James McBey (1883-1959), Benachie, etching, 1911, signed in ink lower right and numbered XXVII lower left [also signed and dated in the plate lower right]. Reference: Hardie 90, only state, from the edition of 40 proofs. In good condition with full margins (staining lower left, slight loss upper right corner). 4 3/4 x 6 1/4, the sheet 7 x 9 1/16 inches.

A fine delicately printed impression, with a subtle veil of plate tone covering the land area below the horizon.

The eminent critic Malcolm Salaman wrote of this print: “There is usually in a McBey etching much more than meets the eye, possibly a suggestion of romance, certainly something that the artist’s spirit has touched, an unquestioning poetry. How else account the for the exquisite charm of Benachie, just a clump of silver birches looking across to the endeared mountain, with a suggestion of shrubs growing about, and a woman with an infant in her arms? The impression is atmospheric, and the poetic effect is felt but elusive.”

Detail

]]> http://harrisschrank.com/benachie.htm/feed 0 http://harrisschrank.com/benicasim.htm http://harrisschrank.com/benicasim.htm#comments Sun, 28 Jun 2009 16:56:42 +0000 Harris Schrank http://harrisschrank.com/?p=1471 James McBey (1883-1959), Benicasim, etching, 1911, signed in ink and numbered lower left margin [with initials, title and date in the plate]. Reference: Hardie 96, only state, edition of 40. In very good condition, with wide margins (cut irregularly at bottom, tiny loss upper right corner), 5 5/16 x 8 3/8, the sheet 9 x 11 1/2 inches, archival matting. A fine, delicately printed impression, printed in black ink on cream laid paper. Benicasim is a small Spanish town a few miles north of Valencia. In McBey’s etching it appears beautiful, isolated and remote; today it is built up, [...]]]>

James McBey (1883-1959), Benicasim, etching, 1911, signed in ink and numbered lower left margin [with initials, title and date in the plate]. Reference: Hardie 96, only state, edition of 40. In very good condition, with wide margins (cut irregularly at bottom, tiny loss upper right corner), 5 5/16 x 8 3/8, the sheet 9 x 11 1/2 inches, archival matting.

A fine, delicately printed impression, printed in black ink on cream laid paper.

Benicasim is a small Spanish town a few miles north of Valencia. In McBey’s etching it appears beautiful, isolated and remote; today it is built up, the site of a famous pop music festival.

McBey was of course a student of Rembrandt, and compositionally Benicasim may be referencing Rembrandt’s Three Trees.

James McBey (1883-1959), Ransdorp, etching, 1910, signed in ink bottom right margin and numbered XXXVI bottom left [also signed, titled and dated 29 Aug. 1910 in the plate]. Reference: Hardie and Carter 75, only state, edition of 41, 4 7/8 x 8 15/16, the sheet 9 1/4 x 11 1/2 inches. Printed on old laid paper, with wide margins, a deckle edge bottom and sides. In very good condition, slight soiling in margins, a touch of light tone, archival mounting.

A fine impression, with a veil of plate tone on the area of water in the foreground.

At the age of 26 McBey left his bank job (which he had had for 15 years!) and traveled to Holland, where from July to September of 1910 he created a number of etchings depicting the Dutch landscape. McBey had of course studied Rembrandt’s prints, and the influence of the Master is evident in etchings such as Ransdorp (and the subject matter is reminiscent of Rembrandt’s scenic etchings as well).  During this trip McBey found a folio of old laid paper which he discovered enhanced his printmaking, thereby beginning a life-long habit of printing etchings on fine old papers.

James McBey (1883-1959), Laguna Veneta, 1926, etching, signed in ink bottom right and inscribed “Trial proof IX” bottom left margins. Reference: Hardie 227. One of 11 trial proofs before the edition of 80. In very good condition, with margins (slight mat staining upper margin well above plate line, trimmed irregularly bottom with a loss away from image). On fine laid paper with an elaborate initials (IHS?) watermark. Archival mounting. 7 x 15, the sheet 9 1/2 x 16 1/2 inches.

A fine impression, with plate tone especially toward the left in the water and sky, printed in a dark brown ink.

