Description

Winner receives a signed ink painting by well listed American artist Charles Keller (1914-2006). The painting is titled "Ragazzo Dormente" and is signed in the lower left corner, seen magnified in picture 4. The piece was exhibited in 1968 at the Galleria D' Arte La Margherita, Rome. The original gallery label on the verso can be seen magnified in picture 6. The painting retains its original gallery frame. The piece is in exquisite original condition with no rips, tears, repairs, staining, foxing, creasing, or in-painting. There is some light wrinkling around the edges of the piece, but no creases. The original gallery frame is also in excellent condition with no chips, cracks, or repairs, but does show minor age related wear. This painting is a real gem and ready for hanging as-is. The frame measures roughly 20" x 15.75", with the image itself measuring roughly 15.5" x 11.25". We can guarantee the authenticity of all the Charles Keller pieces we have offered as they come with absolute and impeccable provenance direct from the artist's estate. Below is some information about the artist, whose original works don't come up for sale often. Please feel free to ask us any questions you may have prior to bidding or making an offer. Thank you for checking out our listing. Born in Woodmere, Long Island, to an upper middle-class family, Charles Keller (1914-2006) graduated from Cornell University in 1936 and enrolled at the Art Students League from 1937 to 1941, where he studied with Harry Sternberg and the printmaker Will Barnet. Among his first lithographs was a series entitled Sandhogs, produced between 1937 and 1941, which showed builders working on the Sixth Avenue Subway in Manhattan. In 1940 Keller, who always had independent means, joined the Communist Party USA and remained a committed lifelong member. His social realist art arose from his political activism. Together with Gwathmey, Becker and Lozowick, from 1942 to 1949 he was active in running the left-wing Artists' League of America (ALA) whose aim was 'to bring more art to more people through the widest possible extension of both private and governmental sponsorship of art. Keller took part in many ALA exhibitions, most notably in a 1943 group show entitled 'This is Our War' at the Wildenstein Gallery, New York. He was instrumental in organizing exhibitions such as the 1943 group exhibition 'Art, a Weapon of Total War', held at the New School for Social Research, New York. From 1942 to 1945 he ran the ALA's Victory Workshop. In 1945 Keller joined the Graphic Workshop where he produced his own work and organized group projects, such as the print portfoliosYes, the People! and Negro USA, which reflected the co-operative nature of the workshop. Keller also produced posters and leaflets for various labour campaigns and worked with the Progressive Citizens of America organization. In 1945 he became art editor of the Marxist publication New Masses until it closed in 1948. He placed a new emphasis upon the visual impact of the periodical, commissioning work from Gwathmey and Harari, as well as contributing his own political cartoons. In the post-war period, under the climate of McCarthyism, Keller came under political pressure. In 1961 he left America to live and work in Italy, where he was based principally in Rome and where he held several solo exhibitions over the next ten years before returning to the United States. In 1976 a full retrospective of his work was held at the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art at Cornell University. He died in New York, in 2006, at the age of ninety-one. All of our items have been stored in a temperature controlled environment with no pets or smoking allowed. We strive to provide a wide array of artwork, antiques, and collectibles for everyone from the casual collector to other gallery owners. Whether you are a collector or a reseller, we will always try to work with you to the best of our ability to sell you the item you are interested in. We are always adding new treasures to our collection so please feel free to make an offer, as we constantly are turning over our inventory and need to free space up for our newest finds. We will never decline or ignore an offer. We look at every offer and if we don't accept it, we will make a fair counter offer. We took a few months off of Ebay to move our inventory in to a larger space but we are now back, better than ever. Please check our 100% seller feedback to see that we describe our items accurately and take much care in packing our items so they arrive safe and fast. We always offer free shipping within the United States and also offer international shipping at very reasonable rates. 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