7: KARL PRIEBE (1914-1976) EXHIBITED WATERCOLOR W/GOUACHE

Karl Priebe (1914-1976)
Untitled (Woman of Jazz) (Mid 20th Century)
The luminous, mixed-media work displaying interesting textures and shading in soft but saturated colors is signed lower right front.

It offers a ghostly jazz drummer to be considered in the context of the stylized African American woman, her unusually large eye suggesting heightened perception (a tenet of Magic Realism) while her expression seems reflective.

This work on paper cardstock was exhibited Karl Priebe: A Look at African Americans, Patrick & Beatrice Haggerty Museum of Art, Marquette University, July 26-September 23, 1990.

In the context of this Karl Priebe work it is very much worth noting that according to Wikipedia, ''He was a longtime friend of such jazz greats as Billie Holiday, Pearl Bailey and Dizzy Gillespie and of painters Gertrude Abercrombie and John Wilde.'' and that, ''he taught a class in a settlement house largely attended by African Americans. His black figures, he recalled later, were not intended as portraits, but were taken from his memories of people he saw in the settlement house.''

Karl Priebe was a leading figure in American Magic Realism. He was born in Milwaukee and trained at the Layton School of Art as well as the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Working primarily in watercolor and gouache, he produce vividly detailed works that shimmer with color as he depicts symbolic figures, cultural motifs, birds and performers blending the precision of Magic Realism with a flair for the surreal as seen here. Many images fused theatrical elegance with psychological depth and statement.

His work was exhibited at major institutions including the Art Institute of Chicago, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Whitney. He later taught at Western Michigan University.
Sight size measures 12.75 x 10.25 with a framed size of 16.25 x 14 inches.
The condition is very good, very clean, bright colors, intact, no stain, damage, repair, punctures or tears. This work has not been examined outside the frame.
Provenance: Private collection, Kansas City, Missouri.
$3,000 - $5,000
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