Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 6

Josef Zenk
"Woman on the Couch"

About the Item

Jim’s of Lambertville is proud to offer this artwork by: Josef Zenk (1904-2000) Josef Zenk was born in New York City in 1904. After graduating from high school, he studied for three years at the National Academy of Design, followed by further studies at the Art Students League in New York. In 1926, Zenk moved to Utica, New York, where we he began to produce landscape, figurative, and still life paintings. He was part of a small community of artists who, in 1927 and 1928, organized exhibitions with many of the leading American painters, including Edward Hopper, Charles Sheeler, and Ernest Fiene. In 1930 he was granted a full scholarship to study at the Munson Williams Proctor Institute in Utica, where he later became an instructor until World War II. While there, an exhibition of his work produced the greatest attendance of any show at the institution of that year. In 1942, “Zuni” by Zenk became the first work purchased by the Munson Williams Proctor Institute for its Central New York Artists Collection. After service in the Armed Forces from 1942 to 1945, Zenk left Utica and moved his studio to Palisades Park, New Jersey. Under the new G.I. Bill, he began to study at the New School in New York City. Along with Louis Schanker, a prominent woodcut artist and teacher at the New School, Zenk and a small group of printmakers formed “Studio 74” for the purpose of exhibiting their color woodblock prints. The group received immediate critical attention. The New York Times described the work of Josef Zenk as “particularly admirable”. One of his prints, “The Kiss”, was chosen in 1949 as one of the “best prints of the year” and was exhibited in the National Exhibition of Prints held at the Library of Congress in Washington D.C. Zenk moved to Bucks County, Pennsylvania in the late 1940s, living in Upper Black Eddy, a town along the Delaware River, ten miles north of New Hope. He maintained a studio in Palisades Park for a while after the move, before eventually working full time from his studio in Pennsylvania. Zenk remained active painting and making woodblock prints, while also teaching art classes. He resided in Bucks County until the end of his life at the age of ninety-six. Like several other important Pennsylvania and New Jersey artists, the works of Josef Zenk were only recently rediscovered and brought to light. For the remaining thirty-five years of his life, he chose a somewhat reclusive lifestyle, away from the frenetic art scene. Josef Zenk’s works have been shown in over twenty-seven museums, including the San Francisco Museum of Art, the Brooklyn Museum, the Newark Museum, the Seattle Museum of Art, and the National Academy of Design. Through the many exhibitions during his career, Zenk progressed from stylized realism in landscape and figurative painting to a powerful modernist and abstract style with a strong sense of personal expression.
  • Creator:
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 24 in (60.96 cm)Width: 28 in (71.12 cm)Depth: 2 in (5.08 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    Lambertville, NJ
  • Reference Number:
    Seller: 2821stDibs: LU3743627512
More From This SellerView All
  • Figures
    By Josef Zenk
    Located in Lambertville, NJ
    Jim’s of Lambertville is proud to offer this artwork by: Josef Zenk (1904-2000) Josef Zenk was born in New York City in 1904. After graduating from high school, he studied for thre...
    Category

    21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Nude Paintings

    Materials

    Oil, Board

  • "Theresa Thompson"
    By Gershon Benjamin
    Located in Lambertville, NJ
    Jim’s of Lambertville is proud to offer this artwork by: Gershon Benjamin (1899-1985) An American Modernist of portraits, landscapes, still lives, and the urban scene, Gershon Benj...
    Category

    1940s Modern Figurative Paintings

    Materials

    Masonite, Oil

  • "Rushelle in the Garden"
    By Gershon Benjamin
    Located in Lambertville, NJ
    Jim’s of Lambertville is proud to offer this artwork by: Gershon Benjamin (1899 - 1985) An American Modernist of portraits, landscapes, still lives, and the urban scene, Gershon ...
    Category

