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Modern Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

MODERN STYLE

The first decades of the 20th century were a period of artistic upheaval, with modern art movements including Cubism, Surrealism, Futurism and Dadaism questioning centuries of traditional views of what art should be. Using abstraction, experimental forms and interdisciplinary techniques, painters, sculptors, photographers, printmakers and performance artists all pushed the boundaries of creative expression.

Major exhibitions, like the 1913 Armory Show in New York City — also known as the “International Exhibition of Modern Art,” in which works like the radically angular Nude Descending a Staircase by Marcel Duchamp caused a sensation — challenged the perspective of viewers and critics and heralded the arrival of modern art in the United States. But the movement’s revolutionary spirit took shape in the 19th century.

The Industrial Revolution, which ushered in new technology and cultural conditions across the world, transformed art from something mostly commissioned by the wealthy or the church to work that responded to personal experiences. The Impressionist style emerged in 1860s France with artists like Claude Monet, Paul Cézanne and Edgar Degas quickly painting works that captured moments of light and urban life. Around the same time in England, the Pre-Raphaelites, like Edward Burne-Jones and Dante Gabriel Rossetti, borrowed from late medieval and early Renaissance art to imbue their art with symbolism and modern ideas of beauty.

Emerging from this disruption of the artistic status quo, modern art went further in rejecting conventions and embracing innovation. The bold legacy of leading modern artists Georges Braque, Pablo Picasso, Frida Kahlo, Salvador Dalí, Henri Matisse, Joan Miró, Marc Chagall, Piet Mondrian and many others continues to inform visual culture today.

Find a collection of modern paintings, sculptures, prints and other fine art on 1stDibs.

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Style: Modern
Rainstorm Sunset
Located in Buffalo, NY
You are viewing a modernist American watercolor painting by Robert Noel Blair. Robert Noel Blair (American, 1912-2003) was an American artist, painter, sculptor, printmaker and te...
Category

Modern Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

1950's French Modernist/ Cubist Painting Floral Abstract
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Floral Abstract by Bernard Labbe (French mid 20th century) original watercolour/ gouache painting on artist paper, unframed size: 12 x 9 inches condition: very good and ready to be e...
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Mid-20th Century Modern Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Ink, Watercolor, Gouache

I Can’t Stay Away From You 1980s Vintage Painting Mature Female Nude In Cornwall
Located in Sutton Poyntz, Dorset
John Emanuel . English ( b.1930 ). I Can’t Stay Away From You. Watercolor & Ink. Signed Lower Right. Image size 28.3 inches x 19.9 inches ( 72cm x 50.5cm ). Frame size 35.2 inches x...
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Late 20th Century Modern Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Ink, Watercolor

1960's Original French Pastel Sketch Nude Kneeling Nude Study Poised Elegance
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Nude Lady Study French School, circa 1960's chalk and pastel on artists paper, unframed stamped size: 18 x 12.5 inches condition: very good and ready to be enjoyed provenance: priv...
Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Chalk, Pastel

La Porta di S. Pietro (St. Peter's Doors) - Ink Drawing by Giacomo Manzù - 1970
Located in Roma, IT
Wonderful green ink drawing, representing the Pope with a very fresh line. Hand-signed on lower-right margin by the Italian sculptor, Giacomo Manzù. Very Good condition, with some li...
Category

1970s Modern Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Etching

Rare Chaim Gross Watercolor Painting Manhattan Skyscrapers Train NYC WPA Artist
Located in Surfside, FL
This appears to be dated 1927. It came in with a piece dated 1929. A very early, rare work. Framed 22.5 x 18. Image 14.5 x 9 A great New York city street scene with an El train (elev...
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Mid-20th Century Modern Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

WPA Mural Study American Scene Social Realism Mid 20th Century Modern Workers
Located in New York, NY
WPA Mural Study American Scene Social Realism Mid 20th Century Modern Workers Seymour Fogel (1911-1984) Mural Study, untitled 11 x 49 1/4 inches (sight) Tempera on board Provenance:...
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1930s Modern Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Egg Tempera, Board

Changhai lady
Located in London, GB
Pen and ink on paper, 2004. This was a Royal College if Art Secret Postcard, so it is signed verso, with all other RCA Secret details. Dimensions: 10 x 15 cm. Provenance: the RCA Sec...
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Early 2000s Modern Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

