Charles Wilbert White Auction Price Results
321 items
Lot 83: Charles White, 1918-1979, Untitled (Head of a Man in Profile)
Auction Date: Jul 17, 2021
Estimate: $3,500 - $5,500
Description: Charles White
1918-1979
Untitled (Head of a Man in Profile)
1979, printed in 1984
etching in brown on white wove paper
22-1/4 x 22 inches
signed and numbered 41/80
estate stamp below image in gray ink
Location: INDIANAPOLIS, IN, US
Auction House: Black Art Auction
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Lot 84: Charles White, 1918-1979, Untitled (Head of a Woman III)
Auction Date: Jul 17, 2021
Estimate: $3,500 - $5,500
Description: Charles White
1918-1979
Untitled (Head of a Woman III)
1979, printed in 1984
etching in brown on white wove paper
22-1/4 x 22 inches
signed and numbered 41/80
estate stamp below image in gray ink
Location: INDIANAPOLIS, IN, US
Auction House: Black Art Auction
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Lot 5: Charles White, 1918-1979, Fulfillment
Auction Date: Jul 17, 2021
Estimate: $1,000,000 - $2,000,000
Description: Charles White
1918-1979
Fulfillment
** Please note this work is currently on loan to the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. If you choose to buy this lot, transfer of title will be made immediately and the artwork will be delivered to you at the conclusion of the loan. Please contact us for more information.
1966
oil on canvas
61 x 18 inches
signed and dated
Location: INDIANAPOLIS, IN, US
Auction House: Black Art Auction
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Lot 168: Charles White, 1918-1979, Young Woman
Auction Date: May 22, 2021
Estimate: $5,000 - $7,000
Description: Charles White
1918-1979
Young Woman
1963-1964
lithograph
13 1/4 x 16 3/4 inches
pencil signed, titled, dated and numbered, 1-Ed. 20
Illustrated: Charles White , The Gordon Gift to the University of Texas, Roberts, p. 20-21
John P. Murphy writes , "White exhibited Young Woman in 1964 at the major exhibition The Art of Charles White: Lithographs , Linocuts, and Drawings, which traveled in Los Angeles from Occidental College to the School of Fine Arts of the University of Judaism. It also appeared in 1965 in his final exhibition at New York's American Contemporary Art (ACA) Gallery, which had mounted seven one-person shows of White's work since 1947."
Location: INDIANAPOLIS, IN, US
Auction House: Black Art Auction
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Lot 170: Charles White, 1918-1979, Portrait of a Man in a Green Jacket
Auction Date: May 22, 2021
Estimate: $4,000 - $6,000
Description: Charles White
1918-1979
Portrait of a Man in a Green Jacket
1934
Watercolor on cream wove paper
9 1/2 x 7 1/4 inches
Heritage Gallery, Los Angeles label verso.
Provenance: Collection of Cecile Lee, New Jersey.
Location: INDIANAPOLIS, IN, US
Auction House: Black Art Auction
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Lot 21: Charles W. White, 1918-1979, Madonna
Auction Date: May 22, 2021
Estimate: $3,000 - $4,000
Description: Charles W. White
1918-1979
Madonna
1979
etching in brown on cream wove paper
11 3/4 x 19 1/4 inches (image)
22 1/4 x 29 3/4 inches (sheet)
Printed by Hand Graphics Ltd, New Mexico
Estate stamp signature "Charles White"
numbered in pencil 32/80
Location: INDIANAPOLIS, IN, US
Auction House: Black Art Auction
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Lot 23: Charles White, 1918-1979, Profile of a Woman, Facing Right
Auction Date: May 22, 2021
Estimate: $2,000 - $3,000
Description: Charles White
1918-1979
Profile of a Woman, Facing Right
1979 (printed 1984)
etching in brown ink
12 x 13 inches
estate stamped signature, numbered in pencil 48/80
An example of this image is in the collection of the Blanton Museum of Art, University of Texas, Austin. It is illustrated in Charles White, The Gordon Gift to the University of Texas, 2019, p. 49.
Location: INDIANAPOLIS, IN, US
Auction House: Black Art Auction
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Lot 20: Charles Wilbert White, 1918-1979, Rep. Rankin (Alias: Swine)
Auction Date: May 22, 2021
Estimate: $25,000 - $35,000
Description: Charles Wilbert White
1918-1979
Rep. Rankin (Alias: Swine)
Portrait of Representative John Rankin (Mississippi)
1945
ink drawing on paperboard
16 x 12 1/2 inches
signed and dated, inscribed.
Artist name and address verso, "CHARLES WHITE, 34 BEDFORD ST." in the hand of the artist.
Illustrated: New Masses, July 10, 1945 (Vol. 56, No. 2), accompanying Ralph Bowman's essay, "Roots of America's Revolution", p.7.
Authenticity confirmed by Frances White, as well as the Charles White Archives.
Charles White contributed to Daily Worker, The New Masses and Masses & Mainstream , all communist publications in the 1940s and 50s. This biting satirical image of John E. Rankin, a Democratic politician from Mississippi who served sixteen terms in the U.S. House of Representatives (1921-1953) accompanied an essay by Ralph Bowman, "Roots of America's Revolution" in 1945.
Rankin supported many programs that negatively affected African Americans. He proposed a bill to prohibit interracial marriage, supported segregation and denied federal benefits of various programs to African Americans. A year before White executed this drawing, Rankin tried to lower benefits to victims of the Port of Chicago disaster after learning that most of the dead were black sailors. He consistently discriminated against black veterans in legislation intended to build social capital among residents of the South. Black veterans were denied loans, training and employment assistance under his watch and Historically Black Colleges and Universities were severely underfunded, thereby limiting enrollment.
