IRVING NORMAN (1906-1989)

IRVING NORMAN The Lithuanian-American artist Irving Norman was a social surrealist who painted large-scale and highly detailed critiques of contemporary life with hopes that viewers would consider the consequences of their actions and change their behavior. Influenced by the dire conditions of the Great Depression, his massive canvases feature armies of clone-like figures behaving in the clockwork manner in which they have been programmed. He moved from New York to Los Angeles in 1934 before helping to defend the Spanish Republic from the fascist Franco dictatorship. He survived the Spanish Civil War and in 1939 settling on Catalina Island off the Southern California coast, where he began drawing and painting from the atrocities he had witnessed. In 1940, he moved to San Francisco and had a solo exhibition at the San Francisco Museum of Art two years later. He then traveled to Mexico City and saw the murals of Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco, and David Alfaro Siqueiros before moving to New York City to studying at the Art Students League from 1946 to 1947. He returned to San Francisco in the late 1940s. In 1988, fire destroyed his home, studio, artwork, and personal papers.

ARTWORK

IRVING NORMAN
The Human Condition
oil on canvas
120 x 182 in.
IRVING NORMAN
The Academy
oil on canvas
110 x 90 in.
IRVING NORMAN
Funeral of the Gods
oil on canvas
90 x 110 in.
IRVING NORMAN
The Summit, The Ultimate Summit
oil on canvas
120 x 80 in.
IRVING NORMAN
Interrelations
oil on canvas
120 x 80 in.
IRVING NORMAN
American Street Scene
oil on canvas
74 x 90 in.
IRVING NORMAN
Students
oil on canvas
110 x 72 in.
IRVING NORMAN
Supreme Justice
oil on canvas
100 x 76 in.
IRVING NORMAN
M.F.I. Complex
oil on canvas
100 x 76 in.
IRVING NORMAN
Farewell
oil on canvas
90 x 100 in.
IRVING NORMAN
To the Unknown
oil on canvas
96 x 72 in.
IRVING NORMAN
Children #2
oil on canvas
72 x 90 in.
IRVING NORMAN
Totems
oil on canvas
72 x 110 in.
IRVING NORMAN
Monumental
oil on canvas
90 x 64 in.
IRVING NORMAN
Air Raid Shelter
oil on canvas
100 x 64 in.
IRVING NORMAN
Liberation War Prisoners
oil on canvas
72 x 90 in.
IRVING NORMAN
Man of Sorrow
oil on canvas
84 x 60 in.
IRVING NORMAN
War Wounded
oil on canvas
70 x 60 in.
IRVING NORMAN
Wanderers
oil on canvas
90 x 30 in.
IRVING NORMAN
Prison
oil on canvas
56 x 46 in.
IRVING NORMAN
Aspirations
oil on canvas
90 x 54 in.
IRVING NORMAN
The Lawmakers, The Legislators
oil on canvas
90 x 72 in.
IRVING NORMAN
Chairman of the Board
oil on canvas
90 x 48 in.
IRVING NORMAN
City Image
oil on canvas
124 x 44 in.
IRVING NORMAN
Prisoners
oil on canvas
52 x 68 1/8 in.
IRVING NORMAN
Draftee
oil on canvas
100 x 38 in.
IRVING NORMAN
Flight
oil on canvas
60 x 74 in.
IRVING NORMAN
To Be Remembered
oil on canvas
90 x 48 in.
IRVING NORMAN
Thirty Pieces of Silver
oil on canvas
90 x 54 in.
IRVING NORMAN
Carousel Restaurant
oil on canvas
60 x 72 in.
IRVING NORMAN
Bacchanal
oil on canvas
69 1/2 x 39 1/2 in.
IRVING NORMAN
Mining
oil on canvas
40 x 84 in.
IRVING NORMAN
Cityscape
oil on canvas
74 1/8 x 37 1/2 in.
IRVING NORMAN
Big City
watercolor on paper
80 x 29 in.
IRVING NORMAN
Totem of a Holy Family
oil on canvas
90 x 19 3/4 in.
IRVING NORMAN
Frosted Window
oil on canvas
36 x 90 in.
IRVING NORMAN
My World and Yours
graphite on paper
74 x 28 in.
IRVING NORMAN
Rural Family
oil on canvas
36 x 72 in.
IRVING NORMAN
Crossing the Bridge
oil on canvas
90 x 60 in.
IRVING NORMAN
Homeless 2
oil on canvas
72 x 36 in.
IRVING NORMAN
Prisoner
oil on canvas
54 x 20 in.
IRVING NORMAN
Homeless 1
oil on canvas
48 x 60 in.
IRVING NORMAN
Slum Youth
oil on canvas
