?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 4,000 - $ 6,000
JAMES W. WASHINGTON JR. (1909 - 2000) Grouse.
Carved stone on a wooden base, 1957. 171x184 mm; 6 3/4x7 1/4 inches. Incised initials and date at the underside of the figure. Stamped initials, title and date on the wooden base.
Provenance: Charles Feingarten Gallery, Chicago: private collection, Florida.
Inspired by his parents who were devoted Baptists, James W. Washington Jr. often sought spirituality in his artwork and his parents highly encouraged it. In the 1940s, Washington studied painting at the Northwest School in Seattle with artists such as Mark Tobey, who often encouraged Washington's work. Years later, he visited Mexico where he met muralists Diego Rivera and David Siqueiros. There he turned to carving after being inspired by a stone he found while walking in Mexico City. He felt that the stone "spoke" to him and guided him by a "spiritual force", and he dedicated the rest of his life to working with this material.