Rankin explicitly expressed racist views and used racial slurs on the floor of the House. He sought to prevent the desegregation of Veterans Administration hospitals, arguing for treating black veterans in rural, isolated, all-black hospitals. He opposed bills that made lynching a federal crime, arguing they promoted rape and "racial equality would destroy the white man's civilization throughout the world."
He refused to sit next to freshman congressman Adam Clayton Powell and condemned Paul Robeson for inciting violence when a racist mob attacked people leaving one of his concerts.
Rankin did not limit his racism to African Americans, but also included Jewish people and Asians.
He was defeated by Thomas G. Abernethy (who was only slightly better) for re-election in 1952 and (thankfully) died in 1960.
Another well-known image White executed for The New Masses was "Can a Negro Study Law in Texas" (1946), pictured in Charles White The Gordon Gift to The University of Texas, Roberts, Blanton Museum of Art, p.6, 8. This image addresses the Sweatt v. Painter court case, in which Heman Sweatt (an African American) was initially denied enrollment to the School of Law at the University of Texas. While losing in the lower courts, the U.S. Supreme Court eventually granted Sweatt a victory. This case was influential to the landmark Brown v. Board of Education case held four years later.
Both drawings are executed in what some call a "Soviet social realist" style. In an essay in Roberts' book, Austin-based lawyer and art collector, Rudolph H. Green writes, "Can a Negro Study Law in Texas represents an early example of the way White put his beliefs into action and used art as a tool to attack the status quo as reflected in Jim Crow laws. White created his drawing in support of Sweatt but also as a call to action in support of efforts to promote equality and social justice in America."
That statement would be equally relevant to the drawing, "Rep. Rankin (Alias Swine)", 1945.
Location: INDIANAPOLIS, IN, US
Auction House: Black Art Auction
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Lot 22: Charles White, 1918-1979, untitled, Head of a Woman III
Auction Date: May 22, 2021
Estimate: $2,000 - $3,000
Description: Charles White
1918-1979
untitled, Head of a Woman III
1979 (printed in 1984)
etching in brown ink
11 7/8 x 12 7/8
estate stamped signature, numbered in pencil 48/80
An example of this image is in the collection of the Blanton Museum of Art, University of Texas, Austin. It is illustrated in Charles White, The Gordon Gift to the University of Texas, 2019, p. 49.
Location: INDIANAPOLIS, IN, US
Auction House: Black Art Auction
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Lot 169: Charles White, 1918-1979, Standing Man
Auction Date: May 22, 2021
Estimate: $4,000 - $6,000
Description: Charles White
1918-1979
Standing Man
1934
Watercolor on cream wove paper
10 x 8 inches
Signed.
Heritage Gallery, Los Angeles label verso.
Provenance: Collection of Cecile Lee, New Jersey.
Location: INDIANAPOLIS, IN, US
Auction House: Black Art Auction
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Lot 17: CHARLES WHITE (1918 - 1979) Head of Man - Version II (Diego Rivera).
Auction Date: Apr 22, 2021
Estimate: $10,000 - $15,000
Description: CHARLES WHITE (1918 - 1979)
Head of Man - Version II (Diego Rivera).
Crayon on thin, smooth wove paper, mounted to board, 1936. 305x254 mm; 12x10 inches. With the artist's estate signature ink stamp, lower right.
Provenance: the estate of the artist; Heritage Gallery, Los Angeles, with the gallery label on the frame back; private collection, New York; thence by descent to a private collection, California.
This fascinating portait of one of Charles White's heroes is one of the earliest known drawings by the artist to come to auction. Another, very similar version of this drawing of Diego Rivera was sold at Swann Galleries as lot 22 in African-American Fine Art auction on April 2, 2015, and is catalogued as D10 in Lucinda Gedeon's catalogue raisonné.
This early study was likely made just before or at the beginning of Charles White's study at the Art Institute of Chicago. White was determined to become an artist despite his family's tight finances, and early rejections from discriminatory art schools. White won a $240 scholarship to attend the Chicago Art Institute, entering in 1937. White completed the two year course in one year, despite often walking the 60 blocks home to save money and working as a cook and valet. Upon his graduation in 1938, he soon qualified to join the easel and mural divisions of the Federal Art Project in Illinois.
Diego Rivera's international fame and the rise of the Mexican muralists made a profound impact on Charles White and many other social realists' art work. In the mural divison of the FAP, White worked with muralists Mitchell Siporin and Edward Millman who both had assisted Rivera on murals in Mexico. Later in 1947, upon winning a Rosenwald scholarship to travel and study in Mexico, White met Diego Rivera and studied with David Alfaro Siqueiros at the Esmeralda Escuela del Arte and the Taller de Gráfica Popular in Mexico City. Curiously, despite a strong resemblance, an identification of Rivera was never made with this drawing.
Location: New York, NY, US
Auction House: Swann Auction Galleries
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Lot 18: CHARLES WHITE (1918-1979) Musician with Guitar.
Auction Date: Apr 22, 2021
Estimate: $4,000 - $6,000
Description: CHARLES WHITE (1918-1979)
Musician with Guitar.
Graphite and pencil on cream wove paper, circa 1937. 254x203 mm; 10x8 inches. With the artist's estate signature ink stamp, lower center edge.
Provenance: estate of the artist: Heritage Gallery, Los Angeles, with the gallery label on the frame back; private collection, New York (1995).
This drawing is a page taken from one of the earliest sketch books of Charles White. White began his studies in the fall of 1937 at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Unbound pages from the artist's sketchbooks were sold by Heritage Gallery in Los Angeles when it represented the artist's estate.
