Michel Henry Art

Botanical watercolour and gouache on paper circa 1920 by French fauvist painter Raoul Dufy. The work depicts flowers in red, blue and green. This work was executed by Dufy as a fabric design. Dimensions: Framed: 19.5"x19.5" Unframed: 12"x12" Provenance: Private collection of works by Raoul Dufy for Bianchini Ferier Bianchini Ferrier Collection - Christie's London - July 2001 SF Fall Show Raoul Dufy was one of a family of nine children, including five sisters and a younger brother, Jean Dufy, also destined to become a painter. Their father was an accountant in the employ of a major company in Le Havre. The Dufy family was musically gifted: his father was an organist, as was his brother Léon, and his youngest brother Gaston was an accomplished flautist who later worked as a music critic in Paris. Raoul Dufy's studies were interrupted at the age of 14, when he had to contribute to the family income. He took a job with an importer of Brazilian coffee, but still found time from 1892 to attend evening courses in drawing and composition at the local college of fine arts under Charles Marie Lhullier, former teacher of Othon Friesz and Georges Braque. He spent his free time in museums, admiring the paintings of Eugène Boudin in Le Havre and The Justice of Trajan in Rouen. A municipal scholarship enabled him to leave for Paris in 1900, where he lodged initially with Othon Friesz. He was accepted by the École des Beaux-Arts, where he studied under Léon Bonnat, whose innate conservatism prompted Dufy to remark later that it was 'good to be at the Beaux-Arts providing one knew one could leave'. And leave he did, four years later, embarking with friends and fellow students on the rounds of the major Paris galleries - Ambroise Vollard, Durand-Ruel, Eugène Blot and Berheim-Jeune. For Dufy and his contemporaries, Impressionism represented a rejection of sterile academism in favour of the open-air canvases of Manet, the light and bright colours of the Impressionists, and, beyond them, the daringly innovative work of Gauguin and Van Gogh, Seurat, Cézanne, Toulouse-Lautrec and others. Dufy was an out-and-out individualist, however, and was not tempted to imitate any of these artists. He produced, between 1935 and 1937, Fée Electricité (Spirit of Electricity), the emblem for the French utilities company Electricité de France (EDF). Dufy visited the USA for the first time in 1937, as a member of the Carnegie Prize jury. In 1940, the outbreak of war (and his increasingly rheumatic condition) persuaded him to settle in Nice. When he eventually returned to Paris 10 years later, his rheumatism had become so debilitating that he immediately left for Boston to follow a course of pioneering anti-cortisone treatment. He continued working, however, spending time first in Harvard and then in New York City before moving to the drier climate of Tucson, Arizona. The cortisone treatment was by and large unsuccessful, although he did recover the use of his fingers. He returned to Paris in 1951 and decided to settle in Forcalquier, where the climate was more clement. Within a short time, however, he was wheelchair-bound. He died in Forcalquier in March 1953 and was buried in Cimiez. Between 1895 and 1898, Raoul Dufy painted watercolours of landscapes near his native Le Havre and around Honfleur and Falaise. By the turn of the century, however, he was already painting certain subjects that were to become hallmarks of his work - flag-decked Parisian cityscapes, Normandy beaches teeming with visitors, regattas and the like, including one of his better-known early works, Landing Stage at Ste-Adresse. By 1905-1906 Friesz, Braque, Matisse, Derain, Vlaminck, Van Dongen and Rouault were described collectively as Fauves (the wild beasts). What they had in common was a desire to innovate, but they felt constrained nonetheless to meet formally to set out the guiding principles of what promised to be a new 'movement'. Dufy quickly established that those principles were acceptable; moreover, he was most impressed by one particular painting by Henri Matisse ( Luxury, Calm and Voluptuousness) which, to Dufy, embodied both novelty and a sense of artistic freedom. Dufy promptly aligned himself with the Fauves. Together with Albert Marquet in particular, he spent his time travelling the Normandy coast and painting views similar...

Lowell Nesbitt Orchid, 1979 Silkscreen on wove paper Pencil signed, dated and numbered 144/175 by Lowell Nesbitt on the front Published by Charles Cardinale Fine Creations, Inc., with blind stamp on the front 25 × 25 inches Unframed This work is pencil signed, dated and numbered 144/175 by Lowell Nesbitt on the front. About Lowell Nesbitt. Lowell Nesbitt, who was born in Baltimore on Oct. 4, 1933, was a graduate of the Tyler School of Art at Temple University in Philadelphia and also attended the Royal College of Art in London, where he worked in stained glass & etching. In 1964, the Corcoran Gallery or Art in Washington gave him one of his first museum exhibitions, and by the mid 1970's he had decided to leave the museum a bequest of more than $1 million. But in 1989, he publicly revoked the bequest after the Corcoran canceled a disputed exhibition of photographs by Robert Mapplethorpe, who was an old friend. Mr. Nesbitt named the Phillips Collection as a beneficiary instead. He was frequently grouped with the Photo Realists, but his images were more interpretively distorted, somewhat loosely painted and boldly abbreviated. He had many subjects: studio interiors, articles of clothing, piles of shoes and groupings of fruits and vegetables. He also painted his dog, a Rottweiler named Echo, the Neoclassical facades of SoHo's 19th century cast-iron buildings and several of Manhattan's major bridges. Despite such variety, Lowell Nesbitt was best known for gargantuan images or irises, roses, lilies and other flowers, which he often depicted in close up so that their petals seemed to fill the canvas. Dramatic, implicitly sexual and a little ominous, they earned the artist a popularity with the general public that tended to overshadow his reputation within the art world. In 1980, the United States Postal Service issued four stamps based on Mr. Nesbitt's floral paintings. He also served as the official artist for the space flights of Apollo 9...

