The Whore of Babylon
1946. Lithograph on white wove paper with deckle edges, 13 1/2 x 17 1/8 inches (343 x 435 mm), full margins. Signed, titled, dated and numbered 7/20 in pencil in the lower margin. Minor evidence of handling, otherwise an excellent, inky impression of this very scarce work.
"Many of Dehn's prints are made using tusche, a liquid lithographic medium which allows for fluid effects. He has been called the "Debussy of American lithography" and "Dean of American lithography" by printmaking experts Clinton Adams and Philadelphia Museum of Art's Prints and Drawings curator, Carl Zigrosser. With his art Dehn introduced new techniques that had never before been used in lithography, and was praised as one of the world's leading printmakers."
– Eliasoph, Philip; Adams, Henry (2017). "Forward". Adolf Dehn: Midcentury Manhattan. The Artist Book Foundation. pp. xii.
Born in Waterville, Minnesota, Adolf Dehn began creating artwork at the age of 6. For the first two decades of his career he worked almost entirely in black and white as a natural and expressive watercolorist. By 1920, after formal training as an illustrator and lithographer, he began to create ink drawings and lithographs, which he was able to sell to support himself through the depression.
In the early 1920's Dehn moved to Europe, and focused on capturing cabaret performances, park scenes, burlesques and the city landscapes of the roaring 20's. He returned to the Midwest during the depression, and by 1936 started to dabble in watercolor, which he discovered he enjoyed very much as a media in terms of its characteristics and finish, its very fluidity, and its suitability for either deliberate or spontaneous effect. Watercolor agreed with Dehn's open, effusive, and passionate character in a significant way.
During the 1930's and 40's, Dehn's favorite subjects were the farmscapes of the Midwest and later the Northeast. His eventual move to New York City also became an inspiration to the artist, and the city became frequent subject matter for Dehn. He captured the essence of the city's cultural landscape in every strata; he painted the underbelly of New York, the nightclubs, industrial yards, and high society alike. Dehn died in New York City in May 1968 and left behind a vast body of lithographs, watercolors, drawings and prints, which are in the permanent collections of nearly 100 museums across the United States and Europe, including the National Gallery of Art, National Portrait Gallery, Metropolitan Museum, Museum of Modern Art, and Whitney Museum of American Art; over 25 museums hold extensive collections of his work.
Item number: 992
Price: $3,000.00
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