Location: New York, NY, US
Auction House: Swann Auction Galleries
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Lot 39: CHARLES WHITE (1918 - 1979) John Brown.
Auction Date: Apr 22, 2021
Estimate: $6,000 - $9,000
Description: CHARLES WHITE (1918 - 1979)
John Brown.
Lithograph on cream wove paper, 1949. 380x260 mm; 15x10 1/4 inches, full margins. Edition of 30. Signed, titled, dated and inscribed "Charles" in pencil, lower margin. Printed by Robert Blackburn, Printmaking Workshop, New York.
An excellent, richly inked impression of this scarce print; other impressions can be found in the collections of the Library of Congress and the Hampton University Museum, Hampton, VA. Gedeon Ea9.
Location: New York, NY, US
Auction House: Swann Auction Galleries
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Lot 91: CHARLES WHITE (1918 - 1979) Blues.
Auction Date: Apr 22, 2021
Estimate: $7,000 - $10,000
Description: CHARLES WHITE (1918 - 1979)
Blues.
Color lithograph on Rives paper, 1971. 285x687 mm; 11 1/2x 26 3/4 inches. Signed, titled, dated and numbered 2/100 in pencil, lower right. Printed by William Law III and the Tamstone Group, Los Angeles, with their blindstamps lower right. Commissioned by J. B. Lansing Sound Inc. (JBL) Los Angeles, with their label on the frame back.
Provenance: Heritage Galleries, Los Angeles, with their label on the frame back; private collection, Maryland (2014).
An excellent, bright impression of this scarce print. This is the first impression we have handled at Swann Galleries. Gedeon Ea 27.
Location: New York, NY, US
Auction House: Swann Auction Galleries
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Lot 92: CHARLES WHITE (1918 - 1979) Pope X.
Auction Date: Apr 22, 2021
Estimate: $20,000 - $30,000
Description: CHARLES WHITE (1918 - 1979)
Pope X.
Etching on cream wove paper, 1972. 475x700 mm; 18 3/4x27 1/2 inches, wide margins. Artist's proof, one of only 3 signed artist's proofs, from a total of 19 signed prints. Signed, titled, dated and inscribed "A/P" in pencil, lower margin. Printed by Joseph and Hugo Mugnani, Los Angeles.
Provenance: Joseph Mugnani, Los Angeles; thence by descent, private collection, California.
A superb impression of this large and very scarce etching - we have not seen another impression at auction since a signed trial proof was sold at Swann Galleries on February 19, 2008. Gedeon notes while the prints were numbered /25, there were only 12 signed impressions, 3 signed artist's proofs and 4 signed trial proofs, with two estate-stamped proofs. Another impression printed in brown ink, numbered 3/25, is in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York.
The subject of the etching anticipates Charles White's painting
Black Pope (Sandwich Board Man), oil wash on board, 1973, acquired by the Museum of Modern Art in 2013. Curator Esther Adler in her 2017 monograph
Charles White Black Pope describes how the idea of a black pope was floated in 1970s media, including a 1973
Encore magazine article, a copy of which is found in Charles White's papers at the Archives of American Art. Adler pp. 32-33; Gedeon Ec9.
Location: New York, NY, US
Auction House: Swann Auction Galleries
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Lot 93: Charles Wilbert White (1918-1979); Micah;
Auction Date: Mar 24, 2021
Estimate: $3,000 - $5,000
Description: Charles Wilbert White (1918-1979)
Micah, 1963-64
Lithograph, on wove paper, signed in pencil, titled, dated '63' and annotated '1/ED/20', with margins, framed.
sheet 16 1/2 x 12 1/4in (41.9 x 31.1cm)
For further information on this lot please visit the
Bonhams website
Location: Los Angeles, CA, US
Auction House: Bonhams
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Lot 94: Charles Wilbert White (1918-1979); Vision;
Auction Date: Mar 24, 2021
Estimate: $1,000 - $1,200
Description: Charles Wilbert White (1918-1979)
Vision, 1973
Sterling silver plate, incised, titled, dated and stamp numbered 11/100 (on reverse), published by Heritage Gallery, Los Angeles.
diameter 8in (20.3cm)
For further information on this lot please visit the
Bonhams website
Location: Los Angeles, CA, US
Auction House: Bonhams
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Lot 12213: Artist: Charles White (April 2, 1918 - October 3, 1979). Technique: charcoal drawing on paper. Measurements: 41 x 35 cm Title: Head in Black.
Auction Date: Feb 27, 2021
Estimate: $20,000 - $24,000
Description: Artist: Charles White (April 2, 1918 - October 3, 1979). Technique: charcoal drawing on paper. Measurements: 41 x 35 cm Title: Head in Black.
Location: Chicago, IL, US
Auction House: Art Legacy
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Lot 12213: Artist: Charles White (April 2, 1918 - October 3, 1979). Technique: charcoal drawing on paper. Measurements: 41 x 35 cm Title: Head in Black.
Auction Date: Feb 20, 2021
Estimate: $20,000 - $24,000
Description: Artist: Charles White (April 2, 1918 - October 3, 1979). Technique: charcoal drawing on paper. Measurements: 41 x 35 cm Title: Head in Black.
Location: Chicago, IL, US
Auction House: Art Legacy
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Lot 12213: Artist: Charles White (April 2, 1918 - October 3, 1979). Technique: charcoal drawing on paper. Measurements: 41 x 35 cm Title: Head in Black.
Auction Date: Feb 13, 2021
Estimate: $20,000 - $24,000
Description: Artist: Charles White (April 2, 1918 - October 3, 1979). Technique: charcoal drawing on paper. Measurements: 41 x 35 cm Title: Head in Black.
