Harris Schrank Fine Prints

Childe Hassam – Marie at the Window

Childe Hassam (1859-1935), Marie at the Window, etching and drypoint, 1923. Signed with the cypher and inscribed “imp” in pencil [also with initials and date in the plate, lower right]. Cortissoz/Clayton 230, only state. In very good condition, the matrix immaculate (evidence of toning verso, platemark reinforced upper left verso), printed on a cream wove paper, 10 7/8 x 7, the sheet 13 1/4 x 9 1/2 inches.

A fine impression of this great rarity.

Made from the model in the artist’s New York apartment.  In 1923, the year Marie at the Window was etched, Hassam was already world-renowned, known as America’s great impressionist painter and etcher (his career as an etcher began in earnest relatively late, about eight years earlier).

Marie at the Window is one of several Hassam compositions done in the tradition of Japonisme, showing an interior of patterned surfaces and a single contemplative woman, generally lost in contemplation. This theme was a favorite of turn-of-the-century “Quietists” such as Thomas Wilmer Dewing, his close friend J. Alden Weir, and of course Marie Cassatt.

G e r a l d – K .– G e e r l i n g s – –1 8 9 7 – 1 9 9 8

Up and Going– 1931, Etching and Aquatint.

Czestochowski 22. Edition 40. Signed and titled in pencil.

Image size 11 15/16 x 7 3/8 inches (303 x 187 mm); sheet size 16 7/8 x 11 1/8 inches (429 x 283 mm).

A superb, atmospheric impression, in dark sepia ink, on pale green laid paper, with full margins ( 1 13/16 to 2 3/8 inches), in excellent condition.

Over half of the edition of this iconic print is known to be in major public institutions; impressions are thus rarely found on the print market. Collections include: AIA, AIC, BM, BPL, CH, GC, GKG, IMA, LACM, MHC, MM, MMA, MPL, NYPL, PMA, PRIN, UI, UPAA, UW, UWM, VA.

Up and Going contrasts straightforward precisionist structures – the buildings at the right – with ominous symbolist-like imagery – the rising clouds of smoke; it thus seems to depict both the optimism of early 20th Century America and the concerns and forebodings of the Great Depression era.

Gerald Geerlings studied architecture after service in WWI, and became an architect in New York, working with several firms including York and Sawyer, and then on his own. He also studied printmaking in his early years as an architect, at the Royal College of Art in London. He made prints during two periods: from 1926-33, and again after 1975.  His later work, in lithography typically with hand colored pastel, is quite beautiful, but his earlier striking citiscapes, now rare, are perhaps most highly sought after by today’s collectors.

Lyonel Feininger, “Kreuzende Segelschiffe 2 (Cruising Sailing Ships 2)”
1919, Woodcut.

Prasse W175. Edition 275 unsigned for portfolio Die tunlte Jahresgabe des Kreises graphischer Kunstler und Sammier, 1925; 25 signed de luxe edition nos. I-XXV, on Japanese Milo paper; 150 signed edition nos. 1-150, on Zanders cream laid paper; 100 unsigned nos. 151-250. Signed and titled in pencil.Image size 6 x 8 7/8 inches (171 x 225 mm); sheet size 9 1/2 x 11 7/8 inches (241 x 302 mm).

A superb, black, proof impression, apart from the published editions, on tissue-thin cream laid Japan, with full margins ( 7/8 to 1 5/8 inches), in excellent condition.

Feininger estate stamp in the bottom right sheet corner.

This print was also titled by the artist Segler, Segel-Schiffe, Kreuzende Schiffe (and that’s the title he used in this impression), and Ships.

Prasse notes that there were proofs made on carbon copy paper and Kozo and other Japanese laid paper (the latter two types were Feininger’s favorite papers).Collections: Altenburg, Braunschweig; Bremen; Cincinnati CIAM (proof); Cleveland CMA (proof); Darmstadt BA (proof); Dresden (185/250); Essen; Kaiserslautern (11/150); Karlsruhe (XIV/XXV0); Leipzig MdbK (24/150); Philadelphia PMA; Tel Aviv; Trenton (proof); Washington NGA; Zwickau.

