AUCTION

Opposite Lot 4 Charles Henry Alston Woman on Bench (detail)

Works by African American Artists Lots 1 – 41

1 Dawoud Bey (American, b. 1953) A Girl in Deli Doorway, Fulton Street, Brooklyn, NY, 1988 gelatin silver print edition AP, signed Dawoud Bey, titled, and dated (verso) 11 3/4 x 9 1/2 inches. $1,500-2,500 DAWOUD BEY (b. 1953)

Born David Edward Smikle, Bey chose to change his name to Dawoud Bey in the early 1970s. He studied art at the School of Visual Arts in New York, graduated with a BFA in Photography from Empire State College, and acquired his MFA from Yale University School of Art. Over the course of his career, Bey has participated in more than 20 artist residencies. A product of the 1960s, Bey has stated that he and his work are products of the attitude, “if you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem.” This philosophy has significantly influenced his signature street-style photography and resulted in an artistic method that is innately community-focused. Bey’s earlier photographs, such as A Girl in Deli Doorway, Fulton Street, Brooklyn, NY, ultimately evolved into a five-year project called Harlem, U.S.A., recently exhibited at the Art Institute of Chicago. Teens and adolescents have become Bey’s signature subject matter. Of this, he has said, “My interest in young people has to do with the fact that they are the arbiters of style in the community; their appearance speaks most strongly of how a community of people defines themselves at a particular historical moment.”

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2 Joseph Delaney (American, 1904-1991) Two Nude Figures ink on paper signed Jos. Delaney (lower right) 10 1/2 x 8 1/4 inches. $800-1,200

3 Joseph Delaney (American, 1904-1991) Untitled (Reclining Nude) oil on canvas signed Jos. Delaney (verso) 9 x 32 1/2 inches. $800-1,200

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4 Charles Henry Alston (American, 1907-1977) Woman on Bench, c. 1960s oil on canvas signed Alston (lower right) 50 x 40 inches. $20,000-30,000 CHARLES HENRY ALSTON (1907-1977)

Charles Henry “Spinky” Alston was a distinct contributor to the Harlem Renaissance movement. The keen support and strength seen within this community before, during, and after the Depression was expressed in Alston’s work throughout his career. Known primarily for his murals at the Harlem Hospital and the Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Building, Alston was also the first African American supervisor for the Works Progress Administration’s Federal Art Project. During the Great Depression, he helped direct the Harlem Art Workshop funded by the Works Progress Administration Federal Art Project. There he taught and mentored African American painter Jacob Lawrence, as well as Romare Bearden, his younger cousin, amongst many others. Recognizing the lack of African American artists associated with the WPA, Alston aided in the formation of the Harlem Artists Guild which compelled the federal program to be inclusive to all races.

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5 Charles Henry Alston (American, 1907-1977) Untitled, c. 1960 oil and mixed media on board signed Alston (lower left) 18 x 23 3/4 inches. $8,000-12,000

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6 Richard Howard Hunt (American, b. 1935) Untitled lithograph edition 41/50, signed R. Hunt (lower right) 20 x 26 inches. $200-400

7 Richard Howard Hunt (American, b. 1935) Untitled lithograph edition 43/50, signed Richard Hunt (lower right) 30 x 19 inches. $200-400

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8 Richard Howard Hunt (American, b. 1935) Untitled lithograph edition 6/20, signed Richard Hunt (lower right) 28 1/2 x 23 1/2 inches. $200-400 9 Richard Howard Hunt (American, b. 1935) Untitled lithograph edition 11/15, signed R. Hunt (lower right) 39 1/2 x 30 inches. $300-500 10 Richard Howard Hunt (American, b. 1935) Winged Figure, 1977 bronze edition 34/50, inscribed R. Hunt and dated Height: 10 inches. $600-800

11 Richard Howard Hunt (American, b. 1935) Soaring Spirit bronze inscribed R. Hunt Height: 10 1/4 inches. $2,000-4,000

12 Richard Howard Hunt (American, b. 1935) Hybrid Form, 1970 steel edition 3/3, inscribed R. Hunt and dated Height: 45 inches. $3,000-5,000

