Bidspirit auction | Charles Biederman ”Study for Painting”


Charles Biederman ”Study for Painting” Paris 1937 - Charles Biederman, born Karel Joseph Biederman (American, 1906-2004). Ink, gouache, and pen on paper painting titled ”Study for Painting, Paris, January 1937” depicting abstracted shapes in pale blue, yellow, black, and green, 1937. Dated ”1/37” along the lower right. With a label from Grace Borgenicht Gallery, New York affixed to the verso. Provenance: Estate of Charles Biederman. Lot Essay: Born to Czech parents in Cleveland in 1906, Biederman was involved in the American art scene for his entire life. He briefly studied at the Cleveland Art Institute and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) before dropping out and moving to New York. It was there that he met and was included in shows with other influential artists of the time including Alexander Calder, John Ferren, George L.K. Morris, and Charles Green Shaw. For nine months from 1936-37 Biederman studied in Paris. It was here that he met and was influenced by leading artists including Picasso, Mondrian, and Miro. He was initially influenced by the works of Fernand Leger before moving away from his style and towards totally abstract, geometric compositions. The movements of Cezanne, Post-Impressionism, and Cubism informed the evolution of his style. And while he started out painting, he abandoned two-dimensional for more sculptural works by the end of 1937. In 1941 he married Mary Moore Biederman and in the following year he moved to Red Wing, Minnesota, where he would spend the rest of his life. In the 1950s, he created the term ”Structurism” to help define his works from Constructivism and De Stijl. Many prominent collections around the world contain Structurist Reliefs including The Whitney Art Museum, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and The Tate, London. In 2004, Beiderman died at the age of 98 and his estate was subsequently given to the Weisman Art Museum on the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities campus. They have organized traveling exhibitions of his works. Sight; height: 17 in x width: 14 in. Framed; height: 19 1/4 in x width: 16 1/4 in x depth: 1 1/2 in. Condition: The sheet is slightly toned. The colors are bold and bright. There is a slight undulation to the sheet. Light soiling throughout, as expected from a study. The work is floated in frame. Framed under glass; light wear to the frame. Not inspected out of frame.