The Artists of the WPA
Officers
Harold Porcher
Director
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Deborah Rogal
Director, Photographs & Photobooks
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Todd Weyman
Vice President & Director, Prints & Drawings
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Dept. Manager & Client Relations
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Lauren Cooper
Associate Director
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(212) 254-4710 ext. 57
George S. Lowry
Chairman
Nicholas D. Lowry
President, Principal Auctioneer
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Andrew M. Ansorge
Vice President & Controller
Alexandra Mann-Nelson
Chief Marketing Officer
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Todd Weyman
Vice President & Director, Prints & Drawings
1214107
Nigel Freeman
Vice President & Director, African American Art
Rick Stattler
Vice President & Director, Books & Manuscripts
Administration
Andrew M. Ansorge
Vice President & Controller
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Ariel Kim
Client Accounting
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Diana Gibaldi
Operations Manager
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Kelsie Jankowski
Communications Manager
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Shannon Licitra
Shipping Manager
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Edward laning (1906-1981)
Black Friday.
Black and sepia ink with gouache highlights on paper, 1939. Signed, Laning, lower right. 356x260 mm; 14x10¼ inches.
Edward Laning had a rich career as artist and illustrator creating numerous commissioned works. Funded by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts (TSFA) he completed a triptych for the Richmond County Administration Building, Rockingham NC in 1937, and in 1942 he created a mural for the William H. Natcher U.S. Courthouse in Bowling Green, KY. Under the Federal Art Project of the Works Progress Administration Laning created murals for the dining hall in the Administration Building at Ellis Island, (partially destroyed with remaining works moved to the Brooklyn Courthouse), and perhaps his most spectacular murals created for the main branch of the New York Public Library's McGraw Rotunda.
This drawing is from a series Laning did in the year 1939 depicting the stock market crash of 1929.
Edward laning (1906-1981)
Study for Black Friday: Richard Whitney and the Stock Exchange.
Black and sepia ink on illustration board, 1939. Signed, Laning, lower right. Signed, Edward laning, and inscribed Black Thursday on verso. 400x355 mm; 15¾x14 inches.
This drawing is a study for Laning's 1939 oil painting titled Black Friday: Richard Whitney and the Stock Exchange, commissioned by Life Magazine in 1939, and illustrated in Life Magazine, depicting important events from the year 1929.
Hansel mieth (1909-1998)
Unemployed father with son at Worker’s Alliance Meeting, North Platte, Neb.
Silver print, the image measuring 343x260 mm; 13½x10¼ inches, with Mieth’s signature, title, and negative date in ink, and her stamp on verso. 1939; printed 1980s.
Arthur rothstein (1915-1985)
Dust Storm, Cimarron County, Oklahoma.
Silver print, the image measuring approximately 481 mm;19 inches square, with Rothstein’s signature and edition notation 104/300 in pencil on recto. 1936; printed circa 1980.
Jack delano (1914-1997)
Man speaking to group * Workers from the nearby powder plant having dinner at their boarding house in Childersburg, Ala.
Together, 2 silver prints, the images measuring 168x220 mm; 6⅝x8⅝ inches and 184x241 mm; 7¼x9½ inches, the sheets slightly larger, each with Delano’s signature in ink, his F.S.A. credit stamp and a Farm Security Administration stamp, and the RA number in pencil, on verso; the second also with the typed title and date, also on verso. 1941.
Raphael soyer (1899-1987)
The Mission.
Lithograph. 309x449 mm; 12⅛x17⅝ inches, full margins. Edition of only 25. Signed and titled in pencil, lower margin. 1933.
A very good impression of this scarce lithograph. Cole 27.
Among Soyer’s most celebrated lithographs, The Mission is a Depression-era view of homeless men in a New York soup kitchen (it is also commonly seen as a companion print to the equally important Bowery Nocturne, lithograph, from the same year, see Cole 28). Soyer was an avid printmaker throughout his career, creating more than 250 lithographs and etchings over the span of some 65 years.
Reginald marsh (1898-1954)
Bread Line— No One Has Starved.
Etching. 165x303 mm; 6¼x11⅞ inches, wide margins. Sixth state (of 6). Edition of approximately 20. Signed and numbered “19” in pencil, lower margin. 1932.
A brilliant, early impression of this scarce print with strong contrasts. Sasowsky 139.
Born in Paris, the second son in a well-to-do family, Marsh attended Yale University and then moved to New York where, during the early 1920s, he worked as an illustrator and took classes at the Art Students League. Marsh was equally influenced by his art teachers in New York, notably John Sloan (1871-1951), as well as American Regionalists like Thomas Hart Benton (1889-1975) and Old Masters such as Rubens, Titian and Tintoretto. He wholly rejected the modern artistic movements gaining strength in America at the time-Cubism, Surrealism, Abstraction. Instead he pursued a style that is best summed up as social realism: depictions of everyday life in New York, Coney Island beach scenes, vaudeville and burlesque women, the jobless on the streets of New York and the railroad yards and freight trains in New York and New Jersey.
He participated in the federal art programs under the WPA, painting two murals in Washington, DC, and, funded by the Treasury Relief Art Project, completed a series of frescoes in the New York Customs House, now the National Museum of the American Indian, that depict eight New York Harbor scenes and eight portraits of great navigators. It is one of the most celebrated mural installations created under the New Deal in New York City.
Russell lee (1903-1986)
Entrance to courthouse, Gatesville, Texas * Courthouse, Gatesville, Texas * Old timers in front of courthouse, San Augustine, Texas.
Together, 3 silver prints, the images measuring 178x241 mm; 7x9½ inches, and slightly smaller, the sheets slightly larger, each with Lee’s F.S.A. stamp and a Farm Security Administration stamp, the typed title and date, and the RA number in pencil, on verso. 1939-40.
William gropper (1897-1977)
Uprooted.
lithograph on paper. Full margins. Signed and titled in pencil in lower margin. 260x400 mm; 10¼x15¾ inches.
William Gropper was adept working in various media. His contributions included easel painting, print making, poster design, illustration, and murals. Working in oil on canvas, Gropper completed three mural projects: Two canvases for the Freeport, New York Post Office, 1938; Three canvases for the Stewart Lee Udall Department of the Interior building, Washington, DC, 1936-7 and installed in 1940; One canvas, painted for the Northwestern Brach post Office, Detroit, later moved and installed at Wayne State University Student Center, Detroit, Michigan. This print is in the collection of the Whitney Museum of American Art, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, among others.