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13 Ronald Joseph (American, 1910-1992) Personal manuscript notebook containing 26 original watercolor, pen and pencil sketches [2 tipped in and 21 intext and 1 laid in] and 16 pages of notes pertaining to art and beauty. 8vo, self-titled Seeds to upper cover. S.l., n.d. [c. 1943] $500-700 RONALD JOSEPH (1910-1992)

Born in the British West Indies, Ronald Joseph moved to New York City at the age of thirteen. During the Depression, with the benefit of scholarships, he was educated at the Ethical Culture School, Fieldston School, and Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. Following graduation, he studied printmaking with Riva Helfond in the company of Robert Blackburn at the Harlem Arts Center where he would serve as a teacher later in his life. Joseph worked in the mural section of the WPA and was a representative of the Harlem Artists’ Guild to the New York World’s Fair in 1940. Joseph enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps at the declaration of World War II and was posted as a member of the ground crew at Tuskegee, Alabama and in Michigan. By 1943, prominent art critic James Porter considered him the ‘foremost Negro abstractionist painter’ in New York. After the war he was awarded a Rosenwald Fellowship permitting him to travel and live in Peru. Joseph subsequently used the G.l. Bill to study in Paris at the Grande Chaumière. He resided in Brussels where he continued to produce art until his death.

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14 14 Allen Stringfellow (American, 1923-2004) The Ball, 1998 mixed media collage signed Stringfellow and dated (lower right), titled (lower left) 16 1/4 x 10 inches. $1,000-2,000

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15 Romare Bearden (American, 1911-1988) Jazz II color lithograph edition A/P, signed Romare Bearden (lower right) 26 3/4 x 37 1/4 inches. $3,000-5,000

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16 Romare Bearden (American, 1911-1988) Firebirds, 1979 color lithograph edition 263/300, signed Romare Bearden (lower right) 21 1/2 x 15 inches. Ref: Gelburd/Rosenberg, 83 $1,000-2,000 17 Romare Bearden (American, 1911-1988) Noah, the Third Day, Noah’s Ark, (from Prevalence of Ritual) 1974 color screenprint edition P.R. V 73/100, signed Romare Bearden and dated (lower right) 36 x 29 3/4 inches. Ref: Gelburd/Rosenberg, 55 $2,000-4,000

18 Romare Bearden (American, 1911-1988) Susannah and the Elders lithograph edition PRII 73/100, signed Romare Bearden (lower right) 36 x 29 inches. $2,000-4,000 19 Romare Bearden (American, 1911-1988) The Lantern lithograph edition 42/175, signed Romare Bearden (lower right) 23 1/2 x 15 1/4 inches.

Provenance: Merrill Chase Galleries, Chicago, Illinois $1,500-2,500

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20 20 Beverly Buchanan (American, b. 1940) Shack foam core and acrylic Height: 12 inches. $1,000-2,000

21 Lois Mailou Jones (American, 1905-1998) Haitian Market, 1960 watercolor signed Lois M. Jones, Haiti and dated (lower right) 13 x 19 inches. $2,000-4,000

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22 Steve Walker (American, b. 1945) Girl in Garden, 1983 color silkscreen edition 54/60, signed S. Walker and dated (lower right) 11 1/2 x 7 3/4 inches. $500-700

23 Eugene James Martin (American, 1938-2005) Untitled, 1983/1997 mixed media collage signed E.J. Martin and dated 1983 (center left); also signed E.J. Martin and dated 1997 (lower right) 13 3/4 x 11 1/4 inches. $400-600

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24 24 John Dowell (American, b. 1941) Sun Dream, 1980 lithograph edition A.P., signed John E. Dowell and dated (lower right), titled (lower left) 24 1/2 X 18 inches. $200-400

25 Bill Hutson (American, b. 1936) Lancaster Series Study #6, 1990 oil on canvas signed B. Hutson and dated (lower center); signed, titled and dated (verso) 9 x 9 inches. $300-500

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26 Sam Gilliam (American, b. 1933) Untitled, 1974 watercolor signed Sam Gilliam and dated (lower right) 37 x 71 1/2 inches. $2,000-4,000

27 Radcliffe Bailey (American, b. 1968) 7 Ways, 1993 mixed media edition 10/10, signed Radcliffe and dated (verso) Height: 24 inches. $5,000-7,000 RADCLIFFE BAILEY (b. 1968)

