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soldSep. 23, 2023ARBIT BLATAS PENCIL SIGNED ARTIST PROOF LITHOGRAPH
Est: $100 - $150Arbit Blatas, Lithuanian, Jewish, American, 1908 to 1999, a limited edition lithograph in colors from The Beggars Opera series, Plate XII, depicting the opera character MacHeath. Signed in pencil lower right, marked, E.A., as an artists proof, lower left. Provenance: Private Collector NYC, 2020. Born in Lithuania, Arbit Blatas was a painter, sculptor and stage designer who settled in New York City. He studied in Paris at the Academie de la Grande Chaumiere and the Academie Julian and was a member of the Salon d Automne where he also exhibited. In 1928 he joined the avant-garde School of Paris along with Picasso, Matisse, Brague, Vlaminck, Utrillo and Soutine. After the Second World War he immigrated to New York. Today his works are kept in most of the major museums all over the world including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Museum of Modern Art, New York, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, Museum of the City of New York, National Portrait Gallery, the Smithsonian Institution, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, Rochester Museum, Virginia Museum; Delgado Museum, New Orleans, Palm Springs Desert Museum; Wichita Art Museum, Jeu de Paume, Paris, Le Centre Pompidou, Paris, Musee Bourdelle, Paris, Musee de Boulogne, Musee de Ceret, Musee de Grenoble, The Renee and Chaim Gross Foundation and many private collections as well. Modernist Prints And Multiples, Wall Decor Collectibles.
Antique Arena Inc
soldSep. 23, 2023ARBIT BLATAS PENCIL SIGNED ARTIST PROOF LITHOGRAPH
Est: $100 - $150Arbit Blatas, Lithuanian, Jewish, American, 1908 to 1999, a limited edition lithograph in colors The Three-Penny Opera, Plate III. Signed in pencil lower right, marked, E.A., as an artists proof, lower left. Provenance: Private Collector NYC, 2020. Born in Lithuania, Arbit Blatas was a painter, sculptor and stage designer who settled in New York City. He studied in Paris at the Academie de la Grande Chaumiere and the Academie Julian and was a member of the Salon d Automne where he also exhibited. In 1928 he joined the avant-garde School of Paris along with Picasso, Matisse, Brague, Vlaminck, Utrillo and Soutine. After the Second World War he immigrated to New York. Today his works are kept in most of the major museums all over the world including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Museum of Modern Art, New York, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, Museum of the City of New York, National Portrait Gallery, the Smithsonian Institution, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, Rochester Museum, Virginia Museum; Delgado Museum, New Orleans, Palm Springs Desert Museum; Wichita Art Museum, Jeu de Paume, Paris, Le Centre Pompidou, Paris, Musee Bourdelle, Paris, Musee de Boulogne, Musee de Ceret, Musee de Grenoble, The Renee and Chaim Gross Foundation and many private collections as well. Modernist Prints And Multiples, Wall Decor Collectibles.
Antique Arena Inc
soldSep. 23, 2023ARBIT BLATAS PENCIL SIGNED ARTIST PROOF LITHOGRAPH
Est: $100 - $150Arbit Blatas, Lithuanian, Jewish, American, 1908 to 1999, a limited edition lithograph in colors from The Beggars Opera series, Plate XI, depicting the opera character Filch. Signed in pencil lower right, marked, E.A., as an artists proof, lower left. Provenance: Private Collector NYC, 2020. Born in Lithuania, Arbit Blatas was a painter, sculptor and stage designer who settled in New York City. He studied in Paris at the Academie de la Grande Chaumiere and the Academie Julian and was a member of the Salon d Automne where he also exhibited. In 1928 he joined the avant-garde School of Paris along with Picasso, Matisse, Brague, Vlaminck, Utrillo and Soutine. After the Second World War he immigrated to New York. Today his works are kept in most of the major museums all over the world including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Museum of Modern Art, New York, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, Museum of the City of New York, National Portrait Gallery, the Smithsonian Institution, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, Rochester Museum, Virginia Museum; Delgado Museum, New Orleans, Palm Springs Desert Museum; Wichita Art Museum, Jeu de Paume, Paris, Le Centre Pompidou, Paris, Musee Bourdelle, Paris, Musee de Boulogne, Musee de Ceret, Musee de Grenoble, The Renee and Chaim Gross Foundation and many private collections as well. Modernist Prints And Multiples, Wall Decor Collectibles.
