Very well drawn, original conte crayon study of a black female nude, in a strong Modernist style, by the listed Russian/American artist Abraham Solomon Baylinson (1882 - 1950), painted in 1927.
With excellent provenance: direct from the artist to his friend, the renowned modernist art critic Walter Pach (1883 - 1958), who gifted it to his second wife Nikifora Loutsi Pach, then sold by Christies, London in 2011.
Signed "A S Baylinson" and dated 1927 lower left. With Christies, London consignment labels verso.
Conte crayon on textured, buff toned wove paper, in a later stained wood frame with acid free single mount and backing.
Drawing in excellent original condition (see photos). Frame and mount clean (see photos).
Image 49cm x 35.5cm, frame 66.5cm x 52.5cm.
Comes with our Certificate of Authenticity - guaranteed authentic and original.
One of two works by Abraham Solomon Baylinson, from the Walter Pach collection, that I have listed.
Delivered ready to hang.
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Abraham Solomon BAYLINSON 1882 – 1950
Russian/American modernist painter and teacher.
Born in Moscow, Russia on 6 January 1882, the Baylinsonfamily moved to the United States around 1892. Abraham Solomon Baylinsonstudied at the Art Students League of New York, the National Academy of Designand the New York School of Art. While at the New York School of Art he trainedunder Robert Henri and Homer Boss, alongside students such as Edward Hopper,Rockwell Kent, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Glenn Coleman, Eugene Speicher, and PatrickHenry Bruce.
He was secretary for the Society of Independent Artists from1918 to 1934 and showed his work at the Societys exhibitions from his joiningin 1917 until 1942. Baylinson was an instructor of drawing and painting at theArt Students League from 1931 to 1933. In 1931 a fire in his studio destroyedalmost twenty years of work (over 500 paintings and drawings) – most of hisearly Modernist movement output. When he began painting after the fire hisstyle slowly evolved into more representational art.
He exhibited widely across North America, including at theNational Gallery of Canada, 1934, 1935; Detroit Institute of Arts, 1937; ArtInstitute of Chicago, 1931-37 & 1942-43; Corcoran Gallery, 1939; PennsylvaniaAcademy of the Fine Arts, 1932-33, 1946, 1948; Toledo Museum of Art, 1946; WhitneyMuseum of American Art, 1933, 1935, 1937-38, 1940-41 and regularly with the Societyof Independent Artists, New York.
He died on 6 May 1950 in New York City. The following year amajor retrospective exhibition of his work was held - A.S. Baylinson,1882-1950: A memorial exhibition of paintings and conte crayon drawings: in theArt Students League Gallery, October 21st to November 10th, 1951. New York: TheGallery.
His work is held in several notable collections, includingthe Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and Newark Museum.
References:
"Abraham SolomonBaylinson (1882-1950)". Spanierman Gallery, 2011.
"A. S. Baylinsonpapers, 1929-1955". In the Archives of American Art, by Jean Fitzgerald.Archives of American Art. 2005.
"Artist LostLifes Work. A.S. Baylinson Had 500 Paintings in Burned Building". The NewYork Times. January 31, 1931.
"A. S.Baylinson, 68, Art Leader, Dead. Ex-Secretary of Independent Society. Had ShownHis Work in Leading U.S. Galleries". The New York Times. May 7, 1950.
Walter Pach 1883 – 1958
American artist, critic, lecturer, art adviser and arthistorian.
Pach wrote extensively about modern art and championed itscause. Through his numerous books, articles, and translations of European arttexts Pach brought the emerging modernist viewpoint to the American public.
He organized exhibitions of contemporary art for New YorkCity galleries of the period. He was also extremely helpful to Arthur B.Davies, president of the landmark exhibition of 1913, the "InternationalExhibition of Modern Art," known as the Armory Show, as well as to one ofits founders Walt Kuhn, by bringing together leading contemporary European andAmerican artists. Another original founder Jerome Myers spent over a yearsupervising the American portion of the show.
Pach helped John Quinn and Walter Arensberg gather theircollections. He also secured individual works for museums, such as a portraitby Thomas Eakins for the Louvre, and Jacques-Louis Davids The Death ofSocrates for the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Pachs fluency in French, German, and Spanish made itpossible for him to understand and interpret the avant-garde ideas developingin Europe and translate them for the English-speaking audience. He was able tocommunicate personally with many noted artists in Europe and Mexico and mediatebetween gallery dealers and museum curators on their behalf. His correspondencewith major figures in 20th-century art are an important source of information,not only about the artists but about the art world during the first half of the20th century.
Born a year after Baylinson, he was a friend and close contemporary,they studied at the New York School of Art together and were members of the Societyof Independent Artists over the same period. Indeed, with Duchamp and theArensbergs, Pach was a major force in the creation of Society in 1916, Baylinson joined the following year and became secretary the year after.
After the death of his first wife (the German artistMagdalena Frohberg, 1884–1950), Pach married Nikifora Loutsi (later MrsNikifora N. Iliopoulos). During their marriage Patch gifted art works from hiscollection to his wife and on his death she inherited more. Her collection wassignificant, covering the best modern artists of the first half of the 20thcentury, from both Europe and the Americas and she is quoted that she “couldmake a museum” with the works in her possession. The remarkable resurfacing ofWalter Pach's extensive art collection, hundreds of long hidden works of art byPach himself, and numerous archival materials are reshaping and expandingexisting narratives related to his engagements with the triangulated modernismsof New York, Paris, and Mexico City.
