Harris Schrank Fine Prints

Jean-Emile Laboureur (1877-1943), Maisons au Bord de la Mer, etching, 1936, numbered bottom right (26/66) and inscribed in the bottom margin by Suzanne Laboureur (see below). Reference: S. Laboureur 511, third state (of 3), from the edition of about 48 pulled in 1977 at the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the birth of the artist. In excellent condition, the full sheet, printed on a heavy cream wove paper, 10 14 x 8 5/8, the sheet 15 x 11 inches.

A fine impression.

At the bottom of the sheet Suzanne Laboureur, Laboureur’s wife, writes that the completed edition, numbered 18 to 66, was done on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the birth of the artist, who died in this house in 1943. (see detail below)

The site is that of the beach at Poudrantay (commune of Penestin, Morbihan).

Jean-Emile Laboureur (1877-1943), Une Marmite, engraving, 1916, signed in pencil lower left; titled, dated and inscribed epreuve de 1er etat bottom margin edge [with the initial and date in the plate]. Reference: S. Laboureur 149, first state (of 4); only 8 or so impressions in the first state (this may be the first); in the published state, with lettering at the bottom, there were 135 proofs. In very good condition (the margin at right cut a bit ragged and close to the plate mark, but still away from it), 7 x 5 1/2, the sheet 8 1/4 x 6 3/8 inches.

A fine impression, printed on a thin cream laid paper.

This is obviously a wartime print, with the two soldiers at the corner viewing an explosion behind them. This is a plate from a series called Des Petite Images de la Guerre sur le front Britannique.

A relatively early example of Laboureurs adoption of the cubist idiom, done in engraving.

Honore Daumier (1808-1879), Les Grandes Celebrites de la France, lithograph, 1939, plate 2 from the series Les Saltimbanques, from La Caricature Provisoire (also published later in Le Charivari, 1843). Reference: Daumier Register 620, second state (of 5). With lettering, and the initials (in the plate lower left). Printed on a wove paper. In good condition (formerly folded across the middle, now flattened) , 11 1/2 x 8 7/8, the sheet 13 1/8 x 10 inches.

A very good impression.

An impression of Les Grande Celebrites de la France was shown in the Metropolitan Museum’s show Seurat’s Circus Sideshow (At The Met Fifth Avenue, FEBRUARY 17MAY 29, 2017) as an example of art which helped lead to Seurat’s masterpiece.

Here’s a translation of the print’s text, from the Daumier Register:

Original Text:
Vous voyez ici les grandes clbrits de la France littraire, musicale et artistique, ils ont tous 36 pieds au dessous du niveau de la mer…….

Translation:
Here you see the great celebrities of literary, musical and artistic France. They are 36 feet tall – measured below sea level.

Honore Daumier (1808-1879), Dup, lithograph, 1832, from the series Celebrites de la Caricature, plate 171. Reference: Delteil 45, Daumier Register 45, only state. In generally good condition (with what appears as stains on recto but characterizing impressions of this print), with hand coloring in the contrived coat of arms below (possibly the coloring caused the staining), on wove paper, 11 x 6 1/2 inches.

Provenance:

G Cognacq (Lugt 538d, stamp verso)

R. Gaston-Dreyfus (initials stamp verso)

Ramus, Charles F. Collection

Nehorayan, A. Collection. New York, NY (impression noted in the Daumier Register)

Sothebys New York, February 13, 1980

An impression catagorized as rare by the Daumier Register.

From the Daumier Register: This lithograph is a portrait of Dupin. The coat of arms created by Philipon shows a money bag (corruption), a weather-vane (wryneck) and a pair of worn out shoes (insinuation to Dupins useless march to the Duc dOrlans). The text shows that he is able to plead for and against the same cause.

DUPIN, Andr-Marie-Jean-Jacques, an, (1783-1865) was President of the Chamber of Representatives as well as Attorney General. Apart from that he held numerous other important Government positions. He was portrayed by Daumier both in a terracotta sculpture and in several lithographs. The abbreviation DUP is an insinuation to his limited intelligence. Nevertheless, Dupin was a well-known lawyer who adeptly defended Marshal Ney as well as the republican poet and singer Branger.

Dupin surely must be considered one of the more important politicians of his period, showing a certain trend towards liberal political ideas. It was he who suggested to the future King, the Duc dOrlans, to choose the name Louis-Philippe rather than Philippe VII. In 1832, he was nominated member of the Acadmie Franaise and became President of the Chamber.

Jean-Emile Laboureur (1877-1943), Portrait, 1917, engraving, signed in pencil lower left and numbered lower right (28/40). Reference: S. Laboureur 170, third state (of 3), from the edition of 40 in this state (54 proofs pulled overall). In excellent condition, 4 3/8 x 3 1/4, the sheet 9 1/2 x 7 1/4 inches.

A fine impression, printed on a cream laid paper.

An excellent example of Laboureurs adoption of a cubist idiom, using engraving lines to accentuate the linear quality of cubism; a small portrait that works splendidly.