44 1/4 x 20 1/4 in.
IRVING NORMAN
Untitled
charcoal
38 3/4 x 17 1/4 in.
IRVING NORMAN
Strange Lovers (The Hard Marriage)
ink and colored pencil on paper
22 3/4 x 29 in.
IRVING NORMAN
Striptease
pencil and colored pencil on paper
30 x 20 in.
IRVING NORMAN
Night Life 2
graphite on paper
22 x 28 in.
IRVING NORMAN
Women Welders, The Ship
graphite on paper
14 1/4 x 28 3/8 in.
IRVING NORMAN
Shrapnel
pen and ink on artists board
29 3/4 x 20 in.
IRVING NORMAN
Wine Bottle
graphite on paper
18 7/8 x 11 5/8 in.
IRVING NORMAN
Pocket Sketch Pad
graphite on paper
5 1/2 x 3 1/2 in.
IRVING NORMAN
Untitled (Possible Study for "Liberation War Prisonerss")
pencil on paper
14 x 16 1/2 in.
IRVING NORMAN
Untitled (Possible Study for "Children #2)
graphite on paper
10 7/8 x 13 5/8 in.
IRVING NORMAN
Untitled
graphite and crayon on paper
12 x 8 7/8 in.
IRVING NORMAN
Untitled
graphite and crayon on paper
12 x 8 7/8 in.
IRVING NORMAN
Untitled
graphite on paper
9 x 11 5/8 in.
IRVING NORMAN
Untitled
pencil on paper
11 3/4 x 9 in.
IRVING NORMAN
Untitled
pencil on paper
9 x 11 3/4 in.
IRVING NORMAN
Untitled
pencil on paper
7 1/4 x 5 1/4 in.
IRVING NORMAN
Untitled
pencil on paper
9 5/8 x 7 in.
IRVING NORMAN
Untitled
pencil on paper
9 5/8 x 7 in.
IRVING NORMAN
The Circus, Balancing Act 2 (a Study)
pencil on paper
11 x 9 in.
IRVING NORMAN
The Circus, The Balancing Act 2a (a Study)
pencil on paper
11 x 9 in.
IRVING NORMAN
Pocket Sketch Pad
graphite on paper
5 1/2 x 3 1/2 in.
IRVING NORMAN
Untitled
pen and ink on paper
8 x 5 in.
IRVING NORMAN
From Work
lithograph on paper
20 x 25 in.
IRVING NORMAN
From Work
lithograph on paper
20 x 25 in.
IRVING NORMAN
Untitled (Possible Study for "The Immortality of Beethoven's 9th Symphony")
pencil on paper
14 x 11 in.
IRVING NORMAN
Untitled (Bodies in Crypt)
pencil on paper
7 1/2 x 3 7/8 in.
IRVING NORMAN
Untitled (War Study)
graphite on paper
6 x 3 1/2 in.
IRVING NORMAN
Pocket Sketch Pad
graphite on paper
5 1/2 x 3 1/2 in.
IRVING NORMAN
Untitled (Fire Bird)
graphite and crayon on paper
12 x 8 7/8 in.
IRVING NORMAN
Untitled (Smoking Man)
pen on paper
8 7/8 x 6 in.
IRVING NORMAN
Untitled (Bodies)
pencil on paper
6 3/4 x 2 in.
IRVING NORMAN
Untitled (Possible Study for "Celebration")
graphite on paper
4 7/8 x 3 in.
IRVING NORMAN
Untitled (Man with Fire Bird)
graphite and crayon on paper
12 x 8 7/8 in.
IRVING NORMAN
Sketch Pad
graphite on paper
6 x 3 7/8 in.
IRVING NORMAN
Untitled
pen and ink
3 1/2 x 2 1/2 in.
IRVING NORMAN
Untitled
pen and ink on paper
3 1/2 x 2 1/2 in.
IRVING NORMAN
Untitled (Possible Study for "From Work")
pencil on paper
11 x 14 in.
IRVING NORMAN
Untitled (Head with Fire)
graphite and crayon on paper
12 x 8 7/8 in.
IRVING NORMAN
Untitled (Possible Study for "From Work")
pencil on paper
11 x 14 in.
IRVING NORMAN
Untitled
pen and ink on paper
3 1/2 x 2 1/2 in.
IRVING NORMAN
Untitled
pen and ink on paper
3 3/8 x 2 1/2 in.
IRVING NORMAN
Untitled (Man Wearing Hat and Tunic)
pen on paper
9 1/4 x 6 1/4 in.
IRVING NORMAN
Untitled (Head of Woman)
graphite on paper
12 x 8 7/8 in.
IRVING NORMAN
Untitled (Stacked Heads)
graphite on paper
12 x 8 7/8 in.
IRVING NORMAN
Untitled (Two Sketches: Man Wearing Hat and Man Carrying Heart)
pen on paper
9 1/8 x 6 1/4 in.
IRVING NORMAN
Untitled (Possible Study for "From Work")
graphite on paper
5 x 3 1/2 in.
IRVING NORMAN
Untitled (Four Heads)
graphite on paper
5 x 3 1/2 in.
IRVING NORMAN
Untitled (Possible Study for "The Immortality of Beethoven's 9th Symphony" 2)
graphite on paper
14 x 11 in.
IRVING NORMAN
Untitled (Abstract Heads)
pen on paper
8 7/8 x 6 in.
IRVING NORMAN
Untitled (Abstract Head)
graphite on paper
12 x 8 7/8 in.
Artist Inquire