Featured Well executed charcoal drawing - when? where?

Not Hopper...but VERY close, in more ways than style. Martin Lewis was a contemporary of Hopper as well as the artist who helped Hopper learn to make prints AND they were good friends. How cool is this?

You can tell the difference in their artistic styles but they are very close. Hopper is more detail oriented, more of a complete image, even in his sketches ie the video above.

So I'm going say that you may just have an original Martin Lewis sketch that never got to the etching stage, as I can't find a 'final' image of it anywhere - not to say it doesn't exist though, maybe in a private collection?

Maybe it was too sad, or too personal? I've looked in 3 of my American prints/drawings books this morning and it's only Hopper and Lewis that come close to this artistic style, Martin being more 'loose', less detail driven, not as dark as Hopper. When I read the bios on them, it was revelatory that they were close buddies!

And just now checking Lewis on the internet (I had to wait for my mouse to recharge - gah!!) I am finding a lot of Lewis to compare with what my books show. He loved putting women in hats, that's certain. You'll find lots of examples of his work in google Images.

I'm not an expert by any means, just someone who loves printmaking especially back in those days (so fresh and varied). I hope you can find someone with real authority who can confirm it's Martin Lewis. Good luck and keep us posted!

 

Just to be clear: I'm not saying it can't be Hopper. Just imo it may more likely be Lewis. It's a very preliminary sketch - check out the odd chair legs and the shadows on the left (of image). It appears very reworked and still not satisfactory. I also noted that on Hopper's sketches (in video) he'd include a small EH. No clue if he always marked his work though.

 

Thanks again Zinnie. I'm looking at Lewis's work now, and very much enjoying it!

 

One thing I've noted about Lewis's work is the scenes are almost exclusively outdoors, not sure I've found one that's indoors yet.

 

I'm going through various illustrators/similar artists of the time now and one that stands out as a possibility is John Sloan. A lot of his subject matter seemed to be women indoors - many with hats - his drawings/studies aren't too far off from this, but - not really an exact match.

 

I wasn't familiar with Lewis so took a look. My first impression is that his style was a lot sharper, with harder edges, than your drawing.

 

You're welcome, Aaron. And wow - that's an excellent observation, especially given that Hopper did soooo many indoor scenes. And looking at those now, although mostly oil paintings, with a few etchings thrown in, many are of just one person, alone, looking variously despondent.

I am of totally mixed minds again now - perhaps it IS a Hopper!

I thought of John Sloan right away but his style is far more loose and although his scenes might be somewhat somber at times they rarely have the feel that Hopper likes to convey. Or this sketch. Yeah, not a match, I'd say.

Well, this continues to be a mystery then. Do you think sending an email to the Norman Rockwell Museum might be helpful? I think I'd do that at this point. And anywhere else that has Hopper works. Tate Museum and other places have his sketchbook/s. Pinterest has many pages posted. I didn't see anything like your artwork in them, from those I saw.

Glad you enjoyed Martin Lewis - I'd only seen a couple of his, had no idea he was so prolific! I really like almost all of his works. I think seeing them all made me a bit giddy with him as the mystery artist. Live and learn, eh.

Continued good sleuthing, everyone! Pat P, an excellent viewpoint on Lewis too. It all counts.

 

I've used a hairdryer to remove tape from paper and it works great without damaging the paper. Don't use it on the hottest setting and don't hold it too close to the paper. It has always worked for me. I was able to remove scotch tape from a page that was printed in 1577. Here's a photo after the tape was removed.

 

Thanks for the tip... will come in very handy with some items I have that someone put tape on previously.

 

Depending on the tape and how long it's been on the paper, it might take some patience so don't be tempted to pull it.

 

I actually managed to remove the tape a few days ago. The drawing ended up being directly on the art board, and the tape that attached the art board to the mat(only touched the back of the art board) was probably almost as old as the drawing - and had no "stick" left to it - came off without almost any effort, and did not damage the board at all. Thank goodness!

 

Ah, good advice.

 

Doesn't really show much more, but here's the front after removal from the mat, there is a 1/4" or so additional visible on each edge, but still no signature or mark.

 

Some areas have a litho-stone appearance but other areas, not so much. The paper was probably taped with masking tape while it was drawn and the washes applied. You can see some bleeding below the tape lines. I vote for a scarf on her head with the long end draped over her shoulder.

 

Looks like a fur coat on the chair beside her.

Debora

 

I don't think it's letters, I would like to double check but I did put it back in it's old frame, and it's hanging on my wall now. When I take it out to have it rematted/framed I'll have a closer look.

 

I work in colored pencil. I have to use fixative because any kind of pencil (charcoal, pastel included) will powder off. I still have my work behind glass as well to protect it from the elements and people touching it.

 

Did you try removing the White Border around it to see if there are any signatures /It maybe a Print.......