Mid-20th Century Drawings

Frank Poole Bevan (1903-1976) Studied at Yale and a Professor of Theatrical Design, Yale School of Drama from the 1930's through 1971. Offering an annotated and signed original costume design watercolor...

The 5th drawing in the series, Free Mason Lodge, Schwind Gasse number 8. Listing- 4 working drawings, Free Masons, Lodge, 1930 There you will find more inf...

A classic example of stylized Art Deco drawing with attenuated figures, this depiction of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden was created by Glidden Parker, who is most famous for his...

Outstanding French Noble portrait with carved frame, graphite drawing, ff. XIX, pp. XX Technical data Drawing on paper Title of the work: Untitled Author: anonymous Portrait paintin...

Arthur Reiwald drawing

Brutalist, abstract ink impression on tracing paper, masking taped to the back of a sheet of bond paper. Signed and dated 1952 lower left. Image size 7 3/4" x 5".

A silver-leaf framed ink and watercolour of Broad Street in Oxford. Signed and dated.

Beautifully drawn, clearly by an important artist, this depiction of two nude male figures sitting in the foreground of a columned facade -- perhaps alluding to the Classical sculpture of ancient Greece -- is not signed, perhaps due to the subtly homoerotic nature of the scene. The two figures have the solidity and gravity of high style Art Deco art, and may represent the academic, early work of a great master such as Glyn Philpot or John Craxton...

A gouache and ink "Abstract Expressionist" drawing. Important modern Japanese artist, exhibited in MOMA's 1966: "The New Japanese Painting and S...

This is a rare set of 5 drawings concerning the Free Masons Lodge on the Schwind Gasse number 8, in the 4th district of Vienna. The drawings were made in ...

Depicting a duck hunter in a boat dressed as a decoy, the caption reading "Quack". Drawn with pencil on illustration board and tracing paper (overlay) in p...

Beautifully composed and subtly colored in hues of pale, pale blue and rusty red, this frieze-like composition features two female figures in Classical Greek robes...

Pen and ink drawing by artist Walter Stawuszewski (20th Century) The drawing depicts a muscular man kneeling. Many of Walter Stawuszewski's art pi...

An interesting gouache on paper by Robert Freiman, signed and dated 1961. Robert J Freiman (b. 1917 - d. 1991), deaf from birth, was born in New York City and attended the Lexington School for the Deaf. He studied art at the National Academy of Design, Pratt Institute, the Art Students League, the Parsons School of Design, and, in Paris, at the Ecole des Beaux Arts. Freiman’s spectrum of styles evolved considerably over the course of his long career, ranging from early portraiture and realistic landscape to mixed-media works using watercolor, acrylic, and pen. He was a regular exhibitor at the Sidewalk Art...

Emile GILIOLI (1911-1977) : Abstract composition Pastel drawingon paper Gilded wooden baguette frame Signed lower left France, circa 1960 Dimensions (frame included): Height 79...

An early drawing by the famous French/American Pop/New Realist artist. Combining two of the artists motifs- paint tubes and multiplicity. A period 'Pop' work retains an Andrew Crispo...

Important work by this founding member of the Bokujin group. Signed lower right with the artists seal. Measures: 21" x 14".

A delightful floral still life by Gaston Albert Lavrillier (1885-1958), depicting a sumptuous bouquet of roses in soft and vibrant colors (pink, red, yellow, white) arranged in an el...

Loren Maciver (American 1909-1998) drawing of fruit conte crayon on pastel paper. Measures: Matted and framed 13 1/2" x 14 5/8", sight size 8 1/8" x 7 3/8".

An original Maison Jansen pencil drawing on velum, depicting an architectural detail "Rosace de Plafond" page 135 Stamped: Jansen, 9 Rue Royale Paris 8e

French 1940s gouache on paper. Custom framed with sandblasted oak frame with acid free paper and UV glass.

Albert Radoczy was a master at exploring the female form. His wife was his main model. Throughout his career, his drawings and paintings depicted women with images ranging from rea...

Drawing on paper by Paul Wonner and William T. Brown. Titled 'Farewell to Belvedere'. Drawing is not framed. Paul John Wonner (April 24, 1920 – April 23, 2008) was an American artis...

Sigurd Swane (1879-1973), Danish artist. Mixed media on paper. Landscape with trees. Expressive lines. Mid-20th century. Signed in pencil. In good condition with some paint loss and ...

Pair of 1930s drawings if sleeping babies by P. Cazot.

