Jun 24, 2021 - Sale 2574

Sale 2574 - Lot 52

Price Realized: $ 1,188
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 700 - $ 1,000
ILYA SCHOR (1904-1961)
The Little Mermaid. Unpublished portfolio piece, possibly illustrating a scene from The Little Mermaid, circa 1942 or 1943. Pen and ink over graphite on thick paper. 320x255 mm; 12 3/4x10 inches, on 17 3/4x12 1/2-inch sheet adhered to larger 20x15-inch sheet. Signed "I. Schor" in lower right margin, with location of "N.Y." in lower left margin.

This drawing, which builds on Ilya Schor's knowledge of European folkloric styles, was created for his illustration portfolio around 1942 or 1943 when he was establishing his artistic career in the United States shortly after his arrival from Poland. The location "N.Y." is indicative of his recent arrival in New York City in 1941.

In the following years, Schor developed a highly respected name as a noted artist of Judaica, a fine arts jeweler, a painter of Jewish life in the shtetl, and as a noted illustrator, with his wood-engravings for the writings of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel and Sholem Aleichem remaining in continuous print since the late 1940s.