Sep 21, 2021 - Sale 2579

Sale 2579 - Lot 77

Price Realized: $ 1,430
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 1,000 - $ 1,500

ARNOLD FRIEDMAN (1879-1946)


Two watercolors.
Nudes in a Landscape, with pen and ink on card. 240x340 mm; 9 1/2x13 1/4 inches * Nude Group in a Landscape, with pen and ink and heightening in gouache on the verso of the printed cover for the Marie Harriman Gallery, New York exhibition "Poésies de Stéphane Mallarmé. Eaux-fortes originales de Henri Matisse." 205x255 mm; 8x10 inches. Both dated and inscribed "Original watercolor by Arnold Friedman," by Elizabeth Friedman, the artist's daughter, in pencil, verso. Both circa 1934.

With— Figure Study, conté crayon on cream wove paper, folded. With an additional figure study of dancers in the centerfold. Circa 1930.

Provenance: (the first two works) Artist's estate, New York.

Friedman was born in Corona, Queens and worked at the post office while painting on the weekends and in the evenings. While maintaining his full-time job to support his family, he developed his art career, first taking classes at the Art Students League in 1905 under Robert Henri (1865-1929) and Kenneth Hayes Miller (1876-1952) and then, in 1909, taking a leave of absence from his job to go to Paris where he was introduced to Impressionism and burgeoning modern art movements such as Cubism. His style evolved throughout his career, but he maintained his focus on color and nature, paying tribute to Impressionism, particularly Camille Pissarro (1820-1903). He did not dedicate himself full-time to art until 1933 when he was 59 years old.