Location: Chicago, IL, US
Auction House: Art Legacy
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Lot 136: Charles White, 1918-1979, Untitled (Head of a Man in Profile)
Auction Date: Feb 06, 2021
Estimate: $3,500 - $5,500
Description: Charles White
1918-1979
Untitled (Head of a Man in Profile)
1979, printed in 1984
etching in brown on white wove paper
22-1/4 x 22 inches
signed and numbered 41/80
estate stamp below image in gray ink
Location: INDIANAPOLIS, IN, US
Auction House: Black Art Auction
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Lot 16: Charles White, 1918-1979, Untitled (Head of a Woman III)
Auction Date: Feb 06, 2021
Estimate: $3,500 - $5,500
Description: Charles White
1918-1979
Untitled (Head of a Woman III)
1979, printed in 1984
etching in brown on white wove paper
22-1/4 x 22 inches
signed and numbered 41/80
estate stamp below image in gray ink
Location: INDIANAPOLIS, IN, US
Auction House: Black Art Auction
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Lot 12213: Artist: Charles White (April 2, 1918 - October 3, 1979). Technique: charcoal drawing on paper. Measurements: 41 x 35 cm Title: Head in Black.
Auction Date: Feb 06, 2021
Estimate: $20,000 - $24,000
Description: Artist: Charles White (April 2, 1918 - October 3, 1979). Technique: charcoal drawing on paper. Measurements: 41 x 35 cm Title: Head in Black.
Location: Chicago, IL, US
Auction House: Art Legacy
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Lot 12213: Artist: Charles White (April 2, 1918 - October 3, 1979). Technique: charcoal drawing on paper. Measurements: 41 x 35 cm Title: Head in Black.
Auction Date: Jan 30, 2021
Estimate: $20,000 - $24,000
Description: Artist: Charles White (April 2, 1918 - October 3, 1979). Technique: charcoal drawing on paper. Measurements: 41 x 35 cm Title: Head in Black.
Location: Chicago, IL, US
Auction House: Art Legacy
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Lot 12213: Artist: Charles White (April 2, 1918 - October 3, 1979). Technique: charcoal drawing on paper. Measurements: 41 x 35 cm Title: Head in Black.
Auction Date: Jan 23, 2021
Estimate: $20,000 - $24,000
Description: Artist: Charles White (April 2, 1918 - October 3, 1979). Technique: charcoal drawing on paper. Measurements: 41 x 35 cm Title: Head in Black.
Location: Chicago, IL, US
Auction House: Art Legacy
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Lot 12213: Artist: Charles White (April 2, 1918 - October 3, 1979). Technique: charcoal drawing on paper. Measurements: 41 x 35 cm Title: Head in Black.
Auction Date: Jan 16, 2021
Estimate: $20,000 - $24,000
Description: Artist: Charles White (April 2, 1918 - October 3, 1979). Technique: charcoal drawing on paper. Measurements: 41 x 35 cm Title: Head in Black.
Location: Chicago, IL, US
Auction House: Art Legacy
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Lot 12213: Artist: Charles White (April 2, 1918 - October 3, 1979). Technique: charcoal drawing on paper. Measurements: 41 x 35 cm Title: Head in Black.
Auction Date: Jan 09, 2021
Estimate: $20,000 - $24,000
Description: Artist: Charles White (April 2, 1918 - October 3, 1979). Technique: charcoal drawing on paper. Measurements: 41 x 35 cm Title: Head in Black.
Location: Chicago, IL, US
Auction House: Art Legacy
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Lot 12213: Artist: Charles White (April 2, 1918 - October 3, 1979). Technique: charcoal drawing on paper. Measurements: 41 x 35 cm Title: Head in Black.
Auction Date: Jan 02, 2021
Estimate: $20,000 - $24,000
Description: Artist: Charles White (April 2, 1918 - October 3, 1979). Technique: charcoal drawing on paper. Measurements: 41 x 35 cm Title: Head in Black.
Location: Chicago, IL, US
Auction House: Art Legacy
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Lot 12213: Artist: Charles White (April 2, 1918 - October 3, 1979). Technique: charcoal drawing on paper. Measurements: 41 x 35 cm Title: Head in Black.
Auction Date: Dec 26, 2020
Estimate: $20,000 - $24,000
Description: Artist: Charles White (April 2, 1918 - October 3, 1979). Technique: charcoal drawing on paper. Measurements: 41 x 35 cm Title: Head in Black.
Location: Chicago, IL, US
Auction House: Art Legacy
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Lot 12213: Artist: Charles White (April 2, 1918 - 1979). Technique: charcoal drawing on paper. Measurements: 41 x 35 cm Title: Head in Black.
Auction Date: Dec 19, 2020
Estimate: $20,000 - $24,000
Description: Artist: Charles White (April 2, 1918 - October 3, 1979). Technique: charcoal drawing on paper. Measurements: 41 x 35 cm Title: Head in Black.
Location: Chicago, IL, US
Auction House: Art Legacy
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Lot 12213: Artist: Charles White (April 2, 1918 - October 3, 1979). Technique: charcoal drawing on paper. Measurements: 41 x 35 cm Title: Head in Black.
Auction Date: Dec 12, 2020
Estimate: $20,000 - $24,000
Description: Artist: Charles White (April 2, 1918 - October 3, 1979). Technique: charcoal drawing on paper. Measurements: 41 x 35 cm Title: Head in Black.
Location: Chicago, IL, US
Auction House: Art Legacy
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Lot 23: CHARLES WHITE (1918 - 1979) John Brown.