Although born in New Jersey, Radcliffe Bailey draws his inspiration from the American South and the city where he was raised and educated, Atlanta, Georgia. His focus on the crossroads of the American South and African Diaspora is evident in his art which displays those themes through his use of found objects, mixed media constructions, and paints. He pays homage to the African American artists who preceded him and recalls a childhood encounter with Jacob Lawrence as an influential moment in his formation as an artist. Bailey’s works include the traditional narratives found in those earlier African American artists’ works, but also incorporate elements drawn from his personal history as well as found objects that continue the same African American narrative. A pivotal moment in his development as an artist, he received a gift of numerous antique family photographs from his grandmother as a young man. As exemplified in 7 Ways, he uses these and other found photographs as a focal point to create his art around. These photos are used to provide a connection for his African American viewers to identify themselves within art and a potential connection to their own heritage.

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29 28 Irene Clark (American, b. 1927) Mask, c. 1950 gouache and pencil on fabric signed I. Clark (lower right) 10 x 13 3/4 inches. $700-900

29 Purvis Young (American, 1943-2010) Angels and Figures oil on paper signed Young (lower center) 19 1/2 x 25 1/2 inches. $600-800

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30 Purvis Young (American, 1943-2010) Processional oil on board signed Young (upper right) 12 x 12 inches. $400-600 31 Purvis Young (American, 1943-2010) Dying Angel oil on paper signed Young (lower center) 24 x 19 inches. $600-800

32 32 Charles Sebree (American, 1914-1985) Untitled (Portrait of a Woman), c. 1961 ink on posterboard signed Sebree (lower left) 25 3/4 x 21 inches.

Provenance: Leroy O. Dorsey, Howard University Professor of Music, Washington, D.C. (gift from the artist) Private collection $1,500-2,500

33 Charles Sebree (American, 1914-1985) Clown Standing gouache signed Sebree (lower center) 3 3/4 x 2 1/4 inches.

Provenance: Leroy O. Dorsey, Howard University Professor of Music, Washington, D.C. (gift from the artist) Private collection $800-1,200

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35 34 Margaret Taylor Goss Burroughs (American, 1917-2010) Reading is Fundamental, 2002 linocut signed M. Burroughs and dated (lower right), titled (lower left) 16 x 20 1/4 inches. $400-600

35 Margaret Taylor Goss Burroughs (American, 1917-2010) Birthday Party, 1999 linocut signed M. Burroughs and dated (lower right), titled and inscribed (lower left) 16 x 19 1/4 inches. $500-700

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36 Charles Porter (American, 1850-1923) Still Life with Peonies watercolor signed C.E. Porter (lower right) 14 1/2 x 21 inches. $3,000-5,000

37 Hale Aspacio Woodruff (American, 1900-1980) Selections from the Atlanta period (portfolio of eight), c. 1931-46 linocuts, Robert Blackburn’s Printmaking Workshop editions 155/300, each blind stamped ©Hale Woodruff (lower right) Largest: 12 x 9 inches. $4,000-6,000 HALE ASPACIO WOODRUFF (1900-1980)

Known for his paintings, prints and murals, Hale Aspacio Woodruff was born in Cairo, Illinois and studied at the John Herron Art Institute of Indianapolis, Indiana followed by four years of study in France during the late 1920s. His early work exhibits threads of a dialogue with the ideas of abstraction and cubism he encountered while there. Woodruff’s artistic expression later matured into a regional vernacular of Georgia inspired by his study with Diego Rivera and the concurrently developing dialogues of the Mexican muralist tradition. The themes of his mural cycles for Talladega College, Clark Atlanta University Art Galleries, and Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company developed a visual narrative for the rural life experience and history of African Americans. Woodruff was an instrumental founding member of Atlanta University’s art program, where he was a member of the faculty for fifteen years and developed the Atlanta University Art Annuals, an art exhibition for African American artists that ran for 29 years, from 1942 to 1970. He went on to teach at New York University until his retirement in 1968.

