Search Results: Original Art from Charles Agvent

(Easthampton, MA): Cheloniidae Press, 1990. First Edition. hardcover. Fine in a clamshell box, a beautiful book. Alan James Robinson. Folio (10-3/8" x 15-7/8"), the exact untrimmed size of the First Folio of 1623, bound by Claudia Cohen and Sarah Creighton in full gilt-lettered rust morocco, with marbled endsheets by Faith Harrison, in a custom cloth clamshell box with a gilt-lettered large morocco spine label. Designed by illustrator Alan James Robinson and Arthur Kinney, who wrote the text. Illustrated with 54 wood engravings depicting the birds and beasts and one wood engraving as well as an etching of Shakespeare. This is copy #I of 5 special proof copies (of a total edition of only 131) printed by Harold Patrick McGrath on Cheloniidae rag made specially for the Press, the first paper to carry a Cheloniidae watermark, and SIGNED by the illustrator on the colophon page. With an extra suite of the engravings and etching, each SIGNED and numbered by Robinson, plus another suite, issued only with… Read More

München: Hans von Weber-Verl., [1903]. First Edition. Hardcover. Title page soiled; prints are Fine but for a few minor turned corners. Housed in a soiled, Very Good slipcase. Quite scarce. Alfred Kubin. Large (15" x 18-1/2") string-tied black cloth portfolio with the artist's name in gilt on the front cover and containing 15 loose prints (14" x 17-1/2") from original drawings with the artist's printed signature and title beneath each image. The first independent publication by the artist and the first published work by Hans von Weber. Kubin, an Austrian (1877 - 1959) Expressionist artist, seems to have been influenced by the philosophy of Arthur Schopenhauer on suffering and misfortune. His work is dark, unflinching, and symbolic. One print, "The Hour of Death" depicts the scything hand of the clock as it beheads men as it turns, the severed heads caught in a net below. Another, "The Fate of Mankind" shows a woman with a cloth over her head sweeping the living towards the cliff of their deaths.… Read More

New York: American Artists Group, 1943. First Edition. Hardcover. Slight foxing to half-title page. Near Fine, lacking the dustwrapper. John Steuart Curry. Octavo (6-1/4" x 9-1/4") bound in publisher's cloth. A critical study of Curry, illustrated with numerous drawings and illustrations, including 8 full-page color plates, by the artist. INSCRIBED on the front endpaper with his initials and SIGNED in full by the artist below a small ORIGINAL ink/watercolor of a landscape with sunrise.

[Haarlem, Holland]: [Limited Editions Club], [1972]. Original Art. Fine. Rene Ben Sussan. The complete publisher's archive of 16 ORIGINAL watercolors, some mildly erotic in theme, and 17 ORIGINAL line drawings by Rene Ben Sussan used for the book. The watercolors are 5" x 8" on 7-3/4" x 11-1/4" paper with the line drawings on smaller, various sized sheets. All are lettered in the upper corner in red ink with pencil annotations below the image. Housed in a paper folder from the publisher. Accompanied by an out-of-series copy of the book SIGNED by the artist that was bound upside down. Rene Ben Sussan was active from the 1920s to the 1960s and illustrated many books, including 8 for the Limited Editions Club alone.

Great Barrington: Penmaen Press, (1983). First Edition. Hardcover. Covers soiled, otherwise Near Fine in a Fine dustwrapper. Woodblock in close to Fine condition. Michael McCurdy. One of 200 case-bound copies (of a total edition of 750) illustrated by Michael McCurdy with a wood-engraved portrait of Csoori on the dustwrapper cover and the title page. The Hungarian poet's first book in English, translated by Nicholas Kolumban. Included with the book is McCurdy's ORIGINAL WOODBLOCK used for the illustration with this book.

[Lansford PA], 1989. Original Art. Fine. Christopher Willett. Small (5" x 5") oil on board of a winter landscape of a Bucks County rural home SIGNED by the artist at the bottom right of the image and titled and SIGNED again on the verso. Framed to an overall size of 6-1/4" x 6-1/4".