Auction Date: Dec 10, 2020
Estimate: $7,000 - $10,000
Description: CHARLES WHITE (1918 - 1979)
John Brown.
Lithograph on cream wove paper, 1949. 380x260 mm; 15x10 1/4 inches, full margins. Edition of 30. Signed, titled, dated and inscribed "Charles" in pencil, lower margin. Printed by Robert Blackburn, Printmaking Workshop, New York.
An excelllent, richly inked impression of this scarce print; other impressions can be found in the collections of the Library of Congress and the Hampton University Museum, Hampton, VA. Gedeon Ea9.
Location: New York, NY, US
Auction House: Swann Auction Galleries
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Lot 77: CHARLES WHITE (1918 - 1979) Wanted Poster Series #11 (Positive Image).
Auction Date: Dec 10, 2020
Estimate: $6,000 - $9,000
Description: CHARLES WHITE (1918 - 1979)
Wanted Poster Series #11 (Positive Image).
Lithograph printed in brown on heavy cream wove paper, 1970. 720x406 mm; 22 1/2x16 inches. Trial proof, aside from the edition of 25. Signed, dated and inscribed "Trial Proof" in pencil, lower edge. Printed and published by the Tamarind Institute, Albuquerque, NM, with the blind stamps lower right. From the
Wanted Poster Series..
Other impressions of this lithograph are in the collections of the the Museum of Modern Art, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts, UCLA. Gedeon Ea21.
Location: New York, NY, US
Auction House: Swann Auction Galleries
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Lot 112: CHARLES WHITE (1918 -1979) Dr. W. E. B. DuBois.
Auction Date: Dec 10, 2020
Estimate: $30,000 - $50,000
Description: CHARLES WHITE (1918 -1979)
Dr. W. E. B. DuBois.
Charcoal and crayon on cream wove paper, 1974. Approx. 375 mm; 14 3/4 inches diameter (tondo). With the estate signature ink stamp, lower right.
Provenance: the estate of the artist; Heritage Gallery Los Angeles, CA: private collection, Florida.
Charles White drew and painted many impressive portaits of Dr. W. E. B. DuBois through out his career. This later, intimate portait was recorded by Lucinda Gedeon as a preliminary study, and one of a series of five portraits of historical black figures by Charles White (Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Rev. Richard Allen and Capt. Paul Cuffee). These drawings were executed for the first edition of Lerone Bennett, Jr.'s
The Shaping of Black America which was published by the Johnson Publishing Company in 1975. Gedeon D282.
Location: New York, NY, US
Auction House: Swann Auction Galleries
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Lot 52: CHARLES WHITE (1918 -1979) Little Boy Walking (Child Walking).
Auction Date: Dec 10, 2020
Estimate: $20,000 - $30,000
Description: CHARLES WHITE (1918 -1979)
Little Boy Walking (Child Walking).
Pen and ink with wash on wove paper, 1966. 356x254 mm; 14x10 inches. Signed and dated in ink, lower right.
Provenance: private collection, Los Angeles (1967); thence by descent to the current owners.
Exhibited: Heritage Gallery, Los Angeles, with the gallery label on the frame back.
This initmate sketch of a young boy by Charles White is a charming drawing, made just after the artist finished his celebrated
J'Accuse series of drawings in 1966. Gedeon, D230.
Location: New York, NY, US
Auction House: Swann Auction Galleries
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Lot 113: CHARLES WHITE (1918 -1979) Love Letter III.
Auction Date: Dec 10, 2020
Estimate: $10,000 - $15,000
Description: CHARLES WHITE (1918 -1979)
Love Letter III.
Color lithograph on Arches, 1977. 762x566 mm; 30x22 1/4 inches. Signed, titled, dated and numbered 28/30 in pencil, lower margin. Printed and published by Ed Hamilton, Los Angeles, CA, with the blind stamp lower right. Gedeon Ea33.
Location: New York, NY, US
Auction House: Swann Auction Galleries
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Lot 114: CHARLES WHITE (1918 - 1979) Sound of Silence II.
Auction Date: Dec 10, 2020
Estimate: $10,000 - $15,000
Description: CHARLES WHITE (1918 - 1979)
Sound of Silence II.
Color lithograph, 1978. 636x877 mm; 25x35 1/4 inches, full margins. Signed, titled, dated and numbered 37/71 in pencil, lower margin. Printed by David Panosh. Published by Hand Graphics, Ltd., Santa Fe, with the blind stamp lower right. Gedeon Ea35.
Location: New York, NY, US
Auction House: Swann Auction Galleries
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Lot 12213: Artist: Charles White (April 2, 1918 - October 3, 1979). Technique: charcoal drawing on paper. Measurements: 41 x 35 cm Title: Head in Black.
Auction Date: Dec 05, 2020
Estimate: $20,000 - $24,000
Description: Artist: Charles White (April 2, 1918 - October 3, 1979). Technique: charcoal drawing on paper. Measurements: 41 x 35 cm Title: Head in Black.
Location: Chicago, IL, US
Auction House: Art Legacy
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Lot 12213: Artist: Charles White (April 2, 1918 - October 3, 1979). Technique: charcoal drawing on paper. Measurements: 41 x 35 cm Title: Head in Black.
Auction Date: Nov 28, 2020
Estimate: $20,000 - $24,000
Description: Artist: Charles White (April 2, 1918 - October 3, 1979). Technique: charcoal drawing on paper. Measurements: 41 x 35 cm Title: Head in Black.
Location: Chicago, IL, US
Auction House: Art Legacy
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Lot 12213: Artist: Charles White (April 2, 1918 - October 3, 1979). Technique: charcoal drawing on paper. Measurements: 41 x 35 cm Title: Head in Black.