White Bunny Drawing by Oleg Cassini for Playboy October 1979, Signed. Illustration of a woman wearing a white body suit, choker, and hat. Signed by Oleg Cassini. Notice the body suit is in the shape of the head of a bunny with clever use of the 'whiskers'. Approximate Measurements: Length: 11" Width: 14" Property from the Collection of Steven Rosengard, Chicago, Illinois This original drawing was commissioned by Playboy and included in the October 1979 issue of Playboy Magazine (pages 225-227) in a feature that included works from designers such as Bill Blass, Oleg Cassini, Edith Head, Fernando Sanchez, and Monika Tilley, among others, who create their versions of the Playboy bunny costume. Candace Collins can be seen modeling some of the designs in the feature. Oleg Cassini is an icon of twentieth-century fashion. Though born to Russian aristocracy and raised in Italy, he built a fashion empire that was unmistakably American. Cassini is perhaps best known for the hundreds of designs he created for First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy (see images 4-8), but his achievements as a collector, connoisseur, and quintessential twentieth-century man go far beyond Camelot. In 1913, Oleg Cassini was born in Paris to the Russian diplomat Count Alexander Loiewski and Countess Marguerite Cassini, a Russian aristocrat of Italian ancestry who also had an interesting link to America. The daughter of Count Arthur Cassini, Russian Ambassador to the United States during the McKinley and Roosevelt administrations, Marguerite dazzled turn-of-the-century Washington as her father’s official hostess and left her mark on the capital city. Stationed in Denmark when the Russian Revolution toppled the czar, Ambassador Cassini and family were exiled to Switzerland before settling in Florence, Italy, where young Oleg was raised. A true Renaissance man, he spoke Russian, French, and Danish before adding Italian and English; he studied medieval and modern European military history and costume and learned to draw; he learned horseback riding, fencing, and the art of chivalry; and, most importantly, he came to understand the struggles of the Russian titled class and other European aristocrats in the wake of the Russian Revolution and World War I. Countess Cassini started a successful fashion business in Florence, and soon the talented young Oleg was sent to Paris to sketch the latest collections for recreation in Italy. In Rome in his early 20s, Cassini created fashions for high society women and designed for a few films, which planted the seed for his move to Hollywood. The drive to reinvent himself brought Cassini to America in the 1930s; in his autobiography he describes arriving nearly penniless in mid-Depression New York City where his title as an exiled Russian Count meant even less than in war-devastated Europe. Down and out, Cassini struggled for employment, having sketching skills but no knowledge of the wholesale trade required for survival in Manhattan’s Seventh Avenue fashion district. However, he excelled at making connections, and Cassini slowly entered New York society. He was soon joined by younger brother Igor (who had studied in America and travelled with the young Emilio Pucci) and his parents, the once-dazzling Countess and his father, the displaced diplomat still loyal to Russia. The family settled in Washington, D.C., and Igor worked his way up the Hearst newspaper chain to become the famous society columnist Cholly Knickerbocker. In New York, Oleg Cassini married the troubled socialite Merry Fahrney (who would go on to marry eight times), but the marriage ended in scandal for Oleg, and he decided to follow his original intention and head for Hollywood. Despite initial difficulties, Cassini gained access to Hollywood’s elite (partially through his skills on the tennis court), and was soon hired as a designer at Paramount Pictures alongside the redoubtable Edith Head. In her 1941 film debut I Wanted Wings, Veronica Lake wore a memorable Cassini design. That same year, Cassini met and married the newest young Hollywood star on the scene, the beautiful 20th Century Fox–talent Gene Tierney. With the outbreak of World War II, Cassini enlisted in the Coast Guard but was transferred to the U.S. Army Cavalry which allowed officers of foreign birth. He attended basic training at Fort Riley, Kansas, and the horsemanship he learned as a boy served him greatly. He attended Officer Candidate School and reached the rank of First Lieutenant (he also became an American citizen at this time, losing his title of Count). Cassini spent several years posted at Fort Riley, where Tierney joined him before he landed a convenient military post in Hollywood. As Tierney’s career thrived (she played the title role in Otto Preminger’s Laura in 1944), she was able to assert her influence over 20th Century Fox’s head Daryl Zanuck, who hired Cassini as designer for Tierney on her 1946 film The Razor’s Edge, which proved to be a brilliant showcase for his talents. The pair separated the same year and, again seeking reinvention, Cassini re-established himself in New York City as a fashion designer. By 1950, the Oleg Cassini label was born. Combining his knowledge of Old World and modern Europe, Hollywood, the tennis courts of Palm Beach and Newport, and of course, New York City, Oleg Cassini invented a new brand of fashion that was distinctly American and of its moment. For his first collection, Cassini took to the stage, narrating the looks and imbuing the scene with his personality, unusual in an industry where the designers typically remained backstage and the models were called by number over a PA. The first collection was a smash — the president of Lord & Taylor devoted all of their storefront windows to his designs — and by 1955 sales had reached $5,000,000. Oleg Cassini’s career had turned a very positive corner. Cassini spent the early 1950s traversing the country, personally selling his collections to department stores in the interior, something his predecessors had never done, and moving between the Hollywood and New York scenes. Cassini’s brother Igor coined the term “the Jet Set” for this generation that constantly flew from New York to Los Angeles (then a ten-hour flight), Las Vegas, Paris, Rome, and the Riviera. In 1954, Cassini set out to woo Grace Kelly and sent her roses every day. The two were briefly engaged before her marriage to Prince Rainier of Monaco. In December 1960, Cassini’s career-defining opportunity came when he was chosen by Jacqueline Kennedy to design her fashions for the White House. Cassini had long known Joe Kennedy and his war-hero son John, and had first met Jacqueline Bouvier before her marriage in the early 1950s. Invited by President-Elect Kennedy to meet Jacqueline at Georgetown Hospital (she had just given birth to son John Jr.) to present to her drawings of potential dresses and First Lady looks, Cassini worked furiously to prepare a new line for the First Lady. Mrs. Kennedy had always had her clothes made by the top French couturiers of the day, but for the White House she wanted an American designer. Cassini wrote in his autobiography that he told the First Lady: “‘You have an opportunity here,’ I said, ‘for an American Versailles.’ She understood completely what I was trying to communicate; she began to talk excitedly about the need to create an entirely new atmosphere at the White House. She wanted it to become the social and intellectual capital of the nation” (Oleg Cassini, In My Own Fashion, 1987, p. 327). Mrs. Kennedy loved Cassini’s design for a gown to wear to the Inaugural Gala (she had already ordered a dress from Bergdorf’s for the Inaugural Ball), and Cassini was selected as the First Lady’s designer and was soon dubbed the “Secretary of Style.” From 1960 to 1963, Oleg Cassini would design over 300 items for Mrs. Kennedy, creating the “Jackie Look” that contributed not only to a fashion revolution but also the dawn of a new age. Cassini wrote that “Jackie played a very active role in the selection of her clothes. She loved brilliant colors — pistachio, hot pink, yellow, and white among others. Her sense of style was very precise; she would make editorial comments on the sketches I sent her. She always knew exactly what she wanted; her taste was excellent” (Oleg Cassini, In My Own Fashion, 1987, p. 334). After the Camelot years, Cassini’s business flourished and grew into a major industry; his name appeared on everything from couture to tennis-, sport-, and swimwear, car interiors, housewares, and perfume. He collected beautiful and rare artwork, arms and armor, and antique furniture, and lived the lifestyle projected by his image. From this period onward, Cassini also came to live in important homes. Of his Gothic Gramercy Park townhouse on Manhattan’s 19th Street he would write imaginatively, “I walked into the foyer and immediately fell in love. It was a place unlike any other in New York, a sixteenth-century Dutch house transported brick by brick from Europe by the Wells Fargo family in the early twentieth century. There was a vaulted, twenty-foot ceiling in the living room, leaded windows, elegantly carved wood paneling...

