Beschreibung:

Werner Drewes (1899-1985)Islands in the Clouds signed 'Drewes' (lower right) and dated and inscribed with the artist's peace cipher '4 ☮ 2' (lower left) and numbered '285' and signed again (on the stretcher) and dated and inscribed with the artist's peace cipher again (on the reverse) oil on canvas 25 x 35 in. (63.5 x 89 cm.) Painted in 1942.FootnotesProvenance Nierndorf Gallery, New York. Meredith Long & Company, Houston, Texas. Zolla Lieberman Galleries, Inc., Chicago. Acquired from the above by the present owner, 1993. Exhibited New York, The Museum of Non-Objective Painting [Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum], 1942. A Statement from the Estate of Werner Drewes accompanies this lot. We are grateful to the family of the artist for their assistance in cataloguing this lot. In a Statement from the Estate of Werner Drewes the family of the artist notes "At the time of this creation in 1942, Werner Drewes was very active in his career in NYC. He had arrived 12 years earlier, emigrating from Germany in 1930. At the age of 43, Drewes had already taught at the Brooklyn College, become a US Citizen, joined the American Artists Congress & Société Anonyme and became a founding member of the American Abstract Artists. He had just finished a few years as an instructor at Columbia University and a stint working as Technical Supervisor/Director of Graphic Arts for the WPA and was currently teaching and taking classes with fellow artists at Stanley Hayter's Atelier 17, that was temporarily located in NYC during the war years. He was actively showing his work at the Guggenheim. This piece had the honor of being exhibited at the Guggenheim in NYC, we believe, shortly after its creation. It is an extremely strong piece illustrating Drewes use of color, texture, and form, all exemplifying Bauhaus principals." (Estate of Werner Drewes unpublished statement, April 19, 2022, n.p.)