Auction Date: Nov 21, 2020
Estimate: $20,000 - $24,000
Description: Artist: Charles White (April 2, 1918 - October 3, 1979). Technique: charcoal drawing on paper. Measurements: 41 x 35 cm Title: Head in Black.
Location: Chicago, IL, US
Auction House: Art Legacy
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Lot 71: Charles White, 1918-1979, Portrait of a Man in a Green Jacket, Watercolor on cream wove paper, 7.25 x 9.5 inches
Auction Date: Nov 14, 2020
Estimate: $5,000 - $7,000
Description: Charles White
1918-1979
Portrait of a Man in a Green Jacket
Watercolor on cream wove paper
1934
Retains Heritage Gallery, Los Angeles label verso.
Born in 1918 in Chicago, Charles White was initially an introverted child, preferring to retreat into a world of reading and drawing. As he grew older, he became more outspoken, influenced by Alain Locke’s The New Negro. As a student at Englewood High School, alongside other future notables such as Margaret Burroughs, Eldzier Cortor, and Charles Sebree, he often clashed with his teachers over their whitewashing of historical subjects. He joined George Neal’s Art Crafts Guild and gathered at the studio of Morris Topchevsky, where he was able to further explore his views of art, politics, and the role of the African American in society.
White graduated high school in 1937 and went on to study at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He was subsequently hired by the Illinois Art Project in the easel division, but transferred to the mural division, where he worked with Edward Millman and Mitchell Siporin. His first major mural, Five Great American Negroes, was completed in 1940. His work was also exhibited at the American Negro Exposition, winning several awards.
White married Elizabeth Catlett in 1941 after meeting her at the South Side Community Art Center, and the pair moved to New Orleans where they both taught at Dillard University. Two consecutive Rosenwald scholarships allowed him to study lithography at the Art Student’s League of New York with Harry Sternberg, as well as travel the Southern United States. He used this opportunity to observe and paint black farmers and laborers for his mural, The Contribution of the Negro to the Democracy of America.
Catlett and White relocated to Mexico where they both became involved with the Taller Grafica de Popular. After their divorce, White returned to New York City. His work retained a figurative style which stood in stark contrast to the burgeoning abstract movement occurring at the time. He used drawings, linocuts, and woodcuts to celebrate the historical figures who resisted slavery, as well as ordinary African Americans struggling amid great social injustice in a post-slavery America. Despite their small size, these works conveyed the power of a mural.
In New York in the 1940s and early 1950s, White showed his work at the progressive ACA Gallery and was a prominent member of African American and leftist artist communities. White moved to Southern California in 1956, and his career flourished as he embraced drawing and printmaking more fully, pushing at the boundaries of his media while continuing to engage with civil rights and equality. Despite his rejection of the prevailing style of Abstract Expressionism and ongoing use of an expressive figuration, he found critical acclaim in the United States and abroad.
White was the second African American to be inducted into the National Academy of Art and Design in 1975. Charles White: A Retrospective was held at the Art Institute of Chicago in 2018. This exhibition traveled to the Museum of Modern Art and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2019.
7.25 x 9.5 inches
Location: INDIANAPOLIS, IN, US
Auction House: Black Art Auction
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Lot 101: Charles White, 1918-1979, Vision, 7.75 inch diameter
Auction Date: Nov 14, 2020
Estimate: $3,500 - $5,500
Description: Charles White
1918-1979
Vision
1973
Limited edition sterling silver plate produced by Heritage Gallery, mounted and framed.
Taken from an etching of the same name executed in 1968.
Signed, dated, and numbered 57/100.
A similar example illustrated in A Century of African American Art, The Paul R. Jones Collection, Amalia K. Amaki, University of Delaware, 2006, p. 177.
Born in 1918 in Chicago, Charles White was initially an introverted child, preferring to retreat into a world of reading and drawing. As he grew older, he became more outspoken, influenced by Alain Locke’s The New Negro. As a student at Englewood High School, alongside other future notables such as Margaret Burroughs, Eldzier Cortor, and Charles Sebree, he often clashed with his teachers over their whitewashing of historical subjects. He joined George Neal’s Art Crafts Guild and gathered at the studio of Morris Topchevsky, where he was able to further explore his views of art, politics, and the role of the African American in society.
White graduated high school in 1937 and went on to study at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He was subsequently hired by the Illinois Art Project in the easel division, but transferred to the mural division, where he worked with Edward Millman and Mitchell Siporin. His first major mural, Five Great American Negroes, was completed in 1940. His work was also exhibited at the American Negro Exposition, winning several awards.
White married Elizabeth Catlett in 1941 after meeting her at the South Side Community Art Center, and the pair moved to New Orleans where they both taught at Dillard University. Two consecutive Rosenwald scholarships allowed him to study lithography at the Art Student’s League of New York with Harry Sternberg, as well as travel the Southern United States. He used this opportunity to observe and paint black farmers and laborers for his mural, The Contribution of the Negro to the Democracy of America.
Catlett and White relocated to Mexico where they both became involved with the Taller Grafica de Popular. After their divorce, White returned to New York City. His work retained a figurative style which stood in stark contrast to the burgeoning abstract movement occurring at the time. He used drawings, linocuts, and woodcuts to celebrate the historical figures who resisted slavery, as well as ordinary African Americans struggling amid great social injustice in a post-slavery America. Despite their small size, these works conveyed the power of a mural.
