Harris Schrank Fine Prints

Erich Heckel (1883-1970), In der Muschelstube II (In the Oyster Bar), also known as Gent (Ghent), lithograph, 1916, signed in pencil lower left [also signed in the plate lower left and titled Gent lower right]. From the publication Der Bildermann [The pictureman], Vol.I, No.4, 1916  Edition: 137:  12 on Japan for the deluxe edition of Der Bildermann 1916; 75 on cream wove, and 50 on wove as published by Paul Cassirer Berlin, 1920. Reference: Dube 229 I/B (of II), from the edition of 75. In good condition, with slight soft folds in margins, with full margins, 11 x 8, the sheet 13 1/4 x 12 inches.

A fine impression, printed in black on cream/ivory wove paper.

Heckel was classified as unfit for service during World War I, but volunteered to work in an ambulance unit stationed in Roeselaar and Ostend, each quite near Ghent (title of this lithograph).  The unit was staffed mostly by artists, who were allowed time to work on their art.

James Ensor (1860-1949), Les Diables Dzitts et Hihahox Conduisant le Christ aux Enfers (The Devils Dzitts and Hihahox Leading Christ to Hell), etching and drypoint, 1895, signed and dated in pencil lower right, titled lower left, also countersigned on verso [also signed and dated in the plate]. References: Delteil 88, Croquez 90, Taevernier 90, Elesh 90, only state. Printed on strong tan/ivory wove Japan paper.  In excellent condition, with full margins, 6 5/16 x 8 7/8, the sheet 9 1/4 x 11 3/4 inches.

A fine impression of this enigmatic – and emblematic – Ensor composition.

According to apocryphal texts after his death Christ descended into Limbo to bring redemption to the first sinners, Adam and Eve.  In 1886 Ensor made a drawing of this event, and later made this etching, both with the same curious title. Many years later he explained in a letter to Max Gevers in May 1936 that the title, including the names of the devils, was purely imaginary.

In the etching Christ is led to Satan, who sits at the top of the stairs at the upper left; the two Devils leading Christ are armed and ugly. Fanciful characters and insects crawl along the bottom foreground, and at the lower right is a menacing group of horned and lobster-like creatures – some with faces reminiscent of the masks then available in his mother’s Ostende souvenir shop, still on display there today.

Another fine impression of this print, printed in brown ink, is included in the major Ensor exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Detail

Jacques Villon (1873-1963), Une Grand Mere, drypoint, 1943, signed in pencil lower right, inscribed “epreuve d’essai” lower left, and inscribed “a Arnold Newman” center. Reference: Ginestet and Pouillon 475, only state; a trial proof impression before the edition of 45. In very good condition, with margins (slight soiling in margins and verso, slightest mat tone), on laid paper, 9 3/8 x 7, the sheet 12 5/8 x 9 7/8 inches, matted.

A fine impression of this rarely encountered image.

Villon’s cubist prints are among his most interesting and sought after. Here he demonstrates his use of the drypoint technique to interweave various gradations of  black against a background of straight drypoint or engraved lines.

This impression is inscribed to the late Arnold Newman, a world-famous photographer; Newman was friendly with a number of artists who, as in this instance,  provided him with examples of their work.

Une Grand-Mere has been exhibited at various museums in the United States including the Museum of Modern Art (1953) and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts (1964), and was also shown widely in Europe – Athens, Paris, Oslo, Lisbon, etc.

The portrait is of Mme. Merlin, the mother of Mme. Andre Mare; Villon also made a painting of this woman.

Jacques Villon, Minne Sitting (Minne Assise a Terre), drypoint, 1907, signed in pencil. Reference: Ginestet and Pouillon 196.  In very good condition, on hand made cream laid paper, the full sheet with deckle edges, 9 1/2 x 6 3/4, the sheet 11 x 8 1/2 inches, archival mounting.

A very fine artist’s proof impression of this delightful subject (who was the subject of a number of etchings Villon made at about this time), with carefully wiped plate tone creating a halo-like ground surrounding Minne.

G&P call for an edition of approximately 50; however, we have not seen other impressions of this print on the market, nor was it included in Lucien Goldschmidt’s major Villon print sale of 1970 (A Collection of Graphic Work 1896-1913 in Rare or Unique Impressions); we thus believe this print to be quite uncommon in any state, and this proof impression of the utmost rarity.

This is from the Minne series, a group of prints made by Villon in 1907, portraying the young daughter of a friend in various poses. Minne’s real name was Renee, and she achieved a sort of fame four years later when Villon made his landmark cubist prints of her. In this modernist/expressionist portrait Villon explores the enigmatic character of a young girl, a subject which held much fascination for him at this early stage in his career.

James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903), The Lime-Burner, 1859, etching and drypoint, printed in black ink on very thin Japan paper with margins
Kennedy 46, second (final) state; Lochnan 49. With small margins, 10 x 7, the sheet 10 1/2 x 7 1/2 inches.

A very fine rich impression.

The print was exhibited at the Royal Academy in London in 1860 under the title W. Jones, lime-burner, Thames Street. Forming the visual center of an early example of Whistler’s frame-within-a-frame compositions, the figure of Mr. Jones, although small, is nevertheless treated very much like a portrait and the name explicitly given by Whistler in the title for the Royal Academy would confirm this. The lime-burner looks straight out at the viewer while the artist’s complex perspectival devices draw us back into the depth of the image; here a passage opens a small view onto the river and even beyond to the other bank of the Thames.

Published as part of the Thames Set in 1871.

James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903), The Lime-Burner, 1859, etching and dryoint, printed in brown on laid paper, with wide margins

Kennedy 46, first state (of two), Lochnan 49; 9 7/8 x 6 3/4, the sheet 14 5/8 x 10 5/8 inches. Watermark: Hudelist

provenance:

Edgar Degas, Paris (Lugt 657)

P. & D. Colnaghi & Co., London (their stock no. in pencil in lower margin C.13502)

A fine impression of the rare first state.  This impresssion was exhibited widely in the traveling exhibit of etchings and other works from the Degas collection.

The print was exhibited at the Royal Academy in London in 1860 under the title W. Jones, lime-burner, Thames Street. Forming the visual center of an early example of Whistler’s frame-within-a-frame compositions, the figure of Mr. Jones, although small, is nevertheless treated very much like a portrait and the name explicitly given by Whistler in the title for the Royal Academy would confirm this. The lime-burner looks straight out at the viewer while the artist’s complex perspectival devices draw us back into the depth of the image; here a passage opens a small view onto the river and even beyond to the other bank of the Thames.

The Degas provenance of this print is highly intriguing. Katharine Lochnan (Etchings of James Whistler) quotes a letter from Mary Cassatt to Joseph Pennell in which she writes that “long ago M. Degas told me he had once written a very urgent letter to Whistler asking him to join a group of painters who were intending to exhibit together, the same group afterwards nicknamed impressionists, but Whistler never replied to the letter” (Lochnan, p. 223). (For an interesting discussion of the relationship of Whistler and Degas see: Betsy G. Fryberger, Whistler: Themes & Variations, 1978.)

Honore Daumier (1808-1879), lithograph (Delteil 94), published in La Caricature (November 11, 1834),  [with the inscription, address, initials in the plate].

A very good impression of this early (1834) political print.

Louis-Phillipe is shown addressing 3 Republicans in the ruins of the prison at St. Michel (“Tres-bien! Tres-bien! Vous etes parfaitment conduites!”).

An impression of the only state,  on heavy white wove paper without the letterpress verso (as published and inserted in the journal).

The top margin is trimmed closely and roughly, outside the upper borderline but just abutting printing on top, otherwise with margins and in satisfactory condition, archival matting. 9 1/2 x 11 inches.

The indispensable Daumier Register points out: “This print shows political prisoners who had helped extinguishing a fire in their prison Saint-Michel. Although an amnesty was already in the making, they were simply moved to a different prison after the fire.”

Here is a translation of the text, courtesy of the Daumier Register:

Original Text:
Très bien! très bien! vous vous êtes parfaitement conduits! l’on va vous diriger sur Beaulieu, sur Poissy, sur Bicêtre, je suis content de vous.

Translation:
Very good!… You have behaved perfectly and done a good job… thank you, you will be transferred immediately to another prison at Beaulieu, Poissy or Bicètre.

$450

James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903), Seymour Standing Under a Tree, 1859,  etching and drypoint on fine laid paper; inscribed in pencil by Seymour Haden in lower margin “1st pr from plate”. References: Glasgow 30, second state (of three); Kennedy 31, second state (of three); Lochnan 35. On laid paper, watermark:
Hunting Horn in Shield, 5 ¼ x 3 7/8, the sheet 7 1/8 x 5 5/8 inches

Provenance:
Kennedy Galleries, New York (their stock number in pencil on verso a37155)
Ethel Gardner; a gift in memory of her husband George Peabody Gardner (nephew and heir of Isabella Stewart Gardner)
to Bishop Laurence of the Archdiocese of Boston
George S. van Houten, Waalre, Netherlands

The young boy leaning against a tree, possibly in Greenwich Park near London, with his partial reflection visible on the surface of
the water in the foreground, is Francis Seymour Jr. (born 1850), the older son of Whistler’s half-sister Deborah Delano, known
as Dasha (1825–1908), and her husband Francis Seymour Haden (1818–1910). The couple had another son, Arthur Charles
(born 1852) and a daughter, Anne Harriet, known as Annie (born 1848), both of whom were portrayed by their uncle in some
of his earliest etchings (Kennedy 9 and 10).

Mortimer Menpes (1855-1938), Dresden, Old Market Square, etching and drypoint, c. 1908, signed by the artist in pencil lower right and annotated “imp” indicating that he personally printed this impression; on a fine antique laid paper. The full sheet, in very good condition, with deckle edges all around (some slight printer’s ink fingerprints and some fox marks in margins), 5 7/8 x 7 7/8, the sheet 10 x 16 inches,  archival matting with window mat, acid free non adhesive mylar hinging.

This was first exhibited by Menpes at the Fine Art Society, London, 1908, no 14 and entitled “Dresden, Old Market Square.”

Reference: National Museum of Australia Accession Number 84.1328.

A fine impression, printed in a dark brownish/black ink, with a subtle veil of plate tone overall.

Menpes was of course the great Australian printmaker and printer, known for his close relationship to Whistler – as a student and colleague in printmaking – but also famed in his own right as one of the towering figures of the British Etchers movement.

James Abbot McNeill Whistler (1834-1903), Gabled Roofs, lithograph, 1893. Reference: Chicago (Spink et al) 64, only state. From the lifetime edition of 12 (there was also a posthumous edition of 53 printed by Goulding in 1904). In very good condition, with margins, 7 3/4 x 6 1/4, the sheet 12 1/4 x 7 3/4 inches.

Provenance: Childs Gallery, Boston, with their stamp verso, and on their mat (with their catalogue notations).

A fine impression of this rare lithograph, printed on a cream laid paper with the watermark ProPatriaB (this is Spink watermark 251, one of the watermarks specified in Spink as characteristic of the lifetime impressions of this lithograph.

Gabled Roofs is one of the five lithographs Whistler made during the tour through Brittany he made in 1893 with his wife.

Gabled Roofs - Detail

Honore Daumier (1808-1879), Le Bambillon (Red Mullet; or Le Barbillon entraîne la ligne, The Fish Pulls the Line), lithograph, 1840-41, [with initials in the plate]. Reference: Daumier Register 818, second state (of 2), with the letters, Plate 4 from LA PÊCHE, in the published form in Caricature, a sur blanc impression, in very good condition, with margins, on wove paper, 8 1/4 x 6 3/8, the sheet 14 x 9 1/2 inches, archival matting.

A fine clear impression.

This is a sur blanc impression, printed in a small contemporaneous edition for collectors (probably 100-150 impressions only). This form of the print was and generally is preferred over the newprint impressions for a number of reasons – the paper is better quality, one doesn’t see newsprint through the image because there’s no newsprint verso (that’s why they call it sur blanc), and of course it’s just rarer than the newsprint editions – and for all these reasons the sur blancs do have the drawback of being more costly than the newprint versions (although the price difference is minimal given the other differences).

The text of this print, stolen unabashedly from the indispensable Daumier Register, reads as follows:

Original Text:
Le Barbillon entraîne la ligne, notre homme se penche, le pied lui glisse, et voilà le pêcheur qu’on repêche.

