Harris Schrank Fine Prints

Jean-Emile Laboureur (1877-1943), Courses a Longchamp, 1938, engraving and drypoint. Reference: Laboureur 534, sixth state (of 6). In good condition, printed on a cream wove Arches paper (with the Arches France watermark. 15 x 18 1/2, the sheet 19 3/4 x 25 3/4 inches.

A very good impression, from the Chalcographie du Louvre edition (with the blindstamp, cf. Lugt 1695 and 1695a).

Laboureur felt that this print represented the culmination of thirty years of working with the engraving burin.

Jean-Emile Laboureur (1877-1943), L’Entomologiste, 1932-3, engraving. Reference: Laboureur 475, sixth state (of 6). In good condition, the full sheet, printed on cream Arches paper (with the watermark), 15 x 16 1/4, the sheet 19 3/4 x 25 3/4 inches.

A very good impression, from the Chalcographie du Louvre edition, with it’s blindstamp (Lugt 1695a).

L’Entomologiste is a tour de force example of Laboureur’s work in engraving.

Jean-Emile Laboureur (1877-1943), La Rentree au Seminaire, 1897, woodcut, signed in ink lower right and inscribed “tire a 15 ex.” [also with monogram in the plate]. Reference: Laboureur 566, only state. In good condition, with some staining toward margin edge not affecting image, tack-holes at corners, 4 3/8 x 4 3/8, the sheet 9 5/8 x 8 1/2 inches.

A fine impression, printed on a grey/green wove paper.

A very early woodcut; the first time that Laboureur used a monogram within the plate.

This woodcut was made shortly after Laboureur learned printmaking from the famed printmaker – and woodcut specialist – Auguste Lepere; and the composition, with its ordering of a mass of marchers, appears to be influenced by Felix Valloton, an early Laboureur colleague.

Jean-Emile Laboureur (1877-1943), Le Moulin Abandonne, etching and engraving, 1934, signed lower left and numbered and annotated “imp” in pencil lower right. Reference: Laboureur 489, second state (of 6), In very good condition, with large margins, printed on a cream wove paper, 10 1/8 x 11 7/8, the sheet 14 x 19 inches.

A fine impression of this large composition.

The composition was essentially complete in the first state; in the second state an adjustment was made to the standing woman’s hair; in the second state her reflection was added to the water, a monogram and additional shading were added in subsequent states. About 92 impressions in all states were printed before the plate was canceled.

Jean-Emile Laboureur (1877-1943), Les Barques (the small boats), etching and drypoint, 1932, signed in pencil lower left and numbered lower right, also annotated “imp” [also with the initial in the plate lower left. Reference: Laboureur 465, second state (of 2), from the lifetime edition of about 27 (there was a posthumous edition of about 240 impressions printed in 1959, used to illustrate the volume Laboureur en Briere, by Toesca). In excellent condition, printed on a cream wove BFK Rives paper (with the watermark), 3 7/8 x 7 3/4, the sheet 9 3/4 x 12 1/2 inches.

A fine impression.

Briereis the marsh area to the north of the Loire estuary inFranceat its mouth on the Atlantic Ocean.

Jean-Emile Laboureur (1877-1943), Chez le Patissier, engraving, etching and roulette, 1924, signed in pencil lower right. Reference: Laboureur 278, third state (of 3), from the total printing of about 138 impressions in all states. In excellent condition, with full margins, 5 1/2 x 4 5/8, the sheet 11 x 8 3/4 inches.

A fine impression, printed on a cream wove paper.

A wonderful example of Laboureur’s cubist work in engraving, with the elongated Mannerist figures so characteristic of his work in this period.

This is the patisserie Mangin, rue du Havre, in Paris.

Jean-Emile Laboureur (1877-1943), Orage en Briere, etching an drypoint, 1932, signed in pencil lower left, numbered lower right and annotated “imp” (impressit, printed by the artist personally). Reference: Laboureur 461, third state (of 4), from the edition of 42 in this state (11 in states one and two; state four was published posthumously, see below). In very good condition, printed on an old greyish laid paper with irregular edges (with a Bunch of Grapes watermark), 6 3/4 x 7 1/4, the sheet 8 x 10 5/8 inches.

A fine impression of this interesting composition, with two women and a child lower left braving the storm.

This is of course a lifetime impression; the plate was used posthumously in 1959 to print about 248 impressions to illustrate the volume by Toesca titled Laboureur en Briere.

