Wheeler Williams

"Leda and the Swan" Wheeler Williams, Modernist, Classical Myth, American Nude

1943

Warren Wheelock Untitled (Young Woman Nude), 1924 Incised signature and date to edge of base "© 1924 by Warren Wheelock" Bronze Sculpture: 20 h × 4½ w...

Mercedes Matter Reclining Nude, circa 1920 Signed "Mercedes Matter" on the overlap Oil on canvas 32 x 51 inches Born in New York in 1913 to famed Philadelphia Modernist, Arthur B. ...

Sidney Gordin Untitled, 1958 Incised with initials Welded Steel 15 x 10 1/2 x 6 inches Provenance: Eric Firestone Gallery, New York On October 24, 1918, Sidney Gordin was born in Chelyabinsk, Russia. He spent his early years in Shanghai, China. At the age of four, he moved with his family to New York. Gordin’s nephew, Eliot Nemzer recalls that when Gordin was a child he attended “a dinner party with his parents. Someone showed him a book of pictures that when thumbed through quickly made the image appear to move. This person then gave him a wad of blank papers and something to write with. Sid created a similar type of moving image with his materials. All the adults at the party became quite excited [and] praised his efforts. Sid told me he thought this was a pivotal experience in guiding him towards his vocation.” During his formative years at Brooklyn Technical High School, he briefly contemplated the idea of becoming an architect; yet, by the time he enrolled at Cooper Union, he was determined to become a professional artist. There, he studied under Morris Kantor (1896-1974) and Leo Katz...

Karl Bitter Reclining Woman, 1897 Signed: Bitter 97 Stamped: GORHAM M F G CO. Bronze 10.25 x 10.25 x 4 inches Initially from Vienna, Karl Bitter first studied art at the city’s Kunstgewerbeschule and the Kunstakademie before being drafted into the Austrian army. He deserted his position in the military while on leave, and departed for New York City where he would discover considerable success. Early on, he won a competition for the Astor memorial bronze gates at Trinity Church, which awarded him enough capital to open his own studio. He went on to execute sculptures of Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson at the Cuyahoga Courthouse in Cleveland; he also created portraits of Jefferson for the state of Missouri and the University of Virginia. These commissions caught the attention of sculptor Richard Morris Hunt (who famously designed the façade of the Metropolitan Museum), earning Bitter the duty of producing the portrait medallions that now appear near the top of the museum’s grand face. Notably, he presented at Chicago’s 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition and directed the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo in 1901. Over his career, his artwork became more flexible – his early academy training is easily identifiable within his work, but after moving to America, conventions of Modernism became more prevalent within his sculpture. In addition to many awards, Bitter presided over the National Sculpture Society in 1906-1907, and was a member of the National Institute of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Design, the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Architectural League, and the Art Commission, New York. His public work can be found at the Biltmore Estate, Asheville, NC; Gettysburg National Military Park, Gettysburg, PA; Wisconsin State Capitol, Madison, WI; United States Naval Academy...

A bronze sculpture by Reuben Nakian from 1978. An abstract-figurative sculpture representing the Greek myth of Leda and the Swan- in which the Greek god Z...

Classical mythology is fraught with stories of sexual misdeeds by Zeus, King of the Gods. Often Zeus would fall in love with a mortal woman and then transform himself into an animal ...

A unique piece: a hand modelled sculpture by French artist Jeannine Nathan (b.1924). Working in Paris, Jeannine was able to visit Picasso’s studio, and was impressed by the Master’s ...

Stunning bronze French sculpture "Leda and the Swan"; by Paul Silvestre (French, 1884-1976). This is #87 of an edition limited to 500 castings done from the original in 1983 for the ...