Wednesday, November 6th, 2019
Schrank’s Discourse Ranges Widely but inevitably Comes Back to “Connoisseurship”
Harris Schrank
Q: Please tell us a bit about yourself. How long have you been in the print business? How did you happen to become a fine-art-print dealer?
A: I became a print dealer about 10 years ago, after collecting prints for many years (and after a long run as a practicing sociologist and then a shorter stint as a corporate bureaucrat).
Q: Is there a “standard route” into print dealing-art history degree, apprenticeship in an established business, own shop-or do dealers tend to come from varied background and access routes. Does it run in families?
A: There’s no standard route. People from all sorts of backgrounds get caught up in prints – I know one dealer who was a cardiologist and another a pediatrician, any number of lawyers and accountants, a music critic, graphic designer, daughters and sons of dealers. Here and there one finds someone who actually studied art, worked at a gallery, and then became an independent dealer. One would think that would be the conventional route, but it’s not that common.
Q: Judging from the excellent brief guides you have published on ebay, your discourse centers around “connoisseurship.” It sems to be about print erudition. Is that a fair assertion? What, from your point of view, are the joys and benefits of knowing a lot about prints, both for collectors and dealers?
A: The more prints you see and study, the more you appreciate. In the contemporary field images and impressions from a single edition tend to be quite alike, in fact that’s a usual objective of the printer making an edition. But historically the printmaker – who often was also the artist – was not so concerned with creating a uniform edition as creating different variations upon the same theme. So the artist would change the print through various states, or use different inking and papers, thereby getting different results. Rembrandt approached printmaking in this way, as later did hundreds of artists such as Pissarro and Degas, Whistler and even Picasso. So it’s a good idea to know a lot about how these artists worked when examining their prints. And even among the artists who tended to make prints in just a few states, and worked toward a definitive state, connoisseurship is needed to determine which impressions they printed personally, which are earliest or best reflect the intent of the artist.
Q: How does one go about acquiring enough print erudition to be a knowledgeable collector? How much is enough?
A: The basic task is to see lots of examples of the same image. In a good print room like those at the Metropolitan Museum or the National Gallery it’s possible to see a number of Durer engravings of Adam and Eve, or Rembrandt’s Three Crosses, for example, and see how different they can be in quality, printing approach, inking, paper, etc. Once you’ve seen a number of impressions of a print you can start to make judgements about a print’s quality.
Q: In your experience, roughly what percentage of print collectors take it upon themselves to learn about prints in a serious way? How many of them succeed in becoming true print connoisseurs. Or do most of them leave the question of print connoisseurship to their dealers?
A: In my experience most print collectors are rather serious, and I’d regard quite a number as connoisseurs, but perhaps this is a characteristic of the “pre-contemporary” print field. Many collectors are fussy about condition, but obsessing about condition shouldn’t be confused with connoisseurship. Connoisseurship involves making distinctions among various impressions of the same print, knowing about print techniques, papers, the art historical context, etc. Collectors are wise to work with knowledgeable dealers who can help them locate and select prints, but if they “delegate” too many matters of connoisseurship they’re missing lots of the fun of collecting.
Q: How many of your clients “keep coming back for more?” Aside from the obvious monetary question, is it a great satisfaction for a dealer to nurture a client from rank beginner to serious collector?
A: I enjoy working with anyone interested in prints, regardless of their level of sophistication. The learning process is mutual, for often beginners ask good questions which lead me into areas I hadn’t considered. Of course I enjoy working with experienced collectors as well, and get some special satisfaction from finding something they haven’t seen, or locating a print they’ve been looking for or that fits well into their collection.
Q: Is it possible to construct a profile of the typical print collector. Or are there several profiles? What do they look like?
A: There are lots of types. Some focus on aesthetic issues, some on periods or art movements; some on a particular artist. Some are condition freaks, some want just lifetime impressions or just signed impressions; others search for pictures of certain things like skulls or boats or early New York scenes. Some people just seem to look for bargains, but they tend to have mediocre collections.
Q: Has your quest for connoisseurship taken you abroad? Is firsthand knowledge from, say, Europe, China or Japan necessary to take the connoisseuer to the next level?
A: It’s fun to see where an artist worked. I’ve been to Rembrandt’s House in Amsterdam, and James Ensor’s in Ostend, Belgium. And it’s great to see scenes such as the canals and bridges of Venice that were the subjects of Whistler etchings. But to me the real excitement is just seeing great impressions of great prints, and many of these (the ones I don’t own!) can be found in museums or collections nearby.
Q: This brings us to the question of specialization. Presumably it’s impossible to be a connoisseur of everything. How important is specialization? I noticed that two of your mini guides are devoted to Rembrandt and Goya. Are these two artists your specialties?
A: I love Goya and Rembrandt, and am somewhat conversant with them, but would not say they’re a specialty. I find I focus on artists for whom printmaking itself was a specialty, including for example Drer, Jacques Callot, Van Ostade among the old masters, Camille Pissarro and Jacques Villon among European impressionists and modernists, and among Americans, John Sloan and Reginald Marsh and of course James Whistler. Some dealers and collectors prefer to focus on a single artist, but I find that confining.
Q: What is the role and the importance of auction houses? To what extent has their credbility been eroded by the scandals of recent years. Are auction prices true indicators of the value of fine-art prints?
A: Auction houses are important to the print world, but they can be risky places to buy or sell prints. They sometimes get good prints, especially from estates, but also get problematic prints – the prints dealers and individuals either can’t sell or don’t want to be associated with when they’re sold. Collectors without the resources, time or knowledge to make good judgments among auction offerings are easy prey for the houses. And these days the houses are charging quite a bit – often on both ends – to sell things, so collectors need to be wary of paying too much for so-so quality items.
As for the usefulness of auction prices: the huge variability of prints and their auction prices severely limits the value of auction prices as indicators of value. So over-reliance on such records is a bad idea – high prices are too often the result of buyers caught up in an irrational bidding war, and low prices a reflection of low quality offerings. I find that these days – in the old master area especially – many of the finer or rarer impressions don’t reach the auction houses, but are sold privately.
Q: While we’re on the subject of value, where would you place fine-art prints as investments, say on a scale between General Motors and gold.
A: I’ve heard people say that these days prints are more blue chip than the traditional blue chips. I also sense that the market for older prints may be more stable than the contemporary market. Lots more might be said about all this but in general I’d encourage people to buy prints because they love them, not as an investment.
Q: On the subject of certificates of authenticity, you have been quoted as saying: “These have been thoroughly discredited in recent years; an inflated-sounding claim of a C of A is often a sign that there is a problem in the wings.” Would you care to elaborate on that affirmation a bit? We’ve been telling artists for years that the C of A is the way to go. Are there different criteria in this matter for contemporary prints and old masters? Isn’t a Fine Print Description just a more elaborate C of A? Isn’t it just as easy to falsify an FPD as a C of A?
A: An FPD is my own invention; it’s just a full description of the print which I sign and date. I suppose it is a C of A without the pretension of the C of A designation. Every week or so I hear from collectors who’ve overpaid for a print, or bought a print that’s not really what it’s supposed to be, and they’re typically armed with an “official” C of A which is nothing more than a phony marketing device. These C of A’s are no substitute for a buyer doing some homework, or buying from a reputable dealer.
Q: With so many con artists afoot these days at every level of the food chain, what possibility do print collectors have to protect themselves from fraud? How should they go about it?
A: Of course the best way to protect themselves is to develop some knowledge about prints, and the prints they’re purchasing. I would also encourage collectors to buy from dealers who are members of the International Fine Print Dealers Association (IFPDA). These dealers have gone through a serious vetting process. The IFPDA website (www.printdealers.com) lists the members, and is also a good source of print knowledge, definitions, etc.
Q: In Internet print sales the question of establishing a seller’s honesty and inspiring a buyer’s confidence, is even trickier. You sell prints over the Web. How do you deal with these issues? What percentage of your sales are via Internet?
A: I rarely buy on the Web and would not generally recommend it. I buy prints in person, and recommend that as the best method. I do sell prints via the Web, and anything I sell I’ll purchase back within a reasonable amount of time, so I basically sell prints on approval (as will any reputable dealer). I enjoy presenting prints on eBay (I started with Sothebys.com, which morphed into eBay before it went under), and have met many experts and specialists through that route, but today such sales are less than 5% of my total. I enjoy eBay as a discipline (I show lots of pictures of each print, and create a rather full descriptive entry for each print), and in practice use it more for advertising than sales. I also have a number of print guides displayed on eBay.
Q: You place a great deal of emphasis on the importance of the catalogue raisonne in determining the authenticity of prints, and you are not alone in this respect. Most catalogues raisonnes, if I’m not mistaken, are compiled by art historians after the artists in question have died. Wouldn’t it make more sense for the artist herself, or her agent, to create the catalogue as they go along? Wouldn’t that information tend to be much more reliable? Having said that, should we encourage serious contemporary printmakers to start preparing their own catalogues raisonees?
A: I suppose you’re right that artists should keep good records, but I imagine many artists would probably see that as a distraction (I don’t like keeping records myself, and I’m no artist). Many artists have in fact kept extensive records, and these help the compilers of catalogues. For example Albrecht Durer kept an extensive diary in which he details who he gave prints to; and artists such as Camille Pissarro, Reginald Marsh, and Martin Lewis kept detailed notes about their printmaking efforts which helped cataloguers. But many artists are notorious for getting print states, dates and the number of impressions printed wrong (Pissarro and Marsh are good examples), so good cataloguers have to examine everything from scratch whether the artist has kept notes or not.
Q: Many readers of this interview will be fine-art print professionals, print studio people, master printmakers… They are ultimately the ones who advise many of today’s printmakers on questions of editions, signing, best practices and print permanence. From the point of view of a print dealer, what comments or advice would you share with them?
A: I’m no expert on contemporary printmaking, but might mention that I’ve been very impressed with the contemporary prints that have been shown at the International Fine Print Center NY (IFPCNY) New Prints shows (there have been about 25 of these exhibits over the past decade). Perhaps those not familiar with this non-profit Print Center and its programs and exhibits might be interested in looking into them. (Disclosure – I’m on the Board of the IFPCNY.)
Q: Regarding editions, would you like to give your views on this issue? For example, why the disparity in the sizes of editions between Europe and the USA?
A: I didn’t know about this difference. Let’s go on to the next question!
Q: What about editioning inkjet reproductions of paintings, so-called “signed and numbered limited-edition giclee prints?” What do you make of that phenomenon? Or do we just put it down to H.L. Mencken’s immortal remark: “Nobody ever went broke…?”
A: When it comes to buying art people often justify their irrational or even inane behaviour by saying they buy “what they like,” as if that excuses their mistakes. And in the case of prints, where there’s often another example of the print that’s earlier, or better (or just genuine), and less expensive to boot, it’s infuriating to see people blithely enriching con artists. So I guess old Mencken had a point. But education sources, such as your site, should help people make better choices, so there’s always hope.
Thank you, Harris, for your kindness in sharing your connoiseurship with us.
Contact Harris Schrank:
Phone: 212 662 1234
Posted in Uncategorized |
Wednesday, October 12th, 2011
Six American Etchings: The New Republic Portfolio 1924
The complete set of six etchings, as issued in 1924, including:
Peggy Bacon (1895-1987), The Promenade Deck, 1920 (Flint 47), 6 x 8 3/8 inches
Ernest Haskell (1876-1925), The Sentinels of North Creek, ca. 1923, 5 x 7 7/8 inches
Edward Hopper (1882-1967), Night Shadows, 1921 (Levin 82) 7 x 8 3/8 inches
John Marin (1870-1953), Downtown the El (Zigrosser 134), 6 7/8 x 8 3/4 inches
Hayes Miller (1876-1952), Play, 1919, 4 7/8 x 5 7/8 inches
John Sloan (1871-1951), Bandits Cave, 1920 (Morse 195), 7 x 5 inches
A fine set; each impression in excellent condition with full margins; the cover showing wear.
This set has unusual historical importance: it includes prints exemplifying both traditional approaches to American printmaking, including those by Haskell, Miller, Bacon, and Sloan, as well as examples of important early American Modernist printmaking: Hopper’s Night Shadows and Marin’s Downtown the El.
In 1924 The New Republic offered readers a set of six original signed etchings along with the purchase of a subscription to the magazine. The original offering, in an advertisement in the Saturday Review of Literature (December 6, 1924, p. 350), reads in part:
SIX ETCHINGS
Incomparable as Christmas Gifts
Originals – Not Reproductions: Each Proof Printed by Peter J. Platt, on Handmade Van Gelder Paper Signed by the Artist, and Offered At Incredibly Small Cost with a Subscription to The New Republic The Ablest of America Weeklies. The difficulty with this offer is not to explain, but to refrain…Yet orefrain…Yet overstatement is almost difficult in face of the facts—the foremost of which (alone simply sufficient to testify to the quality of these etchings) is the names of the six artists themselves.” A subscription form was then appended, offering readers a year’s subscription to the New Republic, with the set, for $8 (or two years for $12; the New Republic alone was $5 a year).
The edition size is not known. In a letter to John Sloan dated January 14, 1925, Robert Hallowell, secretary of the New Republic, writes, referring to set,“These went very well up until the end of last year. Since then, however, the orders have dropped off so considerably that I think there is considerable doubt that we will ever dispose of as many as a thousand sets. Up to date the total is between five and six hundred.” (Morse, 1969, p. 221).
Each of the artists represented in the portfolio was important. At the time of the publication of the set, John Sloan was one of the best-known artists in America, a member of the Ashcan School, a painter represented in great museums throughout the country, and a major printmaker as well. Hayes Miller was known not only as an artist but also as a teacher whose students included the artists of New York’s Fourteenth Street School, including Peggy Bacon, an early Modernist who became a leading book illustrator (and was the youngest artist to produce a piece for this set). Ernest Haskell was already prominent in the United States and in Paris, noted as an etcher and student of Whistler. By 1924 Edward Hopper was beginning to earn recognition as one of America’s great young artistic talents; and John Marin had already been widely recognized for his role in creating some of the first American Modernist paintings and prints after the Armory Show in 1913.
This set represents an important landmark in American printmaking.
Note: this set is currently not for sale; inquiries are welcome.
Marin – Downtown the El
Posted in Edward Hopper, Ernest Haskell, John Marin, John Sloan, Kenneth Hayes Miller, Peggy Bacon |
Thursday, September 8th, 2011
John Skippe (1742-1811), St. John holding a Chalice, c. 1780, chiaroscuro woodcut print after Parmigiano. Four color blocks: light green, light brown, medium brown, dark brown. 282 x 154 mm. Signed in the block, with extensive annotations. Nagler, 17. Le Blanc, 17. Kennedy, 191. In very good condition, tipped to a backing sheet at several places, 10 7/8 x 6 inches.
A fine impression, with the colors registering clearly.
Provenance: Mr. and Mrs. Percy Simmons;
Exhibited: Beyond Black and White, Chiaroscuro Prints from Indiana Collections, 1989-90; Indiana Museum of Art.
Skippe was a “gentleman antiquarian” who traveled widely, collecting drawings which he later used as the basis for his chiaroscuro woodcuts. His intent was to replicate the Italian manner of Ugo da Carpi, and perhaps even encourage a re-birth of chiaroscuro woodcut printing. His prints were a great success, but the re-birth of the medium was not forthcoming. Skippe was not focused on the commercial possibilities of the medium, sharing his prints only with appreciative connoisseurs and colleagues. He created a number of folios of prints; the number is unknown but they are rare, and were of varying sizes. In the United States there are two folios at the Yale Center for British Art (one of 31 prints, the other containing 20); another folio of 42 is at the Cincinnati Museum of Art, and finally a folio of 28 is at the University of Chicago.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Monday, August 15th, 2011
John Marin (1870-1953), Old House, Rue Saint Romain, Rouen, etching, 1909. Signed in pencil lower right, titled in pencil lower left [also signed and dated in the plate lower right, and titled lower left]. Reference: Zigrosser 92, only state, from the edition of about 12 prints. In excellent condition, on a cream wove paper with margins (slight ink scuffing lower right margin away from matrix), 8 1/4 x 6 1/4, the sheet 10 1/2 x 8 1/2 inches.
A fine impression of this rarity, printed in black ink with a veil of plate tone toward the edges, and wiped to illuminate the highly differentiated patterns of windows and doors of the house.
Old House, a rare print, was not known to E.M. Benson who created the pioneering catalogue of Marin’s prints for the artist’s exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in 1936, and thus it did not appear in the Benson catalogue. The reproduction of the print in the Zigrosser catalogue is from the collection of Patricia M. Walker, who is cited in Zigrosser as one of the sources outside of the Philadelphia Museum of Art (which has the nearly complete set – the Master Set – of the Marin prints) which he borrowed from in order to create the exhibit which accompanied his catalogue raisonne of the prints. Zigrosser did a census of 28 museum and 3 private Marin print collections for his catalogue, and he names the collections holding each print; with respect to Old House he names only the Walker Collection, indicating that Old House was not found outside of that collection in his rather comprehensive census. His estimate of an edition of 12 prints is probably just a good guess, which he uses elsewhere with respect to rarer items, but there does not appear to be any strong evidence of this (for example, as was usual, the print is not numbered); hence the real number could well have been lower or higher than 12.
In this period Marin’s etchings were rather closely related in composition and technique to Whistler’s; Old House, Rue Saint Romain is reminiscent of late period Whistler etchings such as Palaces, Brussels (1887, Kennedy 361), and The Embroidered Curtain (1889, Kennedy 410).
Posted in Uncategorized |
Tuesday, July 26th, 2011
Six American Etchings: The New Republic Portfolio 1924
The complete set of six etchings, as issued in 1924, containing Marin’s rare Brooklyn Bridge No. 6 (Swaying), which appeared in only a few sets before being substituted by Marin’s Downtown the El (Zigrosser 134).
The set includes:
Peggy Bacon (1895–1987), The Promenade Deck, 1920 (Flint 47), 6 x 8 3/8 inches
Ernest Haskell (1876–1925), The Sentinels of North Creek, ca. 1923, 5 x 7 7/8 inches
Edward Hopper (1882–1967), Night Shadows, 1921 (Levin 82) 7 x 8 3/8 inches
John Marin (1870–1953), Brooklyn Bridge No. 6 (Swaying), 1913 (Zigrosser 112) 10 ¾ x 8 ¾ inches
Hayes Miller (1876–1952), Play, 1919, 4 7/8 x 5 7/8 inches
John Sloan (1871–1951), Bandit’s Cave, 1920 (Morse 195), 7 x 5 inches
An exceeding rare and fine set, surely one of the earliest issued (since it contains the rare Marin print). Hopper’s Night Shadows is extraordinarily black and rich; each of the other impressions including Marin’s Brooklyn Bridge No. 6 (Swaying) is unusually fine.
This set has unusual historical importance: it includes prints exemplifying both traditional approaches to American printmaking, including those by Haskell, Miller, Bacon, and Sloan, as well as examples of important early American Modernist printmaking: Hopper’s Night Shadows and Marin’s Brooklyn Bridge No. 6 (Swaying).
In 1924 The New Republic offered readers a set of six original signed etchings along with the purchase of a subscription to the magazine. The original offering, in an advertisement in the Saturday Review of Literature (December 6, 1924, p. 350), reads in part:
SIX ETCHINGS
Incomparable as Christmas Gifts
Originals – Not Reproductions: Each Proof Printed by Peter J. Platt, on Handmade Van Gelder Paper – Signed by the Artist, and Offered At Incredibly Small Cost with a Subscription to The New Republic ‘The Ablest of America’s Weeklies’ …“The difficulty with this offer is not to explain, but to refrain…Yet overstatement is almost difficult in face of the facts—the foremost of which (alone simply sufficient to testify to the quality of these etchings) is the names of the six artists themselves.” A subscription form was then appended, offering readers a year’s subscription to the New Republic, with the set, for $8 (or two years for $12; the New Republic alone was $5 a year).
The edition size is not known. In a letter to John Sloan dated January 14, 1925, Robert Hallowell, secretary of the New Republic, writes, referring to set,“These went very well up until the end of last year. Since then, however, the orders have dropped off so considerably that I think there is considerable doubt that we will ever dispose of as many as a thousand sets. Up to date the total is between five and six hundred.” (Morse, 1969, p. 221).
Marin’s Brooklyn Bridge print was planned for inclusion in the set, but after a few were printed, it was replaced by Marin’s Downtown the El. (The original cover specified the Brooklyn Bridge, but in subsequent covers this was crossed out in ink and replaced by the words “Downtown Manhattan.”) Zigrosser, Marin’s cataloguer, suggested that perhaps the plate had broken. This is unlikely since the printer, Peter Platt (1859–1934), was America’s most distinguished artists’ printer of the period, worked alone, and it was unlikely that he would have broken a copperplate. A more likely explanation is that Downtown the El is about the same size as the other prints in the set, whereas the Brooklyn Bridge print is much larger; a plate of the same size would facilitate the printing of a large issue. Each of the plates was purchased by the New Republic, and the paper’s records for 1924–5, and probably also the plates, have been lost or destroyed.
Today, complete sets of the New Republic are rare, and those containing Marin’s Brooklyn Bridge are rarer still – indeed, they are virtually unknown to the market. Zigrosser had not encountered a set, and in his catalogue raisonne of Marin prints he guessed – incorrectly – which Marin print was initially included in it. Years later, in a correction (published in The Print Collector’s Newsletter, 1970, Vol. 1, No. 4), he noted that he had located only one institution which owned a complete set New Republic set (The New York Public Library; today the impression cannot be located), and that set included Downtown the El, not the Brooklyn Bridge. We have been unable to locate any museum or institution with a complete set (with either Marin!).
Each of the artists represented in the portfolio was important. At the time of the publication of the set, John Sloan was one of the best-known artists in America, a member of the Ashcan School, a painter represented in great museums throughout the country, and a major printmaker as well. Hayes Miller was known not only as an artist but also as a teacher whose students included the artists of New York’s Fourteenth Street School, including Peggy Bacon, an early Modernist who became a leading book illustrator (and was the youngest artist to produce a piece for this set). Ernest Haskell was already prominent in the United States and in Paris, noted as an etcher and student of Whistler. By 1924 Edward Hopper was beginning to earn recognition as one of America’s great young artistic talents; and John Marin had already been widely recognized for his role in creating some of the first American Modernist paintings and prints after the Armory Show in 1913.
This set, a great rarity in near-pristine condition and containing the original group of etchings, represents an important landmark in American printmaking.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Monday, July 25th, 2011
Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn (1606-1669), The Sleeping Herdsman, 1643-44, etching and engraving, Bartsch, Hollstein 189, Hind 207, only state. In excellent condition, with small margins all around, 4 1/8 x 2 1/4, the sheet 4 5/16 x 2 1\2 inches.
Provenance:
Kennedy Galleries (with their stock number, a66794, verso)
Albertina, Vienna (with their duplicate stamp verso, Lugt 5g)
A very good/fine impression, crisply printed with the lines on the forehead of the boy distinct and burr discernible on the shading near the right border to the right of the sleeping shepherd.
Nowell-Eusticke noted that this is a “rare little plate” (RR+); the plate is not in existence and posthumous impressions are not known.
This was one of a small number of prints, each rare and probably just for limited distribution to his friends, Rembrandt made of salacious subjects (including The Flute Player, A Man Making Water, A Woman Making Water, The Monk in the Cornfield). Here a young couple engage in sexual play while an old shepherd just to their left covers his eye and (perhaps!) sleeps; a cow looks on.
Rembrandt Sleeping Shepherd - Detail
Posted in Uncategorized |
Monday, July 25th, 2011
Rudolph Ruzicka (1883-1978), The First Church Burial Ground —1916, Color Wood Engraving.
Edition not stated. Signed in pencil. With the artist’s monogram and date in the block, lower right.
Image size 7 9/16 x 5 5/16 inches (192 x 135 mm); sheet size 11 7/8 x 8 7/8 inches (302 x 225 mm).
A fine impression, with fresh colors, on cream laid paper; full margins (1 1/4 to 2 3/4 inches), in excellent condition.
Ruzicka’s color wood engravings are rarely encountered in today’s marketplace, but are highly valued by collectors, both because of the subtlety of their design and composition, and Ruzicka’s technical mastery of the medium.
