Groth John 1908 (11 results)

First Edition. SIGNED and inscribed by the author. Fine cloth copy in a near-fine, very slightly edge-nicked and dust-dulled dw, now mylar-sleeved. Remains particularly and surprisingly well-preserved overall; tight, bright, clean and strong; 8vo 8" - 9" tall; 208 pages; Description: 208 p. Illus. 26 cm. Subjects: Korean War, 1950-1953. East Asia --Description and travel 4 Kg.

First Edition. SIGNED and inscribed by the author. Fine cloth copy in a near-fine, very slightly edge-nicked and dust-dulled dw, now mylar-sleeved. Remains particularly and surprisingly well-preserved overall; tight, bright, clean and strong; 8vo 8" - 9" tall; 208 pages; Description: 208 p. Illus. 26 cm. Subjects: Korean War, 1950-1953. East Asia --Description and travel 2 Kg.

unbound. 4 pages, 8.5 x 5.5 inches, Puma Gallery, New York, no date, circa 1943. Signed program of group show entitled "WE CHALLENGE WAR ART." The inscription is addressed to political cartoonist Art Young, in full: "Dear Art, I hope you can come up to the opening - many of our friends will be there, Best John G." Tape-stained in the left and bottom margins; pencil notation at the top. Very good(-) condition.

circa 17 x 27 cm. 1 leaf coloured in green Scene of a violent fight with one man swinging an ax and another a sabre and a knife. Two men are already down. - Groth was a prolific illustrator for various magazines and books. Signed to the upper right.

unbound. 2 pages on personal stationery, 11 x 7.25 inches, New York, May 21, no year, circa 1963. Signed "John" by the American illustrator and artist, in part: ".I've already gotten into the book and find it really great! Asked Short Story International to send the May-June-July issues to you. Starting with the May number I am illustrating it in its entirety each month.Hope you don't mind my 'cribbing' from 'Exodus' -- the horah dancing scene -- used it in May S.S.I. to illustrate an Israeli story." Natural folds; several faint ink smudges but still in near fine condition.

Original drypoint etching. Sheet size 21cm x 27cm (ca 8-3/8" x 10-5/8"); image area 15cm x 20cm. Monogrammed in plate, lower right; titled and signed in pencil in lower margin. Mounted to hinged gallery mat bearing title, artist's name, and the following notation: "Prairie Print Masters show, Wichita;" with original pencil price of $10. No edition stated (artist's proof?). Mat dusted; print clean and bright, with very faint toning at margins; Near Fine. An evocative New York street scene, typical of Groth's social-realist work of the Depression era. Though best remembered as a wartime sketch-artist and book illustrator (he produced a number of titles for The Limited Editions Club, including the widely-praised LEC edition of Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front ), Groth began his career as a printmaker and cartoonist very much in the social-realist mold, publishing some of his earliest work in such left-wing forums as The New Masses and PM. He was also the first Art Director at Esquire, which was founded in 1933. Groth's mastery as a printmaker is on display in these early works, which manage to convey a simultaneous sense of urgency and delicacy which would become the hallmark of his battlefield sketches made during WW2 and the Korean War. Groth's Depression-era work has remained scarce in the marketplace, with only a few examples of his social-realist prints at auction in the past twenty years. The current example is from Groth's personal archive, which we acquired in 2013.

Original drypoint etching. Sheet size 23cm x 30.5cm (ca 9" x 12"); image area 18cm x 25cm. Titled and signed in pencil in lower margin. Mounted to hinged gallery mat. No edition stated (artist's proof?). Mat dusted; print clean and bright, with very faint toning at in image; Near Fine. An evocative New York waterfront scene, typical of Groth's social-realist work of the Depression era. Though best remembered as a wartime sketch-artist and book illustrator (he produced a number of titles for The Limited Editions Club, including the widely-praised LEC edition of Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front ), Groth began his career as a printmaker and cartoonist very much in the social-realist mold, publishing some of his earliest work in such left-wing forums as The New Masses and PM. He was also the first Art Director at Esquire, which was founded in 1933. Groth's mastery as a printmaker is on display in these early works, which manage to convey a simultaneous sense of urgency and delicacy which would become the hallmark of his battlefield sketches made during WW2 and the Korean War. Groth's Depression-era work has remained scarce in the marketplace, with only a few examples of his social-realist prints at auction in the past twenty years. The current example is from Groth's personal archive, which we acquired in 2013.

