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Ivan Le Lorraine Albright (2/20/1897-11/18/1983), painter, born in North Harvey, Illinois – was an identical twin brother of Malvin Albright who became a sculptor. Both brothers enrolled in art study at The Art Institute of Chicago. Their father ( Adam Emory Albright) was once a student of Thomas Eakins and was a landscape painter.
For a time Ivan was enrolled at Northwestern University but left to pursue architectural study at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. During WWI, Albright was stationed in Nantes, France where he made medical drawings in an army hospital. This experience likely influenced the decayed or corrupt appearance of substances that his mature work represented with magic realism and exaggerated light and shadow. He lived in Philadelphia between 1925 and 1926 while attending the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and next pursued study at the National Academy of Design in New York City. To this organization he was elected a member in 1942. By 1927 he and his wife moved to Warrenville, Illinois where he began to receive acclaim, with his first exhibition opening in 1930. Later, he lived in Woodstock, Vermont.
Albright’s brilliantly executed paintings often took years to complete. Yet even so, he was prolific. He was also an accomplished engraver/printmaker who, at times, produced his own highly ornate frames. Perhaps his most famous oil painting was one painted in 1943, “The Picture of Dorian Gray” produced to accompany a film of the same title adapted from Oscar Wilde’s novel. Throughout his career he painted many self-portraits – more than twenty made in the final three years of his life, before he died at age 83.
Titles for his dark and decayed- looking images seem almost as complex as the paintings. A few examples follow:
“Into the World There Came a Soul Called Ida” (1929-30)
“That Which I should Have Done I Did Not Do” (The Door) - 1931-41 This painting won him acclaim and First Medal at the Metropolitan Museum.
“Poor Room-There Is No Time, No End, No Today, No Yesterday, No Tomorrow, Only the Forever and Forever and Forever without End (The Window) 1942-63
In 1997, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Ivan Albright’s birth, the Art Institute of Chicago mounted a major exhibition of his work. Albright’s papers, collections, photos, sketches and documents of his life are archived in the Ryerson & Burnham Libraries , Art Institute of Chicago.
IVAN LE LORRAINE ALBRIGHT Illinois, 1897-1983 "Follow Me", 1948. Signed in pencil lower right. Published by Associated American Artists, New York.
Eldred'sSigned on lower right corner in graphite, Ivan Albright, Follow Me Depicts a hooded Catholic monk holding a crucifix in hands and prayer beads on his robes Framed in dark wooden frame with silver metal leafed inner fillet. Approximately 21 x 16 inches window measures 14.5 x 9.5 Evident wearing to wooden frame and wearing to silver leafing. Framed art, Ivan Albright signed lithograph, signed lithograph, signed artwork, catholic artwork, Catholicism, Monk artwork, Wall art, home decor, Ivan Albright artworks. 12 Art wall Ivan Le Lorraine Albright was an American painter, sculptor and print-maker most renowned for his self-portraits, character studies, and still lifes. Due to his technique and dark subject matter, he is often categorized among the Magic Realists and is sometimes referred to as the master of the macabre
The Benefit Shop Foundation Inc.Self Portrait at 55 East Division Street. Lithograph on paper. Signed in pencil, lower margin. Published by Associated American Artists, New York. 1947. From a private collection. Dimensions: (Image) 14 1/2" h x 10" w. (Sheet) 17" h x 13 1/4" w.
Clarke Auction GalleryIvan Le Lorraine Albright (American, 1897-1983) two lithographs: "Self Portrait – 55 Division Street", 1947, depicting a man (presumably Ivan Le Lorraine Albright) sitting in a furnished room at a table smoking, paper size: 16" h. x 12" w., "Follow Me", depicting a priest with hands folded next to a window while standing, paper size: 16 3/4" h. x 13 1/4" w., both are edition distributed by Associated American Artists, signed with pencil signed in lower right and title written on bottom left, matted, even toning, AAA card present and attached to matting, hinged top to top, mat: 18" h. x 14" w.
Winter Associates, Inc.Albright, Ivan Le Lorraine (American, 1897 - 1983), Fleeting Time Thou Hast Left Me Old, 1945 (Grayson #11), lithograph, 13.75 x 9.625 inches, pencil signed and titled along the lower margin, Published by Associated American Artists, NYC, Provenance: Associated American Artists, NYC, unframed.
