Featured Well executed charcoal drawing - when? where?

Someone certainly knew their Edward Hopper.

Debora

 

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.

 

I think I see 666 on the wall...

 

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.....

 

I wondered this also after posting my comments - and the answer looks to be at least the 16th century. 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.

 

Interesting info, Zinnie... thanks for sharing it. Definitely a mystery!

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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

Debora

 

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

 

Some most excellent sleuthing, very much appreciated!

 

Thank you for posting your curious inquiry (and not as a challenging/argumentative kind). That usually works best of all, end of day.

 

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

Debora

 

@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/

 

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.

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

Scary!