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Estimate: $ 2,000 - $ 3,000
JOHN VASSOS (1898-1985) Nude in a labyrinth.
Illustration, likely for a book by Vassos. Ink and wash on board. 265x237 mm; 10 1/4x9 inches. Signed "Vassos" in lower left corner. Float-mounted to board and framed to 16x14 inches.
Vassos was a genius in both art and engineering, with an adventurous life. Born in Romania as the son of a Greek publisher and diplomat, he served with a suicide minesweeper squadron in World War I, was torpedoed, rescued, and landed in Boston in 1919. There, he studied art and illustration with John Singer Sargent at the Fenway Art School. In 1924, he came to New York, opened his own commercial studio, studied at the Art Students League, worked as an illustrator for Harper's and The New Yorker, and practiced industrial design. He wrote, illustrated, and published several fiction books at that time: Contempo; Ultima; and Phobia in 1931, in 1929, 1930, and 1931, respectively. Vassos also established the first internal design department for the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) in 1933 and designed the first consumer television sets for them, introduced at the 1939 New York World's Fair.