In New York in the 1940s and early 1950s, White showed his work at the progressive ACA Gallery and was a prominent member of African American and leftist artist communities. White moved to Southern California in 1956, and his career flourished as he embraced drawing and printmaking more fully, pushing at the boundaries of his media while continuing to engage with civil rights and equality. Despite his rejection of the prevailing style of Abstract Expressionism and ongoing use of an expressive figuration, he found critical acclaim in the United States and abroad.
White was the second African American to be inducted into the National Academy of Art and Design in 1975. Charles White: A Retrospective was held at the Art Institute of Chicago in 2018. This exhibition traveled to the Museum of Modern Art and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2019.
7.75 inch diameter
Location: INDIANAPOLIS, IN, US
Auction House: Black Art Auction
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Lot 112: Charles White, 1918-1979, Life Drawing #8, Charcoal on paper, 45.5 x 36 inches
Auction Date: Nov 14, 2020
Estimate: $60,000 - $80,000
Description: Charles White
1918-1979
Life Drawing #8
Charcoal on paper
c. 1965
Stamped signature.
In 1965, White began teaching at the Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles, and served as Chairman of the Drawing Department until 1979. He was the first African American faculty member.
Kerry James Marshall, in an interview for the exhibition, Charles White: Life Model (parallel exhibit to the retrospective, which showed at the Charles White Elementary School— former campus of the Otis Art Institute, 2019) said: “Life drawing was a specialty at Otis and Charles White was the effective dean of figure drawing. His classes were the most popular, and always full to capacity. Like me, all of the black students who matriculated through Otis were primarily because of White.� (Other relevant students were David Hammons and Timothy Washington) Marshall described the “special Otis paper� used by White in his Life drawing class. “It was large and you got it at McManus and Morgan� (McManus and Morgan was a specialty paper store in downtown LA on 7th street).
Da Vinci, Rembrandt, Toulouse-Lautrec, and Degas all executed “basic� line drawings which were meant as complete ideas as well as preliminary sketches in advance of a more ambitious composition (drawing or painting). White himself made the point in an interview when asked about a statement Eric Ray had made about White’s preference for drawings:
“ ...drawing is a particularly exciting medium for me. I just like the feel of it. My whole body is into it when I draw, and I think black and white is as effective a medium [as any]. I don’t know about this preciousness—that oil painting has been looked upon as a very precious medium, therefore it’s the final kind of test. I think, particularly an artist like Käthe Kollwitz proved a point. If Daumier had never painted a picture in his life, he still would have been remembered as a great, great artist. Or Goya. His etchings alone would put him up in a class of greatness.�
—Reproduced in Charles White, Let Light Enter, catalog for the exhibition at Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, January10-March 7, 2009, p. 7.
Perhaps White was speaking more specifically about the perceived painting versus drawing hierarchy, but the fact remains that great artists have always found an important purpose for drawings in their body of work, whether it was a personal shorthand to convey the essence of the idea, a tool for teaching, or simply a preferred medium. As White said in the same interview: “Whatever I’m working with at the moment I prefer.�
45.5 x 36 inches
Location: INDIANAPOLIS, IN, US
Auction House: Black Art Auction
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Lot 131: Charles White, 1918-1979, Abide, Colored etching, 9 x 11.75 inches (image)
Auction Date: Nov 14, 2020
Estimate: $2,000 - $3,000
Description: Charles White
1918-1979
Abide
Colored etching
1979
Signed with estate stamp, Hand Graphics, Santa Fe, numbered 77/80 and initialed in the plate
Heritage Gallery, Los Angeles label verso
9 x 11.75 inches (image), 21.75 x 22 inches (sheet)
Born in 1918 in Chicago, Charles White was initially an introverted child, preferring to retreat into a world of reading and drawing. As he grew older, he became more outspoken, influenced by Alain Locke’s The New Negro. As a student at Englewood High School, alongside other future notables such as Margaret Burroughs, Eldzier Cortor, and Charles Sebree, he often clashed with his teachers over their whitewashing of historical subjects. He joined George Neal’s Art Crafts Guild and gathered at the studio of Morris Topchevsky, where he was able to further explore his views of art, politics, and the role of the African American in society.
White graduated high school in 1937 and went on to study at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He was subsequently hired by the Illinois Art Project in the easel division, but transferred to the mural division, where he worked with Edward Millman and Mitchell Siporin. His first major mural, Five Great American Negroes, was completed in 1940. His work was also exhibited at the American Negro Exposition, winning several awards.
White married Elizabeth Catlett in 1941 after meeting her at the South Side Community Art Center, and the pair moved to New Orleans where they both taught at Dillard University. Two consecutive Rosenwald scholarships allowed him to study lithography at the Art Student’s League of New York with Harry Sternberg, as well as travel the Southern United States. He used this opportunity to observe and paint black farmers and laborers for his mural, The Contribution of the Negro to the Democracy of America.
Catlett and White relocated to Mexico where they both became involved with the Taller Grafica de Popular. After their divorce, White returned to New York City. His work retained a figurative style which stood in stark contrast to the burgeoning abstract movement occurring at the time. He used drawings, linocuts, and woodcuts to celebrate the historical figures who resisted slavery, as well as ordinary African Americans struggling amid great social injustice in a post-slavery America. Despite their small size, these works conveyed the power of a mural.
In New York in the 1940s and early 1950s, White showed his work at the progressive ACA Gallery and was a prominent member of African American and leftist artist communities. White moved to Southern California in 1956, and his career flourished as he embraced drawing and printmaking more fully, pushing at the boundaries of his media while continuing to engage with civil rights and equality. Despite his rejection of the prevailing style of Abstract Expressionism and ongoing use of an expressive figuration, he found critical acclaim in the United States and abroad.