38 Elizabeth Catlett (American, 1915-2012) Survivor, 1983 linocut edition 723/1000, signed E. Catlett and dated (lower right), titled (lower left) 9 1/4 x 7 1/2 inches. $1,500-2,500 ELIZABETH CATLETT (1915-2012)

A renowned sculptor, printmaker, and women’s advocate, Elizabeth Catlett’s work pays homage to the enduring courage of working-class women with tender dignity and grace. Through economy of line and elegant simplicity, Catlett’s works convey a deep understanding of the human experience. Born in Washington, D.C., Catlett studied at Howard University and was the first student to earn an MFA in sculpture at the University of Iowa School of Art and Art History, where she was encouraged by Grant Wood to work with the subjects she knew best. In the 1940s, Catlett studied ceramics at the Art Institute of Chicago and lithography at the Art Students League of New York. An advocate for African American and Mexican women, Catlett devoted much of her life and work to improving the lives of these groups, activism which led to her arrest and eventually forced her to relocate to Mexico in exile from the United States. In Mexico, Catlett studied with Jose L. Ruiz and Francisco Zúñiga. She later returned to Mexico, married and became a Mexican citizen where she played an important role at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, Mexico City, as the first female professor of sculpture and head of the department before retiring to Cuernavaca in 1975.

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39 Richmond Barthe (American, 1901-1989) Black Madonna, 1961 painted terra cotta inscribed Barthe Height: 5 1/2 inches on a 2 1/2 inch wood base. $5,000-7,000

40 Augusta Savage (American, 1900-1962) Gamin plaster with painted bronze patina inscribed Savage and titled Height: 9 inches. $12,000-18,000 AUGUSTA SAVAGE (1900-1962)

From a young age, Augusta Savage showed a passion for creating art. As a child in Green Cove Springs, Florida, she would find clay in her neighborhood that she could use to create her small animals and other figures. Despite the disapproval of her minister father, she continued to pursue her passion which ultimately led her to New York City in the 1920s. In New York, she began to develop a talent for portrait sculpture. Creating portraits for such prominent figures as W.E.B. DuBois and Marcus Garvey, she established herself as a key figure of the Harlem Renaissance movement. Gamin, one of her most important works, uses a portrait bust to cast a young boy from Harlem with the dignity and refinement usually reserved for men of higher social stature. With fewer commissions coming in during the Great Depression, Savage opened the Savage Studio of Arts and Crafts. In this incarnation as a teacher, she had the opportunity to mentor and teach the newly burgeoning artistic talents of Harlem, including Jacob Lawrence and Norman Lewis. During this period she also began an involvement with the Works Progress Administration, lobbying for African American artists to have the same opportunities to create art for WPA funded projects. Despite leaving New York City in 1940 and spending the majority of her subsequent career teaching, Savage remains a key figure of the Harlem Renaissance and in the formation of many important African American artists of her time.

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41 Henry Ossawa Tanner (American, 1859-1937) Woman from the French West Indies, c. 1891 oil on canvas mounted on board 18 x 15 inches. Property from a Private Collection

Provenance: Alexander Kononchuk, Ambler, PA Acquired by the present owner from the above, 2009

Dr. Dewey F. Mosby, Director Emeritus of the Picker Art Gallery at Colgate University and author of Across Continents and Cultures: The Art and Life of Henry Ossawa Tanner has written the following essay in reference to this work.

The attribution of this strong and unusual portrait-like painting to Henry O. Tanner is supported by similarities in artistic handling to other Tanner works executed around 1891 to 1893. The artist arrived in Paris, France at this time and spent the summers on the west coast in Brittany. There, he adopted a predominately green palette with an emphasis on vertical brushstrokes as can be seen in the Woman from the French West Indies and is echoed in the signed and dated Horse and Two Dogs in a Landscape (see Mosby, Tanner, pp. 102-103). Then, the tans that creep into the background of the woman’s head are similar to the latter picture as well as those found in the 1891 landscape from Brittany, Carcaneau (Ibid., pp. 104-105).

Even more convincing are the multiple light sources which will be characteristic of Tanner’s approach during the whole of his career, including the famous Banjo Lesson. For example, a dominant light comes from the left and creates a sharp contrast with the shadows on the right side of the face and neck. Yet another light source emanates from the lower left, catching a few beads of the necklace and bringing the underside of the coral-like bonnet into glow. Finally, the right background has its own source of light which helps to animate the entire composition and add life to the sultry head of the mulatto model.

