s fashion study featuring an elegant design for women's evening wear. Artwork size: 11 x 8 1/2 inches. Archivally matted to 16 x 12 inches. Provenance: Co...

"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...

A stylish, vintage, 1940s fashion study featuring an elegant design for a woman's hat and lace muff, Lily Daché. Artwork size: 11 x 8 1/4 inches. Archivally matted to 16 x 12 in...

Joseph Stella was a visionary artist who painted what he saw, an idiosyncratic and individual experience of his time and place. Stella arrived in New York in 1896, part of a wave of Italian immigrants from poverty-stricken Southern Italy. But Stella was not a child of poverty. His father was a notary and respected citizen in Muro Locano, a small town in the southern Appenines. The five Stella brothers were all properly educated in Naples. Stella’s older brother, Antonio, was the first of the family to come to America. Antonio Stella trained as a physician in Italy, and was a successful and respected doctor in the Italian community centered in Greenwich Village. He sponsored and supported his younger brother, Joseph, first sending him to medical school in New York, then to study pharmacology, and then sustaining him through the early days of his artistic career. Antonio Stella specialized in the treatment of tuberculosis and was active in social reform circles. His connections were instrumental in Joseph Stella’s early commissions for illustrations in reform journals. Joseph Stella, from the beginning, was an outsider. He was of the Italian-American community, but did not share its overwhelming poverty and general lack of education. He went back to Italy on several occasions, but was no longer an Italian. His art incorporated many influences. At various times his work echoed the concerns and techniques of the so-called Ashcan School, of New York Dada, of Futurism and, of Cubism, among others. These are all legitimate influences, but Stella never totally committed himself to any group. He was a convivial, but ultimately solitary figure, with a lifelong mistrust of any authority external to his own personal mandate. He was in Europe during the time that Alfred Stieglitz established his 291 Gallery. When Stella returned he joined the international coterie of artists who gathered at the West Side apartment of the art patron Conrad Arensberg. It was here that Stella became close friends with Marcel Duchamp. Stella was nineteen when he arrived in America and studied in the early years of the century at the Art Students League, and with William Merritt Chase, under whose tutelage he received rigorous training as a draftsman. His love of line, and his mastery of its techniques, is apparent early in his career in the illustrations he made for various social reform journals. Stella, whose later work as a colorist is breathtakingly lush, never felt obliged to choose between line and color. He drew throughout his career, and unlike other modernists, whose work evolved inexorably to more and more abstract form, Stella freely reverted to earlier realist modes of representation whenever it suited him. This was because, in fact, his “realist” work was not “true to nature,” but true to Stella’s own unique interpretation. Stella began to draw flowers, vegetables, butterflies, and birds in 1919, after he had finished the Brooklyn Bridge series of paintings, which are probably his best-known works. These drawings of flora and fauna were initially coincidental with his fantastical, nostalgic and spiritual vision of his native Italy which he called Tree of My Life (Mr. and Mrs. Barney A. Ebsworth Foundation and Windsor, Inc., St. Louis, illus. in Barbara Haskell, Joseph Stella, exh. cat. [New York: Whitney Museum of American Art, 1994], p. 111 no. 133). Two Wood Ducks...

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...

Andy Warhol (1928-1987) is arguably the most important American artist of the 20th century. He not only defined Pop Art but had an unrivaled influence on artists and image-making. ...

Frank Nelson Wilcox (American, 1887–1964) Riders Near Camel Rock Monument, Santa Fe, New Mexico, c. 1937 Watercolor on paper Monogram lower right, titled verso 14.5 x 20 inches 18....

Old Tree and September Wind Clouds, 1961, by Charles Burchfield (1893-1967) Conte crayon on paper 13 ½ x 19 ½ inches unframed (34.29 x 49.53 cm) 19 ¾ x 25 ½ inches framed (50.165 x 6...

Perfect for any hockey enthusiast! A dynamic 1950s pastel and charcoal on paper drawing of a hockey game by artist Francis Chapin. Artwork size: 9 x 12 inches; Matted size: 14 x 18 inches. Estate stamped on reverse. Provenance: Estate of the Artist. Francis Chapin, affectionately called the “Dean of Chicago Painters” by his colleagues, was one of the city’s most popular and celebrated painters in his day. Born at the dawn of the 20th Century in Bristolville, Ohio, Chapin graduated from Washington and Jefferson College near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania before enrolling at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1922. He would set down deep roots at the Art Institute of Chicago, exhibiting there over 31 times between 1926 and 1951. In 1927 Chapin won the prestigious Bryan Lathrop Fellowship from the Art Institute – a prize that funded the artist’s yearlong study trip to Europe. Upon his return to the United States, Chapin decided to remain in Chicago, noting the freedom Chicago artists have in developing independently of the pressure to conform to pre-existing molds (as was experienced by artists in New York, for example). Chapin became a popular instructor at the Art Institute, teaching there from 1929 to 1947 and at the Art Institute’s summer art school in Saugatuck, Michigan (now called Oxbow) between 1934 – 1938 (he was the director of the school from 1941-1945). Chapin’s contemporaries among Chicago’s artists included such luminaries as Ivan Le Lorraine Albright...

