Art News

Major Southern Commissions of the 1930s-1940s at D. Wigmore Fine Art in New York

NEW YORK, NY.- D. Wigmore Fine Art, Inc. presents Major Southern Commission of the 1930s-1940s, on view through October 28th, 2011. Over 40 oil paintings, watercolors, and drawings show the range of commission work in the 1930s-1940s, including corporate projects, illustrations for famous literature, and studies for post office murals. The exhibition includes many works on paper from George Biddle’s 1930 visit to Charleston. Biddle (1885-1973) used these works as the basis for his illustrations for the original libretto for George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, published alongside the opera’s New York premiere in 1935. The opera will have a revival on Broadway in the 2011-2012 season. David Fredenthal’s (1914-1958) four watercolors about Georgia sharecroppers created for the 1940 deluxe edition of Erskine Caldwell’s Tobacco Road are another highlight. Fredenthal spent two months guided by the author’