NORMAN LEWIS (1909 - 1979) Untitled (Procession Composition).
Oil and ink on paper, 1954. 483x940 mm; 19x37 inches. Signed and dated in ink, lower center.
Provenance: acquired directly from the artist; thence by descent to the current owner.
This large and animated drawing is an excellent example of Norman Lewis's important works on paper in the early 1950s. His inventive calligraphy of small dancing figures inhabit both his paintings and works on paper for the next decade. This transitional work incorporates both these newer "ritual" figures with the dry brush atmospheric technique he favored in the early 1950s, melding them into a complex and swirling composition.
