Items Similar to Large Watercolor Painting John Groth, Men Wrestling, Esquire Magazine WPA Artist
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 17
John GrothLarge Watercolor Painting John Groth, Men Wrestling, Esquire Magazine WPA Artist
$3,600
£2,726.67
€3,131.48
CA$5,044.78
A$5,484.69
CHF 2,907.99
MX$65,747.53
NOK 36,959.05
SEK 33,859.51
DKK 23,403.86
About the Item
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 and Margaret Bourke-White. In 1945, he published Studio: Europe, a collection of drawings made during World War II with an introduction by Hemingway. This book included front line battle scenes, villages, and Pablo Picasso’s studio. In 1952, Groth published Studio: Asia, a narrative and pictorial document of the Korean War and his travels to Japan, China and Indochina.Starting in 1942, Groth taught a weekly class at the Arts Students League, where he passed on his skills to up and coming artists. "You must think big and start big. I get some students who start with the models' belly button."
Exhibits : F.A.R. Gallery in New York City; Dayton Art Institute; National Academy of Design; Whitney Museum of American Art; Corcoran Gallery of Art; 1939 Worlds Fair in New York.His work is in collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Art Institute of Chicago.
- Creator:John Groth (1908 - 1988, American)
- Dimensions:Height: 21 in (53.34 cm)Width: 29 in (73.66 cm)
- Medium:
- Movement Style:
- Period:
- Condition:needs new glass and mat, frame has some wear commensurate with age.
- Gallery Location:Surfside, FL
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU38211846562
About the Seller
4.9
Platinum Seller
Premium sellers with a 4.7+ rating and 24-hour response times
Established in 1995
1stDibs seller since 2014
1,855 sales on 1stDibs
Typical response time: <1 hour
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Shipping from: Surfside, FL
- Return Policy
More From This Seller
View All1940
s Americana WPA Modernist Watercolor Painting Catskill Mountains Bungalow
By Samuel Grunvald
Located in Surfside, FL
Bungalow (fauvist painting of New York scene) 1940's.
image is 10X 11.5 inches. Hand signed lower right
Watercolor painting on paper board
Country Scene
Samuel Grunvald was a Hunga...
Category
1940s Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Watercolor, Paper, Board
1940
s American WPA Modernist New York City Watercolor Painting Tenement Market
By Samuel Grunvald
Located in Surfside, FL
The Market, (fauvist painting of NYC scene) 1940's.
image is 10X 11.5 inches. Hand signed lower right
Lower East Side Tenements Pushcart Market
Watercolor on paper board.
Samuel G...
Category
1940s Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Watercolor, Board, Paper
1940
s American WPA Modernist New York Watercolor Painting 59th st Central Park
By Samuel Grunvald
Located in Surfside, FL
Horse and Buggy 59th st. Manhattan (fauvist painting of NYC outside central park) 1940's.
image is 6.25 X 7.5 inches. Hand signed lower right
Provenance: Greenwich Gallery (Greenwich...
Category
20th Century Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Watercolor
Abstract Expressionist Rabbi Watercolor Painting Jewish American Modernist WPA
By Ben-Zion Weinman
Located in Surfside, FL
Watercolor painting of standing prophet or Rabbi, Judaica artwork
Born in 1897, Ben-Zion Weinman celebrated his European Jewish heritage in his visual works as a sculptor, painter, ...
Category
Mid-20th Century Expressionist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Paper, Watercolor
French Modernist Watercolor Painting Maurice Brianchon Paris Theater Backstage
By Maurice Brianchon
Located in Surfside, FL
Maurice Brianchon (French 1899-1979)
Interior scene (backstage at the theater)
Watercolor and gouache on paper
Signed lower right “Brianchon”
Frame measures 16 X 17.5. Sight Size 8.5...
Category
Mid-20th Century Post-Impressionist Still-life Paintings
Materials
Watercolor, Gouache
1930
s Tremont Temple, Judaica Watercolor, Bronx New York City
By Ben Ganz
Located in Surfside, FL
Signed Judaic synagogue watercolor by Jewish American artist Ben Ganz. He depicts the front gates of the Tremont Temple, Bronx New York from 1939. The artist uses local colors and g...
Category
20th Century Modern Landscape Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Watercolor
You May Also Like
20th Century Impressionist Painting by Emil John Hess Circa 1940
Located in Hoddesdon, GB
Emil John HESS 1913-2003
This vibrant watercolor on canvas by acclaimed American artist Emil John Hess immerses viewers in the lively atmosphere of a bustling circus scene. Painted...
Category
1940s Impressionist Abstract Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Watercolor
May Broadhurst Poynton (act.1930-1950) - Watercolour, A Haitian Mambo
Located in Corsham, GB
This vibrant artwork captures the frenetic energy of a bustling dance hall, with a scene of musicians and dancers rendered in loose, expressive brushstrokes. The composition draws th...
Category
Mid-20th Century Abstract Expressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Watercolor
A Fine 1930
s, Depiction of a Boxing Match by Chicago Artist, Francis Chapin
By Francis Chapin
Located in Chicago, IL
A Fine 1930's, Depiction of a Boxing Match by Notable Chicago Modern Artist, Francis Chapin. This dynamic drawing captures overlapping human forms rendered in expressive, gestural li...
Category
1930s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Paper, Charcoal, Pastel
British expressive, mid century gouache
A dance at the fair
by Basil Town
Located in Petworth, West Sussex
Norman Basil Town (British, 1915 – 1987)
A dance at the fair
Gouache on paper
7.7/8 x 13 in. (20 x 33 cm.)
Norman Basil Town (1905–1984) was a British artist known for his evocativ...
Category
20th Century Expressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Paper, Gouache
Vintage American Erotic Group Sex Mid-Century Watercolor Original Painting
By Joseph Wolins
Located in Buffalo, NY
A rare erotic watercolor and ink painting from noted WPA artist Joseph Wolins (1915-1999). Beautifully framed in an antique gilt wood frame. Measuring: 17 by 24 inches overall and 8 ...
Category
20th Century Modern Nude Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Paper, Watercolor, Ink
Vintage Latin American School Original Watercolor C.1960
Located in San Francisco, CA
Vintage Latin American School Original Watercolor C.1960
A fine watercolor signed in the lower right corner (illegible)
Watercolor dimensions 1...
Category
Mid-20th Century Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Watercolor
