Large Exhibited W. Draper Portrait of Son "Willy" 1962

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Exceptional Antiquities | Asian | Ethnographi...

By Artemis Gallery

Jun 10, 2021

Set Reminder 2021-06-10 10:00:00 2021-06-10 10:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : Exceptional Antiquities | Asian | Ethnographic https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/artemis-gallery/exceptional-antiquities-asian-ethnographic-7012
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• Lot Description
  William Franklin Draper American, 1912-2003), "Willy" oil on canvas, 1962. Signed "Wm. F. Draper '62" on lower left. A large-scale portrait by American award-winning portraitist William Draper, depicting his son and namesake William "Willy" Jr. who was a star tennis player in his teens and went on to teach at the Georgia Tennis Club in East Hampton, Long Island. William Jr. is presented as a handsome nineteen year old, sitting with his arms on the rails of a chair, and gazing toward his left. He wears a patterned blue and beige sweater over a sky blue polo shirt with khaki shorts. The blue hues of his garments beautifully match his twinkling bright blue eyes, a trait he shared with his father. A wonderful portrait of the artist's son, set in an attractive custom frame. Size of painting: 41.5" L x 27.5" W (105.4 cm x 69.8 cm) Size of frame: 49.875" L x 35.875" W (126.7 cm x 91.1 cm)
  
  Though a respected as "an artistic descendant of John Singer Sargent" - noted for his expressive style and freely brushed and textured paintings, Draper once said, "Portraits are always a challenge. It's like a puzzle." According to Edgar J. Driscoll, Jr's memorial statement, "Paul E. Curran, a friend of 20 years, said a Draper portrait was a 'five day affair,' begun on Monday and wrapped up Friday afternoon. Before he finished, he always got an objective opinion of the piece from someone who knew his subject. 'He'd get an opinion of how well he portrayed the individual,' Curran said."
  
  Peter Rathbone, Director Emeritus of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, whose portrait Draper also painted stated, "Nature endowed William F. Draper with enough talents to require him to choose among them before embarking on a professional career. Yet to those who know him, it is hard to imagine that any natural bent could rival his personal endowment as a painter of portraits . . . Draper's painting belongs to the tradition of Sargent. Like Sargent's, his style is fluid with virtuoso brushwork as the identifying characteristic. Like Sargent, the preparation of the painting by Draper is all in the artist's eye. Unlike Sargent's detachment, Draper's understanding and love of people and his appreciations of physical subtleties are happily projected into his work. These traits are the source of the warmth and vitality of his portraiture. They are also the reasons why his portraits are fine likenesses. And it is not too much to say that something of his own vibrant personality is reflected in everything he paints." ("Portraits Period" by Portrait Brokers of America, 1990, p. 46)
  
  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.
  
  On the verso are two exhibition labels, one from Portraits, Inc. in New York City and another from FAR Gallery in New York City.
  
  This piece has been searched against the Art Loss Register database and has been cleared. The Art Loss Register maintains the world’s largest database of stolen art, collectibles, and antiques.
  
  Provenance: The William F. Draper Collection, New York City, USA, acquired via descent from the late William Franklin Draper (1912-2003)
  
  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.
  
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  #152319

  Condition

  Portrait is in excellent condition. Signed "Wm. F. Draper '62" on lower left. On the verso are two exhibition labels, one from Portraits, Inc. in New York City and another from FAR Gallery in New York City. Draper Estate stamp on verso as well. Frame has some inactive insect holes and age wear with scuffs, abrasions, and nicks/chips as shown. Minor stains on verso of framing that do not interfere with the painted portrait. Perforations on verso of frame, likely from previous display.
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