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Emerson Woelffer Art

American, 1914-2003
Once dubbed “the Grandfather of L.A. Modernism,” the Chicago-born Emerson Seville Woelffer was active as an innovative painter, collagist, and educator throughout his long and prolific career. A pioneering Abstract Expressionist, Woelffer’s brightly colored work with jagged forms reveals Cubist and Surrealist influences. Coming of age in Chicago during the Great Depression, Woelffer appreciated the improvisational nature of jazz music, a sensibility he would later apply to painting through gestural variation, energetic strokes, and a rhythmic use of line. From 1935 to 1938, Woelffer, a high school dropout, studied at the Art Institute of Chicago while employed as a janitor, early evidence of his enduring work ethic. He joined the Works Progress Administration arts program in 1938 as an easel painter, followed by a two-year stint as a topographical draftsman for the United States Air Force. The director of the Chicago Institute of Design, László Moholy-Nagy, invited Woelffer to join the faculty in 1942. His experiences there brought him into contact with the modernist idiom of the day, and his interactions with students caused him to re-examine his own practice. He also exhibited in group shows at the Guggenheim Museum in New York, participated in the Whitney Museum Annual (1949) and won the Pauline Palmer Prize for painting at the Art Institute of Chicago (1948). In 1949 Emerson Woelffer and his wife Dina, a fine art photographer, were invited by Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner to New York before they headed to Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula. Exposure to Pre-Columbian art led Woelffer to incorporate totemic figures and vibrant colors into his abstract paintings. In 1959 Woelffer joined the faculty at the Chouinard Art Institute (later the California Institute of the Arts) in Los Angeles, where he instructed notable emerging artists until 1973 and where he was instrumental in bringing Modernism to LA. Ed Ruscha was one of his students. In 1974, Woelffer was named chair of the art department at the Otis Art Institute (now the Otis School of Art and Design). His tenure lasted until his retirement in 1989, and he was widely admired for his interdisciplinary approach in the classroom. An endowed scholarship fund in his name provides support for promising young artists and designers. Suffering from macular degeneration, Woelffer switched to drawing with white crayon on black paper in his final years of artistic activity. Emerson won a prestigious Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship in 1967 and then went to wprk in Europe. Woelffer’s work is represented in the collections of such distinguished institutions as the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the National Gallery of Art, and the Museum of Modern Art, among others.
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Artist: Emerson Woelffer
Abstract Expressionist "Forms Divide"  Like Franz Kline
Abstract Expressionist "Forms Divide"  Like Franz Kline

Abstract Expressionist "Forms Divide" Like Franz Kline

By Emerson Woelffer

Located in Miami, FL

It's 1951. Who was doing painting like this? Franz Kline, Arshile Gorky, Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Willem de Kooning, Adolph Gottlieb, Clyfford Still, Robert Motherwell, Lee Kra...

Category

1950s Abstract Expressionist Emerson Woelffer Art

Materials

Masonite, Acrylic

Biomorphic Forms  - Early Abstract Expressionist - like Arshile Gorky
Biomorphic Forms  - Early Abstract Expressionist - like Arshile Gorky

Biomorphic Forms - Early Abstract Expressionist - like Arshile Gorky

By Emerson Woelffer

Located in Miami, FL

It's 1945. What artists were making totally abstract, non-objective paintings like this? Work characterized by organic forms and flattened picture planes, with solid bold colors dr...

Category

1940s Abstract Expressionist Emerson Woelffer Art

Materials

Canvas, Found Objects, Oil

Early Abstract Expressionist -  Black Mountain College Teacher, Franz Kline
Early Abstract Expressionist -  Black Mountain College Teacher, Franz Kline

Early Abstract Expressionist - Black Mountain College Teacher, Franz Kline

By Emerson Woelffer

Located in Miami, FL

With Abstract Expressionist painting, one could argue that the earlier, the more historically important. This stunning non-objective action painting is characterized by vast swaths o...

Category

1950s Abstract Expressionist Emerson Woelffer Art

Materials

Oil, Fiberboard

UNTITLED 1977, Paper Collage, 29" x 23" framed orange, green, blue and black
UNTITLED 1977, Paper Collage, 29" x 23" framed orange, green, blue and black

UNTITLED 1977, Paper Collage, 29" x 23" framed orange, green, blue and black

By Emerson Woelffer

Located in New York, NY

Once dubbed “the Grandfather of L.A. Modernism,” the Chicago-born Emerson Seville Woelffer was active as an innovative painter, collagist, and educator throughout his long and prolif...

Category

1970s Abstract Expressionist Emerson Woelffer Art

Materials

Mixed Media

Emerson Woelffer, Bold Torn-Edge Collage, Signed Abstract Expressionist Work
Emerson Woelffer, Bold Torn-Edge Collage, Signed Abstract Expressionist Work

Emerson Woelffer, Bold Torn-Edge Collage, Signed Abstract Expressionist Work

By Emerson Woelffer

Located in Buffalo, NY

Emerson Woelffer Untitled Abstract Collage, 1989 Mixed media collage on paper Dimensions: 32 x 26 inches (framed) Signed and dated lower right A striking example of Emerson Woelffer...

Category

1960s Abstract Expressionist Emerson Woelffer Art

Materials

Acrylic, Archival Paper

Untitled, 1968
Untitled, 1968

Untitled, 1968

By Emerson Woelffer

Located in San Francisco, CA

This lithograph is by Emerson Woelffer (1914-2003), a noted American abstract artist. The print is untitled, but it depicts a pair of lips, an image that Woellfer used in a number of...

Category

1960s Abstract Emerson Woelffer Art

Materials

Lithograph

Abstract Form No. 1
Abstract Form No. 1

Abstract Form No. 1

By Emerson Woelffer

Located in Columbia, MO

EMERSON WOELFFER Abstract Form No. 1 1979 Porcelain on wooden plinth 3.5 x 3.5 x 11.5 inches

Category

20th Century Abstract Emerson Woelffer Art

Materials

Wood

Abstract Form No. 2
Abstract Form No. 2

Abstract Form No. 2

By Emerson Woelffer

Located in Columbia, MO

EMERSON WOELFFER Abstract Form No. 2 1979 Terra cotta on wooden plinth 3.5 x 5.5 x 8.5 inches

Category

20th Century Abstract Emerson Woelffer Art

Materials

Wood, Terracotta

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Madrid & Forio
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This is a striking and rare pair of 1959 abstract expressionist works by West Coast artist and teacher, Emerson Woelffer, dubbed “the grandfather of L. A. Modernism”. He had a brilliant career teaching at Black Mountain College, the California Institute of the Arts and was awarded the Pollock-Krasner Grant amongst many other distinctions. His works are at the Museum of Modern Art, The Whitney Museum, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the list continues. 1959 is a great and desirable date! Taylor Graham...

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The Judgement by Emerson Woelffer
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Modernist abstract oil painting by Emerson Woelffer (1914-2003). Oil on canvas, circa 1945. Signed lower left, "E. Woelffer". Displayed in a period grey wood frame. Ima...

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Emerson Woelffer art for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Emerson Woelffer art available for sale on 1stDibs. If you’re browsing the collection of art to introduce a pop of color in a neutral corner of your living room or bedroom, you can find work that includes elements of blue, red and other colors. You can also browse by medium to find art by Emerson Woelffer in lithograph, paint, wood and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 20th century and is mostly associated with the abstract style. Not every interior allows for large Emerson Woelffer art, so small editions measuring 4 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Gerome Kamrowski, August Mosca, and Thom Cooney-Crawford. Emerson Woelffer art prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $1,500 and tops out at $12,500, while the average work can sell for $6,240.

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