John sloan (1871-1951)
Two etchings.
Girl and Beggar. 101x152 mm; 4x6 inches, wide margins. Edition of 85 (from an intended edition of 100). Signed, titled and inscribed “100 proofs” in pencil, lower margin, and signed by the printer, Peter Platt, in pencil, lower left. 1910 * Bonfire</i>. 25x184 mm; 5x7¼ inches, full margins. Second state (of 2). Edition of 75 (from an intended edition of 100). Signed, titled and inscribed “100 proofs” in pencil, lower margin. 1920.
Very good impressions. Morse 150 and 198.
Joseph hirsch (1910-1981)
Sleeping Beggar.
Pen and ink and wash on Arches. 230x377 mm; 9⅛x14⅞ inches. Signed in ink, upper left recto. 1910.
Provenance: Kennedy Galleries, Inc., New York, with the label; private collection, Columbus, Ohio.
Thomas hart benton (1889-1975) (after)
Homecoming—Kaw Valley.
Offset lithograph. 300x372 mm; 11¾x14⅝ inches, full margins. Signed in pencil, lower right. 1951.
A very good impression of this scarce print.
Benton created this print as a fundraiser for Kansas City flood victims in 1951. According to Fath, he made it “In a special edition for the members of the Congress of the United States and sent it to them on October 13, 1951.” This was also used as the cover image for the November, 1951, issue of the New Republic. Fath page 6-7.
Georges schreiber (1904-1977)
Two lithographs.
Rain. 250x332 mm; 9⅞x13 inches, wide margins. Circa 1944. * Spring Strom. 240x340 mm; 9½x13⅜ inches, wide margins. 1943. Both edition of 250. Both signed in pencil, lower right. Both published by Associated American Artists, New York.
Very good impressions.
Schreiber was born in Brussels, Belgium, his education spanning several European cities before moving to New York in 1928. He was employed by the Works Project Administration between 1936-1939 which allowed him to travel throughout the United States as an artist. When the United States entered World War II, he was commissioned by the US Navy to illustrate posters popularizing the cause.
Thomas hart benton (1889-1975)
Flood.
Lithograph. 235x310 mm; 9⅛x12¼ inches, full margins. Edition of 196. Signed in pencil, lower right. Published by Associated American Artists, New York. 1937.
A very good impression. Fath 16.
Benton was already seen as a leader in the Regionalist movement and a celebrated muralist by the time the WPA started the Federal Arts Program. He had been commissioned to paint murals of life in Indiana for the 1933 Century of Progress Exhibition in Chicago, which caused controversy. In 1934, his work was featured on the cover on Time magazine, which legitimized Regionalism as an art movement. His murals were influential for many of the artists hired as muralists under the WPA.
Hugo gellert (1892-1985)
Three prints.
Machinery and Large-Scale Industry: The Factory. Lithograph. 572x384 mm; 22½x15⅛ inches, full margins. Edition of 133. Signed in pencil, lower right. Printed by Atelier Desjobert, Paris. From Karl Marx Capital in Pictures. 1933 * The Professional Patriot (The Trumpeter). Lithograph. 335x300 mm; 13¼x11¾ inches, full margins. Edition of 33 (from an intended edition of 50). Signed in pencil, lower right. Published by Covici Friede, New York. From Æsop Said So. 1936 * The Fifth Column. Color lithograph and screenprint. 385x332 mm; 15¼x13 inches, full margins. Edition of approximately 54. Signed in pencil, lower right. Published by International Workers Order, New York. From Century of the Common Man: Two Speeches by Henry A. Wallace. 1943.
Very good impressions.
John sloan (1871-1951)
Bonfire.
Etching. 132x188 mm; 5⅛x7⅜ inches, full margins. Second state (of 2). Edition of 75 (from an intended edition of 100). Signed, titled and inscribed “100 proofs” in pencil, lower margin. 1920.
A superb impression with strong contrasts. Morse 198.
The WPA gave opportunities and financial help to many artists who were struggling during the Depression. Sloan, already an established artist and teacher at the Art Students League (who taught many artists who particapted in the WPA programs), did not fit that profile, but he did participate in the Treasury Section of Fine Arts, which hired well-known artists for its projects. He painted the mural The Arrival of the First Mail in Bronxville in 1846 for the post office in Bronxville, New York. He also created two paintings for the WPA, one The Wigwam, Old Tammany Hall, now in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the other Fourteenth Street at Sixth Avenue, originally hung the office of U.S. Senator Royal Copeland and now is exhibited at the Detroit Insitute of Arts.
Don freeman (1908-1978)
Election Night, Times Square.
Lithograph. 275x353 mm; 11⅞x13⅞ inches. Edition of 50. Signed and titled in pencil, lower margin. 1934.
A very good impression. McCulloch 88.
Thomas hart benton (1889-1975)
Strike.
Lithograph. 255x276 mm; 10x11 inches, full margins. Edition of fewer than 100 (from an intended edition of 300). Signed in pencil, lower right. Published by the Contemporary Print Group, New York. 1933.
A superb, dark impression of this extremely scarce, early lithograph.
This is one of Benton’s (1889-1975) earliest lithographs and was published in the second portfolio circulated by the Contemporary Print Group, The American Scene, Series 2, along with prints by John Steuart Curry, William Gropper, Russell Limbach, Charles Locke and Raphael Soyer. According to Cole, “probably fewer than 100 impressions were printed as the project was not successful,” The Lithographs of John Steuart Curry, New York, 1976, number 22. Fath 5.
John steuart curry (1897-1946)
Manhunt.
Lithograph. 248x328 mm; 9¾x12⅞ inches, full margins. Edition of approximately 100 (from an intended edition of 300). Signed, titled and dated in pencil, lower margin. Published by the Contemporary Print Group, New York. 1934.
A very good impression. Cole 22.
A key Regionalist at the time the New Deal was implemented, Curry participated as a muralist for the The Treasury Section of Fine Arts, a merit based program rather than a relief program. He was commissioned to create the murals for the Kennedy Department of Justice Building in Washington, DC in 1937, and the Norwalk City Hall, in Norwalk, Connecticut in 1936.
Sara berman beach (1890-1978)
William L. Patterson calls for Clemency for the Rosenbergs.
