JOHN HARTELL (American 1902-1995), Architect’s Drafting Board
$50,000
Architect’s Drafting Board, 1933-34
Oil on canvas, 18 x 24 inches
Signed l.l., dated on the back
Prominent art historian Alfred Frankenstein labeled Hartell an “American Objectivist. “His is a sturdy, constructed aspect reminiscent of the Regionalists and the Precisionists.” Hartell was born in Brooklyn. He received his B.A. in architecture in 1925 from Cornell University and a fellowship for graduate study at the Royal Academy of Arts in Stockholm. He taught at Clemson College and the University of Illinois, until he returned to Cornell from 1930 to retirement in 1968. In addition to designing several private residences, he worked with a prominent New York architect on buildings for the 1939 World’s Fair. Hartell received numerous awards, exhibited extensively in one-person and group shows. His work is represented in many museums, corporate and private collections.