Lot 268, Auction 4/20/2026: Arthur Knebel Pastel – Woman on Phone

$390.00

In stock

Arthur Knebel (American, 1925-2013). Woman on phone. Pastel drawing on paper, n.d. Signed at lower right. A woman leans into the private geometry of a phone call, her body angled and her expression suspended between listening and reply. Rendered in pastel, this intimate composition captures a fleeting human exchange that feels both immediate and elusive. The telephone, suggested rather than fully described, becomes a conduit rather than a prop, anchoring the figure in a moment of quiet communication. Knebel builds the image through layered color and softened edges, allowing form to emerge gradually from a dark, atmospheric ground. Deep browns and umbers envelop the scene, punctuated by flashes of teal, blue, and muted red that trace the figure’s shoulders, face, and hands. The woman’s features are intentionally unresolved, hovering between recognition and abstraction, as if shaped by memory rather than observation. Size of pastel: 22″ W x 16.5″ H (55.9 cm x 41.9 cm); of frame: 31.25″ W x 26″ H (79.4 cm x 66 cm)

Pastel proves an ideal medium for Knebel’s sensitivity to tone and light. Pigment is rubbed, dragged, and layered, creating a surface that feels worked and reflective. Light appears not as illumination from a single source but as a shifting presence, recalling a photographer’s instinct for mood over detail. The background dissolves into vertical and horizontal bands, suggesting an interior space without defining it, allowing the emotional focus to remain on the act of listening itself.

This drawing reflects Knebel’s lyrical approach to figuration, where everyday gestures become sites of quiet intensity. The phone call is not dramatized but held in suspension, its meaning unresolved and private. Like much of his work, the image resists narrative closure, offering instead a moment of attentive stillness. The result is a meditation on connection, solitude, and the subtle weight carried by ordinary acts when observed with patience and care.

About the artist: Arthur Henry Knebel Jr. was a gifted painter, photographer, and professional violist whose life intertwined the disciplines of sound, color, and light. Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1925 to Arthur Henry Knebel and Margie Shafer Knebel, he grew up in a household steeped in the arts. His mother, a lecturer on modern art in the 1940s, and his father, a drafting artist, instilled in him both technical discipline and creative curiosity.

Before devoting himself fully to painting in 1986, Knebel enjoyed a distinguished musical career spanning more than four decades. He performed as a violist with the Cincinnati Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, North Carolina Symphony, Houston Symphony, and Denver Symphony orchestras, among others. After joining the Denver Musicians Association in 1964, he later taught at Metropolitan State College from 1987 to 1988.

Knebel’s visual art reflects his mid-century sensibilities and a deep engagement with color, light, and design. A perfectionist by nature, he sought balance between realism and abstraction, frequently reworking his canvases to achieve ideal tonal harmony. His paintings often show the influence of photography – an art form he practiced with precision, developing his own prints and manipulating negatives to control the distribution of light. When painting, he sometimes used an orbital sander on the dried surface to refine texture and form.

Arthur’s work was poetic both in mood and method. His subjects were often figurative, imbued with a quiet lyricism that mirrored his musical compositions. His poem “Shadow” encapsulates his introspective spirit:

“My shadow is the prisoner of the sun / Xeroxed days stapled on the wall / Taller than you, smaller than me / The tricks that run this show / Are wound up like a clock / Stretched like a lie / Sent like an errand in search of a meaning / Clenched like a fist at night / My shadow.”

Though deeply private, Knebel exhibited occasionally, including at the Denver Art Museum and the Koelbel Library’s Joan R. Duncan Gallery in Centennial, Colorado, in 2008, where he and his wife, pianist Susan Cowan Knebel, provided live music during the show. Their marriage, beginning the day after Thanksgiving in 1986, united two artists in a lifelong devotion to music and art.

Arthur Knebel passed away in 2013 at the Denver Hospice Care Center. His legacy endures through his paintings, which continue to find new homes through the ongoing efforts of his estate.

Condition: Mounted behind glass in custom matte and frame; has not been examined outside of glass. A few minor nicks to frame, but, otherwise, pastel and frame appear to be in excellent overall condition with suspension wire on verso for display. Signed at lower right.

Provenance: private Shawnee, Colorado, USA collection

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