Oil on masonite. Signed, S.B. Beach, lower right. 610x508 mm; 24x20 inches.
Rockwell kent (1882-1971)
Night Flight.
Chiaroscuro wood engraving printed in black and gray. 216x162 mm; 8½x6⅜ inches, full margins. Edition of 150. Signed and titled in pencil, lower margin. 1941.
A very good impression with strong colors. Burne-Jones 132.
Rockwell kent (1882-1971)
Starry Night.
Wood engraving. 177x125 mm; 7x5 inches, full margins. Edition of 1750. Signed in pencil, lower right. Published by the Literary Guild of America. 1933.
A very good, evenly-printed and dark impression. Burne-Jones 103.
Kent was a WPA muralist whose commission for the Post Office in Washington, DC (now the Clinton Federal Building) was highly controversial. The mural portrayed Puerto Rico’s first airmail delivery and seemed to sympathize with the cause for Puerto Rican independence. A woman is shown with a letter in Kuskokwim Eskimo dialect that reads “To the people of Puerto Rico, our friends! Let us change chiefs. That alone can make us equal and free!”
Rockwell kent (1882-1971)
Prometheus Unchained.
Lithograph. 357x290 mm; 14x11⅜ inches, full margins. Small edition; there was no published edition. Signed and titled in pencil, lower margin. Printed by George Miller, New York. 1938.
A superb impression of this very scarce lithograph. We have found only 4 other impressions at auction in the past 30 years. Burne-Jones cites only 8 impressions in public collections. Burne-Jones 119.
Kent was born in Tarrytown, New York and attended the Columbia University School of Architecture and studied painting from well known American artists such as Robert Henri. After moving to Maine, Kent took up wood engraving and gained a reputation as a prolific graphic artist in the 1920s. An intrepid traveller, Kent went on a number of trips to the most remote parts of the world, which heavily inspired his artwork. In 1937 he was commissioned by the Federal Public Works Administration to create two murals for the New Post Office in Washington DC, today the William Jefferson Clinton Federal Building.
William gropper (1897-1977)
Stabbed in the Back.
Oil on canvas, 1939.
641x508 mm; 25¼x20 inches. Signed, Gropper, and dated, ‘39, lower left.
Exhibited: ACA Galleries, NY, Gropper 1940, Feb. 11 - Mar. 2, 1940.
Literature:1940, Gropper 1940, ACA Gallery, ilus. plate 17.
William gropper (1897-1977)
Three lithographs.
Johnny Appleseed. 336x227 mm; 13¼x8⅞ inches, full margins. 1941 * Joe Magarac. 340x221 mm; 13⅜x8¾ inches, full margins. From American Folk Heroes. 1948 * Davy Crockett. 320x207 mm; 12⅝x8⅛ inches, full margins. Circa 1951. Each signed in pencil, lower right. Each from an edition of 250. Each printed by George C. Miller, New York. Each published by Associated American Artists, New York.
Very good impressions.
Gropper, born in New York, was a cartoonist and social realist painter who attended to the National Academy of Design (then the New York School of Fine Arts and Design). He worked briefly for the New York Tribune as a cartoonist before becoming involved in the communist party and spending a year in Moscow working at a Russian newspaper Pravda. Gropper produced three murals under the WPA, two in Freeport, New York in 1938 and one in Detroit, Michigan completed in 1941.
William gropper (1897-1977)
Three lithographs.
Paul Bunyan. 343x226 mm; 13½x8⅞ inches, full margins. Edition of 193. Signed and titled in pencil, lower margin. 1939 * Rip Van Winkle. 340x225 mm; 13⅜x8¾ inches, full margins. Edition of 250. Signed in pencil, lower right. 1945 * Finn McCool. 335x225 mm; 13¼x8⅞ inches, full margins. Edition of 250. Signed in pencil, lower right. 1947. Each printed by George C. Miller, New York. Each published by Associated American Artists, New York.
Very good impressions.
Gropper, born in New York, was a cartoonist and social realist painter who attended to the National Academy of Design (then the New York School of Fine Arts and Design). He worked briefly for the New York Tribune as a cartoonist before becoming involved in the communist party and spending a year in Moscow working at a Russian newspaper Pravda. Gropper produced three murals under the WPA, two in Freeport, New York in 1938 and one in Detroit, Michigan completed in 1941.
William gropper (1897-1977)
Three lithographs from Capriccios.
Pegasus * Crisis * Tornado. 412x310 mm; 16¼x12¼ inches (sheets), wide margins. Artist’s proofs, aside from the edition of 50. Each signed by the artist’s wife, Sophie, in pencil, lower right, and one inscribed “A.P” in pencil, lower left. Printed by George C. Miller, New York. Each 1953-57.
Very good impressions.
Gropper, born in New York, was a cartoonist and social realist painter who attended to the National Academy of Design (then the New York School of Fine Arts and Design). He worked briefly for the New York Tribune as a cartoonist before becoming involved in the communist party and spending a year in Moscow working at a Russian newspaper Pravda. Gropper produced three murals under the WPA, two in Freeport, New York in 1938 and one in Detroit, Michigan completed in 1941.
William gropper (1897-1977)
Three lithographs.
Swing Low Sweet Chariot, 1951 * Diogenes, 1952 * Joshua Fought the Battle of Jericho, 1946. Each edition of 250. Each signed in pencil, lower right. Printed by George C. Miller, New York. Published by Associated American Artists, New York. Various sizes and conditions.
Very good impressions.
Gropper, born in New York, was a cartoonist and social realist painter who attended to the National Academy of Design (then the New York School of Fine Arts and Design). He worked briefly for the New York Tribune as a cartoonist before becoming involved in the communist party and spending a year in Moscow working at a Russian newspaper Pravda. Gropper produced three murals under the WPA, two in Freeport, New York in 1938 and one in Detroit, Michigan completed in 1941.
William gropper (1897-1977)
Three lithographs.
Horsemen (Horserace). 243x330 mm; 9⅝x12⅞ inches, full margins. 1944 * Swing Low, Sweet Chariot. 320x220 mm; 12⅝x8¾ inches, full margins. 1951 * Diogenes. 247x325 mm; 9¾x12⅞ inches, full margins. 1952. Each signed in pencil, lower right. Each an edition of 250. Each printed by George Miller, New York. Each published by Associated American Artists, New York. Each a very good impression.
