Esther Phillips 1949 Double-Sided Watercolor Painting

Item Details

Esther Phillips (Pittsburgh/New York; 1902-1983)
Untitled, 1949
Double-sided watercolor painting on paper
Signed and dated to the lower right

A watercolor painting on paper by artist Esther Phillips, dated 1949. Each composition features a truncated farmscape rendered with simplified forms. It is signed “E Phillips” and dated to the lower right.

Esther Phillips left Pittsburgh in the late 1930s to pursue a bohemian lifestyle in Greenwich Village. A member of the Associated Artists of Pittsburgh, she immersed herself into local artistic circles, and among her artist friends were modernists Milton Weiss (American; 1912-1995) and Franz Kline (American; 1910-1962). Phillips’ work was often executed in watercolors at a quick pace, exhibiting the influence of Fauvism, Cubism, and artists such as Stuart Davis, Arthur Dove, and Georgia O’Keeffe. Frequent subjects include abstracted cityscapes, townscapes, and asylum scenes that feature vibrant colors, simple shapes, and overall flatness. Her work has been exhibited posthumously at multiple galleries such as the Carson Street Gallery, the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, and the Borelli-Edwards Gallery, among others.

Condition

- some stains, discoloration, toning, and accretions to compositions; wear to edges.

Dimensions

Item #

19DCC030-328