Artist: Elisabeth Hahn (German 1924-2021) Elisabeth Hahn was born in Dortmund, Germany, where she began her artistic studies. In 1953, she moved to Paris. She continued her studies ...

Artist: Lowell Blair Nesbitt, American (1933 - 1993) Title: White Irises on Blue Year: 1980 Medium: Screenprint, signed and numbered in pencil Edition: 200, AP 30 Image Size: 41 x 23...

A set of three fine hand painted botanical watercolour studies on silk of tulips by La Roche Laffitte. The works are signed bottom right. Some are titled and numbered (see photos) Th...

Gouache on paper fabric design circa 1920 by French fauvist painter Raoul Dufy executed in dark blues and a deep red. Dimensions: Framed: 16"x12.5" Unframed: 11"x7.5" Provenance: P...

This purple, white, beige and orange painting titled "R.I.P. Kobe" is an original artwork by Ruby Silvious made of watercolor and gouache on used tea bag. This...

Antique American school modernist watermelon still life pastel painting. Pastel on paper. Signed. Framed. Measuring 18 by 22 inches overall and 16 by 20 painting alone.

A pair of fine hand painted botanical watercolour studies on silk of anemones by La Roche Laffitte. The works are signed bottom right. Both are titled. The silk has been mounted on h...

“Still Life, 1936” by Katharine "Kitty" Duff Church (British, 1910-1999). This large, early painting by Katherine Church is among her finest canvases of the period. Characterized by its bold color palette, simplified forms, and expressive brushwork, this composition centers around a tabletop adorned with various objects: potted plants, a ceramic dish, bottles, and what appear to be books or papers. The two potted plants provide contrasting elements: on the left, what appears to be a cyclamen with red blossoms and delicate leaves, and on the right, a lush green plant with darker foliage. These plants, painted with loose, textured strokes, add an organic quality to the otherwise structured arrangement. The tabletop is cluttered yet thoughtfully composed, featuring additional objects like a clear, faceted glass bowl, a small bottle, and books or pads in striking red and green. The dynamic use of color blocks and the juxtaposition of shapes (round pots against rectangular books) create a sense of rhythm and harmony. The background is darker and less defined, emphasizing the brightly lit tabletop. Church's brushwork is gestural and modernist, leaning toward abstraction, challenging traditional still life conventions. This painting reflects Church’s interest in balancing everyday objects with bold artistic expression. It conveys both the simplicity and complexity of daily life, transforming an ordinary moment into a vibrant and engaging work of art. This work is oil on canvas and is signed and dated in the lower right. It is housed in its original gessoed frame and retains various labels and inscriptions on the reverse. Size: 28.25 inches tall by 36 inches wide (painting) 34 inches tall by 42 inches wide by 2 inches deep (frame) Provenance: Private collection, NY; Acquired from the above About the artist: Born in Highgate, north London, Katharine Church, known as ‘Kitty’ amongst friends and family, always wanted to paint. She trained at the Royal Academy of Arts between 1930-1933 and at the Slade between 1933 and 1934. In her early years Kitty exhibited regularly at the Royal Academy. Her first solo exhibition was in 1933 at the Wertheim Gallery. Other artists who exhibited there included Christopher Wood, Victor Pasmore and Cedric Morris. Kitty also showed with the New English Art Club, the London Group and between 1937-1947 her work was exhibited at the influential Lefevre Gallery, which supported avant-garde artists such as Henry Moore, Ben Nicholson and Barbara Hepworth. In 1954 the artist was invited to take part in the Figures in their setting exhibition held at the Tate Gallery. Henry Tonks and Philip Wilson Steer had a strong influence on Kitty’s early work, but it was her friendship with Ivon Hitchens that liberated her painting technique. In 1936 Kitty married Anthony West, the son of writers Rebecca West and H.G. Wells. The couple initially lived in London before moving to Quarry Farm, Chicksgrove, Tisbury, near Salisbury, where they brought up their children Caroline and Edmund. There they hosted many of their friends, including the New Zealand painter Frances Hodgkins. Other regular visitors before the War included John and Mywafany Piper, Ralph and Frances Partridge, Noel and Catharine Carrington, Julian Trevelyan and Mary Fedden. For many of those who visited Kitty would organise painting expeditions. After the war Kitty and Anthony separated, with Anthony moving to the United States. Anthony West moved to the United States to work as a journalist for The New Yorker. In the early years after their parting Kitty visited most years with the children. In the 1960s Kitty purchased Sutton House and ran the Hambledon Gallery at Blandford Forum. There she promoted the work of her early art-school friends Mary Fedden and Julian Trevelyan, alongside work by the Pipers, John Craxton...

Elisabeth Condon’s Memorial Flowers series reimagines the still life as a meditation on memory, impermanence, and renewal. Using gouache and ink, she stages vibrant floral arrangemen...

Lafuente - Flowers - Oil on canvas Spanish school signed "Lafuente". Oil measures 61x50 cm. Frameless.