1930s Figurative Prints
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Period: 1930s
The Treason - Lithograph by Umberto Brunelleschi - 1930s
Located in Roma, IT
The Treason is a color lithograph on ivory paper, created by the Italian artist Umberto Brunelleschi (Montemurlo 1879- Paris 1949).
Illustration for “Tales and Short Stories” by La ...
Category
Art Nouveau 1930s Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
Church with House and Tree
– Artist
s Personal Letterhead, Bauhaus Modernism
Located in Myrtle Beach, SC
Lyonel Feininger, 'Church with House and Tree (Kirche mit Haus und Baum)', woodcut, 1936, one of a small but unknown number of letterhead proofs; Prasse W290 V. Inscribed 'J. F. note paper', in pencil, in the artist’s hand; with the Feininger estate stamp and catalog no. 'W 859' in pencil. Annotated 'W.290 V state 3609' in pencil, in the bottom right sheet corner.
A fine impression, on cream, laid letterhead stock; hinge remains on the left and right top sheet edges, verso, in excellent condition. Very scarce.
Image size 2 3/8 x 2 3/4 inches; sheet size 10 x 7 5/16 inches. Archivally sleeved, unmatted.
Exhibited: 'Lyonel Feininer, Woodcuts Used As Letterheads'; Associated American Artists; Feb 4 - March 2, 1974; NY, NY.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Lyonel Feininger (1871-1956) was born in New York City into a musical family—his father was a violinist and composer, his mother was a singer and pianist. He studied violin with his father, and by the age of 12, he was performing in public. Still, he also drew incessantly, most notably the steamboats and sailing ships on the Hudson and East Rivers, and the landscape around Sharon, Conn., where he spent time on a farm owned by a family friend. At the age of 16 he left New York to study music and art in Germany, from where his parents emigrated. Drawn more to the visual arts, he attended schools in Hamburg, Berlin, and Paris from 1887 to 1892.
After completing his studies, Feininger began his artistic career as a cartoonist and illustrator, his originality leading him to great success. In 1906, after working for a dozen years in Germany, he was offered a job as a cartoonist at the Chicago Tribune, the largest circulation newspaper in the Midwest. He worked there for a year, inventing what became the standard design for the comic strip: in the words of John Carlin, “an overall pattern. . . that allowed the page to be read both as a series of elements one after the other, like language and as a group of juxtaposed images, like visual art.” His originality did not end there: he went on to become one of the great abstract painters. Like Kandinsky, music was his model, but Kandinsky only knew music from the outside—as a listener (inspired initially by Wagner, then by Schoenberg)—while Feininger knew it from the inside. He lived in Paris from 1906 to 1908, during which time he met and was influenced by the work of progressive painters Robert Delaunay and Jules Pascin, as well as that of Paul Cezanne and Vincent van Gogh. He began painting full-time, developing his distinctive Iyrical style based on Cubist and Expressionist idioms and a concern for the emotive qualities of light and color. He exhibited with the Der Blaue Reiter group in 1913, and in 1917, he had his first solo exhibition at Galerie Der Sturm in Berlin.
One year after his solo exhibition, in 1918, Feininger began making woodcuts. He became enamored with the medium, producing an impressive 117 in his first year of exploring the printmaking medium. In 1919 at the invitation of the architect Walter Gropius, he was appointed the first master at the newly formed Staatliches Bauhaus in Weimar. His woodcut of a cathedral crowned...
Category
Bauhaus 1930s Figurative Prints
Materials
Woodcut
Chicago, Michigan Avenue n°1 - Original etching, c. 1931
Located in Paris, IDF
Donald Shaw MacLaughlan
Chicago : Michigan Avenue n°1, c. 1931
Original etching
Printed signature in the plate
On vellum 38 x 50 cm (c. 15 x 20 in)
V...
Category
American Modern 1930s Figurative Prints
Materials
Etching
Bible : Dance of Mary, sister of Moses, 1939 - Original Etching
By Marc Chagall
Located in Paris, IDF
Marc Chagall (1887-1958)
Bible : Dance of Mary, sister of Moses, (Danse de Marie, sœur de Moïse), 1939
Original etching
Printed signature in the plate
On Montval vellum, 44 x 33.5 c...
Category
Modern 1930s Figurative Prints
Materials
Etching
Passing the Bar
Located in Paonia, CO
artist: Adrien Barrere (1877-1931)
title: Passing the Bar
medium: Lithograph
paper size: 19.75 x 25.50
image size: 18 x 24.25
French caricaturist...
Category
1930s Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
Œuvre Plastique, Kunsthaus Zürich 1938 – lithograph, hand-signed and denoted
By Le Corbusier
Located in Zurich, CH
Le Corbusier's first (and largest) original lithograph in color. He created the poster on the occasion of his (first) solo exhibition.
Print run was 100 ex. only – whereby the largest part was destroyed when used in the streets of Zurich, what makes it LCs most rare lithograph in color.
