Adriaan Lubbers (Dutch 1892 – 1954)

The El at Chatham Square

Lithograph from stone, 1930

Number 1 from the edition 100

Image:  9.25 x 5.875 in.

Sheet:  10.75 x 8.25 in.

Signed, dated and numbered in pencil, lower margin

A superb, richly-inked impression of this scarce print.

Reference: Museum of the City of New York 17

Born into an affluent family in Amsterdam in 1892, Adriaan Lubbers always desired to be an artist. After getting a degree in mechanical engineering in Buenos Aires, he returned to Amsterdam in 1914, where he began a career as an artist. He travelled to New York for the first time in 1916 and held a series of odd jobs, such as a factory worker, herring peddler, mechanic and a cabaret singer in order to make ends meet. He stayed in New York until 1919, painting images of New York and its landmarks. He returned to Europe and along with artist Leo Gestel, traveled though Germany and Italy, adapting a Cubist style. He retuned to the United States from 1926-1928 and in 1932 lived in Paris, where he met Piet Mondriaan. Throughout the 1930s, Lubbers lived between the Netherlands and the United States. He came to Chicago in 1933 and painted images of the world’s fair, the “Century of Progress” exposition. Lubbers exhibited at Rockefeller Center in 1937. With the advent of war, he returned to the Netherlands.