Original drypoint etching. Sheet size 22.5cm x 29.5cm (ca 9" x 11-1/2"); image area 18cm x 24.5cm. Signed in plate, lower right; titled and signed in pencil in lower margin. No edition stated (artist's proof?). Very faint soiling at margins; Near Fine. An evocative New York street scene, typical of Groth's social-realist work of the Depression era. Though best remembered as a wartime sketch-artist and book illustrator (he produced a number of titles for The Limited Editions Club, including the widely-praised LEC edition of Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front ), Groth began his career as a printmaker and cartoonist very much in the social-realist mold, publishing some of his earliest work in such left-wing forums as The New Masses and PM. He was also the first Art Director at Esquire, which was founded in 1933. Groth's mastery as a printmaker is on display in these early works, which manage to convey a simultaneous sense of urgency and delicacy which would become the hallmark of his battlefield sketches made during WW2 and the Korean War. Groth's Depression-era work has remained scarce in the marketplace, with only a few examples of his social-realist prints at auction in the past twenty years. The current example is from Groth's personal archive, which we acquired in 2013.

Original cartoon illustration in black ink with blue pencil highlights on artist board; sheet size 36.5cm x 43.5cm (ca 14-1/2" x 17-1/4"). Together with printer's proof of finished cartoon, ca. 24cm x 20cm on glossy paper. Signed in ink lower right. Drawing spotted and lightly soiled; artist's directions to the engraver scrawled at upper left ("please do not disturb the len [?] day - shoot as is"); white ink highlights to center of image; Very Good. A caricature showing the four Axis leaders -- Hitler, Franco, Hirohito and Mussolini -- preparing to toast each other as the clock nears midnight. The clock's minute hand is depicted as a bloody sabre, and Franco and Mussolini's uniforms are shown covered with bloody handprints. Judging from the proof, the cartoon was obviously published -- probably either in the pages of Esquire or The New Yorker, two periodicals which regularly featured Groth's work during this period. Groth began his career as a printmaker and cartoonist very much in the social-realist mold, publishing some of his earliest work in such left-wing forums as The New Masses and PM. He was also the first Art Director at Esquire, which was founded in 1933. Groth's mastery as a printmaker is on display in these early works, which manage to convey a simultaneous sense of urgency and delicacy which would become the hallmark of his battlefield sketches made during WW2 and the Korean War.

Original cartoon illustration in black ink on watercolor paper; sheet size 63cm x 50cm (ca 24-13/4" x 19-3/4"). Signed in ink lower right. Drawing spotted and lightly soiled; glue remnants to margin, apparently from a removed mat; title in pencil below image; Very Good. A large and accomplished caricature in which a panicked Hitler attempts to prop up a collapsing statue of Mussolini; probably drawn following the Allied invasion of Sicily in July, 1943. Groth was at this time Art Director for Parade Publications, for which this cartoon was likely illustrated (though we are unsure whether it was ever published). Though best remembered as a wartime sketch-artist and book illustrator, Groth began his career as a printmaker and cartoonist very much in the social-realist mold, publishing some of his earliest work in such left-wing forums as The New Masses and PM. He was also the first Art Director at Esquire, which was founded in 1933. Groth's mastery as a printmaker is on display in these early works, which manage to convey a simultaneous sense of urgency and delicacy which would become the hallmark of his battlefield sketches made during WW2 and the Korean War.

Original drypoint etching. Sheet size 27.5cm x 41cm (ca 10-3/4" x 16"); image area 15.5cm x 30cm. No edition stated (artist's proof?). Signed in pencil, lower right. Old crease and kraft paper adhesions to extremities (well away from image); Near Fine. A chilling image of a pistol-wielding man fleeing the scene of a crime, leaving two bodies lying in the street. It is unclear whether the scene is intended as a commentary on growing racial tensions in Harlem in the 1930s (possibly a direct reference to the Harlem Race Riot of 1934?), but the work is typical of Groth's social-realist work of the Depression era. Though best remembered as a wartime sketch-artist and book illustrator (he produced a number of titles for The Limited Editions Club, including the widely-praised LEC edition of Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front ), Groth began his career as a printmaker and cartoonist very much in the social-realist mold, publishing some of his earliest work in such left-wing forums as The New Masses and PM. He was also the first Art Director at Esquire, which was founded in 1933. Groth's mastery as a printmaker is on display in these early works, which manage to convey a simultaneous sense of urgency and delicacy which would become the hallmark of his battlefield sketches made during WW2 and the Korean War. Groth's Depression-era work has remained scarce in the marketplace, with only a few examples of his social-realist prints at auction in the past twenty years. The current example is from Groth's personal archive, which we acquired in 2013.