Moreover: This exemplar is even hand-signed by LC and dated, as it was (meant to be) sold at the entrance of the Kunsthaus Zürich...
Category
Modern 1930s Figurative Prints
Materials
Paper
Henri Matisse, Fruits, from Verve, Revue Artistique, 1938 (after)
Located in Southampton, NY
This exquisite heliogravure after Henri Matisse (1869–1954), titled Fruits, from Verve, Revue Artistique et Litteraire, Vol. I, No. 4, originates from the 1938 issue published by Edi...
Category
Fauvist 1930s Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
$716 Sale Price
20% Off
Original Fortune October 1938 vintage magazine cover linen backed
Located in Spokane, WA
Original Fortune Magazine 1938 vintage cover. Archival linen backed in very fine condition; ready to frame. Artist: Miguel Covarrubias (1904 – 1957) This is an Original Letter Press...
Category
Art Deco 1930s Figurative Prints
Materials
Offset
A Loving Embrace - Lithograph by Umberto Brunelleschi - 1930s
Located in Roma, IT
A loving embrace is a color lithograph on ivory paper, created by the Italian artist Umberto Brunelleschi (Montemurlo 1879- Paris 1949).
Illustration for “Tales and Short Stories” ...
Category
Art Nouveau 1930s Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
Beckmann, Composition (Hofmaier 323-329), Der Mensch ist kein Haustier (after)
By Max Beckmann
Located in Southampton, NY
Lithograph on Van Gelder Zonen Bütten paper. Inscription: Unsigned and unnumbered, as issued. Good condition. Notes: From the volume, Der Mensch ist kein Haustier, 1937. Published by...
Category
Modern 1930s Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
$1,036 Sale Price
58% Off
Serenity : Woman with Cat - Original Handsigned Etching
By Mily Possoz
Located in Paris, IDF
Mily POSSOZ (1888-1967)
Serenity, 1930
Original etching
Handsigned in pencil by the artist
Numbered / 25 copies
Blind stamp of the editor Marcel Guiot (Paris)
On vellum 28 x 19 cm (...
Category
Realist 1930s Figurative Prints
Materials
Etching
Church with House and Tree
– Artist
s Personal Letterhead, 1940s Modernism
Located in Myrtle Beach, SC
Lyonel Feininger, 'Church with House and Tree (Kirche mit Haus und Baum)', woodcut, 1936, one of a small but unknown number of letterhead proofs; Prasse W290 IV. Annotated 'PW 290 state IV / IV 3669', in pencil, in the bottom right sheet corner. With the artist's typed address and date adjacent to the letterhead image: 'Falls Village, Connecticut September 26th, 1940'.
A fine impression, on buff, wove letterhead stock; several small losses, and tears, in the sheet edges (not affecting the image area); a crease in the bottom right sheet edge, otherwise in good condition. Very scarce.
Image size: 2 3/8 x 2 3/4 inches; sheet size 11 x 8 5/8 inches. Archivally sleeved, unmatted.
Feininger moved from Germany to New York City in 1938 and began spending his summers in Falls Village in 1940.
Exhibited: 'Lyonel Feininer, Woodcuts Used As Letterheads'; Associated American Artists; Feb 4 - March 2, 1974; New York, NY.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Lyonel Feininger (1871-1956) was born in New York City into a musical family—his father was a violinist and composer, his mother was a singer and pianist. He studied violin with his father, and by the age of 12, he was performing in public, but he also drew incessantly, most notably the steamboats and sailing ships on the Hudson and East Rivers, and the landscape around Sharon, Conn., where he spent time on a farm owned by a family friend. At the age of 16 he left New York to study music and art in Germany, from where his parents emigrated. Drawn more to the visual arts, he attended schools in Hamburg, Berlin, and Paris from 1887 to 1892.
After completing his studies, Feininger began his artistic career as a cartoonist and illustrator, his originality leading him to great success. In 1906, after working for a dozen years in Germany, he was offered a job as a cartoonist at the Chicago Tribune, the largest circulation newspaper in the Midwest. He worked there for a year, inventing what became the standard design for the comic strip: in the words of John Carlin, “an overall pattern. . . that allowed the page to be read both as a series of elements one after the other, like language and as a group of juxtaposed images, like visual art.” His originality did not end there: he went on to become one of the great abstract painters. Like Kandinsky, music was his model, but Kandinsky only knew music from the outside—as a listener (inspired initially by Wagner, then by Schoenberg)—while Feininger knew it from the inside. He lived in Paris from 1906 to 1908, during which time he met and was influenced by the work of progressive painters Robert Delaunay and Jules Pascin, as well as that of Paul Cezanne and Vincent van Gogh. He began painting full-time, developing his distinctive Iyrical style based on Cubist and Expressionist idioms and a concern for the emotive qualities of light and color. He exhibited with the Der Blaue Reiter group in 1913, and in 1917, he had his first solo exhibition at Galerie Der Sturm in Berlin.