Briere is a village in Brittany, in a marsharea to the north of the Loire estuary in France at its mouth on the Atlantic Ocean. Cottages with thatched roofs are still to be found in the area.

Jean-Emile Laboureur (1877-1943), Chez la Fleuriste, etching, 1919-1920, unsigned [with initials and date in the plate]. Reference: Laboureur 192, second state (of 2), from the edition of about 67 proofs on a cream/tan japon paper before the much larger issue inserted in the no. IV of the review Feuillets d’art. In good condition apart from moderate light staining, with margins, 8 x 6, the sheet 11 1/2 x 8 3/4 inches.

A very good impression.

A fine example of Laboureur’s work in a cubist idiom, with the mannerist figures Laboureur favored during this period.

Jean-Emile Laboureur (1877-1943), Le Facteur Rural, engraving, 1924, signed in pencil lower right. Reference: Laboureur 283, third state (of 3), from the total printing of about 80. In excellent condition, the full sheet, 5 1/8 x 6 3/4, the sheet 9 x 11 inches.

A fine impression of this rural mailman, with bicycle and pouch; all in engraving with the slightest trace of roulette at the lower foreground, and with a light veil of plate tone.

Printed on a cream wove Arches (France) paper, with the watermark.

Jean-Emile Laboureur (1877-1943), Causerie Villageoise (Village Chat), engraving with touches of roulette and etching, 1924, signed in pencil lower left, numbered and inscribed “imp” lower right, titled by the artist lower left margin. Reference: Laboureur 287, fourth state (of 4). In excellent condition, the full sheet, printed on a cream wove BFK Rives paper (with the watermark), 4 3/4 x 5 1/8, the sheet 7 1/2 x 10 inches.

A fine impression; a splended example of Laboureur’s using engraving to render a cubist-influenced composition.

Jean-Emile Laboureur (1877-1943), Le Charmeur de Moineaux, etching and engraving, 1933, signed in pencil lower left and inscribed “a Monsieur Armand Olivier, en hommage”, also numbered lower right and annotated “imp.” Reference: Laboureur 477, third state (of 3), from the total of 75 impressions pulled, in generally good condition apart from slight light staining, 5 x 7 1/2, the sheet 8 3/4 x 10 3/4 inches.

A fine impression.

Although numbered 3/120, there were no impressions pulled after number 68.

Laboureur also made a lithograph of a similar scene (Laboureur 784), as well as a gouache.

The man at the left appears to be feeding the sparrows (moineaux).

Jean-Emile Laboureur (1877-1943), Le Ferveur, etching, engraving, roulette, drypoint, 1928, signed in pencil lower left, numbered lower right, and annotated “imp.” Reference: Laboureur 370, first state (of 2), from the edition of 15 in this state (another 500 impressions were printed for inclusion in the volume Ferveur (see below). In good condition, moderate light staining, with margins, 5 1/2 x 3 1/4 inches.

A very good impression, with shading especially in the clouds toward the top right created with the use of an extremely fine-pointed roulette tool.

This engraving, in its second state, was the frontispiece for a recueil of poems entitled Ferveur, by Matilda Pomes (cf. Laboureur Vol. 2, section 2, page 364). In the second state lines representing rain were added (we can already see the dark clouds here in the first state) as well as the artist’s monogram.

Jean-Emile Laboureur (1877-1943), Dimanche en Bretagne, etching, 1939, signed in pencil lower left and inscribed “ep d’artite” lower right. Reference: Laboureur 543, second state (of three, but see discussion below). In very good condition, printed on a cream/tan wove paper, 7 1/2 x 5 7/8, the sheet 10 3/4 x 8 3/8 inches.

A fine lifetime impression of this rare work, the last etching printed by Laboureur before his final illness.

Sylvan Laboureur, in his catalog raisonne, incorrectly notes that the monogram between the trees was entered in a third state by a technician, and that some impressions of the second state (and all of the third) were posthumous. However, this proof, with Laboureur’s signature and notation, shows that the print was completed (with the monogram) by the artist, in the second state, and that this surely is the definitive state of the print. Impressions were printed posthumously for inclusion in the revue le Portique and hors texte for a volume of Illustrations of J.-E. Laboureur. The plate was eventually given to the Bibliotheque Nationale.

The subject matter is the river Bono, to the south of Auray (in Brittany, northwest France).