Rudolph Ruzicka was an eminent wood engraver, etcher, illustrator, book designer and inventor of typographic fonts. He came to the US from Bohemia, living first in Chicago where he took drawing lessons at Hull House and later becoming an apprentice wood engraver. From 1900 to 1902 he studied at the Chicago art institute, and in 1903 moved to New York where he worked as an engraver and furthered his artistic studies. He went on to achieve fame as a book illustrator, artist and typographer. As a wood engraver he surely was influenced by the 19th Century French master August Lepere, and in turn Ruzicka influenced generations of American artists and illustrators who worked in the difficult and exacting field of wood engraving.
$550
Posted in Rudolph Ruzicka |
Monday, July 25th, 2011
Rudolph Ruzicka (1883-1978)
View of Newark from Harrison —1916, Color Wood Engraving.
Edition not stated. Signed in pencil. With the artist’s monogram and date in the block, lower left.
Image size 7 1/2 x 5 1/2 inches (191 x 140 mm); sheet size 11 7/8 x 9 inches (302 x 229 mm).
A fine impression, with fresh colors, on cream laid paper; full margins (1 1/8 to 2 7/8 inches), in excellent condition.
Ruzicka’s color wood engravings are rarely encountered in today’s marketplace, but are highly valued by collectors, both because of the subtlety of their design and composition, and Ruzicka’s technical mastery of the medium.
Rudolph Ruzicka was an eminent wood engraver, etcher, illustrator, book designer and inventor of typographic fonts. He came to the US from Bohemia, living first in Chicago where he took drawing lessons at Hull House and later becoming an apprentice wood engraver. From 1900 to 1902 he studied at the Chicago art institute, and in 1903 moved to New York where he worked as an engraver and furthered his artistic studies. He went on to achieve fame as a book illustrator, artist and typographer. As a wood engraver he surely was influenced by the 19th Century French master August Lepere, and in turn Ruzicka influenced generations of American artists and illustrators who worked in the difficult and exacting field of wood engraving.
$550
Posted in Rudolph Ruzicka |
Friday, July 22nd, 2011
Benton Spruance (1904-1967), Subway Shift; The Second Front , 1943, Lithograph.
Fine and Looney 223. Edition: 30; signed, titled and annotated Ed 30 in pencil. Initialed in the stone, lower right.
Image size 10 3/16 x 16 1/4 inches (368 x 486 mm); sheet size 15 1/4 x 23 1/8 inches (387 x 587 mm).
A fine, rich impression, on cream wove paper with a Signature watermark, with full margins, in excellent condition. Printed by Cuno.
Subway Shift has of course been reproduced widely, including recently in The American Scene: Prints from Hopper to Pollock, Stephen Coppel, The British Museum, 2008, reproduced p. 205. In this publication Coppel points out that Spruance made Subway Shift as part of a “government-sponsored Artists for Victory initiative inspired by artists all over America to take up the patriotic call,” and that Subway Shift portrayed “civilians who have signed up for the home front as politically engaged citizens” (p. 30).
But my colleague Keith Sheridan points out that a close reading of the print shows its meaning to be quite different from a simple-minded “patriotic call.” Indeed, Spruance was a socially conscious and thoughtful artist who surely had reservations about war as an instrument of policy, and probably also wondered about the unswerving allegiance of average citizens to the cause, . Focusing on the print itself, Sheridan points out that six of the subway riders are wearing pins, which might have expressed patriotic positions, but in fact are pictures of themselves! And instead of reading “politically engaging” newspapers or journals, one is reading a Dick Tracey comic book, another a True Romances magazine. So the members of this Second Front would appear to be engaged far more with themselves and their frivolous pursuits than with serious matters of the War.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Friday, July 1st, 2011
Otto Goetze (1868-1931), “Vor dem Spiegel“ – Portrait of a young woman, sitting in front of a mirror, c. 1900, etching and softground etching, signed in pencil lower right [also signed in the plate lower left]. In generally good condition, with margins, time staining and browning toward outer edges, printed in black on a cream/ivory Van Gelder laid paper, with their watermark; 8 1/2 x 6 1/4, the sheet 11 1/2 z 9 1/4 inches.
A good impression of this rarely encountered print.
Otto Goetze was a well-known painter and etcher in Berlin at the turn of the 20th Century. He studied at Leipzig and Munich Academies. After 1908 he focused entirely on etchings.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Friday, July 1st, 2011
Nicolas-Toussaint Charlet (1792-1845), Tu Vois Austerlitz au Moment du Tremblement, lithograph, 1827. Published by Gihaut Freres, Paris. Reference: Fonds Francais IV, p. 336, no. 12. Printed by Villain. In generally good condition apart from foxing verso, lightly showing through image. 7 1/4 x 6, the sheet 14 1/4 x 10 1/2.
This print was included in the catalogue and exhibit Prints About Prints (Diane Ewan Wolfe, 1981, exhibit arranged by Martin Gordon and Sigma Art Fund), #8.
The old veteran of the Napoleonic wars, standing before a stand of prints, is selling his war stories; a young soldier interrupts him with Napoleon’s famous words to the troops after the victory at Austerlitz: “Soldiers, I am pleased with you!”
Charlet was a famed 19th Century artist, well-known especially in France for his lithographs on military subjects and appreciated by other artists such as Delacroix and Gericault.
Posted in Nicolas-Toussaint Charlet |
Monday, June 27th, 2011
Emil Orlik (1870-1932), Würfler – Gambler, etching, 1897, signed in pencil lower right. Reference: Söhn 52803-6, published in the art periodical PAN Vol.3, October 1897. In good condition, with margins (browning toward margin edges), 2 3 1/4, the sheet 3 x 4 1/4 inches.
A fine impression of this rarely encountered tiny gem, printed on laid paper, with plate tone. This print was later published in Pan, Vol. 3, October 1897.
Allan Wolman, in his indispensable website on Orlik (www.orlikprints.com), writes of the context of Orlik’s career at this early transitional stage:
In 1896 Orlik returned to Munich to work with his fellow pupil and life-long friend Bernhard Pankok on their first essays in the making of colour woodcut prints. They had seen examples of Japanese woodcut prints and were fascinated by them. He began contributing illustrations to the journal Jugend. By 1897 Orlik was such an accomplished print-maker that four of his small etchings were chosen for publication in the prestigious art magazine PAN. Also illustrated in PAN was a reproduction of his first poster ‘Die Weber’, designed for the play of the same name produced by Gerhart Hauptmann. Hauptmann was so impressed by the poster that he invited Orlik to Berlin to visit his studio and this was the first stepping stone to Orlik’s involvement in the theatre.
Detail
Posted in Uncategorized |
Monday, June 27th, 2011
Max Weber (1881-1961), Mother Love (Madonna and Child), woodcut in colors, 1920, signed in pencil lower right margin. Reference: Rubenstein 35, no edition stated. The matrix in good condition, with wide margins (stains in margins, remains of prior hinging visible recto, loss upper left). 4 13/16 x 2 1/8, the sheet 8 3/4 x 5 5/8 inches.
A very good impression of this great rarity, with vivid colors, printed on a tan/cream Japan paper.
Weber did not make his small color woodcuts in editions, and he changed the colors from one impression to another; thus each print is a variation on a monotype.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Thursday, June 16th, 2011
James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903), Glass-Furnace, Murano, drypoint with plate tone and burnishing, 1879-80, signed with the butterfly on the tab and annotated “imp”, also signed in cursive in pencil verso, also titled by the artist (“Furnace Murano”) and signed with the butterfly on the mat underneath the print, also numbered No. 1 twice on the mat). Also with a dealers inventory number D (possibly Dowdeswell?)1213 in pencil verso. Reference: Kennedy 217, first state (of 4). In excellent condition, trimmed by the artist just outside of the platemark and around the tab. Printed in brown ink on laid paper with a Strasbourg Lily pendant 4 watermark.
A fine, crisp impression of this great rarity, with much burr on the drypoint work, and carefully wiped plate tone.
This impression is before the slanting lines to the right of the door or window below at the left, and also at the right of the second window above, and before the definition of the head of the man opposite to the one seated; also before the lengthening of the lines above his shoulder. This first state impression is stronger than the other known first state impressions (at the Metropolitan Museum in New York and the Library of Congress, both unsigned), so it may be the first proof printed (thus perhaps accounting for the notation No. 1 on the original mat).
Although Glass-Furnace, Murano was made in Venice at the same time as Whistler made the prints for his published Venice sets, he did not publish Glass-Furnace, Murano; hence it is rare – only about half a dozen impressions are known.
Whistler - butterfly and title on mat
Whistler - signature on verso
Posted in Uncategorized |
Wednesday, June 15th, 2011
Norbert Goeneutte (1854-1894), Henri Guérard Consultant un Carton des Estampes (Le Dos d’Artiste), etching and drypoint, 1876. [signed N. Goeneutte lower right and Norbert along a diagonal lower left, in the plate] Reference: Duvivier 82, 1/2. Edition size small, but unknown. Printed by Delâtre on laid paper. 6 1/4 x 4 1/4, the sheet 8 1/4 x 5 1/4 inches.
A fine impression of the first state (roulette work was added in the second state), printed in brownish/black ink.
The model is Goeneutte’s friend and fellow-Impressionist, Henri Guérard (1846-1897), in his studio at 4, Avenue Frochot. Published by Paris à l’eau-forte, of which Guérard was at this time the art editor, under the title Le dos d’un artiste. Printed by Delâtre on laid paper.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Wednesday, June 15th, 2011
Arnold Houbraken (1660-1719), Portrait of Jacques Molaert (1649-1727), mezzotint, c. 1710, engraved by Nicolas Verkolje (1673-1746). Reference: Charles Le Blanc 5, first or second state (of three). [With the letters A. Houbraken, Inv. lower left, and N. Verkolje fecit lower right in the plate]. In good condition (very slight staining verso), trimmed on the plate mark and then backed along the edges. 10 1/4 x 7 5/8, the sheet 11 5/8 x 8 5/8 inches.
A very good proof impression, before the inscription letters, which are handwritten in this proof in a brown ink in a blank square.
Le Blanc notes that the first state was before letters, the second state had an inscription of 4 lines, and the third state an inscription with 6 lines. In this proof the area for the inscription is left blank, and an inscription of 6 lines is written in; thus this could be an impression of the first state or, possibly the second state (with the inscription covered to stay blank with the lines later written in).
Houbraken was a painter and author, best known today for his massive Schouburgh, a compilation of 500 biographies of seventeenth-century Dutch “Golden Age” painters.
Nicolas Verkoljie was a painter and engraver, a student of his father Jan, also an expert mezzotinter.
detail
Posted in Uncategorized |
Tuesday, June 7th, 2011
Sir David Young Cameron (1865-1945), Winchester Cathedral, etching and drypoint, 1925, signed in pencil lower right [also signed in the plate lower left]. Reference: Rinder 471, fourth state (of 4), from the edition of 65. In good condition (slight scuffing lower right, right margin irregular since paper was apparently taken from a book, a stain bottom margin away from image, remains of prior hinging verso), 16 1/8 x 10 3/4, the sheet 18 1/4 x 11 3/8 inches.
A fine rich impression printed on old laid paper.
Winchester Cathedral is one of the largest in Europe, famous for having been saved from collapse in the early 20th Century, as the burial place of Jane Austen, and as the subject of a popular song in 1966.
Detail
Posted in Uncategorized |
Tuesday, June 7th, 2011
Bror Julius Olsson NORDFELDT (American 1878 – 1955)
The Wave, Moonrise; 1906
Donovan 19. Color woodcut on thin cream laid paper.
Signed and dated in pencil, also inscribed with the number 249, upper left. In very good condition.
9 1/4 x 11 1/4 inches.
A fine impression of this rare woodcut. Nordfeldt’s numbering system appears to be related to the total number of prints he made; impressions of The Wave, Moonrise are quite rare, and indeed we have not encountered them on the market in recent decades.
Bror Julius Olsson Nordfeldt was born in Sweden, moving at the age of 14 with his family to the United States, settling in Chicago. In 1896 he began studies at the Art Institute of Chicago while working as a typesetter on the Swedish newspaper, “Hemlandet”. At the Art Institute, he studied with Frederick Richardson and John H. Vanderpool. Nordfeldt traveled to Paris in 1900 to study at the Académie Julian and in 1901 he studied woodblock printing in Oxford, England with F. Morley Fletcher. He returned to Sweden to live and work in Jonstorp, a village on the Western coast. After 1903 Nordfeldt lived in Chicago, then in Paris, San Francisco during WWI (where he supervised the camouflaging of merchant ships!), then Santa Fe and a host of other U.S. locations ending up in scenic Lambertville, New Jersey where he died in 1955. The Wave, Moonrise, was created in one of the most fertile periods of Nordfeldt’s career, when under the strong influence of both modernism and Japonisme.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Tuesday, May 17th, 2011
Bror Julius Olsson NORDFELDT (American 1878 – 1955)
The Long Wave, 1903
Donovan 3. Color woodcut on laid paper.
Signed and dated in pencil.
7 7/16 x 14 11/16 in.; 18.89 x 37.31 cm.
Bror Julius Olsson Nordfeldt was born in Sweden, moving at the age of 14 with his family to the United States, settling in Chicago. In 1896 he began studies at the Art Institute of Chicago while working as a typesetter on the Swedish newspaper, “Hemlandet”. At the Art Institute, he studied with Frederick Richardson and John H. Vanderpool. Nordfeldt traveled to Paris in 1900 to study at the Académie Julian and in 1901 he studied woodblock printing in Oxford, England with F. Morley Fletcher. He returned to Sweden to live and work in Jonstorp, a village on the Western coast. The Long Wave would appear to be from this period. After 1903 Nordfeldt lived in Chicago, then in Paris, San Francisco during WWI (where he supervised the camouflaging of merchant ships!), then Santa Fe and a host of other U.S. locations ending up in scenic Lambertville, New Jersey where he died in 1955.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Wednesday, May 4th, 2011
Hermine David - Blacksmith
Hermine David (1886-1970), Marechal Ferrant (The Blacksmith), etching and drypoint, signed in pencil lower right [also signed in the plate lower left], in very good condition (remains of prior hinging verso). The full sheet, printed on an Arches wove paper, 7 5/8 x 10 1/8, the sheet 9 7/8 x 13 inches.
A fine impression of this great rarity. We have not encountered another impression of this print on the art market.
In this print, in a departure from the sharply delineated drypoint work characterizing many of her prints, David achieves a range of grey shadings through extensive use of drypoint cross hatching. There is much rich black burr from the drypoint work in the print, but what stands out is the varied pattern of light and shadowing throughout the dense composition.
Granddaughter of the famous Neo-Classical painter Jacques Louis David, Hermine David was a relatively well-known printmaker, watercolorist and book illustrator in the 1920’s and ’30’s. She lived in the United States for a while with her husband and fellow artist Jules Pascin.
David - Blacksmith (Detail)
Posted in Hermine David |
Monday, April 11th, 2011
Bresslern-Roth - Geese
Norbertine Bresslern-Roth (1891-1978), [Geese], c. 1928, color linocut, signed in pencil lower right, annotated “handruck” (hand printed) in pencil lower left. In very good condition, with margins, printed in colors on a thin hand made Japan cream laid paper, 8 1/4 x 10 1/8, the sheet 10 1/8 x 11 5/8 inches.
Provenance: Estate of Sylvan Cole
A fine fresh impression of this rarely encountered linocut, printed from successive blocks
Norbertine Bresslern-Roth was an animal and portrait miniature painter as well as a graphic designer. From 1901 to 1910 she studied under Alfred Schrötter at the School of Arts in Graz. She continued her studies from 1911 to 1916 at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts under Ferdinand Schmutzer. The artist then attended Hans Hajek’s school for animal painting.
In 1916 Bresslern-Roth returned to Graz where she worked mainly as an animal painter: along with Carl Fahringer and Heinrich Ludwig Jungnickel she is one of the most important Austrian animal painters. Brangwyn even pronounced her the greatest animal painter of her time.
In 1928 Bresslern-Roth went on a study trip to North Africa, which, in addition to her studies at various zoological gardens, had a great impact on her extremely varied works. Apart from her dramatic animal paintings she also painted decorative, stylised figure compositions such as “Dancing Women” or “Bird Hunter”. Bresslern-Roth became famous for her colourful linocuts and gobelin designs. (Bio taken from artistarchive.com)
Detail
Posted in Uncategorized |
Monday, April 4th, 2011
Boutet - Woman with Bellows
Henri Boutet (1851-1919), [Femme, Woman with Bellows] , c. 1890, drypoint, signed and numbered (N. 9) in pencil lower right and with the artist’s red stamp (Lugt 1295a) [also signed in the plate]. In good condition, with wide/full margins (brown at edges), 7 1/2 x 5, the sheet 12 1/4 x 8 3/4.
A fine impression, with substantial burr from the drypoint work.
Boutet was one of the most talented of the Belle Epoque artists. He made a number of small drypoint portraits of women in tiny editions, or women in various Japonisme related postures. These prints, carefully printed, wiped and signed, are rather rarely encountered today, although reproductions of Boutet’s work are quite common. He became popular as an illustrator for magazines such as the Paris-Croquis and Le Courrier Francais, and later founded publications including La Revue Artistique. He was well known at the turn of the century as “le Petit maître au corset” – the small master of the corset.
Detail
Posted in Uncategorized |
Thursday, March 31st, 2011
Raffaelli - La Fumee du Bateau
Jean-Francois Raffaelli (1850-1924), La Fumee du Bateau, color etching and drypoint, 1911, signed and numbered in pencil lower right. Reference: Delteil 98. In very good condition, the full sheet, printed on a firm cream wove simile Japon paper, 7 3/4 x 5 1/2, the sheet 12 1/2 x 9 1/2 inches.
A fine fresh impression, printed in colors (blue, blue-green, yellow, reddish brown, black), with substantial burr from the drypoint work.
Raffaelli used different plates to create this print, using tiny registration holes to align the prints. In From Pissarro to Picasso: Color Etching in France, Cate and Grivel write that Raffaellis works employ such minimal color that one wonders why he went to the trouble of creating a sequence of plates for each image. They are more akin to simple but elegant etchings or drypoint prints, highlighted in color a la poupee or with watercolor applied by hand or by stencil onto the paper. But he was a kind of purist, who focused on printmaking a bit more than his French colleagues; a print made entirely of successive plates would be more likely to have a consistent look than a colored work with the print supplying the structure and composition. And, as here, the colors derived through the printmaking process tend to be more subtle and integrated in the print than colors derived through other means.
Posted in Jean-Francois Raffaelli |
Thursday, March 31st, 2011
Vico - Trophy with a Breast Plate Leaning Toward the Left
Enea Vico (1523-1567) engraving, Trophy With a Breas Plate Leaning Toward the Left, 1550, Bartsch 444, with the name of the publisher Ant[onio] Lafreri at bottom, first state (of 2) before numbers. Good condition, with small margins all around, archival matting, 10 x 7 inches.
A fine, fresh impression. A single stack of weird beasts, arms, armor, and shields.
On laid paper with a Ladder in a Circle watermark.
Provenance: Furstich Waldburg Wolfegg’sches Kupferstichkabinett (Lugt 2542).
The fine impressions of Vico’s Trophy series, such as this example, are of astonishing clarity and brilliance. This sort of showmanship was until recently discounted as lacking in original draughtsmanship or inventiveness, but recent work (as exemplified in the British Museum exhibit The Print in Italy, 1550-1620), is reawakening enthusiasm for Italian prints of this period.
In the December 2002 issue of The Print Quarterly Rosemary Mulcahy writes that “Enea Vico da Parma was the outstanding printmaker of his generation.” She goes on to quote Vasari, who devoted a substantial entry to Vico in his Lives: “many others have engaged in copper engraving, but have not attained such perfection.”
Vico made a range of prints, including archaeological excursions and designs such as this one, and also statues, gems, vases, and some portraits.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Thursday, March 31st, 2011
Enea Vico - Trophies Including a Helmeted Woman
Enea Vico (1523-1567) engraving, Trophies Including a Helmeted Woman, 1550, Bartsch 442, with the name of the publisher Ant[onio] Lafreri at bottom, first state (of 2) before numbers. Very good condition, with small margins all around, archival matting, 10 x 6 7/8 inches.
A fine, fresh impression, the trophies in two parallel piles, the right side featuring ferocious birds, or at least winged creatures, as well as the helmeted woman; the left side has a pile of armor, weird animal and human faces, shields, and a bit of weaponry as well.
Provenance: Furstich Waldburg Wolfegg’sches Kupferstichkabinett (Lugt 2542).
The fine impressions of Vico’s Trophy series, such as this example, are of astonishing clarity and brilliance. This sort of showmanship was until recently discounted as lacking in original draughtsmanship or inventiveness, but recent work (as exemplified in the British Museum exhibit The Print in Italy, 1550-1620), is reawakening enthusiasm for Italian prints of this period.
In the December 2002 issue of The Print Quarterly Rosemary Mulcahy writes that “Enea Vico da Parma was the outstanding printmaker of his generation.” She goes on to quote Vasari, who devoted a substantial entry to Vico in his Lives: “many others have engaged in copper engraving, but have not attained such perfection.”
Vico made a range of prints, including archaeological excursions and designs such as this one, and also statues, gems, vases, and some portraits.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Wednesday, March 30th, 2011
Enea Vico - Two Trophies with a Cuirass Lower Left
Enea Vico (1523-1567) engraving, Two Trophies With a Cuirass Lower Left, 1550, Bartsch 449, with the name of the publisher Ant[onio] Lafreri at bottom, first state (of 2) before numbers. Good condition, with small margins all around, archival matting, 9 5/8 x 7 inches.
A fine, fresh impression.
Provenance: Furstich Waldburg Wolfegg’sches Kupferstichkabinett (Lugt 2542).
The fine impressions of Vico’s Trophy series, such as this example, are of astonishing clarity and brilliance. This sort of showmanship was until recently discounted as lacking in original draughtsmanship or inventiveness, but recent work (as exemplified in the British Museum exhibit The Print in Italy, 1550-1620), is reawakening enthusiasm for Italian prints of this period.
In the December 2002 issue of The Print Quarterly Rosemary Mulcahy writes that “Enea Vico da Parma was the outstanding printmaker of his generation.” She goes on to quote Vasari, who allocated Vico a substantial entry in his Lives: “many others have engaged in copper engraving, but have not attained such perfection.”
Vico made a range of prints, including archaeological excursions and designs such as this one, and also statues, gems, vases, and some portraits.
Posted in Enea Vico |
Thursday, March 24th, 2011
James Goetz (1915-1946) , Rhea, etching and engraving, 1946, signed in pencil lower right, from the Primordials Portfolio, in an edition of only 30. In very good condition, printed on Murillo paper (heavy buff wove paper). Printed at Atelier 17. The full sheet, 8 7/8 x 4 7/8, the sheet 12 7/8 x 9 3/8 inches.
A very fine, intricately engraved and printed impression.
S.W.Hayter, the famed printmaker and founder of Atelier 17, said of Goetz: “James Goetz was young. He was an artist who became a soldier; I understand a good one… An officer in the 5th Armored Division, he was wounded in action at Alencon. We who worked beside him in the atelier feel that his absence must have been regretted by his men as deeply as it is by us. He returned after convalescence to his preoccupations of before the war. The engraving medium in which, as these prints show, he found an instrument of great power, served him to state the problem of existence…But for the senseless accident which put an end to his work in June 1946 he might perhaps have found a solution in life.”
Goetz wrote of this subject: “Through the ages Kronos and Rhea produce the gods Hera, Aides, Poseidon and Zeus. Kronos, who creates only to destroy, swallows all his children at birth – but Zeus – for whom Rhea substitutes a stone. Zeus forces his father to disgorge the others and he becomes the sire of all gods and men who follow.”
A close reading of this complex abstraction yields some sense of Goetz’s meaning, and leads to a myriad of other thoughts, feelings and observations as well.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Thursday, March 24th, 2011
Adriaen van de Velde (1636 – Amsterdam – 1672 – Amsterdam), Two Cows and a Sheep, etching, c. 1657-9. Reference: Hollstein 4. In good condition, on old laid paper, a soft horizontal fold, trimmed on the borderline and window mounted, 4 1/4 x 5 1/8 inches.
A very good impression.