[Lansford PA], 1991. First Edition. Drawing. Fine. Jack Savitsky. Original Drawing (9" x 12") with color pencils SIGNED, dated, and titled by the artist. On the verso is the artist's handwritten description in pencil of the drawing as well as a brief biography: "Jack Savitsky worked 40 years, IN THE coal mines never took a ART lesson." In 1959 Savitsky contracted Black Lung disease and began drawing, something he enjoyed doing as a youth. One of the great self-taught artists in the modern era, Savitsky often painted characters and scenes from his life in the coal mines. Coal Miner Jack is one of his favorite subjects. Savitsky's work has been sold at major auction houses and is in great demand.

Original Art. Smudging in margins. Near Fine. A 9-1/4" x 7" piece of mock-up art used for a newspaper illustration with a photo of Lewis with the caption "HE WHO GOT SLAPPED" and a photo of Dreiser with the caption "PUNCH IS MIGHTIER THAN PEN," along with drawings of men preparing to fight. On the verso is an actual newspaper clipping that used the art with an ink stamp stating "Received Examiner Reference Library Mar 21 1931." Perhaps the most famous literary fight of the 20th century occurred at a dinner honoring a Russian writer when Lewis, asked to speak, said, "But I do not care to speak in the presence of one man who has plagiarized 3,000 words from my wife’s book on Russia." Dorothy Thompson, his wife, had toured Russia in 1927 with a group of American writers that included Dreiser. She felt that Dreiser's book about the trip -- DREISER LOOKS AT RUSSIA -- borrowed liberally from her articles. After the dinner Dreiser confronted Lewis who called him a liar and cheat. In response Dreiser… Read More

n.p., 1997. Drawing. Fine, shrinkwrapped with a cardboard backing on which Norkin has written his name, address, phone number, and an insurance value. Sam Norkin. Original pen and ink on paper, 15" x 12", SIGNED by the artist and titled at the bottom in pencil. An image of three actors--Willis Sparks, Arnie Burton, and Anne O'Sullivan--performing in MERE MORTALS AND OTHERS by David Ives, which opened Off Broadway in 1997. Norkin's theater caricatures, similar in style to that of Hirschfeld, primarily appeared weekly in the NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, for which he was a cultural editor, for 26 years and the NEW YORK HERALD TRIBUNE for 15 years, but also many other publications and books. He was also an art critic for the Carnegie Hall house program, where this particular drawing may have appeared. In all he published more than 4000 drawings until his death at the age of 94 in 2011.

[New York], [1945]. First Edition. Manuscript. Black covers chipped and detached; contents quite nice. Very Good. Folio (11-1/2" x 13-1/2") vellum sheets string-tied with black paper covers, the front cover with a decorative drawing; 10 pages with beautiful manuscript calligraphy and 5 ORIGINAL ILLUSTRATIONS, all on rectos only. A retirement tribute to Charles Rodenburg, one of the original engineers who helped to build the New York subway system, primarily working on the Brooklyn Fourth Avenue branch. He began his career in 1900 and retired in 1945. The 5 illustrations, humorous in nature, are by Arthur Weindorf, an illustration artist who drew political cartoons for the LONG ISLAND DAILY, contributed illustrations to architectural publications, and who was a specialist in building models to scale. Four pages of the manuscript consist of lined pages, 3 of them with signatures of co-workers and others.

Framed Drawing. Tear in paper on left side, some creasing. A striking, large drawing in Very Good condition, not examined out of the frame. James Thurber. Large Original Pencil Drawing (36" x 24") of two couples dancing SIGNED by the artist, simply framed. This drawing was used on the cover of HARPER'S MAGAZINE Centennial Issue, October 1950, No.1205. Not in Bowden's bibliography of Thurber. A scarce and very large iconic drawing by Thurber at his best. With a copy of the magazine where it appears on the cover.

n.p., n.d. Drawing. Faint dampstain at very lower left blank margin. About Fine. Gahan Wilson. Original pen and ink on paper, 9" x 12", SIGNED by the artist at the lower left depicting a father plant in a maternity ward. Published in GAHAN WILSON'S EVEN WEIRDER, New York: Macmillan, 1996, page 222. A yellow post-it on the blank verso gives printing instructions.

