Harbor Scene - Golden Gate Bridge, Mid-Century Illustration, Female Illustrator

Original mid-century illustration for the children's book "Good Work" by John G. McCullough, Young Scott Books, N.Y. It depicts a busy harbor filled with commercial and leisure traffic. Notice all the charming little people, busy at work - dotting the docks and boats. Ipcar masterfully designed the work so that your eye effortlessly travels from more prominent foreground elements to more minor elements in the distance. But her color scheme limited only to two colors sets "Harbor Scene" apart from the humdrum and elevates it to a sophisticated children's book illustration. The suspension bridge in the back of the composition is modeled after the Golden Gate. The illustration bears the hallmarks of modernism with its flat shapes and quick painterly style. "Harbor Scene" represents the artist's early style. By the '60s and '70s, her work began to take on a new direction with intricate patterns and depicting animals.
Signed lower right with the artist's label on verso. Dahlov Ipcar is the daughter of William Zorach and Marguerite Thomason Zorach. In 1939 at the age of 21, Dahlov Ipca had her first solo exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Her work is also in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Brooklyn Museum, among others.