Adriaen van de Velde, the son of Willem van de Velde the 1st, was apparently not interested in pursuing marine paintings which were the specialty of his brother and father, and so was sent to Haarlem to learn landscape painting. And he did indeed specialize in landscapes, particularly pastures and cattle. Although his teacher was Jan Wisjnants, his work reflects the subject matter of Paulus Potter and Karel Dujardin. But his style is his own.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Thursday, March 24th, 2011
John Marin (1870-1953), Downtown, The El, etching, 1921, signed in pencil lower left (also signed and dated in the plate). Reference: Zigrosser 134, only state. Published initially by Alfred Stieglitz and then 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 above 500. In very good condition, the full sheet, on Van Gelder wove paper, 6 3/4 x 8 3/4, the sheet 11 x 13 3/4 inches.
Provenance: Hirschl and Adler Galleries, Inc., New York, New York.
A fine bright impression.
Initially the New Republic Set, sometimes known as Six American Etchings, contained Marin’s 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 artist’s 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 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: Bandit’s Cave).
Downtown The El is one of Marin’s 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.
Posted in John Marin, Uncategorized |
Wednesday, March 23rd, 2011
Werner Drewes (1899-1983), Farm in the Woods, woodcut, 1933, signed and dated in pencil lower right (also numbered 1-xxx and titled lower left). Reference: Rose 83. In very good condition, on hand made cream colored Japan paper with an upper and lower deckle edge, 9 1/8 x 11 1/2, the sheet 10 3/4 x 13 7/8 inches.
Provenance: Heald Collection
A fine strong impression.
Drewes, who studied at the Bauhaus in Weimar and Dessau during the ’20’s, with Paul Klee, Wassily Kandinsky, and Lyonel Feininger, came to the United States in 1930. His early work reflects the Bauhaus emphasis on abstraction, together with an element of German Expressionism; this was a major departure from the conservative and conventional tendencies of ’30’s artists in the US. But he became force in American art – he taught at the Brooklyn Museum and Columbia, was named director of the WPA’s New York graphic division, and was a founding member of Abstract American Artists.
Detail
Posted in Werner Drewes |
Tuesday, March 22nd, 2011
Joseph Hirsch (1910-1981), Lunch Hour, 1942, lithograph, signed in pencil. Published by Associated American Artists, in good condition (some time staining) with full margins, on a cream wove paper, 9 x 11 3/4, the sheet 11 x 13 7/8 inches.
A very good impression, still in its original Associated American Artists mat (which, surprisingly, does not appear to be acid-free).
Hirsch was a traditionalist, a social realist painter and printmaker, who won numerous prizes and awards over the course of a long career. His work did not tend to break new ground, but if he were producing these paintings and prints today one wonders whether this sort of work would be revered as leading edge post-modernism. The AAA label, reproduced below, shows the wide ranging acclaim he had achieved by age 32.
The Associated American Artists Label for Hirsch’s Lunch Hour
Posted in Uncategorized |
Monday, March 21st, 2011
Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn (1606-1669), The Death of the Virgin, etching and drypoint, 1639 [signed and dated in the plate]. References: Bartsch, Hollstein 99, Hind 161, second state (of 3). In very good condition (a couple of small fox marks, unobtrusive printer’s creases lower right), printed on sturdy ivory/tan laid paper with a Strasbourg Lily watermark (see discussion below), trimmed just outside of the platemark top and sides, outside of the borderline bottom, 15 5/8 x 12 1/4 inches.
A fine lifetime impression, with traces of drypoint burr on the figures and clothing of figures at the left; also on the chair bottom right, and in numerous places elsewhere.
In the second state Rembrandt added drypoint work on the chair lower right, in the third state he darkened the foreground bedpost with additional drypoint.
Provenance: Kennedy Galleries, NY (with their inventory number verso); unidentified collector (initial N, not in Lugt). Also writing verso in pencil (title, catalogue numbers, the annotation “extremely fine.”)
A Strasbourg Lily watermark is common to the first state and second state impressions of Death of the Virgin (cf. Erik Hinterding, Rembrandt as an Etcher, Catalogue of Watermarks, vol. 2, p. 276; also see Ash and Fletcher, Watermarks in Rembrandt Prints, p. 196); the variation closest to our impression is probably Hinterding’s Strasbourg Lily C.b.a. (cf. Hinterding vol. 2, p. 203) which is found in the second state impression at PCS (Private Collection, Switzerland). Other examples of the second state with this watermark or a close variant (cf. Hinterding p. 276) can be found at the Rijkisprentenkabinet, Amsterdam; the British Museum; The Library of Congress; and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Hinterding indicates that Rembrandt used paper with this watermark during the period 1633-1641.
In this very large depiction of the death of the Virgin, a story not recounted in the Bible but widely known since the Middle Ages through an account in the Golden Legend, Rembrandt focuses on the movement and expressions of the mourners surrounding the covered bed. A doctor takes Mary’s pulse, while the bald-headed apostle Peter comforts her; a priest stands at the left and a shorter figure (kneeling?) holds a tall pole (much as a kneeling server in Durer’s woodcut of the same subject holds a crucifix and a priest stands to the left). A man sitting in the foreground reads a huge bible. The figures are dressed in vaguely oriental garb, to locate the scene in the ancient Middle East. Above the bed in the clouds an angel appears, surrounded by putti. Rembrandt uses a vast range of techniques in the print, sketching some figures and the clouds lightly, and drawing some figures and structures in great detail and with substantial shading and cross-hatching.
Detail
Posted in Uncategorized |
Wednesday, March 9th, 2011
Enea Vico (1523-1567 engraving, Two Trophies With a Breast Plate and a Ram’s Head, 1550, Bartsch 447, with the name of the publisher Ant[onio] Lafreri at bottom, before numbers. Good condition, with small margins all around (slight discoloration upper right and left due to hinging), archival matting, 9 1/2 x 7 inches.
A fine, fresh impression.
Provenance: Furstich Waldburg Wolfegg’sches Kupferstichkabinett (Lugt 2542).
The fine impressions of Vico’s Trophy series, such as this example, are of astonishing clarity and brilliance. This sort of showmanship was until recently discounted as lacking in original draughtsmanship or inventiveness, but recent work (as exemplified in the British Museum exhibit The Print in Italy, 1550-1620), is reawakening enthusiasm for Italian prints of this period.
In the December 2002 issue of The Print Quarterly Rosemary Mulcahy writes that “Enea Vico da Parma was the outstanding printmaker of his generation.” She goes on to quote Vasari, who allocated Vico a substantial entry in his Lives: “many others have engaged in copper engraving, but have not attained such perfection.”
Vico made a range of prints, including archaeological excursions and designs such as this one, and also statues, gems, vases, and some portraits.
Posted in Enea Vico |
Thursday, February 24th, 2011
Somm - Printing Shop
Henry Somm (1844-1907), The Printing Shop, etching and drypoint, c. 1880, not signed [signed in plate], in good condition, trimmed on the plate mark, 1 7/8 x 3 1/8 inches.
Provenance: Initials RWX verso, in pencil (not in Lugt)
A fine impression of this tiny but figure-filled image.
In this print shop a woman appears to be spreading acid over a plate in a pan; tiny figures abound including a devilish character looking at prints lower left, a tiny figure presiding over the acid bath, and three other figures in a cloud just above a torrent of prints falling earthward.
Henry Somm, whose original name was Francois-Clement Sommier, was a well-known impressionist illustrator and artist, a friend of Buhot, and of course much influenced by Japonisme.
Detail
Detail
Posted in Uncategorized |
Thursday, February 10th, 2011
Winslow Homer – Fly Fishing, Saranac Lake
Winslow Homer (1836-1910), Fly Fishing, Saranac Lake, etching, aquatint and burnishing, 1889, signed lower left and numbered lower right (39) in pencil [also signed in the plate lower left “Winslow Homer Sc 1889 Copyright”]. Reference: Goodrich 104. Edition unknown but quite possibly intended 100; highest numbered impression known is 62. Printed on a simile japan paper, in very good condition (slightest toning; small fox mark in image); the full sheet, 17 3/8 x 22 1/5, the sheet 19 7/8 x 28 inches.
A very fine, rich impression of this print, perhaps the most highly sought after of the Homer etchings.
Fly Fishing, Saranac Lake is the only composition which the artist created exclusively as a print, not after one of his paintings; it is also probably his last etching.
Lifetime impressions of Fly Fishing, Saranac Lake are rarely seen on the market or encountered by collectors, but posthumous impressions of this print do appear from time to time, so it may be instructive to discuss the rather vast differences between the lifetime and posthumous impressions.
The printing of Homer’s lifetime impressions was handled by George W.H. Ritchie who at first also attempted, with limited success, to sell the prints; later the print dealer C. Klackner handled the sales. Around 1900 the five plates in Ritchie’s possession were put in storage and no more prints were made from them until about 1940, when Charles S. White, who had bought the business from Ritchie, began to make posthumous prints. The plates were bought by Williams Ivins, Curator of Prints at the Met in 1941, and are still at the Met; Ivins then had White make additional plates under his supervision.
Our impression compares favorably with the Met’s, which has some light tone, but the printing of their signed impression is very similar to ours. The Met impression, acquired in 1924, is printed on the same paper as ours, a relatively light simile japan; the Met also has a posthumous (unsigned) impression printed on a sturdier japan paper, as well as the plate.
The signed prints are printed with rich plate tone in the figure and central areas, and the plate tone has been selectively wiped in other areas, resulting in a strong contrast between the central figures and the surrounding areas. The posthumous impression has much plate tone overall but no differentiation between the central area and the rest of the print. Thus, the central figure is printed rather dryly in the posthumous printing relative to the lifetime impressions. This is consistent with Goodrich’s discussion of the lifetime and posthumous printings (p. 19, Lloyd Goodrich, The Graphic Art of Winslow Homer; he inexplicably prefers the flat later printing, referring to the earlier printing as “romantic”!).
There are many other differences as well. For example, the white area to the right of the fish was apparently burnished by Homer, to eliminate a number of lines and hazy shading; in the lifetime impressions the effect is a clear white as intended, but in the posthumous impression the use of heavy plate tone picked up some of these lines and hazy shading, thus defeating the desired burnished effect.
The top right corner of the posthumous impression shows some blotching and spotting resulting from the corrosion of the plate; this area is evident on the plate itself. The lifetime impressions, made prior to this corrosion, show no such effects.
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Wednesday, February 2nd, 2011
James Whistler (1834-1903), The “Adam and Eve” Old Chelsea, etching and drypoint, 1878 [with the butterfly initial in the plate, in the sky left]. References: Glasgow 182, third state (of 3), Kennedy 175, third state (of 3). In very good condition, printed on a thin laid paper with full margins, 7 x 11 15/16 x 8 3/4 x 13 7/8 inches.
A fine impression, with touches of burr from the drypoint work especially on the boats and sails at the left, the crumbling porch of the Adam and Eve, and elsewhere. Many impressions in the edition were not printed with the detailing clear; this impression displays the details vividly (perhaps in some part thanks to the very thin paper used for this impression).
The “Adam and Eve” was etched in 1878, and published by Hogarth and Son, London, 1879.
Provenance: letters VAT and G in pencil verso (not in Lugt)
Whistler here depicts the Chelsea bank of the Thames, at low tide. The Adam and Eve was a tavern (one can read the words “Wine and Spirit Estab” just under the sign of the tavern in the etching), demolished in 1872. According to Katharine Lochnan (The Etchings of James McNeill Whistler) the etching was based on a photograph by James Hedderly. The etching is a close (but reversed) reconstruction of the photo (see figure 215, Lochnan).
Lochnan argues that in the “Adam and Eve” Whistler is not focused so much on the physical structure of the composition as on feelings of light and atmosphere, and on oriental principles of balance and placement; thus this print was important as a prelude to the Venice set rather than a replication of the perspective of the 1859 Thames etchings.
Detail
Detail
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Tuesday, February 1st, 2011
Childe Hassam (1859-1935), House on the Main Street, Easthampton, 1922, etching, signed in pencil with the cipher lower right and annotated “imp” [also signed Easthampton, April 22, C.H. 1922 in the plate lower left corner]. Reference: Cortissoz/Clayton 213. In very good condition, with full margins (with the characteristic drying holes all around). Printed by the artist in black ink on cream/ivory wove paper, with deckle edges; 6 x 12 1/8, the sheet 8 x 14 1/8 inches.
A fine impression, printed with a light layer of plate tone.
Hassam’s plates of Easthampton constitute a high point of American Impressionist printmaking, and the House on the Main Street is one of his finest; Paula Eliasoph noted that Hassam “deserves to be honored as Easthampton’s greatest poet, whose poems were sung on copper plate – with the rare command of colorful lines of light and shade for his words.”
Detail
Detail
Posted in Childe Hassam |
Wednesday, January 26th, 2011
Aristide Maillol (1861-1944), Juno, lithograph in sanguine, signed in pencil with the cipher lower right and numbered (7/25) lower left. Reference: Guerin 274 III, from the Maitres et Petits Maitres d”Aujourd’hui, published by the Galerie des Peintres Gravures, 1925, edition of 125. Printed on cream laid paper. In very good condition, with full margins, 8 1/2 x 11 1/4, the sheet 12 1/2 x 19 3/8 inches.
With the blindstamp of the Galerie des Peintres Gravures lower right (Lugt 1057b).
Provenance: collection of Dr. and Mrs. Freddy and Regina T. Homburger, purchased directly from the artist. The Homburgers were distinguished collectors of modern art. This print was exhibited in the exhibition of the Homberger collection, a traveling exhibit whose locations included the Fogg Museum at Harvard, the Ringling Museum in Florida, the University of Maine, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art (several labels appended to back of mat).
A fine impression of this iconic Maillol figure.
Junon is French for Juno, the Roman version of the Greek God Hera.
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Wednesday, January 26th, 2011
Jean-Emile Laboureur (1877-1943), Le Souper des Dockers, engraving, 1919-1920, signed in pencil lower left, titled lower left, and numbered (27/35) lower right. Reference: Laboureur 186, second state (of 2), from the edition of 35. In very good condition, the full sheet with wide margins (remains of prior hinging verso), printed on a cream wove Van Gelder Zonen paper (with the watermark), 4 5/8 x 4 7/8, the sheet 10 7/8 x 8 3/4 inches.
Provenance: Galerie Marcel Lecompte (Paris, with his pencil mark); Colnaghi (London, with their stock number C.68527)
A fine sharp impression printed in black ink.
A superb example of Laboureur’s utilization of engraving within his cubist idiom.
Posted in Jean-Emile Laboureur |
Wednesday, January 19th, 2011
Max Pechstein (1881-1955), Am Ufer (At the Riverbank), etching and drypoint, 1920, signed in pencil lower right, with the blindstamp of Die Schaffenden lower left, Plate 9 from Die Schaffenden III, Jahrgang 1, published by Verlag Gustav Kiepenheuer, Weimar, 1921. Reference: Kruger R 116, from the edition of 125. In good condition, slight handling folds, minor soiling; printed on a cream/tan wove paper, the full sheet, 8 1/4 x 10 1/2, the sheet 12 1/8 x 16 inches.
A fine impression, printed in black ink on cream/tan wove with substantial burr on the drypoint work and with plate tone overall.
Provenance: ex Collection John and Valerie Butterwick, Kewanee, Illinois (not in Lugt).
In the spring of 1914 Pechstein went to the Palau Islands in the South Seas, returning to Germany via Japanese internment, the US and Holland, in 1915. He was drafted to the Somme front but in early 1917 returned to Berlin after a nervous collapse. He then participated in the emergence of art movements after the War, including the utopian call for socialised art in a socialist state; it’s possible that Am Ufer recalls the South Seas experience in the context of this later period.
$5000
Posted in Max Pechstein |
Wednesday, January 12th, 2011
Felicien Rops (1833-1898), LA PRESSE, CARTE D’ADRESSE DE L’IMPRIMERIE F. NYS, etching. Exsteen 589, Amiel 139. In excellent condition, the full sheet with deckle edges (remains of prior hinging verso), printed on a heavy cream wove paper. 3 3/8 x 4 5/8, the sheet 5 3/4 x 8 7/8 inches.
A fine impression of this rarely encountered etching.
La Presse is unusual in the Rops oeuvre insofar as the subject matter is entirely innocent (although the antics of the various cherubim are subject to various interpretations!). This Carte d’Adresse was used by F. Nys, who was Rops printer at times; it suggests that Nys was a teacher of printmaking as well as a printer.
Detail
Detail
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Tuesday, January 11th, 2011
Pierre Gatier (1878-1948), La Toilette (also known as Le Rimmel or L’elegante a sa Toilette), 1911, preliminary drawing in pencil, ink and watercolor for the etching and aquatint, signed in color lower right and and inscribed “aquarelle dessin pour L’Eegantes de Monmartre”. The reference for the print is Felix Gatier 81, from the series L’Elegantes de Montmarte, 1911″ (4 plates), as edited by George Petit, and published in a suite of 100. In very good condition (some handling folds toward the outer edges), on a light simile Japan wove paper, the full sheet with wide margins, 8 5/8 x 12 1/2, the sheet 14 x 21 5/8 inches.
The drawing outlines the complete composition of the final etching and aquatint, but focuses the coloration on the central figure; the rest of the composition is delineated in both pencil and ink. The size of the drawing is about the same as the print. The woman in the drawing has a softer expression, less stern than in the print; her stockings are black, her undergarment white with pink trim, and unlike the print, she wears a white headband.
In Le Rimmel (eyeliner) Gatier captures the spirit of the Belle Epoque, and demonstrates his facility with aquatint, and the method of using three color plates which apparently fascinated him – he wrote a treatise on the method, which is re-printed in the recently published catalogue raisonne of his prints.
Le Rimmel is the second plate of a series of four, showing a women of Montmarte waking, dressing (Le Rimmel), shopping, and then going out on the town. This is – in our view – the most interesting depiction in the series.
The drawing and print are sold as a pair.
$3200 the pair
The Print – see separate entry
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Tuesday, January 11th, 2011
Pierre Gatier (1878-1948), La Toilette (also known as Le Rimmel or L’elegante a sa Toilette), 1911, etching and aquatint, signed and inscribed “Recherche de couleurs”. [also signed and dated in the plate]. Reference: Felix Gatier 81, from the series L’Elegantes de Montmarte, 1911″ (4 plates), as edited by George Petit, and published in a suite of 100. In very good condition, on a heavy cream wove paper, the full sheet with deckle edges, 8 5/8 x 12 1/2, the sheet 13 7/8 x 19 5/8 inches.
A fine fresh impression of this colorful Fin de Siecle aquatint, printed in three colors.
In Le Rimmel (eyeliner) Gatier captures the spirit of the Belle Epoque, and demonstrates his facility with aquatint, and the method of using three color plates which apparently fascinated him -he wrote a treatise on the method, which is re-printed in the recently published catalogue raisonne of his prints.
Le Rimmel is the second plate of a series of four, showing a women of Montmarte waking, dressing (Le Rimmel), shopping, and then going out on the town. This is – in our view – the most interesting depiction in the series.
This will be sold together with the preparatory drawing (see listing above); $3200 the pair.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Thursday, December 16th, 2010
Reginald Marsh (1898-1954), Skyline from Pier 10 Brooklyn, 1931, etching, Sasowsky 129, fourth state (of 4). There were 18 impressions of the final state printed by Marsh; 11 postumous (1956); 100 Whitney, 1971. In excellent condition; with the usual fingerprints and stray spots of ink in the margins and paper trimmed a bit unevenly as characterizes the impressions printed personally by Marsh. Signed and annotated # 7 in pencil. Signed and dated in the plate, lower right.
Image size 6 3/8 x 11 7/8 inches (162 x 222 mm); sheet size 8 1/8 x 13 5/8 inches (206 x 346 mm).
A superb, richly inked impression, on cream laid paper, with full margins (5/8 to 1 1/8 inches).
One of only 18 lifetime impressions. In the artist’s original mat; an exhibition label on the mat back: XXII ND BIENNIAL INTERNATIONAL ART EXHIBITION – VENICE 1940. The label rubber-stamped and dated 10 MAG 40 XVIII (10 May 40). According to the label this impression was apparently sold or offered for sale at this exhibition by the Society of American Etchers; the price at the time was $40.
Label on original mat for Venice Biennial sale, 1940
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Thursday, December 16th, 2010
Reginald Marsh (1898-1954), Skyline from Pier 10, Brooklyn, etching, 1931, signed in pencil [also signed in the plate]. Reference: Sasowsky 129. First state (of 4). In very good condition with margins (a couple of ink marks in margins, a stain upper right margin tip). Archival mounting (acid free board, window mat, not attached hinging). 6 1/2 x 11 7/8, the sheet 7 1/2 x 13 1/16 inches.
A fine impression of this rare first state proof, printed in black on laid paper.
This is one of the two first state proofs, proof A (proof B was extensively touched). The composition is complete in this proof except for the clouds and sky, which were added in the second state, and some small additions to the battleships, buildings and sky added in later states. Aside from the addition of the sky and clouds, the most apparent change in later states was the addition of windows to the tall flat building at the right.
Only one impression was made of the second state, two of the third, and a small number of the fourth state (18 or so).
Posted in Reginald Marsh |
Tuesday, December 14th, 2010
William Meyerowitz (1898-1981), Armistice Day, 1918, etching with watercolor.
Edition not stated. Signed in pencil. Signed and dated in the plate, lower left.
Image size 9 3/4 x 8 inches (248 x 203 mm); sheet size 12 3/8 x 9 1/2 inches (314 x 241 mm).
A unique impression with the artist’s watercolor additions throughout, on off-white wove paper, with full margins (5/8 to 1 3/8 inches), in excellent condition.
Posted in William Meyerowitz |
Monday, November 22nd, 2010
James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903), Rotherhithe, etching and drypoint, 1860 [signed and dated in the plate lower left]. Reference: Kennedy 66, third state (of 3). Published, in the third state, as part of the Thames Set. In very good condition, with margins, 10 7/8 x 7 7/8, the sheet 15 1/16 x 10 1/4 inches.
A fine impression, printed in black on a cream laid paper.
Rotherhithe is the area opposite Wapping on the banks of the Thames. The site of the image is the Angel, an inn in Bermondsey, very near Rotherhithe. Although Tower Bridge dominates the view up-river from the narrow balcony, in the distance St Paul’s Cathedral is visible beyond the bend of the river.
Rotherhithe is one of Whistler’s most iconic early images; it was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1862, and then was titled Wapping in its later 1871 publication as part of the Thames Set (a series of 16 etchings). The copper plate is in the Freer Gallery of Art.
Detail
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Wednesday, November 17th, 2010
Theodore Roussel (1847-1926), Study From the Nude of a Girl Lying Down, 1890, drypoint with plate tone, signed with the tab and inscribed “imp” [also signed in the plate upper left]. Reference: Hausberg 40, only state, from the total printing of about 20 impressions. In good condition, trimmed as usual by the artist on the plate mark with the tab left for the signature, 2 11/16 x 3 7/16 inches.
A fine impression, with a heavy veil of plate tone.
Hausberg notes that the model was “presumably Hetty Pettigrew”, who was Roussel’s model from the early 1880’s until the second decade of the 1900’s. Hetty Pettigrew was born Harriet Selina Pettigrew in 1867, one of 12 children, the eldest of three daughters who modeled for London artists. Hetty also modeled for Whistler for one oil painting and a number of pastels. Hetty served as a studio assistant for Roussel, and may have been his art student as well; Roussel and Pettigrew had a personal relationship including a child named Iris, the subject of a Roussel portrait study painted in the 1880’s.
Posted in Theodore Roussel |
Tuesday, November 2nd, 2010
Hassam - French Cruiser
Childe Hassam (1859-1935), French Cruiser, lithotint, 1918, signed in pencil with the cipher lower right. Reference: Griffith 8. In very good condition, printed in black ink on cream wove paper with a flower watermark, the full sheet with deckle edges, 6 x 11, the sheet 11 1/8 x 18 inches.
A fine impression of this rare print.
Hassam was of the course the pre-eminent American Impressionist, and French Cruiser is a superb example of his use of impressionism in printmaking. In his lithotints he applied ink with the same fluidity as with his watercolors. The detailed line-work of the etchings is replaced with masses of black or grey on white, spatial recession is denied, and the images are vertically layered on the picture plane; this is all about the play of shadows and light.
Posted in Childe Hassam |
Tuesday, November 2nd, 2010
Theodore Roussel (1847-1926), Penelope, A Doorway, Chelsea; etching, 1888-89, signed and inscribed “imp” in pencil in the tab [also signed in the plate upper left]. Reference: Hausberg 23, only state, from the edition of about 30. In very good condition, trimmed by the artist on the platemark all around except for the tab. Printed in black ink on cream laid paper, 4 1/4 x 2 11/16 inches. Plate later cancelled.