Antique Arena Inc
soldSep. 23, 2023ARBIT BLATAS PENCIL SIGNED ARTIST PROOF LITHOGRAPH
Est: $100 - $150Arbit Blatas, Lithuanian, Jewish, American, 1908 to 1999, a limited edition lithograph in colors, Plate XIV, depicting a young lady in a white dress. Signed in pencil lower right, marked, E.A., as an artists proof, lower left. Provenance: Private Collector NYC, 2020. Born in Lithuania, Arbit Blatas was a painter, sculptor and stage designer who settled in New York City. He studied in Paris at the Academie de la Grande Chaumiere and the Academie Julian and was a member of the Salon d Automne where he also exhibited. In 1928 he joined the avant-garde School of Paris along with Picasso, Matisse, Brague, Vlaminck, Utrillo and Soutine. After the Second World War he immigrated to New York. Today his works are kept in most of the major museums all over the world including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Museum of Modern Art, New York, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, Museum of the City of New York, National Portrait Gallery, the Smithsonian Institution, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, Rochester Museum, Virginia Museum; Delgado Museum, New Orleans, Palm Springs Desert Museum; Wichita Art Museum, Jeu de Paume, Paris, Le Centre Pompidou, Paris, Musee Bourdelle, Paris, Musee de Boulogne, Musee de Ceret, Musee de Grenoble, The Renee and Chaim Gross Foundation and many private collections as well. Modernist Prints And Multiples, Wall Decor Collectibles.
Antique Arena Inc
soldSep. 23, 2023ARBIT BLATAS FULL SET OF MARCEL MARCEAU LITHOGRAPHS
Est: $100 - $150Arbit Blatas, Lithuanian, Jewish, American, 1908 to 1999, a set of 11 original lithographs Some Attitudes of Marcel Marceau, 1960. Provenance: Private Collector NYC, 2020. Born in Lithuania, Arbit Blatas was a painter, sculptor and stage designer who settled in New York City. He studied in Paris at the Academie de la Grande Chaumiere and the Academie Julian and was a member of the Salon d Automne where he also exhibited. In 1928 he joined the avant-garde School of Paris along with Picasso, Matisse, Brague, Vlaminck, Utrillo and Soutine. After the Second World War he immigrated to New York. Today his works are kept in most of the major museums all over the world including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Museum of Modern Art, New York, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, Museum of the City of New York, National Portrait Gallery, the Smithsonian Institution, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, Rochester Museum, Virginia Museum; Delgado Museum, New Orleans, Palm Springs Desert Museum; Wichita Art Museum, Jeu de Paume, Paris, Le Centre Pompidou, Paris, Musee Bourdelle, Paris, Musee de Boulogne, Musee de Ceret, Musee de Grenoble, The Renee and Chaim Gross Foundation and many private collections as well. Modernist Prints And Multiples, Wall Decor Collectibles.
Antique Arena Inc
soldSep. 23, 2023ARBIT BLATAS FULL SET OF MARCEL MARCEAU LITHOGRAPHS
Est: $100 - $150Arbit Blatas, Lithuanian, Jewish, American, 1908 to 1999, a set of 11 original lithographs Some Attitudes of Marcel Marceau, 1960. Provenance: Private Collector NYC, 2020. Born in Lithuania, Arbit Blatas was a painter, sculptor and stage designer who settled in New York City. He studied in Paris at the Academie de la Grande Chaumiere and the Academie Julian and was a member of the Salon d Automne where he also exhibited. In 1928 he joined the avant-garde School of Paris along with Picasso, Matisse, Brague, Vlaminck, Utrillo and Soutine. After the Second World War he immigrated to New York. Today his works are kept in most of the major museums all over the world including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Museum of Modern Art, New York, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, Museum of the City of New York, National Portrait Gallery, the Smithsonian Institution, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, Rochester Museum, Virginia Museum; Delgado Museum, New Orleans, Palm Springs Desert Museum; Wichita Art Museum, Jeu de Paume, Paris, Le Centre Pompidou, Paris, Musee Bourdelle, Paris, Musee de Boulogne, Musee de Ceret, Musee de Grenoble, The Renee and Chaim Gross Foundation and many private collections as well. Modernist Prints And Multiples, Wall Decor Collectibles.