Frederick Garrison Hall (1879-1946), Beach and Willows, etching, c. 1920, signed in pencil by the artist (?) and annotated "by HPH". Reference: Elton Waylon Hall: Frederick Garrison Hall: Etchings, Bookplates, Designs; Beach and Willows, 1972: Etching no. 5; also The Print Connoisseur, 1921, Vol. 1, NO. 3, p 229 No. 7. Only state known, edition of 50. 6 1/2 x 10, the sheet 10 1/2 x 14 inches. In very good condition.

A fine impression, printed on a wove paper.

Other impressions of Beach and Willows can be found in the Boston Public Library, Library of Congress, Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Yale University Art Gallery.

After studying art and architecture at Harvard, F.G. Hall spent about three years abroad, mostly in Paris (from about 1909-1912), eventually returning to Boston where he married Evelyn Ames (daughter Oliver Ames, governor of Massachusetts). Hall became a popular and well-known figure in the Boston art world, producing paintings, etchings, and bookplates (and also playing the harp, leading to a friendship with Harpo Marx, who commissioned several paintings from Hall. He was particularly influenced by the work of Charles Meryon, but it’s also clear – certainly from Beach and Willows – that he was also influenced by Rembrandt and his followers in the British Etchers tradition.

(After) JAN VAN DER BRUGGEN (Brussels c1649 1690 Paris), A Drunken Night Cap, Wine is a Mocker, mezzotint, c. 1720, with artist’s name Mieris lower left in the plate, engraver’s initials JHL lower right in the plate. In generally good condition (water stain verso not visible recto), with small margins, 9 x 7 3/8, the sheet 10 1/4 x 7 3/4 inches.

A fine impression, possibly before letters, on old laid paper with a high crown (?) watermark.

This composition was initially conceived in a drawing (now lost) by Frans Mieris, then engravedby Hendrik Bary (Hollstein 11); later executed in mezzotint by Jan Van der Bruggen in reverse of the initial drawing and engraving, and here again made in mezzotint after Van der Bruggen (also in reverse of Mieris/Bary).

The Bary engraving was extensively lettered with the title, taken from Proverbs (20,1): Wine is a mocker.

The young woman in a drunken stupor is being (in line with the 17th century Netherlands saying) "crowned with a piss-pot" (fortunately empty in this instance) by a drunken fool. This was a popular subject in Dutch art and theatre; the classical source for the story is of Socrates being drenched by his angry wife Xanthippe.

After the Bary engraving of the Mieris drawing, others continued to portray the legend, including this mezzotint after the Van der Bruggen print; there was even an English version by James Wilson in 1772 with the title Dick Funny and Mrs Drowsy or the Punch Bowl Night Cap."

Frank Arthur Nankivell (18691959), [Walking in the Woods at Night], drypoint, c. 1910, signed in pencil lower right. Printed on a cream laid paper. In good condition, with margins (slight light staining). 10 x 8, the sheet 11 1/2 x 9 1/2 inches.

A fine impression of this great rarity; no edition is known or indicated. Printed with extensive burr on the drypoint work, and carefully placed plate tone darkening the woods, but wiped to highlight the house in the woods and the foreground.

This impression was exhibited in the International Fine Print Center New York (IPCNY) 2013 exhibit The Armory Show, commemorating the Centennial of the 1913 Armory Show in New York.

Nankivell was born in Australia, and studied art at Wesley College, Melbourne. He later travelled to Japan and earned a living as a cartoonist in Tokyo. Nankivell left Japan in 1894 (although his art shows a debt to Japonisme) to study art in San Francisco, and left for New Yorkin 1896 where he worked on magazines as a popular and influential cartoonist devoting his work mainly to social and political subjects. He became friendly with a number of artists including Walt Kuhn, who nominated him for membership in the Association of American Artists and Sculptors, and Arthur B. Davies, who employed Nankivell as a printer. Nankivell remained in New York until 1913. Nankivell later became a member of the New York CircumnavigatorsClub, which was open only to those who had circumnavigated the globe longitudinally, by land and/or sea. Other members included Ernest Hemingway and Harry Houdini. Nankivell had about 7 paintings, and an etching, in the landmark1913 Armory Show; several of his works are in the collection of The Smithsonian in Washington D.C.

Jean-Emile Laboureur (1877-1943), Le March aux Fleurs ou la Rencontre, 1914, Engraving. Sylvain Laboureur 127, second state (of 2). Edition of 35. Signed, titled, and numbered 2/35 p in pencil. Signed and dated in the plate, lower left.

Image size: 11 1/8 x 13 9/16 inches (283 x 344 mm); sheet size 12 7/8 x 16 3/8 inches (327 x 416 mm).

A superb impression, with rich burr and delicate overall plate tone, on cream wove paper; full margins (6/8 to 1 3/8 inches); slight light toning within the original mat opening, otherwise in excellent condition.

One of Laboureurs most successful and earliest essays in his adaptation of cubism.