1940s Abstract Prints

This exquisite lithograph and pochoir after Pablo Picasso (1881–1973), titled Mother and Child, from the folio Picasso, Fifteen Drawings, 1946, originates from the 1946 edition publi...

Edward Landon 'River View, color serigraph, 1942, edition 50, Ryan 159. Signed in pencil in the image, lower right. Titled, dated, and annotated '9 COLORS – 50 PRINTS' in the screen,...

This exquisite lithograph by Henri Matisse (1869–1954), titled Coeur d’amour epris (Heart of Love Taken), from Verve, Revue Artistique et Litteraire, Vol. VI, No. 23, originates from...

Lithograph on wove paper. Unsigned and unnumbered, as issued. Good Condition; never framed or matted. Notes: Executed in 1949 and issued as the frontispiece of the Picasso Lithograph...

This exquisite lithograph after Henri Matisse (1869–1954), titled Serie D, var. 3 (Series D, Variation 3), from the album Henri Matisse, Dessins, Themes et Variations (Drawings, Them...

This exquisite lithograph by Henri Matisse (1869–1954), titled Le Soleil (The Sun), from Verve, Revue Artistique et Litteraire, Vol. VI, No. 21–22, originates from the 1948 issue pub...

"The Barefoot Lumberjack" Etching from "Les Ames Mortes" by Marc Chagall Playful etching of a lumberjack by Marc Chagall (Russian, 1887-1985). A stout lumberjack is shown holing his...

Composition au verre a pied (Composition with stemmed glass) Lithograph (Ink drawing, pen and brush transferred to lithograph stone) , 1947 Unsigned Editi...

Robert Vale Faro, 'Sylvan Maze', color lithograph, 1946, edition 20. Signed, dated, titled and numbered '112' and '11/20' in pencil. A fine, richly-inked impression with fresh colors, on heavy, off-white wove paper; full margins (1 to 1 1/2 inch), in excellent condition. Image size 13 11/16 x 9 11/16 inches; sheet size 16 1/8 x 12 5/16 inches. Scarce. Matted to museum standards, unframed. ABOUT THE ARTIST Robert Vale Faro (1902-1988) was a modernist architect and artist associated with the Chicago Bauhaus. He received his degree in architecture and design from the Armour Institute in Chicago and worked at L'Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris, from 1924-27, where he was influenced by Harry Kurt Bieg and Le Corbusier. Upon his return to Chicago, Faro worked with the important modernist Chicago architects George and William Keck under Louis Sullivan. Faro founded the avant-garde printmaking group Vanguard in 1945. The group counted Atelier 17 artists Stanley William Hayter, Sue Fuller...

This exquisite lithograph after Henri Matisse (1869–1954), titled Serie E, var. 1 (Series E, Variation 1), from the album Henri Matisse, Dessins, Themes et Variations (Drawings, Them...

This exquisite lithograph by Henri Matisse (1869–1954), titled La Chute d’Icare (The Fall of Icarus), from Verve, Revue Artistique et Litteraire, Vol. IV, No. 13, originates from the...

This exquisite lithograph by Henri Matisse (1869–1954), titled Frontispice, Vence 1944–1948 (Frontispiece, Vence 1944–1948), from Verve, Revue Artistique et Litteraire, Vol. VI, No. ...

Colour screen printing Limited edition of 200 copies, numbered as 78/200 in lower left corner. Signed in pencil by artist in lower right corner. Paper size: 69,7 x 49 cm Very good c...

Lithograph on papier vélin teinté, fait a la main paper. Inscription: Unsigned and unnumbered, as issued. Good condition. Notes: From the folio, Les Illuminations, 1949. Published by...

