Jerome Myers drypoint, Springtime: Immigrant Mother and Children, circa 1907, signed in pencil lower right, in good condition (soft printer’s creases lower left margin corner), on a soft cream wove paper with a shell/leaf watermark, wide margins, 7 7/8 x 5 7/8 (the sheet 17 1/4 x 11 1/2) inches, archival mounting.

A fine clear impression, with a veil of plate tone, with substantial drypoint burr.

Myers (1876-1940) was an actor and artist, a specialist in the American turn of the century immigrant experience, particularly those immigrants in the Lower East Side of Manhattan; this is a prototypical example of his work.  Active in the art life of the times, he was a prime mover behind the Armory Show of 1913, working with Walt Kuhn to get the (then) highly esteemed Arthur B. Davies to help run the show.  Myer’s paintings are an important part of America’s aesthetic and historical heritage; they can be found, for example, in the National Gallery in Washington alongside those of Bellows and the members of the Ashcan school.  Although his paintings show that he was a talented colorist, his etchings prove that he was (unlike several of his colleagues) also a master draughtsman, able to capture the spirit and atmosphere of the times with an impressionistic approach to printmaking.

Jerome Myers (1867-1940), On Rivington Street, c. 1910, colored etching, signed in pencil lower right. In very good condition, with margins, 6 1/4 x 7 3/4, the sheet 9 1/4 x 10 3/8 inches, printed on a cream wove paper, archival matting.

A fine impression of this rarely encountered print, with the colors fresh, printed in brown, red, yellow, orange, two shades of green.  This print shows no signs of having been editioned.

Myers printed his color prints personally, using different plates for the coloring. Myers’s artistry, and printing skill, are apparent here – one can discern that the various plates used for the coloring were not registered perfectly. This gives the print a hand-crafted, unique quality all too absent in contemporary printmaking.

Myers was an actor and artist, a specialist in the American turn of the century immigrant experience, particularly those immigrants in the Lower East Side of Manhattan; and those immigrants are the subject matter of this work.

Active in the art life of the times, he was a prime mover behind the Armory Show of 1913, successfully working with Walt Kuhn to get the highly esteemed Arthur B. Davies to help arrange the show. Myer’s paintings are an important part of America’s aesthetic and historical heritage; they can be found, for example, in the National Gallery alongside those of Everett Shinn, John Sloan, George Bellows.

Jerome Myers (1867-1940), Children in Mulberry Street, c. 1910, soft ground etching and plate tone, signed in pencil lower right. In good condition (apart from weakening at platemark left), with full margins, on a cream laid paper, 8 1/8 x 10 1/2, the sheet 12 x 18 7/8 inches, archival mounting.

A fine fresh impression of this great rarity.

This is a sketch pad, using the print medium (a la Rembrandt). The figure at the upper left is apparently a drawing, or at least the same figure, as Myers used in another etching called Conversation, two women on a bench talking. The other figures are sketches as well – a girl at the upper right reading, children sleeping on the sidewalk. We have not encountered another impression of these sketches, and they were certainly not issued in any edition or great number.

Provenance: Kennedy Galleries, Inc. (still in their mat with their label)

Myers was an actor and artist, a specialist in the American turn of the century immigrant experience, particularly those immigrants in the Lower East Side of Manhattan; and those immigrants are the subject matter of this work.  Active in the art life of the times, he was a prime mover behind the Armory Show of 1913, working with Walt Kuhn to get the (then) highly esteemed Arthur B. Davies to help arrange the show.  Myer’s paintings are an important part of America’s aesthetic and historical heritage; they can be found, for example, in the National Gallery in Washington alongside those of Bellows and the members of the Ashcan school.  Although his paintings show that he was a talented colorist, his etchings prove that he was (unlike several of his colleagues) also a master draughtsman, able to capture the spirit and atmosphere of the times with an impressionistic approach to printmaking.  Children in Mulberry Street demonstrates this.

Jerome Myers (1867-1940), Morning on the East Side, c. 1910, colored etching, signed in pencil lower right and annotated “imp.”; numbered and titled (twice) lower left. In very good condition, with full margins, 7 5/8 x 6 3/8, the sheet 11 1/2 x 8 7/8 inches, printed on a cream wove paper, archival matting.

A fine impression of this rarely encountered print, with the colors fresh, printed in brown, yellow, pink, blue.

This print is numbered 100/14, suggesting there was an edition of 100. Since we have not encountered another impression of this print, we doubt that this print was editioned at all, and suggest that – as was often the case – the numbering on this print is an expression of hoped for sales rather than an actual edition.

This print was printed by Myers personally (hence the imp annotation, Latin for impressit), using different plates for the coloring. Myers’s artistry, and printing skill, are apparent here – one can discern that the various plates used for the coloring were not registered perfectly. This gives the print a hand-crafted, unique quality all too absent in contemporary printmaking.

Myers was an actor and artist, a specialist in the American turn of the century immigrant experience, particularly those immigrants in the Lower East Side of Manhattan; and those immigrants are the subject matter of this work.

Active in the art life of the times, he was a prime mover behind the Armory Show of 1913, working with Walt Kuhn to get the (then) highly esteemed Arthur B. Davies to help arrange the show. Myer’s paintings are an important part of America’s aesthetic and historical heritage; they can be found, for example, in the National Gallery in Washington alongside those of Bellows and the members of the Ashcan school. Although his paintings show that he was a talented colorist, his etchings prove that he was (unlike several of his colleagues) also a master draughtsman, able to capture the spirit and atmosphere of the times with an impressionistic approach to printmaking.

Jerome Myers (1867-1940), At the Show, etching and drypoint, c. 1920, signed in pencil lower right. In good condition, with margins (paper losses upper corners), faint ink marks and fingerprints in margins and matrix. 5 3/4 x 8 3/4, the sheet 8 1/2 x 11 1/2 inches, archival matting.

A fine strong impression, printed on a tan wove paper, with the burr from the drypoint work printing effectively, and a light veil of plate tone, wiped selectively to frame the faces of the viewers.

This proof, surely printed by the artist, is probably quite rare since we know of no edition or other impressions that have appeared on the market.

Myers was an actor and artist, a specialist in the American turn of the century immigrant experience, particularly those immigrants in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Active in the art life of the times, he was a prime mover behind the Armory Show of 1913, working with Walt Kuhn to get the (then) highly esteemed Arthur B. Davies to help arrange the show. Myer’s paintings are an important part of America’s aesthetic and historical heritage; they can be found, for example, in the National Gallery in Washington alongside those of Bellows and the other members of the Ashcan school. Although his paintings show that he was a talented colorist, his etchings prove that he was (unlike several of his colleagues) also a master draughtsman, able to capture the spirit and atmosphere of the times.