Ernst Haeckel

Art Forms in Nature (Plate 79 - Basiliscus) — 1899 Celebration of Nature

1899

Ernst Haeckel, 'Art Forms in Nature' (Plate 56 - Calanus), color lithograph, 1899. Signed and titled in typeset, upper left. Titled 'Tafel 56 — Calanus'...

Samella Sanders Lewis, 'The House of Shango', lithograph, 1992, edition 60. Signed, dated, titled, and numbered '31/60' in pencil. A superb, richly-inked impression, on Arches cream wove paper; the full sheet with margins (1 1/4 to 3 1/2 inches), in excellent condition. Image size 24 x 18 inches (610 x 457 mm); sheet size 30 inches x 22 1/4 inches (762 x 565 mm). Archivally matted to museum standards, unframed. ABOUT THIS WORK “The title of this piece is an unmistakable harkening to African roots. Shango is a religious practice with origins in Yoruba (Nigerian) belief, deifying a god of thunder by the same name. Shango has been adopted in the Caribbean, most notably in Trinidad and Tobago, a fact that underscores the importance of transnationalism to Samella Lewis’s piece. Her work often grapples with issues of race in the U.S., and The House of Shango is no exception. Through a reliance on the gradual transformation of Shango—one that took place across continents and time—Lewis’s piece forms a powerful link between black Americans and their African and Caribbean counterparts. The figure depicted in the piece appears to emerge, quite literally, from the house of Shango. Given the roots and transformative process of the religion, The House of Shango can draw attention to the historical intersections to which black American culture is indebted.” —Laura Woods, Scripps College, Ruth Chander Williamson Gallery, Collection Highlights, 2018 ABOUT THE ARTIST Samella Lewis’ lifelong career as an artist, art historian, critic, curator, collector, and advocate of African American art has helped empower generations of artists in the United States and worldwide, earning her the designation “the Godmother of African American art.” Born and raised in Jim Crow era New Orleans, Lewis began her art education at Dillard University in 1941, transferring to Hampton University in Virginia, where she earned her B. A. and master's degrees. She completed her master's and a doctorate in art history and cultural anthropology at Ohio State University in 1951, becoming the first female African American to earn a doctorate in fine art and art history. Lewis taught art at Morgan State University while completing her doctorate. She became the first Chair of the Fine Arts Department at Florida A&M University in 1953. That same year Lewis also became the first African American to convene the National Conference of African American artists held at Florida A&M University. She was a professor at the State University of New York, California State University, Long Beach, and at Scripps College in Claremont, California. Lewis co-founded, with Bernie Casey, the Contemporary Crafts Gallery in Los Angeles in 1970. In 1973, she served on the selection committee for the exhibition BLACKS: USA: 1973 held at the New York Cultural Center. Samella Lewis's 1969 catalog 'Black Artists on Art', featured accomplished black artists typically overlooked in mainstream art galleries. She said of the book, "I wanted to make a chronology of African American artists, and artists of African descent, to document our history. The historians weren't doing it. It was really about the movement." From the 1960s through the 1970s, her work, which included lithographs, linocuts, and serigraphs, reflected her concerns with the values of human dignity, democracy, and freedom of expression. Between 1969 and 70, Lewis and E.J. Montgomery were consultants for a groundbreaking exhibition at the Oakland Public L designed to create greater awareness of African American history and art. Lewis was the founder of the International Review of African American Art in 1975. In 1976, she founded the Museum of African-American Art with a group of artistic, academic, business, and community leaders in Los Angeles, California. Lewis, the museum’s senior curator, organized exhibitions and developed new ways of educating the public about African American art. She celebrated African American art as an 'art of experience’ inspired by the artists’ lives. And she espoused the concept of African American art as an 'art of tradition', urging museums to explore the African roots of African American art. In 1984, Lewis produced an extensive monograph on Elizabeth Catlett, her beloved mentor at Dillard University. Lewis has been collecting art since 1942, focusing primarily on the WPA era and work created during the Harlem Renaissance. Pieces from her collection were acquired by the Hampton University Museum in Virginia, the world’s earliest collection of African American fine art...

Robert Riggs, 'Psychopathic Ward', 2-color lithograph, c. 1940, edition c. 50, Beall 60, Bassham 78. Signed, titled, and numbered '14' in pencil. Signed in the stone, lower right. A ...

Ernst Haeckel, 'Art Forms in Nature' (Plate 80 - Pentremites), offset lithograph, 1899. Signed and titled in typeset, upper left. Titled 'Tafel 80 — Pentremites', upper right and 'Blastoidea. — Knospensterne', bottom center. Lithographic plate rendered and printed by master lithographer Adolf Giltsch, from the original 1899 publication, the full sheet, in excellent condition. Archivally sleeved, unmatted. Image size 11 x 7 7/8 inches; sheet size 14 1/4 x 10 1/2 inches. ABOUT THE IMAGE Pentremites, an extinct genus of stemmed, immobile echinoderms (forms related to the starfish), are abundant as marine fossils...

Ernst Haeckel, 'Art Forms in Nature' (Plate 49 - Heliactis), offset lithograph, 1899. Signed and titled in typeset, upper left. Titled 'Tafel 49 — Helia...

Giovanni Domenico Campiglia, 'Explorator', engraving, 1734, edition unknown, scarce. Signed 'Dom. Campiglia del.' in the matrix, lower left. A fine impression, on handmade antique, l...

SEATED SEAMSTRESS is an original hand drawn (not digitally or photo reproduced) limited edition lithograph by the artist Raphael Soyer - Russian/American Social Realism Painter, 1899...

GATHERING is an original hand drawn stone lithograph by Raphael Soyer, the renowned Russian-born American realist painter, draftsman, and printmaker. Hand proofed and printed in 1977...

Philip Pearlstein Olga Hirshhorn is 90, 2010 Lithograph on Aquarelle Arches Paper Pencil signed, dated and numbered 158/185 by the artist on the front 31 1/2 × 24 inches Unframed Thi...

"Not True, Good Accounts Make Good Friends" Satirical French Illustration Comical illustration by Gaston Hoffmann (French, 1883-1977) titled "Ce n'est pas vrai, les bons comptes fon...

Satirical French Illustration of Man and Woman Comical illustration by Gaston Hoffmann (French, 1883-1967) titled "un bon tien vant amieux que deux tu l'auras" in French, "one real ...

Philip Pearlstein The Complete Paintings, 1984 Hardback monograph with dust jacket Hand signed, dated and inscribed to Nadine by Philip Pearlstein 12 × 10 1/2 × 1 3/4 inches This i...