Antique Arena Inc
soldSep. 23, 2023ARBIT BLATAS FULL SET OF MARCEL MARCEAU LITHOGRAPHS
Est: $100 - $150Arbit Blatas, Lithuanian, Jewish, American, 1908 to 1999, a set of 11 original lithographs Some Attitudes of Marcel Marceau, 1960. Provenance: Private Collector NYC, 2020. Born in Lithuania, Arbit Blatas was a painter, sculptor and stage designer who settled in New York City. He studied in Paris at the Academie de la Grande Chaumiere and the Academie Julian and was a member of the Salon d Automne where he also exhibited. In 1928 he joined the avant-garde School of Paris along with Picasso, Matisse, Brague, Vlaminck, Utrillo and Soutine. After the Second World War he immigrated to New York. Today his works are kept in most of the major museums all over the world including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Museum of Modern Art, New York, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, Museum of the City of New York, National Portrait Gallery, the Smithsonian Institution, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, Rochester Museum, Virginia Museum; Delgado Museum, New Orleans, Palm Springs Desert Museum; Wichita Art Museum, Jeu de Paume, Paris, Le Centre Pompidou, Paris, Musee Bourdelle, Paris, Musee de Boulogne, Musee de Ceret, Musee de Grenoble, The Renee and Chaim Gross Foundation and many private collections as well. Modernist Prints And Multiples, Wall Decor Collectibles.
Antique Arena Inc
soldSep. 23, 2023ARBIT BLATAS FULL SET OF MARCEL MARCEAU LITHOGRAPHS
Est: $100 - $150Arbit Blatas, Lithuanian, Jewish, American, 1908 to 1999, a set of 11 original lithographs Some Attitudes of Marcel Marceau, 1960. Provenance: Private Collector NYC, 2020. Born in Lithuania, Arbit Blatas was a painter, sculptor and stage designer who settled in New York City. He studied in Paris at the Academie de la Grande Chaumiere and the Academie Julian and was a member of the Salon d Automne where he also exhibited. In 1928 he joined the avant-garde School of Paris along with Picasso, Matisse, Brague, Vlaminck, Utrillo and Soutine. After the Second World War he immigrated to New York. Today his works are kept in most of the major museums all over the world including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Museum of Modern Art, New York, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, Museum of the City of New York, National Portrait Gallery, the Smithsonian Institution, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, Rochester Museum, Virginia Museum; Delgado Museum, New Orleans, Palm Springs Desert Museum; Wichita Art Museum, Jeu de Paume, Paris, Le Centre Pompidou, Paris, Musee Bourdelle, Paris, Musee de Boulogne, Musee de Ceret, Musee de Grenoble, The Renee and Chaim Gross Foundation and many private collections as well. Modernist Prints And Multiples, Wall Decor Collectibles.
Antique Arena Inc
soldAug. 23, 2023Arbit Blatas (Lithuanian, 1908-1999) Table Top Still Life
Est: $2,500 - $4,000Arbit Blatas (Lithuanian, 1908-1999) Table Top Still Life Signed and dated 1959 bottom right, oil on panel. (47 x 25 1/4 in. (119.4 x 64.1cm)) Provenance Private Collection, Florida. "Winter Gallery Auction," Freeman's, Philadelphia, December 9, 1995, Lot 552. Private Collection, Pennsylvania (acquired directly from the above). For additional information or to request a condition report, please email [email protected].
Freeman's
soldJul. 27, 2023Arbit Blatas, signed lithograph, artist's proof
Est: $100 - $150Arbit Blatas (Lithuanian, 1908-1999), "The Three-Penny Opera", lithograph in colors, pencil signed and marked "E.A." as an artist's proof, matted and framed under glass, 10.25"h x 14.75"w (sight), 19.25"h x 23.75"w (frame)
Millea Bros Ltd
soldJul. 16, 2023ARBIT BLATAS (1908-1999)
Est: $1,500 - $2,500Piano Concerto at the Opera House Pastel on paper Lived in New York / France, Lithuania Signed lower right, framed h. 17 in. w. 25 in. overall: 21-1/4 x 33-1/2 in.
