Artist

Charles Wells

born New York City 1935
Born
New York, New York, United States
Biography

Charles Wells, who initially intended to become a writer, began painting in an attempt to supplement his income. Around 1961, he discovered a book design by Leonard Baskin that wound up changing his life. Determined to study with the sculptor, he packed his paintings into his car, and headed for Northampton, Massachusetts, where Baskin was teaching. By the mid 1960s Wells had given up literary ambitions for his interest in the visual arts. He received a Prix de Rome and spent a year at the American Academy. In his sculpture and graphic work, Wells often chooses motifs related to humanity's struggle against unnatural restraints. He works with the theme of the individual as victim, and draws ideas from literature and contemporary social issues. Like his generalized figural compositions, his portraits have a haunting, masklike quality that probes psychological states rather than nuances of appearance.

Virginia M. Mecklenburg Modern American Realism: The Sara Roby Foundation Collection (Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press for the National Museum of American Art, 1987)

Works by this artist (11 items)

Gifford Beal, Farm in Essex, ca. 1950, oil on fiberboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of Henry Ward Ranger through the National Academy of Design, 1966.75
Farm in Essex
Dateca. 1950
oil on fiberboard
Not on view
Gifford Beal, Circus Performer, ca. 1930, lithograph on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution, 2008.31
Circus Performer
Dateca. 1930
lithograph on paper
Not on view
Gifford Beal, Kimmit's Lock (mural study, Allentown, Pennsylvania  Post Office), 1937-1938, ink wash, charcoal and graphite on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the General Services Administration, 1974.28.334
Kimmit’s Lock (mural study, Allentown, Pennsylvania Post…
Date1937-1938
ink wash, charcoal and graphite on paper
Not on view