Winold Reiss (1886-1953), who scholars increasingly recognize as a pivotal figure in early 20th-century American art, is known for his evocative portraits that capture the spirit and...

Louise Nevelson Female Nude, circa 1935 Pencil on paper 9 15/16 x 13 7/16 inches Provenance The artist Estate of the artist Bobbie Greenfield Gallery, Santa Monica, California Priva...

Frank Nelson Wilcox (American, 1887–1964) Rainbow on Santa Fe Trail, New Mexico, c. 1937 Watercolor on paper Signed lower right, titled verso 15 x 20 inches 18.5 x 24 inches framed ...

Ranulph Bye (American, 1916-2003) Rocks and Trees (Doylestown, PA), 1958 Watercolor on paper 14 x 21 in. Framed: 23 1/8 x 30 1/4 in. Signed bottom: Ranulph...

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 –...

British-American painter and Female Illustrator artfully renders six different animals closely grouped on one page. They are seen as individuals, but silhouetted, not relating to one...

Andy Warhol (1928-1987) is arguably the most important American artist of the 20th century. He not only defined Pop Art but had an unrivaled influence on artists and image-making. In recent years there has been new scholarship and increasing commercial interest in Andy Warhol's early works, material created prior to Pop Art. During the 1950's Warhol established himself in New York City as a trendy illustrator contributing to a wide number of fashion publications and retailers. His simple line drawings were modern and gentle, with a subtle but unmistakably gay touch. In a short period of time, he created an aesthetic that was both versatile and distinctively his. Like the consummate artist that he was, Warhol was frequently drawing. The images he created during this era, independent from his fashion commissions, were romantic, hopeful, and unabashedly gay. It is worth emphasizing that Warhol was almost exclusively dedicated to drawing during this period, only creating a handful of paintings - which were intended to be used for window displays. Taschen, the legendary art book publisher, recently released the book Andy Warhol: Love, Sex, and Desire 1950-1962 which celebrates his drawings of the male form from the pre-Pop era. This portrait is a paradigm of Warhol's mastery of line and visionary framing. A man's profile commands the composition as he gazes forward with his hand raised towards his mouth, holding a delicate flower. With the lightest touch, Warhol masterly portrays this male ideal with the details of his chiseled jawline, softened gaze, and timeless elegance. Warhol drawings from the 1950s are marked by a gentle whimsy that embodies Warhol's vivid imagination. With fanciful details such as exaggerated lips and eyebrows, "Young Man with Flower...

Silverpoint and crayon on paper 4 11/16 x 3 inches 11.9 x 7.6 cm Framed dimensions 8 1/8 x 9 7/8 inches Provenance The artist; By bequest to his nephew, Sergio Stella, 1946; By desc...

1970s Threesome Swingers Cocktail Party by Dink Siegel. If anyone has ever put pen to paper and tried to draw a face or a figure with any level of success, then you know how hard it...

In ‘Untitled’ 1932, Walkowitz crafts a memorable image. Tessellating lines are centred on the page and form geometric shapes. Faint pencil marking reveal the artists forward planning...

Richard Anuszkiewicz Old Door, 1953 Watercolor on paper Signed and dated by the artist on the lower right front 20 × 14 inches Unframed This unique and extre...

Original watercolor on archival paper of a Rocky Mountain Meadow by the well known American artist, Werner Drewes. Signed lower right. Titled and dated 1956 on verso of sheet. Con...

A dynamic, unique Mid-Century Modern monoprint of a sailing regatta in Martha's Vineyard, "Edgartown Harbor", by notable Chicago Modern artist Francis Chapin. Lithograph on paper wi...

Abraham Walkowitz, Untitled (Figurative Abstraction of Isadora Duncan #7), pencil, 1918. Signed and dated in pencil, bottom center. A fine, spon...

A Quirky, Humorous 1950s Mid-Century Modern Cartoon Illustration Ink Drawing by Notable Chicago Artist, Harold Haydon (Am. 1909-1994). Depicting a young man diligently working at a ...

Carl Ashby, Pensive Lady, 1942, ink and watercolor, retains fresh, clear color. A native of New Mexico, Carl Ashby (1914-2004) moved to New York City in 1938 following a stint with ...

