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Paul Keene Jr.
The Owl (abstract African-American artist)

ca. 1955

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Animal Capers (Black Surrealist Artist)
By Roland Ayers
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
Surrealist proto-Afropunk drawing by African-American artist, Roland Ayers (1932-2014). Animal Capers, ca. 1970 . Ink on illustration board, image measures 20 inches. inches; illustration panel measures 21.5 inches. Unsigned. Minor staining evident in detail photos Artist and art educator, Roland Ayers was born on July 2, 1932, the only child of Alice and Lorenzo Ayers, and grew up in the Germantown district of Philadelphia. Ayers served in the US Army (stationed in Germany) before studying at the Philadelphia College of Art (currently University of the Arts). He graduated with a BFA in Art Education, 1954. He traveled Europe 1966-67, spending time in Amsterdam and Greece in particular. During this period, he drifted away from painting to focus on linear figurative drawings of a surreal nature. His return home inaugurated the artist’s most prolific and inspired period (1968-1975). Shorty before his second major trip abroad in 1971-72 to West Africa, Ayers began to focus on African themes, and African American figures populated his work almost exclusively. In spite of Ayers’ travel and exploration of the world, he gravitated back to his beloved Germantown, a place he endowed with mythological qualities in his work and literature. His auto-biographical writing focuses on the importance of place during his childhood. Ayers’ journals meticulously document the ethnic and cultural make-up of Germantown, and tell a compelling story of class marginalization that brought together poor families despite racial differences. The distinctive look and design of Germantown inform Ayers’ visual vocabulary. It is a setting with distinctive Gothic Revival architecture and haunting natural beauty. These characteristics are translated and recur in the artist’s imagery. During his childhood, one of the only books in the Ayers household was an illustrated Bible. The images within had a profound effect on the themes and subjects that would appear in his adult work. Figures in an Ayers’ drawing often seem trapped in a narrative of loss and redemption. Powerful women loom large in the drawings: they suggest the female role models his journals record in early life. The drawings can sometimes convey a strong sense of conflict, and at other times, harmony. Nature and architecture seem to have an antagonistic relationship that is, ironically, symbiotic. A critical turning point in the artist’s career came in 1971 when he was included in the extremely controversial Whitney Museum show, Contemporary Black Artists in America. The exhibition gave Ayers an international audience and served as a calling card for introductions he would soon make in Europe. Ayers is a particularly compelling figure in a period when black artists struggled with the idea of authenticity. A questioned often asked was “Is your work too black, or not black enough?” Abstractionists were considered by some peers to be sell-outs, frauds or worse. Figurative* work was accused of being either sentimental or politically radical depending on the critical source. Ayers made the choice early on to be a figurative artist, but considered his work devoid of political content. Organizations such as Chicago’ s Afri-Cobra in the late 1960‘s asserted that the only true black art of any relevance must depict the black man and woman...
Category

1970s Surrealist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Ink, Archival Paper

Untitled Modernist (Abstract Expressionist Figurative Painting)
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
Beautiful Abstract expressionist figure signed Kline. Charcoal on paper measuring 10 x 13 inches. Sheet is glued down to foam board backing. Total measurement 13 x 16 inches.
Category

Mid-20th Century Abstract Expressionist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Ink

Dog portrait Memorial Drawing
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
Lovely Dog memorial drawing signed Sheridan "Scarab", 1998. Color pencil on sheet of yellow paper, 8.5 x 11 inches. Signed, titles and dated upper right. Unframed.
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1990s Outsider Art Animal Drawings and Watercolors

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Portrait of Aiko
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
Seiichi Hara (Japanese). Portrait of Aiko, 1972. Pencil, gouache on paper. Sheet measures 16 x 20 inches. Signed lower right and en verso. Custom frame of hardwood with welded steel ...
Category

1970s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Gouache, Pencil

Untitled Floral Still Life
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
Beautiful floral still life by American artist Jane Piper (1916-1991) . Untitled. 1980. Pastel, oil crayon and pencil on tracing paper. Image measuring 9 x 12 inches in original ...
Category

1980s Abstract Still-life Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Parchment Paper, Crayon, Pastel, Pencil

Untitled Floral Still Life
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
Beautiful floral still life by American artist Jane Piper (1916-1991) . Pastel, oil crayon and pencil on tracing paper. Image measuring 13 x 15.5 inches in ...
Category

1980s Abstract Still-life Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Parchment Paper, Crayon, Pastel, Pencil