Translation:
The fish pulls the line… our man bends down, his foot slips and there goes our fisherman… ready to be fished out.

$275

Rudolph Ruzicka (1883-1978), A Summer Day, wood engraving, 1936, unsigned [with the initial R in the plate; the AAG logo, title, name, address stamp verso). Published by the American Artists Group. In very good condition, in the original AAG mat, the full sheet with full margins, 5 1/16 x 7 7/8 inches, the sheet 13 x 18 inches.

A fine impression, still in its original mat as issued.

The American Artists Group was formed in 1934, during the Great Depression, with the express purpose of providing unsigned inexpensive prints which were to be widely distributed. AAG published prints by Ganso, Spruance, Meissner, and Lankes, among many other noted artists. Although the prices of these prints was minimal, the editions were still not sold out; most printings were under 200 and many under 100. Ironically, today, these prints are considered rare collector’s items.

On the reverse of the mat for this print these words are written: This print is an original woodcut made by me and printed from the block with my approval. It is issued exclusively in this form and its price is made possible by the edition being neither signed nor limited – Rudolph Ruzicka. (Of course the edition was in fact limited, in large part by the market.)

Rudolph Ruzicka was an eminent wood engraver, etcher, illustrator, book designer and inventor of typographic fonts. He came to the US from Bohemia, living first in Chicago where he took drawing lessons at Hull House and later becoming an apprentice wood engraver. From 1900 to 1902 he studied at the Chicago art institute, and in 1903 moved to New York where he worked as an engraver and furthered his artistic studies. He went on to achieve fame as a book illustrator, artist and typographer. As a wood engraver he surely was influenced by the 19th Century French master August Lepere, and in turn Ruzicka influenced generations of American artists and illustrators who worked in the difficult and exacting field of wood engraving.

$125

Carl Schultheiss (1885-1961), The Shepherd, engraving, 1951, signed in pencil lower right margin. In excellent condition, with prior hinging verso, on a cream wove paper, the full sheet, 7 1/2 x 4 3/4, the sheet 11 3/8 x 8 5/8 inches. Archival storage, with non-attached mylar hinging between acid free boards.

A fine fresh impression.

Provenance: The Print Club of Rochester Presentation Print, 1951.

At the time Schultheiss was created the presentation print for the Print Club of Albany John Taylor Arms wrote of him: “His prints have a rich mellowness born of study, contemplation and understanding. Conceived in the classical spirit, the warmth of the artist’s imagination and his sympathy with life assure for them a significance and vitality for which his brilliant but disciplined technique is a fitting vehicle.”

A note from the Print Club of Rochester discussing Schultheiss’s work and life will accompany this print.

Carl Max Schultheiss (1865-1963), Off to Market, etching, 1944. Signed in pencil bottom right and numbered bottom left margin (2/50). In excellent condition, on a cream wove paper, with wide margins, 8 3/8 x 7 3/8, the sheet 11 3/4 x 10 5/8 inches, archival matting.

A fine fresh impression printed in black ink.

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

German-born artist Carl Schultheiss was trained classically, and his respect for the Old Masters is always evident in his work (and Off to Market is no exception; it recollects the pastoral tradition in 15th and 16th C. Northern Renaissance printmaking). Although best known for his etching, he also worked as an engraver and painter. He came to the United States in the 1930s, and eventually was so highly regarded by his colleagues that he was chosen to serve as honorary president of the Society of American Graphic Artists.

Camille Pissarro (1830-1903), Vue de Rouen (Cours-la-Reine), etching, soft ground etching, drypoint, maniere grise, 1884, signed in pencil lower right “C Pissarro”, numbered (No. 3) lower left, inscribed “Epreuve d’artiste” lower left, and titled “Vue de Rouen au Cours la reine” lower left. Reference: Delteil 50, state 3 (of 3). One of the dozen or so artist proofs of the third state (there was no edition, and only 1 proof of the first state and 4 of the second), and one of the five artist’s proofs that were numbered. In excellent condition with full margins, printed on a tan/buff colored hand made Dutch laid paper with the watermark Van Gelder. 5 7/8 x 7 7/8, the sheet 11 x 14 1/4 inches

A fine impression, printed in brown ink, with a veil of plate tone overall.

Pissarro did not like professional printing of his etchings, and so he printed most of his plates himself (working at this time with Degas, who also apparently printed many Pissarro proofs). The concept was not to produce a large edition of prints similar in appearance (only about 5 of Pissarro’s prints were in fact editioned during his lifetime); printmaking for Pissarro was a way of experimenting, achieving variations in light, mood, sensibility, with each proof. He did not intend to earn much money through printmaking (and he never did). In 1883 Pissarro was painting at Rouen, and returned to Paris with a number of sketches and full of recollections, which he used in developing the Rouen prints, which were probably completed in early 1884; Pissarro did not yet have a printing press of his own, so he used printing facilities in Paris. These are among his most engaging prints, and Vue de Rouen (Cours-la-Reine) is among the most successful of this group.

Sir Frank Short (1857-1945), The Lifting Cloud, mezzotint, 1901, signed in pencil lower right. Reference: Hardie 118. In good condition, slight light toning, remains of prior hinging verso, with margins, on an ivory wove paper, 6 x 9, the sheet 8 x 11 1/4 inches, archival matting with un-attached mylar hinging and acid free window mat.

A fine atmospheric impression.

Hardie describes the print in dramatic terms: Heavy clouds cast a shadow over an angry sea, with breakers showing flashes of white; the clouds lift to the right, where a labouring ship is seen; in the foreground a large boulder and a half-submerged anchor. Short based the print on a color sketch he made on Whitby Scaur.

Short was one of the most productive and eminent of the British Etchers; an artist whose influence as a teacher was profound, and who in addition to promoting the art of printmaking in general, revived the techniques of aquatint and mezzotint.  The Lifting Cloud demonstrates his total mastery of the difficult and laborious mezzotint technique.

Emil Ganso (1895-1941). Little Harbor or Boats, Maine, etching and aquatint, c. 1920, not signed [signed with a copyright mark in the plate], inscribed “To Lucille”. Reference: Smith I78B. In very good condition, the matrix excellent, a couple of small spots in margins and the remains of a prior hinge verso, with margins, 10 3/8 x 14 7/8, the sheet 13 x 17 inches, window mat.

A fine impression, with effective aquatint tonalities.

Little Harbor, a very successful composition, was chosen as an American Artists Group print, reproduced in AAG original etchings, and also in Zink, American Artists Group Prints, 30. We do not believe this impression itself was an American Artists Group print but that it was printed earlier, since the paper is heavier than most of the AAG prints, and it does not bear the AAG imprint verso (the AAG produced relatively inexpensive prints during the Great Depression, explicitly and intentionally unsigned and thus sold as populist art works available and accessible widely. Ironically, these prints and their proofs have a special collector’s appeal and value today).

Emil Ganso (1895-1941), Studio Mirror, chiaroscuro wood engraving, 1936. Not signed [signed and dated in the block, with the backward s in Ganso and the date also reversed]. Reference: Smith R-77B, edition not stated. In very good condition, on  cream wove paper, the full sheet, 14 3/8 x 9 3/8 inches, the sheet 18 x 13 inches. Published by the American Artists Group, and in their original mat.

A fine impression, printed in two colors, light and dark brown.

The American Artists Group was formed in 1934, during the Great Depression, with the express purpose of providing unsigned inexpensive prints which were to be widely distributed. AAG published prints by Ganso, Spruance, Meissner, Ruzicka, and Lankes, among many other noted artists. Although the prices of these prints was minimal, collectors were saving what money they had, and so the editions were not sold out; most printings were under 200 and many under 100. Ironically, today, these prints are considered rare collector’s items.

Ganso, a master of a number of printmaking techniques, here successfully recreates a composition – now in greater detail and in two colors – that he first explored in the etching and aquatint Nude with Mirror of about 1930. One interesting difference: the two pictures on the wall, not identifiable in the etching, are here shown to be a Ganso nude and a country scene.

Honore Daumier (1808-1879), Le Trepas du Caniche, lithograph, 1840. Reference: Delteil 651. Plate 28 from Moeurs Conjugales. [initialed in the plate, and with the inscription, name of publisher, seller.] Third state of three, after removal of the address of Aubert; a sur blanc impression (no newprint verso). On cream wove paper, pale light staining overall, tear upper right and bottom margins (not affecting image), light foxing verso, mounted in acid free mats, 10 x 8, the sheet 13 1/2 x 10 inches.

A very good impression.

The sur blanc impressions of this print were taken apart from the large run for the letterpress (the prints appeared in the journal Le Charivari). The sur blancs were printed on better paper than the newsprint impressions, and there’s no newprint interfering with the image (as in the newpaper impressions). The size of the edition varied, but is likely to have been around 100-150; the sur blanc edition was for collectors of Daumier lithographs.

As the older woman bemoans the passing of her poodle (she calls him “pauvre zozore”), her husband comforts her saying he too is heartbroken, and that we are all mortal (“que veux tu nous sommes tous mortels”). The woman at the back, standing over “zozore,” appears not to empathize with these emotions (and one suspects the husband isn’t very upset either).

Here, from the invaluable online Daumier Register (see my eBay Guide on this resource) is the full commentary and translation:

Le trépas du caniche.
Oh mon Dieu, mon Dieu, est il possible!…. pauvre zozore, ma joie, ma consolation, je ne le verrai plus!…. ah! je vois que je n’y survivrai pas. – Malheureuse épouse! comme le tien mon cœur est navré. Viens sur mon sein nous confondrons nos larmes. Hélas! que veux tu: nous sommes tous mortels!
The Demise of the Poodle.
– Oh my God, my God, is it possible?…. my poor Zozore, my joy, my consolation, I shall never see him again… ah! I shan’t survive.
– Wretched wife! like yours, my heart is saddened. Come to my bosom and we shall mingle our tears. Alas, what can we do… we are all mortal!

$275

Honore Daumier (1808-1879), She’s Gone (Ciel! apres trois mois…), lithograph, 1841, published in Le Charivari as plate 45 in the series Moeurs Conjugales. References: Delteil 668, Daumier Register 668, Delteil’s third state of three, DR’s fourth state of four. A sur blanc impression, without letterpress verso. [With the address, inscription, number, and initials of artist in the plate] In very good condition, with wide margins, 12 1/4 x 8, the sheet 14 x 11 inches, archival matting.

A fine clear and black good impression of this humourous print.

Loys Delteil did not identify this state of the print, but the recently published (online) Daumier Register notes that this is a fourth state, with the address of the publisher Bauger at the lower left.

The sur blanc issues of the Daumier prints were for collectors of the prints who appreciated the heavier paper (heavier than newsprint) and lack of interference of the letterpress verso in the image. They were issued in very limited editions of about 100 (especially popular prints perhaps a few more, others possibly less), in this case probably just after the publication of the lithograph in Le Charivari.

Uncharacteristically, the idea for this print, and the language below, were Daumier’s.

Here the translation (courtesy of the Daumier Register):

Original Text:
Ciel! après trois mois d’absence, je trouve ma femme déménagée!….. et quels souvenirs me laisse-t-elle, grand Dieu!…

Translation:
My God!… After having been away for three months I find that my wife has moved out! And what memories she leaves behind, good Lord!

Honore Daumier (1808-1879), She’s Gone (Ciel! apres trois mois…), lithograph, 1841, published in Le Charivari as plate 45 in the series Moeurs Conjugales. References: Delteil 668, Daumier Register 668, Delteil’s third state of three, DR’s fourth state of four. A sur blanc impression, without letterpress verso. [With the address, inscription, number, and initials of artist in the plate] In very good condition, with wide margins, 12 1/4 x 8, the sheet 14 x 11 inches, archival matting.

A fine clear and black good impression of this humourous print.

Loys Delteil did not identify this state of the print, but the recently published (online) Daumier Register notes that this is a fourth state, with the address of the publisher Bauger at the lower left.

The sur blanc issues of the Daumier prints were for collectors of the prints who appreciated the heavier paper (heavier than newsprint) and lack of interference of the letterpress verso in the image. They were issued in very limited editions of about 100 (especially popular prints perhaps a few more, others possibly less), in this case probably just after the publication of the lithograph in Le Charivari.

Uncharacteristically, the idea for this print, and the language below, were Daumier’s.