India Ink

Portrait of African American Woman by Anthony Sisti Circa 1930's
Located in Rochester, NY
Portrait of an African American Woman by Tony Sisti (1901-1983). Sisti was a master draftsman. With just a few lines he captures the moment. Sisti was a professional boxer and an acc...
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Mid-20th Century Modern Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper

Walk - Drawing by Louis Jou - Early 20th Century
Located in Roma, IT
Walk is an Original Drawing in Pencil realized by Louis Jou (1882-1968). Good conditions. Hand-signed. The Artwork is depicted through strong strokes in a well-balanced compositio...
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1920s Modern Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Pencil

Contemporary Mid Century Inspired Blue & Green Toned Neighborhood Aerial Pastel
Located in Houston, TX
Mid century inspired aerial landscape pastel drawing by contemporary artist R. Michael Wommack. The work features a birds eye view of a planned neighborhood at night with glowing swi...
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2010s Modern Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Pastel

Scenography - Pencil Drawing by Eugène Berman - 1950s
Located in Roma, IT
Scenography is an original drawing in pencil on creamy paper, realized by Russian scenographer Eugène Berman in 1950s. Monogrammed at the bottom: E.B. In good conditions. The artw...
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1950s Modern Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Pencil

City - Mixed Media by N. Czinober - mid 20th Century
Located in Roma, IT
City is an original drawing in pencil made by the Hungarian artist Nicolas Czinober in the mid-20th century.The state of preservation is good, the paper presents some small stains. ...
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Mid-20th Century Modern Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Charcoal, Paper, Watercolor, Pencil

View Towards Christmas Cove, Maine, Early 20th Century East Coast Landscape
Located in Beachwood, OH
View Towards Christmas Cove, Maine, c. 1923 Watercolor on paper Signed lower right 14 x 19.5 inches Frank Nelson Wilcox (October 3, 1887 – April 17, 1...
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1920s Modern Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Watercolor

Nude - Drawing By Reynold Arnould - 20th Century
Located in Roma, IT
Nude is a modern artwork realized by Reynold Arnould in the 20th Century. Ink drawing. Good conditions.
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20th Century Modern Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Ink

Belleville, NJ
Located in London, GB
The Modernist painter Oscar Bluemner was born in Hanover, Germany, in 1867. As a young man, he followed in the architectural careers of his father and grandfather. In the early 1880s...
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Early 20th Century Modern Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Carbon Pencil, Paper

Rare Large Original British Illustration Art Watercolor Painting "Horse Races"
Located in Surfside, FL
Sue Macartney-Snape Watercolor painting (with highlights of gold metallic paint) titled on label "Goodwood Races" Signed with initials verso. Info on label verso Dimensions: H 38.75...
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1980s Modern Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Watercolor

Landscape - Original Drawing by Paulette Humbert - Mid-20th Century
Located in Roma, IT
Landscape is an Original drawing in ink and watercolor realized in the mid-20th Century by Paulette Humbert. Good conditions. The artwork is depicted through soft strokes in a well...
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Mid-20th Century Modern Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Watercolor, Ink

African Mama - Vintage Illustration in Ink and Watercolor
Located in Soquel, CA
African Mama - Vintage Illustration in Ink and Watercolor A charming illustration, by Irene Pattinson (American, 1909-1999), shows a woman with a...
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1950s Modern Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, India Ink, Watercolor, Pen

'Old Reliable', Early American Modernist, Jalopy, Model T Ford Flatbed Truck
Located in Santa Cruz, CA
An American School watercolor showing an old Ford Model T flatbed truck backed up to a barn in a rural landscape. A well-composed work paint...
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1920s Modern Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Watercolor, Gouache, Illustration Board

'Cubist Still Life', Italian School (circa 1940s)
Located in London, GB
'Cubist Still Life', gouache on paper, from the Italian School of artists (circa 1940s). Surely this very attractive piece was inspired by Juan Gris (1887-1927) and Georges Braque's ...
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1940s Modern Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Gouache

1960's Original French Pastel Sketch Elegant Nude Lady Model
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Portrait of a Nude Lady French School, circa 1960's chalk and pastel on artists paper, unframed stamped size: 18.5 x 11.5 inches condition: very good and ready to be enjoyed provena...
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Mid-20th Century Modern Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Chalk, Pastel

Grace Martin Taylor (Frame), (Town View), 1930, pastel, signed
Located in New York, NY
West Virginia native Grace Martin Taylor, artist for the brightly colored pastel (TownView), attended the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and the Art S...
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1930s Modern Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Pastel

