Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 11

Edmond Xavier Kapp
Modern British, 1971 abstract ink on paper by Edmond Kapp, caricaturist, reds

1971

About the Item

Edmond Xavier Kapp (British, 1890 – 1978) No Question! Ink on paper Signed and dated ‘Kapp ‘71’ (lower left), titled on the reverse 14.3/4 x 11.7/8 in. (37.5 x 30.3 cm.) Edmond Kapp was born in Islington, London, on 5 November 1890, of American and German Jewish parentage. He gave himself the middle initial ‘X’ – sometimes said to stand for Xavier – to distinguish himself from his father Emil Kapp, who was a wine merchant. However, his parents called him ‘Eddie’ while his wife and friends knew him as ‘Peter’. During his early years, Kapp was continually ill and, while convalescing, entertained himself by drawing at home. As his health improved, he attended Dame Alice Owen’s School, Islington (1903-10), with periods at Berlin University (1909) and L’Institut Français pour les Etrangers, Paris (1909). He then read Languages at Christ’s College, Cambridge (1910-13), though spent most of his time writing and drawing. Kapp took a studio in London, and worked intensively until the outbreak of the First World War, contributing to the Daily News, the Onlooker and other periodicals. During the war, he served as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Royal Sussex Regiment on the Western Front, and then in Intelligence, rising to the position of Staff Captain on Haig’s Staff. Finally, he founded and directed the Neutral Press Counter-propaganda Section. In 1919, Kapp returned to London and, after abortive periods at three art schools, worked alone. In that year, he made his name with an exhibition of caricatures, held at Furst’s Gallery, London, and accompanied by a catalogue introduced by Max Beerbohm. This soon led to contracts with three London periodicals and a book of caricatures, Personalities, published by Martin Secker. Through the 1920s and 30s, his drawings of musicians and other personalities appeared in a wide variety of periodicals, most notably Time & Tide; were collected in further volumes; and were exhibited at the Leicester Galleries. He considered himself to be a ‘character-portraitist’, producing images of psychological not satirical power, and disliking the term ‘caricature’. Between the wars, Kapp developed other aspects of his artistic talents, the desire to study and the search for subject matter often taking him abroad. For instance, work at the British Academy, Rome, under Antonio Sciortino, and with the American painter, Maurice Sterne, led him to produce his first oils (1923); while an introduction to the League of Nations in Geneva allowed him to use his new-found skill in lithography to produce portraits of twenty-five of its members (1933-35). This expansive and exploratory attitude to his work resulted in an increase in patrons and exhibitions, and in important artistic friendships, notably with Picasso (Picasso sat for Kapp in 1938). Kapp worked as an Official War Artist during the Second World War, and then as an Official Artist to UNESCO. In the post-war period, he had a studio in Beausoleil, Alpes Maritimes, and explored abstract painting ‘passionately, though without dogmatism’ (Edmond Kapp, London: Whitechapel Art Gallery, 1961, page 8). Kapp died on 29 October 1978. His sister – the artist Helen Kapp – had died earlier in the same month. The first of his three wives was Yvonne Kapp, biographer of Eleanor Marx and author of the memoir, Time Will Tell. They had visited Beerbohm in Rapallo during their honeymoon in 1923. His work is represented in numerous public collections, including the National Portrait Gallery; The Barber Institute of Fine Arts (University of Birmingham), the Fitzwilliam Museum (Cambridge) and Manchester Art Gallery; and Albright-Knox Art Gallery (Buffalo).
  • Creator:
    Edmond Xavier Kapp (1890 - 1978, British)
  • Creation Year:
    1971
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 14.75 in (37.47 cm)Width: 11.88 in (30.18 cm)Depth: 1 in (2.54 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
    In good condition, behind glass with a grey canvas mount and further grey slip, in a giltwood frame with white outer edge, chips and losses at leading edge.
  • Gallery Location:
    Petworth, GB
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU540313397422
More From This SellerView All
  • Lynn Chadwick, British, ink abstract figurative painting, black wash, 1966
    Located in Petworth, West Sussex
    Lynn Russell Chadwick, CBE RA (British, 1914-2003) Abstracted figure Ink pen and wash Signed and dated `Chadwick 66’ (lower right) 24 x 18.1/4 in. (61 x 46.3 cm.) Lynn Chadwick was ...
    Category

    20th Century Abstract Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

    Materials

    Paper, Ink, Pen

  • Sir Eduardo Paolozzi industrial drawings, (2 drawings), 20th Century, Scottish
    By Sir Eduardo Paolozzi
    Located in Petworth, West Sussex
    Sir Eduardo Luigi Paolozzi CBE RA (Scottish, 1924 – 2005) Industrial abstract; and another similar Pencil, crayon and ink on paper 8 x 11.1/2 in. (20.3 x 29 cm.) (both)
    Category

    20th Century Abstract Geometric Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

    Materials

    Paper, Crayon, Ink, Pencil

  • Mid Century Cornish gouache abstract painting by William Black 'Doorway'
    Located in Petworth, West Sussex
    William Black (British, Fl. 1963 – 69) Doorway Ink and watercolour on paper Signed, inscribed and dated ‘Doorway William Black 64’ (lower edge) 7.1/2 x 4.7/8 in. (19.2 x 12.4 cm.) (to site edge) William Black is a little known and underrated member of the St Ives artist group who, having worked as an architect after the Second World War, went on to work as an artist following the inheritance of money in the early 1950s. He was a self taught artist, producing numerous deconstructivist sculptures in the 1960s. He moved to St Ives in Cornwall where he knew artists such as Ben Nicholson, Barbara Hepworth and Naum Gabo. There is a clear architectural element to the sculptures that he made . They illustrate an assemblage of fragmented shapes and forms of a deconstructivist nature. William Black’s artwork is very much rooted in the time and Cornish School so one can see elements from those such as Wilhelmina Barns Graham...
    Category