Here the translation (courtesy of the Daumier Register):

Original Text:
Ciel! après trois mois d’absence, je trouve ma femme déménagée!….. et quels souvenirs me laisse-t-elle, grand Dieu!…

Translation:
My God!… After having been away for three months I find that my wife has moved out! And what memories she leaves behind, good Lord!

$250

Honore Daumier, The Pleasures of Fishing, lithograph, Plate 50 from the series Moeurs Conjugales, 1839-42. Reference: Daumier Register 673, Delteil 673. DR fourth state (of 4). A sur blanc impression (without newsprint verso) issued apart from the edition published in La Caricature. In very good condition, only slight traces of foxing.  With margins, 11 1/2 x 8 1/2, the sheet 12 3/4 x 8 3/4 inches, matted.

A fine bright impression.

The sur blanc edition was made for collectors, published on a cream wove paper (the Caricature impressions are on a lighter paper, and the newsprint can be seen through the image). The sur blanc edition size varied but was about 100 impressions, and so is relatively rare.

Here’s the translation of the French, courtesy of the Daumier Register (which is available free online):

Original Text:
LES PLAISIRS DE LA PÊCHE.
– Tu es toujours pressée toi!…. que diable nous sommes arrivés à midi et il n’est encore que cinq heures un quart……. donne moi le temps, je suis sur que je finirai par en attraper un!…

Translation:
THE PLEASURES OF FISHING.
You are always in such a rush – Good God, we only just got here at noon and it is now only a quarter past five – Just give me a little more time, I am sure I’ll end by catching one.

$275

Honore Daumier (1808-1879), Une Navigation Difficile, lithograph, 1843, plate 6 from the series Les Canotiers Parisiens [with the addresses, text, and Daumier’s initials in the plate]. Reference: Daumier Register, Delteil 1028. Second state (of 3), on wove paper, sur blanc, with the address of Aubert; printed before the publication in the journal Le Charivari. In very good condition, 9 3/4 x 10 3/8, the sheet 10 x 13 1/2 inches, archival matting.

A fine strong impression, printed on a heavy wove paper, before the newsprint edition (sur blanc) for the collector’s edition, which was limited to about 150 impressions.

During the 1840’s boating on the Seine was a popular pastime for Parisiens, but it was not always the pleasure it was supposed to be. Here (courtesy of the online Daumier Register) is the translation of the text:

Original Text:
UNE NAVIGATION DIFFICILE.
– Le canot n’avance pas!… tirez donc M. Dumouchel… que diable vous ne tirez pas!. – Mais je ne fais que cela depuis 3 heures… et on appelle ça une partie de plaisir! j’aime encore mieux vendre mes pruneaux rue de la verrerie… c’est moins fatiguant.

Translation:
A DIFFICULT NAVIGATION.
– The boat doesn’t move! Pull Dumouchel, pull…. why the devil don’t you pull!
– But I am doing nothing else than that for the last three hours!…. and this is called a pleasure trip! I’d rather sell my prunes in rue de la Verrerie…. that’s less tiring!

$275

Honore Daumier (1808-1879), Jeune et Vielle Garde, 1848, lithograph. Plate 52 froma the series Tout ce que on Voudra; as published in the Album Comique. Reference: Daumier Register 1698, Delteil 1698. Second state of two, sur blanc (without the letterpress verso as it appeared in the journal Charivari). [with the initials hD and stone number 1267 in the plate]

In very good condition (with only a few fox marks mostly verso not affecting image, mounted on the left side), with margins, 10 1/4 x 7 1/2, the sheet 13 x 9 inches, matted with a window mat.

A fine fresh black impression of this rare print.

This print is in a number of institutional collections, always on wove paper in the second state, as our impression (impressions in the first state either do not exist or have not been located); it is rarely encountered in the market.

$250

Hans Burgkmair (1459-1519), The White King Receiving a Message About the Defeat of the Croats, woodcut, 1514-1516.  Reference: Bartsch 80-(224) 153 [by Leonhard Beck], from the History of Emperor Maximilian I. In very good condition (with margins; some very old script in ink bottom margin, some slight staining, foxing), on old laid paper, 8 1/4 x 7 5/8, the sheet 10 x 8 1/2 inches.

Provenance: Karl Edward von Liphart (1808-1891, Dorpat, Bonn and Florence), with his graphite mark verso (Lugt 1651, see also Lugt 1687, 1688).  Lugt notes of Liphart, a distinguished collector of old master prints, “il commence par l’oeuvre de Ridinger et par un achat considerable GG. Boerner in Leipsig en 1836.”

A very good impression, superbly printed on the right side, a bit dry on the left.

The History of the Weisskunig (White King) is an autobiography in the style of an illustrated novel without words. Although it is the story of Emperor Maximilian I all the characters have symbolic names. The White King is the name Maximilian  chose for himself, as it both stands for  whiteness (purity) and is associated with the word for wisdom (Weisheit).

Hans Burgkmair, the eminent Augsburg painter and printmaker was in effect Maximilian’s official court artist.  He worked with other artists, including Leonhard Beck (Germany, Augsburg, 1480 – 1542), in developing the plates for the Maximilian series. At the time of the original cataloguing this block was given to Beck; in the more recent edition of Bartsch it is given to Beck but the decision was made to continue its cataloguing under Burgkmair, to avoid confusion and keep the ordering and placement of all the blocks of the series intact.

This is one of a bound group of old master prints, including other woodcuts by Burgkmair, Hans Weiditz, Hans Schaufelein and others.  Many of these prints have the mark of the eminent collector Karl Edward von Liphart (Lugt 1651) verso. We are currently doing research on the collection so it is not on the market as yet.

Camille Pissarro (1830-1903), Femme a la Barriere (Woman at the Gate), etching and drypoint, 1889, signed in pencil with the initials CP lower right (annotated “imprime par C.P.”), annotated “No. 3, 6 etat” lower left and also titled “femme a la barriere” (largely erased) lower left. Reference: Delteil 84, sixth state (of 10). In very good condition, on a cream laid Arches paper, with a partial Arches watermark, with wide or full margins (remains of prior hinging verso), 6 7/8 x 4 1/8, the sheet 9 3/8 x 6 inches.

A fine delicately printed impression, printed in brown ink.

Pissarro printed Woman at the Gate himself, working through successive states as he experimented with  slight variations from state to state and, as was his typical printmaking practice, making only one or a few impressions of each state and then omitting any edition. Here, he added the two ducks and the chicken in the yard just to the left of the woman (her right) in the third state (only 1 proof of this state), and added some shadow lines to the peasant’s dress and the house in the 4th and 5th states. In this impression, the sixth state, he added some lines to the leaves of the trees and clarified the hair of the woman.  He printed (personally) three proofs of the sixth state, each annotated and numbered (1 to 3, this is 3).  He made small changes in states 7, 8; darkened the plate quite a bit in state 9, and in state 10 added a layering of aquatint. Some lifetime impressions were made of state 10, and another group of 12 impressions in the 10th state were printed posthumously (of course these later impressions do not withstand comparison in aesthetic terms to the lifetime impressions).

The Impressionists, especially Pissarro and his printmaking partner Degas, approached printmaking as an evolutionary medium. It allowed them to have a composition evolve through successive states; the initial state or states were not viewed as merely a prelude to some definitive finality, but rather as a representation of one impression of the subject, and the last state generally represented the point at which they abandoned the print, not as the place to print an edition (and typically no edition, at least no lifetime edition, was made).

Even within states Pissarro experimented with different papers and inks; e.g., we’re aware of one impression of the 7th state (of 3 altogether) printed in bistre, and other impressions printed in black; this impression is printed in a brown ink which contrasts well with the light brown tint of this paper.

Jean-Emile Laboureur (1877-1943), Toilette– 1930, Drypoint.

Sylvain Laboureur 432, Godefroy 432. Total printing only 26, in both states; 2nd state (of 2). Signed and annotated 4/15 ép. in pencil. Signed in the plate, lower left.

Image size: 10 1/2 x 7 inches (267 x 178 mm); sheet size 17 5/8 x 11 inches (448 x 479 mm).

A fine impression, on pale gray wove paper, with full margins (2 to 4 1/2 inches), in excellent condition.

Laboureur considered Toilette, initially titled “Le Baton de Rouge or Femme a Sa Toilette, an “essai de pointe seche”; it is a very rare example of a Laboureur drypoint.

$2000

Jean-Emile Laboureur (1887-1943), La Peche aux Crevette– 1928, Engraving.

Sylvain Laboureur 375, Godefroy 375. Total printing 82 (58 in the third state); 3rd state (of 3). Signed and numbered 24/58 ep in pencil. Initialed in the plate, lower left.

Image size: 5 3/8 x 4 1/8 inches (143 x 105 mm); sheet size 12 7/8 x 9 3/4 inches (327 x 248 mm).

A fine impression, on cream wove paper, with full margins (2 3/4 to 4 5/8 inches); in excellent condition.

One of Laboureur’s most delightful small-scale compositions, La Peche aux Crevette has been included in at least 24 important exhibitions of Laboureur’s work; in addition 10 of the 15 impressions made of the second state were included in deluxe volumes of Godefroy’s catalogue raisonne of Laboureur’s prints.

$2250

Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn (1606-1669), Christ and the Woman of Samaria, 1657, etching, drypoint and burnishing, signed in the plate and dated (1658). References: White-Boon 70, Bartsch, Rovinski, Seidlitz 70; third state (of 3); Nowell Usticke 3e (of 5).  Printed on a heavy  ivory/tan gampi laminate Japan paper, in excellent condition, with margins, 4 7/8 x 6 3/16, the sheet 5 5/8 x 6 7/8 inches.

Provenance:

Collections of Carlos Gaa (cf. Lugt 538a), and the Kopping collection (according to sales records of C.G. Boerner, as described in sales in 1926 and 1929)

Richard Gutekunst, Stuttgart, London and Bern, 1870-1961  (Lugt 2213/a; stamp verso).  The Gutekunst Collection was renowned for the quality of each and every one of its Rembrandt impressions.

A fine impression, with substantial burr on the well and the vines lower left, the faces of Christ and the woman, Christ’s hand, and elsewhere. In the third state Rembrandt burnished a number of areas including the upper right above Christ’s head, and the area between Christ and the woman; in this impression the burnishing marks are quite evident. There is a light veil of plate tone overall.

From about 1647 Rembrandt often favored for printmaking the heavy Japan paper available in Amsterdam through the Dutch East India Company; he used this very rare and expensive paper on many of his finest impressions, including this example.

In this state  Rembrandt has darkened the lower left area of the composition and the well significantly with drypoint, added some definition to the stones of the well, lightened the area between Christ and the woman and the section above Christ’s head.  In this impression the blackening of the lower left quadrant is particularly dramatic.

The woman of Samaria was amazed that Christ, a Jew, would speak to her as Jews traditionally stood quite apart from the Samaritans. He explains that “whomever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst.” The woman was interested. Christ suggested she go and bring her husband, but she said she has no husband. Christ intuits that in fact she had five husbands, and that the present one is no true husband. The woman, impressed by this insight, declares that Christ must be a prophet. Christ’s disciples, who had gone into town to get some food, return (as seen at the right) and are amazed to find Christ involved in discussion with this woman.  Christ proceeds to Galilee, noting that although this woman – from another land – was able to understand him, “a prophet hath no honour in his own country.”

Anders Zorn (1860-1920), The Waltz, etching, 1891, signed in pencil lower right margin [also signed and dated in the plate lower left]. Reference: Hjert and Hjert 178, Asplund 54, third state (of three), from the edition of 40. In excellent condition, on an ivory/tan Japan paper, with full margins, 13 5/8 x 8 13/16, the sheet 16 x 11 1/8 inches.

A fine fresh impression of one of Zorn’s best known images.

An oil painting of this subject was bought by Mr. George Vanderbilt at the World’s Columbian Exposition in 1893; the painting, together with a watercolor study, are now in the Vanderbilt collection in Biltmore House, Asheville, North Carolina.

In the original draft of this composition the artist Louis Sparre was dancing in the foreground with Zorn’s model Marta Petrini, but in the final version Zorn substituted himself for Sparre. The woman of the couple at the right is Emma Zorn. The setting is a ball given by the Zorns in their Paris studio on the Boulevard de Clichy.

The use of light, the composition, and movement created by the linear patterning make this one of Zorn’s most successful compositions.

$13,500

Israhel van Meckenam (c.1440/5-1503), Children’s Bath (Das Kinderbad), engraving, c. 1480.  Lehrs, Band IX, 478III – Hollstein III.  In excellent condition, with small/thread margins all around, 4 1/4 x 5 3/4 inches, 11 x 13 cm.

