Exhibited Signed Draper Painting, Tikal Guatemala, 1989

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Ancient / Ethnographic From Around the World

By Artemis Gallery

Jul 30, 2020

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• Lot Description
  William Franklin Draper (American, 1912-2003), "Seven Temples of the Virgins, Tikal Guatemala" oil on canvas, 1989. Signed at lower right. In this large painting, William Draper depicted the famous Maya ruins of the monumental Seven Temples in Tikal, one of the largest Classic period cities and archaeological sites of the Mesoamerican Maya civilization. Draper's composition invites the viewer to visually enter the scene via the soft rainforest floor and take in the impressive limestone pyramidal structures that were erected for both ceremonial and burial purposes, rising amidst northern Guatemala's lush tropical flora. Size: 36.5" L x 36" W (92.7 cm x 91.4 cm); 46" L x 46" W (116.8 cm x 116.8 cm) framed.
  
  Among the magnificent ruins of Tikal is Temple I (Temple of the Giant Jaguar), the temple-mausoleum of Hasaw Chan K'awiil (d. 732 CE), one of Tikal's most revered rulers. The pyramidal structure was built with nine levels, a reference to the nine levels of the Underworld, and a three chambered temple. In addition, a beautiful sculpted roof comb that once bore the ruler's portrait rendered in stucco surmounts the temple.
  
  William Draper's career spanned seven decades and his subjects included a portrait of John F. Kennedy that hangs in the National Portrait Gallery in Washington D.C. based upon an oil sketch for which the president sat in 1962. Draper was actually the only artist who painted JFK from life. Draper showed at Knoedler, the Graham Gallery, Portraits, Inc., the Far Gallery, The Findlay Galleries (New York, NY) and the Robert C. Vose Galleries (Boston, MA). His work has been included in shows at the National Portrait Gallery and the Corcoran Gallery of Art (Washington, D.C.), The National Academy of Design (New York, NY), The Boston Museum of Fine Arts, (Boston, MA) the Fogg Art Museum, (one of the Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, MA), the National Gallery, (London), Salon de la Marine (Paris) and in museums in Australia. He also taught at the Art Students League of New York, and received a lifetime achievement award from the Portrait Society of America in 1999.
  
  More on the artist's background: William Franklin Draper was born in Hopedale, Massachusetts on December 24, 1912. A child prodigy, he studied classical piano at Harvard University. He later changed his focus to fine art and studied with Charles Webster Hawthorne and Henry Hensche in Provincetown, Rhode Island. Draper also attended the National Academy of Design in New York and the Cape Cod School of Art in Massachusetts. Then he traveled to Spain and studied with Harry Zimmerman, moved on to France and attended the Academie de la Grande Chaumiere. In 1937, he moved to Boston to study sculpture with George Demetrius and also studied with Jon Corbino in beautiful Rockport, Massachusetts. In 1942, Draper joined the Navy and served as a combat artist when stationed on the Aleutian Islands and in the South Pacific. He observed and painted battle scenes on Bougainville, Guam, Saipan, and other locations, as well as genre scenes of soldiers who were not engaged in combat but rather at work and at play. National Geographic magazine reproduced 25 of his war images in four issues in 1944. In 1945, the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. organized a group exhibition of works by five official war artists, including Draper. That same year the Metropolitan Museum of Art included Draper in an exhibition entitled, ''The War Against Japan.'' Draper was also featured in a PBS television show about combat artists entitled, "They Drew Fire" in May of 2000. After the war, Draper opened a studio on Park Avenue in New York City and continued to not only paint, but also play classical and jazz piano.
  
  This painting was exhibited at the Allied Artists of America 78th Annual Exhibition at the Salmagundi Club, New York City, 1991. The Allied Artists of America has hosted their annual exhibition since 1914.
  
  Provenance: The William F. Draper Collection, New York City, USA, acquired via descent from the late William Franklin Draper (1912-2003), an accomplished American artist whose career spanned seven decades. Known as the "Dean of American Portraiture," William Draper was the only artist to paint President John F. Kennedy from life, and his oeuvre includes marvelous landscapes from his world travels, military paintings as he was one of only seventeen Combat Artists in WWII, and portraits of illustrious individuals.
  
  All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back.
  
  A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids.
  
  We ship worldwide and handle all shipping in-house for your convenience.
  
  #152813

  Condition

  Painting is in excellent condition. Signed on lower right. Chips to corners of frame as shown. Exhibition label on verso for Allied Artists of America 78th Annual Exhibition at the Salmagundi Club, New York City, 1991. Draper Estate stamp on verso.
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