Laboureur - Cavaliers Anglais En Picardie

Jean-Emile Laboureur (1877-1943), Cavaliers Anglais en Picardie, engraving, 1916, signed in pencil lower left, numbered (20/35) and inscribed “imp” lower right [also initialed in the plate lower left]. Reference: Laboureur 158, second state (of 2), from the edition of 35, a total of 43 impressions were printed. In good condition, some unobtrusive scuff marks, on a tan laid paper, watermark MBM, with margins, 8 1/2 x 5 3/4, the shet 10 3/4 x 8 1/2 inches.

A fine impression of this cubist-influenced engraving.

Laboureur studied the old masters in the print rooms of Europe, and here combines a mannerist idiom, with the elongated English figures, with a modernist cubist style particularly evident in the juxtaposition of the houses at the right and the roiling clouds above.

The Battles of the Somme, in Picardy, were among the bloodiest in the history of cavalry (or non-cavalry) warfare; the British cavalry played a crucial role, and suffered hundreds of thousands of casualties (to both men and horses) – but Laboureur was not interested in portraying the tragedy of the war as much as sketching some incidental background moments away from the battleground.

Goya – Ya Van Desplumados

Francisco Goya (1746-1828), Ya van Desplumados (There They Go Plucked, i.e., Fleeced), etching, burnished aquatint and drypoint,  1799. Reference: Harris 55, Delteil 57; plate 20 from Los Caprichos, The First Edition (of 12). In  good condition, with margins (soiling in margins, remains of binding holes at left;  8 1/2 x 6, the sheet 12 x 7 7/8 inches.

A very good impression, printed in sepia on soft but strong laid paper, as specified by Harris for the First Edition impressions. Printed in two shades of aquatint, one very pale, the other darker. This can be seen perhaps most vividly at the bottom of the composition; also compare the wings of the bird at top to the background. The drypoint touches on the faces of the two “bird-men” at the lower left are quite clear, as are the flecks on the right leg of the bird-man at the right.

After the impressions of the First Edition (about 300) the Caprichos was printed posthumously in 11 additional editions, none of which are comparable in quality to the lifetime impressions.

Goya’s commentary on this print: If they have already been plucked, get them out: there will be others coming along. (Perhaps a version of P.T. Barnum’s “There’s a sucker born every minute.”)

Steinlen - Les Chanteurs des Rue

Theophile Alexandre Steinlen (1859-1923), Chanson du Soir, etching,  c. 1913,  signed in pencil lower right. Not in Crauzat (but see below) in excellent condition, printed on a cream laid Arches paper (with a partial watermark), 11 3/4 x 6, the sheet 12 3/4 x 9 3/4 inches.

Provenance: ex Collection: Forgues, Eugène Daurand (1857-1933) Premier Président de la Cour d’Appel, Paris, with his stamp recto lower right margin (Lugt 743a)

A fine strong impression of this rare print; the print is known is several versions and states; this is an early state, after the first state but before larger unsigned editions  (see discussion below).

Street singers were a favorite theme of Steinlen; this impression is related in composition and subject matter to the etchings Les Petites Chanteurs Des Rues (Crauzat 47) and Les Grands Chanteurs Des Rues (Crauzat 46), as well as a lithograph done in 1895 called Chanteurs Des Rues which was the cover sheet for Chansons de Montmartre, a volume of lithograhs featuring the songs of Paul Delmet.

We know of another impression of this print (sold at Swann Gallery, 2010), which had one remarque, and with the bottom margin clean. In our impression there are two remarques in the bottom margin area, as well as a number of stray or “test” drypoint or etching lines; moreover, our impression is much darker due to extensive cross-hatching of the figures in the crowd, the musicians, and the two women with their backs to us.

After listing this print I received this very helpful note from Tim Hanford, who is listing Steinlen prints on the internet at www.steinlen.net.  I’m indebted to Tim for this information, and more broadly for the excellent work he’s doing to add to our knowledge of this wonderful artist.:

Harris, The Steinlen etching you have listed recently as “Chanteurs des Rues” is actually titled “Chanson du Soir.” [note: this has been revised]  It was included in the Crauzat book as an hors texte original etching (on page 1 and noted on page 219), although it is not listed in the etchings portion of the book.  There are several versions of the etching.  I think some of the alternate versions may have been included with the 25 “de tete” copies of the Crauzat book, but I have not been able to verify that.

