Skip to main content

This auction has ended. View lot details

You may also be interested in

Own a similar item?

Submit your item online for a free auction estimate.

PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION, PARK CITY, UTAH
Lot 15

Werner Drewes
(1899-1985)
Islands in the Clouds 25 x 35 in. (63.5 x 89 cm.)

26 May 2022, 14:00 EDT
New York

Sold for US$38,175 inc. premium

Own a similar item?

Submit your item online for a free auction estimate.

How to sell

Looking for a similar item?

Our American Art specialists can help you find a similar item at an auction or via a private sale.

Find your local specialist

Ask about this lot

Werner Drewes (1899-1985)

Islands in the Clouds
signed 'Drewes' (lower right) and dated and inscribed with the artist's peace cipher '4 ☮ 2' (lower left) and numbered '285' and signed again (on the stretcher) and dated and inscribed with the artist's peace cipher again (on the reverse)
oil on canvas
25 x 35 in. (63.5 x 89 cm.)
Painted in 1942.

Footnotes

Provenance
Nierndorf Gallery, New York.
Meredith Long & Company, Houston, Texas.
Zolla Lieberman Galleries, Inc., Chicago.
Acquired from the above by the present owner, 1993.

Exhibited
New York, The Museum of Non-Objective Painting [Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum], 1942.

A Statement from the Estate of Werner Drewes accompanies this lot. We are grateful to the family of the artist for their assistance in cataloguing this lot.

In a Statement from the Estate of Werner Drewes, the family of the artist notes "At the time of this creation in 1942, Werner Drewes was very active in his career in NYC. He had arrived 12 years earlier, emigrating from Germany in 1930. At the age of 43, Drewes had already taught at the Brooklyn College, become a US Citizen, joined the American Artists Congress & Société Anonyme and became a founding member of the American Abstract Artists. He had just finished a few years as an instructor at Columbia University and a stint working as Technical Supervisor/Director of Graphic Arts for the WPA and was currently teaching and taking classes with fellow artists at Stanley Hayter's Atelier 17, that was temporarily located in NYC during the war years. He was actively showing his work at the Guggenheim. This piece had the honor of being exhibited at the Guggenheim in NYC, we believe, shortly after its creation. It is an extremely strong piece illustrating Drewes use of color, texture, and form, all exemplifying Bauhaus principals." (Estate of Werner Drewes, unpublished statement, April 19, 2022, n.p.)

Additional information

Bid now on these items

David Howard Hitchcock(1861-1943)Nuʻuanu Pali Lookout, Oʻahu 20 x 30 in.

MILTON AVERY(1885-1965)Figure on the Jetty 46 x 33 in. (116.8 x 83.8 cm.)

ARTHUR DOVE(1880-1946)Centerport IV sheet 5 7/8 x 8 7/8 in. (14.9 x 22.5 cm.)

MAX WEBER(1881-1961)Still Life 10 7/8 x 15 1/4 in. (27.6 x 38.7 cm.)

British School(19th Century)Portrait of a Boy with a Bow and Arrow, Full-Length, in A Blue Jacket and Yellow Breeches

After Elie Nadelman(1882-1946)Ideal Head 12 1/2 in. high, on a 6 in. high marble base

William Moore(British, 1790-1851)A Family Portrait

After Jane Peterson(1876-1965)Beach Scene sight size 7 5/8 x 11 3/4, frame size 15 3/8 x 19 3/8 in. framed.

Louis Michel Eilshemius(American, 1864-1941)Cows in Pasture

Ethel(Polly) Randolph Thayer Starr (American, 1904-2006)Portrait of Mary Elizabeth Sears Baring-Gould

Terry Rodgers(American, born 1947)Hillside Garden, 1989

Georges Léon Dufrenoy(French, 1870-1942)Figures in a Park by a Chateau

ROBERT MCCALL(1919-2010)First Men on the Moon, No. 1 34 3/4 x 50 3/4 in. (88.2 x 128.9 cm.)

JAMIE WYETH(born 1946)a.w. Talking with Pat 10 1/8 x 11 3/4 in. (25.7 x 29.8 cm.)

ANDREW WYETH(1917-2009)Marshall Point 20 x 28 in. (50.8 x 71.1 cm.)

NEWELL CONVERS WYETH(1882-1945)It was, then, not a dream. This was the sign unto them. (The Nativity) 47 x 38 in. (119.4 x 96.5 cm.)

ELMER LIVINGSTON MACRAE(1875-1953)View from Bush-Holley House, Winter 27 x 22 in. (68.6 x 55.9 cm.)

JOHN EDWARD COSTIGAN(1888-1972)Barnyard Winter 25 x 30 in. (63.5 x 76.2 cm.)

ALEXANDER PHIMISTER PROCTOR(1860-1950)Polar Bear 7 1/2 in. (19.1 cm.) high

J.E.H. MACDONALD(1873-1932)Mountain Stream, Lake O'Hara 8 1/2 x 10 1/2 in. (21.6 x 26.7 cm.)

Henry Justice Ford(British, 1860-1941)Knitting in Her Chair