One year after his solo exhibition, in 1918, Feininger began making woodcuts. He became enamored with the medium, producing an impressive 117 in his first year of exploring the printmaking medium. In 1919 at the invitation of the architect Walter Gropius, he was appointed the first master at the newly formed Staatliches Bauhaus in Weimar. His woodcut of a cathedral crowned...
Category
Bauhaus 1930s Figurative Prints
Materials
Woodcut
Bible : Elijah on Mount Carmel, 1939 - Original Etching
By Marc Chagall
Located in Paris, IDF
Marc Chagall (1887-1958)
Bible : Elijah on Mount Carmel (Elie sur le mont Carmel), 1939
Original etching
Printed signature in the plate
On Montval vellum, 44 x 33.5 cm (c. 17.3 x 13...
Category
1930s Figurative Prints
Materials
Etching
Cauchemar - Lithograph by Edouard Chimot - 1932
Located in Roma, IT
Lithograph realized by Edouard Chimot in 1932.
Belongs to the suite "Le Chat", in which the author classifies and represents pubic hairstyles that become progressively more surreal....
Category
Post-Impressionist 1930s Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
de Young Mansion
– San Francisco
— California WPA, Woman Artist
Located in Myrtle Beach, SC
Marguerite Redman Dorgeloh, 'de Young Mansion – San Francisco', lithograph, c. 1937, edition 25. Signed and titled in pencil. A fine, richly-inked impr...
Category
American Modern 1930s Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
"Mine Shaft", Soviet Union: An Early 20th C. Woodcut Engraving by Abramovitz
Located in Alamo, CA
This is a signed woodcut engraving entitled "Mine Shaft" created by Albert Abramovitz in 1935, after a trip to the Soviet Union. It depicts two Russian workers constructing a mine sh...
Category
1930s Figurative Prints
Materials
Woodcut
General Washington Saying Farewell to His Officers in Fraunces Tavern, New York
Located in Soquel, CA
General Washington Saying Farewell to His Officers in Fraunces Tavern, New York
This etching, 'General Washington Saying Farewell to His Officers in Fraunces Tavern, New York', was ...
Category
American Impressionist 1930s Figurative Prints
Materials
Laid Paper, Etching
Versailles (France) original lithograph vintage SNCF travel poster
Located in Spokane, WA
Original Versailles, France vintage lithograph French travel poster. Printed by the French National Railroad, SNCF in the 1938's. Printer: Goossens.
A poster fit for a king since he once resided here at Versailles. Transform your living space with the elegance and grandeur of the Versailles Original Poster. This exquisite piece captures the breathtaking beauty of the iconic Palace of Versailles, showcasing its majestic fountains and lush gardens. The vibrant colors and intricate details bring to life the opulence and historical significance of one of the world's most renowned landmarks.
The grand fountains had a chariot and horses...
Category
Expressionist 1930s Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
Le Parc Monceau, A La gloire à Paris, Pierre Bonnard
Located in Southampton, NY
Etching on vélin Canson et Montgolfier paper. Unsigned and unnumbered, as issued. Good condition. Published by L'Imprimerie Daragnès, Paris; printed by Jean Gabriel Daragnès, Paris, ...
Category
Modern 1930s Figurative Prints
Materials
Etching
$1,996 Sale Price
20% Off
Le Cimetière du Père, A La gloire à Paris, Edouard Goerg
Located in Southampton, NY
Etching on vélin Canson et Montgolfier paper. Unsigned and unnumbered, as issued. Good condition. Published by L'Imprimerie Daragnès, Paris; printed by Jean Gabriel Daragnès, Paris, ...
Category
Modern 1930s Figurative Prints
Materials
Etching
$716 Sale Price
20% Off
Chapel of the Agriculture School, Chapingo (Forces Under the Earth)
Located in Missouri, MO
(after) Diego Rivera
"Chapel, Agriculture School, Chapingo" (Forces Under the Earth) 1933
from the portfolio "Frescoes of Diego Rivera"
Published by the Museum of Modern Art, NY
Approx. 18.5 x 13.5 with Matting
Hand-Signed by the Artist
Diego Rivera was born on December 13, 1886 in the mountain town of Guanajuato in Mexico. His mother was an ardent Catholic and his father was a rich and aristocratic revolutionary fighter and an atheist. Little Diego decided in favor of atheism. He swore his family had to leave Guanajuato when he was six because of his diatribes against the Church. When he was eleven he attended the San Carlos Academy of Fine Arts; his real teacher was Jose Posada...
Category
Modern 1930s Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
Women
Located in Santa Monica, CA
JOSE CLEMENTE OROZCO (1893 – 1949)
WOMEN, 1934 ( Orozco 25)
Lithograph, One of 127 signed & unnumbered impressions, (total printed 255)
Printer Jesus Arteaga. Image 12 1/2 x 17 inches, sheet 17 x 23 inches.
Large sheet. top sheet edge with deckle edge and with some remnants of old old tape. Some slight mat burn verso., just a hint on the recto.