Butterscotch Auction Gallery LLC
soldJul. 06, 2023ARBIT BLATAS, ANDRE DERAIN, BRONZE SCULPTURE
Est: $35,000 - $45,000Artist: Arbit Blatas, Lithuanian (1908 - 1999) Title: Andre Derain Year: circa 1965 Medium: Bronze Sculpture, signature inscribed Size: 46 x 17 x 8 in. (116.84 x 43.18 x 20.32 cm) Description: Arbit Blatas's bronze sculpture depicting the famed artist Andre Derain portrays the Fauvist in his old age as he leans on a cane and pulls his coat tightly around his shoulders.
RoGallery
soldJul. 01, 2023Arbit Blatas, New York / France, Lithuania (1908 - 1999), The Mime (Marcel Marceau), lithograph, 19 1/2"H x 8"W
Est: $80 - $120Arbit Blatas New York / France, Lithuania, (1908 - 1999) The Mime (Marcel Marceau) lithograph Numbered 188/200 lower left. Signed lower right. Biography from Papillon Gallery: Arbit Blatas (né Nicolai Arbitblatas) was born in Kaunas, Lithuania on November 19, 1908. He was a precocious talent who began exhibiting in his native country at the age of 15. Soon afterwards, he left for Paris and, at the age of 21, became the youngest member of an illustrious group of artists known as the School of Paris. When Blatas was 24, the Jeu de Paume in Paris acquired its first painting of the young artist, who had already become a colleague and friend of many of the great figures of the Paris art world, such as Vlaminck, Soutine, Picasso, Utrillo, Braque, Zadkine, Léger and Dérain. He was to paint and sculpt them all, as well as Bonnard, Vuillard, Matisse, Dufy, Van Dongen, Cocteau, Marquet and many others. His 30 portraits in oil and bronze are considered a unique document of the painters and sculptors of that dynamic period in 20th-century French painting.. In the 1930s, Blatas exhibited in London and New York, as well as in his adoptive home of Paris. Fleeing Nazi-occupied Europe in 1941 for the United States, Blatas became an American citizen and solidified his reputation among the front ranks of contemporary American painters. After the war, Blatas divided his life between New York and France, where, in 1947, he was elected a life member of the Salon D'Automne. His life-size bronze of his colleague and friend Chaim Soutine, created in 1967, was highly admired by André Malraux. In 1987, the City of Paris installed the statue in Montparnasse in the square of the Gaston Baty and conferred on Blatas the Médaille de Vermeil. A life-size statue of another close friend and colleague, Jacques Lipchitz, now stands in the garden of the Hotel de Ville next to the Museum in Boulogne. In 1978, Arbit Blatas was named Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur by the French Government for his contribution to French art as an outstanding member of the School of Paris. In 1994 he was promoted to the rank of Officier de la Légion d'Honneur. The Holocaust Blatas' parents were deported from Lithuania in 1941. His mother died in the Studthof concentration camp. His father miraculously survived Dachau; after the war, Blatas returned to France to bring his father with him to the United States. After the death of his mother, Blatas turned his back on the Holocaust until the late 1970s, when it burst forth in the artist's oeuvre and remained a recurring theme in many major works. His black-and-white drawings memorializing the unspeakable events of that time appeared in the 1978 American television series, "Holocaust." The drawings became the basis for four public memorials, consisting of seven powerful bas-reliefs, known as The Monument of the Holocaust, now on permanent display in four countries: Italy, France, The United States and Lithuania. The first edition of this monument was installed in the historic Ghetto of Venice on April 25th, 1980, the National Holiday of Liberation from the Nazis. On that occasion, Mayor Mario Rigo decorated Blatas with the gold medal Venezia Riconoscente. On September 19th, 1993, in the same Historic Ghetto of Venice, President of Italy Oscar Scalfaro honored Blatas by personally dedicating his sculpture The Last Train, a monument honoring the 50th anniversary of the deportation of the Jews from the Venetian Ghetto. The second edition of The Monument of the Holocaust was dedicated at the Shrine of the Unknown Jewish Martyrs in Paris on April 23, 1981. The third edition was placed by the Anti-Defamation League in Hammerskjold Plaza, across from the United Nations in New York on April 25, 1982. In 2009, this edition was installed permanently at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York City. In 2003, the fourth and final edition of this powerful