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Lot 57: Nell Blair Walden Blaine, (American, 1922-1996), Seated figure at a table with flowers, 1957, oil on panel, 42"H x 24"W

Est: $3,000 USD - $5,000 USDSold:
Ripley AuctionsIndianapolis, IN, USNovember 07, 2020

Item Overview

Description

Nell Blair Walden Blaine
(American, 1922-1996)
Seated figure at a table with flowers, 1957
oil on panel
signed and dated lower right.

Provenance; From a private collection, Indianapolis, IN.

Biography from The Johnson Collection
NELL BLAIR WALDEN BLAINE (1922-1996)
b. Richmond, VA; d. New York, NY

A May 1957 issue of Life magazine recognized five "Women Artists in Ascendance," painters who had "won acclaim not as notable women artists but as notable artists who happen to be women." Photographs of the select group illustrated the article, including one of Nell Blaine sitting in her sunny New York studio surrounded by still lifes and large-scale figural works. Those canvases testify to Blaine's decades of experimentation—from naturalism in her early efforts, to radical abstraction throughout the 1940s, and back to figuration in the 1950s and beyond. This constant search for stylistic renewal characterized Blaine's sweeping, successful career.

The death of her mother at a young age, the volatile temper of her father, and the conservative religiosity of her stepmother marked Blaine's upbringing in Richmond, Virginia, during the Great Depression. Severe vision problems—Blaine was born cross-eyed—further compromised her youthful stirrings toward art. Corrective surgeries liberated her from physical restrictions, and, by the age of sixteen, she had enrolled in the School of Art of the Richmond Professional Institute (now Virginia Commonwealth University), learning under the tutelage of Theresa Pollak and Worden Day. At Day's urging, Blaine set out for Hofmann's studio in New York in 1942.

Although perpetually constrained by tight finances, Blaine felt like "a bird out of a cage" in New York. Nurtured by Hofmann's emphasis on organic rhythms and the rectilinearity modeled in Mondrian's images, Blaine moved from abstraction to non-figuration. At the Jane Street Gallery, an artist's cooperative founded in 1942, she adhered to purely formal art and developed an abiding love for jazz. In 1944, she joined the American Abstract Artists group, as did many other students in the Hofmann circle. Blaine's radical investigations attracted the attention of critic Clement Greenberg who enthusiastically singled out her Great White Creature as "best in the show" at the annual exhibition of the American Abstract Artists in 1945. On Greenberg's recommendation, Blaine was invited to participate in Art of This Century: The Women, Peggy Guggenheim's second landmark exhibition of women artists, held in 1945.

The closing of the Jane Street Gallery in 1949 and an ensuing trip to Paris in 1950 prompted Blaine's realization that non-figuration deprived her "of some wonderful sensuous pleasure with painting," and she gradually re-embraced representation. Blaine's paintings of the 1950s track her thematic and stylistic shifts; she focused on studio interiors and portraits, but also produced luminous landscapes in brilliant, animated colors depicting her travels to New England, Mexico, Italy, and Greece. While working on the Greek island of Mykonos in 1959, Blaine contracted bulbar-spinal polio. The virus paralyzed her, necessitating an arduous rehabilitation and the exertion of enormous will to return to painting. Undaunted, Blaine modified her approach and focused on smaller compositions like Anemones with Red Cloth.

Although limited in her mobility, Blaine was by no means confined; she often painted in Gloucester, Massachusetts, and traveled widely throughout Europe with the help of devoted friends. For the rest of her life, Blaine enjoyed an almost frenetic pace of individual and group exhibitions in galleries and museums, fueled by the steady output of small-scale oils and watercolors. In 1992, on the occasion of her fifty-first solo exhibition showcasing intensely colored flower paintings and landscapes, the indomitable Blaine vowed that "art is central to my life. Not being able to make or see art would be a major deprivation."

The Johnson Collection, Spartanburg, South Carolina
42"H x 24"W

Dimensions

42"H x 24"W

Artist or Maker

Medium

oil on panel

Payment & Shipping

Payment

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Shipping

Professional in house shipping services are available. Shipping costs will include packaging, handling, and insurance. Shipping costs are in addition to the auction purchase amount. A low bid purchase price does not mean shipping costs will be any less. The minimum cost for shipping is $20.00. If you are not prepared to pay for our shipping, do not bid. Larger items may require a third-party shipper.

Successful bidders will receive a final invoice within 2-3 business days after the auction giving you payment and shipping details, if applicable, pertaining to the item(s) you have purchased. After payment is made your purchase will be shipped and tracking will be sent by email. Tracking information will need to be obtained by third party shipper for larger items purchased. It is the buyers responsibility to confirm shipping & billing address provided on invoices.

Auction Details

November Estate Art & Antiques

by
Ripley Auctions
November 07, 2020, 11:00 AM EST

2764 E 55th Pl, Indianapolis, IN, 46220, US

Terms

Buyer's Premium

25.0%

Bidding Increments

From:To:Increment:
$0$99$10
$100$199$20
$200$499$25
$500$999$50
$1,000$2,999$100
$3,000$4,999$200
$5,000$9,999$500
$10,000$29,999$1,000
$30,000+$2,500

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Payments are accepted by Cash, Check, Money Order, Visa, MasterCard, Discover, AMEX and Bank Wire Transfer. CC payments of more than $10k may require advance approval. The full purchase price plus all applicable taxes and fees is expected before removal or shipping of any of the items.

Shipping Information

Professional in house shipping services are available. Shipping costs will include packaging, handling, and insurance. Shipping costs are in addition to the auction purchase amount. A low bid purchase price does not mean shipping costs will be any less. The minimum cost for shipping is $20.00. If you are not prepared to pay for our shipping, do not bid. Larger items may require a third-party shipper.

Successful bidders will receive a final invoice within 2-3 business days after the auction giving you payment and shipping details, if applicable, pertaining to the item(s) you have purchased. After payment is made your purchase will be shipped and tracking will be sent by email. Tracking information will need to be obtained by third party shipper for larger items purchased. It is the buyers responsibility to confirm shipping & billing address provided on invoices.

Buyer's Premium

A buyer's premium of 25% will be added to all lots.

Condition Statement

Most items in our auction are estate consigned. All items should be considered "as-is". We make every effort to accurately describe each lot using complete descriptions and detailed photographs. You may email or call us with any questions prior to bidding. All sizes, weights and ages of lots are approximate. We encourage you to visit and inspect all lots during preview and/or carefully examine all additional images provided with the online catalog and ask for more information, when needed. It is your responsibility to know what you are bidding on prior to placing any bids. Please note that any lot listed with "attributed" or "style" cannot be guaranteed to be the work of the noted artist or period. All sales are final.

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