This impression is also dedicated to Rosita Boyce by Clemente Orozco - (the Artist's Son) in 1961
From "Jose Clemente Orozco - Graphic Work" by Clemente Orozco, University of Texas Press, 2004.
"The image is a detail of the Mural "Contemporary World" in the Palace of Fine Arts, Mexico City.
The mural depicts "the real prostitution of power is implied by prostitutes fighting for survival. in a game of exuberance and decadence. The theme of women, especially prostitutes, has a special significance in Orozco's work, from his early watercolors to this fresco.."
This print is related to Orozco's MACHINES also on 1stdibs offered by this dealer.
Mexican Prints...
Category
Modern 1930s Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
The White Villa - Original Woodcut Print
Located in Paris, IDF
François-Louis SCHMIED (1873-1941)
The White Villa, 1938
Original Woodcut Print
Signed with the stamp of the artist
On Japan paper
35 x 24 cm (c. 13.8 x 9.5 inch)
Excellent condition
Category
Art Nouveau 1930s Figurative Prints
Materials
Woodcut
Les Amants - Lithograph by Umberto Brunelleschi - 1930s
Located in Roma, IT
Les Amants is a color lithograph on ivory paper, realized by the Italian artist Umberto Brunelleschi (Montemurlo 1879- Paris 1949).
...
Category
Art Nouveau 1930s Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
Bible : Canticle of David, 1939 - Original Etching
By Marc Chagall
Located in Paris, IDF
Marc Chagall (1887-1958)
Bible : Canticle of David (Cantique de David), 1939
Original etching
Printed signature in the plate
On Montval vellum, 44 x 33.5 cm (c. 17.3 x 13.1 inch)
I...
Category
Modern 1930s Figurative Prints
Materials
Etching
Landscape - Original Woodcut by A. Jacquol - 1934
By A. Jacquol
Located in Roma, IT
Landscape is an Original woodcut print realized by A. Jacquol in January 1934.
The beautiful artwork is in good condition included a green cardboard (25x32.7 cm).
Monogrammed on th...
Category
Modern 1930s Figurative Prints
Materials
Woodcut
Naked Young Man Sitting On Lopped Branch; Naked Young Woman Sitting on a Branch.
By Eric Gill
Located in Myrtle Beach, SC
Wood engraving, 1930, edition small, Physick 642 / 643. Initialed in pencil.
Two blocks printed on a single sheet: fine impressions on cream laid Japan with full margins (1 1/2 to 2...
Category
Art Deco 1930s Figurative Prints
Materials
Woodcut
Black Broadway Street Dancers
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
Beautiful WPA era NYC street scene by American artist, Albert Sway (b.1913). Jiggers on Broadway, ca. 1935. Lithograph on paper, image measures 9 x 13 inches. Full sheet measuring 11...
Category
American Realist 1930s Figurative Prints
Materials
Paper, Ink
Les Champs-Élysées, Place de la Concorde, A La gloire à Paris, Raoul Dufy
By Raoul Dufy
Located in Southampton, NY
Etching on vélin Canson et Montgolfier paper. Unsigned and unnumbered, as issued. Good condition. Published by L'Imprimerie Daragnès, Paris; printed by Jean Gabriel Daragnès, Paris, ...
Category
Modern 1930s Figurative Prints
Materials
Etching
$1,436 Sale Price
20% Off
Studio Interior No. 1 — 1930s Masterwork
Located in Myrtle Beach, SC
Armin Landeck, 'Studio Interior No. 1', 1935, drypoint, edition 100, Kraeft 56. Signed in pencil. Signed in the plate, lower right. A fine, richly-inked impression, on cream laid pap...
Category
American Realist 1930s Figurative Prints
Materials
Drypoint
Le Chat Botté - Lithograph by Edouard Chimot - 1932
Located in Roma, IT
Lithograph realized by Edouard Chimot in 1932.
Belongs to the suite "Le Chat", in which the author classifies and represents pubic hairstyles that become progressively more surreal....
Category
Post-Impressionist 1930s Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
Alberto Magnelli, Composition 66, from XXe siecle, 1938
Located in Southampton, NY
This exquisite linocut by Alberto Magnelli (1888–1971), titled Composition 66, from the album XXe siecle, Chroniques du jour, 13 rue Valette (5e), Directeur G. di San Lazzaro, Sommai...
Category
Modern 1930s Figurative Prints
Materials
Linocut
$716 Sale Price
20% Off
Brunelleschi, Composition, La Leçon d
amour dans un parc (after)
Located in Southampton, NY
Lithograph and stencil on vélin d’Arches paper. Unsigned and unnumbered, as issued. Good condition. Notes: From the volume, La Leçon d'amour dans un parc, 1933. Published by Éditions...
Category
Modern 1930s Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph, Stencil
$1,436 Sale Price
20% Off
Max Ernst, Electra, from XXe siecle, 1939
By Max Ernst
Located in Southampton, NY
This exquisite lithograph by Max Ernst (1891–1976), titled Electra, from the album XXe siecle, Chroniques du jour, 13 rue Valette (5e), Directeur G. di San Lazzaro, Sommaire du no. 5...