    1940s Modern Portrait Paintings

    Materials

    Masonite, Oil

  • "In Front of the Store"
    By Charles Robert Searles
    Located in Lambertville, NJ
    Jim’s of Lambertville is proud to offer this artwork. Signed and dated lower right. Illustrated in "Charles Searles" 2013 exhibition catalog (La Salle University Art Museum / Tyler School of Art) pg. 195 Charles Searles (1937-2004) He was born in Philadelphia, PA and received his fine art education at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art (PAFA) from 1969-72. He also attended the University of Pennsylvania for liberal arts studies, where he worked in the labs beside the scientists and engineers creating technical illustrations for text books. His early paintings embraced the tumultuous 60's and also reflected his own family life and surroundings. Before graduating the PAFA, Searles received the Cresson Memorial Traveling Scholarship, and the following year, the Ware Memorial Traveling Scholarship. He was the first student to use these funds to travel to Africa. His travels in Africa marked his life and work forever -- the life, the rhythms, the patterns, and the energy. Searles returned to Philadelphia and began teaching at the Ile Ife Cultural Center. It was then that he began his "Dancer" Series. This series marked a change in his life, celebrating his new sense of renewal and the African experience. He was awarded his first mural commission at the William G. Green Federal Building. This work, entitled "Celebration" is still on view today. At that time, he was also hired as a drawing teacher at the (then) Philadelphia College of Art, where he remained a professor for over twenty years. In 1978, Searles moved to New York City. He found a large, raw space -- an old sewing factory -- on Broadway and Bleeker where he would remain for the rest of his life. He continued to commute to Philadelphia teaching part time. He met Kathleen Spicer, an art student, in 1983. They married in 1985. Together, they shared a wonderful, open, artistic, social, and creative experience. Searles gradually moved away from painting and into sculpture. His sculptures maintained the vibrant color and patterns from his paintings, but seemed to dance in three dimensions. These new works embodied a live sense of rhythm and energy -- trademarks that he maintained throughout his career, whether in wood, bronze, or aluminum. In his lifetime, Charles Searles participated in over 60 group shows, and 25 solo exhibitions. He was represented by the Sande Webster Gallery in Philadelphia for over 20 years. His paintings and sculptures can be found in innumerable public and private collections. Public commissions include the Delaware River Port Authority, the NYC Mass Transit Authority, the First District Plaza in Philadelphia, and the Amtrak station in Newark, NJ. He was the recipient of many awards, including ones from the Pollock-Krasner Foundation, the Adolph and Esther Gottleib Foundation, the Creative Arts Project Fellowship, and the National Endowment for the Arts. His wife of 23 years, Kathleen Spicer adds: "Charles was his work, and his work was him. Inseparable. Our lives were all about art. We lived each day as if it was a gift. To me, he was enchanted. His vision was clear -- he could envision something and make it come to life as easy as breathing. Genius. Charles made the world a better place. Charles speaks loud and clear." Bio courtesy of Kathleen Spicer (Searles) Selected Periodical Citations: Newhall, Edith, "Dual Celebration of Self-expression", Philadelphia Enquirer, May 2013 Fabbri, Anne, "A Farewell to Charles Searles", Art Matters, January 2005 Cornell University Review, August 2000 O'Neill, Denise I., "Black Experience Puts Soul Into the Heart of Christmas", Chicago Sun-Times, December 1996 Gleuck, Grace, Review, The New York Times, December 1996 McBride, Octavia, "An Artist Acclaimed", Philadelphia Tribune, April 1993 Fox, Catherine, "National Black Arts Festival Program Guide", The Atlanta Journal, July 1990 Wilson, William, "Black Artists in Tune with Ancestors", Los Angeles Times, January 1990 Jamusch, Ann, "Special Show-Legacy of Black Art", Dallas Times Herald, January 1990 Binkley, Barbara, "Colors, Bright and Bold", The Daily News, April 1986 Grafly, Dorothy, "Charles Searles at Neumans", ART in Focus, Summer 1978 Crittendon, Denise, "Back Home from Nigeria", The Michigan Chronicle, December 1977 Garrett, Bob, Art Section Review. Boston Sunday Herald, November 1975 Patry, Louise, "A Jubilee of Afro-American Art in Boston", New England Journal, December 1975 Wright, Charles, "Paint Art Racist", The Village Voice, April 1971 Nelson, Nells, "Black Artists Rise Above the Tempest", Philadelphia Daily News, April 1971 Canaday, John, "Black Artist on View in Two Exhibitions", The New York Times, February 1970 Collections: - Philadelphia Museum of Art - The Woodmere Art Museum - Smithsonian Institute of American Art - Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts - LaSalle University Art Museum - Howard University Gallery of Art - Dallas Museum of Art - Delaware Valley Arts Alliance - Montclair Museum of Art - Afro-American Historical & Cultural Museum - Museum of Afro-American History - 35 + corporate collections - National & international private collections 75+ Group Exhibitions, Including: - Woodmere Art Museum - Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts - Whitney Museum of American Art - Museum of American Art - Boston Museum of Fine Arts - Brooklyn Museum - Art Alliance - National Afro-American Museum - Liberty Museum - National Blacks Fine Arts Show - Institute of Contemporary Art - Ackland Arts Museum - Arnot Art Museum 30+ Solo Exhibitions, Including: - Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia PA - The State Museum of Pennsylvania, Harrisburg, PA - LaSalle University, Philadelphia, PA - Temple University, Philadelphia, PA - Montclair Art Museum, Montclair, NJ - Noyes Museum, Oceanville, NJ - Delaware Valley Arts Alliance, Narrowsburg, NY - North Carolina State University - Winston Salem State University, Winston Salem, NC - G.R. N’Namdi Gallery, New York, NY - Sande Webster Gallery, Philadelphia, PA - June Kelly Gallery, New York, NY - Noel Gallery, Charlotte, NC - Malcolm Brown...
    Category