August Frederick Biehle (American, 1885–1979) Hibiscus, 1935 Gouache, graphite and colored pencil on paper Signed and dated center 16.5 x 11.5 inches 21 x 15.75 inches, framed A ver...

Winold Reiss (1886-1953), who scholars increasingly recognize as a pivotal figure in early 20th-century American art, is known for his evocative portraits that capture the spirit and...

A stylish, vintage, 1940s fashion study featuring an elegant design for a women’s hat & coat for Saks Fifth Avenue. Inscription reads: "Wolf great coat from Sak's Fifth Avenue". Ar...

Flapper Fanny - Female Cartoonist of the Golden Age Sylvia Sneidman was originally a fashion illustrator, but assumed the helm of the famous jazz-age panel cartoon "Flapper Fanny Sa...

Title: French Gouache Painting of Sioux Scalp Dance Ritual in South Dakota by Emile GALLOIS (1882-1965, French) Signed: Yes Medium: Original gouache painting on thick unframed paper,...

Jay Alan Babcock is a St. Louis-based graphic designer and painter. His work exhibits his interest in the visual language of Americana, including old ...

Bertha Corbett Melcher's The Sunbonnet Babies, with their flat, minimalist, semi-abstract, and symbolic style, are an early example of American Modernism/Surrealism by a lesser-known female artist/illustrator. The present work demonstrates a delicate balance between abstraction and representation and between the commonplace and the mysterious. Her signature use of a hat or sunbonnet to hide the identity of her subjects is a big conceptual and visual idea that has been overlooked in the fine art canon. The exact meaning of this is unknown, but 120 years after they were done, it resonates as somewhat surrealistic. Her work is a contradiction. She shows innocent children engaging in everyday activity but are depicted in vail of mystery. Why does she not show the faces of her subjects? Watercolor on paper (each) Six drawings in all on one board. 6-1/8 x 5 inches (15.6 x 12.7 cm) (each) One signed; two initialed; three not signed. Six drawing in all on one board. 6-1/8 x 5 inches (15.6 x 12.7 cm) (each) One signed; two initialed; three not signed The Sunbonnet Babies characters were created by illustration Bertha L. Corbett when she was challenged to create a faceless character who nonetheless was engaging and appealing. The characters were a wild hit and appeared in books, comics, and popular collectibles. They also became a popular motif in quilting. Few of Corbett's original drawings for the babies are known to survive, making this a rare offering. From: Wikipedia Sunbonnet Babies are characters created by commercial artist Bertha Corbett Melcher (1872–1950). Sunbonnet Babies featured two girls in pastel colored dresses with their faces covered by sunbonnets. Sunbonnet Babies appeared in books, illustrations and advertisements between the years of 1900 and 1930. Sunbonnet Babies were later used as a popular quilting pattern also known as Sunbonnet Sue.[1] Melcher created a male version of the Sunbonnet Babies, named the 'Overall Boys' in 1905.[2][3] History Bertha L. Corbett Melcher Sunbonnet Babies were created by Bertha Corbett Melcher (1872–1950).[4] Melcher was born in Denver and moved with her family to Minneapolis in the 1880s. Melcher attended art school in Minneapolis with plans to become a commercial artist.[5] She may have also studied with Howard Pyle.[6] By the 1920s, Melcher had moved to Topanga, California.[7][4] Melcher started drawing the Sunbonnet Babies in 1897. The origin of the signature style of the faces being covered by sunbonnets is contested by different members of Melcher's family and by Melcher herself. In an interview, Melcher's brother said their mother suggested Bertha avoid the difficulty of drawing faces by covering them with sunbonnets.[4] Melcher herself said that covering faces allowed her to communicate with body position.[4] Melcher has also said that the design came about in "answer to a friend’s challenge to convey emotion without a face."[2] Melcher published her first book, The Sun-Bonnet Babies in 1900.[3] Later, she shopped her illustrations to publisher Rand McNally of Chicago, and nine subsequent books were written by Eulalie Osgood Grover and illustrated by Bertha Corbett. In 1905, Melcher wrote The Overall Boys.[3] Many of these books were used as primers and used widely in primary schools in the midwest. Melcher used the sunbonnet babies in advertising and later established the Sunbonnet Babies Company. She started a studio to illustrate and create merchandise of the Sunbonnet Babies.[2] The characters also appeared in a comic strip.[2] Quilting Melcher herself did not originate the use of the sunbonnet babies as quilting pattern. The Sunbonnet Babies quilting pattern appeared in textile art 1910's in the Ladies Home Journal 1911–1912 in a quilt stitched by Marie Webster. The pattern was popular during the Great Depression. In the American South, it was often known as "Dutch Doll" until the 1970s.[3] There was also a quilt pattern based on the "Overall Boys," known by the various names including “Overall Bill, “Overall Andy,” “Sunbonnet Sam,” “Suspender Sam,” “Fisherman Jim."[3] Many patterns for quilts and sewing were designed by Ruby Short McKim and published in nationally syndicated newspapers.[8] Sunbonnet Sue became symbolic of 'female innocence and docility'.[9] Linda Pershing collected accounts from women quilters who depicted 'Sues' doing activities such as smoking, wearing more revealing clothing, and subverting feminine stereotypes.[10] In 1979, the “Seamsters Union Local #500," a group of quilters from Lawrence, Kansas, created “The Sun Sets on Sunbonnet Sue," a quilt depicting the character murdered in a variety of ways.[3] Collectibles Sunbonnet Babies merchandise includes school books, valentines cards, postcards, china, and quilts.[2][5][11] Sunbonnet Babies were adapted into three dimensional porcelain collectibles and pottery made by Royal Bayreuth Company in the early 1900s. The Royal Bayreuth China...