I have the one I have called “first state” (faint lines, no remarque), the unsigned version with two remarques, the final version (loose on Japon), a copy of the final version as bound in Crauzat, and the version from the Gazette des Beaux Arts.

I hope you find this information helpful.

Tim Hanford

Rembrandt Van Rijn (1606-1669), Sheet of Studies: Head of the Artist, A Beggar Couple, etching, c. 1632, etching. References: Bartsch 363, Hollstein (White and Boon) 363, second state (of 2); Usticke’s first state (early) (of 4); Bjorklund 32-1In generally good condition, with small margins, 4 x 4 1/4 inches, with a partial Arms of Amsterdam watermark watermark (Ash/Fletcher 1).

Provenance: Oval stamp (not identified in Lugt); Initials in ink (W [Wilson?]; D) also not identified in Lugt.

A fine crisp impression, very rare particularly in an impression of this quality; the plate for this print is not known to have existed after Rembrandt’s death.

Martin Lewis – Derricks at Night

Martin Lewis (1882-1962), Derricks at Night, drypoint, 1927. McCarron 62, second state (of 2), intended edition 100, 104 printed. Signed in pencil; also signed in the plate, lower right.  In excellent condition (evidence of prior hinging upper corners,

Image size 7 7/8 x 11 7/8 inches, sheet size 11 1/4 x 15 /7/8 inches.

Provenance: Estate of Delores D. DiPaola; also with the Kennedy stock number verso.

A superb, atmospheric impression in warm black ink, with rich burr, on cream laid paper.

Illustrated in Contemporary American Etching, American Art Dealers Association, New York, 1930.

Derricks at Night is one of the few Lewis prints having more than one state; the composition was substantially set in the first state but small adjustments in many areas were made for a second state (e.g., “wooden slat below globe of lamp defined; bracket holding streetlight strengthened”, etc.).

Derricks at night is one of Lewis’s great Precisionist works, seemingly also demonstrating a cubist sensibility.

Albert Abramovitz (1879-1963), Wuxtry! [Extra?!], linocut in colors, c. 1936, signed in pencil lower right and titled lower center [also initialed in the plate]. In very good condition, with full margins, 14 1/2 x 10, the sheet 18 x 13 inches. On Japan paper.

A fine fresh impression of this exceedingly rare print.

Albert Abramovitz was born in Riga, Latvia, on January 24, 1879. He studied art at the Imperial Art School in Odessa and at the Grande Chaumière in Paris. In Paris, he became a member of the Salon in 1911. In 1913 he became a member of its jury. He also became a member or of the Salon d’Automne. While in Europe he received a medal at Clichy and an award in Paris, as well as the Grand Prize at the Universal Exhibition in Rome and Turin, Italy in 1911.

In 1916, Abramovitz came to America. In 1921, he had a first solo show at the Civic Club in Manhattan. During the 1940’s and 50’s, he lived in Brooklyn.In the 1940’s he had a one-man show at the Bonestall Gallery (1940). He also exhibited at the Art Institute of Chicago (1938, 1940), Union of American Artists (1940), American Artists Congresses exhibition (1941 “In Defense of Culture”), American Art, ACA Gallery (1942 – “Artists in the War”), New-Age Gallery (1943, 1946), National Academy of Design (1946), American Association of University Women (1946), and the American Artists Congress.

His works are in the collections of the: British Museum, Library of Congress, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Public Library, Victoria and Albert Museum.

Abramovitz’s wood engravings are often socially and politically oriented. He made 18 prints for the Federal Arts Projects in New York between 1935 and 1939. The titles reflect a wide variety of subject matter: Accident, Civil War, Dispensary, Gone, Dangerous Crossing, Music of the Blind, The Master, Rickets, Unseaworthy, Suicide, Drought, Flood.

[Source for background data on Abramovitz:  Allinson Gallery, Inc.]