A fine impression with a light veil of plate tone.
The title refers to Ulysses’ wife Penelope, who passed the time weaving while waiting for her husband to return.
The composition is remindful of the many Whistler compositions in which figures are placed in doorways, alleyways, or otherwise framed; Roussel was of course a Whistler accolyte, and arguably his most talented follower; he met Whistler at about the time he created this etching.
Detail
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Tuesday, November 2nd, 2010
Louis Lozowick (1892-1973), Tel and Tel (T&T), lithograph, 1952, signed and numbered (9/15) in pencil. Flint 235, from the edition of about15-20. in excellent condition, image size 13 x 8 3/8 inches (330 x 213 mm); sheet size 16 1/8 x 12 1/8 inches (410 x 308 mm).
Provenance: Keith Sheridan Fine Prints
A fine impression, on cream wove paper, with full margins (1 1/2 to 2 inches), in excellent condition.
In this superb composition Lozowick demonstrates his interest in cubism, abstraction, and precisionism simultaneously.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Friday, October 29th, 2010
James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903), Rotherhithe, etching and drypoint, 1860 [signed and dated in the plate lower left]. Reference: Glasgow 60, first/second state (of 6), Kennedy 66, first state (of 3). Published, in the last state, as part of the Thames Set. In very good condition, trimmed about 1/8″ outside of the platemark, printed in black on a cream laid paper. 10 3/4 x 7 3/4 inches.
Provenance: Unknown collector, initials in ink verso, not found in Lugt.
A fine impression, before the completion of the hull of the boat lower foreground, and before much drypoint work in various places including the shirt of the man on the right, before the re-working of the lines on the face and shirt of the man at the left, and before strengthening of various areas generally in the bottom part of the composition.
Rare in this early state. The Glasgow first state is said to be without the dots in the sky upper right, but these are faintly visible in the first state example pictured; otherwise their first state is the same as their second state.
Rotherhithe is the area opposite Wapping on the banks of the Thames. The site of the image is the Angel, an inn in Bermondsey, very near Rotherhithe. Although Tower Bridge dominates the view up-river from the narrow balcony, in the distance St Paul’s Cathedral is visible beyond the bend of the river.
Rotherhithe is one of Whistler’s most iconic early images; it was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1862, and then was titled Wapping in its later 1871 publication as part of the Thames Set (a series of 16 etchings). The copper plate is in the Freer Gallery of Art.
Detail
Posted in Uncategorized |
Wednesday, October 6th, 2010
Wenzel Hollar (1607-1677), Young Woman with a Cap with a Feather, etching, 1647, after Holbein. Reference: Pennington 1550, first state (of 2) [annotation in the plate: HHolbein inv, WHollar fec: A.A. Bierling excud: 1647]. In very good condition, trimmed just outside of the platemark all around, on an old laid paper, hinged (with glue?) at the top, partial unidentified watermark, 5 1/4 x 3 5/8 inches.
A fine impression.
Pennington notes that A.B. Chamberlain in his Hans Holbein the Younger, 1913, says that no original for this print is known, and that it appears in J.M. M’Creery’s Collection of 1816.
Pennington notes that in the second state of this print a number 8 is added to the bottom right corner.
This print will be sold with a later impression on wove paper which, curiously, also does not have the 8 in the bottom right corner; it is conceivable that this too is a first state and that the added “8” was posthumous; more likely it was burnished out of this example. The second impression is interesting insofar as it shows the wear not found in the fine lifetime impression.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Monday, October 4th, 2010
James Ensor (1860-1949), The Gamblers (Les Jouers), etching and drypoint, 1895, signed, titled and dated, also signed verso, in pencil [also signed in the plate lower left]. References: Elesh 94, Delteil 92, Taevernier 93, only state. In excellent condition, printed on a simile Japan wove paper, the full sheet, 4 9/16 x 6 1/4, the sheet 9 1/4 x 11 1/2 inches.
A fine impression, with burr from the drypoint work particularly evident on the hand of the player at the right and visible elsewhere; with some plate tone overall, a bit stronger upper left and right.
Ensor was familiar with gambling from his exposure to the world of casinos in his seaside home of Ostend (and indeed had exhibited at the Kursaal d’Ostende in 1882-83). The eminent Ensor scholar Patrick Florizoone has pointed out the ambivalent attitude of the law toward gambling in Belgium toward the latter years of the 19th Century, and also noted that a well-known Ostend politician (Montangie) was made destitute in April 1892 as a result of a gambling scandal. Since Les Jouers is based on a drawing made in 1883, it is plausible that this is what Ensor had in mind when depicting the losing gambler at the center of this composition.
Detail
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Friday, October 1st, 2010
Hans Bol (1534-1593), engraving, 1570, engraved by Pieter van der Heyden. From the set of the Four Seasons. Reference: Hollstein 202 (first state of 2), Lebeer 78. Condition problematic: several thin spots, repaired areas, brown spot in image, other flaws, trimmed around the borderline, 9 x 11 1/4 inches.
Watermark: Gothic P
A very good impression.
When he died Pieter Bruegel the Elder had completed 2 drawings for the set of the Four Seasons; one was executed in 1565, another in 1568, undertaken by Hieronymus Cock. The publisher entrusted completion of the set to Hans Bol.
Bol’s design is closely linked to a Bruegel drawing of 1558 which was also published as an engraving by Cock: Ice Skating before the Gate of Saint George. Bol follows Breugel’s depiction of large-scale human figures as well as showing the ice and snow of the winter season. This design was one of the early prototypes of the later very popular genre of winter scenes done by Dutch artists; indeed Pieter Bruegel the Younger probably used this as a model for his 1616 series of paintings of the same subject matter, now in Bucharest.
Detail
Posted in Uncategorized |
Tuesday, September 28th, 2010
Jan van de Velde (1593-1641), Cascade, etching, 1616. References: Hollstein 264, first state (of 2), Francken and Van der Kellen 303, third state (of four). Plate number 9 from the series Landscapes: Third Part. In generally good condition apart from light stain over left half of image, printed on old laid paper with an elaborate shield watermark, with margins, 4 3/4 x 7 1/2 inches, the sheet 5 1/8 x 8 1/4 inches.
A very good impression.
A cascade flows down the hillside and under a bridge at the left; at the right a covered wagon rolls around a bend in the road. Etchings such as this were made at about the time of Rembrandt’s birth, and later served as models for some of his etchings of the Dutch landscape.
Posted in Jan Van de Velde II |
Friday, September 24th, 2010
Jan van de Velde (1593-1641), Skaters, etching, c. 1616. References: Hollstein 238, second state (of 3), Francken and Van der Kellen322, third state (of four). In good condition, affixed to a card at top by two spots of glue, trimmed on or just inside of the borderline, minor toning, 4 3/4 x 7 7/16 inches.
A very good strong impression.
An exceedingly well-dressed foursome, men in top hats, women in long coats, converse bottom right; another well dressed man attends a woman’s skates bottom center. The magnificent bare trees serve as a lush backdrop.
Detail
Posted in Jan Van de Velde II |
Thursday, September 23rd, 2010
Jan van de Velde (1593-1641), Frontispiece, from Landscapes, Third Part (1616), Reference: Francken and Van der Kellen 295, Hollstein 256, second state (of 4). In good condition, with full margins (browning toward margin edges), printed on a laid paper with a jug (?) watermark. 4 3/4 x 7 1/2, the sheet 7 1/4 x 10 inches.
A very good impression.
With the address of Claes Visscher, date (1616), and the artist’s name in elaborate seal at the top center. A peaceful scene, made at about the time of Rembrandt’s birth; it has of course been conjectured that this and like scenes served as the inspiration for several of the Rembrandt landscape etchings.
Posted in Jan Van de Velde II |
Thursday, September 23rd, 2010
Jan van de Velde (1593-1641), Marche aux Legumes, etching, c. 1614. References: Francken and Van der Kellen 283, fourth state (of 4). The frontispiece from Soixante Paysages, the second part of the series. In very good condition, overall toning, with small margins, 7 5/8 x 4 3/16 inches.
Printed on a yellowish laid paper, with a Pro Patria watermark.
Provenance: Succession Grendolf #1444, with the stamp recto (not in Lugt).
Christie’s New York, Old Master and Modern Prints, 11/16/1982
A very good impression.
In a discussion of Van de Velde’s depiction of his Pancake Woman (Clifford Ackley, Printmaking in the Age of Rembrandt, pp. 102-3) Ackley notes that Van de Velde’s engraving Pancake Woman of about 1622 was probably not after a drawing by Pieter Molijn, as argued by Haverkamp-Begemann, for Van de Velde had created a similar woman in his earlier etching Marche aux Legumes (sitting at the table); this composition was both drawn and etched by Van de Velde.
Detail
Posted in Jan Van de Velde II |
Monday, September 20th, 2010
Charles Dufresne (1876-1938), Chasseurs de Lion (The Lion Hunters), etching, aquatint and drypoint, 1921, signed in pencil lower right and numbered (40/40) lower left [also signed in the plate lower center]. Reference: Thomas Dufresne 39. In very good condition, with full margins, on an ivory/tan laid Arches paper, with a (partial) Arches watermark. 11 3/4 x 14 7/8k, the sheet 14 5/8 x 21 3/4 inches.
Published by Editions Sagot, with the blindstamp of Edmund Sagot Lugt 2254) bottom margin.
A fine rich impression, printed in a brownish/black ink, with substantial drypoint burr.
The Lion Hunters is a tour de force of printmaking. Dufresne skillfully utilizes a range of techniques including etching, drypoint, aquatint and perhaps even soft-ground etching.
Dufresne’s stunning composition in The Lion Hunters of course shows the influence of both cubism and Parisian School – after all he was born in France and studied at the Edole des Beaux Arts – but it also shows the influence of the years he spent in Africa, and his origins as part of a seafaring family. In 1910 he won the Prix de l’Afrique du Nord and then spent two years in Algeria, which stirred his interest in exoticism and lyricism.
In The Lion Hunters a bourgeois figure in a suit, lower right, appears to aim his rifle at a lion coming upon a fallen native; another hunter sits on a horse running through the center of the composition, and at the upper right a lioness looks on, ready to pounce.
Posted in Charles Dufresne |
Wednesday, September 15th, 2010
Jan van de Velde (1593-1641), Shrove Tuesday (also, Carnival), engraving, c. 1630, after Pieter Molyn (1595-1661). References: Hollstein 150, Francken and Van der Kellen 67, third state (of 3). In generally good condition but pricked as if for transfer (visible verso), slight staining generall not affecting image, with small margins, trimmed outside of the plate mark. 9 x 6 3/4 inches.
Inscription Content: Lettered in lower margin, with production details and two lines of Latin: “Ludere sic … / … venter eget.” and “J. V. Velde scul. / P. de Molyn inve.”.
A fine impression.
After about 1622 Jan van de Velde began to make dark evening or night scenes in engraving, using a tonal system adapted from that of Henrik Goudt. These prints, a few of which were based on works of the painter (and sometime etcher) Pieter Molyn (or Molijn), were forerunners of Rembrandt’s night scenes such as St. Jerome in a Dark Chamber.
Pieter Molyn was a Haarlem painter of landscapes and genre scenes. Born in London of Flemish parents, he joined the Haarlem chapter of the Guild of St. Lukes in 1616, and was a member of the guild and active in Haarlem until his death in 1661. Although others made etchings and engravings based upon his drawings and paintings, he is known to have made only four etchings personally.
Shrove Tuesday was the last day before the beginning of Lent on Ash Wednesday. The celebratory nature of the day is a counterpoint to the somber nature of the season of Lent, and is associated with a continuing carnival tradition (celebrated as Mardi Gras in various traditions). This scene is lit by a lantern held by a female figure standing outside the house at right, two children are dancing in front of the doorway from behind which another two children and their mother are looking on, and further revellers can be seen in the street at left.
Detail
Posted in Jan Van de Velde II |
Thursday, September 9th, 2010
Two Carnival Fools
Pieter Breughel (1525-1569), Suite of Two Scenes of Carnival Fools, 1642, engraved by Hendrick Hondius (c. 1579-1649). References: Bastelaer 225-226; Lebeer 94-95. Two very fine impressions of these rarely encountered prints, each on old laid paper:
– Two Carnival Fools (Bastelaer 225) [signed at lower left P.B. inv. Hh fecit 1642. Cum priv.], second state (of 2), with margins, in very good condition (with a line above the plate mark at the top, possible tear and expert paper replacement upper left outside the borderline, 5 x 6 1/4, the sheet 5 1/2 x 6 3/4 inches. With the B.6 lower left margin as noted by Lebeer for state 2.
– Three Carnival Fools Playing with Sceptres (Bastelaer 226) [signed at the lower left Pet. Breug. inv. Hhondius fecit; in the center C: privil, dated 1642 at the top, on the wall. Also in state B the number 19 lower left]. In very good condition but trimmed above the lower margin below but outside of the borderline. Possibly first state since before the number 19 as shown in Bastelaer, but possibly after the addition of the A.6 at the (now removed) lower blank margin; otherwise second state (of 2). 4 7/8 x 6 3/8 inches.
Provenance: Sotheby’s London sale of Old Master Prints, December 4, 2003. We know of only one other appearance of a set at auction in the past 20 years (Christie’s London, June 28. 1990).
Lebeer listed this set as “estampes complementaires”, prints after drawings not necessarily intended by Breughel to be engraved; he also questioned whether these prints of carnival fools were by Breughel but did not list them as rejected.
on reserve
Three Carnival Fools Playing with Sceptres
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Tuesday, September 7th, 2010
After Master of the Die (1525-1560), Three Putti Playing with an Ostrich, an anonymous reverse copy of the Master of the Die engraving after the design of Giovanni da Udine), c. 1534, cf. Bartsch 33. In very good condition, trimmed on or just inside of or outside of the borderline, 8 1/4 x 11 inches.
A very good impression.
This is a reverse copy after one of four prints based on a set of four tapestries designed by Udine and commissioned by the Pope. The four finished tapistries, known as Playing Putti, hung in the Sala di Constantino in the Vatican. Finished in 1521, they represent dreams of a Golden Age under the pontificate of Leo X.
The Playing Putti engravings were made by the Master of the Die, an unidentified member of the studio of the famed Marcantonio Raimondi in Rome. This workshop specialized in making prints in collaboration with Raphael. The engravings were sufficiently important to have been copied, in this case not with any fraudulent intent (after all, the copy is in reverse) but simply because the compositions proved so popular.
Detail
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Tuesday, September 7th, 2010
Master of the Die (c.1525-1560), Two Putti Mocking a Monkey, after Raphael (but more probably after Giovanni da Udine), c. 1534, engraving. Reference: Bartsch 34, second state (of 2) [signed with the die lower right, with the letters Rapha.VR.In. lower center, Ant lower right, and the publisher’s name Lafreri Formis lower right]. In very good condition, with a tiny repaired tear lower margin, on old laid paper with an indeterminate figure in a circle watermark, 8 1/2 x 11 1/8, the sheet 9 5/8 x 12 1/4 inches.
Provenance:
ex. Coll: Francis Leventritt
Kennedy Galleries (with their stock number a62622 verso
ex Coll: unidentified collector with initials in ink WSG (not in Lugt)
This is one of four prints after the set of four tapestries commissioned by the Pope. The four finished tapistries, known as Playing Putti, hung in the Sala di Constantino in the Vatican. Finished in 1521, they represent dreams of a Golden Age under the pontificate of Leo X.
The Master of the Die, identifiable by the small die with the initials at the lower right of his engravings, has been identified as one of several members of the studio of the famed Marcantonio Raimondi in Rome. This workshop specialized in making prints in collaboration with Raphael.
Detail
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Wednesday, August 25th, 2010
Jonas Suyderhoef (1610-1690), La Rixe (The Brawl), after Adriaen Van Ostade (1610-1685), engraving, c. 1660. [with the lettering A. Ostaden pinxit at the bottom left; J. Suyderhoef sculpsit bottom center; and Clemendt de Jonghe excudit bottom right]. Reference: Wussin 127, third state (of 5). In adequate condition but laid down on card, upper right tip repaired, a spot of paint upper left, moderate age toning, trimmed outside of plate mark, 17 3/8 x 14 5/8 inches.
A good impression of this large engraving, in the state before the de Jonghe address was taken off and the address of F. de Wit added. In the fifth state the plate passed into the hands of Basan, who removed the de Wit address.
Suyderhoef created this engraving after van Ostade’s painting in the Pinacotheque in Munich.
The brawl is lively: two peasants threaten each other with knives; a dog cowers below the table at the center; an elderly man moves to pick up a weapon at the right.
Detail
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Monday, August 23rd, 2010
David Teniers the Younger (1610-1690), Les Jouers de Boules (The Bowlers), etching, c 1660. Reference: Dutuit 38, first state (of 2). With a number of condition issues: tear through upper left corner and lower right corner restored, foxing, inked in on repaired corners, some rubbed spots, spots of red on man at right. With narrow or thread margins most of the way around, 5 3/4 x 10 inches, 146 x 254 mm.
Provenance: Sotheby’s Park Bernet New York, auction of old master prints November 3 1983, lot 462.
A fair impression, on paper with a 17th C. watermark of a fleur de lys in crowned shield.
Teniers was of course a major 17th Century Dutch painter (not to be confused with his rather less notable father, DT senior). But most of the prints found with his name are made by others after his paintings. Les Jouers is considered to have been made by the artist himself.
Detail
Detail
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Friday, August 20th, 2010
Jacques Villon (1875-1963), Yvonne D. de face (Yvonne Duchamp, Full-Face), 1913, drypoint, signed in pencil lower right, and inscribed “ep d’artiste avant ebarbage”. Reference: Ginestet and Pouillon E 281, a proof impression before steelfacing (first state, of 2, see below), in very good condition, on Arches wove paper,21 1/2 x 16 1/4, the sheet 25 1/8 by 23 3/8 inches.
A very fine rare proof impression of this cubist landmark, with the substantial drypoint burr before the drypoint was burnished and the plate was steelfaced.
This is one of the few proofs of Yvonne D. de Face that Villon created before burnishing the drypoint, adding his signature in the plate itself, and steelfacing it. Another such impression is in the Philadelphia Museum of Art. There is also an impression (at the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris) in which the bottom third of the print has yet to be completed.
After burnishing of the drypoint, addition of the signature and steelfacing an edition of 28 impressions was printed. The prints from the edition, though of course still spectacular, lack the richness and depth of the proof impressions.
Innis Howe Shoemaker (Jacques Villon and his Cubist Prints) points out that of Villon’s three monumental drypoint portraits of his sister Yvonne from 1913 the present work is the one in which he used the most radical application of pyramidal construction, which was ultimately derived from his reading of Leonardo da Vinci’s Trattoro della pittura. Here the figure and ground merge into each other; the separations are created by sets of parallel lines going in different directions, so the segments appear as volumetric planes. Shoemaker notes: “In this respect Yvonne de Face surpasses the other two portraits of Yvonne, for Villon has employed a purely graphic technique not only to achieve a clearer integration of figure and space but also to express the idea of Cubist simultaneity: ‘the concurrent and coexisting plurality of points of view organized into a plastic whole'”
Yvonne was the sister of Jacques Villon and the other two Duchamp brothers Marcel Duchamp and the sculptor Raymond Duchamp-Villon (Jacques and Raymond changed their names).
Posted in Uncategorized |
Tuesday, August 10th, 2010
Reginald Marsh (1898-1954), Merry-Go-Round, etching and engraving, 1938, signed in pencil lower right and inscribed Forty Proofs lower left, [also signed in the plate lower left and inscribed SC]. Reference: Sasowsky 179, fourth state (of 4). In good condition, with margins (a paper loss upper right corner well outside of the platemark, stains from prior hinging, notations in pencil lower margin edge). 10 x 8, the sheet 11 1/2 x 9 1/8 inches.
A very good impression, printed in black on a wove paper with a partial FRANCE watermark.
Sasowsky notes that Marsh printed 15 impressions of this state (and only one or two of the prior states), and considered only 10 of the 15 valuable. His notation “Forty Proofs” is therefore surely an expression of a hoped-for edition size, as opposed to an actual edition size. We have found this quite often the case with Marsh prints – he indicates an edition size but the actual number of impressions printed is considerably smaller.
There is an eerie, almost ominous note in this, as in several of Marsh’s merry-go-round prints. The man in dark glasses just to the right behind the girl hardly seems the type to be riding merry-go-rounds for recreation, and the woman at the left doesn’t either. The girl rides side-saddle, the better to avoid these characters just behind her. Even the girl’s horse has an expression of wariness in its eye.
There is a painting with a similar composition, but differing in many details, in the Museum of Fine Arts, Springfield, Mass.
Detail
Posted in Reginald Marsh |
Wednesday, August 4th, 2010
Adolphe-Marie Beaufrère (1876-1960)
A Douelan, etching, 1923, signed in pencil and numbered (21/50) [also initials and date in the plate]. Reference: Morane 23-07, BN Laran 175. Second state (of 2). In very good condition, printer’s crease bottom margin not near image. With the Sagot Editions, Paris stamp (Lugt 2254). 6 1/4 x 7 3/4, the sheet 8 1/4 x 9 1/2 inches.
A fine impression, with tone, on a blue/green cream laid paper.
The figures on the boat towards the right were added in the second state. The road pictured is along the river on the way to the port of Douelan.
Posted in Adolph Beaufrere |
Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010
James Abbott McNeill Whistler (1834-1903), The Kitchen, etching, 1858, a proof from the Twelve Etchings, signed in pencil by the artist lower right. Reference: Kennedy 24, second state (of 3). Glasgow 16, second state (of 3). (Glasgow notes that since they have not located any impressions of Kennedy’s described, but not seen, first state, that state might not exist.) From a 1858 printing; there was a later edition of 50 impressions printed in a third state, signed with the butterfly (the pencil butterfly dates from 1879/81). Printed in dark brown ink, chine appliqué on wove. In generally good condition, with very wide margins, the matrix excellent; the backing sheet with some rubbing lower margin, faded foxing on backing sheet, folded along the far sides toward the edges, and with extensive annotation (see below). 9 x 6 1/4, the sheet 17 x 12 3/16 inches.
An extremely fine early impression, probably a proof before the early printings of the Twelve Etchings in 1858.
The following annotation is found on the sheet, lower margin: “This proof is pronounced by M. Thibaudeau to be ‘perhaps the finest that the plate has yielded.’ (Alphonse Wyatt Thibaudeau (1840-1892) was a well-known art critic and connoisseur and, late in his career, an art dealer; he was, with Messrs Dowdeswell, publisher of Whistler’s Second Venice Set in 1886.)
Other annotations:
Lower left: “W. 19.” (The Way catalogue number)
Lower center in ink: The number “15” inside a circle
Lower center: “1st etat” (which it may be, see note above)
Lower right: “62.00”
Lower center/right, above inscription: “167.”
Verso LL of the printed image written in pencil: “WHxr” (not located in Lugt, perhaps a dealer’s notation)
The wove backing sheet is larger than ordinarily found for the early, 1858, impressions of The Kitchen, but the dimensions do correspond to those of the impression at the Hunterian Art Gallery (Glasgow).
The Kitchen was drawn during Whistler’s etching tour of the Rhineland between 14 August and 7 October 1858.
It was published in Douze eaux-fortes d’après Nature (the ‘French Set’) in 1858, and by the Fine Art Society in 1885 in an edition of 50.
$13,500
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Tuesday, July 27th, 2010
James Abbott McNeill Whistler (1834-1903), Upright Venice, 1880, etching, signed with the butterfly on the tab, and inscribed “imp” [also signed with the butterfly in the plate]. Kennedy 205, second state (of 4); one of the Second Venice Set. In flawless condition, trimmed just outside of the platemark by the artist, with the tab for the butterfly, 10 x 7 inches.
A very fine impression, printed in brown ink on lightweight laid paper, printed by the artist and wiped with plate tone overall, and a very subtle layering of additional tone on the wharf in the foreground.
After 42 impressions were printed the plate was cancelled and turned over to the Dowdeswells on January 17 1887; the plate is now in the Art Institute of Chicago.
