John Dronsfield Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Grotesque Portrait is an Original Drawing in China Ink realized in the Early 20th Century. The artwork is in good condition. The artwork is depicted through soft strokes in a well-...

Watercolour of Ireland Valley Countryside by 20th Century Irish Artist, George Trevor. Art measures 13.5 x 9.5 inches Frame measures 20.5 x 17 inches ...

Devant le Chateau une Carrosse Passait is a modern artwork realized by Salvador Dalì in 1945. China Ink drawing on paper. Signed and dated on the lower right recto. Outstanding dr...

A portait of the first Allied airship to perform a bombing raid from the sky by a celebrated artist whose work hung on the Titanic. Watercolor and ink on heavy wove watercolor paper, 10 5/8 x 15 inches (270 x 380 mm). Signed in black watercolor in the lower right image area. In very good condition with minor surface soiling on the verso. Titled "Verdun" in pencil on the verso in the artist's hand. Adhered on the verso to matboard at the extreme margins with non archival tape. Presented handsomely in a simple, period maple frame. Titled, dated, inscribed and initialed by the artist on a label on the frame back. Born in Cambridge in 1898 and educated at Southsea School of Art, Norman Wilkinson is known for his graphic art, specifically his British Railway poster images, and also for something quite incredible; Wilkinson revolutionized the art of naval camouflage. Having been assigned to submarine patrols in Dardanelles, Gallipoli, and Gibraltar during WWI as a member of the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve, Wilkinson was deeply troubled by the unprecedented success the German submarine fleet had torpedoing British ships. He hoped to find a solution to this gaping vulnerability, and in a lightning bolt moment, he had an epiphany that would change everything. Wilkinson says in his autobiography, A Brush With Life (Seeley, 1969), that he realized a ship could be painted to hide its shape against the sea and sky. In his own words, Wilkinson states that the hull of a ship could be camouflaged "not for low visibility, but in such a way as to break up her form and thus confuse a submarine officer as to the course on which she was heading." After some preliminary testing, the theory Wilkinson called "dazzle camouflage" was accepted by British Admiralty and Wilkinson was placed in charge of the naval camouflage unit. The unit, which was headquartered in the basement of the Royal Academy of Arts, consisted of Wilkinson and about two dozen "camoufleurs;" they were artists, students, model makers and consultants, including a zoologist. The dazzle schemes were tested on models and then distributed to artists who were stationed at the docks, where the ships would be painted. At the end of the war Wilkinson was formally declared the inventor of dazzle camouflage and awarded for his contribution. Wilkinson went on to enjoy a long and celebrated career as a painter of maritime scenes, naval vessels, and warships. He served as the president of the Royal Institute of Painter in Water Colours (RI) from 1936 until 1963 (having been elected a member in 1906); he was elected Honourable Marine Painter to the Royal Yacht Squadron in 1919, and he was a member of the Royal Society of British Artists, the Royal Institute of Oil Painters, the Royal Society of Marine Artists, and the Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour. In 1918 he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE), and a Commander of the Order (CBE) in 1948. In January 1920 he was appointed knight (chevalier) of the Belgian Order of the Crown. Among the many notable points of interest regarding Wilkinson's career is that his painting Plymouth Harbour, which was commissioned by Cunard White Star Lines for the first class smoking room of the RMS Titanic, was lost at sea when it perished with the ship. Wilkinson had also created a comparable painting entitled The Approach to the New World, which hung in the same location on the Titanic's sister ship, the RMS Olympic...

This beautiful 19th century Italian watercolour portrait painting is by noted artist Frederico Bartolini. It was painted circa 1890 in Rome and is signed and in good condition behind...