Charles Quest, 'Still Life', 1947, wood engraving, edition 8. Signed, dated, and numbered '3/8' in pencil. Titled and annotated 'wood engraving' in the bottom left margin. A fine impression, on off-white wove paper, with full margins (1 to 2 inches), in excellent condition. Scarce. Matted to museum standards, unframed. ABOUT THE ARTIST Charles Quest, painter, printmaker, and fine art instructor, worked in various mediums, including mosaic, stained glass, mural painting, and sculpture. Quest grew up in St. Louis, his talent evident as a teenager when he began copying the works of masters such as Michelangelo on his bedroom walls. He studied at the Washington University School of Fine Arts, where he later taught from 1944 to 1971. He traveled to Europe after his graduation in 1929 and studied at La Grande Chaumière and Academie Colarossi, Paris, continuing to draw inspiration from the works of the Old Masters. After returning to St. Louis, Quest received several commissions to paint murals in public buildings, schools, and churches, including one from Joseph Cardinal Ritter, to paint a replica of Velasquez's Crucifixion over the main altar of the Old Cathedral in St. Louis. Quest soon became interested in the woodcut medium, which he learned through his study of J. J. Lankes' A Woodcut Manual (1932) and Paul Landacre's articles in American Artist magazine ‘since no artists in St. Louis were working in wood’ at that time. Quest also revealed that for him, wood cutting and engraving were ‘more enjoyable than any other means of expression.’ In the late 1940s, his graphic works began attracting critical attention—several of his woodcuts won prizes and were acquired by major American and European museums. His wood engraving entitled ‘Lovers’ was included in the American Federation of Art's traveling print exhibition in 1947. Two years later, Quest's two prize-winning prints, ‘Still Life with Grindstone’ and ‘Break Forth into Singing’, were exhibited in major American museums in a traveling show organized by the Philadelphia Print Club. His work was included in the Chicago Art Institute's exhibition, ‘Woodcut Through Six Centuries’, and the print ‘Still Life with Vise’ was purchased by the Museum of Modern Art in New York. In 1951 he was invited by artist-Curator Jacob Kainen to exhibit thirty wood engravings and color woodcuts in a one-person show at the Smithsonian's National Museum (now known as the American History Museum). Kainen's press release praised the ‘technical refinement’ of Quest's work: ‘He obtains a great variety of textural effects through the use of the graver, and these dense or transparent grays are set off against whites or blacks to achieve sparkling results. His work has the handsome qualities characteristic of the craftsman and designer.’ At the time of the Smithsonian exhibition, Quest's work was represented by three New York galleries in addition to one in his home town. He had won 38 prizes, and his prints were in the collections of the Library of Congress, the Chicago Art Institute, the Metropolitan Museum, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. In cooperation with the Art in Embassies program, his color woodcuts were displayed at the American Embassy in Paris in 1951. Recognition at home came in 1955 with his first solo exhibition in St. Louis. Press coverage of the show heralded the ‘growth of graphic arts toward rivaling painting and sculpture as a major independent medium’. An exhibition of his prints at the Bethesda Art Gallery in 1983 attracted Curator Emeritus Joseph A. Haller, S.J., who began purchasing his work for Georgetown University's collection. In 1990 Georgetown University Library's Special Collections Division was the recipient of a large body of Quest's work, including prints, drawings, paintings, sculpture, stained glass, and his archive of correspondence and professional memorabilia. These extensive holdings, including some 260 of his fine prints, provide a rich opportunity for further study and appreciation of this versatile and not-to-be-forgotten mid-Western American artist...

James Houston McConnell, 'Sister Kate', color serigraph, 1947, edition 24. Signed, dated, titled, and numbered '24' in pencil. Annotated '10.00 - 19 colors - 24 copies - #24' in pencil. A fine impression, with vibrant, fresh colors, on heavy tan wove paper, with full margins (11/16 to 1 1/2 inches). Tack holes in the four margin corners, well away from the image, otherwise in excellent condition. Matted to museum standards, unframed. Scarce. Another of McConnell's mid-century modernist, jazz-inspired serigraphs, 'Combo', is featured in the British Museum's 2008 publication (and traveling exhibition) 'The American Scene: Prints from Hopper to Pollock'. ABOUT THE IMAGE "I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate", often simply "Sister Kate", is an up-tempo jazz dance song, written by Armand J. Piron and published in 1922. The lyrics of the song are narrated in the first person by Kate's sister, who sings about Kate's impressive dancing skill and her wish to be able to emulate it. She laments that she's not quite "up to date", but believes that dancing like "Sister Kate" will rectify this, and she will be able to impress "all the boys in the neighborhood" like her sister. Over the years this song has been performed and recorded by many artists, including Frances Faye and Rusty Warren, a 1959 version by Shel Silverstein...