1960's Original French Pastel Sketch Nude Female Figure Portrait
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Portrait of a Nude Lady French School, circa 1960's signed and stamped chalk and pastel on artists paper, unframed size: 18.75 x 11 inches condition: very good and ready to be enjoy...
Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Chalk, Pastel

Horses - Drawing by Domenico Purificato - 1952
Located in Roma, IT
Horses is an original drawing realized by Domenico Purificato in 1952. Black and white pen drawing. Hand-signed and dated on the lower right. Th...
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1950s Modern Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Pen

Plumbings II by Alexander Calder
Located in New Orleans, LA
Alexander Calder 1898-1976 American Plumbings II Signed and dated "Calder 73" (lower right) Ink and gouache on paper Alexander Calder, a pioneering 20th-century artist, transform...
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20th Century Modern Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Ink, Gouache

La Belle Dame - Pencil and Watercolor by Unknown French Artist 19th Century
Located in Roma, IT
La Belle Dame is an original artwork realized in the 19th Century by a French artist. Original watercolor and pencil. Hand-signed on the lower left cor...
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19th Century Modern Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Ink

Blue and Red Composition, Modern Watercolor by G Sinclair
Located in Long Island City, NY
G Sinclair - Blue and Red Composition, Year: 1969, Medium: Watercolor on Paper, signed and dated in pencil, Image Size: 14 x 11 inches, Size: 15 x 12 in. (38.1 x 30.48 cm)
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1960s Modern Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Watercolor

Figure in an Interior - Original Lithograph by André Marius Aillaud - 1938
Located in Roma, IT
Figure in an Interior is an original lithograph realized by André Marius Aillaud (1909-1972) in 1938. Hand signed by the artist on the back of the paper. Good condition, included a...
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1930s Modern Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Lithograph

Mother and Child II
Located in London, GB
'Mother and Child II', watercolour on fine art paper (1970), by Raymond Debiève. In a clear nod to Picasso's influence both stylistically and in terms of subject matter (Picasso pain...
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1970s Modern Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

Interior Scene with Figures
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Interior Scene with Figures Ink and watercolor on paper, c. 1930's Signed with the Estate stamp lower center Condition: Loss upper right corner; two small tears lower margin ...
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1930s Modern Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Watercolor

Bird - Drawing by Benn - 1970
Located in Roma, IT
Bird is a drawing in pastel on paper realized by Benn (Bencjon Rabinowicz) in 1970. Hand signed on the lower, dated. Good conditions. Benn (Bencj...
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1970s Modern Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Pastel

“The Embrace”
Located in Southampton, NY
Here for your consideration is a well executed oil pastel drawing of a man and woman embracing. Artist is unknown. Initials in red lower right “Ho”. Appears to be a date below the ...
Category

1920s Modern Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Oil Pastel, Archival Paper

Men - Original Drawing by Alexandre Bida - Mid 19th Century
Located in Roma, IT
Men is an Original Pencil Drawing realized by Alexandre Bida (1823-1895). Good conditions. No signature. F. Alexandre Bida (1813–1895) was a French p...
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Mid-19th Century Modern Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Pencil

"Offering, " Morris Graves, American Modernism, Owl, Bird, Gift, Present
Located in New York, NY
Morris Graves Offering, 1957 Signed and dated lower right Sumi ink wash and gold leaf on paper 18 x 13 3/8 inches Born in Fox Valley, Oregon in 1910, Morris Graves was a leading proponent of the Northwest School...
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1950s Modern Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Gold Leaf

Portrait de Jean Desbordes - Lithograph by Jean Cocteau - 1929
Located in Roma, IT
Lithograph on vélin pur fil des Papeteries du Marais, realized by Cocteau in 1929. Belongs to the suite "25 Dessins d'Un Dormeur", published by H. L. Mermod, Lausanne. Edition of 2...
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1920s Modern Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Lithograph

Nude Man - Original Drawing by Félix Barrias - Late-19th Century
Located in Roma, IT
Nude Man is an original pencil Drawing realized by Félix Barrias (1822-1907). The little artwork is in good condition on a brown paper. No Signature, i...
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Late 19th Century Modern Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Ink