With—Rest. Edition of 200. Signed by Sophie Gropper, the artist’s wife, in pencil, lower right. Published by Associated American Artists. 1948.
William gropper (1897-1977)
Despair.
Oil on canvas. 402x505 mm; 15¾x19⅞ inches. Signed in oil, lower left recto.
Provenance: Private collection, Philadelphia; thence by descent to current owner, private collection, Philadelphia.
Working in oil on canvas, Gropper completed three mural projects: Two canvases for the Freeport, New York Post Office, 1938; Three canvases for the Stewart Lee Udall Department of the Interior building, Washington, DC, 1936-7 and installed in 1940; one canvas, painted for the Northwestern Branch post Office, Detroit, later moved and installed at Wayne State University Student Center, Detroit, Michigan.
Harry herzog (dates unknown)
Injunction Granted / WPA Federal Theatre Project’s Living Newspaper.
Color silkscreen poster on board. 559x349 mm, 22x13¾ inches. New York, 1936.
Sponsored by the Newspaper guild of N.Y, with “USA Work WPA” printed in the bottom right corner.
Kyra markham (1891-1967)
Flag Raising in Leroy Street.
Lithograph. 320x245 mm; 12⅝x9⅝ inches. Edition of 25. Signed, titled, dated and inscribed “Ed. 25” in pencil, lower margin. 1942.
A very good impression of this scarce lithograph. We have found only 7 other impressions at auction in the past 30 years.
An artist as well as an actress, Markham’s works seek out every day dramas, assisted by her use of high contrast and shadows. Markham attended the Art Institute of Chicago from 1907 to 1909, when she left the Institute to work at Chicago’s Little Theater and later with the Provincetown Players in Massachusetts. She became an illustrator to supplement her acting career and in 1930 attended classes at the Art Students League in New York, where she started to work in lithography. Her employment with the Federal Art Project in 1936 coincided with what are considered the finest examples of her lithographic œuvre. The New York Herald Tribune named Markham among the Federal Art Project’s Graphic Arts Division artists who “assist particularly in carrying on the project’s graphic work to a success unsurpassed by any of its other departments” after viewing the spring 1937 exhibition of “Recent Fine Prints” at the Federal Art Project Gallery in New York.
Letterio calapai (1902-1993)
11:45pm.
Relief print from an intaglio plate in violet ink. 502x302 mm; 19¾x11⅞ inches, full margins. A unique color variation, aside from the edition of 35 printed in black. Signed, dated, titled, inscribed “Unique print - 2 of 2” and with printer’s instructions, lower margin. 1947.
A very good, richly inked impression.
Among Calapai’s best known images, this print combines elements from his traditional study at the Art Students League, New York, with the influence of Stanley W. Hayter’s Atelier 17, where Calapai worked in 1946-47.
Yasuo kuniyoshi (1889-1953)
Burlesque Queen.
Lithograph. 297x245 mm; 11⅝x9½ inches, full margins. Edition of 100. Inscribed “100 prints” in pencil, lower margin. Published by the American Artists School, New York, with the ink stamp verso. 1933.
A very good impression. Davis 61.
Don freeman (1908-1978)
Dress Rehearsal.
Lithograph. 300x359 mm; 11¾x14⅛ inches, full margins. One of approximately 2 proofs. Signed and titled in pencil, lower margin. From Some Critical Moments in Musical Comedy’s Early Life”. 1933.
A very good impression of this extremely rare lithograph. McCulloch 68.
Gene kloss (1903-1996)
Indian Friendship Dance
Drypoint. 209x303 mm; 8¼x12 inches, wide margins. Edition of 200. Signed in pencil, lower right. Published by The Society of American Graphic Artists, New York. 1953.
A superb, richly-inked impression with velvety burr. Kloss 450.
Born Alice Geneva Glasier in Oakland, California, Kloss was an American artist known today primarily for her many prints of the Western landscape and ceremonies of the Pueblo people. She first visited New Mexico in 1925 and returned numerous times throughout the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s. Kloss received widespread recognition and awards during the 1930s. From 1933 to 1944 she was the sole etcher employed by the Public Works of Art Project. Her series of nine New Mexico scenes from that period were reproduced and distributed to public schools across the state. She also created watercolors and oil paintings for the WPA. In 1935, she was one of three Taos artists who represented New Mexico at a Paris exhibition called "Three Centuries of Art in the United States."
Rockwell kent (1882-1971)
Diver.
Wood engraving. 201x138 mm; 7⅞x5⅜ inches, full margins. Edition of 150. Signed in pencil, lower right. 1931.
A very good, well-inked impression. Burne-Jones 88.
Mabel dwight (1875-1995)
Book Auction.
Lithograph. 187x216 mm; 7⅜x9 inches, full margins. Edition of 40. Signed and dated in pencil, lower right. Printed by George C. Miller, New York. 1932.
A very good impression. Robinson/Pirog 63.
With—ADOLF DEHN. Greeting of the House of Weyhe, lithograph. 180x127; 8x5 inches, full margins. 1930. A very good impression. Lumsdaine/O’Sullivan 163.
Harry sternberg (1901-2001)
Two prints from Circus.
Circus #3 The Wheel * Circus #4 The Rings. Both etchings with aquatint. Both 230x301 mm; 9x11⅞ inches, full margins. Both an edition of 30. Both signed, titled and inscribed “ /30” in pencil, lower margin. Both printed by the artist, New York. Both 1929.
Both very good, richly-inked impressions with strong contrasts and the artist’s tackholes for drying at the extreme edges.
While growing up in Brooklyn, Sternberg became friends with fellow artists Peter Blume and Philip Reisman through their school’s art club. He took art classes at the Brooklyn Museum and attended the Art Students League. In 1926 Sternberg and Reisman learned etching under Harry Wickey. After some success as an artist, Sternberg was hired to teach etching, lithography, and composition at the Art Students League in 1933. It is around this time that Sternberg became active in artists’ rights organizations, creating the American Artists Congress, and later as a member of the Artists Equity Association. In 1935 Sternberg began working as the technical advisor for the Graphic Arts Division of the Federal Art Project. During his time there he completed three murals. In 1937, Carrying the Mail for the Sellersville, Pennsylvania post office, also in 1937 Chicago: Epoch of a Great City for the Lakeview Post Office, and the last in 1939 in Ambler, Pennsylvania’s post office titled The Family Industry and Agriculture.
