Lot 1185: William Gropper Capriccios Print Portfolio, 34 signed lithos

William Gropper (American, 1897-1977), thirty four signed and numbered (26/50) lithographs from the Capriccios portfolio, 1953-1957. Sheet size 16 1/4" x 12 1/4". Unframed. Titles include: The Grave Yard, The Spinster, Fledglings, Pomp (or Thine), Alone, Dream, Playmates, Heroics, Pegasus, Blacklist, Logic, Fame, All God's Children, Fate, Lust, Justice, Uprooted, First Step, Gossip Mongers, Crisis, Tornado, Informers, The Old Man, Fall of the Gods, Emancipated, Fantasy, Vengeance, Fear, Psychosis, the Horn Blowers, Echoes, Patrioteers, Eruption, and Ladder of Success. Background:<br /> "From his humble beginnings in the tenements of New York's Lower East Side to his artistic radicalism and subsequent blacklisting by Senator Joseph McCarthy, William Gropper always stayed true to his vision for exposing the realities and struggles of the daily life of the lower class. Known to some as the "American Daumier," Gropper's involvement with radical press like The Daily Worker and The New Masses caught the attention of McCarthy and the House Un-American Activities Committee, and his investigation in 1953 inspired his incredible series of fifty lithographs, The Capriccios. Gropper's tenacity and strength of depiction are culminated in these lithographs, which expose the fallacies of mid-century America during a time of great turmoil and suspicion." Source: The Wayne State University Art Collection.

PROVENANCE: Private Tennessee collection, by descent from the collection of Betty and Norman Luboff.

CONDITION: Lacking covers, not the complete set. Light toning and minor handling wear, some with light corner creases. Small smudge on the Fame lithograph.