series of sculptures was donated posthumously by his widow as part of the consecration of the memorial at Fort Nine in Blatas' native Kaunas, Lithuania, the notorious location from which Blatas' parents were deported in 1941. Marcel Marceau and The Threepenny Opera Two other major subjects became leitmotifs in Blatas' work: Marcel Marceau and The Threepenny Opera. Both inspired the artist in paintings, sculpture, and a third medium for which Blatas became widely appreciated: Lithography Beginning in the 1950s, the artist's great friend, Marcel Marceau, appears in all shapes, poses and sizes: from large portraits to small-scale studies, to sculptures, to sets of lithographs that capture the famous mime in mid-air. Through a magical coincidence, Blatas attended the world premiere of The Threepenny Opera in Berlin in 1928; the groundbreaking musical theatre work by Kurt Weill and Berthold Brecht would inspire Blatas for the next 70 years. His canon of work depicting scenes and characters from The Threepenny Opera includes 18 portraits, 10 sculptures, several large canvases and sets of color and black-and-white lithographs. The outstanding preface by the legendary Lotte Lenya, Weill's widow, to the first edition of Threepenny Lithographs, published in 1962, pays tribute to Blatas' profound understanding of the work. In 1984, the Threepenny Opera exhibition was displayed at Venice's Teatro Goldoni; in 1986, at the Museum of the City of New York and the Goethe Institute in Toronto. In May 1994, the Grosvenor Gallery in London presented the exhibition called "Arbit Blatas and his World of Music and Theatre." In 2000 and 2001, respectively, the entire Threepenny Opera collection appeared as part of Kurt Weill Centenary celebrations at Belmont College, Nashville, Tennessee, and the Leubsdorf Gallery, Hunter College, New York. Career as Stage Designer During the 1970s and 1980s, Blatas designed scenery and costumes for nine international opera productions in collaboration with his wife, the renowned mezzo-soprano, Regina Resnik, as stage director. These productions included Elektra (Teatro La Fenice, Venice; Teatro Sao Carlos, Lisbon; Opéra du Rhin, Strasbourg); Carmen (Hamburg State Opera); Salome (Teatro Sao Carlos); Falstaff (Teatre Wielki, Warsaw; Teatro la Fenice; Teatro Sao Carlos; Festival of Madrid); The Queen of Spades (Vancouver Opera Association; Sydney Opera House); and The Bear and The Medium (Teatro Sao Carlos). The 1980s and 1990s saw major exhibitions of Blatas' work, including several devoted to the School of Paris. In Venice, in 1982, the School of Paris portraits became a major exhibition at the Church of San Samuele under the joint auspices of the Mayor of Paris, Jacques Chirac, and the Mayor of Venice, Mario Rigo. Le Musée Bourdelle offered the first major exhibition in Paris of the portrait collection in 1986. In 1990, the entire collection of the School of Paris, portraits, drawings and bronzes, were shown at the Musée des Années Trentes in Boulogne-Billancourt, which subsequently acquired the entire collection now permanently installed in galleries dedicated to Blatas. In 1996, the Eastlake Gallery of New York presented Blatas in an exceptional exhibition entitled "Aspects of Venice." In 1997, the Beacon Hill Gallery, also in New York, presented a landmark exhibition of more than 100 of Blatas' works. From September 2008 through July 2009, the 100th anniversary of the birth of Arbit Blatas was celebrated in "Arbit Blatas: A Centenary Exhibition," at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York. This exhibition brought together all the major themes and media of Blatas' diverse oeuvre for the first time: French and Venetian landscapes, music and theatre subjects in painting, sculpture and lithographs, the School of Paris in sculpture, and scenic designs. The Holocaust was honored in the fourth edition of Monument of the Holocaust and four towering, major paintings. Blatas was an artist of enormous range. His vivid colors and joie de vivre extend through his entire canon of paintings: landscapes, portraits and still-lifes. The distinguished French art critic, Jean Bouret, summed the artist up this way: "He is color, his palette is color, exuberant and sensual, as is the man." On the other end of Blatas' artistic spectrum, the noted Italian art historian Enzo di Martini wrote of the Monument of the Holocaust: "In complete contrast to his paintings, these bronzes are hammered and chiseled in anger and tragedy." Arbit Blatas passed away on April 27, 1999 at his home in New York City.