The Crucifix - Waterolor Drawing by Hermann Paul - Early 20th Century
Located in Roma, IT
The Crucifix is a Watercolor Drawing realized by Hermann Paul Good condition on a yellowed cardboard. René Georges Hermann-Paul (27 December 1864 – 23 June 1940) was a French arti...
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Early 20th Century Modern Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

Hall - Drawing by Alexandre Berlant - Mid-20th Century
Located in Roma, IT
Hall is a drawing realized by Alexandre Berlant in the Mid-20th Century. Tempera and Watercolor on paper. Good conditions with slight foxing. The artwork is realized through deft ...
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Mid-20th Century Modern Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Watercolor

Gerald Holding His Knees
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Andy Warhol (1928-1987) is arguably the most important American artist of the 20th century. He not only defined Pop Art but had an unrivalled influence on artists and image-making. ...
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1950s Modern Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Ballpoint Pen

MB 804 A&B (Double Sided Figurative Drawing, Two Male Nudes and Safari Hunter)
Located in Hudson, NY
Figurative drawing with graphite, charcoal, and conte crayon on Arches paper 30 x 19 inches, unframed One piece of 30 x 19 inch Arches paper. Two drawings on opposite sides. These u...
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2010s Modern Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Archival Paper, Charcoal, Graphite, Watercolor

The Grapes Harvest - Original Ink Drawing by Lac Man
Located in Roma, IT
Original China ink drawing on ivory colored cardboard, representing grapes harvest, resembling a dramatic and satiric scene. Hand-signed on the lower right corner, in black ink, by "...
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20th Century Modern Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Ink, Paper

Watercolor and Charcoal on Paper Image of a Boy by Margo Hoff, Titled Sun Child
Located in Chicago, IL
A brightly colored, Mid-Century, watercolor and charcoal on paper image of a boy by notable artist Margo Hoff, titled "Sun Child". Image size: 31" x 22". Framed size: 34" x 25". ...
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1950s Modern Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Charcoal, Watercolor

Sole Tree - Drawing in Pencil on Paper - 20th Century
Located in Roma, IT
Sole Tree is an original drawing in pencil on paper realized by an Anonymous artist of the XX century. The State of preservation is very good with the traces of time and some small...
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20th Century Modern Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Pencil

Cat - Original Drawing by Giselle Halff - Mid 20th Century
Located in Roma, IT
Cat is a charcoal drawing realized by Giselle Halff (1899-1971). Good conditions. Giselle Halff (1899-1971) born in Hanoi, student of R.X. Prinet, R. Ménard, L. Simon, B. Boutet de...
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Mid-20th Century Modern Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Charcoal

Untitled (Figurative Abstraction of Isadora Duncan #7)
Located in Myrtle Beach, SC
Abraham Walkowitz, Untitled (Figurative Abstraction of Isadora Duncan #7), pencil, 1918. Signed and dated in pencil, bottom center. A fine, spon...
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1910s Modern Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Pencil

'Fish, Dove and Musical Instrument', Italian School (circa 1940s)
Located in London, GB
'Fish, Dove and Musical Instrument', gouache on paper, from the Italian School of artists (circa 1940s). Surely this very attractive piece was inspired by Georges Braque (1882-1963) ...
Category

1940s Modern Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Gouache

Composition - Original Ink and Watercolor by Bertrand Mogniat - 1940
Located in Roma, IT
Composition is an original drawing in china ink and watercolor on cardboard realized by Bertrand Mogniat-Duclos in 1940. This Artwork is depicted through strong and confident stroke...
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1940s Modern Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Watercolor, Ink, Cardboard

A 1920s Caricature of Author Lennox Robinson by Irish Artist Isa M. Macnie
Located in Chicago, IL
A 1920s caricature of author Lennox Robinson, by artist Isa M. Macnie. Inscription on drawing reads: "Author of “The White-Headed Boy” etc." Image size: 8 7/8" x 6 7/8". Archiva...
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1920s Modern Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Ink, Watercolor

Portrait of a woman by Emile Hornung - Pastel on paper 48x63 cm
Located in Geneva, CH
Work on watercolor paper
Category

Early 20th Century Modern Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Carbon Pencil, Pastel

"Bathers" American Scene Social Realism 20th Century Modernism Ashcan Fauvism
Located in New York, NY
"Bathers" American Scene Social Realism 20th Century Modernism Ashcan Fauvism Charles Demuth (1883-1935) "Bathers" 10 1/2 x 8 1/4 inches watercolor on paper, c. 1930 Signed lower le...
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1930s Modern Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

