Original Ben Benn (russian-american) 1922 Pencil
/watercolor Drawing On Paper
USD $875.00
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Up for your consideration original 1922 Ben Benn (Benjamin
Rosenberg, 1884-1983) pencil/watercolor drawing “Apples on chair”. Absolutely
original condition with original mating and original frame. Signed and dated in
the lower right. Dated and signed in the label on verso. Image is 19 ¼” x 14 ½”.
Frame size 26 ¼” x 22 ½”. Excellent condition consistent with age. Please, look at the photos as they are part
of the description. Benn Benn was a pioneer American modernist whose independent
style defied stylistic classification. Despite excursions into Cubism and Abstract Expressionism, Benn
"seems always to have been a 'subject' painter. Considering this, it is remarkable that he
remained visible at all during the 50's and early 60's, when prejudice against
the representational amounted nearly to a proscription of it." Benn's
prominence in the art world over 6 decades was reaffirmed at a 90th birthday
show at the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, D.C. in 1974. Benn was born Benjamin Rosenberg in the town of Kamenets
Podolsk just after Christmas in 1884. This town was the regional capital of an area in what is today, SW
Ukraine, and was historically known as Podolia. The area was economically
important because of its rich black earth and location near navigable
rivers. At the time of Benn's birth the
area was ruled by Czarist Russia and 12% of the population was Jewish. Most of the inhabitants were Poles and
Ukrainians. They were often in conflict
and both sides blamed the Jews for siding with the other. The Russian rulers exploited these tensions
and even encouraged them, which would sometimes result in pogroms. Just 3 years before Benn's birth Czar
Alexander III placed restrictions on Jews' ability to earn a living and where
they could live; "pogroms became commonplace." It is therefore no surprise that the
Rosenberg family chose, along with thousands of others, to immigrate from
Podolia to the United States in 1894 or 1899. This was a good decision as Benn's birth place became the site of a
notorious massacre of 23,600 Jews by the Nazis in August of 1941. "Between 1904 and 1908 Benn attended the National
Academy of Design… The Academy
curriculum stressed portraiture built up with broad, painterly brushstrokes, a
technique that remained the foundation of Benn's style… By the mid teens his canvases were bolder in
color and more decorative in style… Benn
participated in the Forum Exhibition (1916)… as well as the first annual
exhibition of the Society of Independent Artists (1917)… Benn's first solo exhibition was held in 1925
at J.B. Newmann's New Art Circle gallery… [During the 1930's] the artist also
depicted urban scenes, yet, unlike the Social Realists, his work was more an
affirmation than a critical commentary on the human condition." Benn himself stated, "As a painter my aim is to
organize my ideas into a unified plastic form, so that the whole will create a
sense of joy and relaxation in the onlooker." End of the Street was exhibited at the Hammer galleries at a
solo exhibition shortly after the artist's death (#36 in catalogue), and was
also part of the collection of the New Britain Art Museum. Hilton Kramer, former art critic for The New York Times,
wrote in 1967, "A certain distinction accures to any painter able to
maintain a persistent personal vision and aesthetic quality… Ben Benn is one of
the happy exceptions to the rule… There
is a wonderful vigor, an exemplary professionalism and elan, that has been
characteristic of his art for many decades." Benn had many solo exhibitions during his lifetime,
including one at the Jewish Museum in 1965. His works are in many museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art,
Whitney, and Hirshhorn Museum. A Benn
painting is also "the only American artist represented in the great
Kreuller Collection in the Hague, Holland, which houses the finest Van
Goghs." I only ship to confirmed PayPal addresses. Insurance
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