Yasuo kuniyoshi (1889-1953)
Vaudeville.
Lithograph. 492x285 mm; 19⅜x11⅛ inches, wide margins. Edition of 25. Signed “Yasuo Kuniyoshi” by the artist’s wife, Sara Mazo Kuniyoshi, and her signature in pencil, lower margin. Printed by George Miller, New York. 1927.
A very good impression. Davis 16.
Reginald marsh (1898-1954)
Irving Place Burlesque.
Lithograph on Chine appliqué. 247x292 mm; 9¾x11½ inches, full margins. Edition of 25. Signed and inscribed “25 proofs” in pencil, lower margin. 1928.
A very good impression of this scarce lithograph. Sasowsky 15.
Born in Paris, the second son in a well-to-do family, Marsh attended Yale University and then moved to New York where, during the early 1920s, he worked as an illustrator and took classes at the Art Students League. Marsh was equally influenced by his art teachers in New York, notably John Sloan (1871-1951), as well as American Regionalists like Thomas Hart Benton (1889-1975) and Old Masters such as Rubens, Titian and Tintoretto. He wholly rejected the modern artistic movements gaining strength in America at the time–Cubism, Surrealism, Abstraction. Instead, he pursued a style that is best summed up as social realism: depictions of everyday life in New York, Coney Island beach scenes, vaudeville and burlesque women, the jobless on the streets of New York and the railroad yards and freight trains in New York and New Jersey.
He participated in the federal art programs under the WPA, painting two murals in Washington, D.C., and, funded by the Treasury Relief Art Project, completed a series of frescoes in the New York Customs House, now the National Museum of the American Indian, that depict eight New York Harbor scenes and eight portraits of great navigators. It is one of the most celebrated mural installations created under the New Deal in New York City.
Reginald marsh (1898-1954)
Huber’s Museum.
Lithograph on Chine appliqué. 222x346 mm; 8¾x13½ inches, full margins. Edition of approximately only 35. Signed and inscribed “35 proofs” in pencil, lower margin. 1928.
A very good impression of this scarce, early lithograph. Sasowsky 14.
Albert pels (1910-1998)
Sax Player.
Oil on canvas. Signed, Pels, lower center. Signed, Pels, and inscribed, #116, on verso. 762x407 mm; 30x16 inches.
Provenance: Estate of the artist; thence by descent to the current owner.
Albert pels (1910-1998)
One Wheel Bike Rider, Met Museum.
Oil on canvas. Inscribed as titled on verso. 534x508 mm; 21x20 inches.
Provenance: Estate of the artist; thence by descent to the current owner.
Albert pels (1910-1998)
The Street Entertainers.
Oil on canvas, 1984. Signed, Pels, and dated, 84, lower right. 508x1117 mm; 20x44 inches.
Provenance: Estate of the artist; thence by descent to the current owner.
Funded by the Treasury Department’s Section of Fine Arts, Albert Pels completed the following two murals: Normal, Illinois Post Office, Development of the State Normal School, 1938; U.S. Courtroom of the Willmington Post Office, Landing of the Swedes at the Rocks in Willmington, Willmington, Delaware. Later moved to the Rodney Square Station Post Office, Willmington, Delaware.
Fritz eichenberg (1901-1990)
City Lights.
Wood engraving. 159x120 mm; 6¼x4¾ inches, full margins. Edition of 200. Signed, titled and inscribed “Ed. 200” in pencil, lower margin. Published by Associated American Artists, New York. 1934.
A very good impression.
With—The Steps. Wood engraving. 160x122 mm; 6¼x4¾ inches, full margins. Edition of 200. Signed, titled and inscribed “Ed. 200” in pencil, lower margin. Published by Associated American Artists, New York. 1934.
Eichenberg was born in Cologne, Germany and studied at the Municipal School of Applied Arts, Cologne, and the Academy of Graphic Arts, Leipzig. He learned various forms of printmaking during his studies and apprenticed for a printer. He worked as an illustrator in Germany, but in 1933, as Nazi Germany rose to power, he immigrated to the United States. He participated in the Federal Arts Project during the 1930s, and had a successful career as a book illustrator and teacher at the New School for Social Research, Pratt Institute and the University of Rhode Island. Eichenberg’s urban scenes of New York from the 1930s captured the essence of the bustling, growing city.
Don freeman (1908-1978)
On the Fly Rail.
Lithograph. 244x300 mm; 9⅝x7⅞ inches, full margins. Artist’s proof, aside from the edition of 50. Signed and inscribed “ap” in pencil, lower margin. 1934.
A very good impression.
Freeman was born in San Diego, California and studied at the San Diego School of Fine Arts. He moved to New York in 1929, just days before the stock market crashed, and continued his studies at the Art Students League, with John Sloan (1871-1951) as one of his instructors. He developed a social realist style, often depicting life around Times Square. During the 1930s he worked in the graphics division of the WPA. Later in his career he illlustrated and wrote childrens’ book, most famously Corduroy. McCulloch 97.
Designer unknown
USA Work Program / WPA.
Color lithograph poster, paper. 800x800 mm, 31½x31½ inches.
Peggy bacon (1895 - 1987)
Frenzied Effort.
Drypoint. 150x230 mm; 6x9⅛ inches, wide margins. Signed, titled and dated in pencil, lower margin. 1925.
A very good impression. Flint 57.
This print depicts a life drawing class at The Whitney Studio Club, with portraits of artists including Mabel Dwight (far left with the hat), George O. “Pop” Hart (with pipe and glasses) and Bacon herself (wearing glasses, left background).
Bacon was best known for her realistic representations of everyday life and her satirical caricatures. She studied at the Art Students League, New York, with Kenneth Hayes Miller, John Sloan and George Bellows, and taught herself drypoint there in between drawing classes. Looking back at her time at the League, Bacon said, “The years at the Art Students League were a very important chunk of life to me and very exhilarating. It was the first time in my life, of course, that I had met and gotten to know familiarly a group of young people who were all headed the same way with the same interests. In fact it was practically parochial.” From the 1910s to the 1930s, she worked mainly in drypoint printmaking and also doing illustrations for the satirical magazine Bad News, while her later drawings appeared as illustrations in publications including The New Yorker, New Republic, Fortune and Vanity Fair. She further went on to illustrate over 60 books, 19 of which she also wrote.
