Robert Preusser (1919-1992)
Pen and Ink on paper
untitled
8 1/2" x 11"
Signed lower left
Inscribed on verso "Chicago"
This drawing is from a group of 85 Robert Preusser drawings I purchased from the artist's son around 2008. They were all created in 1941-42 which is the middle of what is considered Robert Preusser's most desirable period (1936- 1945 before the end of WWII). These drawings were stored by the artist in a 8 1/2 x 11 stationary box from Preusser's days under the tutlage of Lazlo Moholy Nagy at the New Bauhaus in Chicago. The box was inscribed in Preusser's writing "ROP Stationary" (Robert Ormond Preusser), "LEONARDO", and "Chicago 1941-42 113 Sketches". Preusser's son explained to me that the box contained drawings from when his father studied art and design at The New Bauhaus located in Chicago. He told me that "Leonardo" written on the outside of the box the referred to Leonardo Da Vinci whoim Robert Preusser admired greatly.
In 2016 I had about 30 of these Preusser drawings framed and had a show of them at David Dike Gallery for spring Art Walk. Three years later, in 2019 I had another show of the Preusser drawings that at the Sarah Foltz Gallery in Houston Texas. Over the last several years I have consigned a number of these drawings at David Dike's Annual Auction. All came from this collection I purchased back in 2008. I will be also listing an electronic book/exhibition (on DVD or SD memory card) of all 85 of these Preusser drawings plus an extensive essay I wrote for the David Dike and Foltz Gallery exhibitions. The essay is titled "Robert Perusser: The New Bauhaus and Beyond" and is about Preusser's New Bauhaus years and the lasting effect of Bauhaus traditions on his entire career. The essay will be accompanied with an expanded Preusser biography, exhibition history and detailed images of all 85 drawings including the color drawings, and images of 1940's Preusser paintings from my own collection. It is an electronic exhibition of Preusser's early work that has been largely unseen by the public. The price will be $100, but any purchaser of one of these drawings will be able to purchase at half off. - Larry Boettigheimer Frontiers Texas Gallery
........an excerpt from my essay regarding Preusser's New Bauhaus period drawings is below:
"In Preusser's oral history interview done for the Archives of American Art (Smithsonian Institution) Preusser reveals the origins of these drawings: “On Sundays, I would sit down and made little 8 x 10 on typing paper as the surface and made ink drawings, thermals of weird figures and others completely abstract and then birds…”
These drawings are notable because they exemplify the beauty and artistic potential of the simplest artistic element, the line. A number of these drawings consist of one, two, or a few continuous unbroken line segments. In some of these drawings the artist would complete the entire complex drawing only lifting the pen from the paper a few times. Other drawings have networks of finely spaced lines spontaneously drawn with such precision and so close together they almost defy human capability. The extreme precision of Preusser’s line drawings is apparent, and what is more remarkable is that he accomplished these without erasure or changes to composition. In effect, they are like jazz improvisations. Totally spontaneous, No do-over’s – no safety net.
This is a fabulous opportunity to add a great example of Robert Preusser's abstract graphic work from his most desirable time period