At the Show
Jerome Myers (1867-1940), At the Show, etching and drypoint, c. 1920, signed in pencil lower right. In good condition, with margins (paper losses upper corners), faint ink marks and fingerprints in margins and matrix. 5 3/4 x 8 3/4, the sheet 8 1/2 x 11 1/2 inches, archival matting.
A fine strong impression, printed on a tan wove paper, with the burr from the drypoint work printing effectively, and a light veil of plate tone, wiped selectively to frame the faces of the viewers.
This proof, surely printed by the artist, is probably quite rare since we know of no edition or other impressions that have appeared on the market.
Myers was an actor and artist, a specialist in the American turn of the century immigrant experience, particularly those immigrants in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Active in the art life of the times, he was a prime mover behind the Armory Show of 1913, working with Walt Kuhn to get the (then) highly esteemed Arthur B. Davies to help arrange the show. Myer’s paintings are an important part of America’s aesthetic and historical heritage; they can be found, for example, in the National Gallery in Washington alongside those of Bellows and the other members of the Ashcan school. Although his paintings show that he was a talented colorist, his etchings prove that he was (unlike several of his colleagues) also a master draughtsman, able to capture the spirit and atmosphere of the times.