Harris Schrank Fine Prints

James Whistler (1834-1903), The Little Mast, etching, drypoint and burnishing, 1879-80, signed in pencil with the early shaded butterfly lower left and annotated “imp”. References: Glasgow 196, Kennedy 185. Glasgow’s third state (of 8). From the Twelve Etchings, The First Venice Set. With margins, 10 5/8 x 7 1/2, the sheet 12 3/8 x 8 7/8 inches. In very good condition.

Provenance:

Charles C. Cunningham (with his stamp verso, Lugt 4684

James Lawrence Claghorn (with his stamp recto lower right, Lugt 555c)

Kennedy Galleries (with their stock number a94365 verso)

A very fine early proof impression, printed on a Chinese paper, with a light veil of plate tone heightened toward the bottom.

In the third state the figure in the middle just to the right of the buildings at the left is drawn in in drypoint; in the fourth state it is taken out. Also, in the third state an additional row of drypoint lines is added above the diagonal shading to the right of group of figures in the foreground; this additional row of drypoint does not appear in the second state. So we have deemed this a third state impression.

Early impressions of the second and third state, such as our example, were not trimmed, but signed in the margin with a large veined butterfly and ‘imp.’ to show that Whistler had printed them. Early proof impressions such as this one were delivered to the Fine Art Society in 1881; Whistler took many years to deliver additional impressions – as late as 1889 – in later states.

The Little Mast shows  the view west down the broad Via Garibaldi to the Ponte de la Veneta Marina and the quayside, in the Castello area of the City of Venice, Italy.  It was near the Public Gardens, and also near Whistler’s lodgings during the summer of 1880, at the Casa Jankowitz. This view, drawn accurately on the copper plate, is reversed, as usual, in the print. (source: Glasgow)

James Whistler (1834-1903), The Beggars, etching and drypoint, 1879-80, signed with the butterfly and inscribed “imp”. Reference:  Glasgow 190, seventh state (of 17),  Kennedy 194, fourth state (of 9), from the First Venice Set. In excellent condition (tiny nick bottom margin; remains of hinges verso), with margins, 12 1/8 x 8 1/4 inches, the sheet 13 x 9 1/4 inches.

An exceedingly fine impression, printed on sturdy laid paper, with a Strasbourg Lily with a W watermark. With substantial plate tone especially towards the bottom of the composition, wiped carefully to highlight the figures at the end of the tunnel, and the figures in the forefront.

In this early impression Whistler has moved the lantern from the far left toward the middle of the composition; he has also configured the two figures in the foreground as an older woman and a young girl, and added shading to the butterfly at the upper left (but in the next state, he would burnish out the butterfly).

Whistler printed proofs of The Beggars both in Venice and London. He delivered five impressions to the Fine Art Society on 16 February 1881, thirteen on 6 April, four on 25 August, and six on 31 December.  These would have been impressions of the first seven states – mostly signed in the margin with the large butterfly with shaded wings (cf. Glasgow).  Our example is clearly one of these early impressions. The Fine Art Society begged Whistler to print the additional promised impressions over the succeeding years, up to about 1894 when the bulk of the edition was printed, in the last state.

James Whistler (1834-1903), St. James Place, Houndsditch, 1887, etching and drypoint, signed with the butterfly on the tab and inscribed “imp”. [also with the butterfly in the plate, upper center] In very good condition, trimmed on the platemark except for the tab by the artist. References: Kennedy 290 (only state); Glasgow 255, second state (of 2). 82 x 178 mm, 3 3/16 x 6 7/8 inches.

Provenance:

R.M. Light and Co., Santa Barbara, California

Dr. H. Malcolm Hardy, Shawnee Mission, Kansas (not in Lugt)

A fine impression of this great rarity, with two tiny penciled circles verso (indicating that Whistler thought a this was a particularly distinctive impression).

Edward Hopper (1882-1967), Night in the Park, etching, drypoint, burnishing, 1921, signed in pencil lower right and titled and priced ($30.) in pencil by the artist lower left corner recto. References: Zigrosser 20, Levin (plate 80), only state. In good condition, slight mat toning well outside of the plate mark. 6 3/4 x 8 1/4, the sheet 11 1/2 x 15 inches.

Provenance: Whitney Studio Galleries, 10 West 8th Street, New York (with their label; later becoming the Whitney Museum)

Hirschl and Adler, New York (with label)

A fine black rich impression, with plate tone carefully wiped on the sidewalk and in front of the man, and on the lamp at the top; and with a fine layer of plate tone left in the night sky.

Generally described only as an etching, Night in the Park has a substantial amount of drypoint work as well, particularly evident in the pathway, the sky, and throughout the foliage. And too, there is much evidence of burnishing, again evident in the pathway.  Some of Hopper’s most complex prints are known to have been created through a series of successive states or progress proofs; Night in the Park, although among his most complex prints, is known in only one state.

Hopper’s debt to Rembrandt, particularly the scenic etchings and drypoints such as his Three Trees, is obvious in Night in the Park.

Note: on reserve

Emil Nolde (1867-1956), Unterhaltung (Conversation), etching, 1906, signed and dated in pencil lower right and also signed by the printer Otto Felsing lower left. Reference: Gustav Schiefler 37, fourth state (of 4). A proof apart from the edition of only 20 and “some proofs” (Schiefler says: “einige probedrucke”) of this state. In excellent condition, on a heavy laid handmade paper with the (partial) watermark “V”, the full sheet with deckle edges, 6 x 7 1/2, the sheet 21 1/2 x 15 inches.