Provenance:

Karl Ferdinand Friedrich von Nagler, Bayern and Berlin, 1770-1846 (Lugt 2529, stamp verso)

Kupferstichkabinett der Koniglichen Sammlung, Berlin (Lugt 1606, stamp verso)

Richard Fisher, Hill Top, Midhurst, 1809-1890 (Lugt 2204, stamp verso)

Adalbert Freiherr von Lanna, Prague, 1836-1909 (Lugt 2773, stamp verso); then sold at the auction of H.G. Gutekunst in Stuttgart, May 11, 1909, and described there as “Ausgezeichneter Abdruck von schonster Erhaltung und mit Randchen. Ausserst selten.”

Ritter Rudolf von Gutmann (Lugt 2770)

Albert Blum, Short Hills New Jersey and Zurich (Lugt 79/b, stamp verso).

A superb impression; an impression of this condition and quality is  of the greatest rarity.

One of Israhel van Meckenem’s specialties was scenes of everyday life, including engravings of couples engaged in various activities. He often engraved an elaborate banderole around the figures, not including any printed material on the banderole but perhaps suggesting the observer  supply some witty inscription inspired by the composition.  Although it is a larger print than the couples subjects, and the composition more complex, Das Kinderbad appears to be created in this spirit, inviting the viewer to write a proverb or witticism in the blank banderole at the top.

Israhel van Meckenam (c.1440/5-1503), Children’s Bath (Das Kinderbad), engraving, c. 1480.  Lehrs, Band IX, 478III – Hollstein III.  In excellent condition, with small/thread margins all around, 4 1/4 x 5 3/4 inches, 11 x 13 cm.

Provenance:

Karl Ferdinand Friedrich von Nagler, Bayern and Berlin, 1770-1846 (Lugt 2529, stamp verso)

Kupferstichkabinett der Koniglichen Sammlung, Berlin (Lugt 1606, stamp verso)

Richard Fisher, Hill Top, Midhurst, 1809-1890 (Lugt 2204, stamp verso)

Adalbert Freiherr von Lanna, Prague, 1836-1909 (Lugt 2773, stamp verso); then sold at the auction of H.G. Gutekunst in Stuttgart, May 11, 1909, and described there as “Ausgezeichneter Abdruck von schonster Erhaltung und mit Randchen. Ausserst selten.”

Ritter Rudolf von Gutmann (Lugt 2770)

Albert Blum, Short Hills New Jersey and Zurich (Lugt 79/b, stamp verso).

A superb impression; an impression of this condition and quality is  of the greatest rarity.

One of Israhel van Meckenem’s specialties was scenes of everyday life, including engravings of couples engaged in various activities. He often engraved an elaborate banderole around the figures, not including any printed material on the banderole but perhaps suggesting the observer  supply some witty inscription inspired by the composition.  Although it is a larger print than the couples subjects, and the composition more complex, Das Kinderbad appears to be created in this spirit, inviting the viewer to write a proverb or witticism in the blank banderole at the top.

Emil Orlik (1870-1932), Portrait of Slevogt, etching, 1921, signed in pencil and numbered (27/100) [also signed and dated in the plate], from the presumed edition of 100. In very good condition, 3 5/8 x 3 3/4, the sheet 12 x 10 1/4 inches.

A very good impression, on ivory laid paper.

Max Slevogt (1866-1932), a friend of Orlik, was a leading German artist, printmaker, and illustrator.

The definitive source of information on Orlik, with pictures of his prints (some for sale) and an extensive biography,  is of course the comprehensive  website produced by Allan Wolman and Anne Schneider (www.orlikprints.com).

Adriaen Von Ostade (1610-1685) etching, circa 1647(Godefry 41, Bartsch 41), 6th state (of 8). [signed in the plate] In very good condition, with (small) margins all around, archival matting. 118 x 116 mm (4 5/8 x 4 1/2 inches)

A fine, bright and clear impression, with traces of inky plate edges and wiping scratches still printing outside of the image.

The Pig Killers is the first of Ostade’s complex compositions, made when he was in his late 30’s. It portrays the entire farm family in this celebratory ritual: the head of the family oversees the operation (at the left), the farmhand kneels on the just slaughtered pig while the farmer’s wife collects the blood in a ladle; the eldest son holds a candle lighting up the scene while two other children – perhaps understandably – are less focused on what’s going on.

Night scenes such as this were popular with Van Ostade and his contemporaries (most notably, Rembrandt). Van Ostade’s work at this time sometimes resembles that of Rembrandt, although Van Ostade’s teacher was Frans Hals, and Van Ostade worked and lived in Haarlem his whole life (but of course Rembrandt’s etchings were known to him, and the tradition of night scenes in 17th Century Dutch etching precedes both Van Ostade and Rembrandt).

Jean-Emile Laboureur, The Amores, plate 5 (Impotence), etching in sanguine, 1931, signed. Reference: Sylvain Laboureur 440, volume 2, page 231. The rare first state (there were six proofs of the first state, only one printed in sanguine); in the second state the etching was included as part of the book The Amores at the Golden Cockerel Press, Waltham St. Lawrence, Berkshire. In very good condition, remains of prior hinging top corners, on a cream wove paper with the watermark AMV, the full sheet with wide margins, 5 3/8 x 4, the sheet 11 x 8 3/4 inches, archival window matting.

A fine fresh impression of this rarity; only 6 proofs were made before Laboureur’s monogram was added for the book edition, 5 in black ink and only one – this impression – in sanguine.

The book The Amores of P. Ovidius Naso was illustrated with 5 etchings by Laboureur. Plate 5, called Impotence, was to illustrate these words: “Though I desired it, and the girl desired it just as much, I could not use the pleasant part of my futile groin.”

The final production of this apparently steamy book was limited to 350 copies, issued in 1931; by 1933 the publisher conceded that book sales had not gone well in this period of the Great Depression.  Of course today Golden Cockerel books, and the books illustrated by Laboureur are sought after by book collectors.

Jean-Emile Laboureur (1877-1943), Negres Americains a Saint-Nazaire, 1917-1920, engraving on cream wove paper, signed in pencil lower left, titled lower left margin edge, and numbered (4/35) and inscribed imp lower right [monogram in the plate], 6.25 x 5.06, the sheet 9.75 x 7.5 inches. Reference: Sylvain Laboureur, Godefry 180. Second state (of 2). In very good condition, with margins and archival mounting.

A fine impression of this important and rare cubist-influenced engraving. One of the most popular and engaging of Laboureur’s early images of World War I, Negres Americains a Saint-Nazaire has been exhibited at at least 18 of the larger Laboureur shows and retrospectives.

Although this print was numbered as if the edition was 35, only 28 impressions were printed in total, 8 in the first state (before the monogram in the plate), and 20 in the second.

This is a splendid example of the effectiveness of Laboureur’s engraving technique, with its pointed and regularized incisions, in a cubist/modernist composition. This impression was printed (by Laboureur himself) with a light veil of platetone which lend an atmospheric quality to the scene.

Israhel van Meckenem (1445-1503),  St. Stephen, engraving, circa 1480-1490. Reference: Lehrs IX 382, Bartsch 93.  First state of two. [with initials below in the plate] On old laid paper with a Hand and Flower watermark (Lehrs watermark 10), edges made up a few mm. within borderline, skinned and reinforced in places on verso from removal of old backing, with a few associated repaired breaks, most noticeably on right arm of the saint, and another into top of palm frond in his left hand, some stains.

A fine impression of this great rarity (we know of no other impressions in North America). In a brown/black ink, unusually strong in the printing of the lower part of the vestments and on the ground.

Provenance: ex coll S. Paelinck (sepia ink inscription on verso, “V Pael, No 103”, see Lugt 257)

Ducs d”Arenberg (Lugt 567)

Dr. Albert M. Blum (stamp on mat), his sale Sothebys New York, 2/88

This impression is cited by Lehrs in his register of sales (auction Paelinck, Brussels, 1860 first state, 60 francs to the Duke of Arenberg) and classified as a * impression (no *** impressions are cited). Lehrs knew of 40 impressions only.

Israhel van Meckenem,  trained as a goldsmith, was one of the earliest, and most prolific Renaissance printmakers.  He is notorious for copying the work and reworking the plates of other engravers (including Master ES) and well-known also for creating the first double portrait – of himself and his wife.the printing process. His original engravings show scenes from everyday life, recording contemporary dress and manners with honesty and humour; but of course he also made religious prints, and in fact made prints of anything that would sell; he was well-attuned to the market.

St. Stephen was the first Christian martyr – according to the Acts of the Apostles he was taken outside of the city and stoned to death.  Generally depicted as a young and beardless man, with the stones, he’s invoked by headache sufferers; the association is with the pain of the stoning.

Rembrandt Harmensz. Van Rijn (Leiden 1606-1669 Amsterdam), Self Portrait in a Cloak with a Falling Collar: Bust, 1630-31, etching, [signed RHL and dated 1630 which was altered to 1631 in the plate]. References: Bartsch 15, White/Boon, Hollstein 15;  fifth state (of six; see note below). In very good condition, with a 1/4 inch thread margin all around. 2 1/2 x 2 1/8, the sheet 2 5/8 x 2 3/16 inches.

Provenance:

George Hibbert, London (Lugt 2849)

William Esdaile, London (Lugt 2617)

Otto Gerstenberg, Berlin (Lugt 2785; with the “Montag number” M. 180 on the verso, cf. Lugt 1840c)

David Tunick Inc., New York (ca. 1983)

Private collection, USA.

A fine crisp impression of this exceedingly rare print. Nowell-Eusticke rates its rarity as RRRR (“Practically unobtainable, greatest rarity”)

In a note in the Print Quarterly (Vol. 1, no. 2, June 1984, p. 124) Linda Papaharis described an impression of Self-Portrait in a Cloak in the Morgan Library as a  sixth state; this impression has a broad area of additional shading to the left center edge of the plate above the shading at the lower left.  She noted that this Morgan Library impression was apparently known to Rembrandt expert Arthur Hind for there is a pencil notation indicating this on the mount, but that the Morgan had catalogued the impression as an undescribed state; hence although earlier cataloguers traditionally account for five states of this print we catalogue this impression as a fifth state (of 6).

Camille Pissarro (1830-1903), Femme Cuellant des Choux (Woman Picking Cabbage), etching, 1888. Signed, titled and inscribed by the artist (lower right: “Imp. par C.P.”; lower left: “3’etat No. 2, femme cueillant des choux/cuivre”). Reference: Delteil 77, third state (of 7). In very good condition, with wide margins (barely discernible mat stain in margins), 3 15/16 x 2 1/2, the sheet 9 1/4 x 6 inches.

A fine, delicately printed impression of this rare print, printed in a light brownish/red ink, with a subtle layer of plate tone overall, on a laid paper.

Eight impressions of this state were pulled (by Pissarro himself), each annotated 3rd etat and numbered. There were only one or two impressions pulled in each of the prior or subsequent states. After this, the third state, Pissarro darkened the composition considerably. (There were also 24 impressions pulled posthumously.)

The cabbages toward the bottom of this impression appear to be printed twice, on a greyish ground, and then defined with careful etching lines (see detail below).  Here Pissarro has  used the technique he and Degas developed when working together in the early 1880’s, which has been called “maniere grise” (gray manner). According to Pissarro scholar Barbara S. Shapiro (Camille Pissarro, The Impressionist Printmaker), “a pencil-shaped emery stone rubbed on the plate simulated very fine-grained aquatint that reads as a gray tonality.” The technique gives the impression that the artist has either created the print with two plates, or perhaps worked over the paper somehow with a pencil or wash by hand before pulling the impression. But although the plate has in fact been worked over carefully using different techniques, the print is made in a single pull through the press. Pissarro (and Degas) wanted to produce various printmaking effects through the print process itself, not by inking the plate by hand (a la Whistler).

As Shapiro notes: “The prints of these brief years are triumphs of printmaking, characterized by shimmering surfaces that show varying degrees of light. Yet the unusual and seemingly spontaneous effects were the result of complex procedures.”

Detail

Jean-Emile Laboureur, Anzacs, woodcut, 1918-22,  signed and numbered (7/45), the second state (of 2). Reference: Sylvain Laboureur 713. In good condition, with remains of old hinges at left margin, a fold at bottom margin edge, archival matting. Plate 10 x 5 1/2 inches, the sheet 17 x 9 1/4 inches.