This exquisite lithograph after Henri Matisse (1869–1954), titled Serie L, var. 6 (Series L, Variation 6), from the album Henri Matisse, Dessins, Themes et Variations (Drawings, Them...

This exquisite lithograph by Pierre Bonnard (1867–1947), titled Coucher De Soleil Sur La Mediterranee (Sunset Over the Mediterranean), from Verve, Revue Artistique et Litteraire, Vol...

This exquisite lithograph by Henri Matisse (1869–1954), titled Icarus, from Verve, Revue Artistique et Litteraire, Vol. IV, No. 13, originates from the 1945 issue published by Editio...

'The Orange Point', color serigraph, edition 54, c. 1940. Signed, titled, and annotated 'Ed/54' in pencil. A fine impression, with fresh colors, on buff wove paper; the full sheet wi...

This exquisite silkscreen after Paul Klee (1879–1940), titled Ein Genius serviert ein kleines Fruhstuck (A Guardian Angel Serves a Small Breakfast), from the album Paul Klee, Paintin...

Lithography on paper printed in 40's, numbered 42/300, 54,5 x 75,5 x 0,1 cm - 21,4 x 29,7 x 0,04 in, printed by Moulot Editions Editions with the stamp Fernand Léger on Musee Biot pa...

This exquisite lithograph by Henri Matisse (1869–1954), titled Symphonie chromatique (Chromatic Symphony), from Verve, Revue Artistique et Litteraire, Vol. II, No. 8, originates from...

This exquisite lithograph after Henri Matisse (1869–1954), titled Serie B, var. 1 (Series B, Variation 1), from the album Henri Matisse, Dessins, Themes et Variations (Drawings, Them...

This listing is for the one Silkscreen serigraph piece listed here. Mexico City, 1945. First edition. plate signed, limited edition of 1000, these serigraph plates depict various types of traditional and folk art indigenous clothing...

This exquisite lithograph by Henri Matisse (1869–1954), titled La Chute d’Icare (The Fall of Icarus), from Verve, Revue Artistique et Litteraire, Vol. IV, No. 13, originates from the...

This exquisite lithograph by Henri Matisse (1869–1954), titled De la couleur (Of Color), from Verve, Revue Artistique et Litteraire, Vol. IV, No. 13, originates from the 1945 issue p...

This exquisite heliogravure after Henri Matisse (1869–1954), titled A la memoire d'Auguste Lumiere (In Memory of Auguste Lumiere), from Verve, Revue Artistique et Litteraire, Vol. IV...

This exquisite lithograph after Henri Matisse (1869–1954), titled Serie D, var. 1 (Series D, Variation 1), from the album Henri Matisse, Dessins, Themes et Variations (Drawings, Them...

Edward Landon 'Nocturnal Adversary', color serigraph, 1946, edition 50, Ryan 137. Signed in pencil in the image, lower right. Titled, dated, and annotated '6 COLORS EDITION 50' in th...

Lithograph on papier vélin teinté, fait a la main paper. Inscription: Unsigned and unnumbered, as issued. Good condition. Notes: From the folio, Les Illuminations, 1949. Published by...