Category
Surrealist 1930s Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
$1,196 Sale Price
20% Off
Personnages Masqués et Femme Oiseau - Etching by Pablo Picasso - 1934
Located in Roma, IT
Etching and Aquatint on Montval paper.
Hand Signed. Edition of 260 prints (not numbered and generally not signed).
Plate 24 from "La Suite Vollard".
Catalogue Bloch no. 227; Baer 44...
Category
Cubist 1930s Figurative Prints
Materials
Paper, Etching, Aquatint
Bible : Joseph recognized by his brothers - Original Etching (Vollard #220)
By Marc Chagall
Located in Paris, IDF
Marc Chagall (1887-1958)
Bible : Joseph recognized by his brothers (Joseph reconnu par ses frères), 1939
Original etching
Printed signature in the plate
On Montval vellum, 44 x 33.5...
Category
1930s Figurative Prints
Materials
Etching
The Yellow Donkey (Der Gelbe Esel) (Esther Gentle Reproduction)
By Paul Klee
Located in Kansas City, MO
Paul Klee (after)
The Yellow Donkey (Der Gelbe Esel)
Year: 1939
Lithograph
Size: 14.125x19.6 on 20.6x26 inches
Esther Gentle, Reproduction, 1952
Edition: 300
Inscribed in pencil
stam...
Category
Expressionist 1930s Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
$650 Sale Price
45% Off
Alexander Calder Circus Reproduction Lithograph of a Drawing
Located in Surfside, FL
(after) Alexander Calder
"Calder's Circus" offset lithograph on wove paper a reproduction lithograph after the drawings by the artist
Published by Art in America and Perls gallery in 1964 (from drawings done in the 1930's)
these range slightly in size but they are all about 13 X 17 inches (with minor variations in size as issued.) These have never been framed. The outer folio is not included just the one lithograph.
James Sweeny from the introduction “The fame of Calder’s circus spread quickly between the years 1927 and 1930. All the Paris art world came to know it. It brought him his first great personal success. But what was more important, the circus also provided the first steps in Calder’s development as an original sculptor”
Clive Gray wrote ”A visit to the studio of Alexander Calder led to the chance discovery of some hundred masterful circus drawings completed over thirty years ago. We publish, for the first time, a choice of sixteen from that group.” With signed introduction by Miro.
These whimsical drawings, done in the style of wire sculpture, include acrobats, clowns, jugglers, trapeeze artists, an elephant, dog and lion. they are great.
Alexander Calder is widely considered to be one of the most important American sculptors of the 20th century. He is best known for his colorful, whimsical abstract public sculptures and his innovative mobiles, kinetic sculptures powered by motors or air currents, which embraced chance in their aesthetic. Born into a family of accomplished artists, Calder's work first gained attention in Paris in the 1930s and was soon championed by the Museum of Modern Art in New York, resulting in a retrospective exhibition in 1943. Major retrospectives were also held at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (1964) and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago (1974). Calder’s work is in many permanent collections, most notably in the Whitney Museum of American Art, but also the Guggenheim Museum; the Museum of Modern Art; the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; and the Centre Georges Pompidou. He produced many large public works, including .125 (at JFK Airport, 1957), Pittsburgh (Carnegie International prize winner 1958, Pittsburgh International Airport) Spirale (UNESCO in Paris, 1958), Flamingo and Universe (both in Chicago, 1974), and Mountains and Clouds (Hart Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C., 1976). Although primarily known for his sculpture, Calder was a prodigious artist with a restless creative spirit, whose diverse practice included painting and printmaking, miniatures (such as his famous Cirque Calder), children’s book illustrations, theater set design, jewelry design, tapestry and rug works, and political posters. Calder was honored by the US Postal Service with a set of five 32-cent stamps in 1998, and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, posthumously in 1977, after refusing to receive it from Gerald Ford one year earlier in protest of the Vietnam War.
Calder moved to New York and enrolled at the Art Students League, studying briefly with Thomas Hart Benton, George Luks, Kenneth Hayes Miller, and John Sloan. While a student, he worked for the National Police Gazette where, in 1925, one of his assignments was sketching the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. Calder became fascinated with the action of the circus, a theme that would reappear in his later work.
In 1926, Calder moved to Paris, enrolled in the Académie de la Grande Chaumière, and established a studio at 22 rue Daguerre in the Montparnasse Quarter. In June 1929, while traveling by boat from Paris to New York, Calder met his future wife, Louisa James (1905-1996), grandniece of author Henry James and philosopher William James. They married in 1931. While in Paris, Calder met and became friends with a number of avant-garde artists, including Fernand Léger, Jean Arp, and Marcel Duchamp. Cirque Calder (on view at the Whitney Museum of American Art at present) became popular with the Parisian avant-garde. He also invented wire sculpture, or "drawing in space," and in 1929 he had his first solo show of these sculptures in Paris at Galerie Billiet. Hi! (Two Acrobats) in the collection of the Honolulu Museum of Art is an early example of the artist's wire sculpture. The painter Jules Pascin, a friend of Calder's from the cafes of Montparnasse, wrote the preface to the catalog. A visit to Piet Mondrian's studio in 1930, where he was impressed by the environment-as-installation, "shocked" him into fully embracing abstract art, toward which he had already been tending.
