Sailor's Hands Etching
Limited Edition by Roselle Osk

This item is sold.  It has been placed here in our online archives as a service for researchers and collectors.

Sailor's Hands
Sailor's Hands
Sailor's Hands Sailor's Hands
Roselle Hellenberg Osk (1884-1954)
No. 4 Series of Hands -- The Sailor
American: c. 1930s-40s
Signed in pencil lower right
Titled in pencil lower center
Numbered in pencil lower left 4/100
Black-and-white etching
8 x 9.5 inches plate mark
10.25 x 12 inches overall
14.75 x 16.5 inches in gold frame
Sold, please inquire as to the availability of similar items.

Strong sailor’s hands grip a thick rope, with sailing ships and a maritime dock scene in the background.  The subject matter of the work is typical of 1930s art, celebrating the skill and strength of workers.  The treatment, however, is original, “zooming in” on the hands while the scene behind provides context.  The artist exhibits her understanding of anatomy and command of tonal drawing in rendering the tension of the hand muscles.

Roselle Hellenberg Osk has numerous exhibition and association credits.  She was born in New York City and studied at Hunter College, the Art Students League, Grand Central Art School, the National Academy of Design, and with other artists.   Between 1938 and 1946 she exhibited annually at museums across the country: the San Francisco Museum of Fine Arts, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, the National Academy of Design, Grand Central Art Gallery, the Seattle Art Museum, the Corcoran Gallery of Art and others.  Her work is in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Library of Congress, New York Public Library, the Smithsonian Institution and the Corcoran.

Reference:

Falk, Peter Hastings, ed.  Who Was Who in American Art.  Madison, Connecticut:  Sound View Press, 1985.  p. 462.