Lawrence Kupferman, 'European Landscape', drypoint, edition 50, 1942. Signed, dated, titled, and numbered '7/50' in pencil. A superb, finely nuanced impression, on cream wove paper; the full sheet with margins (1 to 1 3/4 inches); in excellent condition. Image size 10 7/8 x 13 3/8 inches; sheet size 13 1/8 x 16 1/2 inches. Archivally matted to museum standards, unframed. An impression of this work is included in the permanent collection of the Syracuse University Art Museum. ABOUT THE ARTIST Lawrence Kupferman (1909 - 1982) was born in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston and grew up in a working-class family. He attended the Boston Latin School and participated in the high school art program at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. In the late 1920s, he studied drawing under Philip Leslie Hale at the Museum School—an experience he called 'stultifying and repressive'. In 1932 he transferred to the Massachusetts College of Art, where he first met his wife, the artist Ruth Cobb. He returned briefly to the Museum School in 1946 to study with the influential expressionist German-American painter Karl Zerbe. Kupferman held various jobs while pursuing his artistic career, including two years as a security guard at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. During the 1930s he worked as a drypoint etcher for the Federal Art Project, creating architectural drawings in a formally realistic style—these works are held in the collections of the Fogg Museum and the Smithsonian American Art Museum. In the 1940s he began incorporating more expressionistic forms into his paintings as he became progressively more concerned with abstraction. In 1946 he began spending summers in Provincetown, Massachusetts, where he met and was influenced by Mark Rothko, Hans Hofmann, Jackson Pollock, and other abstract painters. At about the same time he began exhibiting his work at the Boris Mirski Gallery in Boston. In 1948, Kupferman was at the center of a controversy involving hundreds of Boston-area artists. In February of that year, the Boston Institute of Modern Art issued a manifesto titled 'Modern Art and the American Public' decrying 'the excesses of modern art,' and announced that it was changing its name to the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA). The poorly conceived statement, intended to distinguish Boston's art scene from that of New York, was widely perceived as an attack on modernism. In protest, Boston artists such as Karl Zerbe, Jack Levine, and David Aronson formed the 'Modern Artists Group' and organized a mass meeting. On March 21, 300 artists, students, and other supporters met at the Old South Meeting House and demanded that the ICA retract its statement. Kupferman chaired the meeting and read this statement to the press: “The recent manifesto of the Institute is a fatuous declaration which misinforms and misleads the public concerning the integrity and intention of the modern artist. By arrogating to itself the privilege of telling the artists what art should be, the Institute runs counter to the original purposes of this organization whose function was to encourage and to assimilate contemporary innovation.” The other speakers were Karl Knaths...

Henri Michaux, Belgian (1899 - 1984) - Abstract Composition, Year: 1949, Medium: Lithograph, signed and numbered in pencil, Edition: 44/100, Image Size: 12 x 8.5 inches, Size: 1...

Artist: Pablo Picasso Title: Monogram "J" with Design (Plate VII) Portfolio: Carmen Medium: Etching on Montval wove paper Date: 1949 Edition: 289 Sheet Size: 13" x 10 3/16" Signed: N...

A very good impression of this lithograph, from an edition of 250. Signed in pencil by Covarrubias. Published by Associated American Artists, New York.

James Houston McConnell, 'Equus Uirumpu' (The Man's Horse), color serigraph, c. 1945, edition not stated but small. Signed and titled in pencil. Initialed in the image, lower right. ...

This exquisite lithograph after Henri Matisse (1869–1954), titled Serie L, var. 19 (Series L, Variation 19), from the album Henri Matisse, Dessins, Themes et Variations (Drawings, Th...

This exquisite lithograph by Henri Matisse (1869–1954), titled Vence 1944–1948, from Verve, Revue Artistique et Litteraire, Vol. VI, No. 21–22, originates from the 1948 issue publish...

This exquisite lithograph after Henri Matisse (1869–1954), titled Serie K, var. 4 (Series K, Variation 4), from the album Henri Matisse, Dessins, Themes et Variations (Drawings, Them...

This exquisite lithograph after Henri Matisse (1869–1954), titled Serie I, var. 1 (Series I, Variation 1), from the album Henri Matisse, Dessins, Themes et Variations (Drawings, Them...

This exquisite lithograph after Henri Matisse (1869–1954), titled Serie D, var. 11 (Series D, Variation 11), from the album Henri Matisse, Dessins, Themes et Variations (Drawings, Th...

This exquisite lithograph after Henri Matisse (1869–1954), titled Serie O, var. 7 (Series O, Variation 7), from the album Henri Matisse, Dessins, Themes et Variations (Drawings, Them...

Artist: Pablo Picasso Title: Le Grenouille (The Frog), from Buffon's l'Histoire Naturelle Medium: Original etching with sugar-lift aquatint and drypoint on Vidalon paper with Vollard...

