PAIR OF WINSLOW ANDERSON (AMERICAN, 1917-2007) ABSTRACT LANDSCAPE PAINTINGS, gouache/tempera on board, each stylized vertical composition en grisaille, titled, signed, and dated "Along the Rhine / Winslow Anderson / 1939" in lower margin. Together with the artist's 1978 sketchbook from a course at Mercer County Community College in Trenton, NJ, taught by Frank Bridgewater, containing numerous figure studies. Three pieces total. 1939-1978. Pair 23 3/4" x 10" (each).
Paintings with toning, foxing, and areas of staining/discoloration to margins, one with abrasion and discoloration in image. Sketchbook as-found, with wear, tears, staining/discoloration, and losses.
Provenance: Winslow Anderson estate sold to benefit the Huntington Museum of Art.
Catalogue Note: Winslow Anderson (1917-2007) was an American 20th-century artist and an important designer at Blenko Glass (1947-1953) and Lenox China (1953-1980). The current auction includes a large selection of Anderson’s artwork as well as works he collected in Latin America, many examples of his Blenko and Lenox designs, both prototype and commercial pieces, plus more. Much of the Anderson material was the focus of several museum exhibitions.
Born in Plymouth, Massachusetts, Anderson worked odd jobs as a young man at Plymouth Pottery and, upon the urging of several alumni, enrolled in the Alfred University School of Ceramics in 1941. It was here at the University that his interests as a designer and artist were allowed to fully develop. Several of the works offered in the current auction originate from this early period in the artist's career, often including inscriptions which offer details about the specific circumstances of their composition His studies at Alfred, however, were interrupted by World War II, during which he served stateside for four years as a topographical draftsman. Based in Manhattan, Anderson's time during the war was highly formative, given his proximity to so many major artists, galleries, and institutions. Instinctively drawn to Modernism, Anderson's art was deeply influenced by his New York experience.
Returning to Alfred at the conclusion of the war, Anderson wasted no time picking up where he left off, winning several competitions at the school, including a contest inviting participants to design a new goblet for Steuben. More and more, Anderson's interests in diverse media, beyond strictly painting, began to take shape, and, accordingly, the artist constantly sought instruction from the best teachers of the day, including British potter, Bernard Leach (1887-1979). Recognized as a promising young talent, Anderson became Blenko's chief designer in 1947 and moved on to an even greater role at Lenox in 1953 after his initial success at Blenko, during which he was able to imbue the company's production and marketing campaigns with a Modernist aesthetic.
In addition to his exposure to Modernism in New York and with teachers such as Hans Hoffman (1880-1966), another major influence on Anderson's work was Carribbean culture and art, particularly that of Haiti. Anderson took annual trips to the island for nearly 40 years, where he met numerous important native artists whose uninhibited approach and bold use of color and form fascinated him. Eventually Anderson was able to assemble a sizable collection of Haitian art, one of the most important in the country, which is currently housed as a part of the Huntington's permanent collection.
An important 20th-century American artist and designer, Winslow Anderson is often overlooked in the face of other larger-than-life cultural figures of his generation, but his work is, in many respects, equally as interesting, and, to a certain degree, even more intertwined in the material lives of ordinary Americans.

Paintings with toning, foxing, and areas of staining/discoloration to margins, one with abrasion and discoloration in image. Sketchbook as-found, with wear, tears, staining/discoloration, and losses.