Charcoal Drawing

BRILLIANT ANTIQUE PRETTY WOMAN CHARCOAL DRAWING BY REVERED ACAMEDY AWARD-WINNING 20TH CENTURY FOX ARTIST EMIL KOSA JR. (American 1903-1968). THIS WORK CAPTURES AN ELEGANT PROFILE OF A PRETTY WOMAN, HER DELICATE FEATURES RENDERED WITH SOFT CONFIDENT STROKES. HER GAZE, SLIGHTLY ADVERTED, SUGGESTS QUIET CONTEMPLATION WHILE HER BARE SHOULDERS ADD A TOUCH OF VULNERABILITY AND GRACE TO THE COMPOSITION. EMIL KOSA JR SKILLFULLY USES A BLEND OF RICH, VELVETY BLACKS AND SUBTLE GRADIENTS OF GRAY, BRINGING DEPTH AND LIFE TO THE VIEWER. FINE DETAILS SUCH AS THE GENTLE CURVE OF HER SHOULDER AND THE LOOSE STRANDS OF HAIR FRAMING HER FACE CONTRAST BEAUTIFULLY WITH THE MUTED BACKGROUND, WHICH REMAINS UNDERSTATED ALLOWING THE SUBJECT TO COMMAND FULL ATTENTION. THE SUBJECT IS MOST LIKELY A FAMOUS HOLLYWOOD ACTRESS; PERHAPS YOU RECOGNIZE HER? A TRUE MASTERPIECE BY ONE OF HOLLYWOODS GREATEST PAINTERS, EMIL KOSA JR. IT DATES AROUND THE 1950s. GOOD OVERALL CONDITION, EXCEPT FOR A TINY KNICK AT THE BOTTOM AS SHOWN. DIMENSIONS INCLUDING THE FRAME: 32” H x 25” W DIMENSIONS WITHOUT THE FRAME: 25” H x 18” W PROVENANCE: PRIVATE ESTATE, BEVERLY HILLS CALIFORNIA Emil Jean Kosa, Jr. (1903 – 1968) was active/lived in California. Emil Kosa Jr is known for Regional landscape, figure-nude, and still life painting. Emil Kosa, Jr. Born: 1903 – Paris, France Died: 1968 – Los Angeles, California Emil Kosa Jr is credited with designing the logo for 20th Century Fox, this is the first on-screen logo from 1935. Emil Kosa Jr. was born in Paris, France on November 28, 1903. His father was a Czech artist. He moved to the United States with his family at the age of four. Kosa studied at the Prague Academy as a teenager and then at the California Art Institute in Los Angeles in 1927. He returned to Paris later in 1927, and studied under Pierre Laurens at l'École des Beaux-Arts. In 1928, he returned to Los Angeles and studied and later taught at Chouinard and the Otis Art Institutes. Kosa spent the last 35 years of his life working for 20th Century Fox studios as a special effects artist. In 1963 he won an Oscar for his work on Cleopatra. During this time Kosa, along with maintaining a studio-home in LA, decorated churches, theatres, and private homes and continued teaching in Laguna Beach, California. Kosa exhibited at Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 1940, the Biltmore Salon in Los Angeles in 1941. He also showed his works in many other locals nationally including the Carnegie Institute, the Denver Museum, and the Frye Museum. He won dozens of awards in California and nationally from 1928-1961. He is represented in many museums across the United States including the LACMA, the Santa Barbara Museum, the Boston Museum of Fine Art, and the San Diego Museum. Kosa worked in both watercolor and oil. He painted many portraits including the official portrait of Governor Earl Warren. He also painted landscapes, seascapes, figures, and floral works. Through his studio connections, he also produced a large number of commissioned portraits for movie stars, businessmen and politicians. In the 1950s, he was known as the premier portrait painter in Southern California. His official portrait of Earl Warren from this era, is in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. The most interesting aspect of Kosa's body of work is that he had several different styles. He is well known and appreciated in the circle of Still Life and California Plein-Air painters and watercolorists, but he was also painted many symbolist and modernist paintings. In these more expressive works can be seen the influence of his studies in Prague and Paris. Many of his paintings are moody, and somber; a stark contrast to his scenes of California landscapes. He produced a number of abstract works as well, showing the influence of Kupka who he had studied. A compulsive painter, Kosa would often paint for three or four hours after dinner each night and spend most of his weekends outdoors, painting with watercolors or oils. Alexander Cowie was his Los Angeles agent and the Macbeth Gallery sold his work in New York City. The Cowie Gallery, located in the Biltmore Hotel, had several one-man shows every year and included his work in all of their group showings. He was a true art master. Kosa JR. died in Los Angeles on the 4th of November 1968. Studied: Academy of Fine Arts (Prague), Ecole des Beaux Arts (Paris), Chouinard Art Institute (Los Angeles) Member: National Academy of Design, American Watercolor Society~ California Water Color Society, Philadelphia Water Color Club, New York Water Color Club. Museums: Chaffey Community Museum of Art (Ontario, CA) Laguna Art Museum (Laguna Beach, CA) Los Angeles County Museum of Art (Los Angeles, CA) Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (Boston, MA) National Museum of American Art-Smithsonian (Washington, DC) Paine Art Center (Oshkosh, WI) San Diego Museum of Art (San Diego, CA) Springville Museum of Art (Springville, UT) The Carnegie Art Museum (Oxnard, CA) The Hilbert Museum of California Art (Orange, CA) The Jonathan Art Foundation (Los Angeles, CA) USC Fisher Gallery (Los Angeles, CA)