Nocturne by Adja Yunkers
This is a screenprint entitled 'Nocturne' by noted artist Adja Yunkers. It dates from 1971. It is very characteristic of his post-war style with use of bold colors and geometric shapes. The black ground surrounding the image emphasizes the blue cartouche shape enhancing the drama. The title could refer to the definition used in art, 'a night scene', however there are also hints of use of the musical definition, which is a dreamy, or romantic figure in the night. While the title provides hints, the meaning remains ambiguous as is typical for Yunkers. His pieces are titled to imply mysticism while the images draw from archtypes and indigenous imagery as seen in tribal masks and figures. These images had significant influence on art in the post-war period by artists such as Yunkers, Adolph Gottlieb, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and others. This is a large screenprint. The image is 24 x 32 inches and is printed on a sheet 27.75 x 37.5 inches. It is pencil signed and dated lower right and titled lower left. This is #30 from an edition of 35--a relatively small edition for Yunkers. The image is crisp with bright colors and no fading. The paper is in pristine condition. It is unframed. A great example of this artist's work.
Adja Yunkers (1900-1983) Yunkers was born in Latvia, Adolf Eduard Vilhelm Junker. His artistic talents were recognized early, but documentation of his formal training is lacking. However, he followed a peripatetic path across the Western world that led him to interact with some of the most notable artists of the early 20th century. These include the Sturmgruppe (Emil Nolde, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, and Carl Friedrich Schmidt during his time in Germany, Wassily Kandinsky, Marc Chagall, and Alexander Archipenko from a stay in Russia, and Diego Rivera in Mexico. Despite these diverse influences (or perhaps because of them) Yunkers developed a distinctive abstract style that encompassed a wide range of artistic media including painting, drawing, and murals. He is best known as a printmaker coming to attention with a woodcut series from the 1930s on the Ten Commandments. His reputation as a graphic artist was established by the mid-1930s, but really took off in the post-war period. He moved to the United States in 1947, working and teaching across the country including Barnard College and Cal-Berkeley. He founded the Rio Grande Workshop in Albuquerque and taught there for many years. He came to lithography relatively late in his career, learning the technique in New Mexico at the Tamarind Workshop. This would become his dominant medium for the rest of his career. His work is held in major collections internationally including the Hamburg Kunsthalle, the Rijksmuseum, the Bibliotheque Nationale, and the Victoria and Albert Museum. United States collections include the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Corcoran Gallery, the Guggenheim, and the MoMA.
Price: $1500
Size: 27.75 x 37.5 inches
Plate Size: 24 x 32 inches
Condition: Excellent
Medium: Screenprint/Silkscreen
Subject: Abstract
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