1939. Framed Art. Not examined out of frame but appears to be Fine. James Montgomery Flagg. Fine ORIGINAL WATERCOLOR Self-Portrait depicting Flagg wearing a trenchcoat and a fancy women's Easter hat while holding a flower with the pencil caption by Flagg in the right margin: "Ap. 9, 1939. I JOIN THE EASTER PARADE ON 5th." Visual image size is 8-1/4" x 10-1/2" matted and framed to an overall size of 14-1/2" x 16." A striking, self-deprecating portrait of the artist. Not signed but in Flagg's inimitable style and from the archive of Willis Birchman: author, illustrator, and friend of Flagg's with whom he had an extensive correspondence. Birchman and Flagg worked together on the book FACES & FACTS BY & ABOUT 26 CONTEMPORARY ARTISTS. Flagg, the epitome of the bohemian artist, was a master of portrait studies and incisive caricatures. He created many posters for the government and is best known for his famous "I Want You" Uncle Sam recruiting poster, an American icon. He was elected to the Society of… Read More

n.p., n.d. Drawing. Some wear along the edges. Near Fine. Al Posen. Original pencil on stiff paper, 14-1/2" x 9-1/2", INSCRIBED and SIGNED by the artist at the bottom left: "Best Wishes to the Boys and Girls of Cornell form Sweeney + Son and Al Posen." Al Posen is best known for his 1933-1960 comic strip SWEENEY & SON and as co-producer of the now-lost first Marx Brothers film, HUMOR RISK (1921). This cartoon incorporates his best-known character and would make a great gift for a Cornell grad.

[1957]. Drawing. Minor toning, thumbsoiling, and tape residue to image. With ink-stamps and holographic notations on the mat. Near Fine. The drawing measures 16" x 12" and is matted to an overall size of approximately 24-1/2" x 18-1/2." Published in the December 1957 issue of AMERICAN HERITAGE magazine.

Drawing. Near Fine. Paul Cadmus. Original Color Pencil/Chalk Drawing (11" x 18") that served as a figural study for his painting DAVID AND GOLIATH. This drawing was acquired with a few others that were created when Cadmus was living in a summer house in Vermont owned by his friend/lover Jared French.

[Lansford PA], 1989. Framed Drawing. Fine. Jack Savitsky. ORIGINAL DRAWING (10" x 13") of two cats, one in a boot, done with color pencils SIGNED, dated, and titled by the artist. On the verso is the artist's SIGNED handwritten description in pencil of the drawing. In 1959 Savitsky contracted Black Lung disease and began drawing, something he enjoyed doing as a youth. One of the great self-taught artists in the modern era, Savitsky often painted characters and scenes from his life in the coal mines. Savitsky's work has been sold at major auction houses and is in great demand. Framed to an overall size of 11" x 14".

n.p., n.d. Drawing. Fine. Sam Norkin. Original pen and ink on paper, 12-1/2" x 13", SIGNED by the artist and titled at the bottom and on the verso in pencil. An image of the 3 composers as mobsters. Norkin's theater caricatures, similar in style to that of Hirschfeld, primarily appeared weekly in the NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, for which he was a cultural editor, for 26 years and the NEW YORK HERALD TRIBUNE for 15 years, but also many other publications and books. He was also an art critic for the Carnegie Hall house program, where this particular drawing may have appeared. In all he published more than 4000 drawings until his death at the age of 94 in 2011.

(Berkeley, CA): Bern Porter, 1946. First Edition. Hardcover. Some soiling to endpapers with very short split to top front hinge, a couple of pages with a faint crease; small chip to paint at top of front cover; remnants of original glassine present. Very Good. Kenneth Patchen. Covers painted in color by Kenneth Patchen with interior illustrations from paintings by the author with the limitation statement at the rear written in Patchen's hand: "this Edition is Limited to one Hundred and Fifty Numbered & SIGNED Copies with Covers Decorated by the Author (no two covers alike)." This is copy #86 and features a giant figure looming over trees and houses at night.

New York: John Becker, 1933. First Edition. wraps. About Fine in a Good example of the uncommon dustwrapper with wear along the spine and edgewear. Jean Charlot. Quarto (8-3/4" x 11") in printed wrappers with dustwrapper. Inscriptions by Paul Claudel translated onto English by Elise Cavanna. Illustrated with 32 ORIGINAL COLOR LITHOGRAPHS drawn directly onto the plates by Jean Charlot and printed under the technical supervision of Will A. Kistler. Copy #359 of 500 SIGNED on the colophon page by the artist, typesetter Lynton R. Kistler, and designer Merle Armitage. THE ARTIST & THE BOOK 54: "The beautiful illustrations in this book, typical of Charlot's Mexican figure style, are these lithographs, drawn by the artist on zinc plates rather than stones."