Concept Art GalleryIvan Albright (American, 1897-1983), "Follow Me," lithograph, pencil signed lower right, titled lower left, image: 13.75"h x 9"w, overall (with mat): 18"h x 14"w
Clars Auction GalleryIvan Albright (American, 1897-1983), "Follow Me," lithograph, pencil signed lower right, titled lower left, image: 13.75"h x 9"w, overall (with mat): 18"h x 14"w
Clars Auction GalleryIvan Albright Lobster Salad c. 1940 oil on canvas 20 h × 32 w in (51 × 81 cm) Signed to lower right 'Ivan Le Lorraine Albright'. Faded paper artwork label to lower edge of frame verso. Provenance: Collection of Leonore Grace Smith Jerrems Molloy | Thence by descent Literature: Croydon 58 Catalog Note: When Ivan Albright's mother, Carla Wilson Albright, passed away in 1939, her death had a profound impact on Ivan, his twin brother Malvin, and their father Adam. Following her death, the family would spend summers in Maine, a stark setting reflected in many of Albright's paintings from that decade, including Lobster Salad and many landscapes featuring coastal scenes. Though rooted in his experience of loss, this era would become one of great productivity and recognition for Albright; he finished his famous painting That Which I Should Have Done I Did Not Do (The Door) (which he had started in 1931), set to work on its companion Poor Room — There Is No Time, No End, No Today, No Yesterday, No Tomorrow, Only the Forever and Forever and Forever Without End (The Window), and worked along with his brother Malvin to paint for MGM's 1945 production of The Picture of Dorian Gray. This work will ship from Chicago, Illinois.
Toomey & Co. AuctioneersIvan Albright Fleeting Time Thou Hast Left Me Old 1945 lithograph image: 13.75 h × 9.625 w in (35 × 24 cm) sheet: 16.875 h × 12.5 w in (43 × 32 cm) Signed and titled to lower margin 'Fleeting Time Thou Hast Left Me Old Ivan Le Lorraine Albright'. This work is from the edition of 250 printed by George C. Miller and published by Associated American Artists. This work will ship from Chicago, Illinois.
Toomey & Co. AuctioneersIvan Le Lorraine ALBRIGHT (1897-1983): "Self-Portrait at 55 Division Street". Lithograph printed on japan wove paper, 1947. References: Grayson 13, Season, Myers & Windisch 840. Published by Associated American Artists (AAA). Edition of 250. Signed in pencil. Image size: 14 1/4 x 10 1/4 inches.
Armstrong Fine ArtIvan Albright (American, 1897-1983) 'Showcase Doll' Lithograph Undated, pencil signed lower right, depicting a doll within an enclosed case; linen matted in a gold tone wood frame Property from: the Joshua B. Kind Trust; Joshua B. Kind was a Professor of Art History at Northern Illinois University, Northwestern University, and The School of the Art Institute of Chicago Category: Fine Art > Prints Estimated Sale Time: 1:52 pm CST Shipping Status: Leonard Auction, Inc. will provide direct shipping for this lot. Please visit our website for a shipping estimate. Sales Tax: California (7.25%), Florida (6%), Georgia (8.5%), Kansas (6.5%), New Jersey (6.625%), New Mexico (5.125%), New York (8.875%), Pennsylvania (6%), Washington (10.5%) Download High Resolution Photographs: Photograph #1 Photograph #2 Last modified: July 11, 2022, 9:17 am
Leonard AuctionSigned lower right and titled lower left.
DuMouchellesIVAN LE LORRAINE ALBRIGHT, (American, 1897-1983), Lithograph on Paper, FLEETING TIME THOU HAST LEFT ME OLD, (Grayson 11), 1945; signed and titled in pencil in the lower margin (AAA edition of 250). Image 13 ¾ inches x 9 5/8 inches with margins, on sheet measuring 16 ½ inches x 12 ½ inches. The print is not laid down or glued onto the mat—it is freely suspended by two tape hinges from the top edge. A rich, densely printed image, with light overall age toning to the paper. There are NO holes, tears or abrasions; there are a couple old paper tape remnants verso at the margin edge and a light stain to the upper right corner of the margin (not affecting the image).
