Featured Well executed charcoal drawing - when? where?

Discussion in 'Art' started by aaroncab, Feb 16, 2019.

  1. Debora

    Debora Well-Known Member

    Someone certainly knew their Edward Hopper.

    Debora
     
    Zinnie and aaroncab like this.
  2. ulilwitch

    ulilwitch Well-Known Member

    Could just be me but there look to be a lot of letters and numbers disguised in the flooring. Looks like 1942 repeated a few times. Again, could just be my overactive imagination. Also, look at the bottom of the arm of the chair. Is it a signature? Oh my gosh, maybe I am just hoping.
     
    aaroncab likes this.
  3. Fid

    Fid Well-Known Member

    I think I see 666 on the wall...
     
    sabre123 and aaroncab like this.
  4. Aquitaine

    Aquitaine Is What It IS! But NEVER BORED!

    I tried playing with the image to see if anything else showed up.....by lightening & reducing contrast.......not much except I hadn’t noticed what looks like a tall stained glass window on the left, huge rectangular column......and maybe a short fur jacket lying next to the column......and wow, is she “down in the dumps”.......and I’m just seeing that’s probably not a column....just an alcove by the window........? And the hat completely throws me.......Agree on a large chest being with her along with the smaller round travel case.......fascinating!!!!! I JUST Saw a place that COULD be siggy.....lower LEFT where I Circled in RED.......had to delete and re-upload edited image.....

    1059DB74-CB12-44E5-B2B1-F468CBED54A6.jpeg
     
    Last edited: Feb 17, 2019
    aaroncab likes this.
  5. Zinnie

    Zinnie Well-Known Member

    I wondered this also after posting my comments - and the answer looks to be at least the 16th century. :jawdrop: And gangbusters since then as it's one of those products easy to sell to artists desperate to save artwork but here's the catch - it was used mostly in lieu of having to pay for expensive framing - especially glass way back then. The fixative worked as a barrier against the elements and glass wasn't needed. But it had a price in other ways that could wreck the artwork if not applied correctly. A chance thing.

    Here's the article I found that explains it nicely: http://cool.conservation-us.org/jaic/articles/jaic35-03-005.html

    Because the above artwork is framed, it's possible it was never 'fixed'. Museum glass was invented in 1951 but that doesn't mean it wasn't framed before then as well. A mystery on many levels! In any event, the artwork is 'drawing' well-deserved attention. ;)
     
  6. Pat P

    Pat P Well-Known Member

    Interesting info, Zinnie... thanks for sharing it. Definitely a mystery!
     
    Zinnie, aaroncab and Lucille.b like this.
  7. aaroncab

    aaroncab in veritate victoria

    Thanks Zinnie! - Yes I'm not sure when it was put in it's current frame, but I feel like it is in the original mat. I just removed the mat, and the tape was completely dry/brittle and came right off with my fingers without almost any resistance. The drawing is done directly on the art board as far as i can tell - so if we can date the art board perhaps we can get a rough date on the piece, too bad the maker's stamp is cut in half... Unfortunately no real other clues after taking the mat off. No signature visible still. And @Aquitaine - I don't think there's a signature where you circled, although it looked promising didn't it? I think it's just how the charcoal sits in that area.

    For now I've put it back in the frame to keep it safe behind glass. Planning on getting it a new frame/ mat soon.
     
    Zinnie, Aquitaine and Pat P like this.
  8. Fid

    Fid Well-Known Member

    seems a general problem. the more you blow up details, the bigger the chance it starts to look like something real. you never know what your program drops and what pixels are saved as is.
     
    Pat P and aaroncab like this.
  9. ulilwitch

    ulilwitch Well-Known Member

    At first look I thought it was a long scarf that she used to tie her hair back because of the longer piece hanging down the front. of her shirt.
     
    Mill Cove Treasures and aaroncab like this.
  10. Debora

    Debora Well-Known Member

    You have good eyes. Could be a headscarf rather than a hat. Popular in 1930s. Worn this way.

    Debora

    1930s_Scarves_large 2.jpg
     
    sabre123 and ulilwitch like this.
  11. sabre123

    sabre123 Well-Known Member

    The company name for the watercolor board you've got is:
    Favor, Ruhl, & Co.

    From their 1910 catalog:

    ILLUSTRATION BOARDS
    This board can be used for water color work, pastel, pencil and charcoal drawing,
    as well as general black and white work for reproduction.

    Per Sheet
    Size 20x30 inches, thin or Monogram

    Monogram was a designation for the thickness, it seems, as there was a "thick" board as well.

    Maybe do a history check on them to see how long they were in business. Although, artists keep expensive art boards, pre-stretched canvases, etc. for many years, so it won't really help to date the piece. [also read they began operations in Chicago, but later moved (or opened another office) in NY].

    Page 130 of:
    https://archive.org/details/CatalogOfFavorRuhlCoChicagoBranch/page/n129
     
    Last edited: Feb 18, 2019
  12. aaroncab

    aaroncab in veritate victoria

    Some most excellent sleuthing, very much appreciated!
     
  13. Zinnie

    Zinnie Well-Known Member

    Thank you for posting your curious inquiry (and not as a challenging/argumentative kind). That usually works best of all, end of day. :)
     
    Last edited: Feb 19, 2019
    Pat P likes this.
  14. Debora

    Debora Well-Known Member

    You might want to do some research into 1930s magazine illustrators. See if you can recognize style.

    Debora
     
  15. Zinnie

    Zinnie Well-Known Member

    @Debora - your comment reminded me of a blogger I occasionally check and wanted to share with you all but esp @aaroncab re this artwork. This blogger's overall agenda is in resurrecting The New Deal by posting WPA artworks, some photos too, in the past usually along a casual theme. He has lately however gotten fairly political because of current quasifascist govt but he remains a good resource for these artworks back then (which I really like, why I go to his site). Many very professional artists were forced to join this program at that time. He may even recognize the artist, if she/he was part of the WPA program. The time frame here works, even more so possibly the subject matter. Could it be the woman was forced to move because of the depression? Brent's New Deal of the Day site address: http://nddaily.blogspot.com/
     
    Mill Cove Treasures and aaroncab like this.
  16. aaroncab

    aaroncab in veritate victoria

    Doing some poking around on the net now. It honestly keeps reminding me more of Hopper than of anyone else; that's just fantasy though. (although he did have a career as an illustrator - which he hated) before he was successful as an artist.
     
    Zinnie likes this.
  17. Pat P

    Pat P Well-Known Member

    I thought it might be a head scarf, too. I think the thing hanging down, though, might be a sweater.
     
  18. Pat P

    Pat P Well-Known Member

    Hmm... look at the Hopper illustration at 9:06 in this video...

     
  19. Pat P

    Pat P Well-Known Member

    To go on a tangent here, my uncle, Harold Lehman, was a WPA artist. There's an interesting article about his large scale mural in the Rikers prison mess hall in NYC and how it was, unfortunately, torn down in the '60s.
    http://www.correctionhistory.org/html/museum/gallery/hdmmural/mural&photostory.html
     
  20. aaroncab

    aaroncab in veritate victoria

    Scary!
     
Draft saved Draft deleted

Share This Page