John Brower

Pop Art Vincent Van Gogh Serigraph

1968

On deckle edged watermarked Arches French paper with publishers embossed blindstamp. hand signed in pencil, dated and numbered. the edition size is 175. there are three states of the same image image each with increasing detail and color. This auction is just for the one shown in the photos. Josef Alan Levi (1938) is an American artist whose works range over a number of different styles, but which are unified by certain themes consistently present among them. Josef Levi began his artistic career in the 1960s and early '70s, producing highly abstract and very modernist pieces: these employing exotic materials such as light fixtures and metallic parts. By 1975, Levy had transitioned to painting and drawing still lifes. At first these were, traditionally, of mundane subjects. Later, he would depict images from art history, including figures originally created by the Old Masters. Around 1980, he made another important shift, this time toward creating highly precise, though subtly altered reproductions of pairs of female faces which were originally produced by other artists. It is perhaps this work for which he is most well known. Since around 2000, Josef Levi has changed the style of his work yet again: now he works entirely with computers, using digital techniques to abstract greatly from art history, and also from other sources. Levi's works of art in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, NYC, the National Gallery of Art, and the Albright-Knox Museum, among many others. Levi's art has been featured on the cover of Harper's Magazine twice, once in June 1987, and once in May 1997. Josef Levi received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1959 from the University of Connecticut, where he majored in fine arts and minored in literature. From 1959 to 1960, he served to a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army, and from 1960 through 1967 he was in the U.S. Army Reserves. In 1966, he received the Purchase Award from the University of Illinois in 1966, and he was featured in New Talent U.S.A. by Art in America. He was an artist in residence at Appalachian State University in 1969, taught at Farleigh Dickenson University in 1971 and was a visiting professor of art at Pennsylvania State University in 1977. From 1975 to 2007, Levi resided in New York City. He now lives in an apartment in Rome, where he is able to paint with natural light as he was unable in New York. From 1959 to 1960, Josef took some courses of Howard McParlin Davis and Meyer Schapiro at Columbia University which initiated him into the techniques of reproducing the works of the Old Masters. His first works, created in the 1960s, were wood and stone sculptures of women. His first mature works were abstract pieces, constructed of electric lights and steel. In 1970, Levi's materials included fluorescent light bulbs, Rust-Oleum and perforated metal in addition to paint and canvas. By 1980, Josef Levi's art had transformed into a very specific form: a combination of reproductions of female faces which were originally depicted by other artists. The faces which he reproduces may be derived from either portraits or from small portions of much larger works; they are taken from paintings of the Old Masters, Japanese ukiyo-e, and 20th-century art. Artists from whom he has borrowed include: Vermeer, Rembrandt, Piero della Francesca, Botero, Matisse, Utamaro, Correggio, Da Vinci, Picasso, Chuck Close, Max Beckmann, Pisanello, Lichtenstein. The creation of these works is informed by Levi's knowledge and study of art history. Josef Levi's paintings from this period are drawn, then painted on fine linen canvas on wooden stretchers. The canvas is coated with twenty-five layers of gesso in order to produce a smooth surface on which to work. The drawing phase takes at least one month. Levi seals the drawing with acrylic varnish, and then he may apply layers of transparent acrylic in order to approximate the look of old paintings. After the last paint is applied, another layer of acrylic varnish is sprayed on to protect the work. Most of the figures in his contemporary pieces are not paired with any others. SELECTED COLLECTIONS MUSEUM OF MODERN ART, NEW YORK, NY ALBRIGHT- KNOX GALLERY, BUFFALO, NY ALDRICH MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART, RIDGEFIELD, CT NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART, WASHINGTON, DC BROOKLYN MUSEUM OF ART, BROOKLYN, NY SMITHSONIAN NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AMERICAN HISTORY, WASHINGTON, DC CORCORAN GALLERY, WASHINGTON, DC UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME ART...

This is a Silkscreen it is Titled Paul Cezanne, Post Impressionist, French. John Brower worked in Chicago as a billboard designer for 12 years. He taught art at Alverno College of Milwaukee, Wright Junior College in Chicago, the University of Illinois, and the University of Kentucky. A Pop Artist. In John Browers' work two important things come forward: the design and the image. In the painting "Indian 2" you are denied simply enjoying the background or the realistic figure in the foreground. They both on their own would make an interesting painting but Johns' insistence on putting them together leaves you with a picture scrubbed clean of indecision, so clear that you can hardly help yourself from needing to understand its meaning. John Browers' pictures are modern - no matter how instant they look you can tell they have been thought about and realized with a lot of calculation and intentionality. He has exhibited regularly in galleries throughout the country over the past 40 years and his work is in numerous collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC. Art After Art 1971. The exhibition featured works by contemporary artists who borrow and rework to their own ends famous paintings or traditional themes from the past.This exhibition consists of twenty-two paintings, drawings, sculptures, and graphics by 20th century artists , including Marcel Duchamp, Rene Magritte, John Clem Clarke, Tom Wesselmann, Roy Lichtenstein, Alain Jacquet, John Chamberlain, John Brower, Larry Rivers, Al Pounders, Joseph Cornell, Jose Luis Cuevas, and Sante Graziani...

EA Artists Proof aside from edtion of 150. Screenprint in colors on Wove Paper. Hand signed, numbered from the Artists Proof edition of 20 and dated '85 in pencil right side margin. Published by Martin Lawrence Limited Editions, Inc., New York...

Signed and Numbered Limited Edition Silkscreen Print on 300gsm weight Claro Silk Paper Framed: 110 x 110 cm 43 1/4 x 43 1/4 in. Edition of 50 (#22/50) ----------- Deborah Azzopardi...