Harris Schrank Fine Prints

Bonasone – Adoration of the Shepherds

Giulio Bonasone (c. 1510 – Bologna – after 1576), The Adoration of the Shepherds (after Giulio Romano)   ca. 1550–60, engraving; 271 x 431 mm. (10 9/16 x 16 15/16 inches). Reference:
Bartsch vol. 15, p. 118, no. 38; Massari 122; The Illustrated Bartsch, vol. 28, p. 242, no. 38

provenance
Sir Peter Lely (Lugt 2092)
Dukes of Devonshire, Chatsworth;
their sale, Christies, London 5th December 1985, lot 80
private collection, Germany; private collection, Chicago
C.G. Boerner, Neue Lagerliste 115, Düsseldorf/New York 2001, no. 17

There is a related drawing in the Gabinetto Nazionale delle Stampe, Rome, which has been variously attributed to Raphael, Perino and more recently to Giulio Romano. The design was also used by Agostino Veneziano for his Adoration of the Shepherds (Bartsch 17).

An extraordinarily fine early impression, with plate tone; vertical wiping lines distinct.

In excellent condition, trimmed along the plate mark and tipped down onto an album sheet at the corners (on the original album sheet from Chatsworth).

Whistler - Rotherhithe (cancelled)

James Whistler (1834-1903),   An Album Containing Fifty Cancelled Etchings and Drypoints   ca. 1879

An unusual album of fifty cancelled etchings and drypoints, many known only in cancelled impressions, printed on laid paper, in a contemporary half-leather binding with gilded tooled spine, measuring 15 1/4 x 11 inches. Inscribed in pencil on the verso of the marbled front fly-leaf Whistler / 50 Cancelled etchings and extensively annotated in pencil throughout.

Whistler declared bankruptcy in May 1879 and was allowed by the receiver to destroy his unfinished work and deface his copperplates prior to the auction of his property in September of that year, just before he left for Venice. About one hundred of these plates were purchased at the auction by The Fine Art Society which then published a small edition (probably no more than twenty copies) of fifty-seven of the cancelled prints; this is titled Fifty-Seven Defaced Etchings and Drypoints by J.A. McNeil [sic] Whistler.

The present album includes forty-eight of the prints published in The Fine Art Society’s edition and two prints not in that volume. Many impressions are annotated with titles, references to the Wedmore catalogue, or other notes. It includes a number of hitherto unknown impressions, or prints very rare in pre-cancelled impressions; most are also rare in cancelled impressions.

These impressions are quite fine; it is probable that they served as proof impressions for other albums of cancelled etchings published during this period. The prints are generally in excellent condition; the drypoints typically have substantial burr.  Printed on ivory laid paper with the watermarks Van Gelder and crowned shield with fleur-de-lis and letters vgj; all with wide margins (sheets vary in size).

The prints included are:

1. F.R. Leyland’s Mother, 1874–75, Kennedy 103
2. Lady in an Arm-Chair, 1861,  K. 79, known only after cancellation
3. August Delâtre, Printer; 1858–59, K. 26
4. A Man Reading, 1873–77, K. 137, known only after cancellation
5. Astruc, A Literary Man, 1859, K. 53
6. Greenwich Pensioner, 1859, K. 34
7. Fumette’s Bent Head, 1859, K. 57
8. A Wharf, 1859, K. 48
9. Arthur Haden, 1859, K. 61
10. Portrait of Whistler, 1859, K. 54, signed in pencil
11. Mr. Mann, 1860, K. 63
12. Rotherhithe, 1860, K. 66, not included in The Fine Art Society’s set
13. Axenfeld, 1860, K. 64
14. Riault, the Engraver, 1860, K. 65
15. The Open Book, 1861, K. 84, known only after cancellation
16. Jo, 1861, K. 77
17. Landscape with a Fisherman, 1861, K. 83, known only after cancellation
18. F.R. Leyland, K. 102, 1874–75, only a few impressions before cancellation
19. Encamping, 1861, K. 82, very rare before cancellation
20. Battersea Reach, 1863, K. 90, known only after cancellation
21. The Toilet, 1863, K. 93, known only after cancellation
22. Sketch of Heads, 1875, K. 104, very rare before cancellation
23. Steamboat Fleet, 1875–77, K. 156, very rare before cancellation
24. Irving as Philip of Spain, No. 2, 1876–77, K. 171
25. Elinor Leyland, 1874, K. 109
26. A Girl with Large Eyes, 1875, K. 131
27. A Lady at a Window, 1875–77, K. 138, very rare before cancellation
28. The Silk Dress, 1875, K. 107, only a few impressions known before cancellation
29. Lady Standing, not found in Kennedy, but found in The Fine Art Society’s set
30. Nude Figure Posing, 1874–75, K. 127, known only after cancellation
31. Under Old Battersea Bridge, 1876–78, K. 176
32. A Child on a Couch, No. 1, K.124, known only after cancellation
33. Shipping at Liverpool, 1867, K. 94, very rare before cancellation
34. The Little Velvet Dress, 1873, K. 106
35. The Beach, 1875–78, K. 116
36. Agnes, 1875–78, K. 134
37. Swinburne, 1873–77, K. 136
38. The Piano, 1875–77, K. 141
39. The Scotch Widow, 1875–76, K. 142
40. Speke Shore, 1875, K. 144
41. Shipbuilder’s Yard, 1875, K. 146
42. London Bridge, 1877, K. 153
43. Sketch of Ships, 1859, K. 151, only one impression known before cancellation
44. The Troubled Thames, K. 152
45. A Sketch from Billingsgate, 1876–77, K. 168
46. The Thames toward Erith, 1877, K. 165
47. Lindsey Houses, 1876–77, K. 166
48. From Pickle-Herring Stairs, 1876–77, K. 167
49. Nude Girl Standing, 1873–78, K. 128, known only ae
50. Irving as Philip of Spain, No. 1, K. 170, not included in The Fine Art Society’s set, very rare prior to or after cancellation.
51. 

Marie Laurencin – La Romance

Marie Laurencin (1883-1956), La Romance. 1912, etching, signed, numbered (12/25) and dated in pencil, also inscribed  by the artist with three lines of an Apollinaire manuscript, in very good condition with full margins, 197 x 250 mm, 9 7/8 x 8 3/4, the sheet 16 1/2 x 12 1/2 inches. Reference: Marchesseau 22, from the edition of 25 proofs.

A fine fresh impression, with plate tone, printed on cream laid paper; a rare early Laurencin proof.

During the early years of the 20th century, Laurencin was an important figure in the Parisian avant-garde, a friend of Georges Braque and a member of the circle of Picasso. She became romantically involved with Picasso’s friend, the poet Guillaume Apollinaire, and has often been identified as his muse.

Nolde - Profile of a Woman

Emil Nolde (1867-1956), Frauenprofil (Profile of a Woman), woodcut, 1917, signed in pencil lower right (also titled, numbered 8, and annotated III.10 lower left). Reference: Schiefler/MOsel 136, third state (of 3). In very good condition, 8 1/4 x 5 15/16, the sheet 11 3/4 x 8 3/4 inches.

Provenance: Collection of H. Neuerburg, Koln (with the blindstamp lower left, Lugt 1344a).

A fine fresh impression with considerable gaufrage, printed on a thin wove white/ivory paper with a partial circle watermark.

Rare in this condition, only 12 impressions were made of this state (and three each of prior states) according to Nolde’s working notes; the composition was complete in the first state and only slight correctional changes made thereafter.

In The Print in Germany 1880-1933 Frances Carey and Antony Griffiths note that in this period, with the exception of the few woodcuts printed in large commercial editions, Nolde and his wife printed all his woodcuts, and they were carefully inked “so that the design is carried almost entirely by blind-stamping. The very considerable relief imparted to the paper can be clearly seen in a raking light and on the verso of the sheet. A consequence of such careful inking is that no two impressions of the print will be exactly similar, and in fact Nolde seems to have deliberately varied the inking of his impressions to produce a variety of effects.”