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Charles Wells

American

1935-2017

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  1. Hermann Hesse by Charles Wells, Image 1.

    Charles Wells

    Hermann Hesse, 1969

    Black and white etching

    26 x 19 in

  2. Him by Charles Wells, Image 1.

    Charles Wells

    Him, 1978

    Black and white etching

    24.75 x 18.5 in

  3. Walt Whitman by Charles Wells, Image 1.

    Charles Wells

    Walt Whitman, 1975

    Black and white etching

    18 x 15 in

  4. James Joyce by Charles Wells, Image 1.

    Charles Wells

    James Joyce, 1967

    Black and white etching

Charles Wells was an American printmaker and sculptor. Born in New York City in 1935, he initially pursued a career in literature before a revelatory encounter with the art of Leonard Baskin (1922–2000) changed the course of his life. He studied for an apprenticeship under Baskin, eventually receiving fellowships that allowed him to work for a time in Italy before returning to the United States, where he settled on his family's property in Pennsylvania. “He works with the theme of the individual as victim, and draws ideas from literature and contemporary social issues,” noted the Smithsonian curator Virginia M. Mecklenburg in 1987. “Like his generalized figural compositions, his portraits have a haunting, masklike quality that probes psychological states rather than nuances of appearance.” Wells is represented in the permanent collections of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C., Whitney Museum, New York, Westmoreland County Museum of Art, Pennsylvania, and other institutions. He passed away in 2017.