A fine exceptionally fresh impression of this superb composition, printed in a rich dark blue/green ink.

According to Schiefler only 5 proofs were made of earlier states, and the composition was essentially complete in the first state; the succeeding work consisted of brightening the tone of the sky, heightening the contrast of sky and sitters, and clarifying the imagery.

This is an early print  for Nolde (he became an artist at a rather late age), and was made in the year things started to work for him – in 1906 he was invited to join the Brucke in Dresden, his painting Erntetag caused a sensation at the Berlin Secession in the spring, and he met some of his most important patrons including Schiefler. He made a good number of etchings in this period, from 1904 to 1911, then another group in 1918 an 1922; there are hardly any after 1926.

Martin Lewis

1881 Castlemaine, Victoria, Australia – New York 1962

American Nocturne 1937

lithograph on wove paper; 250 x 365 mm (9 7/8 x 14 3/8 inches)

signed by the artist in pencil at lower right

McCarron 125 only state

provenance

Armin Landeck (artist and friend of Lewis)

Paul McCarron, New York

A fine impression of this great rarity, printed on a cream-colored wove paper; in very good condition with full margins.

McCarron notes that there were 17 recorded impressions of American Nocturne. In his label for this print (appended to the mat) McCarron notes that according to Lewis’s notebook only 8–14 impressions were made.

Lewis was born in Australia but immigrated to the United States in 1900, where he took on work as a commercial illustrator in New York. In 1915, he began to make etchings (and indeed, trained Edward Hopper in the technique). After a period in Japan between 1920 and 1921, Lewis returned to New York and began to produce drypoints inspired by Japanese ukiyo-e prints. From 1928 he began to make drypoints of New York City at different times of day and under different weather conditions. Kennedy Galleries offered him a solo show in 1929 and went on to publish 17 new prints by the artist over the next two years, a successful run that was only ended by the Depression; in 1932 Lewis retreated to Sandy Hook, Connecticut.

American Nocturne was made a year after Lewis’s return to New York but nonetheless suggests a kind of nostalgia for the small-town life he had left behind. There is ultimately nothing really charming about the image, however. Indeed, the shadowy black-and-white scene, with its row of identical rooftops and the man leaning into the window of the luxurious car suggesting a slightly sinister narrative, evokes the highly stylized effects of the American film noirs of this period.

Claude Flight (1881-1955), Swing Boats, circa 1919-1921, color linoleum cut on very thin Japan paper, signed and numbered by the artist lower left. In very good condition, with the full colored margin outside of the borderline (with slight imperfections typical of these British futurist linoleum proofs, i.e., border edge somewhat rough-cut, small loss upper left corner, a printing fold toward the middle of the image, slight wrinkling upper right).  The sheet 10 x 12 3/4 inches.

Provenance: The Redfern Gallery, 27 Old Bond Street, London (with their label affixed to the mat).

A fine impression, with the colors fresh and balanced. Printed in cobalt blue and crimson oil paint and black printing ink.

Although the stated edition of this print is 50, according to the numbering of the artist, the print appears only infrequently on the market, and in widely varying condition and appearance – some impressions are very dark, some too light, some rather lacking in balance. We feel the present impression represents an excellent example of the print in virtually all respects.

Flight was a leader of the British Futurist movement, and a teacher at the Grosvenor School of Modern Art (his pupils included Lill Tschudi, Cyril Power, and Sybil Andrews). Flight regularly exhibited at The Redfern Gallery, as well as abroad.

A swing boat, colloquially known as a “shuggy boat” in the north east of England, is a fairground ride in which pairs of riders pull ropes to swing back and forth. Swing boats were one of the earliest fairground rides, common in the Victorian era. The boats were originally powered by hand, but steam-driven versions began to be introduced in the 1880s. Examples of Victorian-style manually-operated swing boats are still popular and are generally seen in traveling “period” fairs.

James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903), Sketch After Cecil Lawson’s “Swan and Iris,” etching and drypoint, 1882. Reference: Glasgow 247, Kennedy 241. Glasgow’s 5th state (of 6). In very good condition, with the sewing holes at the right, printed on an antique laid paper with a Strasbourg Lily watermark. 5 1/4 x 3 1/4, the sheet 7 x 4 1/2 inches.

A very fine impression of this relatively rarely encountered sketch, printed in a grey/black ink with substantial burr from the drypoint work, and with a layering of plate tone.

Cecil Lawson (1851-1882) was a painter, the husband of an elder sister of Whistler’s eventual wife Beatrice. The etching is after an unfinished Lawson painting; it was used in the memoir of Lawson published by the Fine Art Society, in 1883.

This is fifth state (of 6), before the several diagonal lines and one short, almost horizontal line are added to the lower edge of the dark shading on the left side of the arch, and extend into the bevel on that edge. This impression is particularly fine insofar as the upper left arch, and the sails of the boats at the top, are darkened with a fine layer of plate tone, accentuating the burr of the drypoint.

This is not signed in the plate, although the iris itself is reminiscent of a variation of Whistler’s butterfly.