Dating from 1931, Calder’s sculptures of discrete movable parts powered by motors were christened “mobiles” by Marcel Duchamp, a French pun meaning both "motion" and "motive." At the same time, Calder was also experimenting with self-supporting, static, abstract sculptures, dubbed "stabiles" by Jean Arp in 1932 to differentiate them from mobiles.
Public commissions increasingly came his way in the 1960s. Notable examples are .125 for JFK Airport in 1957, Spirale for UNESCO in Paris 1958 and Trois disques, commissioned for Expo 67 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Calder's largest sculpture at 25.7 meters high was El Sol Rojo, constructed outside the Aztec Stadium for the 1968 Summer Olympics "Cultural Olympiad" events in Mexico City. Many of his public works were commissioned by renowned architects; I.M. Pei commissioned his La Grande Voile (1966), a 25-ton, 40-foot high stabile for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Part of Calder's repertoire includes pivotal stage sets for more than a dozen theatrical productions, including Nucléa, Horizon, and most notably, Martha Graham’s Panorama (1935), a production of the Erik Satie symphonic drama Socrate (1936), and later, Works in Progress (1968).
In addition to sculptures, Calder painted throughout his career, beginning in the early 1920s. He picked up his study of printmaking in 1925, and continued to produce illustrations for books and journals.As Calder’s professional reputation expanded in the late 1940s and 1950s, so did his production of prints. Masses of lithographs based on his gouache paintings hit the market, and deluxe editions of plays, poems, and short stories illustrated with fine art prints by Calder became available for sale.
One of Calder's most celebrated and unconventional undertakings was a commission from Dallas-based Braniff International Airways to paint a full-size Douglas DC-8-62 four-engined jet as a "flying canvas."
Calder created over 2,000 pieces of jewelry over the course of his career, many of them as gifts for friends and relatives. For his lifelong friend Joan Miró, he set a shard of a broken porcelain vessel in a brass ring. Peggy Guggenheim received enormous silver mobile earrings and later commissioned a hammered silver headboard...
Category
American Modern 1930s Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
Padlock - Woodcut by Maurits Cornelis Escher - 1931
Located in Roma, IT
Woodcut print realized by Escher in 1931.
It belongs to the series "Emblemata".
Signed with initials in the plate lower center.
Ref. -F.H. Bool, J.R. Kist, J.L. Locher and F. Wier...
Category
Modern 1930s Figurative Prints
Materials
Woodcut
Oscar Weissbuch, Westchester Hills (NY), New Deal, WPA-era wood engraving
Located in New York, NY
New York City native Oscar Weissbuch (1904-1948), attended the Yale University School of Fine Arts and the Art Students League, NY. He participated in the NYC-WPA printmaking project...
Category
American Modern 1930s Figurative Prints
Materials
Woodcut
Girl and Cat
— 1930s American Modernism
Located in Myrtle Beach, SC
'Girl and Cat', lithograph, 1935, edition 33, Fine and Looney 121. Signed, titled, dated, and numbered '5/33' in pencil. A superb, richly-inked impression...
Category
American Modern 1930s Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
Pierre Bonnard, Young Girl in a Boat, from Verve, Revue Artistique, 1939
Located in Southampton, NY
This exquisite lithograph by Pierre Bonnard (1867–1947), titled Jeune Fille dans une Barque (Young Girl in a Boat), from Verve, Revue Artistique et Litteraire, Vol. II, No. 5–6, orig...
Category
Post-Impressionist 1930s Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
Le Siamois - Lithograph by Edouard Chimot - 1932
Located in Roma, IT
Lithograph realized by Edouard Chimot in 1932.
Belongs to the suite "Le Chat", in which the author classifies and represents pubic hairstyles that become progressively more surreal....
Category
Post-Impressionist 1930s Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
Self-Portrait - Lithograph on Paper by Diego Petinelli - 1939
Located in Roma, IT
Self-portrait is a beautiful original lithograph on paper realized by Diego Pettinelli
Monogrammed and dated on the lower right, DP. 1939.
Sheet dimension: 39.5 x 32
good conditio...
Category
Modern 1930s Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
Ted Witonski, NYC (Chelsea) skyline intaglio
Located in New York, NY
An Ohio native Witonski made his home in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York City and this subject may well be a Chelsea scene. But mostly it is a homage to intaglio printmaking. It...
Category
American Modern 1930s Figurative Prints
Materials
Intaglio
Ossip Zadkine, The Three Graces, from XXe siecle, 1938
Located in Southampton, NY
This exquisite linocut by Ossip Zadkine (1890–1967), titled Les trois graces (The Three Graces), from the album XXe siecle, Chroniques du jour, 13 rue Valette (5e), Directeur G. di S...
