From The Dauer Collection Mid 20th Century Gouache & Ink on Paper 14.5"x15.5" framed, 4.5"x5.5" unframed Entitled Series V, this mid 20th century gouache and ink on paper abstracted figure scene is by Polish-American artist Mortimer Borne. Excellent vintage condition. Framed in a contemporary "Dutch Style" contemporary frame with a hand-painted gold finish using archival matting behind conservation clear glass. About the Artist Mortimer Borne (1902-1987) was a Polish-born, American printmaker, painter, sculptor and teacher. His family immigrated to the United States in 1916 to escape World War I, where he took up study at the National Academy of Design, the Art Students League of New York and the Beaux-Art Institute of Design. He also studied with Charles Webster Hawthorne, founder of the Cape Cod School of Art in Provincetown. He was collected by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Museum of Modern Art, The Smithsonian Institution, The National Gallery of Art, and The Victoria and Albert Museum. Borne picked up printmaking in the 1920s and by 1930 his work was being sold by the esteemed Frederick Keppel & Co in New York City. Apart from drypoints, Borne was also a passionate sculptor and created works from wood he either collected or had donated from around the globe. He taught at the New School for Social Research for nearly twenty years. About the Collector John A. Dauer (1933-2017) was a collector of many things, the vast majority of which convey stories of hard work, craftsmanship, industry, unsung histories, and associations with those he loved and respected. Born and raised on Staten Island, New York in 1933, John grew up among a close-knit family of entrepreneurial bakers, wood carvers, and leather merchants. He graduated in 1954 from Columbia College with a bachelor’s degree in anthropology. He went on to work with his father John Sr., at the New York City-based John A. Dauer Leather Company. During and after his undergraduate studies, John enrolled in painting, print making, and sculpture classes at Columbia, the New School for Social Research, and Greenwich House. Many of his teachers (including Margot Kempe and Peppino Mangravite) were recent European emigres and WPA artists, sympathetic to the themes of social realism and late modernism. Although he made his living and supported his family as a leather salesman, John consistently maintained an interest in, and passion for, the creative work of artists and craft people throughout his life. The subjects and scale of his collecting varied over the years (from large 18th century cupboards to hand carved fishing lures), but let’s just say his houses and barns often resembled mini-Mercer Museums. During his last 2 decades, John focused his collecting efforts on the work of print makers and painters who reminded him or were directly associated with those who influenced him during his New York youth. Images and the stories of sailors, stevedores, factory workers, craftsmen, pushcart vendors, musicians, stoop sitters, and artists abound.
