Marguerite Zorach (1887-1968), The Desert, etching and drypoint, signed, dated (1909) and inscribed “Paris” in pencil, lower right.  In good condition, on a cream laid paper with margins, 3 3/8 x 5, the sheet 4 3/4 x 6 21/4 inches.

A fine proof impression of this great rarity, printed in a bluish black ink, with some stray inking in the margins as typical of her proofs (no edition is known) printed personally at this time.

Marguerite Zorach had enrolled at Stanford, but was invited to Paris by her aunt. On the day of her arrival, in November 1908, she visited the Salon Automne, and so was exposed to the French Fauves. Soon thereafter she met Gertrude Stein, talked with Picasso, and was befriended by Zadkine (and eventually met, and married, William Zorach). In this very rare and early etching (we have not seen another impression on the market) The Desert we see the influence of Symbolism in her work, typical of her focus soon after her arrival in Paris.  She was later influenced by cubism and expressionism, idioms just then evolving in Europe.

At the time Marguerite Zorach made this print (1909) she was not yet married to William Zorach (they met in Paris in 1911 and married in 1912); she was still Marguerite Thompson.  As was her practice with the few very rare and early proofs that we have encountered, she signed and dated (for the time the print was made) after she was married to Zorach, and she used her married name when signing it.

]]> http://harrisschrank.com/the-desert.htm/feed 0 http://harrisschrank.com/temptation.htm http://harrisschrank.com/temptation.htm#comments Thu, 02 Jul 2009 23:00:49 +0000 Harris Schrank http://harrisschrank.com/?p=1860 Marguerite Zorach, Temptation,  etching and drypoint, signed, dated (1909) and inscribed “Paris” in pencil, lower right.  In good condition, on a cream laid paper with margins (7 3/4 x 5, sheet 9 3/4 x 7 inches). A fine impression, with a veil of plate tone, carefully wiped to create dark passages (e.g., to the left of the trees, against the wall). Marguerite Zorach ( 1887-1968) had enrolled at Stanford, but was invited to Paris by her aunt. On the day of her arrival, in November 1908, she visited the Salon Automne, and so was exposed to the French [...]]]>

Marguerite Zorach, Temptation,  etching and drypoint, signed, dated (1909) and inscribed “Paris” in pencil, lower right.  In good condition, on a cream laid paper with margins (7 3/4 x 5, sheet 9 3/4 x 7 inches).

A fine impression, with a veil of plate tone, carefully wiped to create dark passages (e.g., to the left of the trees, against the wall).

Marguerite Zorach ( 1887-1968) had enrolled at Stanford, but was invited to Paris by her aunt. On the day of her arrival, in November 1908, she visited the Salon Automne, and so was exposed to the French Fauves. Soon thereafter she met Gertrude Stein, talked with Picasso, and was befriended by Zadkine (and eventually met, and married, William Zorach). In the very rare and early etching (we have not seen another impression on the market) The Temptation we get a feel for the swirl of artistic movements which may have affected Marguerite soon after her arrival in Paris. Though she was later influenced by cubism and expressionism, here the dominant themes appear to be Symbolism and its counterpart in the applied arts, Art Nouveau. So this very unusual etching and drypoint represents a pivotal moment in the history of America’s – and an American’s – adoption of modernism. At the time Marguerite Zorach made this print (1909) she was not yet married to William Zorach (they met in Paris in 1911 and married in 1912); she was still Marguerite Thompson. The print was no doubt signed and dated (for the time the print was made) after she was married to Zorach, and she used her married name when signing it.

Marguerite Zorach (1887-1968), Two Female Nudes (also known as The Dancers), c. 1915-20, lineolum cut, signed in pencil lower right margin. One of a small number of proofs; there was no edition. In excellent condition, on a very thin cream Japan paper, with margins, 8 1/4 x 6 1/2, the sheet 12 x 10 1/2 inches. Archival mounting with window mat.

A fine impression of this very rarely encountered American modernist/cubist print.

Provenance: The Heald Collection, with its mat.

The Zorachs (William and Marguerite), who met in Paris, spent several summers in Provincetown (1915, 1916, 1921, 1922), and it is surely there that Marguerite created this cubist composition, which bears some resemblance to other linoleum cuts she created there, including A New England Family, and Provincetown Players (indeed the two women portrayed here may have been Provincetown Players).

The linoleum cut technique was well suited to Zorach’s approach to printmaking at the time; she could carve the image herself, and print it herself by hand.

Zorach was focused on the artmaking, not marketing or distribution of prints, so she did not edition them, number them, sign them all, or keep careful records of the number of prints produced.  This has had a mixed effect on Zorach’s reputation as a printmaker – some of her prints are little known and rarely seen – but today her prints are increasingly sought after by knowledgeable collectors.

A fine impression of this very rarely encountered American modernist/cubist print.

The Zorachs (William and Marguerite), who met in Paris, spent several summers in Provincetown (1915, 1916, 1921, 1922), with artist friends such as Max Weber and Marsden Hartley, and the summers of 1917 and 1918 at Echo Farm, New Hampshire, which probably provided the subject matter for A New England Family. Marguerite was used to farming during the summer, dating back to her early days in California, and at various times the Zorachs worked on farms that had sheep, horses, geese and, as pictured here, cows.

Given the disparity in size of the father and mother in A New England Family, and the children playing at the bottom right,  it’s probable that the composition does not depict the Zorach family. The couple had a first child, a son, in 1915 (Tessim) and a daughter in 1917 (Dahlov), so conceivably one of them is pictured here with the huge Bunyanesque father figure, dressed in lumberman’s attire, carrying a child in his left hand and holding the much smaller woman’s hand in his right hand (lower left).  The flat, cubist/modernist aesthetic reflects Marguerite’s exposure to emerging currents of modern art both in Europe and back in the US.

The linoleum cut technique was well suited to Zorach’s approach to printmaking at the time; she could carve the image herself, and print it herself by hand, often after returning to their Greenich Village apartment after a summer of art making. Zorach was focused on the artmaking, not marketing or distribution of prints, so she did not edition them, number them, sign them all, or keep careful records of the number of prints produced. Most of her prints, such as A New England Family, are little known and exceedingly rare, but are gaining an increasing appreciation among knowledgeable collectors.