Category
Fauvist 1930s Figurative Prints
Materials
Linocut
$716 Sale Price
20% Off
Hula Hoop
By Huchs
Located in Houston, TX
Captivating black and white etching of a crowd gathered to watch performers with hula hoops by Huchs, 1939. Titled and signed in lower margin.
Original artw...
Category
1930s Figurative Prints
Materials
Paper, Ink, Etching
Louis Marcoussis, Rimbaud, from XXe siecle, 1939
Located in Southampton, NY
This exquisite burin etching, engraving by Louis Marcoussis (1878–1941), titled Rimbaud, from the album XXe siecle, Chroniques du jour, 13 rue Valette (5e), Directeur G. di San Lazza...
Category
Modern 1930s Figurative Prints
Materials
Engraving, Etching
$716 Sale Price
20% Off
Fernand Leger, Head and Leaf, from Verve, Revue Artistique, 1939
Located in Southampton, NY
This exquisite lithograph by Fernand Leger (1881–1955), titled Tete et Feuille (Head and Leaf), from Verve, Revue Artistique et Litteraire, Vol. II, No. 5–6, originates from the 1939 issue published by Editions de la revue Verve, Paris, under the direction of Teriade, Editeur, Paris, and printed by Mourlot Freres, Paris, 1939. This striking composition epitomizes Leger’s distinct synthesis of mechanical precision and organic vitality. Tete et Feuille demonstrates his fascination with the interplay between geometry and the human figure—translating natural forms into bold, dynamic arrangements of line and color. The juxtaposition of the stylized head and leaf form reveals Leger’s mastery in uniting abstraction with humanism, a hallmark of his mature modernist vision. Through rhythmic design and rich tonal contrast, the work captures the harmony between nature and the machine age that defined much of Leger’s career.
Executed as a lithograph on velin du Marais paper, this work measures 14 x 10.5 inches (35.56 x 26.67 cm). Signed in the plate and unnumbered as issued. The edition reflects the exceptional quality of the Mourlot Freres atelier, renowned for its collaborations with the foremost modern masters of the 20th century.
Artwork Details:
Artist: Fernand Leger (1881–1955)
Title: Tete et Feuille (Head and Leaf), from Verve, Revue Artistique et Litteraire, Vol. II, No. 5–6, 1939
Medium: Lithograph on velin du Marais paper
Dimensions: 14 x 10.5 inches (35.56 x 26.67 cm)
Inscription: Signed in the plate and unnumbered as issued
Date: 1939
Publisher: Editions de la revue Verve, Paris, under the direction of Teriade, Editeur, Paris
Printer: Mourlot Freres, Paris
Condition: Well preserved, consistent with age and medium
Provenance: From Verve, Revue Artistique et Litteraire, Vol. II, No. 5–6, published by Editions de la revue Verve, Paris, 1939
About the Publication:
Verve, Revue Artistique et Litteraire was one of the most influential art periodicals of the 20th century, founded in Paris in 1937 by the visionary Greek-born publisher Teriade (Stratis Eleftheriades). Conceived as a union of art and literature, Verve featured original lithographs and writings by the foremost artists and thinkers of its time, including Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall, Georges Braque, Joan Miro, and Fernand Leger. Each issue represented a collaboration between artists, poets, and master printers, notably Mourlot Freres, whose exceptional craftsmanship brought color lithography to new aesthetic heights. The 1939 double issue, Vol. II, No. 5–6, is among the most distinguished editions, reflecting both the intellectual vigor and artistic experimentation that defined the pre-war Parisian avant-garde.
About the Artist:
Fernand Leger (1881–1955) was a visionary French painter, sculptor, designer, and filmmaker whose groundbreaking fusion of modern industry, vivid color, and geometric form transformed the course of 20th-century art. Born in Argentan, Normandy, Leger began as an architectural draftsman before studying at the Academie Julian and the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, where he absorbed the lessons of Paul Cezanne’s structural rigor and the revolutionary ideas of Cubism. Alongside Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, he became one of the leading innovators of the avant-garde, yet his work stood apart through its embrace of mechanical rhythm, bold contrasts, and industrial modernity—earning him the title “the painter of the machine age.” His art celebrated the beauty of technology, urban life, and the human form rendered in dynamic, interlocking cylinders and planes, evoking the pulse of the modern world. Immersed in the vibrant Parisian art scene, Leger worked in dialogue with peers and contemporaries such as Alexander Calder, Alberto Giacometti, Salvador Dali, Joan Miro, Wassily Kandinsky, Marcel Duchamp, and Man Ray, all of whom shared his commitment to innovation and the reimagining of artistic expression. Beyond painting, Leger’s creative reach extended into film, design, and monumental public art—his 1924 collaboration on Ballet Mecanique with Dudley Murphy and Man Ray remains a landmark of avant-garde cinema. His later works evolved toward greater clarity and monumentality, celebrating the unity of form, color, and humanity through large-scale murals and mosaics that bridged fine art and architecture. Leger’s synthesis of Cubism, Futurism, and abstraction paved the way for movements such as Pop Art and influenced generations of artists including Roy Lichtenstein, Ellsworth Kelly, Robert Indiana, and Alexander Calder, who admired his fusion of structure, energy, and optimism. Today, his works are prized by major museums and collectors worldwide for their bold visual power and enduring modernity. His highest auction record was achieved by La femme en rouge et vert (1914), which sold for $39,241,000 at Sotheby’s, New York, on May 7, 2008.