A clean, bright impression, made in 1918 (a few proofs printed at that time; the edition printed a bit later) just as Laboureur’s singular approach to cubism was emerging. ANZACs stands for Australian New Zealand Army Corps (in France during WWI). On laid paper, with an MBM watermark.

Jean-Emile Laboureur was born in Nantes in 1877. He traveled to Paris in 1895 intending to study law at the Sorbonne, but found himself drawn to the nearby famed Academie Julian, and although he never officially matriculated there, he became immersed in the Parisian art scene.

The great wood engraver Auguste Lepere taught him woodcutting, which initiated Laboureur in an involvement in printmaking that would extend through his career. In 1886 he met Toulouse Lautrec, who influenced Laboureur’s emerging aesthetic style, as did the work of Odilon Redon, Bonnard, and perhaps most notably Felix Vallotton, who became a close colleague, and whose woodcut work often bears a close relationship to Laboureur’s. Laboureur traveled widely, staying for periods in the US and London, and studying classic art and printmaking in Italy and Germany. Although he had moved back to Paris by 1910, a time when analytical cubism was emerging in the work of Picasso and Braque, he continued working in an abstract, modernist mode, waiting until about 1913 or shortly thereafter to invent a cubist idiom all his own.

ANZACS shows Laboureur working confidently, and successfully, within a cubist idiom.

We maintain a large inventory of Laboureur prints; your inquiries are always welcome.

$900

Theophile Alexandre Steinlen (1859-1923),  Dan le Rue, lithograph, 1911, signed in pencil [also signed in the plate). Reference:  Crauzat 295, titled by him as Dan la Rue or also Femme Seule.  In the only state, printed on a chine colle, on a heavy cream wove paper.  In good condition, with full margins (9 3/4 x 6 1/8, the sheet 15 x 11 inches), archival matting.

Published “hors texte” in the volume La Misere Sociale de la Femme,” a compilation of essays by writers from the 16th to the 20th Century, in 1911, in Paris, by Dewambez.

A very good impression of this rarely encountered image.

Theophile Alexandre Steinlen began his career as an illustrator for several Paris journals (Le Chat Noir, Gil Blas), and was attracted to printmaking presumably because he was such an excellent draughtsman. His lithographic work, such as Dan la Rue, was of course informed by the marvelous draughtsmanship of his fellow-countryman and predecessor Honore Daumier, and in this example we see also the strong influence of impressionism.

Although he is famed publicly for his studies of cats, and his fin de siecle posters, his work throughout his career was marked by strong social consciousness. Early on, he created images of French life – prostitutes and pimps, construction workers and miners, ragpickers and soldiers, and, in this example, a young woman with an umbrella,  alone in the wind-blown streets, probably coming home from work.

Jean-Emile Laboureur (1877-, Souper a New York, etching on zinc, 1907, signed in pencil bottom left margin; also annotated “No 11/20 imp” bottom margin. Reference: Sylvain Laboureur 67, only state. [with the signature and date in the plate lower right] From the small edition of only 16 impressions. In very good condition, the full sheet with deckle edges, on cream laid Ch. Whittman paper with their watermark, 6 x 7 1/2, the sheet 9 3/4 x 13 inches; archival mounting.

A fine impression, printed in a dark brown/black ink.

Sylvain Laboureur notes that this print was numbered according to a proposed edition size of 30, but only 16 were pulled; according to the annotation at the bottom of this impression the proposed edition may have been only 20. In any case, this print is quite rare, as are the few other prints of New York subjects Laboureur created in his early trip to the US.

Jean-Emile Laboureur was born in Nantes in 1877. He traveled to Paris in 1895 intending to study law at the Sorbonne, but found himself drawn to the nearby famed Academie Julian, and although he never officially matriculated there, he became immersed in the Parisian art scene. In 1886 he met Toulouse Lautrec, who influenced Laboureur’s emerging aesthetic style, as did the work of Odilon Redon, Bonnard, and Felix Vallotton. Laboureur traveled widely as a young artist, staying for periods in the US, where he created Souper a New York, and London, and studying classic art and printmaking in Italy and Germany, before returning to Paris in 1910.

Displaying what contemporary poet and friend Max Jacob described as “chic” and “grand classical elegance”, Laboureur has been widely collected in both Europe and North America; in the US his work can be found at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Philadelphia Museum of Art and the National Gallery of Art, Washington.. Laboureur died in 1943.

We maintain a large inventory of Laboureur prints, and welcome your inquiries about them.

$3000

Jan-Emile Laboureur (1877-1943), Touristes en Bretagne, engraving and roulette, 1928, signed in pencil lower left; numbered (42/58) and annotated “imp.” lower right [with the initial L bottom right in the plate]. Reference: Sylvain Laboureur 376, third state (of 3). In very good condition, with wide/full margins, printed on a cream wove paper, 4 3/8 x 4 3/4, the sheet 9 1/4 x 12 1/2 inches, archival matting.

A fine delicately printed impression.

The natives of this small town are at the left, carrying baskets and wearing aprons and wooden shoes; the small group of tourists at the right are gazing at the architecture – one woman reads a guidebook as the other two talk. Laboureur used a roulette tool to create regularized patterns of dots marking the fine woolen clothing of the tourists.

Jean-Emile Laboureur (1877-1943), L’Enfant Blessé, engraving, 1916, signed in pencil lower left and numbered (4/25) twice lower right. Reference: Laboureur 142, second state (of 2). From the edition of 25, the total printing was 32. In very good condition apart from some soft folds toward the left; printed on a cream laid paper with margins, 4 x 3 3/4, the sheet 5 x 4 1/4 inches, archival matting.

A fine impression of this exquisitely detailed rendering.

This composition is a marvelous example of Laboureur’s adaptation of the Cubist idiom to his own work. In particular, Laboureur capitalizes on the capacity of the engraving burin to create nearly microscopic regularized sharp lines and patterns which compliment the modernist, cubist approach.

This World War I subject is a walking couple: a woman and a man – a soldier – cradling a bandaged child.

Jean-Emile Laboureur, Jeunes Filles Sur Le Port, 1920, engraving, signed in pencil [also initialed and dated in the plate]. Reference: Godefry, Sylvain Laboureur 200, second state of two. An artist’s proof apart from the edition of 85 in this state; there were about 110 impressions printed in all before the plate was cancelled. In pristine condition, the full sheet with deckle edges, 6 x 5 3/8, the sheet 11 x 9 inches, archival mounting.

A fine clear impression.

Jean-Emile Laboureur was born in Nantes in 1877. He traveled to Paris in 1895 intending to study law at the Sorbonne, but found himself drawn to the nearby famed Academie Julian, and although he never officially matriculated there, he became immersed in the Parisian art scene. The great wood engraver Auguste Lepere taught him woodcutting, which initiated Laboureur in an involvement in printmaking that would extend through his career. In 1886 he met Toulouse Lautrec, who influenced Laboureur’s emerging aesthetic style, as did the work of Odilon Redon, Bonnard, and perhaps most notably Felix Vallotton, who became a close colleague, and whose woodcut work often bears a close relationship to Laboureur’s.

Laboureur traveled widely, staying for periods in the US and London, and studying classic art and printmaking in Italy and Germany. Although he had moved back to Paris by 1910, a time when analytical cubism was emerging in the work of Picasso and Braque, he continued working in an abstract, modernist mode, waiting until about 1913 or shortly thereafter to invent a cubist idiom all his own. Cubism remained an important theme for Laboureur, a theme he varied, sometimes using it as a strong design or compositional component, as in this engraving, sometimes only as a subtle background element. His experiments with engraving, started about 1915, began perhaps because of the difficulty of carrying complicated etching materials while working as an interpreter in the British Army, but were also based on his familiarity with the old masters, who typically worked in engraving.

Few modern artists use engraving, for although it doesn’t require much equipment, it is far more difficult and time consuming than etching. But engraving became his method, and the clear, clean engraving line seemed to complement Laboureur’s cubism. This happy marriage of cubism and engraving is demonstrated in Jeunes Filles Sur Le Port.

$1200

Jean-Emile Laboureur (1877-1943), La Promenade Sur Le Port, 1933, engraving, signed in pencil lower left. Reference: Godefry 482, Sylvain Laboureur 482, second state (of 2); from the edition of 235 (a total of 263 were printed) printed for the Print Club of Cleveland as a Presentation Print (1935). In pristine condition, still in the original presentation mat, on a cream wove paper with full margins, 8 1/2 x 8 3/4, the sheet 13 1/2 x 12 3/4 inches.

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

By the mid-Thirties Laboureur was of course well known as a printmaker who had  developed his own variation on cubism, using etching and engraving as his medium. In this print chosen by the print lovers of Cleveland for their annual print Laboureur – perhaps ironically – has depicted a scene in his beloved (French) Croisic. Perhaps it is remindful of Cleveland.

This print was issued in a rather larger edition than is typical for Laboureur prints, and so is not considered rare today, at least in the US. But this print is considered somewhat of a rarity in Europe (Sylvain Laboureur notes of the edition impressions “ces dernieres sont d’une grande rarete en Europe”), and when it has appeared at auction there it commands a hefty premium.

Jean-Emile Laboureur (1877-1943) engraving La Halte des Bohemiens, 1938, signed and numbered (73/108) in pencil. References: Godefry, Sylvain Laboureur 539. Third state of three, edition of 108 in this state, about 120 in all states.  Published by the Societe de Peintres – Graveurs, and with their blindstamp lower left. In excellent condition, with full margins (tiny nick bottom margin edge); archival mounting. 12 3/4 x 11, the sheet 19 x 14 3/4 inches.

A fine impression of this tour-de-force of modernist engraving.

La Halte des Bohemiens is one of Laboureur’s larger plates, an ambitious undertaking for the artist who was just over 70 at the time; in fact he fell ill while working on the print, and it is one of his last (and his last major engraving). The subject was inspired by an encampment of Bohemians between Herbignac and Asserac, near Penestin.

Jean-Emile Laboureur traveled to Paris in 1895 intending to study law at the Sorbonne, but found himself drawn to the famed Academie Julian, and although he never officially matriculated there, he became immersed in the Parisian art scene.  Laboureur traveled widely, staying for periods in the US and London, and studying classic art and printmaking in Italy and Germany. Although he had moved back to Paris by 1910, a time when analytical cubism was emerging in the work of Picasso and Braque, he continued working in an abstract, modernist mode, waiting until about 1913 or shortly thereafter to invent a cubist idiom all his own.  His experiments with engraving, started about 1915. Few modern artists use engraving, for although it doesn’t require much equipment, it is far more difficult and time consuming than etching. But engraving became his method, and the clear, clean engraving line seemed to complement Laboureur’s cubism.

In La Halte Laboureur creates a work of extraordinary complexity. Many of the figures are carrying on activities – the woman at the left hovers over a boiling pot on a fire, a boy carries a pail, another walks a monkey; the old man is weaving a tall basket; a young girl carries an infant. An older woman stands in the doorway, and a younger one faces us. Throughout his career Laboureur loved to create beautifully engraved trees and plants, and he populates this grove with a range of wonderful examples.

$900

Jean-Emile Laboureur (1877-1943) etching and engraving Paysage au Buttes-Chaumont (2nd Planche), 1920-21, signed and numbered ( 38/55) in pencil.  Reference: Sylvain Laboureur 205. In very good condition with wide margins (remains of old hinging on margin verso, some showing through not near image).  On white wove paper, 7 7/8 x 9 1/4, the sheet 10 x 13 1/2 inches, archival matting.

A fine, fresh and clear impression of this important cubist-influenced scene.

Jean-Emile Laboureur was born in Nantes in 1877. He traveled to Paris in 1895 intending to study law at the Sorbonne, but found himself drawn to the nearby famed Academie Julian, and although he never officially matriculated there, he became immersed in the Parisian art scene.  Laboureur then traveled widely, staying for periods in the US and London, and studying classic art and printmaking in Italy and Germany. Although he had moved back to Paris by 1910, a time when analytical cubism was emerging in the work of Picasso and Braque, he continued working in an abstract, modernist mode, waiting until about 1913 or shortly thereafter to invent a cubist idiom all his own.

