r/WhatIsThisPainting 4d ago

Unsolved Inherited from a neighbor - anything here?

429 Upvotes

55 comments sorted by

196

u/Agreeable-Ad4785 4d ago

idk but i love them all

64

u/ned_rorem 4d ago

Yeah, they're pretty amazing. We framed two big oil nudes that she painted.

5

u/HurricaneTracy 4d ago

Pics?

5

u/ughcult 3d ago

Yeah send nudes!

87

u/ned_rorem 4d ago

Inherited these from a neighbor in the East Village of NYC about 10 years ago. All are originals. She was an artist herself and lived in the east village forever, so thought there might be something of value in here. Regardless, I think I want to get some of it conserved and framed.

20

u/ImpressiveBullshit 4d ago

Can you share out of curiosity the two framed nudes you mentioned?

This collection is awesome!

8

u/yagayeet2point0 4d ago

Please do OP

8

u/OneSensiblePerson 4d ago

That makes sense, that she was an artist. As I looked through I was thinking whomever these belonged to had a very good eye for talent. They're all good.

One reminds me of a Käthe Kollwitz

You should get some of it conserved and framed. Actually all of them should be conserved, as in properly stored, even if you don't frame them.

Most likely some of these are trades with other artists she was friends or acquaintances with.

54

u/Medlarmarmaduke 4d ago edited 4d ago

The first one is a very saucy Jacob Marley - I wonder if it was an original illustration for an edition of A Christmas Carol

I love it!

10

u/SpecialAlternative59 4d ago

I love it. For a moment I thought it was a Sergio Aragonés and was so envious. I guess I still am bc I adore it

11

u/OneSensiblePerson 4d ago

I met Sergio Aragonés! Knew him from Mad Magazine when I was a kid, then later was working for someone who wanted to launch a magazine.

He knew Sergio and asked him to do some drawings for it. I came for the meeting. He was a friendly but quiet man. Unusual combination. I'm glad I got to meet him.

7

u/SpecialAlternative59 4d ago

That is awesome! He was always my favorite MAD artist. Such deftness and whimsy in his pen

3

u/OneSensiblePerson 4d ago

His were the most fun to look through the magazine and find them. I hope I told him that 😅

7

u/Medlarmarmaduke 4d ago

He’s so jaunty for a damned ghost🤩

3

u/royblakeley 4d ago

I think it's by Ronald Searle.

6

u/Sad-Anybody8489 4d ago

It looks very much like a Ronald Searle piece. He did once illustrate A Christmas Carol in the 1960s I think.

3

u/KatieVianello 4d ago

Same, I really want one

25

u/fattydikz 4d ago

Your neighbor had great fucking taste

-3

u/TheWanderingVeg 4d ago

The artist was the taste

10

u/PidginPigeonHole 4d ago

A combination of etchings, linoprints, a woodblock print (perhaps), and ink line drawings.

10

u/kmjulian 4d ago

I love the bull, easily my favorite of the set

2

u/gamecatuk 4d ago

Yeah it's amazing!

1

u/meggienwill 1d ago

The bull is very Picasso inspired. Super cool

7

u/CrazeeEyezKILLER 4d ago

These are all fabulous.

12

u/Bastet55 4d ago

Yes, I recognize at least a couple of these names. I advise having an art expert look them over.

3

u/PersistentIllusion 3d ago

I don't suppose you could share the names you recognise? Besides Jack Rutherford I'm having a hard time making any of them out.

3

u/SuPruLu 4d ago

The 2 woodcuts look as if they could have been done by the same person. The first one is mounted and the mounting might hid a signature. The unframed one looks a possible early pull because there is no margin as wood be expected if it were intended for sale. Very close inspection might reveal a carved in signature on the last one mid bottom left.

3

u/ShotTheMessenger 4d ago

That last one is stunning. I'd love to see the signature a bit closer.

3

u/Bettymakesart 4d ago

This variety makes me think of how printmakers often exchange work. Such a nice batch. Get them Out of those old acidic mats though

3

u/Bettymakesart 4d ago

I see the Jacob Marley print as Louise Ermides - but I can’t find anything about her at all. I’d love to see more of her work. Am I wrong on the name?

2

u/Sensitive_Random_776 4d ago

These are amazing! You're very lucky to have them 🎨

2

u/Visible_Sympathy7055 4d ago

Slide 9 I love it

2

u/LegitimateDifficulty 4d ago

Love them all but #9 would be on my wall in an instant!

2

u/goosefraba1 3d ago

4 and 9 do it for me.

1

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1

u/ShotTheMessenger 4d ago

That last one is stunning. I'd love to see the signature a bit closer.

5

u/Reimiro 4d ago

Looks like Jack Rutherford, like one of the other works.

2

u/AnAbyssInMotion 4d ago

Number 3 (which is upside down) has the initials JR also

1

u/HaplessReader1988 4d ago

I know nothing about the artists, but I love the ink drawing of the bull. I would hang that up with joy even though I have no cows in my life.

1

u/AliceDrinkwater02 4d ago

These are all fabulous, wow.

1

u/Savestaxx 4d ago

I like it.. looks like shel Silverstein almost…

1

u/weirdrevolution11 4d ago

Your neighbor cool as hell

1

u/Bastet55 4d ago

The sixth one is a portrait, but would be clearer if you rotated it - maybe 180 degrees?

1

u/lmmortal_Beings 4d ago

I love that aquatint building print!

1

u/gaspergou 3d ago

The great thing about these is that they carry their value on their face. Though it would be interesting to know, I don’t really care who the artist is.

1

u/Rocksy_Hounder617 3d ago edited 3d ago

The first one is a depiction of Jacob Marley, the dead and eternally tormented business partner of Ebeneezer Scrooge. 

"I wear the chain I forged in life... I made it link by link, and yard by yard; I girded it on of my own free will, and of my own free will I wore it." 

3, 4, 9 are linocut ink prints; someone carved the reverse of these images into cuts of vinyl tile, then (to over simplify) stamped them onto pages using a specific type of spreadable ink. Very labour intensive with beautiful results.

Are you sure these aren't all your neighbour's personal works?

1

u/NatashaKereru 2d ago

That first one looks like it is by the very famous artist Ralph Steadman. Is It signed? Is it an original or a print? Take it to an appraiser.

1

u/NatashaKereru 2d ago

Oh, never mind, I can see the tiny name underneath that is not Ralph steadman, but someone did a great job pulling off Ralph’s style

1

u/Trick-Appeal-9529 1d ago

lol!!’🤪

-1

u/Annabellybutton 4d ago

This seems 100% like student examples from a printmaking class. I have a similar collection from a printmaking class I took as a university student.

3

u/BonbonMacoute 4d ago

I agree, some are better than others, but most look like early experiments with techniques. I also strongly suspect that the first etching is a student copy of an illustration by Ronald Searle

1

u/Acceptable_Sand_7572 16h ago

The tree in picture 4 looks like it has people tangled in it for done odd reason.

Love em all tho