Facial Expressions Seen at the Cinema - Drawing - 1940s
Located in Roma, IT
Facial Expressions Seen at the Cinema is an original China Ink Drawing realized by an artist in 1940s. Signature unreadable. Good condition on a white little paper.
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1940s Modern Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Ink

Landscape with Man and Goats
Located in London, GB
'Landscape with Man and Goats', gouache on paper, by Raymond Guerrier (circa 1960s). After the artist moved from Paris to the South of France, he started painting landscapes illumina...
Category

1960s Modern Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Gouache

Composition VI (Minimal, Abstract, Uecker, Geometric)
Located in Kansas City, MO
Barbara Keidel Composition VI (Minimal, Abstract, Uecker, Geometric) 1994 Pencil Drawing on heavy Paper Size: 6.29 x 7.48 (16 x 19 cm) Signed, dated and titled by hand COA provided ...
Category

1990s Modern Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Handmade Paper, Pencil

Sketch. 1930's, watercolour, pencil on paper, 42x27 cm
Located in Riga, LV
Romans Suta Born on April 28, 1896 in the vicinity of Cesis (Latvia), died on July 14, 1944 in Tbilisi (Georgia), rehabilitated posthumously. Painter, graphic artist, decorative and stage designer, art critic and theoretician. Studied at the J. Madernieks' Art Studio (1913), Riga City Art School (1913-1915), and Penza Art School (1915 -1917). A prominent figure and active protagonist of modernist trends in Latvian art. Travels to Berlin and Paris, where he made the acquaintance of A. Ozanfant, Le Corbusier, and others. The influences of Cubism and Constructivism. A member of the Riga Artists' Group (1920-1924) and the Riga Graphic Artists' Society. Painter of still lifes and figural compositions. After the first experiments in Modernism, he turned to a more realistic manner of representation. The initiator and developer of a national constructive style, especially in interior design; the founder of Baltars creative workshop for porcelain painting (1924-1928); a designer and painter at Kuznetsov...
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1930s Modern Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Watercolor, Pencil

Black Standing Male Nude with Chair in Studio
Located in Columbia, MO
William A. Berry (American, 1933-2010) was an accomplished artist and renowned illustrator who left thousands of drawings, paintings, photographs, and mixed media works, a multitude ...
Category

Late 20th Century Modern Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Color Pencil

Untitled, Modern Watercolor by Jane Bazinet
Located in Long Island City, NY
Jane Bazinet, American - Untitled, Year: 1980, Medium: Watercolor, signed, Size: 30 x 40 in. (76.2 x 101.6 cm), Frame Size: 32 x 42 inches
Category

