Emil Nolde (1876-1956), etching and aquatint, 1911, signed in pencil lower right (titled lower margin edge). Reference: Schiefler and Mosel 168, fifth state (of 5). Printer: Sabo. In excellent condiion, the full sheet with wide margins, 11 3/4 x 9 3/4, the sheet 23 1/2 x 18 1/2 inches. Archival storage, between acid free board, unattached mylar hinging.

A superb impression, with the composition, figures and light quite vivid and clear, yet still atmospheric.

The essential design of this print was complete in the first state; in the subsequent states Nolde experimented with the shading and effects of aquatint. Here the figures are quite bright, with the light focused on them and contrasting strongly with the dark background at the top.

As was typical for Nolde in this early phase of his printmaking career, he here uses various techniques –  including aquatint, spreading acid on the plate, and biting the plate with acid at different points in the printmaking process – to create tonal and speckling effects which contribute to the atmospheric and mystical quality of the final composition.

The themes of this print were never far from Nolde’s reality in the early 1900’s. His wife became a semi-invalid soon after their marriage in 1902, and Nolde himself recovered from a severe illness in 1909.

Emil  Nolde (1876-1956),  etching and aquatint (tonal effects), 1922, signed in pencil lower right (also titled lower left). Reference: Schiefler-Mosel 207. In good condition, with very wide full margins (small loss and repaired tear upper left corner, rippling and slight soft folds at sheet edges); matrix immaculate. On an ivory wove paper with the J Zanders 1914 watermark. 12 1/4 x 9 3/4, the sheet 25 1/2 19 1/2 inches.

A fine clear and well printed impression.

In 1922 Nolde created 21 etchings, his last significant group of etchings. These were mostly compositions of weirdly shaped figures engaged in some activity or conversation, as in this example where the conversation is particularly lively. The two figures complement each other graphically, with swooping lines from one paralleled by the outline of the other; the figure on the left raises his left foot as if he’s about to stamp on the floor; the figure on the right holds one arm in the air, perhaps to make a point. At the right are some palm trees. The figures are humorous – perhaps – but one also senses a tension, perhaps some darkness in this “dispute.” Both figures wear odd hats.

Nolde’s method of achieving his “tonal effects” has never been satisfactorily explained. Schliefer observed that “they recall what is usually called aquatint, but differ in that any uniformity of tone is avoided. The etching ground is obviously laid on the different parts of the plate in differing depths so that the plate is exposed in one place sooner, in another later, to the action of the acid. Moreover the method of the laying on, whether it is with a bristly or a  fine brush, a palette knife or the fingers, whether it is spread out or left in a mass, also has its effect and gives the tone sometimes a streaky or cloudy, sometimes a grainy or fleck-like character.”

Emil Nolde (1867-1956), Doppelbildness (Double Portrait), woodcut, 1937, signed in pencil and numbered 97. From the edition of 150 impressions, published by Schweizerische Graphische Gesellschaft. Reference: Schiefler and Mosel 193II (second state of 2). In excellent condition, printed in black on a heavy ivory wove paper with full margins, 12 3/8 x 9, the sheet 16 1/4 x 11 5/8 inches, archival matting.

A fine fresh and unusually strong impression of this iconic image.

This composition was essentially complete in the first state, but the hair of the man and woman were undifferentiated; in the second state Nolde cut a contour line between the two to clarify their separation, and also corrected some errant spotting in the face of the man.

Although Nolde made most of his woodcuts earlier in his career, he created this important image in a later period, just before his work was denounced by the Nazis as “entartete Kunst” – degenerate art.

A fine exceptionally fresh impression of this superb composition, printed in a rich dark blue/green ink.

According to Schiefler only 5 proofs were made of earlier states, and the composition was essentially complete in the first state; the succeeding work consisted of brightening the tone of the sky, heightening the contrast of sky and sitters, and clarifying the imagery.

This is accompanied by a letter from the head of the Nolde Foundation (Stiftung), Dr. Manfred Reuther, following a discussion he had with an earlier owner of this print; he discusses some of the other known impressions including those at the Stiftung (where Nolde left his estate); notes that this is a proof impression apart from the edition, and that the paper in this example conforms to that of the other impressions in the edition.

This is an early print  for Nolde (he became an artist rather late, at age 35), and was made in the year things started to work for him – in 1906 he was invited to join the Brucke in Dresden, his painting Erntetag caused a sensation at the Berlin Secession in the spring, and he met some of his most important patrons including Schiefler. He made a good number of etchings in this period, from 1904 to 1911, then another group in 1918 an 1922; there are hardly any after 1926.