Johannes Friedrich Heinrich Hänsch (1875-1945), Red blooming war landscape with dead soldier, 1918. Watercolor and gouache on paper, 15 x 24.5 cm (image), 27 x 37 cm (sheet size / frame), monogrammed and dated "19JH18" at lower left. - Paper slightly darkened About the artwork Despite the relatively small format, the watercolor with an internal frame depicts a panoramic view of a flat landscape stretching to the horizon. As far as the eye can see, the poppies bloom in flaming red. The flowers are not rendered individually, however, creating an almost cohesive red surface. The bright red is interspersed with vegetal green. A complementary contrast that creates an intense color effect. In this color contrast, a white area breaks through from the middle ground, widening towards the foreground and surrounding a brown hole. Next to it, in blue, is the actual protagonist of the painting, the first thing that catches the eye: a dead soldier. Next to him is his helmet, revealing the empty interior. The brown, hollow shape corresponds to the hole in the ground. A shell funnel is surrounded by bright ash, which, like the inverted helmet, becomes a sign of death. The soldier's arms point to the funnel, while the empty helmet paraphrases the calotte of the skull and, like the funnel, thematizes the empty darkness of death. The soldier's body, however, is intact and not - as in Otto Dix's triptych "The War" - a dismembered corpse. Instead, Johannes Hänsch activates the landscape, especially the color, to illustrate a blooming landscape of death that extends from the shell funnel in the foreground to the rising column of smoke on the horizon. If the soldier's body is intact, the tangle of barbed wire emblematically placed over the empty helmet also appears tattered. On the right side of the picture, the barbed wire even seems to stretch its arms to the sky in horror. Against the background of this allegory, the content of the bright red also becomes clear: the landscape is drenched in blood, literally a sea of blood, and the single unknown soldier stands pars pro toto for all those who died on the battlefield. Dying in war is not dying in community, but in solitude. In order to emphasize the isolation in death, Johannes Hänsch has set the blue of the soldier in the axis given by his body in the middle ground of the picture into the red sea. A master of landscape painting, Hänsch succeeds in creating a natural-looking landscape allegory that illustrates the horror and death of war, without depicting the brutality of war itself. This singular 'war memorial' of the unknown soldier is the opposite of heroization and yet the dignity of the deceased soldier is preserved through the integrity of his body. About the artist As the son of the sculptor Adolf Haensch, the young Johannes received his first artistic training in his father's Berlin studio. However, he eventually decided to become a painter, and in 1897 he entered the Berlin Academy of Arts. He initially studied under Paul Vorgang and Eugen Bracht, and was particularly influenced by Bracht's increasingly colourful landscape painting. In 1901 he moved to the class of Friedrich Kallmorgen, with whom he spent several weeks on excursions into nature. In 1905 he became a master pupil of Albert Hertel, who taught him watercolour painting. From 1903 to 1933 he exhibited annually at the Great Berlin Art Exhibition, the exhibitions of the Berlin Artists' Association and the Munich Glaspalast. In 1905 he was awarded the Carl Blechen...

Muskateer 28th Foot (Gloucestershire Regiment) 1746 in Watercolor on Paper A beautiful watercolor of a British Musketeer of the 28th (North Gloucestershire) Regiment of Foot, in full uniform standing with poise and readiness by English artist Clarence F. Bretherick (b. 1868). Signed lower right. Displayed in a rustic giltwood frame. Image, 12"H x 9"W. In 1892 Bretherick was appointed permanently on the Liverpool Weekly Post as artist to that journal, to be responsible for all illustrations therein. His great specialty was figure drawing, military figure subjects in particular. This particular watercolor is a fine example of his skill as an artist and his fine attention to detail. 28th (North Gloucestershire) Regiment of Foot. The regiment was first raised in 1694 by Colonel Sir John Gibson, the Lieutenant-Governor of Portsmouth, as Sir John Gibson's Regiment of Foot and was posted to Newfoundland to protect the colony there. They saw action in Flanders during the War of the Austrian Succession...

Arabian Charger Seller" by Antonio Rivas (Spanish, 1845-1911) stands as an exquisite example of Orientalism, a 19th-century artistic movement that sought to depict the rich and diverse cultures of the East. Rivas, a master of his craft, delves into this genre with a keen eye for detail and a dedication to authenticity that brings the scene to life. In this antique watercolor on paper...

The Sketches of Figures is an original Drawing on paper realized by French painter Norbert Meyre in the mid-20 century. Drawing in pencil and pen and ink. Good conditions with a pi...

This artwork titled "Tresses" c.1990 is a watercolor on Wove paper by Crow Indian artist Penni Anne Cross A.K.A. (Alawa-Sta-We- Ches) 1939-2016. It i...

A fine, large watercolour by British listed artist Thomas Ellison who exhibited at The Royal Academy and the British Art institutions. It is a busy scene depicting the market at Veni...

This artwork titled "Chinatown, San Francisco" c.1975 is a watercolor on paper by noted Chinese/American artist Sun Ying, 1919-2016. It is hand signed at the lower left corner by the artist, stamped with the artist red ink stamp at the lower right corner. The artwork size is 15 x 22 inches, framed is 27 x 33.5 inches. It is beautifully custom framed in a wooden gold frame, with gold color spacer and fabric matting. It is in excellent condition. About the artist. 1919 Sun Ying 孙瑛 ( 1919-2016 ) known as (Sun Dashi 大石) was born on November 8, in a poor family, in Gaotang Xian, Shandong Province, in China. 1949 Based in Taipei, he devoted himself entirely to painting and influenced the world of art by creating several painting societies as the Chinese Association of Ink Painting . Taiwan awarded him the Golden Cup Award. 1960 / 1970 He exhibited his works in Australia, Brazil, Germany, Malaysia and United States. 1974 He went to live in the United States. 1982 After a visit to his family, he returned to China. 1984 With Qi Baishi...