It should be mentioned in passing that the slight tilt of the head and eyes contrasted with the angle of the shoulders attest to the compositional principles that Tanner learned at art schools in Philadelphia and Paris (cf., Mosby, passim). In spite of the intricacies of light and compositional devices, a sense of calm dignity pervades the picture.

The present painting of a woman of color is a welcome addition to Tanner’s oeuvre because he has a meager body of images of Black women. Indeed, we know the famous Portrait of the Artist’s Mother (Philadelphia Museum of Art) and the lesser-known Portrait of Sister Sarah (see Mosby, Across Continents, p. 17). Our portrait does not seem to represent a Tanner family member which can be determined by a comparison of the visages in the Tanner Family Portrait of c. 1890 (see Mosby, Tanner, p.22). Instead, we are looking at an image of a lightskinned woman from one of the islands of the French West Indies-Martinique, Guadeloupe or Dominica. This claim is supported by her costume and headdress. We learn about them in one of the principal figures of an 18th-century Scene With Dancing by Agostino Brunias (1730-1796) who made paintings and prints throughout the Caribbean during his lifetime (see Honychurch, passim and Honour, p. 33, fig. 3). Thus, no claim is made here that Tanner traveled to the French Caribbean islands because he did not do so. The above-mentioned picture by Brunias sheds additional light on our painting. She is not an ordinary Black subject. She is not an ordinary Black Caribbean island woman with a kerchief headdress or bare bosoms as seen in so many European paintings and prints. Tanner’s model wears a fancily-designed bonnet that crowns her head like a halo and a sparkling pearl-like necklace. In other words, this haughty young woman is not a peasant.

It is not possible to specifically identify our subject as a woman from either Martinique, Guadeloupe or Dominica because our primary source, Brunias, as chronicled by Lennox Honychurch (passim), often conflated Martinique and Dominica. But why did the African American Tanner choose this subject area? We know that France held a long tradition and special relationship with Martinique, beginning especially with the beautiful Maria Josepha Rose Tacher de la Pazarie (1763-1814), better known as Empress Josephine Bonaparte (cf., C. Erickson, passim). This fascination continued into the 20th century with the pre-eminent thinker from Martinique, Fantz Fanon (1925-1961). Perhaps even more relevant for the present study is the fact that during Tanner’s formative years in Brittany, 1891-1893, the legendary Paul Gauguin was there. Gauguin traveled to Martinique in 1889 and made several paintings and prints based on the area. Henry O. Tanner was influenced by Gauguin and his circle (see Mosby, Across Continents, passim). These circumstantial situations, along with his own racial awareness, would have prompted the artist to want to paint a portrait of a woman from the French West Indies. Unfortunately, secondary sources do not reveal census data about people of color in Brittany during the late 19th century-they were simply listed as French.

Another issue that deserves special attention is the unpainted border of Woman from the French West Indies. We learn from the Dr. Carl Grimm [Chief Conservator for Paintings at the De Young Museum and the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco] “Condition Report”:

Pin holes at all four corners indicate that it was painted on a piece of unstretched canvas while it was primed or tacked to a board or some other working support. That the design is held back from the edges is consistent with this scenario.

Also consistent with this scenario is Tanner’s so-called Marshes in New Jersey (National Museum of American Art, acc. No. 1984.149.3). Indeed, an inscription under the mat on the lower left places this picture in Paris and dates it in 1895. The subject seems to be an Eiffel Tower-shaped buoy of the type located near Quai d’Issy on the Seine River. More important for the present discussion, the Marshes design is held back from the edges-especially noticeable on the bottom of the attached photograph. Then, like the West Indian Woman, it is mounted on board and has pin holes on all four corners. As an aside, the vertical pastel brushstrokes in the bottom level of Marshes echo the handling in the present oil.

Finally, a work of art finds additional life through influence. It is difficult to think that Tanner’s Philadelphia “Homeboy,” Julius Bloch (1888-1966) did not have in mind Woman from the French West Indies when he painted The Man with the Blue Sweater in The Picker Art Gallery at Colgate University.

$20,000-30,000

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