Ripley Auctions
soldJul. 01, 2023Arbit Blatas, New York / France, Lithuania (1908 - 1999), Zizi, lithograph, 20"H x 8 1/4"W (plate)
Est: $80 - $120Arbit Blatas New York / France, Lithuania, (1908 - 1999) Zizi lithograph Numbered 180/200 lower left and signed lower right. Biography from Papillon Gallery: Arbit Blatas (né Nicolai Arbitblatas) was born in Kaunas, Lithuania on November 19, 1908. He was a precocious talent who began exhibiting in his native country at the age of 15. Soon afterwards, he left for Paris and, at the age of 21, became the youngest member of an illustrious group of artists known as the School of Paris. When Blatas was 24, the Jeu de Paume in Paris acquired its first painting of the young artist, who had already become a colleague and friend of many of the great figures of the Paris art world, such as Vlaminck, Soutine, Picasso, Utrillo, Braque, Zadkine, Léger and Dérain. He was to paint and sculpt them all, as well as Bonnard, Vuillard, Matisse, Dufy, Van Dongen, Cocteau, Marquet and many others. His 30 portraits in oil and bronze are considered a unique document of the painters and sculptors of that dynamic period in 20th-century French painting.. In the 1930s, Blatas exhibited in London and New York, as well as in his adoptive home of Paris. Fleeing Nazi-occupied Europe in 1941 for the United States, Blatas became an American citizen and solidified his reputation among the front ranks of contemporary American painters. After the war, Blatas divided his life between New York and France, where, in 1947, he was elected a life member of the Salon D'Automne. His life-size bronze of his colleague and friend Chaim Soutine, created in 1967, was highly admired by André Malraux. In 1987, the City of Paris installed the statue in Montparnasse in the square of the Gaston Baty and conferred on Blatas the Médaille de Vermeil. A life-size statue of another close friend and colleague, Jacques Lipchitz, now stands in the garden of the Hotel de Ville next to the Museum in Boulogne. In 1978, Arbit Blatas was named Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur by the French Government for his contribution to French art as an outstanding member of the School of Paris. In 1994 he was promoted to the rank of Officier de la Légion d'Honneur. The Holocaust Blatas' parents were deported from Lithuania in 1941. His mother died in the Studthof concentration camp. His father miraculously survived Dachau; after the war, Blatas returned to France to bring his father with him to the United States. After the death of his mother, Blatas turned his back on the Holocaust until the late 1970s, when it burst forth in the artist's oeuvre and remained a recurring theme in many major works. His black-and-white drawings memorializing the unspeakable events of that time appeared in the 1978 American television series, "Holocaust." The drawings became the basis for four public memorials, consisting of seven powerful bas-reliefs, known as The Monument of the Holocaust, now on permanent display in four countries: Italy, France, The United States and Lithuania. The first edition of this monument was installed in the historic Ghetto of Venice on April 25th, 1980, the National Holiday of Liberation from the Nazis. On that occasion, Mayor Mario Rigo decorated Blatas with the gold medal Venezia Riconoscente. On September 19th, 1993, in the same Historic Ghetto of Venice, President of Italy Oscar Scalfaro honored Blatas by personally dedicating his sculpture The Last Train, a monument honoring the 50th anniversary of the deportation of the Jews from the Venetian Ghetto. The second edition of The Monument of the Holocaust was dedicated at the Shrine of the Unknown Jewish Martyrs in Paris on April 23, 1981. The third edition was placed by the Anti-Defamation League in Hammerskjold Plaza, across from the United Nations in New York on April 25, 1982. In 2009, this edition was installed permanently at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York City. In 2003, the fourth and final edition of this powerful series of sculptures was donated posthumously by his widow as part of the consecration of the memorial at Fort Nine in Blatas' native Kaunas, Lithuania, the notorious location from which Blatas' parents were deported in 1941. Marcel Marceau and The Threepenny Opera Two other major subjects became leitmotifs in Blatas' work: Marcel Marceau and The Threepenny Opera. Both inspired the artist in paintings, sculpture, and a third medium for which Blatas became widely appreciated: Lithography Beginning in the 1950s, the artist's great friend, Marcel Marceau, appears in all shapes, poses and sizes: from large portraits to small-scale studies, to sculptures, to sets of lithographs that capture the famous mime in mid-air. Through a magical coincidence, Blatas attended the world premiere of The Threepenny Opera in Berlin in 1928; the groundbreaking musical theatre work by Kurt Weill and Berthold Brecht would inspire Blatas for the next 70 years. His canon of work depicting scenes and characters from The Threepenny Opera includes 18 portraits, 10 sculptures, several large canvases and sets of color and black-and-white lithographs. The outstanding preface by the legendary Lotte Lenya, Weill's widow, to the first edition of Threepenny Lithographs, published in 1962, pays tribute to Blatas' profound understanding of the work. In 1984, the Threepenny Opera exhibition was displayed at Venice's Teatro Goldoni; in 1986, at the Museum of the City of New York and the Goethe Institute in Toronto. In May 1994, the Grosvenor Gallery in London presented the exhibition called "Arbit Blatas and his World of Music and Theatre." In 2000 and 2001, respectively, the entire Threepenny Opera collection appeared as part of Kurt Weill Centenary celebrations at Belmont College, Nashville, Tennessee, and the Leubsdorf Gallery, Hunter College, New York. Career as Stage Designer During the 1970s and 1980s, Blatas designed scenery and costumes for nine international opera productions in collaboration with his wife, the renowned mezzo-soprano, Regina Resnik, as stage director. These productions included Elektra (Teatro La Fenice, Venice; Teatro Sao Carlos, Lisbon; Opéra du Rhin, Strasbourg); Carmen (Hamburg State Opera); Salome (Teatro Sao Carlos); Falstaff (Teatre Wielki, Warsaw; Teatro la Fenice; Teatro Sao Carlos; Festival of Madrid); The Queen of Spades (Vancouver Opera Association; Sydney Opera House); and The Bear and The Medium (Teatro Sao Carlos). The 1980s and 1990s saw major exhibitions of Blatas' work, including several devoted to the School of Paris. In Venice, in 1982, the School of Paris portraits became a major exhibition at the Church of San Samuele under the joint auspices of the Mayor of Paris, Jacques Chirac, and the Mayor of Venice, Mario Rigo. Le Musée Bourdelle offered the first major exhibition in Paris of the portrait collection in 1986. In 1990, the entire collection of the School of Paris, portraits, drawings and bronzes, were shown at the Musée des Années Trentes in Boulogne-Billancourt, which subsequently acquired the entire collection now permanently installed in galleries dedicated to Blatas. In 1996, the Eastlake Gallery of New York presented Blatas in an exceptional exhibition entitled "Aspects of Venice." In 1997, the Beacon Hill Gallery, also in New York, presented a landmark exhibition of more than 100 of Blatas' works. From September 2008 through July 2009, the 100th anniversary of the birth of Arbit Blatas was celebrated in "Arbit Blatas: A Centenary Exhibition," at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York. This exhibition brought together all the major themes and media of Blatas' diverse oeuvre for the first time: French and Venetian landscapes, music and theatre subjects in painting, sculpture and lithographs, the School of Paris in sculpture, and scenic designs. The Holocaust was honored in the fourth edition of Monument of the Holocaust and four towering, major paintings. Blatas was an artist of enormous range. His vivid colors and joie de vivre extend through his entire canon of paintings: landscapes, portraits and still-lifes. The distinguished French art critic, Jean Bouret, summed the artist up this way: "He is color, his palette is color, exuberant and sensual, as is the man." On the other end of Blatas' artistic spectrum, the noted Italian art historian Enzo di Martini wrote of the Monument of the Holocaust: "In complete contrast to his paintings, these bronzes are hammered and chiseled in anger and tragedy." Arbit Blatas passed away on April 27, 1999 at his home in New York City.
Ripley Auctions
soldJun. 25, 2023Arbit Blatas, Marcel Marceau, Oil on Board
Est: $650 - $950Arbit Blatas (1908-1999), Marcel Marceau, oil on board, signed "A. Blatas" L/L, 45" x 14 3/4". From the Collection of William H. Trayes, Jr.
Kaminski Auctions
soldJun. 22, 2023ARBIT BLATAS, American/Lithuanian 1908-1999, Village in the Mountains, oil on canvas, 25 1/2 x 39 1/2 in. (64.8 x 100.3 cm.), Frame: 34 1/4 x 2 1/2 x 48 1/4 in. (87 x 6.4 x 122.6 cm.)
