Midnight by Wolfe Tom, Signed (1 results)

An original color pastel and ink drawing (8-3/4 by 12 inches) with two central figures, one female and the other male, at a costume ball. They have just removed their masks, which are held at the center of the drawing. Another male figure is visible in the background. This drawing may have been done from life at a New York society party. This drawing was likely exhibited at Tom Wolfe's one-person show at the Maynard Walker gallery in November 1965. The original gallery label is still affixed to the back of the frame. At the time of the show, Wolfe's inventive journalism was making waves among newspaper and magazine writers and his first book, a collection of what came to be known as New Journalism pieces, had just been published. Throughout his writing career, Wolfe also made drawings. A number of the pieces in his book Mauve Gloves & Madmen, Clutter & Vine are illustrated with drawings. His caricatures were collected in the book In Our Time, in 1981. This early drawing, in a style reminiscent of Egon Shiele and other German Expressionists (Wolfe's drawings have been likened to the illustrations in the influential German satirical magazine Simplicissimus), is more artistic than comic, although it is infused with social commentary. In the mid-1960s, Wolfe's fine, accomplished drawings were shown by the New York gallerist Maynard Walker, who also represented Grant Wood, Thomas Hart Benton, and other important American artists (the gallery's records are in the American Art Archives at the Smithsonian Institution). Walker gave Wolfe a one-person show of his drawings in 1965. Wolfe had a second show of drawings in the 1970s, and since then his work has rarely been seen. Wolfe (1930?2018) wrote a number of popular and influential books in the New Journalism style, which he helped pioneer, including The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test and The Right Stuff. In the 1980s, he turned to fiction, with acclaimed novels like Bonfire of the Vanities. The drawing is in the original gold gallery frame (17 by 20 inches), with the gallery label noting the title of the work on the back. The drawing is in fine condition and floats inside the mat. The mat has tanned; there is light wear to the frame. The drawing is signed "Wolfe" at the lower right. PROVENANCE: From the collection of Mary Etta and Ed Moose, San Francisco restaurant owners who met Wolfe in the 1960s and kept up a friendship with him for the rest of his life. The Mooses opened the popular Washington Street Bar and Grill in 1973 followed by Moose's in 1992. Wolfe was a patron of both restaurants. He knew the Mooses before they opened the restaurant, but how they met is uncertain.