Chris Ritter Mid-Century Pastel and Watercolor Drawing of Wounded Lion leather covered waverly cigarette tin as well as tongues

as well as tongues

done on white paper collaged onto the painting

rich red Ace of Hearts

but full of personality

The signature is close to the one Mårtensson used she to sign her ceramics

Chris Ritter Mid-Century Pastel and Watercolor Drawing of Wounded Lion leather covered waverly cigarette tin as well as tonguesPainter, printmaker, educator, and gallerist Chris Ritter (1906 1976), who made this large drawing I believe in the 1950s or so, was a fascinating character and important figure in the New York Postwar Avant Garde scene, whose work is represented in the British Museum, the Brooklyn Museum, the Art Institute of Chicago, the New York Public Library, and the Whitney Museum of American Art as well as many other collections. (More bio below.) I purchased