This exquisite lithograph after Henri Matisse (1869–1954), titled Serie O, var. 15 (Series O, Variation 15), from the album Henri Matisse, Dessins, Themes et Variations (Drawings, Th...

This exquisite lithograph after Henri Matisse (1869–1954), titled Serie I, var. 13 (Series I, Variation 13), from the album Henri Matisse, Dessins, Themes et Variations (Drawings, Th...

This exquisite lithograph after Henri Matisse (1869–1954), titled Serie L, var. 16 (Series L, Variation 16), from the album Henri Matisse, Dessins, Themes et Variations (Drawings, Th...

Robert Vale Faro, 'Easter Sunday', color lithograph, 1946, edition 31. Signed, dated, titled and numbered '116' and '17/31' in pen. A fine impression, with fresh colors, on heavy, off-white wove paper; full margins (1 1/4 to 2 inches), in excellent condition. Image size 21 x 13 1/2 inches; sheet size 24 3/4 x 16 1/4 inches. Scarce. Matted to museum standards, unframed. ABOUT THE ARTIST Robert Vale Faro (1902-1988) was a well-known modernist architect and artist associated with the Chicago Bauhaus. He received his degree in architecture and design from the Armour Institute in Chicago and worked at L'Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris, from 1924-27, where he was influenced by Harry Kurt Bieg and Le Corbusier. Upon his return to Chicago, Faro worked with the important modernist Chicago architects George and William Keck under Louis Sullivan. Faro founded the avant-garde printmaking group Vanguard in 1945. The group counted Atelier 17 artists Stanley William Hayter, Sue Fuller...

This exquisite lithograph after Henri Matisse (1869–1954), titled Serie O, var. 18 (Series O, Variation 18), from the album Henri Matisse, Dessins, Themes et Variations (Drawings, Th...

This exquisite lithograph after Henri Matisse (1869–1954), titled Serie O, var. 17 (Series O, Variation 17), from the album Henri Matisse, Dessins, Themes et Variations (Drawings, Th...

This exquisite lithograph after Henri Matisse (1869–1954), titled Serie L, var. 17 (Series L, Variation 17), from the album Henri Matisse, Dessins, Themes et Variations (Drawings, Th...

This exquisite lithograph and pochoir after Pablo Picasso (1881–1973), titled Bathers, from the folio Picasso, Fifteen Drawings, 1946, originates from the 1946 edition published by P...

This exquisite lithograph after Henri Matisse (1869–1954), titled Serie L, var. 11 (Series L, Variation 11), from the album Henri Matisse, Dessins, Themes et Variations (Drawings, Th...

This exquisite lithograph after Henri Matisse (1869–1954), titled Serie Z, var. 3 (Series Z, Variation 3), from the album Henri Matisse, Dessins, Themes et Variations (Drawings, Them...

Mystery of Womanhood is an original 1947 pencil signed limited edition ( 31 / 100 ) lithograph by Emilio Pucci. It is from a set of six lithographs...

This exquisite lithograph after Henri Matisse (1869–1954), titled Serie B, var. 5 (Series B, Variation 5), from the album Henri Matisse, Dessins, Themes et Variations (Drawings, Them...

Little is known about the artist, Edward (Ed) Sacks, although this print may have been made at the Art Students League in NYC. it is a cross between, as the title suggests, a Seated ...

This exquisite heliogravure after Henri Matisse (1869–1954), titled Marguerite, from Verve, Revue Artistique et Litteraire, Vol. IV, No. 13, originates from the 1945 issue published ...

This exquisite lithograph after Henri Matisse (1869–1954), titled Serie C, var. 8 (Series C, Variation 8), from the album Henri Matisse, Dessins, Themes et Variations (Drawings, Them...

This exquisite lithograph after Henri Matisse (1869–1954), titled Serie P, var. 4 (Series P, Variation 4), from the album Henri Matisse, Dessins, Themes et Variations (Drawings, Them...

Woodcut on wove paper. Inscription: Unsigned and unnumbered, as issued. Good Condition. Notes: From the folio, The Documents of Modern Art. Arp: On My Way, Poetry And Essays 1912 - 1...