The first state of Upright Venice included only the top part of the composition; the bottom part was added about 6 months later in the second state. The third and fourth state changes were minor, just additions to the shadows of the gondola at the bottom. Although the composition works splendidly from an aesthetic perspective, it actually depicts two very different views of Venice: at the top the view of the city at a distance with sky above and water below, and at the bottom a closer view of waterfront activity.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Friday, July 23rd, 2010
Goya – Bien Tirada Esta
Francisco Goya (1746-1828), Bien Tirada Esta (It is nicely stretched), etching, burnished aquatint and burin, 1799. Reference: Harris 52, Delteil 54; plate 17 from Los Caprichos, The First Edition (of 12). In very good condition, with margins; 8 1/2 x 6 1/8, the sheet 12 1/2 x 7 3/8 inches.
A fine impression, printed in sepia on soft but strong laid paper, as specified by Harris for the First Edition impressions. Printed in two shades of aquatint, which vary only slightly (in the later impressions the aquatint shades contrast more as the paler aquatint wears faster). The burin work at the bottom of the old lady’s skirt is visible but not overly pronounced (as is the case in the later impressions). The aquatint contrasts brilliantly with the highlights of the figures, as it should.
After the impressions of the First Edition (about 300) the Caprichos was printed posthumously in 11 additional editions, none of which are comparable in quality to the lifetime impressions.
Goya’s commentary on this print: “Oh! The bawdy old woman is no fool! She knows quite well what is wanted, and that the stockings must fit tightly.” Pierre Gassier’s French translation of this commentary (taken from the Biblioteca Nacional, Madrid translation of Goya’s commentary) played on the French word “bas” meaning stocking or low), i.e., “A prostitute pulls on her stocking (bas) to make her legs more attractive, but there’s really no place lower (plus bas) that she can fall.” Whatever the wording, the general meaning is fairly clear, as is the visual contrast between the two women.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Thursday, July 22nd, 2010
Henri Matisse (1869-1954), Danseuse Couchée (Dancer Reclining), lithograph, 1926-7, signed in pencil and numbered (17/130) lower right. Reference: Duthuit-Matisse, Matisse L’Oeuvre Grave 487. In generally good condition (evidence of prior hinge and other stains verso, unobtrusive dot or two recto), the full sheet with deckle edges, 10 7/8 x 18, the sheet 13 x 19 3/4 inches. Printed on a pale cream wove Arches paper. From Dix Danseuses, issued by Galerie d’Art Contemporain, Paris, 1927, from the edition of 130, total printing 166.
A very good impression of this iconic Matisse image.
This is one of the several images of ballet dancers that Matisse drew with the lithographic crayon in the mid 1920’s. He seemed to enjoy lithography because of the texture and richness of the medium, which would complement the sculptural qualities of the drawings he was creating at that period. In Danseuse Couchée he makes particular use of the medium in the focus on the dancer’s ballet dress – the contrasting design patterns on the bodice and skirt take on a particularly atmospheric quality in lithography.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Wednesday, July 21st, 2010
George Bellows (1882-1925), Sunday 1897 (Sunday, Going to Church), lithograph, 1921, signed in pencil lower right [also initials in the plate]. Mason 73, only state, edition 54. In very good condition, printed on chine (with the slight creasing at margin edges, tiny nicks characteristic of this very thin paper). The full sheet with wide margins, 12 1/8 x 14 7/8, the sheet 14 x 17 7/8 inches.
A fine impression.
This is a view of Bellows as a teenager center, his father to his left saluting passersby, his mother at the right, and some others all crowded into the family buggy on the way to church; the time is 1897 and the place is Bellows’ native Columbus, Ohio. This is Bellows’ only lithographic portrait of his father, who died in 1913, one of only a few portrayals of his midwestern roots; another is Sixteen East Gay Street, a neighborhood scene, and he also created a humorous composition of fraternity life in Initiation in the Frat, both 1921 lithographs.
Detail: Bellows in the center, his father at the left.
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Thursday, July 15th, 2010
Francisco Goya (1746-1828), Que Sacrificio! (What a Sacrifice!), etching, burnished aquatint and drypoint, 1799. Reference: Harris 49, Plate 14 from the First Edition of Los Caprichos (of 12); edition of about 300. In very good condition (slight thinning spots inherent in paper verso, hints of light foxing esp. verso). The full sheet with full margins, 7 7/8 x 6, the sheet 12 5/8 x 8 1/2 inches.
A fine impression, printed in sepia on a hand made, soft but strong laid paper.
In this impression one can distinguish the aquatint, which was applied in only one pale tone, from white of the paper in the old man’s head and shoulders, and the head of the girl. In the later impressions (including of course the posthumous impressions of the succeeding eleven editions) these contrasts are lost.
Goya’s commentary: “That’s how things are! The fiance is not very attractive, but he is rich, and at the cost of the freedom of an unhappy girl, the security of a hungry family is acquired. It is the way of the world.”
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Thursday, July 15th, 2010
Charles Meryon (1821-1868), La Pompe Notre Dame, etching and drypoint, 1852. References: Schneiderman 26, seventh state (of 10); Wright 15, sixth (of 9). In very good condition, with margins, 6 3/4 x 10, the sheet 7 5/8 x 10 1/2 inches.
A fine impression, printed in a dark brown ink on greenish laid verdatre paper; this state is prior to the edition printed for L’Artiste.
Provenance: Ministère de l’Intérieur, Paris, with its blindstamp lower right (cf. Lugt 1816d). Jules Niel (cf. Lugt 1944), librarian at the Ministry of the Interior was one of the first collectors of Meryon prints, and was instrumental in having the Ministry purchase sets of the Eaux-fortes sur Paris. These sets were printed on a greenish laid paper, and consisted of fine early impressions of the Paris prints.
Also: Colnaghi (with their stock number recto).
The Notre Dame pumphouse was built around 1670 and was slated for elimination by the mid-1850’s; Baron Haussmann’s plans called for finding alternative sources of water beyond the Seine. But it was not demolished until 1858, giving Meryon time to draw and etch it. The view is from water level, and tends to exaggerate the towers of Notre Dame a bit (Meryon favored their inclusion in many of his prints, and in this case they really could be seen from the vantage point of his drawing).
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Wednesday, July 14th, 2010
Adriaen Van Ostade (1610-1665), The Peasant Settling His Debt, etching, c 1646. Godefroy 42, Hollstein 42, Godefroy’s eighth state (of 12). In very good condition, with small/thread margins all around. 4 5/32 x 3 15/32; the sheet 4 1/4 x 3 17/32 inches.
Provenance: Rev. J Burleigh James, Knowbury Park, England (Lugt 1425), sale: London, April 23-30, 1877 [Sotheby’s]; Paul Davidsohn, Grunewald-Berlin (Lugt 654), sale: Leipzig, November 22-26, 1920 [C.G. Boerner]; Paul M. Robinow, Hamburg (Lugt 2237b), sale: Bern, November 7, 1946 [Gutekunst and Klipstein]; Dr. William Pelletier (not yet in Lugt), bought at Craddock & Barnard, London. November 6, 1969.
A fine impression. Pelletier described this impression (in the catalogue Adriaen Van Ostade, Etchings of Peasant Life in Holland’s Golden Age), in this way: “A flawless impression in black ink on ivory, laid paper, printed with tone and inky plate edges. In this state, there are new strokes in the shadow below the chimney,and the line above the woman’s belt is strengthened and forked. Godefroy described this state as ‘tres rare’. ” (Indeed, this is the earliest state of this print that Pelletier, who had a very comprehensive Van Ostade collection, owned. ) After state 8 the plate is re-worked and gives heavy, dull impressions; the posthumous Picart edition was taken from state 10.
The Peasant Settling His Debt is famed as a small gem, an etching which successfully addresses the difficult problem of portraying daylight suffused through a window.
Detail
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Wednesday, July 14th, 2010
Camille Pissarro (1830-1903), Prarie de Bazincourt, drypoint and aquatint, 1888, signed, titled, and inscribed “4e etat def no. 6”. Reference: Delteil 79, fourth state (of 4). In very good condition (with the drying holes and associated nicks all around at margin edges, slight mat toning), the full sheet, 3 1/4 x 4 5/8, the sheet 7 x 8 3/4 inches.
A fine impression, delicately printed in a sepia/brown ink on cream laid paper.
Lifetime impressions of Prarie de Bazincourt are rare; only one proof of the first state is known (in which there were only 2 cows, and before aquatint); only one of the second state (with aquatint and 2 cows added); 2 or 3 of the third state (with the aquatint reduced); and 8 to 10 impressions of the fourth state, with a few lines added next to the willow tree at the right, and other lines on the ground toward the left. (There was an edition of 18, stamped and numbered, printed posthumously; these of course are mere ghosts of the lifetime impressions.)
In 1884 Pissarro moved his family to Eragny, a small village about 80 Km northwest of Paris. From the back of his house he had a fine view across a meadow to the neighboring village of Bazincourt – this is that view. He may have worked on this etching plate outdoors, from a point in the field outside of the house; a painting (Vue of Bazincourt) in the Brooklyn Museum done the next year, in 1889, shows the same view but with a larger field.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Wednesday, July 14th, 2010
Felix Buhot (1847-1898), Westminster Palace, etching, drypoint, roulette, 1884, signed in pencil and extensively annotated. Bourcard/Goodfriend 155, Bourcard’s third state (of 5); Goodfriend’s fourth state (of 7). In very good condition (minor thinning in spots verso), printed on a heavy cream/greenish wove paper with margins; 11 1/2 x 15 1/4, the sheet 13 1/2 x 17 1/4 inches.
Provenance: Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Edward Flower
A fine impression, printed in a brownish/black ink with plate tone.
The extensive pencil annotation by Buhot includes: upper left margin, the words “Le Palais de Westminster;” upper center Buhot has drawn in pencil his owl, similar to his red stamp (Lugt 977); upper right several indistinguishable words ending with the word “Londres”; bottom left “Tire a 25 epreuves”; bottom center “ep. no. 10 – FB”, bottom center just below the last note: another drawing of a small owl; bottom right “epreuve d’artiste” and then signed in full.
This state is before Buhot reduced the plate slightly, extensively re-worked the plate by adding shadowing and blackening figures, and added the words “Westminster Palace London” to the print.
Westminster Palace is of course one of Buhot’s most complex and successful compositions.
Detail
Detail
Detail
Posted in Felix Buhot |
Wednesday, July 14th, 2010
Felix Buhot (1847-1898), Westminster Bridge, etching and drypoint, signed in pencil and inscribed as first state by the artist (1re etat), first state (of 6)(Bourcard/Goodfriend 156). On Japan paper. In very good condition, some very pale foxmarks, pale mat staining, with small margins, 11 5/8 x 15 3/4 inches, the sheet 12 3/4 x 16 3/4 inches.
A very fine impression of this very rare early state (still without any indication of the locomotive in the bottom left remarque, near the tunnel). In this early impression, created before the plate started to show wear, the etching and drypoint lines are quite vivid and delicate.
Provenance: Sold to present owner at Christie’s New York Sale 11/20/89.
Westminster Bridge is one of Buhot’s great masterpieces, created about 12 years after he began printmaking. No one (save, perhaps Degas) used such a range of complex printing techniques as Buhot.
In this first state impression of Westminster Bridge one can see both the finished design, and the beginnings of sketches – particularly in the remarques outside of the central borderline – which were to become further defined in the later states. For example, the outlines of the wooden staircase leading to the Thames are evident at the right. At the top, buildings of Parliament along the Thames are clear, as is the coupole of St. Paul’s; a ship is sketched in at the left. In the main body of the work the carriages are drawn in a rich drypoint with substantial burr, as are the buildings and Big Ben; several people walking near the foreground are only sketched in lightly at this stage.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Wednesday, July 14th, 2010
Felix Buhot (1847-1898), Westminster Bridge (or Westminster Clock Tower), c. 1882, etching, drypoint, roulette, burnishing; with the Buhot red monogram stamp (Lugt 977) bottom margin. Reference: Bourcard/Goodfriend 156, Bourcard’s 5th or 6th state (of 6); Goodfriend’s 6th or 7th state (of 8). In very good condition, slight signs of light toning or prior hinging, the full sheet with full margins; 11 1/8 x 15 5/8, the sheet 14 1/4 x 19 1/4 inches.
Provenance:
Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Edward Flower
Collection of Alfred Barrion (with his stamp lower right corner recto, Lugt 76). G. Alfred Barrion (1842-1903) was a noted collector, of whose collection Bourcard wrote: “Ici toutes les épreuves sont de qualité absolument exceptionnelle, chose rare à rencontrer en province.”
A fine impression, printed in brownish/black ink on a greenish laid paper with a Fleur-de-Lys watermark.
This is of course one of Buhot’s great tour de force works, an extremely complex rendering of the entrance to the Westminster Bridge, with the view of the Westminster Clocktower in the distance. Surrounding the central composition are a walkway over the Thames at the right; a view of the Thames, St. Paul and various ships at night in full moon at the top; a dome and a man in silhouette carrying a torch, sketched in lightly at the left; and people walking toward a train station, an owl carrying a lantern, at the bottom margin. But the central composition, with a myriad of people and carriages (with their backs toward the viewer) remains the strong focus of the composition, one of Buhot’s most successful. In this impression the plate has been wiped only lightly, leaving a layering of plate tone.
Detail
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Tuesday, July 13th, 2010
Martin Lewis (1881-1962), Veterans, 1935, Crayon Lithograph with Tushe. McCarron 113. Edition 8. Signed in pencil. Initialed in the stone, lower right. Inscribed For Elizabeth, in the bottom left margin.
Image size 9 13/16 x 13 7/16 inches (249 x 341 mm); sheet size 13 3/4 x 17 1/2 inches (349 x 445 mm).
A fine impression, on cream wove paper, with wide margins (1 7/8 to 2 1/4 inches), in excellent condition.
Veterans is rare; McCarron was aware of only 8 impressions printed, including a trial proof, which were delivered to Kennedy Galleries in 1935. In 1959 Lewis noted, in a letter to his daughter in law Patricia Lewis in response to a woman’s asking for an impression: “If by chance I should find another print among those I have I will let you know. But I have no record of one and I do know that I had not printed more than one or two, at most many years ago and more than likely only one.” Veterans was Lewis’s first known lithograph.
This impression is inscribed to Elizabeth; most probably this is Elizabeth Ray Lewis, a well known (at the time) Washington D.C. artist.
Collections: CU, DIA, NYPL.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Tuesday, July 13th, 2010
Lyonel Feininger (1871-1956), Dreimastiges Schiff mit Stern (Three-Masted Ship with Star), woodcut, c. 1928, Prasse W263, no edition made, only state. Signed in pencil and numbered 2806 (the artist’s inventory number) in the artist’s hand, beneath the signature. Signed with the artist’s emblem in pencil, bottom left sheet corner [also estate stamped and numbered W 823 in pencil, in the lower right sheet corner[.
Image size 2 3/8 x 2 1/2 inches (60 x 64 mm); sheet size 5 3/8 x 6 1/2 inches (143 x 165 mm).
A fine, black impression of this very rare woodcut, on oatmeal-tan carbon-copy paper, with full margins (1 to 2 inches). The paper lightly sun-bleached within the original mat opening; otherwise in excellent condition.
This is one of only four known proofs.
Collection: Pasadena
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Tuesday, July 13th, 2010
Lyonel Feininger (1871-1956), Angler und Schiffe (Anglers and Ships), woodcut, 1916, Prasse W135, second state (of 2), edition 30 (1941), one of only several proofs before the published edition. Signed and dated in pencil. Signed with the artist’s emblem in pencil, bottom left sheet corner.
Image size 3 1/4 x 4 1/2 inches (83 x 114 mm); sheet size 5 1/2 x 8 1/2 inches (140 x 216 mm).
A fine, black rare proof impression, on oatmeal-tan carbon-copy paper, with full margins (3/4 to 2 1/4 inches). The paper lightly sun-bleached within the original mat opening; a small loss in the top right sheet corner well away from the image (see illustration); otherwise in excellent condition.
Only one proof is known of a first state impression, on carbon-copy paper; the composition was not changed for the second state but the block was cleaned of “excess wood” (which had created a messy dotted effect) according to Prasse.
Estate stamped and numbered W 701 in pencil, in the lower right sheet corner. Published edition: No.8 of the porfolio, Ten Woodcuts by Lyonel Feininger, 1941. Used as a letterhead.
Collections: Cincinnati CiPL; Cleveland CMA (II, 1941 edition); New York MOMA (II, 1941 edition); Philadelphia PAFA (II, 1941 edition).
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Tuesday, June 29th, 2010
Reginald Marsh (1898-1954), Frozen Custard, etching, 1939, signed in pencil lower right margin [also signed and dated in the plate lower right]. Reference: Sasowsky 183, second state (of 2). From the total printing of 18 in this state (there were 2 first state proofs). In excellent condition, with margins (some rippling in bottom margin, printed by the artist and trimmed by him slightly irregularly (as was his custom), printed on cream laid paper, 7 1/8 x 9 7/8, the sheet 8 3/4 x 11 3/4 inches.
A fine fresh and crisp impression.
A painting with the same design but quite different details is in the Benton Collection.
The composition of Frozen Custard is curious. With the exception of a woman buying a custard from the man in glasses toward the left, the crowd within and surrounding the custard stand all appear to be looking toward the viewer, perhaps the artist or a photographer, or some spectacle on the Coney Island boardwalk. A child in front points to something, further suggesting that the crowd is looking at something other than the artist or a photographer. The composition is similar to Rembrandt’s Ecce Homo, except for the absence of a central figure, but this is made up for by the two woman in the booth holding frozen custards aloft, as if they were objects of worship.
Detail
Detail
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Tuesday, June 1st, 2010
The second state, before the polka dots in the dress
Jean-Emile Laboureur (1877-1943), La Porte de L’Estaminet, etching and roulette, 1925, the preliminary drawing, the etching in the second state (of 3), and the etching in the third state (of 3). Sylvain Laboureur 294; total impressions printed 85. The third state impression is inscribed “imp” lower left and numbered (54/65), also signed lower left, and titled lower in the margin. The second state impression is signed and numbered 7/7. The drawing is initialed in pencil lower right. Each impression and the drawing in good condition. Plate size for the prints: 5 7/8 x 3 3/4 inches, each with wide margins. The drawing is 6 x 3 3/4 inches (the sheet 6 5/8 x 4 5/8 inches). The second and third state impressions are on a cream wove paper, the drawing is on a yellow tracing paper.
Provenance for the second state impression and drawing: Henri Petiet Collection (initials stamp verso; this stamp not in Lugt; cf Lugt 2021a).
In La Porte de L’Estaminet Laboureur introduces a very fine roulette tint for shading around the head of the girl, around the windows, and in the tiles and spaces just behind the girl.
The drawing is a shade higher than the print; the artist draws the last letters of the word “Estaminet” nearly completely in the drawing, but cuts the tops of the letters in the print. He also shaves some of the right hand area shown in the drawing from the print.
La Porte de L’Estaminet is surely one of Laboureur’s most successful and charming small compositions.
The third state, with the polka dots in the dress.
The drawing (without the polka dots!)
Posted in Jean-Emile Laboureur |
Wednesday, May 26th, 2010
Martin Lewis (1881-1962), Spring Night, Greenwich Village– – 1930, Drypoint and Sand Ground.
McCarron 85. Edition 92. Signed in pencil. Titled in the artist’s hand, in pencil, in the bottom left sheet corner, recto. Signed in the plate, lower right.
Image size 9 7/8 x 12 3/8 inches (251 x 315 mm); sheet size 13 3/8 x 16 inches (340 x 406 mm).
A superb, richly inked, atmospheric impression, with overall velvety burr, on cream wove paper; full margins (1 3/4 to 1 7/8 inches). Glue remains from the original hinges on the top sheet edge; otherwise in excellent condition.
At the time Lewis made Spring Night, Greenwich Village he lived at 111 Bedford Street (which may be the street depicted in the print), in the Village, and was immersed in the intellectual and artistic life of the neighborhood. His exhibit at Kennedy Galleries in 1929 had been a great success, and he discontinued the commercial art work he had been doing. But of course the Great Depression changed everything; Lewis and his wife gave up their house in the Village and moved to Sandy Hook, Connecticut. He set up a short-lived printmaking school in the Village in 1934 (with Armin Landeck and the printmaker George Miller), and moved back to the Village in 1936.
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Thursday, May 20th, 2010
Jean-Emile Laboureur (1877-1943), La Fille au Litre (Grande Planche), engraving, 1921, signed in pencil lower left and inscribed “ep d’art”. Reference: Sylvain Laboureur 217, third state (of 3), the trial proof (or one of the five impressions “hors-tirage”, the edition was 65. In excellent condition, remains of prior hinging verso, printed on a cream wove paper with full margins, 8 3/8 x 7 1/8, the sheet 12 3/4 x 9 3/4 inches.
A fine impression.
Perhaps Laboureur’s most famous engraved portrait, made in his incomparable cubist manner, and a stunning example of his use of engraving within his mature cubism phase. He was apparently inspired by a photograph by Eugene Atget (Md. de vin rue Boyer 262, 1908).
$3500
Detail
Posted in Jean-Emile Laboureur |
Wednesday, May 19th, 2010
First state with extensive drawing in pencil
Jean-Emile Laboureur (1877-1943), Tea-Room Du Front Anglais, etching and engraving, 1919-1923. Reference: Sylvain Laboureur 189. Five sheets: the drawing for the print, an impression of the first state (of 2), an impression of the first state extensively drawn over in pencil in preparation for the second state, an impression of the final state, and an impression of the canceled plate.
The drawing: in pen and pencil, signed, titled and dated, with margins, 8 3/8 x 7 15/16 inches, the sheet 11 1/4 x 10 inches, on a thin tan wove tracing paper, in generally good condition, with tack holes in margins, with the Henri Petiet stamp verso (cf. Lugt 2021a). The drawing is sketched in pencil, then completed in pen.
The first state: signed in pencil and numbered; an impression with oily printing which gives many lines a stained or rusted look, on thin wove with margins, 8 7/8 x 8 3/8, the sheet 12 1/2 x 93/4 inches, ex Collection Petiet (with his stamp verso)
The first state as worked over in pencil in fantastic detail. Laboureur here draws in the extensive shadowing and linear development in preparation for the next state, giving the viewer an unusual insight into the workings of Laboureur’s printmaking genius. On Van Gelder Zonen cream wove, in good condition, with margins, 9 x 8 1/2, the sheet 12 x 11 1/4 inches.
The second and final state – a fine impression in very good condition, on cream wove paper, with full margins (8 7/8 x 8 1/4, the sheet 13 1/4 x 10 1/4; signed left and numbered lower right in pencil (3/20), from the small final edition of 20.
An impression of the canceled plate, in good condition, ex Collection Petiet (with his stamp verso)
Detail of state 1 with pencil additions
The drawing for Tea Room Du Front Anglais
Detail from the drawing of Tea-Room Du Front Anglais
Posted in Jean-Emile Laboureur |
Monday, May 17th, 2010
Seymour Haden (1818-1910), Shere Mill Pond II (Large Plate), etching and drypoint, 1860, signed in pencil lower right [also signed in the plate lower right]. Schneiderman 37, sixth state (of 9). In good condition (skillfully repaired hole in the sky upper left) with margins, on a cream/ivory laid paper, 7 x 13 1/2, the sheet 8 1/8 x 13 3/4 inches.
A very good impression, with rich burr in the reeds toward the right.
Provenance: Frederick Keppel and Co., New York, NY.
Illustrated: Guichard, British Etchers, 1850-1940; Keppel, The Golden Age of Engraving; Print Collector’s Quarterly 1 (1911): 1; Guichard, British Etchers, 1850-1940.
Keppel appended to his label the following quotation of not-so-faint praise from P.G. Hamerton, Etching and Etchers, p. 305: “With the single exception of one plate by Claude [Lorrain], this is the finest etching of a landscape subject that has ever been executed in the world.” Praise a bit too lavish to be sure, but Shere Mill Pond II was one of the early highlights of the British Etching Revival.
Detail
Posted in Seymour Haden |
Friday, May 14th, 2010
John Sloan (1871-1951), Arch Conspirators, etching, 1917. Morse 183, second state (of 2). Edition 100 (and in this rare instance, that’s how many impressions of the edition were printed). Signed, titled and annotated 100 proofs in pencil. [Signed and dated in the plate, lower left]. In excellent condition. Image size 4 1/4 x 5 7/8 inches (108 x 149 mm); sheet size 8 1/8 x 10 7/8 inches (206 x 276 mm).
A fine, rich impression, on cream wove paper, with full margins (1 5/8 to 2 5/8 inches); Printed by Ernest Roth.