Fernand Leger Tete et Feuille, Leger Verve, Leger Mourlot...
Category
Fauvist 1930s Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
$716 Sale Price
20% Off
Tribal Man - Original Lithograph by Emmanuel Gondouin - 1930s
Located in Roma, IT
Tribal Man is an original lithograph realized in the early 1930s by Emmanuel Gondouin, (Versailles, 1883 - Parigi, 1934)
The artwork is depicted through strong strokes and is part...
Category
Modern 1930s Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
Le Chaton - Lithograph by Edouard Chimot - 1932
Located in Roma, IT
Lithograph realized by Edouard Chimot in 1932.
Belongs to the suite "Le Chat", in which the author classifies and represents pubic hairstyles that become progressively more surreal....
Category
Post-Impressionist 1930s Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
Les Amants - Lithograph by Umberto Brunelleschi - 1930s
Located in Roma, IT
Les Amants is a color lithograph on ivory paper, created by the Italian artist Umberto Brunelleschi (Montemurlo 1879- Paris 1949).
Illustration for “Tales and Short Stories” by La F...
Category
Art Nouveau 1930s Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
James Penney, Test Stone, Touche
By James Penney
Located in New York, NY
James Penney was widely known for his New Yorker covers as well as his paintings and prints.
Penney was from Saint Joseph, Missouri. He trained in NYC at the Art Students League. The New-York Historical Society and the Library of Congress both have collections of his work.
Signed, titled, and dated, and annotated 'Test #1' in pencil.
Note entirely sure what's going on here...
Category
Ashcan School 1930s Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
Brunelleschi, Sans titre, La Leçon d
amour dans un parc (after)
Located in Southampton, NY
Lithograph and stencil on vélin d’Arches paper. Unsigned and unnumbered, as issued. Good condition. Notes: From the volume, La Leçon d'amour dans un parc, 1933. Published by Éditions...
Category
Modern 1930s Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph, Stencil
$1,436 Sale Price
20% Off
Drunk - Woodcut by Lorenzo Viani - 1930
Located in Roma, IT
Drunk is an original woodcut print on paper, realized by the Italian Artist Lorenzo Viani in 1930 ca.
The State of preservation is excellent.
Monogramm...
Category
Modern 1930s Figurative Prints
Materials
Woodcut
Cherry Kobler - Columbia, original French vintage poster full lithograph
Located in Spokane, WA
Evidently, Cherry Kobler was a woman who composed songs and sang them while accompanying herself on the piano. Why she chose a fruity dessert as a stage name is anyone's guess. According to the French files of Columbia Records...
Category
Conceptual 1930s Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
Il Revoit le Thabor, Modern Art Woodcut by Georges Rouault
Located in Long Island City, NY
Il Revoit le Thabor
Georges Rouault, French (1871–1958)
Woodcut, initialed in the block
Size: 12 x 8 in. (30.48 x 20.32 cm)
Frame Size: 18.5 x 14.5 inches
Category
Expressionist 1930s Figurative Prints
Materials
Woodcut
Pierre Bonnard, The Breakfast, from Verve, Revue Artistique, 1939
Located in Southampton, NY
This exquisite lithograph by Pierre Bonnard (1867–1947), titled Le petit-dejeuner (The Breakfast), from Verve, Revue Artistique et Litteraire, Vol. II, No. 5–6, originates from the 1...
Category
Post-Impressionist 1930s Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
$716 Sale Price
20% Off
Ex Libris - Marco Binnholz - Woodcut by Michel Fingesten - 1930s
Located in Roma, IT
Ex Libris - Marco Binnholz is a woodcut print created by Michel Fingesten.
Hand Signed on the lower right margin.
Good conditions.
Michel Fingesten (1884 - 1943) was a Czech pa...
Category
Symbolist 1930s Figurative Prints
Materials
Woodcut
Ibram Lassaw, (Abstraction)
By Ibram Lassaw
Located in New York, NY
This print was made for the American Abstract Artists Portfolio, 1937. All the images were lithographs made on zinc plates. Usually they were signed in the image -- on the plate, as this one is. As a group they explored abstraction in the 1930s, while maintaining their individual styles. The plan was to make an edition of 500 portfolios although it seems highly unlikely that this was accomplished.
Ibram Lassaw (1913-2003) was primarily known for his sculpture. Born in Egypt to a Russian family...
Category
Abstract 1930s Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
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