Benjamin G. Benno

Interieur No. II

1937

Study for Mid-Manhattan II Oil and graphite on paper, mounted to board, 1932 Signed by the artist in pencil lower right Sight size: 8 1/2 x 7 inches One of a series of studies for th...

#90 Strange Creature Oil and pencil on board, 1932 Signed and dated in the image lower right (see photo) Provenance: Joseph M. Erdelac, Cleveland, OH Condition: excellent Archival framing Image size: 10 1/2 x 11 3/4 inches Frame size: 25 x 24 inches Painter, illustrator and commercial artist Norbert Lenz was born in Norwalk, Ohio and received his artistic training at both the Huntington Polytechnic Institute and the Cleveland School of Art. During his career Lenz exhibited his paintings and drawings at such institutions as the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Cleveland Museum of Art and the Butler Institute of American Art. Today the art of Norbert Lenz is held by the Columbus Museum of Art, the Cleveland Museum of Art and the Butler Institute of American Art. Lenz was also a very highly regarded commercial designer of stamps. He worked for a number of years at the House of Farman, a leading vendor of first day covers...

Arctic Light-Orange Sun Unsigned Gouache on Japanese fibrous paper Series: Tundra Paintings Exhibited: Karl Zerbe, Gouaches of the Artic Nordness Gallery, (Madison Avenue, NY) Feb 3 through Feb 23, 1958 Cat. No. 12 (label with work, see photo...

Persephone Oil on canvas, 1952 Signed lower left (see photo) Titled reverse "Persephone" Signed "V. 52" Exhibited: Columbus Gallery of the Arts label "71/30 Bt. 2", see label Condition: two very small flakes of missing paint Canvas size: 20 1/8 x 16" Frame size: 20 7/8 x 16 3/4" Provenance: Estate of the artist Dehn Heirs An important painting by the artist. Virginia Dehn From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Virginia Dehn (1922-2005) Virginia Dehn (née Engleman) (October 26, 1922 – July 28, 2005) was an American painter and printmaker. Her work was known for its interpretation of natural themes in almost abstract forms. She exhibited in shows and galleries throughout the U.S. Her paintings are included in many public collections. Life Dehn was born in Nevada, Missouri on October 26, 1922.] Raised in Hamden, Connecticut, she studied at Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri before moving to New York City. She met the artist Adolf Dehn while working at the Art Students League. They married in November 1947. The two artists worked side by side for many years, part of a group of artists who influenced the history of 20th century American art. Their Chelsea brownstone was a place where artists, writers, and intellectuals often gathered. Early career Virginia Dehn studied art at Stephens College in Missouri before continuing her art education at the Traphagen School of Design, and, later, the Art Students League, both located in New York City. In the mid-1940s while working at the Associated American Artists gallery, she met lithographer and watercolorist Adolf Dehn. Adolf was older than Virginia, and he already enjoyed a successful career as an artist. The two were married in 1947 in a private ceremony at Virginia's parents house in Wallingford, Connecticut. Virginia and Adolf Dehn The Dehns lived in a Chelsea brownstone on West 21st Street where they worked side by side. They often hosted gatherings of other influential artists and intellectuals of the 20th century. Among their closest friends were sculptor Federico Castellón and his wife Hilda; writer Sidney Alexander and his wife Frances; artists Sally and Milton Avery; Ferol and Bill Smith, also an artist; and Lily and Georges Schreiber, an artist and writer. Bob Steed and his wife Gittel, an anthropologist, were also good friends of the Dehns. According to friend Gretchen Marple Pracht, "Virginia was a glamorous and sophisticated hostess who welcomed visitors to their home and always invited a diverse crowd of guests..." Despite their active social life, the two were disciplined artists, working at their easels nearly daily and taking Saturdays to visit galleries and view new work. The Dehns made annual trips to France to work on lithographs at the Atelier Desjobert in Paris. Virginia used a bamboo pen to draw directly on the stone for her lithographs, which often depicted trees or still lifes. The Dehns' other travels included visits to Key West, Colorado, Mexico, and countries such as Greece, Haiti, Afghanistan, and India. Dehn's style of art differend greatly from that of her husband, though the two sometimes exhibited together. A friend of the couple remarked, "Adolf paints landscapes; Virginia paints inscapes." Virginia Dehn generally painted an interior vision based on her feelings for a subject, rather than a literal rendition of it.] Many of her paintings consist of several layers, with earlier layers showing through. She found inspiration in the Abstract Expressionism movement that dominated the New York and Paris art scenes in the 1950s. Some of her favorite artists included Adolf Gottileb, Rothko, William Baziotes, Pomodoro, and Antonio Tapies. Dehn most often worked with bold, vibrant colors in large formats. Her subjects were not literal, but intuitive. She learned new techniques of lithography from her husband Adolf, and did her own prints. Texture was very important to her in her work. Her art was influenced by a variety of sources. In the late 1960s she came across a book that included photographs of organic patterns of life as revealed under a microscope. These images inspired her to change the direction of some of her paintings. Other influences on Dehn's art came from ancient and traditional arts of various cultures throughout the world, including Persian miniatures, illuminated manuscripts, Dutch still life painting, Asian art, ancient Egyptian artifacts...