Cubism remained an important theme for Laboureur, a theme he varied, sometimes using it as a strong design or compositional component, sometimes only as a subtle background element. In Paysage aux Buttes Chaumont we see Laboureur working confidently within the idiom, using cubist elements in various ways in different parts of this complex composition. He also mixes his modes of printmaking, combining etching and engraving. This successful composition was preceded by a less successful simpler version which lacked the strong tonal contrasts, depth, and structural elements (such as the bridge lower right) of the present image.

$1250

Jean-Emile Laboureur (1877-1947), Coin de Rue Dans Soho, woodcut, 1909, signed in pencil lower left and numbered (15/15) [also initials in the plate]. Reference: Sylvain Laboureur 642, Godefroy 642, second state (of 2). In very good condition, with wide margins, deckle edges left and bottom, slight traces of spotting in margin at left and bottom. 4 1/2 x 5 3/4, the sheet 8 1/2 x 11 1/2 inches. Archival mounting with window mat.

A fine clear and bright impression of this early and rare woodcut.

At this stage of his development Laboureur had arrived at an interesting modernist approach to the woodcut, somewhat comparable to that of his colleague and friend Felix Vallotton. Here he achieves an atmospheric sketch in woodcut; people are dressed for cold weather, engaged in walking or talking on a busy London street corner. In the sign at the upper right one can read Laboureur’s initials in tiny letters.

$875

Arthur B. Davies, Spring Dance (or On Willow Brook), lithograph, 1924, signed in pencil. Reference: Czestochowski 211, Price 116, only state. From the edition of 25. Printer: George C. Miller. In good condition apart from moderate light stain, remains of glue and backing from prior hinging verso. With margins, 12 x 19 1/2, the sheet 14 1/2 x 21 1/2 inches, archival mounting.

A very good impression of this classic Davies composition.

Provenance: Fort Worth Art Museum. This impression is the print shown in Czestochowski’s catalogue raisonne of the Davies prints. It is noted there that the impression was a “Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Edward R. Hudson, Jr.” The print was deaccessioned from the Fort Worth Art Museum and sold for its benefit at Sotheby’s New York on March, 2004. The Fort Worth cataloguing numbers are on the mat.

Arthur Davies was America’s pre-eminent artist at the time of the New York Armory Show (1913), and the organizers of the show (including Walt Kuhn) involved Davies as a way of lending prestige to the exhibit. Davies had much familiarity with his European counterparts and their work, and helped the organizers locate the work, and legitimate the entire enterprise. Spring Dance or On Willow Brook was done after a period in which Davies experimented with cubism; here he reverts to his earlier Symbolist/Impressionist leanings.

John Sloan ((1871-1951), Westminster Abbey, c. 1891, the complete set of13 etchings, ribbon bound with ahand-painted gilt cover [many of the etchingssignedand variously annotated in the plate]. Reference: Morse 11-23, only state. Printed byPeters Brothersand published byA. Edward Newton (1864-1940).Theetching imagematrices are in excellent condition, thefull sheets with wide margins (slight soiling and foxing near margin edges, the first (blank) page with some losses; other pages with nicks, some water stains not near images). Etchings are c. 3 1/4 x 5,the sheets 8 x 10 1/4 inches.

These etchings are finelyand delicately printed in dark brown or sepia ink on heavy wove paper;an exceedingly rare set of these very early Sloan etchings.

Morse knew of only one complete set of Westminster Abbey, in the Philadelphia Museum of Art, which is also with an embossed and painted cardboard cover (also with the illustration of hand-painted flowers, but in the Philadelphia set the flowers are placed a bit further to the right) tied with a ribbon (a flat ribbon in Philadelphia, braided here).

Although the publisher’s name is not on the volume,Sloan recalled doing this series forA. Edward Newton, who in later years became America’s most revered rare book collector. Sloan had worked at a bookshop in Philadelphia called Porter and Coates after high school, where Newton was a young salesman. After Newton left and set up a “fancy goods” business he recruited (with a three dollar a week raise) Sloan as a designer, and Sloan, who had learned etching techniques from reading at Porter and Coates,suggested doing some etching sets. Hecreated the Westminster Abbey series after photogravures made after paintings by English artist Alfred Dawson (Sloan never left the US). Size differences and other comparisons with a few of the photogravures that have been located show that Sloan did not trace them but copied them freehand.

Although A. Edward Newton achieved fame as a rare book collector and author, very little is known about the few early “books” he did with Sloan, including the size of the editions. Morse noted that “In many respects[Newton] was the first man to popularize book collecting beyond a small select group. For this reason his works have themselves become the object of book collectors…” Yet although this bound set is quite beautiful, and may have been produced in relatively large numbers, this appears to be the onlybound complete set knownoutside of the Philadelphia Museum set.

The 6 illustrative plates are signed by Sloan and variously titled and annotated,e.g., the Poet’s Corner includes names of several poets. The 6 title plates have verses as well as titles and are illustrated with decorative designs, e.g.,the West Front title with an “Ancient Coronation Chair”; the Poet’s Corner title with a harp; the Henry VII Chapel title with a knight’s armor and shield.
It is likely that Sloan designed the gilt tower on the cover, which is very similar to the etched tower; the hand painted flowers may have been done by him or, more probably, by one of the 28 (!) women of varying ages who worked at Newton’s with Sloan (the only male) painting frolicking French lovers and flowers and on the covers of candy boxes, portfolios, and novelties at Newton’s store.

Clement Haupers (1900-1982), Metro 2nd Class, aquatint and etching, 1928, signed, titled, numbered (6/20), dated and inscribed “Paris.” In very good condition, slight toning and remains of prior hinging, on Van Gelder Zonen cream wove paper with margins, the full sheet, 4 x 5 3/4, the sheet 9 7/8 x 12 1/2 inches, archival mounting.

A fine fresh impression, with the various aquatint tonalities contrasting vividly.

A fascinating study of rush hour in a Paris Metro 2nd Class car.

Haupers studied in Paris with the Cubist painter André Llote, who influenced his style and perspective. Upon completing his studies in France, Haupers returned to Minnesota where he became an influential teacher at the St. Paul School of Art. He rose to prominence in 1935 as the state and regional director of the New Deal’s Federal Art Project in Minnesota, which hired unemployed artists to decorate public buildings and parks.

In 1981 Clement Bernard Haupers was the first recipient of the “Minnesotan of the Year” award.  He was born and died in the same house in St. Paul.

Paul Gavarni (1804-1866), Fashion Plates (a collection of 12), lithographs, c. 1840, as published in Le Charivari, with the letterpress verso. [Some are signed in the plate, the address of the gallery Aubert is noted, most are noted as by Gavarni] Several with customs stamps (Royal Seine) verso. In generally good condition, with folds (generally four folds per sheet, as the newspaper was folded), the full or near full sheets, the images c. 8 x 6 1/2, the sheets c. 13 1/2 x 8 1/2, unmatted, to be issued loose.

Very good impressions of these fascinating fashions and models.

Paul Gavarni (the nom de plume of Hippolyte Guillaume Sulpice Chevalier) started his career as an engineering draftsman, but turned to making portraits of fashionable French woman and men, and there found his metier – in fact, he was surely the leading illustrator of French fashion in his time. He moved from directing the Gens de Monde to the journal Le Charivari, where these illustrations appeared (9 are part of a series called Revue Fashionable). He later moved to caricature and book illustrations, showing a less cheerful and more cynical side, and in the last stage of his career became interested in scientific endeavors, such as aerial navigation, which were not nearly so successful as the fashion plates, such as those in this collection, created much earlier in his career.

Prescott Chaplin (1896-1968), Purse Sienners, color woodcut, signed in pencil lower right and titled lower left margins; on a heavy brown wove paper, with margins, in very good condition, 11 5/8 x 6 7/8, the sheet 14 x 9 1/4, archival mounting.

A fine impression of this splendid image; one of Chaplin’s great woodcuts. The colors appear to have been applied by hand, perhaps using the guidance of a stencil.

Prescott Chaplin was a California artist noted for his woodcuts, and especially esteemed for his work in color. His modernist aesthetic, perhaps best known through his many works on Mexican subjects, works particularly well in this harbor scene, which shows the reflections of light on the water.

Francisco Goya (1746-1828), Los Moros Hacen Otho Capeo en Plaza con Su Albornoz (The Moors made another pass at the bull with their cape). Etching, burnished aquatint and drypoint. 1815-1816. Plate 6 from Tauromaquia. Reference: Harris 209, Delteil 229. First Edition (of 7). In very good condition, on laid paper with full margins, 310 x 440 mm (exactly the sheet size specified by Harris of the First Edition), 9 1/4 x 13 7/8, the sheet 12 1/4 x 17 1/2 inches, archival mounting.

A fine clear impression, printed in sepia ink  As noted by Harris: This edition is the only one in which the full qualities of the plates can be appreciated. The impressions are extremely fine and are all clean-wiped.  (Only the First Edition impressions are lifetime).

Goya etched the Moorish bullfighters wearing their traditional Marmeluke uniforms; he also thought that hey introduced the notion of enticing the bull with a cape (or albornoz).

Emil Ganso (1895-1941), Two Nudes, 1928, wood engraving, signed in pencil lower right. Reference: Smith R-86A, First state (of 2). Edition of 5. In pristine condition, printed on a wove paper with margins, 3 3/4 x 5 1/8, the sheet 6 x 7 7/8 inches. Loose as issued, not matted.

A good impression of this engraving, rare (edition of 5) before letters.

In a later state this print was used as an announcement card, with these letters added: Paintings and Drawings by Emil Ganso at the Weyhe Gallery…October 22nd to November 10th, 1928.

These models are picknicking, as evidenced by the basket lower right; a lake and mountain are in the background.

This was reproduced in Salaman, New Woodcuts, and American Artists No. 17.

Emil Ganso (1895-1941), Landscape and Houses (or, Woodstock, number 3, or Country Path), c. 1928, signed in pencil lower right. Reference: Smith R-29, only state. In pristine condition, not mounted or matted, with margins, deckle edges sides and bottom, 3 7/8 x 5 3/8, the sheet 5 1/8 x 6 7/8 inches.

A fine impression of this tiny wood engraving, printed in black ink on a cream wove paper with the watermark ITALY.

We believe this is a relatively rare Ganso print; Smith did not know of an edition.

Starting in the late ’20’s Ganso spent much of May through November in Woodstock, New York, and in the period from 1925-30 he did most of his woodcuts and wood engravings. Wood engravings are often made in a small format largely because they are difficult to create – this is a relief technique where the artist uses engraving-like tools to cut the smoothed end of a log or board. Ganso learned this technique relatively early in his career; eventually he was to master most of the basic printmaking methods.

Reproduced in Rochester, Prints from the Collection of Charles Rand Penney, 76.

Emil Ganso (1895-1941), Eddyville, or Morning Stroll, 1935 (also given as 1932), wash and scratch lithograph in brown ink, signed in pencil lower right and inscribed Ed 35 lower left. Reference: Smith L 30B. In good condition, with margins (loss at upper left corner), on a chine colle on cream wove, 10 3/4 x 15 1/2, the sheet 13 5/8 x 18 1/2 inches, archival window matting.

A fine impression, printed in brownish black ink.

Eddyville is a superb example of Ganso’s experimental “wash and scratch” lithographic technique – one can see numerous scratches in the grassy banks in the foreground, and wonderful wash effects in the hills in the middle ground.

Eddyville is just south of Woodstock, where Ganso generally spent much of the year working (other artists in the area included Eugene Speicher, Leon Kroll, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Mortimer Borne, and Aline Freuhauf).

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.

John Sloan (1871-1954) etching, James B. Moore, Esq., signed in pencil lower right and inscribed “100 proofs” lower left (although only 25 were printed). [Also signed and dated lower left, and titled upper left, in the plate.] Reference: Morse 126. Third state of three. In very good condition, on a cream wove watermarked Van Gelder-Zonen Holland paper, archival matting.  Plate size 12 x 10, picture size 11 1/4 x 9 1/4, sheet 15 x 12 1/2, with the drying holes at left and right margin edges. This paper, the characteristic drying holes, as well as the high quality of the impression, indicate that Peter Platt (one of the great printers at the time, and one of Sloan’s favorite) was the printer.

A very good impression of this great rarity. We have not seen another impression of this print on the market in over 25 years. Sloan routinely put an edition size on his prints, but this often represented wishful thinking, or at least habit; in this case Morse gives a printing size of 25.