Bill Hood & Sons Arts & Antiques AuctionsWatercolor on paper, signed 'Ivan Albright' and titled lower right. 9 1/2 x 9 3/4 in. (sheet), 16 1/2 x 16 3/4 in. (frame).
StairIvan Albright (American, 1897-1983) 'In the Morning / The Slut' Lithograph c.1937, signed lower right, titled lower left, depicting a reclining female nude, matted and framed under glass Property from: a Chicago, Illinois estate Category: Fine Art > Prints Estimated Sale Time: 1:03 pm CST Shipping Status: Leonard Auction, Inc. will provide direct shipping for this lot. Please visit our website for a shipping estimate. Sales Tax: Kansas (6.5%), New Jersey (6.625%), Pennsylvania (6%), Washington (10.5%) Download High Resolution Photographs: Photograph #1 Photograph #2 Photograph #3 Photograph #4 Photograph #5 Photograph #6 Photograph #7 Photograph #8 Photograph #9
Leonard AuctionIvan Albright (American, 1897-1983) Hail to the Pure, 1977 lithograph signed, titled and numbered in pencil lower margin edition of 100 18" x 13 1/16"
Toomey & Co. AuctioneersIvan Albright (American, 1897-1983) Follow Me, 1948 lithograph signed and titled in pencil lower margin edition of 250 13 7/8" x 9"
Toomey & Co. AuctioneersIvan Albright (American, 1897-1983) We Are Gathered Here, 1948 gouache on paper signed Ivan Le Lorraine Albright and dated (lower right) 22 x 30 inches. Property from the Collection of Robert Varde Kuenzel, Ashland, Oregon Provenance: C.M. Varde, Kenilworth, Illinois, by 1955 Exhibited: Chicago, Art Institute of Chicago, 58th Annual Exhibition by Artists of Chicago and Vicinity, June 2 - July 4, 1955, no. 4 Literature: Michael Croydon, Ivan Albright, New York, 1978, pl. 127, p. 285, illus.
HindmanIvan Albright (American, 1897-1983) Boat in Seaside Harbor, c. 1940-41 watercolor and gouache on paper signed Ivan Le Lorraine Albright and dated (lower right) 13 ½ x 19 ½ inches. Property from the Collection of Daniel Weinberg, Highland Park, Illinois The present watercolor bears a Newcomb-Macklin frame. Provenance: The Artist Dr. & Mrs. Jack Weinberg, Glencoe, Illinois, acquired directly from the Artist Thence by descent to the present owner
HindmanIvan Albright (American, 1897-1983) Maine Landscape (Schoodic Point), 1940 watercolor and gouache on paper signed Ivan Le Lorraine Albright and dated (lower right) 13 x 19 inches. Property from the Collection of Daniel Weinberg, Highland Park, Illinois Provenance: The Artist Dr. & Mrs. Jack Weinberg, Glencoe, Illinois, acquired directly from the Artist Thence by descent to the present owner Literature: Michael Croydon, Ivan Albright, New York, 1978, pl. 57, p. 151, illus. After the death of his mother in 1938, Ivan, his twin Malvin, and their father, Adam Emory Ablright, escaped to Maine, turning to their art to deal with the grief. Ivan continued to visit Maine thereafter throughout his life. In 1940, he visited Corea, Maine, where he worked mainly in gouache. The mood in the present work is one of mediation and calm reflectiveness.