Jean-Emile Laboureur (1877-1943), Le Chemin de Camoelin, etching and drypoint, 1928, signed in pencil lower left and numbered and annotated imp lower right. Reference: Laboureur 385, second state (of 2), from the edition of 58 in this state (another 8 impressions of the first state were printed). In excellent condition, printed on a cream wove BFK Rives paper (with their watermark), the full sheet, 4 x 4 3/4, the sheet 9 5/8 x 11 3/8 inches.

A fine impression of this iconic rural composition.

The first state was before the monogram bottom left, and before some lines of drypoint in the roofs. In 1959 the plate was steelfaced, and an additional 208 impressions were printed (posthumously) for inclusion in a volume by Toesca, Laboureur en Briere (1959).

Camoelin is a hamlet in the village of Camoel, near Penestin (in Brittany, the northwest coast of France).

Jean-Emile Laboureur (1877-1943), Le Chemin de la Foret, etching and engraving, 1926, signed in pencil lower left and inscribed epreuve d’artiste lower right. Reference: Laboureur 329, first state (of 3). In excellent condition, printed on a cream wove paper, 8 x 6, the sheet 12 3/4 x 9 1/2 inches.

A fine impression, delicately printed, before the monogram and the cross-hatching of the foliage at the right. There were two artist’s proofs and another 7 numbered impressions of the first state (a total of about 100 impressions were printed in all states).

Jean-Emile Laboureur (1877-1943), Broadway, New York, etching, 1907, signed in pencil lower left. Reference: Laboureur 70, first state (of 2), before the lettering and before publication in the Gazette des Beaux Arts, one of 50 impressions on a cream/yellow simile japon included in the deluxe edition of the Gazette des Beaux Arts. In very good condition, 7 5/8 x 6 1/8, the sheet 11 1/4 x 7 1/4 inches.

A fine impression.

Jean-Emile Laboureur (1877-1943), Les Deux Chaumieres, 1927-28, etching and engraving, signed in pencil lower left and numbered lower right. Laboureur 356, second state (of 4). One of the seven impressions printed in this state (84 in all), before the monogram in the plate, and some added shading in the trees. In excellent condition (paper folded less than an inch at sides); 4 1/2 x 6, 10 x 13 (before folds) inches.

A fine impression on cream wove paper. This impression appears to be an intermediate state between states one and two, before some shading on the figures at the left and in the trees at left in S. Laboureur’s second state.

A good example of Laboureur’s turn toward realism, and away from cubism, in the late ’20’s.

Jean-Emile Laboureur (1877-1943), L’Auberge du Bord de L’Eau (Petite Planche), engraving, 1924, signed in pencil lower left, numbered lower right ((41/60), and titled in pencil by the artist lower margin edge. Reference: Laboureur 310, third state (of 3), from the edition of 60 in this state. In very good condition, the full sheet with deckle edges, 3 1/2 x 4 7/8, the sheet 8 3/4 x 11 inches.

A fine impression of this gem, printed on a Van Gelder Zonen cream wove paper (with partial watermark).

Published by Henri Petiet, with his blindstamp (Lugt 2021a).

Ex collection Alan Fortunoff (not in Lugt)

Apparently totally completed in engraving, using an entremely fine gravure (although catalogued as an etching by Sylvan Laboureur); the plate was also carefully wiped to leave a fine filter of plate tone on the lower left and the field at the right.

This plate, and a larger version (L 317) were created along the Seine when the artist stayed in the village of Champrosay, in a house neighboring that of his colleague the artist Marie Laurencin.

Jean-Emile Laboureur (1877-1943), Le 14-Juillet au Village, engraving and roulette, 1925, signed in pencil lower left and numbered lower right (30/100) [also initialed and dated in the plate lower left]. Reference: Laboureur 292, third state (of three), from the edition of 100 impressions in the third state (115 printed in all states). In very good condition (the slightest coloration at paper’s edge, time staining in the margins), the full sheet, 5 3/4 x 6 1/2, the sheet 11 x 15 inches.

A fine impression, printed on a strong cream wove paper, with deckle edges.

ex collection Alan Fortunoff

A splendid example of Laboureur’s use of engraving, plus the use of a roulette tool to create the shaded areas (the trees, the lawn to the left of the building. We do not see any evidence of etching, although Sylvan Laboureur catalogued the print as etching and engraving. The children and adults – their outlines and shading – are engraved, as are the clouds, and the shading effects on the rooftop and the ground at the very bottom of the composition.