Harris Schrank Fine Prints

Charles Meryon (1821-1868), Le Pont au Change, 1854, etching. Reference: Delteil/Wright 34 fifth state (of twelve), Schneiderman  40, fifth state (of 12) [with the signature, date and address in the plate in the margin below]. On old very fine and thin laid paper with a “Contribution Directes” watermark. In very good condition, with margins 6 1/8 x 13 1/8, the sheet 7 1/8 x 13 3/4 inches.

Provenance: J.H. Wrenn (with his stamp verso, Lugt 1475), and then by descent.

A extremely fine, richly printed atmospheric impression, in a brownish/black ink, printed personally by the artist, with a veil of plate tone, wiped selectively in places such as the wall and faces of the buildings at the right.

From a point of view at water level we can see the Pompe de Notre Dame (the old water pump) beyond the bridge, and the Palais de Justice and Tour de Horloge on the Isle de la Cite at the right. In the water a man, presumably drowning, reaches toward a boat, but those in the boat are turned in the other direction, looking toward the balloon marked Speranza (hope) in the sky. On the bridge a hearse and a parade of mourners walk toward the left, as a group of soldiers at the far left marches toward them.

Meryon made a few changes in the figures and clouds in the next state (the 6th), and removed the balloon in the seventh state; then, in 1859-60 he famously added a flock of huge birds to the sky – this was variously interpreted as the result of the influence of Poe (The Raven), or as evidence of Meryon’s continuing mental instability after his stay at the institution Clarenton; and of course there were other possibilities. Indeed, the meanings of the print in this earlier state – the ironies of the conjunction of the balloon Speranza, the drowning man and those turning away from him, and the funereal procession, for example – have been the subject of much speculation as well.

It is however indisputable that Le Pont au Change, particularly in this early state,  is one of the most dramatic and beautiful of Meryon’s compositions, and a great icon of mid-19th Century printmaking.

John Sloan (1871-1951)

Costume Ball & Carnival of the Artists & Writers Dinner Club – 1933, Linocut.

Morse 277. No edition, printing unknown but assumed very small. Signed in pencil lower right, beneath the wolf’s hand-like paw.

Image size 19 x 12 inches (483 x 305 mm); sheet size 19 x 12 1/2 inches (483 x 318 mm).

A fine impression, in dark brown ink, on the full sheet of heavy, cream wove paper. A reinforced crease in the top left corner; a minor nick in the bottom center sheet edge and a small loss in the bottom right sheet corner; slight yellowing to the sheet edges left and right, not affecting the image. otherwise in very good condition. The image printed to the sheet edges top and bottom, with small margins left and right; the sheet size (19 x 12 1/2 inches) is consistent with impressions in the collections of Library of Congress and Metropolitan Museum of Art. Very scarce; we find no record of this print appearing on the art market. 

The poster copy reads: “Costume Ball & Carnival of the Artists and Writers Dinner Club . Webster Hall . 119 E 11th St. Friday Eve. Dec. 15. Heywood Broun . Master of Ceremonies . Stage Stars . Nat Mattlin & Orchestra . Tickets $1.00 now $1.50 at the door . For Sale . Breevort and Algonquin Hotels.”

Webster Hall has in fact continued its storied history to the present day as a venue for numerous recordings, concerts, and events. In 2008 the building was officially designated a New York City landmark, recognized for its significant role in the cultural development of New York City’s Greenwich Village.

Theodore Roussel (1847-1926), A Street in Ventnor, Isle of Wight, etching, soft ground etching, drypoint, 1912, signed in pencil on the tab and inscribed “imp” (printed by the artist) [also signed in the plate lower left]. Reference: Hausberg 102, third state (of 3), from group of about 30 impressions in this state, 37 overall;  in excellent condition, trimmed by the artist outside of the platemark except for the signature tab, 4 x 2 3/4 inches.

A fine impression, printed with tone.

Roussel visited the Isle of Wight in the summer of 1912, filling two sketchbooks with drawings; based on the dating of the drawings and an early proof of “A Street in Ventnor” he probably made the etching from the sketches and memory after the summer trip.

Roussel was of course a Whistler student and acolyte, as evidenced by his approach toward printmaking as well as the reverential trimming of the impression and use of the signature tab. Roussel was born in Brittany, studied in Paris, but settled in Britain. A painter, he began printmaking at about the age of 40. Beyond his fame as one of the most talented of the Whistlerians, he also gained notoriety for inventing a series of printmaking techniques and approaches, including the invention of an inking method known as the “Roussel medium”, several color etchings, and occasional etching of frames and mounts.  A Street of Ventnor is interesting insofar as Roussel appears to have used a soft ground technique to create an impressionistic portrait of the thoroughfare.

Gerald Leslie Brockhurst (1890-1978), James McBey, etching, 1931, signed in pencil lower right [also signed in the plate, in reverse, lower right just under the borderline, and titled just under the borderline lower left]. Fletcher 69, ninth state (of nine), from the edition of 111. In excellent condition, the full sheet, 7 1/2 x 10 1/2, the sheet 14 7/8 x 11 inches.

Provenance:

Kennedy Galleries, New York (with their stock number A55738

Unidentified collector (initials TW lower left margin recto, not in Lugt)

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

Gerald Leslie Brockhurst was one of the outstanding British artists of the early 20th Century, hugely popular in the ’20’s and early ’30’s. Today he is still renowned for his poignant images of young women and girls and several portraits of contemporaries, including this portrait of James McBey (1883-1959), one of the most distinguished of the Scottish and British Etchers.

Elyse Ashe Lord (1900-1971), Couple Celestial Nymph I, c. 1930, color etching, soft ground, drypoint; signed lower right in pencil and numbered by the artist lower left. In very good condition, the full sheet, 11 3/4 x 12 1/4, the sheet 17 x 16 inches.

A fine impression, with strong colors and plate tone. Printed on a light laid ivory Japan paper.

Elyse Ashe Lord developed her unique artistic style exclusively around oriental subject matter. Her art was inspired by both Chinese art and various aspects of oriental culture. Although E.A.Lord never actually travelled to China, she used Chinese paintings, embroideries and wall hangings, together with objects from surrounding Eastern countries, as the sources for her images. The highly individual style which Elyse Lord created reflects both this source material and the influences of Art Deco and early 1920’s fashion.

In particular, Elyse Lord is unusual in combining the technique of drypoint with woodcut colour printing. She uses the drypoint design almost as the Japanese would have used a key block in multiple block colour printing. The colours would then be added by over-printing the drypoint design using colour-inked wood blocks, precisely as displayed by this unique series of progressive proofs. Elyse Lord would always supervise the difficult process of printing her plates and blocks, in person. [I am indebted to Michael Campbell, of Campbell Fine Art, for these biographical notes on Lord.]