Kurt Wirth Art

Etching on antique cream laid paper with a deckle edge and an unidentified round watermark with an arm holding a torch, 3 1/2 x 5 5/8 inches (89 x 144 mm); sheet 5 3/4 x 8 3/8 inches...

Etching on cream wove paper. 6 5/16 x 3 3/4 inches (159 x 94 mm), full margin. Signed in pencil lower center margin, from the edition of 111. A well inked impression with a minor cre...

1926. Etching in sepia ink on Japon paper, 9 5/8 x 11 1/2 inches (245 x 292 mm), full margins with the lower margin slightly notched. Signed, titled and dated in pencil in the lower ...

James Lesesne Wells, 'Sisters', linocut, edition not stated but small, 1928. Signed, titled, and annotated 'imp' in pencil. A fine impression on off-white wove Japan paper, with wide margins (1 7/8 to 3 3/4 inches), in excellent condition. Printed by the artist. Very scarce. Matted to museum standards, unframed. Image size 8 3/16 x 6 3/4 inches (208 x 171 mm); sheet size 13 1/2 x 10 3/4 inches (343 x 273 mm). Exhibition and Literature: 'Narratives of African American Art and Identity: The David C. Driskell Collection,' The Art Gallery at the University of Maryland, extensive touring exhibition, 1998-2000. Collections: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Smithsonian Institution (Anacostia Community Museum). ABOUT THE ARTIST “Wells is more than an artist with a deep concern for his fellow man. He carries many of his themes a step further into an apocalyptic world, a world of revelation and shifting lights. … He works on large blocks in a bold free style. … His work has a vigor, therefore, that is not often used in the medium today.” —Jacob Kainen (painter, critic, and collector) from Richard J. Powell’s 1986 essay Phoenix Ascending: The Art of James Lesesne Wells. James Lesesne Wells was an American painter, printmaker, educator, and pioneering figure of the Harlem Renaissance, whose work established a vital connection between African heritage, modernist form, and African American cultural identity. Known for his innovative use of linoleum and woodblock printing, Wells played a key role in shaping 20th-century African American art and inspired countless students throughout his lengthy career as a teacher at Howard University. Born in Atlanta, Georgia, Wells' early exposure to the arts came through church and community, where African American cultural traditions were central. He pursued formal artistic training at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania (earning a B.A. in 1924), followed by studies at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and the Barnes Foundation, where he encountered European modernists as well as traditional African sculpture, which profoundly influenced his style. Wells moved to New York in the late 1920s, swiftly immersing himself in the lively artistic and intellectual scene of Harlem. There, he became associated with artists, writers, and thinkers of the Harlem Renaissance, contributing to the growth of Black cultural identity. Considered a mentor to many famed artists of the Harlem Renaissance, Wells served as director of a summer art workshop in Harlem where his assistants included Charles Alston, Jacob Lawrence, and Palmer Hayden...

A beautiful turn-of-the-century lake view of Chicago by an American artist known for his Texas landscapes. Etching with drypoint on watermarked Umbria laid paper with deckle edges, 7 1/4 x 10 7/8 inches (182 x 275 mm), full margins. Signed and numbered 4/25 in pencil, lower margin. In good condition with adhesive residue at the sheet edges on the verso, does not show through to the recto. A lovely Lake Michigan landscape...

Etching on antique cream laid paper with a deckle edge, 9 1/8 x 9 3/4 inches (232 x 248 mm); sheet 12 1/8 x 12 3/4 inches (307 x 323 mm), full margins. Signed and dated in pencil in ...

A superb impression on Japon paper, one of only three proofs. Etching on handmade Japon paper with a deckle edge, 13 1/8 x 9 7/8 inches (333 x 252 mm); sheet 18 1/4 x 13 3/4 inches ...

From The robbers. lithographs by George Grosz for the drama of the same name. photolithography on laid paper. 19 X 25.5 inches (sheet size). This is not hand signed or numbered in ...

Drypoint etching with engraving printed in black ink on Japanese mulberry paper, 4 1/2 x 3 3/8 inches (113 x 84 mm), full margins. In superb condition. A beautiful New York City river...

Norman Rockwell (American, 1894-1978) Family Tree Original painting produced 1959, this print published 1959 in Japan by The Curtis Publishing Company Lithograph Sight: 19 1/4 x 13 3...

Lucille Fink creates slightly bizarre, densely drawn spaces. Signed, titled, and numbered '19,' in pencil. Annotated on the reverse, "June, 1932, week of 6-10-32, last wk of school."...

Ecthing in black ink on cream laid paper with a partial watermark, full margins. In excellent condition. A very scarce work from an edition of less than 20 impressions. Signed, date...