Antique American modernist pastel drawing by noted New Jersey/Philadelphia New Deal Muralist Charles William Ward. Pastel on paper. Gorgeously framed in an antique frame.. Signed low...

A fine ca. 1938 graphite on paper, study of classical drapery by notable New York Modernist artist, Jan Matulka. The image is drawn on the back of a typewritten, folded sheet of bus...

Jim’s of Lambertville Fine Art Gallery is proud to offer this piece by Milton Avery (1885 – 1965). Milton Avery was a prominent Modernist painter whose work combined abstraction and...

Paul Simon's Live Concert Setup - Technical Drawing in Pen on Heavy Cardstock Detailed, accurate drawing of musical equipment for a live concert. The instruments and equipment are r...

Charles Burchfield (1893-1967) Untitled (Preparatory Drawing for Skyscape), Early 20th Century Pencil on paper 12 1/4 x 18 3/4 in. Inscribed: blue / white / blue / RV Born in Ashtab...

Title: Vibrant French Gouache Painting of Navajo Jewelry Makers in Albuquerque by Emile GALLOIS (1882-1965, French) Signed: Yes Medium: Original gouache painting on thick unframed p...

James Brown (American, 1951-2020) "Study on the Nuba" (African men drawings) 1981 Graphite on brown paper, two works framed together Bears gallery labels verso Dimensions: approx. 16"h x 12"w (each sheet), 24.5"h x 35.25"w (frame) Provenance: Galerie Bernd Klüser, Bears label verso They represented internationally renowned artists such as Joseph Beuys, Tony Cragg, Enzo Cucchi, Jannis Kounellis, Mimmo Paladino and Andy Warhol. Their first exhibitions were with Andy Warhol, Tony Cragg, Julião Sarmento...

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...

Frank Nelson Wilcox (American, 1887–1964) Rio Puerco, New Mexico, c. 1940-1 Watercolor on paper Monogram lower right 15 x 20 inches 18.5 x 24 inches framed Frank Nelson Wilcox (O...

Frank Nelson Wilcox (American, 1887–1964) Sun Drenched Pueblo, c. 1950 Watercolor on paper Monogram lower right 15 x 20 inches 18.5 x 24 inches framed "All these things are, of co...

Perfect for your cycling enthusiast! A 1930s charcoal on paper drawing of a bicycle race by artist Francis Chapin. Image size: 11" x 14". Archivally matted to 16" x 20". Provenance: Estate of the artist. Francis Chapin, affectionately called the “Dean of Chicago Painters” by his colleagues, was one of the city’s most popular and celebrated painters in his day. Born at the dawn of the 20th Century in Bristolville, Ohio, Chapin graduated from Washington & Jefferson College near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania before enrolling at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1922. He would set down deep roots at the Art Institute of Chicago, exhibiting there over 31 times between 1926 and 1951. In 1927 Chapin won the prestigious Bryan Lathrop Fellowship from the Art Institute – a prize that funded the artist’s yearlong study trip to Europe. Upon his return to the United States, Chapin decided to remain in Chicago, noting the freedom Chicago artists have in developing independently of the pressure to conform to pre-existing molds (as was experienced by artists in New York, for example). Chapin became a popular instructor at the Art Institute, teaching there from 1929 to 1947 and at the Art Institute’s summer art school in Saugatuck, Michigan (now called Oxbow) between 1934 – 1938 (he was the director of the school from 1941-1945). Chapin’s contemporaries among Chicago’s artists included such luminaries as Ivan Le Lorraine Albright...