Walter Charles Klett
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Excellent Mid-century nude by famous illustrator/ artist Walter Charles Klett. The work is masterfully painted with a sound understanding of the basic academic principles guiding the human figure's painting. Signed Kleet lower right and with the artist's label on verso — oil on masonite.
Biography from the Makeup Museum: Walter Charles Klett (1897-1966) was primarily known not for portraits but for his figurative paintings and commercial work for magazines such as Collier's. Born in St. Louis, he attended the School of Fine Arts there before heading to Chicago in 1925. Three years later, he and his wife moved to New York, where he remained until his death in 1966.
Klett published a very well-received guide to figurative paintings in 1948. Said one critic, "The artist declares he is a painter of women, and he definitely prefers glamorous women, and this predilection, he believes, damns him in the eyes of contemporary painters whose brushes are moved by anything but beauty." Klett's women are indeed glamorous, but there's also a sensuality about them that borders on classic pin-up style. Turns out, Klett did illustrate a pin-up for Esquire. Later in his career Klett experimented with pastels and watercolors, lending a softer, airier feel.