Sloan’s notes to his friend, advisor and supporter John Quinn tend to confirm the rarity of the print, and give us a good notion of who Moore was: “My dear Quinn – I have just unearthed this in going through some old proofs. It was drawn on copper from the life. It represents James B. Moore who, as proprietor of The Cafe Francis, Bohemian Rendezvous, figures quite importantly in the artistic life of New York. His house, ‘The Secret Lair Beyond the Moat’ was the scene of such gay parties as few of us who participated can hope or wish to see again. He dozed in the chair while I drew the copper…”

The picture at the upper right appears to portray the devil toasting a couple writhing in bed.

$3250

John Sloan (1871-1951), Romany Marye in Christopher Street, 1922, etching, signed in pencil lower right, titled, dated and inscribed 100 proofs bottom margin. Reference: Morse 278, seventh state (of 7), from the edition of 52 impressions, all printed by Charles White. In very good condition, with barely visible light toning, printed on a cream laid paper with margins (small loss upper left margin edge), 6 x 8 inches, the sheet 8 1/4 x 10 3/8 inches, archival mounting.

A fine rich atmospheric impression, printed with a plate tone overall which heightens the sense that this is a night scene.

Although Sloan writes “100 proofs” in the lower left margin, as he customarily did, the total printing size of the edition was half that – 52.

Sloan wrote of this print: “All Greenwich Villagers know Romany Marye, who has acted the part of hostess, philosopher, and friend in her series of quiet little restaurants for the past thiry-five years. The etching shows her chatting in her deep comfortable voice to Dolly and myself.”  Sloan is depicted at the lower right, with the pipe; his wife Dolly is at the lower left.

$3400

Jan Matulka (1890-1972), Spanish Woman with Guitar, lithograph, 1925, an unsigned proof impression. Reference: Flint 13, only a few impressions known. In generally good condition except for faint soiling or spotting, trimmed near the margin at left, just outside the margin right and bottom, and well above the margin (although unevenly) top. 13 3/4 x 11 5/8, the sheet 15 x 11 3/4 (approx.) inches, archival window mat.

A very good strong impression of this rarity, printed on a cream wove paper. The inky borders and irregular trimming (as well as the lack of signature) are characteristic of Matulka’s proof printing.

Born in Prague, Czechoslovakia, in 1890, Jan Matulka became a leading American modernist working at the same time as Lozowick to develop the earliest American Precisionist work, and with Stuart Davis to evolve a new form of Americanized Cubism. In 1907, he came to the Bronx, New York where he had a poverty-ridden childhood with a mother who tried to raise a family by herself. From 1908 to 1917, he studied at the National Academy of Design, and in 1917, received the first Pulitzer traveling scholarship with which he traveled and painted in the Southwest and Florida. In 1919, he first went to Paris, where he was exposed to European modernism, (especially Cubism).

Spanish Woman reflects both the realism that was always a theme in the Matulka’s work and also a Cubist idiom that he was to work with through the years. Matulka often varied his approach from rather conventional realism to cutting edge modernism, even during the same periods. Matulka had his first one-man exhibit in New York City in 1925, the year Spanish Woman was created. A reclusive and independent figure, he did not fashion his art or career for optimal art world recognition. Still, he has been the subject of great interest and regard over the years, especially among artists and curators, and his work is increasingly sought after among those interested in the evolution of American modernism.

Jan Matulka (1890-1972), Maine, lithograph, c. 1925, an unsigned proof impression. Reference: Flint 25, only a few impressions known. In generally good condition, with the inky and oily margins and irregular trimming (as well as the lack of signature) characteristic of Matulka’s proof printing. 11 1/2 x 14 3/8, the sheet 12 1/2 x 19, archival matting.

A good strong impression of this rarely encountered print (no edition was published), printed on a cream wove paper.

Provenance: ex Collection Sylvan Cole

Born in Prague, Czechoslovakia, in 1890, Jan Matulka became a leading American modernist working at the same time as Lozowick to develop the earliest American Precisionist work, and with Stuart Davis to evolve a new form of Americanized Cubism. In 1907, he came to the Bronx, New York where he had a poverty-ridden childhood with a mother who tried to raise a family by herself. From 1908 to 1917, he studied at the National Academy of Design, and in 1917, received the first Pulitzer traveling scholarship with which he traveled and painted in the Southwest and Florida. In 1919, he first went to Paris, where he was exposed to European modernism, (especially Cubism).

Maine exemplifies both the realism that was always a theme in the Matulka’s work and also a Cubist idiom that he was to refine through the years. Matulka often varied his approach from rather conventional realism to cutting edge modernism, even during the same periods. Matulka had his first one-man exhibit in New York City in 1925, about the time that Maine was created.

A reclusive and independent figure, Matulka did not fashion his art or career for optimal art world recognition. Still, he has been the subject of great interest and regard over the years, especially among artists and curators, and his work is increasingly sought after among those interested in the evolution of American modernism.

Childe Hassam (1859-1935), Fifth Avenue, Noon, 1916, etching, signed with the artist’s monogram in pencil, and inscribed “imp” [also signed and dated in the plate]. Reference: Cortissoz 77. Edition c. 20, 2nd state of two. In excellent condition, with full margins (the artist’s drying tack holes at the sheet edge), 9 15/16 x 7 3/16 inches (252 x 183 mm); sheet size 12 5/8 x 9 3/4 inches (321 x 248 mm).

A fine, crisp impression, on cream wove paper

Hassam printed this impression personally.

A view from a window at Fifth Avenue, New York, looking north from 34th Street, etched from life.

Collections: Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts, Cleveland Museum of Art, Corcoran Museum of Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art. Exhibited: Museum of Fine Arts Boston, 1922; Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, 1916, 1922. Cover illustration for 94 Prints by Childe Hassam, Joseph Czestochowski, 1980.

Jean-Emile Laboureur (1877-1943), Le Tir Forain, engraving, 1920-21, signed in pencil lower left, titled lower left, and numbered 10//85 lower right, also annotated “imp.” [also with the monogram and date 1920 in the plate upper right]. Reference: Godefroy, Laboureur 191. Fourth state (of 4), total lifetime edition of 108 including all states. Posthumous impressions were taken in 1988, which are clearly stamped and identified. The plate has been cancelled. In very good condition, on an ivory laid paper with a double MBM watermark; the full sheet with wide margins (very slight toning, remains of prior hinging verso), 10 1/2 x 9, the sheet 15 1/2 x 10 3/4 inches.

Provenance:

Unidentified collector’s stamp verso ( ABS, not found in Lugt)

Purchased Exposition Galerie Marcel LeComte, 1974, to current owner.

A superb, rich impression of this splendid image, printed in an unusual dark brown ink.

Le Tir Forain was conceived in sketches and drawings in 1914, and some components of the image can be seen in one of the small woodcuts Laboureur created for a series of scenes depicting the troops in World War I.  A major painting on the theme was not completed, and the engraving itself was done in 1920-21; the edition was printed in 1921. Le Tir Forain is one of the most famous of Laboureur’s images, and has been exhibited widely, serving as a theme for art shows and even as a decorative panel for the restaurant Boulestin.

Le Tir Forain demonstrates Laboureur’s remarkable adaptation of the cubist idiom; his engraving technique is a perfect way of achieving the angularity and freshness of line that his unique approach requires.

The general composition of Le Tir Forain was set out in the first state, which is of great interest in understanding the development of the print, and the intermediate states are of interest as well (and of course represent the plate in its early and more pristine condition). But in this case, the final state – in which the lines of the targets are filled in – is really a culmination of the developmental process; so in the case of Le Tir Forain the definitive fourth state represents the last word on what the artist was aiming at in this, one of his most appealing prints.

The drawing is in pencil on a very thin orange Japan paper, the same size as the engraving (10 1/2 x 9 inches), and then carefully re-traced by the artist in ink on the verso, so the verso is in the same direction as the print. It is signed in pencil. The verso is pictured. The condition is typical of a working drawing, i.e., not pristine – a paper loss upper left (outside of the image), a tear (now expertly repaired) where a pencil line was drawn too hard and sharp. Interestingly, in the upper left of the drawing the artist has drawn lines within the curtains in a purple ink.

(Note: a superb impression of the print, without the drawing, is also available; please inquire if interested)

Laboureur – Le Tir Forain – The Drawing

The rare first state

James Whistler (1834-1903), La Marchande de moutarde – The Mustard Merchant 1858,  etching and drypoint on cream laid paper (with a partial script watermark).  Reference: Kennedy 22, first state (of five); Glasgow 20 (Margaret F. MacDonald, Grischka Petri, Meg Hausberg, and Joanna Meacock, James McNeill Whistler: The Etchings, a catalogue raisonné, University of Glasgow, 2011) first state (of 5). Lochnan 24. In very good condition, with wide margins: 6 ¼ x 3 1/2; the sheet 9 1/8 x 7 ¼ inches.

A very fine impression of the extremely rare first state of five, printing with rich tone; before the intricate lines above the pots on the shelf and the vertical lines on the beam just below the arch.

According to the Glasgow catalogue :  “The unique first state is in the National Gallery in Washington DC. There are comparatively few impressions of the second state (but more of the third state).” This first state impression would thus double the total of known first state impressions.  This impression has been examined by Margaret MacDonald, head of the Glasgow project, and will be included in the Glasgow catalogue as the second known impression of this print.

The composition is based on a pencil drawing Whistler made in Cologne during a walking tour through France and the Rhineland
with Ernest Delannoy in 1858. The print was shown together with a portrait etching at the Paris Salon of 1859 and can be considered
the artist’s first introduction to the public. For this historic reason, but also because of the charming quality of the image
itself, La Marchande is rightly considered one of Whistler’s most important early prints.

This impression has wide margins: 6 ¼ x 3 1/2; the sheet 9 1/8 x 7 ¼ inches.

Honore Daumier (1808-1879), Desperate Fisherman (or, There is No Accounting for Taste), lithograph, 1840 [with letters in the plate]. Reference: Daumier Register 817. A sur blanc impression, on cream wove paper, issued apart from the newsprint publication in Charivari (also issued in the Album Comique in 1842). In very good condition, with margins, 11 3/4 x 8, the sheet 13 3/8 x 10 1/4 inches, archival window matting.

A fine fresh impression of this classic fishing scene.

The sur blanc impressions were published in quite limited editions for collectors (typically 100 or so impressions), in this case prior to the wider publication of the lithograph. Collectors generally preferred the sur blancs because the paper was better grade, there was no newsprint to show through and, the printing quality was generally quite fine.

Here, from the invaluable online Daumier Register, is a translation of the lettering, as well as a comment on the translation:

Original Text:
LE PÊCHEUR ACHARNÉ
ou
il ne faut pas disputer les gouts.

Translation:
THE DESPERATE FISHERMAN
or
“There is no accounting for tastes”.

There is a play on words in the text of this print. “des goûts” means “of tastes”. It is pronounced in the same was as the word “d’égout”, meaning “sewage”.

Honore Daumier (1808-1879), Desperate Fisherman (or, There is No Accounting for Taste), lithograph, 1840 [with letters in the plate]. Reference: Daumier Register 817. A sur blanc impression, on cream wove paper, issued apart from the newsprint publication in Charivari (also issued in the Album Comique in 1842). In very good condition, with margins, 11 3/4 x 8, the sheet 13 3/8 x 10 1/4 inches, archival window matting.

A fine fresh impression of this classic fishing scene.

The sur blanc impressions were published in quite limited editions for collectors (typically 100 or so impressions), in this case prior to the wider publication of the lithograph. Collectors generally preferred the sur blancs because the paper was better grade, there was no newsprint to show through and, the printing quality was generally quite fine.

Here, from the invaluable online Daumier Register, is a translation of the lettering, as well as a comment on the translation:

Original Text:
LE PÊCHEUR ACHARNÉ
ou
il ne faut pas disputer les gouts.

Translation:
THE DESPERATE FISHERMAN
or
“There is no accounting for tastes”.

There is a play on words in the text of this print. “des goûts” means “of tastes”. It is pronounced in the same was as the word “d’égout”, meaning “sewage”.

Honore Daumier 1808-1879), Ah Tu Trouves…, lithograph, 1841 [with initials in the plate, other annotation: Chez Aubert, gal. Véro-Dodat lower center Se vend chez Bauger & Cie Editeurs… lower right Imp. d’Aubert & Cie]. Reference: Daumier Register 661, second state (of 3), before the erasure of the address. Published in Le Charivari. Plate 38 from Moeurs Conjugales. In good condition, with margins (spotting in margins) 9 x 12, the sheet 13 1/2 x 10 1/8 inches, archival matting.

