Archive for February, 2012

Showers on the Bay

Tuesday, February 14th, 2012

Martin Lewis - Showers on the Bay

Martin Lewis (1881-1962), Showers on the Bay, 1925, drypoint and sand ground, signed lower right [also signed in the plate lower right]. Reference: McCarron 46, second state (of 2). One of 23  recorded impressions, including a trial proof. In excellent condition, the full sheet, 7 7/8 x 11 3/4 inches.

Provenance: Estate of Lucile Deming Lewis (pencil inscription verso). Lucile Deming, a social worker who had come from Wisconsin to New York in 1914, met Lewis shortly after his return to the city in 1922. Their first home was on Staten Island, then they rented a house in Greenwich Village, and in 1924 Lucile purchased the house next door at 111 Bedford Street; their son Martin Deming Lewis was born later that year.

A fine impression, printed in brown ink on cream laid paper.

Posted in Uncategorized |

Connecticut Summer Fragments – Portfolio of 29

Tuesday, February 7th, 2012

Lee Hall – staining on paper

 

Lee Hall (1934-), Connecticut Summer Fragments, a portfolio of stained paper studies, 29 in all, each about 5 ¼ x 7 ¼ inches, on hand made paper attached to a backing, in a portfolio with board covers (also with a stained colored paper), folding out as a screen; signed, dated (1978) and titled on the cover (Connecticut Summer Fragments), inscribed to Edith and Lloyd Goodrich. In excellent condition.

A beautiful collection of rare stained watercolors. Hall, a New York Abstract Expressionist artist, was a friend of many artists, including Helen Frankenthaler (whose stained paintings are related to these works).

A painter and professor, Lee Hall served as dean of Visual Arts at the State University of New York/Purchase before being appointed president of Rhode Island School of Design (whose Museum collection contains a number of Hall’s stained watercolors).  Hall maintained a painting studio at her farm in Lyme, CT and frequently exhibited her paintings at the Betty Parsons Gallery in NYC, where she became a partner after resigning from RISD in 1983.  She also wrote a biography of Parsons (as well as a biography of Elaine and William de Kooning).

Lloyd (1897-1987) and his wife Edith Havens Goodrich were distinguished art historians and curators; he served as Director of the Whitney Museum of American Art from 1958-68.

Lee Hall – portfolio cover

 

Lee Hall – staining on paper

 

 

Lee Hall – staining on paper

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted in Lee Hall |

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