Three (3) George Ayers Cress (American/Tennessee, 1921-2008) works on paper including two framed nude pencil on paper drawings and one photograph. 1st & 2nd items: Two framed nude graphite drawings of females including one depicting a standing nude partially reclining, signed lower left and dated 1963 and one smaller drawing depicting a sitting female nude, signed lower right and dated 1960. Both with artist's labels en verso and housed in silvered gilt frames. Sight: 16-1/4" H x 7-1/2" W, Framed: 24-3/4" H x 15-1/2" W and Sight: 7" H x 5-1/2" W, Framed: 15-1/4" H x 13-1/4" W.

3rd item: George Ayers Cress (American/Tennessee, 1921-2008) signed and dated framed photograph depicting the interior of an artist's studio with a sketch of an orange tacked to a wall and an orange on a pedestal to the right, with raking light from a window casting shadows on the composition. Pencil signed and dated lower right, "George Cress - 1978 - Florence, Italy". Housed in a modern gilt wood frame. Sight: 10-3/4" H x 13-3/4" W. Framed: 18-3/4" H x 21-1/2" W.

Biography: "George Cress was born in Anniston, Alabama and studied at Emory University, American University, and the University of Georgia, where he studied under fellow Southern contemporary artist Lamar Dodd. He was a central figure in Chattanooga's arts community and served as President of the Tennessee Arts Council. He sat on the board of the Hunter Museum of Art. From 1951-1984 he was painter in residence at the University of Tennessee in Chattanooga. The Cress Gallery of Art at UTC is named in his honor." (Source: The Tennessee Historical Quarterly Vol. XLIV No. 2: "Landscape and Genre Painting in Tennessee 1810-1985").

PROVENANCE: Property of the Hunter Museum of American Art.

1st & 2nd items: Light overall toning to paper for both, otherwise overall good condition. Frames with very minor wear. 3rd item: Photograph overall good condition, frame with scattered minor losses.