48. Mark Tobey
(1890-1976)
Untitled

(click on image to print)
Tobey, Untitled

Untitled

Original ink and watercolor drawing, 1967, signed and dated, 205 x 147 mm. Tobey was an Abstract Expressionist artist, largely self taught, and strongly influenced by Asian calligraphy and philosophy and his Baha’i faith. Although he traveled extensively and, in the early 1960s, emigrated to Switzerland, most of his work before that time was based in Seattle, where he was a founder of what was called the “Northwest School.” He achieved considerable success, with exhibitions at the Whitney and MOMA, in San Francisco, Seattle, Portland, Chicago, Paris and elsewhere. He was the first American artist after Whistler to win the International Grand Prize at the Venice Biennale. At first glance, many of Tobey’s works may look like simple patterning -- but there is no repeated pattern. Instead, the sheet or canvas is completely covered with small, abstract figures and brushstrokes, related to one another in style and color but varied in shape, the whole giving the impression of constant movement in space. Tobey, who was also a musician, notably influenced both Jackson Pollock and John Cage. This signed sheet, dated ’67, is in a period brushed aluminum and plexiglass frame, almost certainly its original mounting. A label of the previous owner (?) is attached.

Inquire $7,500.00 Buy Now