“A mid-winter party on the roof of Washington Square Arch. Among those present: Marcel Duchamp, Charles Ellis (actor), John Sloan, and Gertrude Drick (poet), instigator of the affair. A document was drawn up to establish the secession of Greenwich Village from the United States…. The door of the Arch stairway has since been kept locked.” Another article about the incident, “Arch Conspirators” by Margaret Christie (New York Tribune, Dec. 30, 1923), tells essentially the same story. It quotes Sloan at length in the author’s words and reproduces the 1st state of this etching. –Morse, p. 209
$3000
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Wednesday, May 12th, 2010
Pieter Breughel the Elder (1525-1569), Temperance, engraving, c. 1560, engraved by Philips Galle, one of the Seven Virtues. References: Hollstein 138, Bastelaer 138, LeBeer 133, New Hollstein 315, first state (of 2), before the correction in the text changing the last i of the word “tenacitati” to an “e”. [Inscribed Bruegel lower right, and with the word “Temperantia on the hem of the woman’s dress, in the plate] In very good condition, a tiny rust mark upper left, trimmed at the plate mark and outside of the borderline all around, 8 3/4 x 11 3/8 inches.
A fine impression, printed in an olive/black ink on old laid paper.
Breughel’s pen and ink drawing for Temperance is in the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam.
The translation of the Latin text: “We must look to it that, in the devotion to sensual pleasures, we do not become wasteful and luxuriant, but also that we do not, because of miserly greed, live in filth an ignorance.”
In contrast to the extreme behaviors found in some of Breughel’s compositions, everyone’s activities here are quite measured, and in fact many of them are literally measuring things: men measure the height of a pillar as well as the size of the earth and the distance between stars. In the lower right rather adult looking students study the alphabet, and an orchestra and chorus play diligently at the left. Temperantia herself seems to be holding various measuring devices while balancing a clock on her head.
Detail
Detail
Detail
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Wednesday, May 12th, 2010
Auguste Brouet (1872-1941), L’Antiquaire (The Antiquarian), etching and drypoint, c. 1905, signed in pencil lower right and numbered lower left. Reference: Geffroy/Boutitie 69, first state (of 2); G/B 68, second state (of 3). In very good condition, with margins (a deckle edge on the bottom), 3 7/16 x 5 5/16, the sheet 4 1/2 x 8 1/2 inches.
A fine impression, printed on a cream laid paper.
In the initial state our antiquarian is shown inside a shop, with various antiques hanging outside the shop. In this state the plate is reduced a bit – a print container is added just outside of the entryway, and the antiques hanging at the left are burnished out. The antiquarian has changed his profession; he now focuses on prints. In the third state the plate is reduced again, and in the blank space the name and address of a publisher, Frederick Gregoire, is added.
The catalogue raisonne for Brouet listed the first state separately, as G/B 68; G/B 69, which is shown as having two states, is actually the second and third states of G/B 68.
Brouet was a highly regarded etcher at beginning of the 19th Century and thereafter; he studied with Gustave Moreau and Auguste Delatre in his early years, and later worked with Degas and Whistler. But of course it’s clear that Rembrandt etchings were central to his aesthetic approach.
Detail
Posted in Auguste Brouet |
Wednesday, May 12th, 2010
Auguste Brouet (1872-1941), L’Antiquaire (The Antiquarian), etching and drypoint, c. 1905, signed in pencil lower right and numbered lower left. Reference: Geffroy/Boutitie 69, first state (of 2); G/B 68, second state (of 3). In very good condition, with margins (a deckle edge on the bottom), 3 7/16 x 5 5/16, the sheet 4 1/2 x 8 1/2 inches.
A fine impression, printed on a cream laid paper.
In the initial state our antiquarian is shown inside a shop, with various antiques hanging outside the shop. In this state the plate is reduced a bit – a print container is added just outside of the entryway, and the antiques hanging at the left are burnished out. The antiquarian has changed his profession; he now focuses on prints. In the third state the plate is reduced again, and in the blank space the name and address of a publisher, Frederick Gregoire, is added.
The catalogue raisonne for Brouet listed the first state separately, as G/B 68; G/B 69, which is shown as having two states, is actually the second and third states of G/B 68.
Brouet was a highly regarded etcher at beginning of the 19th Century and thereafter; he studied with Gustave Moreau and Auguste Delatre in his early years, and later worked with Degas and Whistler. But of course it’s clear that Rembrandt etchings were central to his aesthetic approach.
Detail
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Monday, May 10th, 2010
Camille Pissarro (1830-1903), Effet de Pluie (Rain Effect), 1879, etching and aquatint, signed in pencil lower right and inscribed 3e etat – no 3, and titled lower left margins. Reference: Delteil 24, sixth state (of 6). In very good condition, printed on an old cream laid paper (partial initials watermark), the full sheet, 6 3/8 x 8 3/8, the sheet 9 1/2 x 12 5/8 inches.
A very fine impression, printed with a light veil of plate tone in a brownish/black ink.
Effet de Pluie in the first state evidences only shadowy, murky shapes in aquatint only; as Pissarro worked on the plate he added lines in drypoint, converting these inchoate shapes into a haystack, trees, two peasants, and a field, thus establishing the interaction between areas of light and dark. He added the oblique lines indicating rain in the fifth state, and in the sixth state added the white rain lines against the dark aquatint of the peasants.
Effet de Pluie represents a high point of impressionist printmaking, a culmination of Pissarro’s collaboration with Degas in creating various new effects through inventive techniques.
Only 8-10 proofs are known of the sixth state, and about the same number in total of the prior states.
Detail
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Monday, May 10th, 2010
Felix Buhot (1847-1898), L’Hiver a Paris ou La Neige a Paris, 1879, etching, aquatint, drypoint, roulette. [signed and dated in the plate Felix Buhot Paris 1879]. Reference: Bourcard/Goodfriend 5th state (of 9). In excellent condition, on a cream laid Van Gelder Zonen paper (with the watermark), the full sheet, 9 3/8 x 13 5/8, the sheet 14 7/8 x 19 1/4 inches.
A fine impression; a published state before additional work was done primarily involving the dogs in the foreground.
Bourcard’s description of the states for this print are clarified by Goodfriend, who describes 9 states (Bourcard had only 5). Goodfriend notes that in the fourth state the aquatint in the lower skating scene and elsewhere is solid, but in the fifth state it is streaked; it is streaked in this impression. In addition the shading lines in the buildings at the top are extended beyond the borderline in this state.
Detail
Detail
Detail
Posted in Felix Buhot |
Monday, May 10th, 2010
Felix Buhot (1847-1898), L’Hiver a Paris ou La Neige a Paris, 1879, etching, aquatint, drypoint, roulette. [signed and dated in the plate Felix Buhot Paris 1879]. Reference: Bourcard/Goodfriend 5th state (of 9). In excellent condition, on a cream laid Van Gelder Zonen paper (with the watermark), the full sheet, 9 3/8 x 13 5/8, the sheet 14 7/8 x 19 1/4 inches.
A fine impression; a published state before additional work was done primarily involving the dogs in the foreground.
Bourcard’s description of the states for this print are clarified by Goodfriend, who describes 9 states (Bourcard had only 5). Goodfriend notes that in the fourth state the aquatint in the lower skating scene and elsewhere is solid, but in the fifth state it is streaked; it is streaked in this impression. In addition the shading lines in the buildings at the top are extended beyond the borderline in this state.
Detail
Detail
Detail
Posted in Felix Buhot |
Tuesday, May 4th, 2010
James Whistler (1834-1903), Nocturne: Palaces, etching and drypoint with plate tone, 1879-80, signed with the butterfly on the tab and inscribed “imp.” Reference: Glasgow 200, Kennedy 202, seventh state (of 9). From the Twenty-Six Etchings or the Second Venice Set. In very good condition, on laid paper (trimmed by the artist to the platemark except for the tab), 11 3/4 x 7 7/8 inches.
A very fine atmospheric impression, printed in brown ink, carefully wiped to darken the water in the canal in the foreground and the sky toward the top.
In this state a row of fine lines above the roof at the left and along the border of the house and canal at the left have been burnished, thus enhancing the contrast between the roof and sky, and house and canal; the butterfly has yet to be added to the plate.
Each impression of Nocturne: Palaces is different from the others, in effect a monotype, expressing different times of night or day, temperatures, effects of light. The lamp lighting the composition from within (a device borrowed from Rembrandt and also used in his Street at Saverne of 1858) is in this impression barely visible; in other impressions it is very bright. This impression is in some ways comparable to an impression (also of the seventh state) at the Art Gallery of Ontario used as both the front and back cover illustrations for Katherine A. Lochnan’s book The Etchings of James McNeill Whistler, although of course there are still substantial differences in the wiping of the plate tone. Indeed, differences in states for this print are slight, while differences in the wiping of the plate from one impression to another are vast.
Margaret MacDonald in her classic Palaces in the Night: Whistler in Venice amplifies: “Nocturne: Palaces was a daring plate: difficult to print, relying heavily on the quality of the ephemeral drypoint lines…in the best impressions it is the inking of the plate that coordinates and unifies the widely dispersed lines of shading. The linear pattern of marks is unusual and the inking makes each print unique.”
POR
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Tuesday, May 4th, 2010
James McBey (1883-1959), Night in Ely Cathedral, etching and drypoint, 1915, signed in pen lower right and numbered lower left margins (XXXIII). Reference: Hardie 161, eighth state (of 8), from the edition of 76. In very good condition, with margins (cut irregularly at left edge), on a laid paper, 11 5/8 x 8, the sheet 13 1/4 x 9 7/8 inches.
A fine impression.
The composition of Night in Ely Cathedral appears to have been substantially completed in the first state, but McBey made successive alterations with burnishing, drypoint work, sharpening and clarifying certain elements such as the figure of the sacristan at the left, and the light from the gas jet.
Hardie describes the composition thus: The west porch of Ely Cathedral from the nave. The upper part and the whole of the west window are in deep shadow. A gas jet burns at the bottom of the pillars to the left. A sacristan, wearing a scull cap, is in the front.
Malcolm Salaman wrote that after completing the etching Isle of Ely ” McBey yielded to an entirely new and mystic inspiration, and compassed one of his most beautiful and spiritual efforts, Night in Ely Cathedral. The solemn mystery of the ancient fane by night, with the ages haunting its shadows, seems to have appealed the the depths of McBey’s nature, so that he brought his magic gifts of expression with reverend emotion to the interpretation, just as the religious builders devoted their work on the sacred edifice long, long ago. This masterly plate, with its wonder of peace, was McBey’s last before he was sent to France on war service at the beginning of 1916. “
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Monday, May 3rd, 2010
Jacques Villon (1875-1963), Les Vingt Ans Fier (The Wild Twenty Years), etching and drypoint, 1931, signed in pencil lower right and annotated “e p d’artiste 10/0 (also signed in the plate). Ginestet and Pouillon 337, third state (of 3), a proof impression outside of the edition of 50. In very good condition, slight discoloration at bottom and top margin edges, printed with full margins on a cream BFK Rives wove paper, with deckle edges, 5 7/8 x 8 3/8, the sheet 9 7/8 x 12 7/8 inches.
A fine impression.
Les Vingt Ans Fier is based on lines from a poem by Francis Vielé-Griffin (published in a volume called La Partenza, 1899), in which the author takes leave of his youth, muses on his past, moves through a period of despair and hints of future joys.
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Friday, April 30th, 2010
Jacques Villon (1875-1963), Fillette Assise Dans un Tub, etching and drypoint, 1908, signed in pencil lower right and inscribed “essai” lower left margin. Reference: Ginestet and Pouillon E 231, before the edition of 35. In excellent condition, printed in black on a heavy cream wove paper, 9 1/2 x 8, the sheet 12 3/4 x 9 7/8 inches.
A fine impression, before Villon’s name and date in the plate lower right (and thus a first state of 2). In the final state Villon darkened the etching and drypoint work in addition to adding his name and date. This impression is a more delicately rendered version of the subject, printed with a veil of plate tone.
This is from the Minne series, a group of prints made by Villon in 1907-8, portraying the young daughter of a friend in various poses. Minne’s real name was Renee, and she achieved a sort of fame four years later when Villon made his landmark cubist prints of her. In this modernist/expressionist portrait Villon explores the enigmatic character of a young girl, a subject which held much fascination for him at this early stage in his career. Villon made two other etchings of Minne in a tub, in 1907 – these were somewhat sketchier and tentative; it is also interesting that we can see that Minne has grown a bit since those earlier efforts.
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Tuesday, April 6th, 2010
Wenzel Hollar (1607-1677), Adam Elsheimer, etching after a painting of Elsheimer by Jan Meyssens, 1649, with text and signatures as described below. Reference: Pennington 1397, third state (of 6). In generally good condition, on laid paper with wide margins (browning toward margin edges, repaired tear upper right margin). 6 1/4 x 4 1/2, the sheet 10 3/8 x 6 1/2 inches.
Provenance: Collection of Mrs. George A. Martin, then to Baldwin-Wallace College, Berea, Ohio; de-acquistioned 2010.
A fine impression.
Adam Elsheimer (1578-1610) was an influential German painter, famed for some of his very small-scale studies, and for a number of major paintings such as his Tobias and the Angel, Stoning of St. Stephen (which influenced Rembrandt’s painting of the same subject), The Mocking of Ceres, and others. The engraver Hendrick Goudt’s prints after Elsheimer’s paintings brought fame to both Goudt and Elsheimer. After his death Elsheimer became very popular in England, and was a favorite of the Duke of Arundel, Hollar’s patron.
Jan Meyssens (1612-1670) was born in Belgium and spent most of his career in Holland, making paintings, prints, and publishing prints as well. He is known for a portrait of Hollar which Hollar etched himself, as well as portraits of others – portraits of painters such as that of Elsheimer appears to have been one of his specialties.
The first and second states of this print were published in 1649; the third state in 1661. In the second state corrections were made to the text below; in the third state the publisher’s address was changed and the notation W. Hollar fecit added (not by Hollar). This is a lifetime state; the fifth and sixth were posthumous.
Detail
Posted in Wenzel Hollar |
Monday, March 29th, 2010
Max Pechstein (1881-1955), Sitzander Akt (Nude Sitting), woodcut, 1918, signed in pencil lower right. Kruger H 207. In excellent condition, printed on a heavy tan wove paper with wide margins, 14 1/8 x 9 1/4, the sheet 16 1/4 x 21 1/4 inches.
A superb impression of this masterful woodcut, with strong contrasts.
Pechstein, one of the foremost German Expressionists, joined Der Brücke in 1906, and became the president of the Neue Secession in 1910. He traveled to Palau in the South Seas in 1914, but at the outbreak of WWI was interned in Japan, finding his way back to Germany only to be drafted and sent to the Western Front in 1916. He was released shortly thereafter after a nervous collapse in 1917.
Sitzander Akt, made just after Pechstein’s involvement in the War, reflects Pechstein’s long interest in “primitive” art and peoples, and may even have been made with sculpture tools he had brought back from Palau. The palm frond in the background, and the carved stool on which the nude sits – and of course the nude herself – indicate a tropical setting. Pechstein responded positively to the end of the war and the advent of the Weimar Republic – perhaps Sizander Akt is an expression, however ultimately futile, of hope in Germany’s future.
Detail
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Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010
Max Weber (1881-1961), Mother Love (Madonna and Child), color woodcut, Rubenstein 35, edition small, 1926. Signed in pencil. Annotated #3 in pencil, in the bottom left sheet corner.
Image size 4 7/8 x 2 1/8 inches (124 x 54 mm); sheet size 9 3/8 x 6 3/4 inches (238 x 171 mm)
A fine impression with good color, on tissue thin cream laid Japan, with full margins (2 to 2 1/2 inches). A repaired tear in the lower right sheet edge well away from the image, otherwise in excellent condition. Attached to the original Downtown Gallery backing board with their date stamp verso FEB 6 1929.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Friday, March 12th, 2010
James Ensor (1860-1949), Roman Victory, etching and drypoint, 1889, signed, dated and titled in pencil, countersigned in pencil verso [also signed in the plate]. References: Delteil 78, Croquez 78, Taevernier 78, Elesh 78, second state (of 2). In good condition (remains of prior hinging bottom margin recto, slight mat toning not affecting image), with margins, 6 11/16 x 9 1/16, the sheet 10 3/4 x 12 3/4 inches.
A fine impression, printed in black ink on a cream wove paper, with plate tone.
In the second state Ensor added a crowd of viewers and marchers lower left in drypoint, populated the fields in the background with a myriad of tiny marchers (including a troop on horseback and four tiny elephants), and finished the stormy sky.
The tiny windmill at the extreme right border indicates that this scene depicts Julius Caesar’s invasion and victory over Gaul in 57 B.C. Many late 19th Century artists were captivated by ancient Roman or Greek historical events; Ensor was not one of them – he regarded this obsession with disdain – and Roman Victory is one of his very rare explorations in this realm.
$4750
Detail
Detail
Posted in Uncategorized |
Thursday, March 11th, 2010
James Ensor (1860-1949), Ostend Fisherman, etching and drypoint, 1900, signed in pencil, dated lower right, titled lower left, countersigned and titled verso [also signed in the plate, and with the word Ostend]. References: Elesh 123, Taevernier 118, Delteil 118. First state (of 2). In good condition (slight toning, prior hinging verso, slight rubbing top verso, including a lovely fingerprint lower right margin edge), with full margins, 5 5/8 x 4, the sheet 10 1/4 x 9 1/4 inches.
A fine impression of this great rarity (we do not know of other impressions on the market). Printed in black on a cream/tan simile Japon paper. The impressions pictured in Elesh, Delteil, etc., are of the second state.
This first state print is delicately printed; the composition is complete but in the second state the print is reworked rather heavily to produce a darker image.
Ensor was interested in the fishermen of Ostende from an early age. This etching is surely based on a charcoal drawing Ensor made in the early 1880’s; another version was also made by his friend Willy Finch (Tournai, Musee des Beaux Arts). This etching shows a fisherman posing in Ensor’s studio, far from the natural environment which would have been the subject for most other artists. The style is of course close to that of many of Rembrandt’s etching portraits which Ensor studied and copied in his early years.
$3500
Posted in Uncategorized |
Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010
Francisco Goya (1746-1828) , Todos Caeran (All Will Fall), etching and burnished aquatint, 1799. Reference: Harris 54, Delteil 56. Plate 19 from the First Edition (of 12); the first edition size was approximately 300. The matrix in excellent condition, defects outside image (with the binding holes left, reinforced plate mark, repaired tears around edges, fold top corner).The full sheet, 8 1/2 x 5 3/4, the sheet 11 3/4 x 8 inches.
A fine impression, printed in sepia ink on a fine quality, soft but strong laid paper. In this impression the fine grain aquatint contrasts vividly with the highlights on the bird woman standing in the tree, the upper part of the praying woman at the left, and the sky behind the figures at the right, as indicated by Harris as characteristics of the fine impressions of the First Edition; in the subsequent (posthumous) editions the aquatint softens and breaks up, and the fine burnishing effects in the bird upper left disappear.
This plate refers to the bird hunting practice common in Goya’s time, but still employed in recent times, of setting up a wired bird anti-decoy or frightener in a tree which hunters could get to flap its wings. Smaller birds would fly below it, and would dive and scatter when the decoy fluttered. These smaller birds would then be caught in netting or twigs set up by the hunters.
In Goya’s print the bird at the top of the tree is a decoy, and is attracted by other birds. Commentators have noted this bird’s resemblance to the Dutchess of Alba, and the bird just behind it to Goya’s own self portrait (now in the Met in NY). An early text (the Ayala text) notes “soldiers, commoners, and monks, fly around a lady who is half-hen; they all fall, and the women hold them down by the wings, make them throw up and pull out their guts.” This is what’s happening at the bottom of the composition: two women (identified as prostitutes) work on a captured male bird – the bird is already plucked by one while the other pushes a rod into the bird’s anus; an older woman at the left prays. This illustrates the common fate of all those deluded by love: all must fall.
Goya’s commentary on this print: “And those who are about to fall will not take warning from the example of those who have fallen! But nothing can be done about it: all will fall.”
Detail
Detail
Posted in Uncategorized |
Friday, February 26th, 2010
L'Arrivee du Poisson (Arrival of the Fishes), L. 706
Jean-Emile Laboureur (1877-1943), Quatre Images Bretonnes, album of 4 woodcuts, 1912-14, signed on the justification page and numbered 18. Reference: Sylvain Laboureur 681, 695, 698, 706; second states (of 2), from the edition of 130 on Arches paper (there were an additional 10 issued on Japan, and L. 681, 695, and 698 were also issued in editions of 35-40 prior to the album). Including: the Title Page; justification page, index page, and the four woodcuts. In generally good condition, a nick on the cover edge, browning toward paper edges. The full sheets, printed in black on a wove Arches paper, the full sheets 22 1/4 x 19 1/2 inches.
Very good impressions of these early cubist works.
The album includes these woodcuts: Les Matelots (L. 681), 1912, 13 3/4 x 13 3/4 inches; Le Calvaire Breton (L. 695), 1913, 14 1/2 x 11 5/8 inches; La Rentree au Port (L. 698), 1913, 9 3/4 x 14 inches; L’Arrivee du Poisson (L. 706), 1914, 11 5/8 x 11 5/8 inches.
These works were done in the years 1912-1914, and so were separated chronologically in the Loyer catalogue of Laboureur’s graphic work; they were regrouped as a set for the Sylvain Laboureur catalogue.
The album is of substantial interest insofar as it documents a turning point in the influence of cubism on Laboureur’s work: in the earlier works (L. 681, 695) one sees the modernist imagery which Laboureur had begun to employ by this time, and in the only slightly later works (L. 698 of 1913 and L. 706 of 1914) one can see the blossoming of Laboureur’s personalized cubism. Indeed, La Rentree au Port, shown at the Salon d’Automne in 1913, was widely commented on by contemporary critics as influenced by cubism, while retaining the personal idiosyncracies that Laboureur was known for; the last woodcut (L. 706) is also a quite successful interpretation of cubism, again very different in means and manner from the first two cuts.
$850 the set of 4
Le Calvaire Breton (L. 693)
La Rentree au Port (L. 698)
Les Matelots Ivres (The Drunken Sailors) (L. 681)
Posted in Uncategorized |
Monday, February 15th, 2010
John Sloan (American 1871 – 1954), Fashions of the Past, etching and aquatint, 1926, signed and titled by the artist in pencil (Morse 224 IV/IV), also signed by the printer. From the edition of 100 (of which75 were printed, according to Morse). Annotated: Peter Platt imp (Platt was an early, and one of Sloan’s favorite, printer). In very good condition, with wide margins, with the tack holes at outer margins for drying, as usual for impressions printed by Peter Platt; on wove paper, conservation matted. 7 7/8 x 9 3/4 inches, the sheet 12 1/2 x 14 1/2 inches.
A fine fresh impression of this evocative image.
The Fashions of the Past are evident both in the store window, and on the passing crowd. Sloan’s comment on this print: “A well-arranged shop window and the contrasting costumes of the passers-by, whose dress of the time will in turn become costumes of the past.” On one proof Sloan wrote the name of the store: Lord and Taylor.
Posted in John Sloan |
Monday, February 15th, 2010
John Sloan (1871-1954), The Green Hour (or Angna Enters in “The Green Hour”), etching, 1930, signed in pencil lower right, inscribed “100 proofs” lower left [with the signature and date lower right, title lower left in the plate]. Reference: Morse 245, second state (of 2), of 90 printed. In very good condition, the full sheet with deckle edges, 5 x 4, the sheet 12 1/2 x 9 3/4 inches. Printed on a cream wove paper by Peter Platt, with his characteristic drying holes around the edges.
A superb impression.
Peter Platt was one of Sloan’s favorite printers. He printed 25 impressions of The Green Hour.
Angna Enters (1897-1989) was a mime, dancer, artist, dramatist, composer and theatrical designer, and a Sloan colleague and possibly former student, since she studied at the Art Students League in New York after 1919 (Sloan taught there from about 1914 to 1924). He wrote: “I have made several etchings produced under the inspiration of the creative genius of Angna Enters. This one has given me great satisfaction.”
Detail
Posted in John Sloan |
Monday, February 15th, 2010
John Sloan (1871-1954), The Green Hour (or Angna Enters in “The Green Hour”), etching, 1930, signed in pencil lower right, inscribed “100 proofs” lower left [with the signature and date lower right, title lower left in the plate]. Reference: Morse 245, second state (of 2), of 90 printed. In very good condition, the full sheet with deckle edges, 5 x 4, the sheet 12 1/2 x 9 3/4 inches. Printed on a cream wove paper by Peter Platt, with his characteristic drying holes around the edges.