Bacon exhibited frequently in New York from the 1910s onward, with galleries including Alfred Stieglitz’s Intimate Gallery, the Weyhe Gallery and the Downtown Gallery (she had more than 32 solo exhibitions during her career), and was closely connected with other artists with ties to these galleries, including Katherine Schmidt and Yasuo Kuniyoshi.
John sloan (1871-1951)
Nude Standing on a Stairway.
Etching. 177x139 mm; 6⅞x5½ inches, full margins. Third state (of 3). Edition of 70 (from an intended edition of 100). Signed, titled and inscribed “100 proofs” in pencil, lower margin. 1933.
A very good impression. Morse 266.
Robert philipp (1895-1981)
Half Nude #2.
Oil on canvas. 228x152 mm; 9x6 inches. Signed, Phil, upper left. Signed, Philipp, on verso.
Provenance: Associated American Artists, New York; The Collection of Gladys and Tully Filmus; Thence by descent to the current owner.
Robert Philipp participated in the Easel Project division of the WPA/FAP.
Raphael soyer (1899-1987)
Nude in an Interior.
Oil on canvas, c. 1949. Signed, Raphael Soyer, lower left. 508c406 mm; 20x16 inches.
Provenance: Forum Gallery, NY.
The Graphic Arts Division of the WPA created print workshops. Raphael Soyer used these facilities and created prints he exhibited in the Fourteenth Municipal Art Committee Exhibition., October 21 - November 8, 1936. As an early participant in the programs, Soyer played a role in calling for the establishment of the American Artists’ Congress. He was awarded two mural projects: In 1936 he completed two murals for Queens Borough Public Library, Queens, New York; Working along side Moses, the Soyer brothers painted two murals for the Kingsessing Station Post Office, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1939. These murals were later moved to the Philadelphia Metro District Facility, and are no longer on public view.
Raphael soyer (1899-1987)
In the Studio.
Lithograph. 310x240 mm; 12¼x9½ inches, full margins. Edition of 250. Signed and titled in pencil, lower margin. Published by Associated American Artists, New York. 1944.
A very good impression. Cole 63.
Milton avery (1885-1965)
Standing Nude.
Drypoint. 364x195 mm; 14¼x7¾ inches, full margins. Signed, dated and numbered 32/60 in pencil, lower margin. 1941.
A brilliant, richly-inked impression with strong contrasts. Lunn 21.
After moving from Hartford to attend classes at the Art Students League in New York, Avery befriended fellow students Adolph Gottlieb, Mark Rothko, and Barnett Newman, among others. Avery struggled financially in during the early years of the Great Depression and though he showed at several galleries, including at Temporary Galleries, New York’s municipal art gallery, funded by the city, he only found a small income with few art sales. In 1938, Avery started a brief period as an artist in the Easel Division of the WPA Federal Art Project.
Ilya bolotowsky (1907-1981)
Myrrah.
Oil on unstretched canvas, 1933. Inscribed, “Myrrah,” by Ilya Bolotowsky authenticated by, and signed, Esphyr Slobidkina, on top overlap. 508x457 mm; 20x18 inches.
Provenance: The artist; Esphyr Slobodkina, (first wife of the artist); The Slobodkina Foundation, NY, accession number SF0254.
Ilya bolotowsky (1907-1981)
Myrrah.
Oil on unstretched canvas, 1933. Inscribed, IB 1933 Myrrah, on bottom overlap by Esphyr Slobodkina. 330x406 mm; 13x16 inches.
Provenance: The artist; Esphyr Slobodkina, (first wife of the artist); The Slobodkina Foundation, NY, accession number SF0339.
Irene rice pereira (1902-1971)
Untitled, (Figure).
Charcoal on paper, 1933. Signed, Pereira, and dated, 33, lower right. 673x520 mm; 26½x20½ inches.
Irene Rice Pereira worked in the Easel Division of the New Deal work projects. She also served as a faculty member of the fine arts division of the Works Progress Administration’s (WPA) Design Laboratory.
Irene rice pereira (1902-1971)
Seated Male Nude.
Charcoal on paper, 1928. Signed, Pereira, and dated, 1928, lower right. 597x438 mm; 23½x17¼ inches.
Robert gwathmey (1903-1988)
Self Portrait.
Lithograph. 445x407mm; 17½x16 inches, full margins. Signed, titled and numbered 26/50 in pencil, lower margin. Printed by George C. Miller and Son, Inc., New York. Published by Terry Dintenfass, Inc., New York. 1961.
A very good impression. Williams 13.
According to Williams, this print was made for the opening of the Terry Dintenfass Gallery, New York when Dintenfass asked each of the gallery artists to make a lithograph self-portrait. This is the only self-portrait Gwathmey ever made.
Gwathmey is one of the most celebrated painter-printmakers of African-American life in the southern United States. As an outsider to the African-American rural communities, his works are that of an observer, picturesque scenes of everyday life. He managed unbiasedly to imbue humanity and an unromanticized dignity into his subjects.
In 1941 Gwathmey was commissioned by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts to comeplete a mural, The Countryside for the post office in Eutaw, Alabama.
Isabel bishop (1902-1988)
Three etchings.
A Youth. 150x101 mm; 6x4 inches, full margins. Edition of 25. Signed and numbered xxi/xxv in pencil, lower margin. Printed by Stem Graphics, New York, with the blind stamp lower right. Published by Associated American Artists, New York. 1928 * Delayed Departure. 175x146 mm; 6⅞x5¾ inches, full margins. Signed and numbered 45/50 in pencil, lower margin. Printed by Stem Graphics, New York, with the blind stamp lower right. Published by Sylvan Cole Gallery, New York. From Isabel Bishop, Eight Etchings 1930-1959. 1935 * Lunch Counter. 186x980 mm; 7¼x3⅞, wide margins. Edition of 50. Signed and titled in pencil, lower margin. Printed by Stem Graphics, New York. Published by Associated American Artists, New York. From Eight Etchings I, 1938-1959. 1940.
Each a very good impression. Teller 6, 18A and 24.
Ben shahn (1898-1969)
Miner working with Consolidated Coal Company, Kentucky.
Silver print, the image measuring 162x241 mm; 6⅜x9½ inches, the sheet slightly larger, with the Library of Congress stamp and numeric notations in pencil on verso. 1935; printed circa 1960-70.