White was the second African American to be inducted into the National Academy of Art and Design in 1975. Charles White: A Retrospective was held at the Art Institute of Chicago in 2018. This exhibition traveled to the Museum of Modern Art and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2019.
9 x 11.75 inches (image)
Location: INDIANAPOLIS, IN, US
Auction House: Black Art Auction
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Lot 30: Charles White, 1918-1979, Standing Man, Watercolor on cream wove paper, 10 x 8 inches
Auction Date: Nov 14, 2020
Estimate: $5,000 - $7,000
Description: Charles White
1918-1979
Standing Man
Watercolor on cream wove paper
1934
Signed.
Retains Heritage Gallery, Los Angeles label verso.
Born in 1918 in Chicago, Charles White was initially an introverted child, preferring to retreat into a world of reading and drawing. As he grew older, he became more outspoken, influenced by Alain Locke’s The New Negro. As a student at Englewood High School, alongside other future notables such as Margaret Burroughs, Eldzier Cortor, and Charles Sebree, he often clashed with his teachers over their whitewashing of historical subjects. He joined George Neal’s Art Crafts Guild and gathered at the studio of Morris Topchevsky, where he was able to further explore his views of art, politics, and the role of the African American in society.
White graduated high school in 1937 and went on to study at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He was subsequently hired by the Illinois Art Project in the easel division, but transferred to the mural division, where he worked with Edward Millman and Mitchell Siporin. His first major mural, Five Great American Negroes, was completed in 1940. His work was also exhibited at the American Negro Exposition, winning several awards.
White married Elizabeth Catlett in 1941 after meeting her at the South Side Community Art Center, and the pair moved to New Orleans where they both taught at Dillard University. Two consecutive Rosenwald scholarships allowed him to study lithography at the Art Student’s League of New York with Harry Sternberg, as well as travel the Southern United States. He used this opportunity to observe and paint black farmers and laborers for his mural, The Contribution of the Negro to the Democracy of America.
Catlett and White relocated to Mexico where they both became involved with the Taller Grafica de Popular. After their divorce, White returned to New York City. His work retained a figurative style which stood in stark contrast to the burgeoning abstract movement occurring at the time. He used drawings, linocuts, and woodcuts to celebrate the historical figures who resisted slavery, as well as ordinary African Americans struggling amid great social injustice in a post-slavery America. Despite their small size, these works conveyed the power of a mural.
In New York in the 1940s and early 1950s, White showed his work at the progressive ACA Gallery and was a prominent member of African American and leftist artist communities. White moved to Southern California in 1956, and his career flourished as he embraced drawing and printmaking more fully, pushing at the boundaries of his media while continuing to engage with civil rights and equality. Despite his rejection of the prevailing style of Abstract Expressionism and ongoing use of an expressive figuration, he found critical acclaim in the United States and abroad.
White was the second African American to be inducted into the National Academy of Art and Design in 1975. Charles White: A Retrospective was held at the Art Institute of Chicago in 2018. This exhibition traveled to the Museum of Modern Art and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2019.
10 x 8 inches
Location: INDIANAPOLIS, IN, US
Auction House: Black Art Auction
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Lot 12213: Artist: Charles White (April 2, 1918 - October 3, 1979). Technique: charcoal drawing on paper. Measurements: 41 x 35 cm Title: Head in Black.
Auction Date: Nov 14, 2020
Estimate: $20,000 - $24,000
Description: Artist: Charles White (April 2, 1918 - October 3, 1979). Technique: charcoal drawing on paper. Measurements: 41 x 35 cm Title: Head in Black.
Location: Chicago, IL, US
Auction House: Art Legacy
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Lot 12213: Artist: Charles White (April 2, 1918 - October 3, 1979). Technique: charcoal drawing on paper. Measurements: 41 x 35 cm Title: Head in Black.
Auction Date: Nov 07, 2020
Estimate: $20,000 - $24,000
Description: Artist: Charles White (April 2, 1918 - October 3, 1979). Technique: charcoal drawing on paper. Measurements: 41 x 35 cm Title: Head in Black.
Location: Chicago, IL, US
Auction House: Art Legacy
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Lot 12213: Artist: Charles White (April 2, 1918 - October 3, 1979). Technique: charcoal drawing on paper. Measurements: 41 x 35 cm Title: Head in Black.
Auction Date: Oct 31, 2020
Estimate: $20,000 - $24,000
Description: Artist: Charles White (April 2, 1918 - October 3, 1979). Technique: charcoal drawing on paper. Measurements: 41 x 35 cm Title: Head in Black.
Location: Chicago, IL, US
Auction House: Art Legacy
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Lot 12213: Artist: Charles White (April 2, 1918 - October 3, 1979). Technique: charcoal drawing on paper. Measurements: 41 x 35 cm Title: Head in Black.
Auction Date: Oct 24, 2020
Estimate: $20,000 - $24,000
Description: Artist: Charles White (April 2, 1918 - October 3, 1979). Technique: charcoal drawing on paper. Measurements: 41 x 35 cm Title: Head in Black.
Location: Chicago, IL, US
Auction House: Art Legacy
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Lot 282: CHARLES WILBERT WHITE (1918 - 1979): "I HAVE A DREAM"
Auction Date: Oct 18, 2020
Estimate: $7,000 - $10,000
Description: 1976 lithograph signed and dated lower right titled lower left numbered 38/125 Printed and published by Cirrus Editions, Los Angeles Commissioned by the Graphic Arts Council, LACMA Condition: framed floating under Plexiglas. Slight rippling along upper edge. Slight toning along edges. image: 22 x 29 3/4 inches sheet; 24 x 31 1/2 inches frame
Location: Los Angeles, CA, US
Auction House: Abell Auction
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