Est: $5,000 - $7,000ARBIT BLATAS American/Lithuanian, 1908-1999 Village in the Mountains oil on canvas signed lower right "Blatas"
Shannon's
soldJun. 16, 2023ARBIT BLATAS, TOWN SQUARE, LITHOGRAPH ON ARCHES
Est: $650 - $850Artist: Arbit Blatas, Lithuanian (1908 - 1999) Title: Town Square Medium: Lithograph on Arches, signed and numbered in pencil Edition: 75/175 Image Size: 20 x 25 inches Size: 24 x 28 in. (60.96 x 71.12 cm) Frame Size: 26 x 30 inches Publisher: Transworld Art Description: Arbit Blatas was a Lithuanian artist who commonly worked in portraits, landscapes and still lives. This print is signed and numbered in pencil.
RoGallery
soldJun. 03, 2023Arbit Blatas portfolio
Est: $500 - $700Arbit Blatas (American 1908-1999) ''Hommage a L'Ecole De Paris' '' suite of 14 lithographs, 1962, all signed and numbered 67/350 in pencil, in the original red, white and blue striped publishers portfolio, the introduction pages are bound in, prints are loose as issued, very good condition. 19 1/2 x 13''
Rachel Davis Fine Arts
soldMar. 29, 2023Arbit Blatas Lithuanian, 1908-1999 Venice, 1952
Est: $500 - $700Arbit Blatas Lithuanian, 1908-1999 Venice, 1952 Signed A. Blatas, dated 1952 and inscribed as titled (lr); also dedicated To Pat and Robert / with my love! (lr) Ink and watercolor on paper 17 3/4 x 23 7/8 inches (45.1 x 60.6 cm) C
Doyle New York
soldMar. 29, 2023Arbit Blatas Lithuanian, 1908-1999 Gare d'Orsay
Est: $500 - $700Arbit Blatas Lithuanian, 1908-1999 Gare d'Orsay Indistinctly inscribed and signed A. Blatas (ll) Oil on panel 10 1/2 x 12 1/4 inches (26.7 x 31.1 cm) Provenance: Associated American Artists, New York C
Doyle New York
soldMar. 29, 2023Arbit Blatas Lithuanian, 1908-1999 Interior Scene
Est: $500 - $700Arbit Blatas Lithuanian, 1908-1999 Interior Scene Signed A. Blatas and dedicated to Luise and Arthur (lr) Ink on paper 19 x 25 inches (48.3 x 63.5 cm) C
Doyle New York
soldMar. 29, 2023Arbit Blatas Lithuanian, 1908-1999 Portrait of a Woman
Est: $2,000 - $4,000Arbit Blatas Lithuanian, 1908-1999 Portrait of a Woman Signed Blatas (ll) Oil on Masonite 29 x 24 inches (73.7 x 61 cm) C
Doyle New York
soldMar. 29, 2023Arbit Blatas Lithuanian, 1908-1999 Portrait of a Woman
Est: $2,000 - $4,000Arbit Blatas Lithuanian, 1908-1999 Portrait of a Woman Signed A. Blatas (lr) Oil on canvas 32 x 26 inches (81.3 x 66 cm) C
Doyle New York
soldMar. 20, 2023Arbit Blatas "Vava" Oil Painting on Board
Est: $4,000 - $6,000Arbit Blatas (Lithuanian, 1908-1999) "Vava" Oil Painting on Board. Signed lower left. Measures approx. - 21 3/4" wide x 44 3/4" wide, + 3 3/4" frame. Arbit Blatas was born in Kaunas Lithuania, to Russian parents. He studied in Russia at a school for artistically gifted children and later at the Academy in Berlin. By the age of fifteen he was exhibiting artwork in his native country. In 1929 he began to exhibit regularly at the Salon D'Automne and the Salon des Tuileries in Paris. At the age of twenty-one, he became the youngest member of the School of Paris and a friend and colleague to many of the great figures in the Parisian art world such as Vlaminck, Utrillo, Soutine, Picasso, Derain and Matisse. Blatas eventually painted or sculpted them all and his forty-nine portraits in oil and bronze are considered a unique document of that period in Paris. Blatas is known for his diverse talents as colourist, draftsman, sculptor and set designer, with his unique expressionist style remaining throughout his career.
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