    1970s American Modern Figurative Paintings

    Materials

    Canvas, Oil

  • "Girl in Pareu"
    By RAD Miller
    Located in Lambertville, NJ
    Robert Alexander Darrah “R.A.D.” Miller (1905 - 1966) Robert Alexander Darrah Miller, called “RAD” by his friends, was born in Philadelphia. He enrolled at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts from 1923 to 1927 under the tutelage of Daniel Garber. In 1928, Miller moved to Bucks County where he would meet and marry Celia Belden Marshall, daughter of Dr. George M. Marshall, who at that time owned the Phillips Mill property. Nearly a year later, in 1929, a committee headed by artist, William Lathrop, negotiated to purchase the Mill property from Dr. Marshall for the purpose of holding art exhibitions. Thus, the Phillips Mill Art Association was formed. RAD Miller was a regular exhibitor at the Phillips Mill with the traditional New Hope Impressionists. Many of the original founders of the New Hope Art Colony, set in their ways, frowned upon the concept of modernist painting. A decision was made by the Association to not include the growing group of modernist painters in the area to exhibit with them at Phillips Mill. Although clearly not a traditional impressionist, Miller was not being excluded with the others, largely because his father-in-law formerly owned the mill and was one of the Association’s board of directors. RAD was sympathetic to his fellow modernists. In 1933, he was one of the original members of the Independents, a group formed for modernist artists who chose to embark on a more non-traditional creative path. They would exhibit in tandem with the Impressionists but at different locations. Around the time of his arrival to New Hope in 1928, Miller struck up a friendship with Thomas Hart Benton, and in 1932 he worked under Benton on a mural project. RAD’s paintings...
    Category

    1940s American Modern Figurative Paintings

    Materials

    Canvas, Oil

  • "Little House Lambertville, Public Sale"
    By Joseph Barrett
    Located in Lambertville, NJ
    Jim’s of Lambertville is proud to offer this artwork. Signed lower middle. Artist designed frame. Joseph Barrett (b. 1936) Joseph Barrett was born in Midland, North Carolina, in ...
    Category

    20th Century American Modern Landscape Paintings

    Materials

    Canvas, Oil

You May Also Like
  • Modern Reclining Nude Female Figure
    Located in Soquel, CA
    Elegant nude by Spanish artist Diaz Cruz (Spanish, 20th Century). This modernist figurative depicts a reclining nude woman from behind. The figure resides in an abstracted minimalist...
    Category

    Mid-20th Century Modern Figurative Paintings

    Materials

    Masonite, Oil

  • Modernist Reclining Female Nude Figurative
    Located in Soquel, CA
    Modernist reclining female nude figurative painting by an unknown artist (American, 20th Century). This vivid late 20th-century figural piece featur...
    Category

    20th Century American Modern Nude Paintings

    Materials

    Masonite, Tempera

  • Demure Nude Figurative in Library by Margaret Wherry Ziegler
    By Margaret Wherry Ziegler
    Located in Soquel, CA
    A nude portrait of a demure young lady seated on an antique couch in a library setting by Margaret Wherry Ziegler (American, 1909-1989). Signed with monogram "MWZ" top right, and on verso. Unframed. Image, 24"H x 12"L. Ziegler studied at Cincinnati Art Academy, Minneapolis Art...
    Category

    1970s American Impressionist Nude Paintings

    Materials

    Masonite, Oil

  • Looking into the Sacred Forest - Mystical Figurative
    Located in Soquel, CA
    Vibrant and expressive figurative work by John Lancaster (British, Born circa 1930). An adult figure looks into the distance, with its back to the viewe...
    Category

    1960s Symbolist Figurative Paintings

    Materials

    Masonite, Oil

  • "Symbiosis" Oil Painting
    By Kierstin Young
    Located in Denver, CO
    Kierstin Young's (US based) "Symbiosis" is an oil painting that depicts branches and foliage emerging from a female figures nude back and hands with a bright pink background Artist ...
    Category

    2010s Realist Figurative Paintings

    Materials

    Masonite, Oil

  • Mid Century Female Nude Figure, Sea Cliff Beach
    By Jon Blanchette
    Located in Soquel, CA
    Female nude figure at the beach by listed artist Jon Blanchette (American, 1908-1987). Presented in a wooden frame. Signed "Jon Blanchette" verso. Image size, 24"H x 18"W. Jon Blan...
    Category

    1950s American Impressionist Nude Paintings

    Materials

    Masonite, Oil

Recently Viewed

View All