Helios Gomez

Le Soldado (Soldier) from Días de Ira (Days of Wrath) — Anti-Fascist Modernism

1929-1930

Charles Turzak, 'Under the Bridge', color woodcut, edition c. 50, 1934. Signed and titled in pencil. A fine, richly-inked impression, with fresh colors, on cream wove Japan paper; th...

Charles Turzak, 'La Salle and Washington Street (Chicago, Illinois)', woodcut, c. 1935, edition c. 25. Signed and titled in pencil. A fine, richly-inked impre...

Fritz Eichenberg, 'The Pimp', wood engraving, 1980, artist's proof before the edition. Signed in pencil. Signed in the block, lower right. A fine, richly-inked impression, on cream wove paper, with full margins (2 3/16 to 3 1/2 inches), in excellent condition. Archivally sleeved, unmatted. Image size 12 x 9 3/4 inches (305 x 248 mm); sheet size 18 x 14 inches (457 x 356 mm). ABOUT THE ARTIST Fritz Eichenberg (1901–1990) was a German-American illustrator and arts educator who worked primarily in wood engraving. His best-known works were concerned with religion, social justice, and nonviolence. Eichenberg was born to a Jewish family in Cologne, Germany, where the destruction of World War I helped to shape his anti-war sentiments. He worked as a printer's apprentice and studied at the Municipal School of Applied Arts in Cologne and the Academy of Graphic Arts in Leipzig, where he studied under Hugo Steiner-Prag. In 1923 he moved to Berlin to begin his career as an artist, producing illustrations for books and newspapers. In his newspaper and magazine work, Eichenberg was politically outspoken and sometimes wrote and illustrated his reporting. In 1933, the rise of Adolf Hitler drove Eichenberg, who was a public critic of the Nazis, to emigrate with his wife and children to the United States. He settled in New York City, where he lived most of his life. He worked in the WPA Federal Arts Project and was a member of the Society of American Graphic Artists. In his prolific career as a book illustrator, Eichenberg portrayed many forms of literature but specialized in works with elements of extreme spiritual and emotional conflict, fantasy, or social satire. Over his long career, Eichenberg was commissioned to illustrate more than 100 classics by publishers in the United States and abroad, including works by renowned authors Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy, Charlotte and Emily Brontë, Poe, Swift, and Grimmelshausen. He also wrote and illustrated books of folklore and children's stories. Eichenberg was a long-time contributor to the progressive magazine The Nation, his illustrations appearing between 1930 and 1980. Eichenberg’s work has been featured by such esteemed publishers as The Heritage Club, Random House, Book of the Month Club, The Limited Editions Club, Kingsport Press, Aquarius Press, and Doubleday. Raised in a non-religious family, Eichenberg had been attracted to Taoism as a child. Following his wife's unexpected death in 1937, he turned briefly to Zen Buddhist meditation, then joined the Religious Society of Friends in 1940. Though he remained a Quaker until his death, Eichenberg was also associated with Catholic charity work through his friendship with Dorothy Day...

Jacques La Grange, 'The Yankee', color woodcut, edition 500, 1934. Signed and numbered '25/500' in pencil. A fine impression, with fresh colors, on cream wove paper, with margins (1 1/8 to 1 1/4 inches), in excellent condition. A work from La Grange’s celebrated series of woodcuts 'Drama and Color in the America's Cup Races'. Image size 10 x 10 11/16 inches (254 x 271 mm); sheet size 12 1/4 x 13 1/4 inches (311 x 337 mm). Archivally matted to museum standards, unframed. When the artist created this print in 1934, the 'Yankee' was one of the most promising yachts eligible for the America's Cup but ultimately 'Rainbow' was chosen to defend against England's 'Endeavor' in that year's race. The 'Endeavor' was built for Thomas Sopwith who used his aviation design expertise to ensure the yacht was the most advanced of its day with a steel hull and mast. She was launched in 1934 and won many races in her first season but the Cup challenge was blighted by a strike of Sopwith's professional crew prior to departing for America. Forced to rely mainly on keen amateurs, who lacked the necessary experience, the campaign failed. 'Rainbow' won the series 4–2. This was one of the most contentious of the America's Cup battles and prompted the headline "Britannia rules the waves and America waives the rules." ABOUT THE ARTIST Jacques La Grange was born in Clanwilliam (near Cape Town) in South Africa in 1895. He studied at London University and later immigrated to the United States. La Grange established himself as a painter, illustrator, and printmaker specializing in nautical subjects. He and his wife, Helen La Grange, published 'Drama and Color in the America's Cup Races' in 1934 and 'Clipper Ships of America and Great Britain 1833-1869', in 1936. Both were deluxe hardcover limited edition volumes with signed original color woodblock prints. La Grange had solo exhibitions at the Buchanan Gallery in 1929; the Babcock Gallery and the 56th Street Gallery, New York, in 1930; and at the Nicholas Roerich...