A superb impression.
Peter Platt was one of Sloan’s favorite printers. He printed 25 impressions of The Green Hour.
Angna Enters (1897-1989) was a mime, dancer, artist, dramatist, composer and theatrical designer, and a Sloan colleague and possibly former student, since she studied at the Art Students League in New York after 1919 (Sloan taught there from about 1914 to 1924). He wrote: “I have made several etchings produced under the inspiration of the creative genius of Angna Enters. This one has given me great satisfaction.”
$1400
Detail
Posted in John Sloan |
Wednesday, February 10th, 2010
Le Gramophone: the woodcut
Jean-Emile Laboureur (1877-1943), Le Gramophone, 1918-21, woodcut – both the woodblock and a print from the block. The print is signed in pencil lower left, and numbered lower right (24/45) [also initialed in the block lower right]. Reference: Sylvain Laboureur 712, only state, total printing of 45 impressions. Both in excellent condition; the print on a cream wove paper, a nick at left edge, some handling folds in margins; the full sheet with deckle edges, both the print and block are 9 3/4 x 8 1/2, the sheet 17 1/2 x 11 3/4 inches. The block is about 3/4 inch thick.
Provenance: the block: Henri Petiet (with his stamp verso, Lugt supplement 2021a)
A fine impression of both the print and block. The latter is black, as inked, with a white/chalk surface where the block was cut.
Though Laboureur worked on this block starting in 1918, according to his notes, he finished it in 1921, and took impressions in 1922. But the notion of using the gramophone (a prequel to the record player, which came before all sorts of current devices for playing music) as the basis for compositions came as early as 1916, when he created an engraving (L. 156) with a similar composition as a frontispiece for X-M Boulestin’s Aspects Sentimentale du Front Anglais (and of course this is WWI, soldiers playing records, drinking). In this volume Boulestin wrote: “Ah! Le precieux instant d’ardeur sentimentale! Jamais, jamais nous n’avions tant aime la vie! Mais quand se tait le magique gramophone, on tousse, on se secoue et on se verse un autre whisky-and-soda. L’emotion s’est enfuie”
Le Gramophone: the wood block
Posted in Jean-Emile Laboureur |
Monday, February 8th, 2010
Léopold Survage (Moscow 1879 – 1968 Paris, Notre Champ D’Action Est Limite – 1946, wood engraving, signed and dated lower right [also initialed LS in the block, lower right], numbered lower left, on cream wove paper with a ram’s head watermark, with wide margins, 7 1/2 x 6, the sheet 11 x 8 3/4 inches. In excellent condition.With the blindstamp LE LIVRE ET SES AMIS lower right sheet. From the presumed edition of 100.
A fine clear impression.
This remarkable work, influenced by cubism and futurism, is ablaze with imagery which is, perhaps, exemplifying the title of the piece – Notre Champ D’Action Est Limite (Our Field of Action is Limited) – which is actually carved into the block at the left.
Survage was influenced by many figures in the European Modernist movement, from Cezanne to Picasso; starting in Russia, and then moving to Paris (where he studied with Matisse, later roomed with Modigliani). He moved on to become a famed muralist, painter, set designer, and film maker.
Detail
Posted in Uncategorized |
Monday, February 8th, 2010
Léopold Survage (Moscow 1879 – 1968 Paris, Notre Champ D’Action Est Limite – 1946, wood engraving, signed and dated lower right [also initialed LS in the block, lower right], numbered lower left, on cream wove paper with a ram’s head watermark, with wide margins, 7 1/2 x 6, the sheet 11 x 8 3/4 inches. In excellent condition.With the blindstamp LE LIVRE ET SES AMIS lower right sheet. From the presumed edition of 100.
A fine clear impression.
This remarkable work, influenced by cubism and futurism, is ablaze with imagery which is, perhaps, exemplifying the title of the piece – Notre Champ D’Action Est Limite (Our Field of Action is Limited) – which is actually carved into the block at the left.
Survage was influenced by many figures in the European Modernist movement, from Cezanne to Picasso; starting in Russia, and then moving to Paris (where he studied with Matisse, later roomed with Modigliani). He moved on to become a famed muralist, painter, set designer, and film maker.
Detail
Posted in Uncategorized |
Thursday, January 28th, 2010
James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903), Limehouse, etching, 1859. References: Glasgow 48, fifth state (of 6), Kennedy 40, third state (of 3), signed with the butterfly in pencil in the lower margin. [Also signed and dated in the plate.]With margins, 5 x 7 7/8 inches, the sheet 6 1/2 x 9 1/2 inches. Published as no. 12 in A Series of Sixteen Etchings of Scenes on the Thames and Other Subjects, otherwise known as the Thames Set. In good condition apart from a soft diagonal fold in the sky.
A very fine impression, in black ink on a thin Japan paper.
Provenance: Dr. John W. Randall (cf. Lugt 2130), without his mark, annotated on the mat.
Limehouse, the entrance to the West Indies Docks, lies opposite the Surrey Commercial Docks in Rotherhithe, along the lower Thames.
It’s unusual to find the signed butterfly (or any pencil signature) on the early London etchings, but it is known that Whistler signed a few some years after they were done, after the time he started using the butterfly signature. This butterfly dates from 1889-90 (cf. description of this impression, Glasgow catalogue).
Posted in James Whistler |
Thursday, January 28th, 2010
Camille Pissarro (1830-1903), Rue de Géricault à Rouen, lithograph, 1896, signed in blue pencil lower right margin, titled center, and inscribed “Ep defi No 11” left [also signed in the plate in reverse]. Reference: Delteil 173, only state, from the group of about 21 impressions, a few of which were not signed. There were no posthumous impressions, and the cancelled plate is in the Bibliotheque Nationale. In good condition apart from spots of staining or foxing in margins, with margins, 7 1/4 x 5 1/2, the sheet 12 7/8 x 9 3/4 inches.
A fine impression, printed on green-Ingres paper affixed to a white wove.
Pissarro also made an etching of this section of Rue de Géricault (Delteil 120); the view is generally similar to the lithograph but is perhaps more realistic, less atmospheric than the lithographic version.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Thursday, January 28th, 2010
Jacques Callot (1592-1635), La Petite Passion (The Small Passion), etchings, 1694, the complete set of 12. References: Lieure 537-548, Meaume 19-33. First states (of two and three), L. 542 second state (of 3). In generally good condition, on old laid paper, with narrow margins or trimmed on the platemark, slight thin spots, occasional soiling, prior hinging verso, L. 547 tiny loss lower right edge. 3 1/4 x 2 3/8 inches.
A very fine crisp early set, all before numbers, all first states except L542 (the first state of which is exceedingly rare).
Provenance: Sotheby’s New York, Sale of Old Master Prints, 11/14/81
Lieure quotes Mariette saying that “these twelve small prints are among the most beautiful things that Callot drew after returning from Italy.” Bouchot, who referred to this series as remarkable, wrote that “one could hardly believe that in the space of seven centimeters high and five wide the artist had been able to develop his conception so completely, while missing nothing.”
These compositions are unframed by borders; Callot frames the action by architectural or natural devices, giving the central figures strength through a heightened line, and giving the composition depth by depicting figures and buildings in a lighter context behind the action. Astonishingly, each of these compositions would “work” superbly in a much larger format.
The Flagellation
The Presentation to the People
The Crown of Thorns
Posted in Uncategorized |
Monday, January 25th, 2010
Georg Pencz (1500-50) engraving, c. 1540, Abraham and Sarah (Sarah Presenting Hagar to Abraham). Reference: Bartsch 1, Landau 1, only state. [titled Sarah/Abraham and initialed in the plate with the interweaving PG]. In good condition, slight time discoloration (graphite verso), with thread margins, 50 x 85 mm, 2 x 2 3/8 inches.
Provenance: unidentified collector’s stamp verso
A very good impression with strong details.
Pencz was one of the German Little Masters, the Northern Renaissance engravers known for their small scale engravings.
In this engraving, the first of five Pencz made of the story of Abraham, we see his wife Sarah, unable at that point to have children, introducing Abraham to her maid Hagar, an Egyptian, who Sarah suggested might bear Abraham a child (Genesis 16). This is obviously a moving moment – Abraham and Sarah look at each other, while Sarah has her arms on the shoulders of both of them.
Posted in Georg Pencz |
Friday, January 15th, 2010
Hans Burgkmair (1459-1519), The Old White King on the Journey to His Bride, painted woodcut, 1514-16. Reference: Bartsch 80-(224) 6, from the History of Emperor Maximilian I. In excellent condition, on old laid paper, 8 3/4 x 7 1/2 inches.
A brilliantly colored impression, with the colors vibrant and fresh.
The History of the Weisskunig (White King) is an autobiography in the style of an illustrated novel without words. Although it is the story of Emperor Maximilian I all the characters have symbolic names. The White King is the name Maximilian chose for himself, as it both stands for whiteness (purity) and is associated with the word for wisdom (Weisheit).
Hans Burgkmair, the eminent Augsburg painter and printmaker who was in effect Maximilian’s official court artist, was instrumental in the development of the chiaroscuro print, and Landau and Parshall argue that he was in fact the inventor of the tone block (cf. The Renaissance Print, David Landau & Peter Parshall, Yale, 1996). Of course the present print was printed (most likely by his key collaborator Jost de Negher) in black and white, and then painted; despite the development of colored printmaking, very early woodcuts such as those of Burgkmair’s would frequently be painted contemporaneously as well as later (and David Landau has confirmed that the coloring of this print is contemporary).
Relatively few painted old master prints have survived and are seen today either in museum exhibits or in collections, and it perhaps their rarity which has made them a bit of an enigma to those in the art world. The superb exhibit of painted prints and its accompanying volume (Painted Prints: The Revelation of Color, Susan Dackerman, Baltimore, 2003) has served to undergird the centrality and value – both historical and aesthetic – of the old master painted print.
This is one of a bound group of old master prints, including other woodcuts by Burgkmair, Hans Weiditz, Hans Schaufelein and others. Many of these prints have the mark of the eminent collector Karl Edward von Liphart (Lugt 1651) verso. We are currently doing research on the collection so it is not on the market as yet.
Posted in Hans Burgkmair |
Friday, January 15th, 2010
Hans Burgkmair (1459-1519), Council of the Swiss and Swabian War, painted woodcut, 1514-16. Reference: Bartsch 80-(224) 162, from the History of Emperor Maximilian I. In excellent condition, on old laid paper, 8 3/4 x 7 5/8 inches.
A fine impression, with the colors vibrant and fresh.
The History of the Weisskunig (White King) is an autobiography in the style of an illustrated novel without words. Although it is the story of Emperor Maximilian I all the characters have symbolic names. The White King is the name Maximilian chose for himself, as it both stands for whiteness (purity) and is associated with the word for wisdom (Weisheit).
Hans Burgkmair, the eminent Augsburg painter and printmaker who was in effect Maximilian’s official court artist, was instrumental in the development of the chiaroscuro print, and Landau and Parshall argue that he was in fact the inventor of the tone block (cf. The Renaissance Print, David Landau & Peter Parshall, Yale, 1996). Of course the present print was printed (most likely by his key collaborator Jost de Negher) in black and white, and then painted; despite the development of colored printmaking, very early woodcuts such as those of Burgkmair’s would frequently be painted contemporaneously as well as later (and David Landau has confirmed that the coloring of this print is contemporary).
Relatively few painted old master prints have survived and are seen today either in museum exhibits or in collections, and it perhaps their rarity which has made them a bit of an enigma to those in the art world. The superb exhibit of painted prints and its accompanying volume (Painted Prints: The Revelation of Color, Susan Dackerman, Baltimore, 2003) has served to undergird the centrality and value – both historical and aesthetic – of the old master painted print.
This is one of a bound group of old master prints, including other woodcuts by Burgkmair, Hans Weiditz, Hans Schaufelein and others. Many of these prints have the mark of the eminent collector Karl Edward von Liphart (Lugt 1651) verso. We are currently doing research on the collection so it is not on the market as yet.
Posted in Hans Burgkmair |
Friday, January 8th, 2010
Hendrik Bary (1640-1707), Old Woman Emptying Pot Throught the Window, etching and engraving, after the Frans van Mieris (1635-1681)painting “Goore Besje” (Sleazy Bess), c. 1670. Reference: Hollstein 10, fourth state (of 5); Wurzbach 6, third state (of 4), after the addition of the inscription J. Tangenas exc. In very good condition, on old laid paper with a Foolscap watermark, small margins, 10 1/8 x 7 1/2 inches.
A very good impression.
Simon Schama’s discussion of Dutch paintings such as this one in his Embarrassment of Riches is on point; he notes: “To judge from their art there were no wrinkles quite like Dutch wrinkles.” Of this print specifically he notes: “Frans van Mieris’s “Sleazy Bess” is despicable because, her honor lost, she throws her own filth on “respectable heads.” But her vileness is so visibly written in her “wrinkled hide” that the legend below the print orders her “away from our sight.”
Detail
Posted in Hendrick Bary |
Thursday, January 7th, 2010
Jean- Louis Forain (1852-1931), Similitudes, etching and drypoint, not signed [signed in the plate upper right], 1880, from the total edition of 545, on wove paper, in generally good condition (slight toning), the frontispiece for J.K. Huysman’s Croquis Parisiens, published by Henri Vaton, 5 5/8 x 3 3/4, the sheet 11 1/4 x 9 1/8 inches.
A fine impression.
Forain was an impressionist painter and printmaker; influenced by Daumier as well as Degas, he depicted law courts as well as lovely ladies.
Posted in Jean Louis Forain |
Thursday, January 7th, 2010
Clifford Isaac Addams (1876-1942), Soho Alley, etching and drypoint, 1912, signed in pencil lower right and annotated “imp A” lower left [initialed A in the plate lower right and dated 1912 lower left]. In excellent condition, printed on cream wove paper with the partial watermark GM, with margins, 4 7/8 x 13, the sheet 9 x 16 3/8 inches.
A fine impression.
Addams was born in Woodbury New Jersey, near Philadelphia, and attended Drexel Institute there, won a Philadelphia Academy Cresson Traveling Scholarship, and entered Whistler’s Academy in Paris in 1899. There Whistler introduced Addams to his wife-to-be, Inez Bate; they were married in 1900, and lived in London – where he created Soho Alley – from 1905 until 1914.
In the early 1900’s London’s Soho district housed working class Italian immigrants; this series of shops is similar to many of the Whistler shop-front prints such as T.A. Nash’s Fruit Shop. The horizontal format is comparable to many Whistler prints (such as Long Venice) and pastels as well. The density of the etching work may be compared to the inking of Whistler’s Amsterdam prints.
Soho Alley was exhibited and discussed in the famous exhibit (at the Boston MFA and the Philadelphia MA) and catalogue The Stamp of Whistler.
Detail
Detail
Posted in Uncategorized |
Thursday, January 7th, 2010
Honore Daumier (1808-1879), L’Ivrogne, lithograph, 1834 [with initials in the plate]. Reference: Daumier Register 189, second state (of 2), with letters verso but before/without text. As published in Charivari. In generally good condition, trimmed rather closely and irregularly, edges browned, 10 7/8 x 8 3/4, the sheet 12 x 9 1/8 inches.
A good impression of this exceedingly rare print.
This is a Daumier print without an explanatory title, thus perhaps justifying my unabashedly quoting the various theories about the print as related by the Daumier Register: ” The title of this print might be: “The drunkard” or “Consequences of a quarrel”. There are different interpretations of this theme by various authors: Champfleury and Delteil are identifying the subject as a quarrel at the Barrière du Maine (today Place Bienvenue). Jean Laran simply finds the print “strange”, while Passeron finds some hidden political significance in it. He assumes that the missing, explanatory text had been suppressed by the censor. Provost suggests that this print shows the victim of an encounter with the police.
There exist only 3 known copies of the “sur blanc” edition. Only few prints originating from the Charivari with the text “au verso” can be found.”
- Detail
Posted in Honore Daumier |
Thursday, January 7th, 2010
Honore Daumier (1808-1879), L’Ivrogne, lithograph, 1834 [with initials in the plate]. Reference: Daumier Register 189, second state (of 2), with letters verso but before/without text. As published in Charivari. In generally good condition, trimmed rather closely and irregularly, edges browned, 10 7/8 x 8 3/4, the sheet 12 x 9 1/8 inches.
A good impression of this exceedingly rare print.
This is a Daumier print without an explanatory title, thus perhaps justifying my unabashedly quoting the various theories about the print as related by the Daumier Register: ” The title of this print might be: “The drunkard” or “Consequences of a quarrel”. There are different interpretations of this theme by various authors: Champfleury and Delteil are identifying the subject as a quarrel at the Barrière du Maine (today Place Bienvenue). Jean Laran simply finds the print “strange”, while Passeron finds some hidden political significance in it. He assumes that the missing, explanatory text had been suppressed by the censor. Provost suggests that this print shows the victim of an encounter with the police.
There exist only 3 known copies of the “sur blanc” edition. Only few prints originating from the Charivari with the text “au verso” can be found.”
$700
- Detail
Posted in Honore Daumier |
Tuesday, December 29th, 2009
Guitar Player
Jacques Callot (1592-1635), Three Gobbis, etchings, 1616. References: Lieure 416, 420, 426, second states (of 2, and thus probably posthumous, but no less whimsical for that), three from the set of 20. In generally good condition, trimmed just outside of the platemark (420 on the platemark at bottom; 420 with slight staining; each with remains of prior hinging verso), app. 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches.
Provenance: unidentified collector (tiny oval chop mark at bottom of each; letters not discernible)
Very good impressions of these comical figures.
The three figures (with loose translations) are:
Lieure 416: L’homme au gros dos orne d’une rangee de boutons (man with large back, ornamented with a range of buttons)
Lieure 420: Le jouer de luth (the lute player)
Lieure 426: Le cancal jouant de la guitar (the knock-kneed guitar player)
Note: These prints are not for sale.
The Lute Player
L’homme au gros dos
Posted in Uncategorized |
Thursday, December 24th, 2009
Asperges et Radii, engraving, state 4
Jean-Emile Laboureur (1877-1943), Asperges et Radis, engraving, 1928, impressions of each of the four states of the engraving, and the preliminary pencil drawing (in reverse, see illustration below). Each of the engravings signed and numbered, the drawing initialled and dated. Reference: Sylvain Laboureur 384, four states, about 75 impressions printed in all four states, 35 in the edition in the fourth state. 7 x 9 1/2 inches, 165 x 225 mm.
Provenance: Henri Petiet, with his initials (HMP) stamp verso (not in Lugt) states 2 and 4.
The drawing is 6 1/4 x 9 1/8 inches, in pencil, in reverse. The drawing was reproduced in the Godefroy catalogue raisonne of the Laboureur prints, page. 29.
State 1: signed in pencil and numbered 4/7, in good condition, on a green wove paper.
State: 2: signed in pencil, numbered 2/8, with lines added to the bottles, under the radishes at left, above radishes on left, and shading lines aded throughout. On cream wove paper, with the HMP stamp verso.
State 3: pencil signed, numbered 8/9, added shading behind asparagus at left, added strokes at bottom and under leaf at bottom.
State 4: signed and numbered 12/35, cream wove, with the monogram, some additional flecks of engraving on radishes, and outside shadowning; soft folds.
A fine set, all progress proofs and the drawing, for one of Laboureur’s iconic images.
$8500 set of 5
Asperges et Radi, the drawing for the engraving (in reverse)
Posted in Jean-Emile Laboureur |
Thursday, December 24th, 2009
Reginald Marsh (1898-1954), Erie R.R. Yards, etching, 1929, signed in pencil lower right and numbered lower left. Reference: Sasowsky 87, fifth state (of 6). In very good condition, printed on a cream laid paper, with margins, 9 x 12, the sheet 10 1/2 x 13 1/4 inches.
A brilliant black impression of this great rarity.
Two impressions were printed in this state.
On the size of Marsh’s lifetime editions, his famous quote explains the situation: “Since I do practically all my own printing, I do not limit the edition. The buyer limits the edition – he rarely buys, I rarely print.” Marsh also occasionally numbered his prints with large edition sizes, often suggesting an edition of 50, as in this impression (numbered 8/50). But it appears from the writing on the number that this was an afterthought, and that the number 8 corresponds to the original numbering. Sasowsky notes that Marsh printed impressions 10 through 17 of the final state, 8 and 9 of the penultimate state (this impression would be the 8), and numbers 1 through 7 in earlier states. Some of these had the number /50 added. Whatever the number printed, this print is quite rare; in fact we know of no other impressions to appear on the print market in the past 25 years.
A Marsh lithograph with the same title (Sasowsky 18) but a completely different composition was published 1928. The composition of the etching is similar to that of Eries R.R. Locos Watering (S. 155) and to a painting Locomotive Watering in the collection of Mrs. Reginald Marsh; there is also a related drawing in the Fogg Art Museum.
Detail
Posted in Uncategorized |
Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009
Arthur B. Davies (1862-1928), Ecstasy (alternate title: Leda), 1916, drypoint, signed in pencil lower right. Reference: Price 165, Czestochowski 30, third state (of 3). Edition size unknown but small. In very good condition, the full sheet, printed on a thin ivory wove paper, 2 3/4 x 4, the sheet 9 1/2 x 7 1/2 inches, archival mounting.
A very fine impression of this rare drypoint, printed in black ink with the drypoint burr extraordinarily rich.
One of the earliest of Davies’ modernistic experiments, created at a time when Davies was generally regarded as the preeminent American artist of his generation. After the Armory Show of 1913, Davies experimented with various modernist and cubist perspectives; Ecstacy is one of the earliest and most successful of these explorations.
Marsden Hartley said of Davies: Often you have the sensation of looking through a Renaissance window upon a Greek world – a world of Platonic verities in calm relation with each other.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009
Arthur B. Davies (1862-1928), Ecstasy (alternate title: Leda), 1916, drypoint, signed in pencil lower right. Reference: Price 165, Czestochowski 30, third state (of 3). Edition size unknown but small. In very good condition, the full sheet, printed on a thin ivory wove paper, 2 3/4 x 4, the sheet 9 1/2 x 7 1/2 inches, archival mounting.
A very fine impression of this rare drypoint, printed in black ink with the drypoint burr extraordinarily rich.
One of the earliest of Davies’ modernistic experiments, created at a time when Davies was generally regarded as the preeminent American artist of his generation. After the Armory Show of 1913, Davies experimented with various modernist and cubist perspectives; Ecstacy is one of the earliest and most successful of these explorations.
Marsden Hartley said of Davies: Often you have the sensation of looking through a Renaissance window upon a Greek world – a world of Platonic verities in calm relation with each other.
Posted in Arthur B. Davies |
Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009
Arthur B. Davies (1862-1928), Ecstasy (alternate title: Leda), 1916, drypoint, with the stamp and initials NMD [Niles Davies, a descendant] lower right. Reference: Price 165, Czestochowski 30, first state (of 3, but cf discussion). Edition size unknown but small. In very good condition, printed on a very thin cream wove paper, the sheet printed in the manner of chine colle, on a backing card, full sheet, printed on a thin ivory wove paper, 3 7/8 x 3 inches, the full sheet 8 x 7 1/4 inches.
This impression is about 1/8 inch wider than the later state impressions described by Czestochowski (as well as our later state impression, described in an adjoining web-site entry).
A very fine impression of the first state, with substantial burr, and painted over by Davies in brown, blue, black as a guide to further states.
One of the earliest of Davies’ modernistic experiments, created at a time when Davies was generally regarded as the preeminent American artist of his generation. After the Armory Show of 1913, Davies experimented with various modernist and cubist perspectives; Ecstacy is one of the earliest and most successful of these explorations.
Marsden Hartley said of Davies: Often you have the sensation of looking through a Renaissance window upon a Greek world – a world of Platonic verities in calm relation with each other.
Detail
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Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009
Arthur B. Davies, Up-Rising, soft ground etching and aquatint on a cream laid paper, 1919, signed in pencil lower right margin. Reference: Czestochowski 78, second state (of 3). In good condition, with margins. From a small edition, 6 x 9, the sheet 8 3/8 x 12 1/4 inches.
A fine atmospheric impression.
The first state of this print was before the aquatint; it was in soft ground etching only (the third state was printed in color by Frank Nankivell in 1924).
