Harris Schrank Fine Prints

Emil Orlik (1870-1932), Würfler – Gambler, etching, 1897, signed in pencil lower right. Reference: Söhn 52803-6, published in the art periodical PAN Vol.3, October 1897. In good condition, with margins  (browning toward margin edges), 2 3 1/4, the sheet 3 x 4 1/4 inches.

A fine impression of this rarely encountered tiny gem, printed on laid paper, with plate tone. This print was later published in Pan, Vol. 3, October 1897.

Allan Wolman, in his indispensable website on Orlik (www.orlikprints.com), writes of the context of Orlik’s career at this early transitional stage:

In 1896 Orlik returned to Munich to work with his fellow pupil and life-long friend Bernhard Pankok on their first essays in the making of colour woodcut prints. They had seen examples of Japanese woodcut prints and were fascinated by them. He began contributing illustrations to the journal Jugend. By 1897 Orlik was such an accomplished print-maker that four of his small etchings were chosen for publication in the prestigious art magazine PAN. Also illustrated in PAN was a reproduction of his first poster ‘Die Weber’, designed for the play of the same name produced by Gerhart Hauptmann. Hauptmann was so impressed by the poster that he invited Orlik to Berlin to visit his studio and this was the first stepping stone to Orlik’s involvement in the theatre.

Detail

Max Weber (1881-1961), Mother Love (Madonna and Child), woodcut in colors, 1920, signed in pencil lower right margin. Reference: Rubenstein 35, no edition stated. The matrix in good condition, with wide margins (stains in margins, remains of prior hinging visible recto, loss upper left).  4 13/16 x 2 1/8, the sheet 8 3/4 x 5 5/8 inches.

A very good impression of this great rarity, with vivid  colors, printed on a tan/cream Japan paper.

Weber did not make his small color woodcuts in editions, and he changed the colors from one impression to another; thus each print is a variation on a monotype.

James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903), Glass-Furnace, Murano, drypoint with plate tone and burnishing, 1879-80, signed with the butterfly on the tab and annotated “imp”, also signed in cursive in pencil verso, also titled by the artist (“Furnace Murano”) and signed with the butterfly on the mat underneath the print, also numbered No. 1 twice on the mat).  Also with a dealers inventory number D (possibly Dowdeswell?)1213 in pencil verso. Reference: Kennedy 217, first state (of 4).  In excellent condition, trimmed by the artist just outside of the platemark and around the tab. Printed in brown ink on laid paper with a Strasbourg Lily pendant 4 watermark.

A fine, crisp impression of this great rarity, with much burr on the drypoint work, and carefully wiped plate tone.

This impression is before the slanting lines to the right of the door or window below at the left, and also at the right of the second window above, and before the definition of the head of the man opposite to the one seated; also before the lengthening of the lines above his shoulder.  This first state impression is stronger than the other known first state impressions (at the Metropolitan Museum in New York and the Library of Congress, both unsigned), so it may be the first proof printed (thus perhaps accounting for the notation No. 1 on the original mat).

Although Glass-Furnace, Murano was made in Venice at the same time as Whistler made the prints for his published Venice sets, he did not publish Glass-Furnace, Murano; hence it is rare  – only about half a dozen impressions are known.

Whistler - butterfly and title on mat

Whistler - signature on verso

Norbert Goeneutte (1854-1894), Henri Guérard Consultant un Carton des Estampes (Le Dos d’Artiste), etching and drypoint, 1876. [signed N. Goeneutte lower right and Norbert along a diagonal lower left, in the plate] Reference: Duvivier 82, 1/2. Edition size small, but unknown. Printed by Delâtre on laid paper. 6 1/4 x 4 1/4, the sheet 8 1/4 x 5 1/4 inches.

A fine impression of the first state (roulette work was added in the second state), printed in brownish/black ink.

The model is Goeneutte’s friend and fellow-Impressionist, Henri Guérard (1846-1897), in his studio at 4, Avenue Frochot. Published by Paris à l’eau-forte, of which Guérard was at this time the art editor, under the title Le dos d’un artiste. Printed by Delâtre on laid paper.

Arnold Houbraken (1660-1719), Portrait of Jacques Molaert (1649-1727),  mezzotint, c. 1710, engraved by Nicolas Verkolje (1673-1746). Reference: Charles Le Blanc 5, first or second state (of three). [With the letters A. Houbraken, Inv. lower left, and N. Verkolje fecit lower right in the plate].  In good condition (very slight staining verso), trimmed on the plate mark and then backed along the edges. 10 1/4 x 7 5/8, the sheet 11 5/8 x 8 5/8 inches.

A very good proof impression, before the inscription letters, which are handwritten in this proof in a brown ink in a blank square.

Le Blanc notes that the first state was before letters, the second state had an inscription of 4 lines, and the third state an inscription with 6 lines. In this proof the area for the inscription is left blank, and an inscription of 6 lines is written in; thus this could be an impression of the first state or, possibly the second state (with the inscription covered to stay blank with the lines later written in).

Houbraken was a painter and author, best known today for his massive Schouburgh, a compilation of 500 biographies of seventeenth-century Dutch “Golden Age” painters.

Nicolas Verkoljie was a painter and engraver, a student of his father Jan, also an expert mezzotinter.

detail

Sir David Young Cameron (1865-1945), Winchester Cathedral, etching and drypoint, 1925, signed in pencil lower right [also signed in the plate lower left]. Reference: Rinder 471, fourth state (of 4), from the edition of 65. In good condition (slight scuffing lower right, right margin irregular since paper was apparently taken from a book, a stain bottom margin away from image, remains of prior hinging verso), 16 1/8 x 10 3/4, the sheet 18 1/4 x 11 3/8 inches.

A fine rich impression printed on old laid paper.

Winchester Cathedral is one of the largest in Europe, famous for having been saved from collapse in the early 20th Century, as the burial place of Jane Austen, and as the subject of a popular song in 1966.

Detail

Bror Julius Olsson NORDFELDT (American 1878 – 1955)

The Wave, Moonrise; 1906

Donovan 19. Color woodcut on thin cream laid paper.
Signed and dated in pencil, also inscribed with the number 249, upper left. In very good condition.
9 1/4 x 11 1/4 inches.

A fine impression of this rare woodcut.  Nordfeldt’s numbering system appears to be related to the total number of prints he made;  impressions of The Wave, Moonrise are quite rare, and indeed we have not encountered them on the market in recent decades.