    20th Century Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

    Materials

    Paper, Ink, Watercolor

  • Mid 20th Century Cornish Abstract gouache painting by William Black 'Landscape'
    Located in Petworth, West Sussex
    William Black (British, Fl. 1963 – 69) Landscape abstraction Watercolour and ink on paper Signed, inscribed and dated ‘Landscape abstraction William Black 63’ (lower edge) 8 x 11.1/4 in. (20.3 x 28.3 cm.) William Black is a little known and underrated member of the St Ives artist group who, having worked as an architect after the Second World War, went on to work as an artist following the inheritance of money in the early 1950s. He was a self taught artist, producing numerous deconstructivist sculptures in the 1960s. He moved to St Ives in Cornwall where he knew artists such as Ben Nicholson, Barbara Hepworth and Naum Gabo. There is a clear architectural element to the sculptures that he made . They illustrate an assemblage of fragmented shapes and forms of a deconstructivist nature. William Black’s artwork is very much rooted in the time and Cornish School so one can see elements from those such as Wilhelmina Barns Graham...
    Category

    20th Century Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

    Materials

    Paper, Ink, Watercolor

  • 1970 Sandra Blow abstract watercolour, signed
    By Sandra Blow
    Located in Petworth, West Sussex
    Sandra Blow (British, 1925-2006) Abstract, 1970 Watercolour Signed with estate stamp (lower left) 11 x 7 in. (28 x 18 cm.) The late British artist Sandra Betty Blow (1925-2006) came...
    Category

    20th Century Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

    Materials

    Paper, Watercolor

  • 1950s British black and white abstract by Norman Edgar Hubert
    Located in Petworth, West Sussex
    Norman Edgar Hubert (British, 1906 – 1985) Geometric abstract in black and white Signed and dated ‘E Hubert 55’ (on the reverse) Gouache on black paper 25.3/8 x 20.3/4 in. (64.3 x 53 cm.) Abstract painter, born Norman Edgar Hubert in Billingshurst, Sussex, and one of the mysterious curiosities of modern British painting. He was at school at Sherborne, and after studying art at University of Reading, 1924–6, was at the Slade School of Fine Art, 1926–9 (gaining a certificate for drawing, 1926–7). Henry Tonks was among his teachers and he shared rooms with William Townsend, in whose journals he appears. Although he socialized with such painters as Geoffrey Tibble, William Coldstream and Rodrigo Moynihan...
    Category

    Mid-20th Century Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

    Materials

    Paper, Gouache

You May Also Like
  • Abstract Emotional Brush Painting. Joyful Impulse
    Located in Zofingen, AG
    "Joyful Impulse" is an improvised impulsive drawing conveys an impulse born in the space of sensations. Artwork is done in ink and ocher pastel on thick white paper. "Every time ...
    Category

    2010s Abstract Expressionist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

    Materials

    Paper, Pastel, Ink

  • Abstract Calligraphic Brush Drawing. Combing Sound
    Located in Zofingen, AG
    "Combing Sound" is an improvised gestural drawing conveys an impulse born in the space of sensations. Artwork is done in ink and ocher pastel on thick white paper. "Every time I draw such abstract lines, a flow of energy moves my hand. I paint very fast to give the spontaneous flow as much space as possible. I never know what the result will be. The process of spontaneous drawing is a kind of magic that turns an invisible impulse into a reflection on paper. I feel the vibration in and around my palms and enjoy this dance of vibrations every time I paint. Each drawing is unique and one of a kind." Sve Gri...
    Category

    2010s Abstract Expressionist Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

    Materials

    Paper, Pastel, Ink

  • Abstract calligraphic drawing. Splash
    Located in Zofingen, AG
    This abstract calligraphic drawing is made with Chinese ink and silver pastel on heavy white paper. Looking at it you can feel the freshness of in...
    Category

    2010s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

    Materials

    Paper, Pastel, Ink

  • Abstract graphics. Fresh Impulse.
    Located in Zofingen, AG
    Each intuitive drawing has its own character, its own energy. If you tune in with it, it will give you a charge of vivacity and a bright mood! This work is made in the style of abstr...
    Category

    2010s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

    Materials

    Paper, Pastel, Ink

  • "The Black Series number three", by Anna Pennati, collage on cardboard on canvas
    Located in Milano, MI
    We are pleased to present this event, which will see the exclusive world premiere of Anna Pennati's works entitled The Black Series, that the artist reserved exclusively for 1stDibs ...
    Category

    2010s Abstract Abstract Drawings and Watercolors

    Materials

    Canvas, Paper, Ink, Cardboard

  • "E0102-72.3, " Pigment Ink on Photo Paper, 2020
    By Jan Pieter Fokkens
    Located in Chicago, IL
    The colorful paintings of Jan Pieter Fokkens transport us to distant worlds beyond our comprehension. Within his seemingly infinite networks of lines, dots, and crosses, he decodes the recognizable to create something unfamiliar. Each work begins with a colorized photo captured by a deep-space...
    Category

    21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Geometric Abstract Paintings

    Materials

    Ink, Photographic Paper

Recently Viewed

View All