HindmanIvan Albright (American, 1897-1983) Three Love Birds, 1941 lithograph on zinc signed, dated, and titled in pencil; edition of ten 18 x 11 ¼ inches. Property from the Collection of Daniel Weinberg, Highland Park, Illinois Provenance: The Artist Dr. & Mrs. Jack Weinberg, Glencoe, Illinois, acquired directly from the Artist Thence by descent to the present owner
HindmanIvan Albright (American, 1897-1983) Into the World Came a Soul Called Ida, 1940 lithograph on stone signed, dated, and titled in pencil; edition of ten 16 ½ x 14 inches. Property from the Collection of Daniel Weinberg, Highland Park, Illinois Provenance: The Artist Dr. & Mrs. Jack Weinberg, Glencoe, Illinois, acquired directly from the Artist Thence by descent to the present owner
HindmanIvan Albright (American, 1897-1983) Troubled Waves (Silence), 1952 oil on canvas signed Ivan Albright and dated (lower right); signed (lower left) 15 x 10 ¼ inches. Property from the Collection of Daniel Weinberg, Highland Park, Illinois The present oil painting bears a Newcomb-Macklin frame. Provenance: The Artist Dr. & Mrs. Jack Weinberg, Glencoe, Illinois, acquired directly from the Artist Thence by descent to the present owner Exhibited: Chicago, Art Institute of Chicago, Retrospective: Ivan Albright, October 30 - December 27, 1964 (also traveled to New York, Whitney Museum of American Art, February 3 - March 21, 1965), no. 38, p. 48 Chicago, Art Institute of Chicago, Ivan Albright, February 20 - May 11, 1997, no. 49, illus. Literature: Michael Croydon, Ivan Albright, New York, 1978, pl. 72, p. 165, illus. Lot note: An uncompromising artist with an unwavering vision, Ivan Albright's Troubled Waves (Silence), 1952, reveals his quest for the abstract while attending to the minutest detail of the real. Already widely traveled, after his 1946 marriage to Josephine Patterson, Albright went on more far-flung adventures, including to Russia, China, Japan, Iran, Kenya, Alaska, and England. The present painting was likely inspired by a trip to Greece the Albrights took in the summer of 1952. While there, the artist was impressed by the marble kouroi and korai of the Archaic period. Produced from roughly 650 to 500 BCE, these life-size or larger freestanding figures were carved with abstract, idealized features. To an artist preoccupied with the depiction of the transience of matter, these statues, with their austere simplicity, may have expressed an appealing immutability. Upon his return to the United States, Albright executed Troubled Waves (Silence) as a reaction to the kouroi. With the smooth handling of the skin and monochromatic palette, this artwork appears almost to be a portrait of a sculpted head. The volumetric character of the figure is emphasized by deep shadows and bright highlights. For Albright, light was a tool to be manipulated, made to dance along the contours and fill the spaces within and around his painted forms. As Michael Croydon so aptly put it, he was a master of the "choreography of chiaroscuro." (Ivan Albright, New York, 1978, p. 40) Here, the light seems to flutter along the surfaces of the head and coiled hair and penetrates the deep ravines and gorges of the eyes and neck. This use of light suggests the flickering illumination that characterizes the art of El Greco, an artist Albright greatly admired. Albright was also particularly interested in how time would impact flesh, wood, and even statuary, as he reflected on their future states. This was not a macabre interest, but a view on life itself: "'A face is a soul looking out at one who... will be dead tomorrow,' Albright once wrote. As these figures dwell on their own mortality they also stand as mirror images for us to meditate upon. Appropriately though curiously, Albright's figures must face this challenge alone...Individuals are represented as solitary souls caught between the harsh light of reality and an enveloping darkness. Those who inhabit these bodies must come to terms with their own decay and mortality. Yet Albright clearly felt there was hope in even the most horrific of these visions and summarized his attitude as such, in any part of life you find something either growing or disintegrating. All life is strong and powerful, even in the process of dissolution'" (Robert Cozzolino, Ivan Le Lorraine Albright (1897-1983), Illinois Historical Art Project, illinoisart.org/ivan-albright-c1mnq, accessed 13 August 2021). To the artist, time especially was a dimension that allowed him to see his models from every viewpoint in the search for the absolute. In Troubled Waves (Silence), time seems to have stopped in the luminous shadows of the figure, capturing the unchanging power of the eternal. An independently wealthy man, Albright felt no pressure to sell his work. As a result, he kept the majority of his paintings, most of which are now housed in various museums. The present artwork, which bears a Newcomb-Macklin frame, is one of the few still in private hands and the first oil painting of this caliber to ever be offered at auction.
HindmanIvan Albright (American, 1897-1983) Follow Me, 1948 lithograph signed and titled in pencil 14 x 8 3/4 inches. Literature: Grayson 14 Property from the Joshua B. Kind Trust, Downers Grove, Illinois
Hindman