This is one of the 5 trial proofs used to test the different effects of printing. Here, the plate tone is used to create a brilliant lighting of the sky at the right. The skyline of Venice is shown mistily on the horizon, in the morning sun. McBey added his signature in the plate later for the edition.

McBey’s Venice plates were issued at the height of his career, at a point when his prints were commanding the highest prices in the history of the medium. Noted McBey commentator Robin Garton has written that McBey’s Venice prints are “one of the greatest achievements in twentieth century British printmaking,” and “the high point of his career, images of passion and energy, full of fascination in the subjects and the process of creating them.”

James McBey (1883-1959), Early Morning, Fintray, etching and drypoint, 1911, signed in ink lower right and numbered XIX lower left [also signed, titled and dated in the plate]. Reference: Hardie and Carter 89, from the edition of 40 proofs. In very good condition, printed on cream laid paper, 5 3/8 x 8 3/4, the sheet 6 15/16 x 10 inches, archival matting.

A fine delicately printed impression, with a subtle veil of plate tone.

Provenance: Kennedy Galleries, New York, with their inventory number recto (A3688).

A view of the river Don, Aberdeenshire, with very lightly sketched trees and even more lightly sketched hills in the distance. A woman leans on the fence just to the right of the tree at the right. A boat with its bow out of the water can be seen in the marshy foreground.

James McBey (1883-1959), Haarlem, etching, 1910, signed in ink bottom right margin and numbered XXXV bottom left [also signed, titled and dated July 1910 in the plate]. Reference: Hardie and Carter 61, only state, edition of 40, 4 3/4 x 6 7/16, the sheet 6 1/4 x 8 inches. Printed on old laid paper, with a partial crest watermark, with margins. In good condition, a paper loss upper right corner (away from image), slight soiling in margins, archival mounting.

A fine impression, with a light veil of plate tone.

At the age of 26 McBey left his bank job (which he had had for 15 years!) and traveled to Holland, where from July to September of 1910 he created a number of etchings depicting the Dutch landscape. McBey had studied Rembrandt’s prints, and the influence of the Master is evident in etchings such as Haarlem; Haarlem also is reminiscent of Whistler’s Thames etchings (particularly in the use of the device of the man in the foreground looking over the parapet onto the water), and of course McBey was a student of Whistler as well.  During this trip McBey found a folio of old laid paper which he discovered enhanced his printmaking, thereby beginning a life-long habit of printing etchings on fine old papers.

James McBey (1883-1959), The Ebb Tide, or, Brightling Sea, etching, 1922-3, signed in ink bottom right margin and numbered in ink bottom left margin (IV/L) [also signed, dated and titled in the plate]. Reference: Hardie and Carter 216. From the British Edition (as numbered in Roman Numerals from I to L); the total edition was 76. In very good condition (some glue on verso, small loss lower margin edge far from image, on old laid paper with a Four Balls watermark, with margins, 8 3/8 x 13 3/4, the sheet 10 1/2 x 16 1/2 inches.  Archivally matted, with acid free window mat, non-attached mylar hinging.

Provenance: The Montclair (New Jersey) Museum, with their catalogue numbering verso.

A fine impression, printed on a tan paper in black ink, with a light veil of plate tone overall, slightly accentuated in the watery area towards the bottom.

The print portrays daybreak on Brightlingsea Creek. In the morning mist the Thames barges appear on the left, and the oyster boats moving toward the sea at the right.

Although this is a Thames print, it presages in mood and composition the Venice prints McBey created a few years later.

Hardie wrote that “there is a brilliant outflash, a lighthouse radiance about The Ebb Tide. The Ebb Tide, a peaceful rendering of light and air and boats on an oily sea, possesses as its secret what the early Christian described to the Roman magistrate as the secret of his faith – it has the “mysterium simplicitatis”. It has, at any rate, the appearance of it and yet to those of us who are interested in technical matters, it is intriguing to note how cunningly all the lines across the boats and their sails radiate from where the unseen sun is rising in the mist. And I gladly follow Mr. Malcolm Salaman, who, speaking of The Ebb Tide in “Fine Prints of the Year”, puts it to the test of those four qualities which Sir Charles Holmes says all fine pictures must possess: “Unity, Vitality, Infinity, Repose – is any of these lacking?”