CHARLES WHITE (1918 - 1979) Pensive Lass (Head of a Woman).
Charcoal on illustration board, 1936. 775x508 mm; 30 1/2x20 inches. Signed and dated in charcoal, lower right.
Provenance: Valerie Shaw, Los Angeles; private collection; thence by descent to the current owner.
This is one of the earliest known drawings by Charles White to come to auction. Charles White was determined to become an artist despite his family's tight finances, and early rejections from discriminatory art schools. White won a $240 scholarship to attend the Chicago Art Institute, entering in 1937. White completed the two year course in one year, despite often walking the 60 blocks home to save money and working as a cook and valet. Upon his graduation in 1938, he soon qualified to join the easel and mural division of the Federal Art Project in Illinois. Gedeon D11.