(dorothea lange) (1895-1965)
A group of 5 promotional photographs, including Migrant Mother, accompanied by the publication Dorothea Lange: Photographs of a Lifetime.
Migrant Mother, Nipomo, California, 1936 * Mexican Migrant Fieldworker, Imperial Valley California, 1937 * Family on the Road, Oklahoma, On the Great Plains, near Winner, South Dakota, 1938 * Family Farmstead, Nebraska, 1940. Silver prints, the images measuring 238x191 mm; 9⅜x7½ inches, and smaller, and the reverse, the sheets slightly larger, each with a typed credit and title label on verso; enclosed in a folder with the publication information on a typed label on the front. 1936-40; printed 1982.
Dorothea Lange. Dorothea Lange: Photographs of a Lifetime. Text by Robert Cole and an afterword by Therese Heyman. Illustrated with numerous reproductions of Lange's iconic photographs. Small folio, silver-stamped gray cloth; photo-pictorial dust jacket. (Millerton, New York): Aperture, (1982)
Russell lee (1903-1986)
A selection of 4 photographs, including two images from Delano’s well-known Pie Town series.
Silver prints, the images measuring 248x337 mm; 9¾x13¼ inches, and slightly smaller, the sheets slightly larger, each with Lee’s signature in pencil or ink on verso, and one also with the title in pencil in an unknown hand, a third also with his address credit stamp, and the title and date also in pencil in an unknown hand, on verso. Circa 1939-40; printed circa 1980.
Ice for sale, Harlingen, Texas, 1939 * Lunch at all day community sing, Pie Town, New Mexico, 1940 * Musicians, a farmer, his wife, and brother in close harmony, Pie Town, New Mexico, 1940 * Spanish-American women replastering an adobe house. This is done once a year. Chamisal, New Mexico, 1940
Provenance: The Estate of Evelyne Daitz, New York.
Jack delano (1914-1997)
Tobacco farmer and wife, Connecticut.
Selenium-toned silver print, the image measuring 238x175 mm; 9⅜x6⅞ inches, the sheet slightly larger, with Delano’s signature in pencil, two Library of Congress stamps, and the title, date, and RA number in pencil in an unknown hand on verso; also with Delano’s signature in pencil on the overmat and a Witkin Gallery label with the printing information on mat verso. 1940; printed 1976.
Provenance: The Estate of Evelyne Z. Daitz, New York.
Arthur rothstein (1915-1985)
North Dakota farmers waiting for their grants in Resettlement Administration office, North Dakota * Migrant worker’s wife, Robstown, Texas * Guardian of the peace, dance for enlisted men, El Rancho Grande, Brownsville, Texas.
Together, three silver prints, the images measuring 171x191 and 241x178 mm; 6¾x7½ and 9½x7 inches, the sheets 254x203 mm; 10x8 inches, the first with Rothstein’s F.S.A. stamp, the typed title and date, and the RA number in pencil, and the others with the Library of Congres stamp and numeric notations and the title and date in pencil on verso; the first in a later mat with Rothstein’s signature in pencil on the overmat, and each with Witkin Gallery labels. 1936 & 1942; the second two printed circa 1960-70.
Provenance: The Estate of Evelyne Z. Daitz, New York.
Jack delano (1914-1997)
Interior of Negro rural house, Greene County, Georgia.
Silver print, the image measuring 178x235 mm; 7x9¼ inches, the sheet slightly larger, with the Library of Congress stamp and numeric notations in pencil on verso. 1941; printed circa 1960-70.
Walker evans (1903-1975)
Allie Mae Burroughs, Wife of a Cotton Sharecropper, Hale County, Alabama.
Silver print, the image measuring 213x165 mm; 8⅜x6½ inches, the Crescent board mount 432x343 mm; 17x13½ inches, with Jack Welpott’s printer’s credit, Evans’ credit, and the dates in pencil in an unknown hand on mount verso. 1936; printed circa 1950.
Provenance: Collection of Jan Welpott Danielle, a gift from her father, photographer and educator, Jack Welpott (1923-2007). While studying photography with Henry Holmes Smith at Indiana University, Jack Welpott printed this photograph from the original Walker Evans negatives, which were on loan to Smith from the FSA Collection (housed in the Library of Congress, D.C.).
Walker evans (1903-1975)
Floyd Burroughs, A Cotton Sharecropper, Hale County, Alabama.
Silver print, the image measuring 248x197 mm; 9¾x7¾ inches, with Welpott’s signature “Jack,” his Evans credit, and the negative date in pencil on verso. 1936; printed circa 1950.
Provenance: Collection of Jan Welpott Danielle, a gift from her father, photographer and educator, Jack Welpott (1923-2007). While studying photography with Henry Holmes Smith at Indiana University, Jack Welpott printed this photograph from the original Walker Evans negatives, which were on loan to Smith from the FSA Collection (housed in the Library of Congress, D.C.).
Minna citron (1896-1991)
Study for “Buffeted”.
Pencil on artificial vellum. 152x122 mm; 6x4¾ inches. Signed and dated in pencil, lower right recto. 1925.
Provenance: Private collection, Toronto.
With—Buffeted, etching. 125x100 mm; 5x4 inches, full margins. Artist's proof, aside from the edition of 100. Signed and inscribed "etch AP" in pencil, lower margin. 1935.
A very good impression.
John sloan (1871-1951)
Isaac L. Rice, Esq.
Etching. 357x279 mm; 14x11 inches, full margins. Third state (of 3). Edition of only 25 (from an intended edition of 100). Signed and inscribed “100 proofs” in pencil, lower margin. 1915.
A superb impression of this large, scarce etching.
A New York attorney specializing in corporate law and patents, Rice (1850-1915) was also a renowned chess player. He sponsored chess tournaments and invented a chess move known as the “Rice Gambit.” Morse 178.
The WPA gave opportunities and financial help to many artists who were struggling during the Depression. Sloan, already an established artist and teacher at the Art Students League (who taught many artists who particapted in the WPA programs), did not fit that profile, but he did participate in the Treasury Section of Fine Arts, which hired well-known artists for its projects. He painted the mural The Arrival of the First Mail in Bronxville in 1846 for the post office in Bronxville, New York. He also created two paintings for the WPA, one The Wigwam, Old Tammany Hall, now in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the other Fourteenth Street at Sixth Avenue, originally hung the office of U.S. Senator Royal Copeland and now is exhibited at the Detroit Insitute of Arts.
