CLARA KLINGHOFFER (1900-1970) Original Limited Edition Lithograph 1950s SIGNED

CLARA KLINGHOFFER (American/British/German, 1900 - 1970). Title: "American Art for Spring Fantasia" - 1950s. Medium: Original Lithograph on colored laid paper.

Signature: Signed in the plate. Edition: Limited Edition of 2000, not individually numbered. Size: About 12 x 9 inches. Printer: Artist Equity Funds, Inc.

Notes: Part of the Improvisations Portfolio (for the Spring Fantasia Masquerade Ball in New York) published by the Artist Equity Association. The portfolio consisted of advertisements for local New York City businesses where each advertisement was an original lithograph: Each page was designed by the artist directly on the litho plate, thus making this a collection of original lithographs. This Original Lithograph was produced for an annual art event in the 1950's for local businesses and major corporations largely based in New York. Historically important for corporate archivists, these are extremely rare to locate and are virtually unseen individually. The original lithographs were produced in only one edition, and included just 2,000. These lithographs are perhaps the most unique, rare, important advertising collectibles that exist for businesses and corporations. Clara Esther Klinghoffer was a British artist, notable for her paintings, prints, and drawings. Although she had exhibited in the United States during the forties, fifties and sixties, she refused to join the abstract expressionism which had become so popular in America and her prominence was overshadowed by what she referred to as the splatter and drip approach to art. In 1981, Terrence Mullaly, in the Daily Telegraph wrote, If ever there was an artist who for some time has been unjustly forgotten, it is Clara Klinghoffer.

While the temporary eclipse of her reputation was not, given trends in the visual arts, surprising, it is certainly lamentable. She was a portrait painter of sensitive talent and, above all, a fine draughtsman, When much more celebrated artists are forgotten, she will be remembered.

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