18/04/2022
We are pleased to present the following selection of works, inspired by the Easter and Passover holidays, respectively:
Sister Corita Kent
In Memory of RFK, 1968
Silkscreen on beige art paper
22 × 35 × 1 inches
Signed on the front
This is one of the most rare and desirable screenprints ever created by renowned 1960s Pop Artist Sister Corita - exquisitely combining her sense of political activism with her religious passion. Most other examples are in major museum collections.
This silkscreen is based upon the iconic photograph by Fred W. McDarrah taken the previous year (1967), "Robert F. Kennedy in Suffolk Street Slum Railroad Flat" - a tenement that was once occupied by New York Senator Jacob Javits.
The main text on the image is a quote from Bobby Kennedy's famous 1966 "Ripple of Hope" speech in Capetown, South Africa - which some say was the best speech he ever made. It reads:."Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.' "
Equally intriguing, but less discussed is the quote to the right, "Look where Christ's blood streams in the firmament" - a quote from Christopher Marlowe's Dr. Faustus in the final hour of his life. (The rest of the monologue, not shown here, reads, "One drop would save my soul, half a drop: Ah, my Christ.’)
Another edition of this print was exhibited in the traveling museum exhibition, "Someday Is Now: The Art of Corita Kent" at the Pasadena Museum of California Art. (2014-2015)
Cat. Raisonne
CAC 68-04
Bibliography: Someday is Now: The Art of Corita Kent, Berry and Duncan, pg. 173
James Strombotne
Love (Cross), 1965
Lithograph with Deckled Edges
Hand Signed and titled with publisher's blind stamp.
Annotated "Bon A Tirer". (BAT/1)
30 × 22 1/4 inches
Unique aside form the regular edition
Unframed
Examples of this work are found at the Norton Simon Museum and Amon Carter Museum, but other
than the present example, it hasn't been found on the market.
This is the very elusiveJames Strombotne lithograph, "LOVE", done at the Tamarind Institute in the mid-1960s. It is annotated Bon a Tirer - "ready to print" . A Bon a Tirer print is the very first print ever done that an artist officially approves and signs - It is also a unique work in the edition . Provenance: Dr. Bernard " Bernie" Bleha, a master printer at Tamarind and co founder of Gemini G.E.L.
April Gornik
"Remember the Sabbath Day" (The Fourth Commandment), 1987
2 Color Lithograph on Dieu Donne handmade paper.
Unframed with deckled edges
24 × 18 inches
Hand signed and numbered from the limited edition of 84
This print was created as part of the 1987 portfolio "The Ten Commandments", in which ten top Jewish American artists were each invited to choose an Old Testament commandment to interpret in contemporary lithographic form. Lisa Liebmann, who wrote the introduction to the collection, observed: "...The image has, for most of us, replaced the word..." Liebmann refers to Gornik as one of the most "fundamental" of the artists, and with respect to the present work, she writes, "Judging from the appearance of all of her work over the last several years, Gornik is another Sabbath's Child, another unfashionable state during a period when people are more likely to brag about working overtime than complain about it. Her FOURTH COMMANDMENT, a "grisaille" seascape with limpid ocean, clouds that don't threaten and a trinity of rocks - is filled with the preternatural silence of her paintings, each of whose subject is a world of pure atmosphere, as if only inhabited by some afterimage of God..."
Nathaniel Kaz
Bronze Sculpture to Isaac Bashevis Singer for Arts in Judaism Award, 1968
Bronze, Square wooden base, Metal tag
Signed and dated "66" to back of bronze portion of the work.
8 3/4 × 6 × 6 inches
Unique
This sculpture was created by the American artist, Nathaniel Kaz. It was made for the 1968 Arts in Judaism Award and presented to Isaac Bashevis Singer, a writer and Nobel Prize in Literature (1978) winner, for his contributions towards the advancement of "Our Mutual Sacred Cause Union of Hebrew Congregations NFTS NFTY." By the time of Singer's death at the age of 87, he had been awarded most of the world’s foremost literary prizes from the United States, Italy, France, Israel, and finally, from Sweden. On the square wood base, with the metal tag, it says: "Arts in Judaism Award - 1968 Isaac Bashevis Singer For His Contributions Towards the Advancement of Our Mutual Sacred Cause Union of Hebrew Congregations NFTS NFTY" with a quote from the book of Isaiah, above that reads, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then I said, 'Here I am. Send me.'"
Lucienne Bloch
Untitled, from the Album International 2 Portfolio by Frida Kahlo's close friend and photographer, 1977
Silkscreen on wove paper
Hand signed and numbered 1/50
11 1/2 × 11 inches; unframed
Lucienne Bloch was the daughter of famous European music composer Ernest Bloch, and this rare signed and numbered work, from Album International Portfolio, pays homage to her father. Lucienne herself became best known as a sculptor and photographer of Frida Kahlo. She was a lifelong friend and companion of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera - and in fact married Diego Rivera's assistant - a Romanian sculptor.
Also, check out our newest exhibition of Peter Halley signed posters. Use code HALLEY at checkout for 15% off your total purchase from this show - through 4/30/22.
And check out our most popular editions. Use code POPULAR at checkout for 15% off your total purchase from this show - through 4/30/2022.
USE CODE WELCOME 10 FOR 10% OFF EVERY OTHER WORK ON OUR WEBSITE - ALPHA137GALLERY.COM (http://WWW.ALPHA137GALLERY.COM)
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