Alexander brook (1898-1980)
Portrait of an Artist.
Oil on canvas. Signed, A. Brook, lower right. Inscribed, #133 portrait of an Artist, on stretcher. 203x503 mm; 8x6 inches.
The sitter for this portrait is believed to be the artist, Phillip Guston.
Alexander brook (1898-1980)
Man Talking.
Oil on canvas, 1934. Signed, A. Brook, lower left. Stamped, May 16 1934, and inscribed, #116, and as titled on stretcher. 203x153 mm; 8x6 inches.
Alexander Brook contributed two murals to the large art project at the Clinton Federal Building, Washington, D.C., completed in 1939 and funded by the Treasury Section of Fine Arts (TSFA).
Alexander brook (1898-1980)
Head.
Oil on canvas. Signed, A. Brook, lower right. Inscribed, #134 Head, and signed, Brook, on stretcher. 228x178 mm; 9x7 inches.
The sitter for this portrait is believed to be the artist, Peggy Bacon.
Ben shahn (1898-1969)
Untitled, (Portrait of Barry Oppenheim).
Oil on tin, 1933. 508x330 mm; 20x13 inches.
During the Great Depression, Shahn was commissioned by the WPA to create murals and worked with the RA to design posters and pamphlets, but he was also hired as a part-time staff photographer for the FSA, due to a recommendation from Walker Evans. (Shahn’s entrée to photography was a studio space shared with Evans in 1929.) Shahn traveled across rural America photographing the plight of the communities there and capturing the strength of will of their residents.
John sloan (1871-1951)
Robert Henri, Painter.
Etching. 355x279 mm; 14x11 inches, full margins. Eighth state (of 8). Edition of 60 (from an intended edition of 100). Signed and inscribed “100 proofs” in pencil, lower margin. 1931.
A superb, richly-inked impression with strong contrasts. Morse 246.
According to Morse, approximately 30 impressions were pulled from the plate in the seventh state and another 30 were taken in the eighth state, which differs in the heavy diagonal shading in the plate upper right, to account for the total published edition of 60.
Sloan made this portrait as a memorial to his teacher, mentor and friend, fellow Ashcan artist Robert Henri (1865-1929). Henri had died unexpectedly, after being hospitalized at St. Luke’s Hospital in New York, of cardiac arrest early in the morning of July 12, 1929. His sudden death had a strong impact on the scores of artists he had taught and mentored for several decades, including Sloan, George Bellows, Rockwell Kent, Stuart Davis, and Edward Hopper. The artist and student of Henri, Eugene Speicher said, “Not only was he a great painter, but . . . I don’t think it too much to call him the father of independent painting in this country.”
Sloan based the current work, one of his largest portrait etchings, on a drawing he had made of Henri in 1905, now in the collection of the Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery, University of Nebraska, Lincoln. In his diary, Sloan noted, “I am pleased with the plate and hope that it conveys some of the kindly strength and helpful wisdom which this great artists so freely gave toothers.”
Raphael soyer (1899-1987)
Self-Portrait.
Lithograph. 343x280 mm; 13½x11 inches, full margins. Signed and numbered 94/100 in pencil, lower margin. Printed by Burr Miller, New York. A very good impression of this scarce lithograph. Gettings 110.
According to a statement by Soyer, published in the Gettings catalogue raisonné of his printed work, he noted, “This is the last self-portrait I did on stone. It is one of my favorite lithographs.”
Soyer was born in Russia and immigrated to New York at the age of twelve. He studied at Cooper Union, the National Academy of Design and with Guy Pène du Bois (1884-1958) at the Art Students League. He is known as a Social Realist, depicting the daily struggles of those living in New York City. His chosen subject matter became especially poignant at the onset of the Great Depression, and, after he began to exhibit his work in the late 1920s, he cemented his reputation among the top American realist artists of the 20th century.
Milton avery (1885-1965)
Man with Pipe.
Drypoint. 162x148 mm; 6⅜x5¾ inches, wide margins. Signed, dated and numbered 22/60 in pencil, lower margin. 1938.
A very good, richly-inked impression of this scarce print. Lunn 14.
A portrait of the artist Vincent Spagna (1896-1994), whom Avery knew from Hartford and was also a artist in the WPA.
After moving from Hartford to attend classes at the Art Students League in New York, Avery befriended fellow students Adolph Gottlieb, Mark Rothko, and Barnett Newman, among others. Avery struggled financially in during the early years of the Great Depression and though he showed at several galleries, including at Temporary Galleries, New York’s municipal art gallery, funded by the city, he only found a small income with few art sales. In 1938, Avery started a brief period as an artist in the Easel Division of the WPA Federal Art Project.
Moses soyer (1899-1974)
Study for the Lover of Books.
Oil on canvas, 1934. Signed, M. Soyer,</i> lower right. 610x305 mm; 24x12 inches.
The Lover of Books, for which this painting is a study, is in the collection of the Jewish Museum, and is considered one of Moses Soyer’s most important paintings from the New Deal era. The Lover of Books is published in Norman Kleeblatt and Susan Chevlowe’s, Painting a Place in America: Jewish Artists in New York 1900-1945, p. 81; and Ori Z. Soltes’, Fixing the World: Jewish American Painters in the Twentieth Century, pp. 34-35.
Josef presser (1907-1967)
Older Woman, (Portrait).
Charcoal and gouache on paper laid to card. Signed, J. Presser, upper right. 120x172 mm; 4¾x6¾ inches.
Josef presser (1907-1967)
Young Girl, (Portrait).
Pastel on paper. Signed, J. Presser, lower center. 172x120 mm; 6¾x4¾ inches.
Josef presser (1907-1967)
Three Girls.
Pencil, pastel and watercolor on strathmore paper laid to board. Signed, Presser, upper left. 559x762 mm; 22x30 inches.
Born in Lublin, Poland, Presser attended the Boston Museum of Fine Arts School and thereafter maintined residency in the American northeast. He was a member of the Philadelphia Watercolor Club as well as the New Haven Paint and Clay Club.
Irene rice pereira (1902-1971)
Cubist Portrait.
Pencil on light gray paper. Signed, Pereira, lower right. 356x279 mm; 14x11 inches.
Irene Rice Pereira worked in the Easel Division of the New Deal work projects. She also served as a faculty member of the fine arts division of the Works Progress Administration’s (WPA) Design Laboratory.