Best known for his masterful painting of horses and polo players for a Hollywood clientele, this important study -- marked off in a grid to help the painter transfer the image to a large canvas -- was drawn by Kenneth Stevens MacIntire, a California painter. His depiction of male and female nudes on...

Vintage black wood framed sketch of two cows, from the Book Peinture et Dessins de Paul Jouve. Dated circa 1930. Not an original Paul Jouve drawing. Sk...

This dramatic drawing of St. George and the dragon was executed in 1954 by Gaston Goor, who was famous for illustrating a number of books by Roger Peyrefitte and others in France. Go...

French 1940s gouache on paper. Custom framed with sandblasted oak frame with acid free paper and UV glass.

Alfred Owles (1894-1978) "The Long Wait" original watercolor, circa 1970s Fine watercolor of two cowboys waiting for the stagecoach in an American West...

A charming 1956 Robert Freiman watercolor and ink on paper. Robert J Freiman (b. 1917 - d. 1991), deaf from birth, was born in New York City and attended the Lexington School for the Deaf. He studied art at the National Academy of Design, Pratt Institute, the Art Students League, the Parsons School of Design, and, in Paris, at the Ecole des Beaux Arts. Freiman’s spectrum of styles evolved considerably over the course of his long career, ranging from early portraiture and realistic landscape to mixed-media works using watercolor, acrylic, and pen. He was a regular exhibitor at the Sidewalk Art...

Beautiful etching of a Vatican sculpture by Italian artist Piranesi. Great addition to your architectural and classic inspired interiors.

Pair of rare signed Art Deco lithographs by Boris Lovet-Lorski. Lacquered wood frames. Boris Lovet-Lorski (1894-1973), sculptor, lithographer, and painter who contributed significantly to the American Art Deco movement, was born in Lithuania in 1894. Trained as an architect at the Royal Academy in Petrograd, Boris Lovet-Lorski was very aware of volume and structural space. His architectural background combined with other influences like the flattened aesthetic of Art Deco, produce a distinctly original style. Along with his idealized subjects, the originality and artistry of his design quickly won the young sculptor...

