Featured Help w/ID George Gershwin Sketch/Portrait

hi everyone. this is a Hail Mary purchase for me. i found this in a Goodwill and i just couldn't put it back. this appears to be an original conte crayon sketch of George Gershwin in profile. it's a nice likeness and it appears to be from maybe the 60s or early 70s. at least that's where i would date the frame(but who knows?). i can not make out the artist's signature(upper right corner). this piece was framed and sold in a gallery in Los Angeles(Charles S. Grieve Gallery). the photos ive provided were taken indoors with my phone. the paper on which the sketch was done is white(the lighting isn't great, but you get the idea). the art is under glass, and i don't want to take the piece apart unless it's necessary. any ideas who the artist is? any help will be greatly appreciated...thanks

 

i forgot to resize the signature picture in the original post. here's a resized pic of the signature.

 

I see 'S Du Sing', but I can't find any artist with that name

 

yes, i was thinking S. Der Sing and found nothing.

 

Dysinger?

 

There is an artist S. Dysinger who does portraits of musicians. Here's information about her and a copy of her signature. (That Calif. abbreviation though may date this to before her time.)

https://www.ebay.com/itm/273591744126

Debora

 

Agree with Debora, Susan Dysinger,(born 1944) and an advert fron Los Angles Times paper has Charles S Greive Gallery still operating from that address in Oct 1965. Also a few examples of her work for sale on various sites from 1970s,so she is most likely to be the artist of your sketch.

 

It's a lovely portrait, Jim. Good you bought it.

 

It wouldn't have been done from life. Gershwin died in 1937.

Debora

 

hi, thank you very much. i've been away for Christmas. this is the first time i've checked in. i believe Susan Dysinger IS the artist. it wouldn't surprise me if this was an early work of hers when she was studying in Southern California. i've looked at several examples of her signature and, while this looks a little more hurried or sloppy, especially with the "er" at the end, it does resemble other examples i've seen. also, i'm from California and the Calif. abbreviation was still commonly in use in the 60s and 70s. i still use it once in a while today informally.

 

yes, thank you. i'm glad i bought it too. i think it has a warmth or softness to it that's very loving. having looked at other examples of this artist's work i can see she, no doubt, had tremendous affection and admiration for George Gershwin.

 

Perhaps I am biased, having similar tremendous affection and admiration for George Gershwin too. But I don't think it's just that for me. It's the opportunity to see a beautiful conte' sketch of him looking alive, youthful, vibrant, during his younger years, done so well it looks quite animated as though done from the musician sitting in a pose, by comparison to some stoic, cold artworks copied from photographs.

 

Altough it was copied from another work.

Debora

 

do you have a picture of the work it was copied from. i've looked around a bit on the internet, and didn't see anything. i saw one photo that could have been used but he was going in the opposite direction.

 

I couldn't find it either. I did see the profile photograph. Perhaps the artist flopped it.

Debora

 

(photo originally facing right)

 

it's the difference between amateur work and the hand of an artist. i can draw, but i've never really liked anything i've done. a true artist can push things a little this way or that and create something that's better than they started out with.

 

I didn't say it wasn't. It had to have been to associate the date period.
I never meant to infer that this was drawn from "real life" at all.
Just that it looks more lively than most done from a photograph.

 

Apologies if my comment led you to believe I didn't fully agree with yours. I think it's done with real vibrancy, capturing the spirit of the man. And the framing suits it well too.

Debora

 

Agreed, thx.