Harris Schrank Fine Prints

John Marin (1870-1953), Brooklyn Bridge No. 6 (Swaying), a proof before steelfacing, 1913, etching. Reference: Zigrosser 112. Signed in pencil lower right, also signed and dated 13 and B.B. 6 in the plate, lower left. From the small group of prints printed in 1913 by Marin (Zigrosser estimated about 12), before the later (1924) New Republic edition. Printed on a wove paper, 11 x 9 inches.

A very fine, rich impression, printed by the artist. This impression includes much inking on the plate mark, creating a frame for the composition, and substantial plate tone. The matrix is slightly larger than the later impressions, due to the plate mark inking (11 x 9, as opposed to 10 5/8 x 8 3/4); and the sheet is much larger (18 3/4 x 14 3/4, compared to 14 x 10 7/8 inches).

First printed by the artist and published by Alfred Stieglitz in 1913, a small number of later impressions were printed as the work was slated to be included in the New Republic portfolio Six American Etchings.Only a few impressions were pulled before it was replaced by MarinsDowntown, the El. Carl Zigrosser was unaware thatBrooklyn Bridge No. 6 (Swaying)was ever included in the Set when he wrote the Marin catalogue; later, when he learned of its initial inclusion, he suggested that perhaps the plate had broken early in the run, and this hypothesis has been repeated through the years. But this is unlikely since the printer, Peter Platt (1859-1934), Americas most distinguished artists printer of the period, worked alone, and he was hardly prone to breaking copper plates. A more likely explanation is that Downtown the El was substituted because it is about the same size as the other prints in the set, whereas the Brooklyn Bridge No. 6 print is much larger; a plate of the same size would facilitate the printing of a large edition. Each of the plates was purchased by the NewRepublic, and the papers records for 1924-5, as well as the plates used for the set have been lost or destroyed.

Collections: PMA, MMA (Stieglitz Collection), MoMA (Gift of Abby Aldrich Rockefeller); AIC (Stieglitz Collection), Fogg.

John Marin (1870-1953), Downtown, The El, a proof before steelfacing, etching, 1921, signed in pencil lower left and numbered (1-30); (also signed and dated in the plate). Reference: Zigrosser 134, only state. Published by Alfred Stieglitz, in an edition of about 30 impressions. In excellent condition, the full sheet, on firm wove paper, 7 x 9 inches, the full sheet, with deckle edges.

A very fine impression, printed by Marin personally, with strong plate tone, carefully wiped to highlight the sky and the Woolworth Building, and rich inking left on the platemark framing the composition.

Zigrosser cites a few other impressions with the numbering (1-30) after the Marin signature in pencil, including the impressions at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Detroit Museum of Fine Arts.

Three years after this plate was etched by Marin the plate was steelfaced, and then impressions were printed by Peter Platt and included as part of the Folio of American Etchings by the magazine The New Republic in 1924, in an edition of unknown size but probably around 500 (see discussion below). This impression is 7 x 9 inches, slightly larger than the 6 3/4 x 8 3/4, due to the inking of the borderline, which is not inked in the New Republic impressions. The sheet is 11 1/4 x 15 1/2 inches, much larger than the sheets of the New Republic edition (which were 11 x 13 3/4 inches).

Provenance: Kennedy Galleries, New York, still in their original mat, with their inventory number 22059 verso.

Initially the New Republic Set, sometimes known as Six American Etchings, contained Marins Brooklyn Bridge No. 6 (Swaying) (Zigrosser 112). But after a small number of sets were completed, Downtown the El was substituted for Zigrosser 112 (and so the number of Downtown The Els in the set would have been a bit fewer than the others in the set). Zigrosser, who apparently had not seen a complete set at the time he created the catalogue raisonne, conjectured that the substitution might have been because the original plate was damaged. But since the printer, Peter Platt, was the most renowned artists printer of his time, and worked alone, it is unlikely that he would have damaged the plate; a more likely possibility is that he switched to a print that was more comparable in size to the others in the set (The Brooklyn Bridge print was much larger), and Downtown The El (printed on a sheet smaller than this pre-steelfaced impression) is about the same size as the others (the other prints were Peggy Bacon: The Promenade Deck; Ernest Haskell: The Sentinels of North Creek; Edward Hopper: Night Shadows; Hayes Miller: Play; and John Sloan: Bandits Cave).

Downtown The El is one of Marins early and influential modernist prints, made after his style changed from the British Etchers/Whistlerian idiom. It has also been called Park Row, and Downtown New York. The El is no longer there, but the building in the center, the Woolworth Building, still stands.