Red crayon on paper, c. 1940, unsigned, titled lower left; Steve; and Andy, two charcoal on paper, both signed 'Kline' and titled lower right; and Rose, brown crayon on paper, signed 'Kline' and titled lower right, Andy and Steve with label from Jeremy Stone Gallery, San Francisco. All 12 x 9 in. (sheet), 19 x 16 in. (frame). Note: This series of portraits (lots 292 to 298) were drawn by Kline during the 1940s at Minetta Tavern in Greenwich Village. Kline was a regular there and sketched many of the tavern's patrons, selling them for 50 cents each to help pay his bar bill. During this period, Kline painted many studio portraits and landscape views, as well as murals depicting vaudeville and burlesque scenes. These caricature portraits, however, were done quickly in a bold, expressive style, and in them we can begin to see some of what would emerge later in his work the following decade. This group of drawings came from the original owner of Minetta Tavern, Mr. Endes Sieveri.