CHARLES SEBREE (1924 - 1985) Untitled (Two Figures).
Oil on gessoed masonite board, circa 1945-50. 305x254 mm; 12x10 inches. Signed in oil, lower right.
Provenance: private New York collection.
Charles Sebree is known for these enigmatic paintings of romantic, harlequin-like figures inspired by the theater and the art of Rouault and Picasso. Born in Kentucky, Sebree emerged as a young member of the Chicago art scene in the 1930s. With his Englewood High School classmates Margaret Burroughs, Eldzier Cortor and Charles White, he studied under George Neal as a member of the Arts Crafts Guild. Sebree worked for the Illinois Federal Art Project in the WPA easel painting division from 1936-38. He also taught at the Southside Community Art Center with Burroughs, Cortor and White.
