Chris Ritter Pencil Signed Abstract Expressionist Watercolor Autumn Woods Maine c. 1955

Title: Autumn Woods
Artist: Chris Ritter - (1908-1976) - American artist
Technique: Original watercolor on Vidalon watercolor paper.
Signature: Signed by the artist in the lower right of the image.
Date Painted: c. 1950
Dimensions: Image size - 17-1/2 x 22 - inches, Mat size - 20 x 24 inches.
Provenance: From the artist's estate and the estate of his wife Jane Ritter with an estate stamp on the back.
Condition: Excellent condition without any flaws.
Presentation: Placed in a dark blue acid free mat with archival materials. Blank on the back, not laid down. Unframed.
Description: This is a bright and joyous watercolor painting done in an Abstract Expressionist style. It is alive with swirling color and motion. A forest scene from Ogunquit, Maine where Ritter lived and kept a studio.

Chris Ritter was a pivotal figure in the Avant-Garde scene in New York during the late 1940s. His Laurel Gallery, which closed in 1950, published a series of portfolios, including a set of etchings by Milton Avery. He also featured a show by painter Grace Borgenicht, who at Ritter’s urging, opened her own gallery after his closed.

Ritter was born Lola, Kansas on December 9, 1908. He was a graduate of the University of Kansas, where he was a pupil of Albert Bloch and Karl Mattern. He studied at the Art Students League from 1933-36 with Richard Lahey and George Grosz, at Columbia University, and at the Brooklyn Museum School of Art.

Ritter was an art instructor at several U.S. colleges and universities and for a few years operated the Laurel Gallery in New York. Ritter's work and his gallery explored the Surrealist sensibility transplanted from Europe and given new life as it came into contact with popular culture in the United States.

Chris Ritter's work is represented in the Smithsonian Archives of American Art, the Worcester Art Museum, the Brooklyn Art Museum, the British Museum, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the NY Public Library, and the Library of Congress. He was featured in many one-many exhibitions in New York and other U.S. cities. During his life, he was listed in Who's Who in American Art; after his death, he was listed in Who Was Who in American Art.