Reclining female nude in an upholstered club chair .on paper ,done with colored crayon.. signed in black upper left and in yellow upper right .. The drawing was observed out of fram...

William P. Katz, American (1926-2003) "Embarrassed Over Walking the Dog" Mixed media acrylic, pen & ink on linen, 1961. Signed and dated lower right, wit...

An interesting figurative colored chalks, charcoal drawing by Gisbert Palmie. A noted "anti-modernist" whose works were collected by leading Nazis inclu...

This nude figure, decked out in an Errol Flynn moustache and slicked-back hair, was executed in dark red pencil by Joe Waano-Gano, an important Native American artist with a prestigious career in California in the 1930s and 1940s. Born a Cherokee Indian...

Painted by a school teacher in rural Hautes Pyrenees, France. Based on the Toto, Lili, Rene and Jojo French educational stories. It is likely that the s...

A modern aquatint etching on paper titled "White Babushka" by California Anne Marie Persov. Artist proof, published in 1961. Signed and titled in pencil via bottom margin. A dramatic...

An original Jansen pencil drawing depicting an architectural detail "Rosace de Plafond" page 137. Stamped: Jansen, 9 Rue Royale Paris 8e.

HELENA BOUCHER (Unknown/Unidentified Artist) - Vintage pastel landscape drawing on buff paper - featuring a horse in the foreground set agains...

French 40's Gouache on paper. Custom framed with sandblasted oak frame with acid free paper and UV glass.

Vintage black wood framed sketch of a grazing Ram in the bushes, from the Book Peinture et Dessins de Paul Jouve. Dated circa 1930. Not an original Paul...

This strong and compelling portrait of a young man with chiselled features was drawn by Leon Kroll, WPA muralist and accomplished painter who normally favoured female subjects. Kroll studied under John...

Suite of 26 Art Deco nude alphabet pen and ink drawings, American, circa 1930s. Perfect for an old school country club, bar, or gentleman's study. Framed in cle...

Mette Doller (b. 1925), Danish artist. Mixed media on paper. Rooster. Dated 1959. Measures: 40 x 30 cm. The frame measures: 1.5 cm. In excellent condition. Signed and dated.

Charcoal abstract of geometric forms on paper (1959 signed: MICHAEL LOEW).      Though the painter Michael Loew is today best known for his colorful and gestural Abstract Expression...

A wonderful Robert Freiman watercolor, from 1956, entitled " Third Avenue at 57th Street". Robert J Freiman (b. 1917 - d. 1991), deaf from birth, was born in New York City and attended the Lexington School for the Deaf. He studied art at the National Academy of Design, Pratt Institute, the Art Students League, the Parsons School of Design, and, in Paris, at the Ecole des Beaux Arts. Freiman’s spectrum of styles evolved considerably over the course of his long career, ranging from early portraiture and realistic landscape to mixed-media works using watercolor, acrylic, and pen. He was a regular exhibitor at the Sidewalk Art...

The abstract expressionist drawing of a graceful ballerina dancing to Swan Lake in a deep bow; with illegible signature.

Vintage Ivan Jordell Abstract Pastel On Paper Artwork New Mat with original frame. Image Size: 10" x 13 1/2"

Selection of Modern Art or Gallery Wall, circa 1960s. From left to right they are: 1) Watercolor of male nude on blue paper, circa 1960s. It h...

Two drawing boards by a Parisian artist from the 14th arrondissement. Two drawing boards by a Parisian artist from the 14th arrondissement, mid-20th century. H: 59.5 cm, W: 75.5 cm,...

Gerda Åkesson (1909-1992), Swedish artist. Oil pastel on paper. Ballerina. Modernist style. Approximately from the 1960s. Signed. In perfect condition. V...

Drawn by Robert Hale Ives Gammell, this depiction of a nude male figure holding a stylized child aloft is brilliant evidence of the artist's mastery of draughtsmanship. Gammell loved...

Antique reprint of the first half of the 20th century, engraved reproduction depicting a famous drawing by Giuseppe Zocchi represents the composition o...

Bertil Wahlberg (1923-1980), listed Swedish artist. Pastel on paper. Figurative composition in a cubist style. 1960s. Signed. In perfect condition. Dimensions: 31.9 cm x 22.9 cm. Tot...

Post-WWII nude tropical color pencil drawing artwork Signed "Schultz" featuring a nude Hawaiian dancer in a skirt.

An original Maison Jansen pencil drawing depicting an architectural detail "Petit Panneau Directoire" page 70 Stamped: Jansen, 9 Rue Royale Paris 8e

An original Maison Jansen pencil drawing depicting an architectural detail "Rosace de Plafond Louis XIV" page 133 Stamped: Jansen, 39 Rue Royale Paris 8e