A very good black sur blanc impression.  The sur blanc impressions were printed in a limited edition apart from the large newsprint edition, for collectors, on a white wove paper. This paper is stronger than the newprint, and is superior insofar as the newsprint does not show through the image. For more background on the print, including the position of women v. men in French households in the mid-19th Century, please see the discussion of the topic in the Daumier Register, a free on-line catalogue raisonne.

Here is the translation of the text from the Daumier Register:

. Original Text: – Ah! tu trouves que ta femme ne te soigne pas assez, brigand; quand tu dépenses tout, canaille!… Eh bien je m’en ferai des accroche-cœur, polisson!…. et je m’achèterai des bonnets…. et je te ferai manger des bouchons de liège, gredin…….. – Mon ange j’ai tort, tu es une bonne femme de ménage….. mais tu casses tout.

Translation: – Ah! So you think your wife does not care enough about you, you rascal, when you spend everything you good-for-nothing! Well, I am going to arrange my hair in lovelocks, you scoundrel! And I am going to buy fancy hats and I will give you corks to eat, you villain! – My angel, I am wrong, you are a good housewife …. but you’re breaking everything!

$250

Honore Daumier (1808-1879),  UNE DEMANDE EN SÉPARATION (A Divorce Case), lithograph, 1845. Reference: Daumier Register, second state (of 2, with letters [initials in the plate]), Plate 40 of Les Beaux Jours de la Vie, published in Le Charivari, 8 7/8 x 9 1/4, the sheet 14 1/2 x 9 3/4 inches. In good condition, slight paper toning, horizontal fold.

A fine strong and clear impression of this iconic Daumier lawyer image, as published in Le Charivari, with the letterpress verso.

Here, as quoted from the Daumier Register is the translation:

Original Text: UNE DEMANDE EN SÉPARATION. – Mon client n’est pas un des maris présomptueux qui viennent se vanter devant vous d’avoir été trompés par leur femme, sans avoir autre chose que de vagues soupçons…. grâce au ciel nous avons des preuves… nous en avons à foison, et c’est le front levé et sans crainte d’un démenti, que monsieur peut annoncer hautement et en tout lieux… qu’il est… enfin ce qu’il est!….

Translation: A DIVORCE CASE. My client is not one of these presumptuous husbands who appear here before you in order to boast that they have been deceived by their wives and have only vague suspicions for saying so… Thank God, we have proof… More than that. We have ample proof, and holding his head high, and without fear of contradiction, the gentleman can say loud and clear that he… that he is… well, that he is what he is…

The complainant appears to be as baffled by his lawyer as he seems to have been by his wife.

$750

Theodore Roussel (1847-1926), The Sleeping Model or The Sleeper, etching and drypoint with additional pencil coloring, signed on the tab and inscribed “imp”, also inscribed “to Hetty” and initialed verso. Reference: Hausberg 145, an undescribed third state (of 5), colored by the artist in pencil, in very good condition, on antique laid paper trimmed to the plate mark by the artist with the tab left for the signature, 5 1/8 x 7 inches, archival mounting.

A fine impression of a proof before the addition of lines on the couch and background, shading near the model’s fingers, and the addition of aquatint for color printing. In this proof the artist has added colors in pencil; in the last state a small number of impressions (5) were printed in colors.

This proof impression was given to the model, Hetty Pettigrew, by Roussel. Ms Pettigrew (1867-1953), a model for Whistler as well as Roussel, was also Roussel’s student, and had, according to Hausberg, a personal relationship with Roussel as well as a professional one. Both Roussel and Whistler made a number of prints, and Whistler a few pastels, of Ms. Pettigrew on the couch depicted in this etching.

Theodore Roussel (1847-1926), Low Tide Fowey (First Plate), etching, 1911, signed on the tab and inscribed imp (Latin for impressit)[also signed in the plate lower left]; Reference: Hausberg 100, third state (of 3). In excellent condition (remains of prior hinging verso), trimmed by the artist on the platemark with a tab left for the signature and annotation, on a laid paper, 3 1/2 x 5 inches, archival matting.

A fine delicately printed impression of this rare print. Roussel printed only 15 in this state, 8 in the second state and 1 in the first.

Apparently this delicate plate wore out quickly, so Roussel made another version (Hausberg 101) which was then steel-faced (although no edition was made of this version).

Roussel was an admirer, and one of the more talented students of Whistler, and, like Whistler, he printed his etchings personally, then trimmed them at the plate mark and left his signature on a tab.

The subject dates from Roussel’s visit to Fowey, Cornwall during the summer of 1911.

Theodore Roussel (1847-1926), The Street, Chelsea Embankment, etching, 1888-9, signed in pencil on the tab and annotated “imp” [also signed lower left in the plate]. Reference: Hausberg 26, only state, about 40 impressions printed.  In good condition (tiny repaired tear upper margin, trimmed by the artist at the platemark leaving a tab for the signature), 5 7/8 x 8 1/4 inches.  Printed in brownish/black ink on an old laid paper, archival mounting.

A fine atmospheric impression, printed by the artist with an overall veil of plate tone.

Roussel was a student and admirer of Whistler, and, like Whistler, he printed his etchings personally, then trimmed them at the plate mark and left his signature on a tab. This print is illustrated in Lochnan’s The Etchings of Whistler, as an example of Roussel’s work (Lochnan notes that Roussel was so full of respect for the master that he always went bareheaded in his presence). As it developed, Roussel was surely one of the most outstanding of Whistler’s accolytes.

This commercial section of Cheyne Walk was destroyed in 1889, when it was razed in connection with the building of Battersea Bridge. Meg Hausberg, in her superb catalogue raisonne of Roussel’s prints, was able to find the names of each of the shops; the sign board for James Clarke, Dining Rooms; and Mrs. Sarah Weller, Furniture Dealer are both visible in the etching, as is the large News of the World sign above the shop at the far left.

James Whistler (1834-1903), The Bridge, Santa Marta, 1879-80, etching with drypoint, printed in sepia on fine laid paper. Signed with the butterfly and inscribed imp on the tab (also with an exceedingly light butterfly lower right in the plate).  Kennedy 204, probably eighth (final) state; Glasgow 201, probably state 9 (of 9) (cf. Margaret F. MacDonald, Grischka Petri, Meg Hausberg, and Joanna Meacock, James McNeill Whistler: The Etchings, a catalogue raisonné, University of Glasgow, 2011), Lochnan 199. Trimmed to the platemark by the artist, h: 11.8 x w: 7.9 in / h: 30 x w: 20.1 cm.

A fine impression, printed with subtle tone.

The bridge theme occurs repeatedly in Whistler’s vistas. It is also the main focus of more than one of the Venetian prints. While some bridges are seen from below, from where one would see it if approaching in a gondola (for example Ponte del Piovan, Kennedy 209), The Bridge depicts the scene from a high perspective, opening up the view into the far distance. The small boat approaching the arch in the foreground is again, as in the earlier Thames prints, a stock motif that is probably ultimately derived from the Japanese woodcuts of Hokusai and Hiroshige. The bridge here is the Ponte de le Terese over the Rio de l’Arzere in the Santa Marta quarter.

The early biography of Whistler by Elizabeth and Joseph Pennell is essential for its “immense quantity of information” but also notorious for “the inherent hyperbole and misinformation” (Eric Denker, Annotated Bibliography, in Fine, p. 184).  Still, it is worth quoting from the Pennels’ appraisal of The Bridge: “Simplicity of expression has never been carried further. Probably the finest plate, in its simplicity and directness, is The Bridge. Whistler now obtained the quality of richness by suggesting detail, and also by printing. In The Traghetto there is the same scheme as in The Miser and The Kitchen, but the Venice plate is more painterlike. Without taking away from the etched line he has given a fullness of tone which makes the background of [Rembrandt’s ] The Burgomaster Six weak by comparison. And he knew this” (Pennell/Pennell, p. 197).

The plate was originally advertised for but not included in the First Venice Set where it was substituted by the somewhat more conventional view of The Little Mast (Kennedy 185). It was published as part of the Second Venice Set in 1886.

James Whistler (1834-1903), Price’s Candle Works, drypoint on laid Japan paper, circa 1875. Trimmed on the platemark by the artist.  With an early butterfly signature and inscribed imp in pencil on the tab. Kennedy 154, an intermediate state between states III and IIIa, before drypoint addition to the topsail but with additions to main sail; Lochnan 155. h: 8.9 x w: 8.9 in / h: 22.6 x w: 22.6 cm

Provenance:

Kennedy Galleries, New York (their stock no. in pencil on verso a65820)

Tracy Dows, New York (Lugt 2427)

Charles C. Cunningham, Jr., Boston (not in Lugt)

The Fine Art Society, London

George S. van Houten, Waalre, Netherlands

A fine impression, printed with subtle and even plate tone and burr on the drypoint.

Kennedy initially listed four states and then added two additional states; one should therefore properly count six states, this one being an intermediate one between (new) states four and five.

This print is an example of the effect that Whistler could achieve with the contrasts of night and illumination, making, as Wedmore remarked, “the chimney of a brewery or a candle works […] not less beautiful than […] King’s College Chapel”.

James Whistler (1834-1903), Price’s Candle Works, drypoint on laid Japan paper, circa 1875. Trimmed on the platemark by the artist.  With an early butterfly signature and inscribed imp in pencil on the tab. Kennedy 154, an intermediate state between states III and IIIa, before drypoint addition to the topsail but with additions to main sail; Glasgow (Margaret F. MacDonald, Grischka Petri, Meg Hausberg, and Joanna Meacock, James McNeill Whistler: The Etchings, a catalogue raisonné, University of Glasgow, 2011) 166, twelfth state (of 13). Lochnan 155. h: 8.9 x w: 8.9 in / h: 22.6 x w: 22.6 cm

Provenance:

Kennedy Galleries, New York (their stock no. in pencil on verso a65820)

Tracy Dows, New York (Lugt 2427)

Charles C. Cunningham, Jr., Boston (not in Lugt)

The Fine Art Society, London

George S. van Houten, Waalre, Netherlands

A fine impression, printed with subtle and even plate tone and burr on the drypoint. This is the impression illustrated in the Glasgow catalogue for the twelfth state.

Kennedy initially listed four states and then added two additional states; one should therefore properly count six states, this one being an intermediate one between (new) states four and five.  But Glasgow (see reference above) describes 13 states; this would appear to be a very early impression of the twelfth state.

This print is an example of the effect that Whistler could achieve with the contrasts of night and illumination, making, as Wedmore remarked, “the chimney of a brewery or a candle works […] not less beautiful than […] King’s College Chapel”.

on reserve

James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903), The Palaces, 1879-80, etching on laid paper; trimmed on the platemark by the artist, signed with the butterfly and inscribed imp on the tab. Reference:  Kennedy 187, third (final) state; Lochnan 184.

Provenance: P. & D. Colnaghi & Co., London (their stock no. in pencil verso C.13455)

Kennedy Galleries, New York (their stock no., partially erased, in pencil verso a 66798)
Thérèse Lowndes Noble, New York (Lugt 1953 but not stamped; according to a note on the mat of the previous owner)
private collection, USA (acquired 1979–80)

A fine impression.

The print shows on the verso three tiny circles in pencil, a sign that has often been interpreted as Whistler’s method of marking a choice impression. However, as Ruth Fine has pointed out, “no document […] has been located which verifies this. […] If these annotations were a Whistlerian designation of quality, they were probably one more aspect of the artist’s public relations campaign, allowing certain buyers to think they were getting something extraordinary”.

The Palaces is Whistler’s largest etching, depicting the Sagredo and Pesaro palaces at Santa Sofia. Both of them “are Gothic, a period Whistler otherwise largely avoided in Venice”.  Compositionally one may position it at an interesting transition point. In most of the other architectural views from the First Venice Set Whistler continues to use his characteristic framing devices, usually with some kind of passageway that pulls the viewer into the image (see e.g. The Lime-Burner above). Here one is confronted with the large facade of the palace, set parallel to the picture plane. The door is shaded with dense lines and does not allow any view through into a deeper layer of space. If one were to cut out the palace alone without the surrounding sky and water, the composition would already closely resemble the later Venice and Amsterdam facades. Steps and The Embroidered Curtain show this artistic development in the present catalogue at its most accomplished level.

Published as part of the First Venice Set in 1881.