Lot 4333
Wes Crawley (American, 1922-1985), Seated Nude Sketch
Lot Details & Additional Photographs
Frame dimensions 22 1/4 x 18 1/2 in.
Private Collection, Greenville, North Carolina
Wesley V. Crawley was an American sculptor, draftsman, and educator whose work centered on the human figure. Raised in the Chicago area, he received a scholarship to study at the Art Institute of Chicago at age thirteen and later earned undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Oregon School of Fine Arts, where he also served on the faculty. Crawley exhibited widely beginning in the 1950s, receiving awards at the California State Ceramics Exhibition, Oregon State Sculptors Exhibition, and other regional exhibitions. He was a longtime member and treasurer of the Pacific Northwest Institute of Sculptors and later served as a regional representative for the Southern Association of Sculptors.
In 1959, Crawley began working and exhibiting on the East Coast and ultimately joined the faculty of East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina, where he taught sculpture and drawing. A versatile artist, he worked in carved wood and stone, welded steel and bronze, cast bronze, ceramics, cast paper, and other media. Much of his sculptural work was commissioned and included portrait, garden, and architectural projects. Despite this diversity of materials and techniques, the human figure remained central to his practice, serving as a means of exploring human experience, emotion, and the individual's relationship to the wider world.
Toning to sheet; not examined out of the frame.
