**Originally Listed At $150**

Milford Zornes (American, 1908-2008), charcoal pencil on paper, 1946 CE. A figural drawing depicting a male figure dressed in matador-like garb and gesturing perhaps to a crowd with one arm upward, standing just behind and to the left of a sign that reads "PARA DIPOTADO" (FOR DEPUTY). This sketch was created for the Padua Hills Theatre by the artist Milford Zornes, and is signed and dated in pencil at lower left. The Padua Hills Theatre of Claremont, California was the longest existing theater that featured Mexican-themed musicals in the United States. It operated from 1931 to 1974. Zornes served as the director of the Padua Hills Art Institute from 1948 to 1966. A wonderful example created by Milford Zornes, an American treasure. Size: 7.75" W x 11" H (19.7 cm x 27.9 cm)

Milford Zornes was an American watercolor artist who is widely revered as a leader of the California Style watercolor movement that began in the 1920s. Zornes' style departed from the traditional use of watercolors. Rather than adding color to detailed pencil drawings, Zornes applied transparent washes of color to large sheets of paper and allowed the white to show through using this white space to define shapes. Follow this link to watch a wonderful video of Milford Zornes in his home studio in 2006 - (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehte4qAxK_c)

Zornes was educated at the Otis Art Institute where he studied with Millard Sheets and F. Tolles Chamberlin. He later taught at Otis as well, making a name for himself as a talented educator. Highlights of his career include a one-man exhibition at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. and having one of his watercolors selected by President and Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt to hang in the White House. In addition to being a prolific watercolorist, Zornes created murals under President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal program for post offices in El Campo, Texas as well as his hometown of Claremont, California during the era of the Great Depression. Zornes was also an active member of the California Water Color Society, becoming president of that organization in 1942. Zorne's works have been acquired by esteemed institutions including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the White House, and the Library of Congress.

Provenance: private Orange County, California, USA collection

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#128460

Minor discoloring of paper commensurate with age. Signed and dated in pencil at lower left.