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This original pen and ink drawing titled "The Chicken" was created by renowned 20th-century artist Edward Marecak (1919-1993) in the 1940s. This abstract geometric depiction features...
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Large Ink Drawing Abstract Expressionist Rooster Woman Artist
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Located in Surfside, FL
Judith Brown (December 17, 1931 – May 11, 1992) was a dancer and a sculptor who was drawn to images of the body in motion and its effect on the cloth surrounding it. She welded crushed automobile scrap metal into energetic moving torsos, horses, and flying draperies. Brown attended Sarah Lawrence College in Yonkers, New York (B.A., 1954), where she learned to weld from her teacher, Theodore Roszak, a pioneering abstract expressionist sculptor. This is done in a style similar to Leonard Baskin. Select Commissions Mural Sculpture, Lobby, Louisville Radio Station WAVE Fountain, commissioned by Architectural Interiors, New York City Model, designed and executed for Festival of Two Worlds, Spoleto, Italy Sculpture, designed for Electra Film Productions, NYC Noah's Ark, exhibited at Bronx Zoo, New York City, at Rochester Museum and Science Center, Rochester, New York, and at Hopkins Center, Hanover, New Hampshire Store Windows, executed Tiffany & Company Windows, New York City, Christmas 1957, 1959, 1962, October 1969, Spring 1979, and October 1980 Wall Sculptures: for Youngstown Research Center (1963-4), commissioned by Youngstown Steel Company, Youngstown, Ohio; for Hecht and Company, Landmark Shopping Center, Alexandria, Virginia, Daniel Schwartzman, Architect; for Lobby, 570 Seventh Avenue, New York City, Giorgio Cavaglieri, Architect; for Lobby, Cities Service Company's New Research Center, Cranbury, New Jersey; for Ottauquechee Health Center, Woodstock, Vermont Eternal Lights: for Congregation Beth-El, South Orange, New Jersey; for Congregation Sharey Tefilo, East Orange, New Jersey Menorahs: commissioned by Architect Fritz Nathan for the Permanent Collection of the Jewish Museum, New York City; commissioned by Smith College for the Helen Hill Chapel, Northampton, Massachusetts; commissioned by Jules Scherman, of Wisteria Press, Inc., New York City Altar Cross, commissioned by Smith College for the Helen Hill Chapel, Northampton, Massachusetts Landscape, Memorial Piece for Gustave Heller, YM-YWCA, Essex County, New Jersey Memorial Plaque for Robert A. Ferguson, Westchester County Airport, Purchase, New York Sculpture for Vice President's office, Atlantic Richfield Company, New York City Bronze Relief Sculpture for Gymnasium Lobby, South Richmond High School, Staten Island, New York, Daniel Schwartzman, Architect Poster, Stratton Arts Festival, Stratton, Vermont Medallion, commissioned by Brandeis University National Women's Committee, New York City Model for Fountain for the Plaza at Windsor, Vermont Bronze Sculpture, commissioned by Intramural, Inc. for Building Lobby, N/E Cor. 79th Street and Second Avenue, New York City Presentation Piece, commissioned by Graphic Arts Associates of Delaware Valley, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Wall Mural, Noah's Ark, Roosevelt Hospital, New York City 1977: Designed and executed Hanes Hosiery "Million Dollar Award"; Designed and executed "Old Spice" Smart Ship Award 1978: Commissioned to design and execute the "Walter White Award" for the NAACP for presentation to Hubert Humphrey; Commissioned to design and execute the Award for the Honorees of the National Board YWCA's First Tribute to Women in International Industry 1979: Designed and executed Jewelry for the Museum of Modern Art, New York City; Designed and executed limited edition of Mazuzas for Brandeis University-National Women's Committee, New York City 1980: Bronze Cross commissioned for St. James Episcopal Church, Woodstock, Vermont 1982: Eubie Award, New York Chapter of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences 1985: Two Sculptures, Marriott Hotel, Orlando, Florida 1986: Two large Sculptures for indoor reflecting pools, Palm Desert Hotel, Palm Springs, California; John Portman, Eight Sculptures for Peachtree Plaza Hotel, Atlanta, Georgia; John Portman, Beach House, Sea Island, Georgia 1987: Loan Installation, DeCordova Museum, Lincoln, Massachusetts 1988: Eleven foot outdoor Sculpture for Front Plaza, River Court, Charles River, East Cambridge, Massachusetts, H. J. Davis Development Corp.; Tomie dePaola...
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