"Bending Woodman Toy" Ink on Paper, Drawing by Jerry O'Day

Details

Description

This minimalist ink drawing by Jerry O’Day presents a stylized articulated figure in mid-motion, its body reduced to a sequence … Read more This minimalist ink drawing by Jerry O’Day presents a stylized articulated figure in mid-motion, its body reduced to a sequence of geometric forms linked by fine, deliberate lines. The simplicity of contour and the sparse composition lend the work a quiet humor and psychological resonance, recalling both a puppeteer's precision and a modernist fascination with the human form in abstraction. Executed on warm, aged paper, the piece embodies a sense of restraint and wit, typical of O’Day’s ink studies.

Collector’s Note
Signed “Jerry O’Day” at lower left, this work represents an excellent example of the artist’s refined draftsmanship and wry simplicity. Its directness, combined with the subtly surreal posture of the figure, makes it a poetic addition to any collection of mid-century Californian modern art.

About the Artist
Jerry O’Day (1912 – 1986) was a San Francisco Bay Area painter and draftsman known for her abstract and figurative works. Born Geraldine Naomi Heib, she adopted the name Jerry O’Day early in life and pursued an artistic path that balanced sensitivity and experimentation. O’Day studied art in California and later opened a gallery with her husband Dave Lemon in Belvedere, exhibiting regularly from the 1940s through the 1960s.Her solo shows included the Torrance Gallery (1955), Marin Art Gallery (1956), Palace of the Legion of Honor (1962), Lucien Labaudt Gallery (1963), and a posthumous exhibition at Landmarks Gallery (1991). She also participated in early group exhibitions at the San Francisco Art Association (1941). O’Day lived on a houseboat in Sausalito from 1963 until her death in 1986, continuing to create works that blend abstraction, humor, and humanity. See less