1980s Modern Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Watercolor

Hawk Bird Of Prey Framed Original Mid 20th Century Powerful Watercolor Painting
Located in Sutton Poyntz, Dorset
Dame Elisabeth Frink. English ( b.1930 - d.1993 ). Hawk, 1969. Watercolor. Signed & Dated Lower Right. Image size 25.4 inches x 19.5 inches ( 64.5cm x 49.5cm ). Frame size 34.4 inches x 28.1 inches ( 87.5cm x 71.5cm ). Available for sale; this original painting is by Dame Elisabeth Frink and is dated 1969. The painting is presented and supplied in a glazed frame and mount dating from June 1997. This vintage watercolor is in very good condition, commensurate with its age. The watercolor is signed and dated lower right. Previously with Beaux Arts, London and Bath in 1999. Dame Elisabeth Frink was one of Britain’s most important post-war sculptors, an accomplished draughtsman, illustrator and teacher. She was part of the post-war school of expressionist British sculptors dubbed the Geometry of Fear, and enjoyed a highly acclaimed career that was commercially successful, broke boundaries and contributed greatly to bringing wonderful sculpture to public places. She was born on 14 November 1930 in Thurlow, the daughter of a cavalry officer, and brought up in rural Suffolk near to an active airbase. She was brought up a Catholic and educated at the Convent of the Holy Family, Exmouth. She then studied at the Guildford School of Art from 1947-1949 under Willi Soukop and Henry Moore’s assistant, Bernard Meadows, and then at the Chelsea School in London 1949-1953. She taught at Chelsea School of Art 1951-61, St. Martin’s School of Art 1954-62 and was a visiting instructor at the Royal College of Art 1965-1967, after which she lived in France until 1973. Frink first came to the attention of the public in 1951 at an exhibition at the Beaux Arts Gallery, London. In 1952 she represented Britain at the Venice Biennale, being described by Herbert Read as “the most vital, the most brilliant and the most promising of the whole Biennale”. The same year the Tate bought its first work by her, and she began to enjoy commercial success. Thereafter she exhibited regularly and was for 27 years associated with Waddington’s, London. The subjects which Frink was most concerned with were man, dog and horses, with and without riders. Interestingly she seldom sculpted the female form, drawing on archetypes of masculine strength, struggle and aggression. Her work has the recurring themes of the vulnerable and the predatory, in the spirit of an authentic post-war artist. It has been said that she was more concerned with representing mankind that portraits of individuals. The appeal of her work lies in its directness, provoking a frank statement of feeling. The anatomy is often exaggerated or incorrect; the impact growing more out of her interest in the spirit of the subject. Her animals and birds may be drawn from nature but verge on the abstract, conveying raw emotion and character rather than a realistic depiction. Her unique style is characterised by a rough treatment of the surface which embeds each piece with vitality and her personal impression. In her later work even the distinction between human and bird figures becomes blurred. Commentators have noted that the often rugged, brutal and contorted surfaces of her work reflect the destruction and terror of the six-year world-wide conflict that she witnessed as a child. Frink was an active supporter of Amnesty International. In the 1960s and early 1970s Frink produced a notable series of falling figures and winged men. Later, living in France during the Algerian war, she began making heads, blinded by goggles which had a threatening facelessness. Frink produced many notable public commissions, including Wild Boar for Harlow New Town, Blind Beggar and Dog for Bethnal Green, Noble Horse and Rider for Piccadilly, London, a lectern for Coventry Cathedral, Shepherd for Paternoster Square beside St. Paul’s Cathedral and a Walking Madonna for Salisbury Cathedral. In the early 1980s she produced a set of three larger than life figures The Dorset Martyrs which stand on the edge of the old walled town of Dorchester on the site of the old gallows, as a memorial to those who had been executed there ‘for conscience sake’. Frink’s Canterbury Tales was a collection of 19 etchings drawn directly on to copper plates and etched by her. The ‘book’ was issued in three limited editions. Her illustrations have been praised as “amongst the most successful illustrations of the century, encompassing the mood of the text in concise delineations and disarmingly ribald humour”. She illustrated other books with colored lithographs or drawings. Frink was on the Board of Trustees, British Museum from 1976, and was a member of the Royal Fine Art Commission 1976-81. CBR (1969), DBE ((1982), Associate of the Royal Academy (1971), Royal Academy (1977). She was made a Companion of Honour in 1992. She died on 18 April 1993, but not before completing her last commission, a monumental but unusual figure of Christ for the front of the Anglican Cathedral in Liverpool, unveiled a week before her death. For several decades Frink exhibited widely in the UK and abroad. In her later years she lived and worked in Dorset where her home and garden became an arena for her work. In 1985 she had a retrospective at the Royal Academy. She died on 18 April 1993, but not before completing her last commission, a monumental but unusual figure of Christ for the front of the Anglican Cathedral in Liverpool, unveiled a week before her death. There was a memorial show at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Bretton Hall in 1994. Today Frink is venerated as one of the great twentieth century British sculptors. Her unique work is represented in the Tate Gallery and major public and private collections world-wide. © Big Sky Fine Art This original watercolor on paper painting of a hawk by Dame Elizabeth Frink...
Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

Modern drawings and watercolor paintings for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Modern drawings and watercolor paintings available for sale on 1stDibs. Works in this style were very popular during the 21st Century and Contemporary, but contemporary artists have continued to produce works inspired by this movement. If you’re looking to add drawings and watercolor paintings created in this style to introduce contrast in an otherwise neutral space in your home, the works available on 1stDibs include elements of orange, blue, yellow, purple and other colors. Many Pop art paintings were created by popular artists on 1stDibs, including Mino Maccari, Bernard Labbe, Flor David, and Gabriele Galantara. Frequently made by artists working with Paint, and Watercolor and other materials, all of these pieces for sale are unique and have attracted attention over the years. Not every interior allows for large Modern drawings and watercolor paintings, so small editions measuring 0.25 inches across are also available. Prices for drawings and watercolor paintings made by famous or emerging artists can differ depending on medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $1 and tops out at $950,000, while the average work sells for $492.

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