Dancer- -c.1935, Lithograph.

Edition c. 25. Signed and titled in pencil.

Image size 17 3/16 x 12 inches (437 x 305 mm), sheet size 22 7/8 x 16 inches (581 x 406 mm).

A fine, richly inked impression, on cream wove paper, with full margins (1 3/4 to 2 7/8 inches). Several short repaired tears in the sheet edges, otherwise in excellent condition.

Created for the New York City WPA. Ex-collection Audrey McMahon, Director, New York City WPA Art Project.

Collection: NYPL.

$1600.

Tealeaf Reading- -c.1937, Lithograph.

Edition c. 25. Signed and titled in pencil. Numbered 9 in pencil, in the bottom left sheet corner.

Image size 17 5/16 x 12 7/8 inches (440 x 327 mm); sheet size 22 7/8 x 16 inches (581 x 406 mm).

A fine, rich impression, with full margins (1 1/2 to 2 7/8 inches), on cream wove paper,
in excellent condition.

Created for the New York City WPA. Collection: NYPL.

$1800.

Two Carpenters- - c.1937, Lithograph

Edition not stated. Signed and titled in pencil.

Image size 10 x 7 13/16 inches (254 x 198 mm), sheet size 15 3/4 x 11 3/8 inches (400 x 289 mm).

A fine, rich impression, on cream wove paper, with full margins (1 1/2 to 3 3/8 inches, in excellent condition.

Created for the New York City WPA.

Illustrated: L'Amérique de la Dépression: Artistes Engagés des Années 30, Musée-Gallerie de la Seita, Paris, 1996.

SOLD

Escape- -1938, Color Serigraph.

Edition c. 25. Signed, titled and numbered 9 in pencil. Stamped NEW YORK CITY WPA ART PROJECT, below the image, lower left.

Image size 10 x 12 7/8 inches (254 x 327 mm); sheet size 12 1/4 x 16 inches (311 x 406 mm).

A fine, rich impression, on cream wove paper; with margins (3/4 to 2 1/4 inches). Repaired tears in the top left and bottom left sheet edges, well away from the image; glue stains from a label (now removed) in the lower left margin; overall slight scattered toning in the sheet, not affecting the image; minor scuffing and rubbing in the image surface, visible in raking light; toning from the original hinge glue in the top left and right sheet edges, well away from the image. Despite these defects, a striking and very scarce WPA surrealist color print, with strong, fresh colors.

Reproduced: A Spectrum of Innovation: Color in American Printmaking, 1890-1960, David Acton, 1990; with extensive commentary by the author.

SOLD

Strawboss- -c.1938, Drypoint.

Edition c. 25. Signed and titled in pencil. Numbered 6 in pencil, in the bottom right sheet corner. Stamped FEDERAL ART PROJECT NYC WPA, below the image, lower left.

Image size 14 7/8 x 11 15/16 inches (378 x 303 mm); sheet size 20 3/4 x 15 7/8 sheet size inches (527 x 403 mm).

A fine, rich impression, on cream wove paper, with full margins (1 3/4 to 2 7/8 inches), in excellent condition.

Created for the New York City WPA

“Strawboss", a colloquial term originating in the late 1890's factory setting, refers to a supervisor's subordinate, the second-in-command who is put in charge of overseeing the work of a group of laborers. The term "strawboss" is also given to a person who takes his job too seriously–it can be used to refer to a supervisor who is petty and vindictive.

Collections: NYPL, Smithsonian American Art Museum.

$1800.

Vision #2 - -c.1938, Lithograph.

Edition c. 25. Signed and titled in pencil.

Image size 12 7/16 x 18 1/8 inches (378 x 302 mm); sheet size 16 x 23 inches (406 x 584 mm).

A fine, rich impression, on cream wove paper, with full margins (1 5/8 to 2 1/2 inches), in excellent condition.

Exhibited and Illustrated: The American Scene: Prints from Hopper to Pollock, The British Museum, 2008.

SOLD

The Innocents - c.1938, Lithograph.

Edition c. 25. Signed and titled in pencil. Stamped FEDERAL ART PROJECT NYC WPA, below the image, lower left.

Image size 14 x 11 1/2 inches (378 x 302 mm); sheet size 22 7/8 x 16 inches (581 x 406 mm).

A fine, rich impression, on cream wove paper, with full margins (2 to 4 3/4 inches), in excellent condition.

Created for the New York City WPA.

Exhibited and Illustrated: The American Scene: Prints from Hopper to Pollock, The British Museum, 2008.

“In this lithograph Vogel has used an abstract Surrealist idiom to depict victims of war fleeing from the bomb. His anti-fascist stance grew out of his first-hand experience of the Spanish Civil War when he served with the Abraham Lincoln Brigade in 1937… Invoking the example of Picasso’s Guernica, Vogel adopted a montage approach, as did the political artist Ben Shahn, with whom he first worked on murals for the WPA/FAP.”
-Stephen Coppel, The American Scene: Prints from Hopper to Pollock.

$2200.