Fred Mitchell, In New York Harbor, Quartet from the Ferry.
Fred Mitchell
1923-2013
In New York Harbor, Quartet from the Ferry.
Watercolor on paper.
Signed and titled in colored pencil, lower margin.
12 1/8 x 16 1/8 in. (30.8 x 41 cm.)
Additional Details
Provenance:
Estate of the artist.
Notes:
When Fred Mitchell returned to the United States after serving in the Army during World War Two, he enrolled at the Cranbrook Academy of Fine Art, Bloomfield Hills, MI. Many returning veterans benefitted from the Servicemen's Readjustment Act, (the G.I. Bill), using the funds for education as well as receiving guaranteed government loans for home purchases and funding for starting new businesses.
After graduation Mitchell moved to New York City, eventually finding loft space at Coenties Slip. This once thriving part of Manhattan during the era of tall ships was largely abandoned in the post-war era. Mitchell shared his discovery with other artists, Jack Youngerman and Ellsworth Kelly, who were returning from sojourns in Europe studying at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. They would soon be joined by Robert Indiana, Lenore Tawney, and Agnes Martin.
Though rents were inexpensive and the G.I. bill was a tremendous hand-up for these artists, devotion to one's artistic calling was a challenge for Mitchell. In 1951 he joined with other artists and was a co-founder of New York's first cooperative art exhibition space, Tanager Gallery, thus assuring a space to show and hopefully sell his creations. Fred Mitchell also founded the Coenties Slip School of art where, for a modest fee, he offered art classes in his studio from 1952 until 1957. He left Coenties Slip in 1957, passing his lease on to Robert Indiana.
Eventually all of the artists who benefitted from studio space at The Slip would move on as developers used their influence to see these buildings condemned and demolished to make way for the lower Manhattan skyline to come.
His love for the relationship of the city with the harbor continued throughout his life, and Mitchell returned to lower Manhattan to paint at Battery Park, and from the Staten Island Ferry, as evidenced by this watercolor.
Condition: Please contact the Specialist for the auction to request a condition report.
Condition reports and additional images are provided as a courtesy and should be used by you to aid in the formation of your own opinion regarding condition. All material is sold subject to Swann's standard Terms and Conditions of Sale as published in our catalogues and posted on our website, and include the following terms: (1) all property is sold "as-is"; and (2) works cannot be returned on the basis of condition.
Buyer's Premium
32% up to
$100,000.00
27% up to
$1,000,000.00
17% above
$1,000,000.00
Fred Mitchell
1923-2013
In New York Harbor, Quartet from the Ferry.
Watercolor on paper.
Signed and titled in colored pencil, lower margin.
12 1/8 x 16 1/8 in. (30.8 x 41 cm.)
Additional Details
Provenance:
Estate of the artist.
Notes:
When Fred Mitchell returned to the United States after serving in the Army during World War Two, he enrolled at the Cranbrook Academy of Fine Art, Bloomfield Hills, MI. Many returning veterans benefitted from the Servicemen's Readjustment Act, (the G.I. Bill), using the funds for education as well as receiving guaranteed government loans for home purchases and funding for starting new businesses.
After graduation Mitchell moved to New York City, eventually finding loft space at Coenties Slip. This once thriving part of Manhattan during the era of tall ships was largely abandoned in the post-war era. Mitchell shared his discovery with other artists, Jack Youngerman and Ellsworth Kelly, who were returning from sojourns in Europe studying at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. They would soon be joined by Robert Indiana, Lenore Tawney, and Agnes Martin.
Though rents were inexpensive and the G.I. bill was a tremendous hand-up for these artists, devotion to one's artistic calling was a challenge for Mitchell. In 1951 he joined with other artists and was a co-founder of New York's first cooperative art exhibition space, Tanager Gallery, thus assuring a space to show and hopefully sell his creations. Fred Mitchell also founded the Coenties Slip School of art where, for a modest fee, he offered art classes in his studio from 1952 until 1957. He left Coenties Slip in 1957, passing his lease on to Robert Indiana.
Eventually all of the artists who benefitted from studio space at The Slip would move on as developers used their influence to see these buildings condemned and demolished to make way for the lower Manhattan skyline to come.
His love for the relationship of the city with the harbor continued throughout his life, and Mitchell returned to lower Manhattan to paint at Battery Park, and from the Staten Island Ferry, as evidenced by this watercolor.
Condition: Please contact the Specialist for the auction to request a condition report.
Condition reports and additional images are provided as a courtesy and should be used by you to aid in the formation of your own opinion regarding condition. All material is sold subject to Swann's standard Terms and Conditions of Sale as published in our catalogues and posted on our website, and include the following terms: (1) all property is sold "as-is"; and (2) works cannot be returned on the basis of condition.
Buyer's Premium
32% up to
$100,000.00
27% up to
$1,000,000.00
17% above
$1,000,000.00