At this stage of his career Davies was experimenting with modernism in his printmaking; he had developed substantial expertise in sophisticated printmaking techniques (here effectively using soft ground and aquatint), and was fusing the cubism which interested him in the years after the 1912 Armory Show (he was a primary organizer of the show), with the symbolism that had led him to be regarded as America’s most distinguished artist prior to that. His printmaking continues to be one of the most interesting areas of his work.
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Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009
Arthur B. Davies (1862-1928), Resurrection (aka Flying Figures; Border of the Lake), drypoint, 1916, signed with the estate stamp lower right. Reference: Czestochowski 35, third state (of 3), with the aquatint. The total printing was unknown but small. With margins, printed on a blue/green laid paper, in good condition, 3 x 5, the sheet 5 x 8 inches.
A fine impression, with the complex aquatint layering contrasting effectively.
Aquatint was added in the second state to many areas of the plate except the figure; in the third state aquatint was added to the figure.
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Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009
Arthur B. Davies (1862-1928), Resurrection (aka Flying Figures; Border of the Lake), drypoint, 1916, signed with the estate stamp lower right. Reference: Czestochowski 35, first state (of 3), before aquatint. The total printing was unknown but small. With margins, printed on a very thin wove paper, in good condition, 3 x 5, the sheet 6 1/2 x 8 1/4 inches.
A fine proof impression, with substantial burr from the drypoint work, printed with a veil of plate tone overall.
Aquatint was added in the second state to many areas of the plate except the figure; in the third state aquatint was added to the figure.
Czestochowski notes that this print was probably number six in the October 1916 exhibit of the New York Society of Etchers.
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Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009
Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn (1606-1669), The Cavalry Fight, etching, ca. 1632. Reference: Bartsch 117 [unsigned, undated], second state (of 2), in good condition, 4 3/16 x 3 1/4 inches.
Provenance: ex. Coll Earl of Aylesford, London and Packington (Lugt 58). One of the most distinguished Rembrandt collections.
A fine clear impression of this very rare little plate. (The plate is not known to have survived Rembrandt.)
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Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009
Mary Cassatt (1844-1926), Afternoon Promenade, soft ground etching and preliminary transfer drawing, ca. 1881. Reference: Breeskin 33, second (final) state. Printed on laid paper, watermark ARCHES. Also the transfer drawing for Afternoon Promenade, pencil on thin wove paper. The etching 11 x 8 1/2, the drawing on paper 12 1/2 x 16 inches.
Provenance for the etching: Edgar Degas, Paris (Lugt 657)
Provenance for drawing and etching: Robert Hartshorne, New York (Lugt 2215b), thence by descent
The drawing is mentioned by Breeskin under no. 33.
Drawing - recto
Drawing - verso
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Monday, December 21st, 2009
Arthur B. Davies (1862-1928), Entreat (aka Nude with Uplifted Arms), mezzotint, 1927, signed in pencil lower right margin. Reference: Czestochowski 217, only state. Edition unspecified, total printing unknown but small. In good condition, printed on a cream wove paper, with margins, 6 x 4, the sheet 8 1/2 x 5 1/2 inches.
A very good impression of this rarity.
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Monday, December 21st, 2009
Arthur B. Davies (1862-1928), Fresia (aka Portrait), drypoint on zinc, 1916-17, signed in pencil lower margin. Reference: Czestochowski 37, only state, edition unspecified, total printing unknown but small. In good condition apart from a small hole to the left of the signature, slight paper rippling. 3 1/2 x 2 1/4, the sheet 7 x 4 1/8 inches.
A fine impression, printed on a very thin laid paper.
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Monday, December 21st, 2009
Arthur B. Davies (1862-1928), Torment, soft ground etching with aquatint and roulette, 1919-20, signed with the estate stamp lower right, and signed by the printer Frank A. Nankivell (and inscribed “Printer”) lower left. Reference: Czestochowski 102, fourth state (of 4). In generally good condition apart from light staining toward the top of the image, and light staining at the top margin edge, a crease in the right margin. With margins, 7 13/16 x 11 7/8, the sheet 9 3/8 x 13 5/8 inches.
A fine impression.Printed on thin laid paper with the watermark Vassier.
Czestochowski notes that this print was never published by Davies. Impressions were printed in 1929 by Nankivell, and we presume that this is one of those impressions.
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Monday, December 21st, 2009
Arthur B. Davies (1862-1928), Mirror of Illusion (aka The Mirror; Maya; Mirror No. 2), drypoint, signed with the estate stamp lower right. Reference: Czestochowski 31, first state (of 2). In generally good condition, with margins (creasing and folds in margins, browning toward edges), 6 3/8 x 8 3/8, the sheet 8 7/8 x 11 1/4 inches.
A fine proof impression of the first state, printed with a heavy plate tone. In the first state the design is made with drypoint only, and the platemaker’s name is clearly visible on the middle right margin.
The platemaker’s inscription reads: John Sellers and Sons. 151 Arundel Street, Sheffield. In the second state the name/label was obscured, and the design was expanded, including the addition of soft ground and roulette to the figures and the background.
The composition for Mirror of Illusion was first created for a painting of the same name done much earlier and exhibited in 1909. The composition reflects Davies’s interest in parallelism, or the repetition of figures. Czestochowski quotes Davies on this (p. 24): “I love clarity in a painting and this is why I love Parallelism. In many of my paintings I have chosen four or five figures in order to express this feeling because I know that impressionism is enhanced by the repetition of one and the same object.”
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Monday, December 21st, 2009
Arthur B. Davies (1862-1928), Tartessians, soft ground etching with aquatint, 1919-20, signed in pencil lower right. Reference: Czestochowski 96, second state (of 2), total printing unknown but small. In good condition, slight mat toning, printed on a cream wove paper, with margins, 4 7/8 x 3 1/4, the sheet 10 7/8 x 7 1/2 inches.
A fine impression, with the aquatint tones contrasting effectively.
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Sunday, December 20th, 2009
Arthur B. Davies (1862-1928), By the Sea (aka Idyll), soft ground etching and aquatint, 1919, signed in pencil lower right. Reference: Czestochowski 72, fourth state (of 5; see discussion below), edition about 21. In very good condition, printed in black on a green laid paper, 8 7/8 x 5 7/8, the sheet 10 1/4 x 8 inches.
A fine impression.
Davies put this complex composition through some extensive state changes, adding aquatint in the second state, grinding it down on the figures in the third state while adding some tint in the third and fourth state. This impression may represent a state later than the fourth since it appears to have aquatint in the sky to the left of the large figure, and slighter aquatint in the sky to the right, which does not clearly appear in C’s illustration of the fourth state. It is in this fourth state that the “branchlike mass of coarse grain” is added about the head of the central figure – this addition balances the composition but does not appear to correspond to any structure found or visible in nature, although it does appear natural enough in aesthetic terms.
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Sunday, December 20th, 2009
Arthur B. Davies (1862-1928), Round of Summer (aka Four Figures), soft ground etching, 1919, signed in pencil lower right. Reference: Czestochowski 91, first state (of 3), trial proofs only in this state. With margins, extensive wrinkling, tape on margins verso (showing through at top margin), soiling (mostly in margins), printed on light wove paper, 7 7/8 x 5 7/8, the sheet 11 x 7 3/8 inches.
A good impression; the rough condition indicates that this is a trial proof.
In later states aquatint was added to cover the figures, foreground, and the tree upper middle; this state is interesting for its playful sketchlike quality.
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Sunday, December 20th, 2009
Arthur B. Davies (1862-1928), Afternoon, transfer lithograph, 1920, signed in pencil lower left. Reference: Czestochowski 188, only state, from the edition of 25 (another 300 unsigned proofs cut down to the image were distributed by Weyhe Gallery as gallery souvenirs); one of a set of eight lithographs, in generally good condition, some light fox spots mostly verso, the slightest toning, the full sheet, printed on a stiff cream wove paper, 7 1/2 x 6, the sheet 15 x 10 7/8 inches, archival matting.
A good impression.
Printer: George C. Miller.
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Sunday, December 20th, 2009
Arthur B. Davies (1862-1928), Strength in Shadow, soft ground etching with drypoint, roulette and aquatint, 1919, with the estate stamp lower right. Reference: Czestochowski 90, only state, total printing unknown but small. In good condition apart from several creases across the middle of the image (a result of the printing process?). Printed on laid paper, with wide margins, 6 5/8 x 4 5/8, the sheet 12 x 9 5/8 inches.
A very good impression
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Sunday, December 20th, 2009
Arthur B. Davies (1862-1928), Greek Robe, soft-ground etching and aquatint, 1918-19, signed in pencil lower right. Reference: Czestochowski 62, fourth state (of 4), total printing unknown but small. An impression on cream/yellow wove paper, with light staining, some soft creases, soiling in margins, with margins cut irregularly and with thin areas verso, 11 7/8 x 7 15/16, the sheet 14 3/4 x 10 inches.
A good impression of this rarely encountered print, with the aquatint shading and differentiation apparently stronger than that pictured in Czestochowski for this state.
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Saturday, December 19th, 2009
Arthur B. Davies (1862-1928), Contemplation (alternate title: Ishlamih Group), drypoint on zinc, 1917, with the estate stamp lower right margin. Reference: Czestochowski 53, only state, total printing unknown but small. In good condition, with margins, 2 7/8 x 6 1/8, the sheet 7 x 9 inches. Printed on a very light laid paper, with extensive cataloguing notes in pencil verso bottom.
A fine impression, printed with much drypoint burr, and an overall veil of plate tone.
We also have a working proof of Contemplation (illustrated below) printed on a light laid paper, with inky fingerprints in the margins (going into the image lower right), an ink spot just above the upper platemark, with irregular margins, 2 7/8 x 6 1/8, the sheet 4 ¼ x 6 5/8 inches. Printed on a very light laid paper, with extensive cataloguing notes in pencil verso bottom.
This lightly printed working proof impression, although with all the details of the better printed impressions, lacks their richness and most of the drypoint burr; it thus may have been printed after, rather than before the richer impressions of the same state.
Working proof impression
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Saturday, December 19th, 2009
Arthur B. Davies (1862-1928), Pompeian Veil, soft ground etching with aquatint, with pencil additions, 1918-1919, with the stamp signature. Reference: Czestochowski 63, fifth state (or a state between the 4th and 5th) of 5. In generally good condition, soiling and soft folding in margins, 5 3/8 x 3 ¼, the sheet 9 7/8 x 7 ¼ inches. Printed on a cream/yellow wove paper.
A good impression, with pencil additions to the nose, hair and hand of the figure; these additions were then made in the plate for Czestochowski’s fifth state. Only trial impressions were made of the fifth state.
Pompeian Veil went through extensive changes through its five states; the plate was substantially reduced in size in the third state, and then again in the fifth.
Detail, showing pencil work on profile and hand
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Saturday, December 19th, 2009
Arthur B. Davies (1862-1928), Venus (alternative title: Spindrift), mezzotint, 1927, with the estate stamp lower right, signed in pencil by Frank A. Nankivell lower left and inscribed “Printer”. Reference: Czestochowski 218, first state (of 2), edition unspecified, total printing unknown. In good condition apart from light fox marks in margins, with margins, printed on laid paper with a bunch of grapes (?) watermark, 9 15/16 x 5 15/16, the sheet 13 ½ x 8 ¾ inches.
A very good impression of this rarely encountered print; no impressions signed by Davies are known.
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Friday, December 18th, 2009
Arthur B. Davies (1862-1928), Retrospection, drypoint on zinc, 1916-17, with the estate stamp lower right. Reference: Czestochowski 40, first state (of 2). Total printing unknown but small. In good condition, with margins (a soft fold upper left margin away from image, paper very thin along the left platemark where the plate was unburnished). 4 7/8 x 3 3/8, the sheet 8 ½ x 6 ¼ inches.
A fine, delicately printed impression, printed on thin cream wove paper with plate tone, the central area of the figures wiped selectively so that this area is brighter and whiter, with substantial burr from the drypoint work.
This is one among the small number of cubist oriented prints Davies created after the Armory Show. Here Davies portrays a group of nudes – a long term subject – in modernist terms reminiscent of Duchamp’s Nude Descending a Staircase (the famous painting shown at the Armory Show).
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Thursday, December 17th, 2009
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Lyonel Feininger (1871-1956) Waldkirche, 2, 1920, Woodcut.
Prasse 220. Edition proofs only; 2nd state (of 3). Signed in pencil, lower left. Numbered 2028 (the artist’s inventory number) in the artist’s hand, in the bottom center margin.
Image size 5 11/16 x 4 1/2 inches (144 x 114 mm); sheet size 9 3/4 x 6 5/8 inches (248 x 168 mm).
A fine, black impression, on tissue-thin cream laid Japan, with full margins (7/8 to 2 1/2 inches), in excellent condition. A rare 2nd state proof; Prasse cites only one known proof in this state, on oatmeal-tan carbon-copy paper.
No. 10 of portfolio, Zwölf Holzschnitte von Lyonel Feininger, 1921.
Collections: Cambridge BRM; Darmstadt BA, Hlm; Hamburg; Kaiserslautern; Krefeld; Philadelphia PMA; Sarbrücken.
$5500
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Thursday, December 17th, 2009
Cornelius Schut (1597-1655), Madonna and Child, etching, c. 1650, [signed lower left in the plate]. Reference: Hollstein 35. In very good condition, trimmed just outside of the borderline (but possibly on or inside the platemark) all around, on laid paper, 5 1/2 x 5 1/4 inches.
Provenance: ex Collection Thomas Graff (Lugt 1092a, with his stamp verso)
A very good impression.
Schut, born in Antwerp, is closely associated with his teacher Rubens. Discussing the Rubens school Arthur Hind wrote (in his History of Engraving and Etching) that “works of a similar type [to Rubens], combining breadth of style with a light and open manner of etching, are best represented in Rubens’s pupil Cornelius Schut.”
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Wednesday, December 16th, 2009
Air
Crispin de Passe (1565-1637), The Four Elements, the set of four engravings after drawings by Maarten de Vos (1532-1603), c. 1600. References: Francken 1130-1133; Hollstein 524-7. Three impressions with an Eagle watermark, one with a Cross of Lorraine. In generally good condition (Aqua with margins, with slight discoloration, traces of a vertical fold; Terra trimmed just inside the platemark, a small repaired slit lower right; Aer with thread margins; Ignis with narrow margins, a central stain, small printer’s crease, tip of lower left corner made up. Approximately 8 x 8 1/4 inches.
Provenance: Claude-Augustin Mariette, 1687 (Lugt 1786, inscribed on Aqua)
Sold at Christie’s New York, 5/8/83, to current owner.
Very good impressions of these delightful images.
Maarten de Vos was a leading Antwerp painter and draftsman who adopted a mannerist idiom after traveling to Italy; Crispin de Passe was a talented engraver whose career was greatly assisted by his marriage to Magdalena de Bock, a niece (by marriage) of the prolific painter and designer Martin de Vos—the great majority of de Passe’s early prints follow designs by de Vos. For a most readable work on the de Passe family print lovers are encouraged to read Ilja Veldman’s Crispijn de Passe and his Progeny.
Fire
Water
Earth
Detail, from Fire
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Wednesday, December 16th, 2009
Ira Moskowitz (1912-1985), Dusk-Zimapan, 1940, lithograph, signed in pencil lower right, titled lower left, from the (presumed) edition of about 25. Reference: Czestochowski 70. In good condition, with margins, on a cream wove paper, 8 3/8 x 11 6\7/16, the sheet 9 3/4 x 12 1/2 inches.
A fine impression.
Ira Moskowitz was born in Poland in 1912, a descendant of a long rabbinical line. The family moved to Prague in 1914, and then in 1927 to New York City, where Ira studied with Jerome Myers and Henry Wickey at the Art Student’s League. In 1939, Moskowitz made his first trip to Mexico, and stayed for six months – he probably created Dusk-Zimapan at this time. In 1943 he received a Guggenheim Fellowship and moved to New Mexico, where he remained for seven years drawing the Indians and becoming an active member of the Taos-Sante Fe artists group which included John Sloan, a Moskowitz admirer.
Detail
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Tuesday, December 15th, 2009
José Clemente Orozco (November 23, 1883 – September 7, 1949), La Loca, etching and aquatint, 1944, signed in pencil lower right and numbered (77/100) lower left. Reference: Hopkins 38, from the edition of 100. In excellent condition, with margins, 10 1/2 x 6 3/4, the sheet 11 5/8 x 9 inches.
A fine impression, printed in black on a cream laid paper.
Provenance: collection of Dr. and Mrs. Freddy and Regina T. Homburger, purchased directly from the artist. The Homburgers were distinguished collectors of modern art.
This impression exhibited: Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University; Ringling Museum, Maine State Museum.
Orozco is of course well known today as one of the great Mexican muralists (along with Diego Rivera andDavid Alfaro Siqueiros, and others). He was also a superb engraver and etcher, as demonstrated in this wonderful portrait.
- Detail
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Friday, December 11th, 2009
Honore Daumier (1808-1879), Monsieur – Here’s Your Handkerchief, lithograph, 1842. Daumier Register 670, third state (of 3), sur blanc, plate 47 from the series Moeurs Conjugales, published in the album of that title and then in the journal Le Charivari. In good condition, a tear bottom edge margin, with margins, 12 x 8 1/2, the sheet 13 1/2 x 10 inches.
A very good impression, on sur blanc wove paper (from the small collector’s edition, without the letterpress verso as the print was issued in the large Le Charivari edition).
Here’s the translation from the indispensable Daumier Register (note: the soldier is going off to war and the maid runs after him offering him his handkerchief and some advice):
Original Text:
Monsieur …. Monsieur, v’ là vot’ mouchoir…. madame y a mis de l’eau de Cologne et elle vous recommande bien une fois au corps de garde de demander une chauffrette!
Translation:
Monsieur, Monsieur, here’s your handkerchief. Madame has put some Eau de Cologne on it and she said you should ask at the Guard whether you might get a foot warmer.
Detail
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Friday, December 11th, 2009
Honore Daumier (1808-1879), Monsieur – Here’s Your Handkerchief, lithograph, 1842. Daumier Register 670, third state (of 3), sur blanc, plate 47 from the series Moeurs Conjugales, published in the album of that title and then in the journal Le Charivari. In good condition, a tear bottom edge margin, with margins, 12 x 8 1/2, the sheet 13 1/2 x 10 inches.
A very good impression, on sur blanc wove paper (from the small collector’s edition, without the letterpress verso as the print was issued in the large Le Charivari edition).
Here’s the translation from the indispensable Daumier Register (note: the soldier is going off to war and the maid runs after him offering him his handkerchief and some advice):
Original Text:
Monsieur …. Monsieur, v’ là vot’ mouchoir…. madame y a mis de l’eau de Cologne et elle vous recommande bien une fois au corps de garde de demander une chauffrette!
Translation:
Monsieur, Monsieur, here’s your handkerchief. Madame has put some Eau de Cologne on it and she said you should ask at the Guard whether you might get a foot warmer.
$250
Detail
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Friday, December 11th, 2009
Samuel William Reynolds (1773-1835), The Falconer, after James Northcote (1746-1831), mezzotint with stipple, roulette and drypoint, 1797. References: Whitman 414, second state of 3; Le Blanc 99. A proof before the inscription space was cleared of the open mezzotint ground (cleared in state 2a). In generally good condition apart from light foxing, toning verso and in the margins, on old laid paper, with margins, 19 ¾ x 13 15/16, the sheet 14 5/8 x 20 5/8 inches.
A fine rich impression of this important mezzotint, in an early proof impression.
The sitter in this portrait was the artist’s brother Samuel Northcote, Junior. The mezzotint is probably based on the painting in the collection of Lord Kinnaird, which was painted in 1796.
State 1 is before the inscription at the bottom margin; state 2 has the lettering but is before the margin is cleaned. The lettering reads: “James Northcote RA pinxt Sam W. Reynolds sculpt. The Falconer London Published March 1 1797 by IR Smith King St. Covent Garden”. In very small letters above the title “Mr Sam’ Northcote of Plymouth”.
The combined skills of the painter Northcote and the brilliant mezzotinter Samuel Reynolds created some of the finest mezzotints of the period; The Falconer is one of the most important of these prints.
Detail, showing inscription space before ground is cleared
Detail
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Thursday, December 10th, 2009
Jean-Emile Laboureur (1877-1943), Sortie de Theatre a Londres, etching and drypoint, 1911, signed in pencil lower left [also signed and dated in the plate upper right]. Reference: Laboureur 104, third state (of 3). Published for La Societe des amis de l’eau-forte, with the blindstamp with the inscription: Circle Librairie Estampes. From an edition in the third state of 109; there were also 5 impressions of the first state and five of the second state. In excellent condition, the full sheet with deckle edges bottom and sides, 6 3/4 x 14; a remarque lower left 2 x 3 1/2, the sheet 12 3/4 x 19 3/4 inches.
Provenance: unknown collector’s mark verso (GOE in oval)
A fine rich impression, printed in dark brown ink on cream laid paper with the Arches watermark.
The small remarque lower left is actually another print printed on a separate plate; it shows a man running after a London horse-drawn trolley.
Although Sortie is dated 1911 Laboureur apparently drew the model for this etching much earlier, in 1909 or late 1908. In the autumn of 1908 he took up residence in London, occupying a space in Chelsea. One can discern a modernist approach entering his work here, and also perhaps some of the English penchant for satire and exaggeration, as exemplified in the work of Hogarth and Rowlandson – certainly the characters, especially the women leaving this theatre are, in Laboureur’s rendering, larger than life.
Posted in Jean-Emile Laboureur |
Wednesday, December 9th, 2009
John Skippe (1742-1811), A Group of Monks and a Woman (after Rubens ?), chiaroscuro woodcut, c. 1783. [with the inscription upper right: PP Rubens inv Joan:Skippe scul]. References: Le Blanc III 529, 13. On laid paper with a watermark Sitting Woman with Shield and Pitchfork (cf. Churchill 231, 234). In good condition, trimmed on or into the borderline, not laid down, some nicks on edges; 15 x 9 1/4 inches.
A fine impression, printed in four blocks (light and medium greyish green, light and dark brown).
Provenance: ex Collection Mr. and Mrs. Percy Simmons; also with the collector’s mark RE in a circle verso (not located in Lugt).
Exhibited: Beyond Black and White: Chiaroscuro Prints from Indiana Collections, Indiana University Art Museum (1989); Indianapolis Museum of Art (1990). Number 56 in the catalogue of the exhibition.
Skippe’s attribution to a drawing by Rubens in his own collection should be amended; the drawing is apparently based on the Rubens painting The Marriage of St. Catherine, with Many Saints, and focuses on a group of figures in the right lower corner of the painting.
Skippe was a “gentleman antiquarian” who traveled widely, collecting drawings which he later used as the basis for his chiaroscuro woodcuts. His intent was to replicate the Italian manner of Ugo da Carpi, and perhaps even encourage a re-birth of chiaroscuro woodcut printing. His prints were a success technically and aesthetically, but the re-birth of the medium was not forthcoming. Skippe was not focused on the commercial possibilities of the medium, sharing his prints only with appreciative connoisseurs and colleagues. He created a number of folios of prints; the number is unknown but they are rare, and were of varying sizes. In the United States there are two folios at the Yale Center for British Art (one of 31 prints, the other containing 20); another folio of 42 is at the Cincinnati Museum of Art, and finally a folio of 28 is at the University of Chicago. The small number of prints distributed by Skippe, and his avoidance of any commercial publication, have resulted in a paucity of Skippe prints appearing on the market; and today they are rarely seen or even known except by specialists or connoisseurs.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Tuesday, December 8th, 2009
John Skippe (1742-1811), A Naked Man Carried on the Shoulders of Two Others, after Guercino (?), chiaroscuro woodcut, 1781. [upper left: L.C./JS/1781]. In good condition, trimmed just at or within the printed borderline, affixed to a laid folio sheet, on laid paper, 10 x 5 3/4 inches.
A fine impression, printed in four blocks (olive green, light green, brown, dark brown).
Naked Man bears a dedication on a separate sheet below the print to James Edwards. Edwards was a bookseller and bibliographer whose family firm sold many valuable libraries, including the library of the famed chiaroscuro printmaker Antonio Maria Zanetti (1680-1757).
Provenance: ex Collection Mr. and Mrs. Percy Simmons.
Exhibited: Beyond Black and White: Chiaroscuro Prints from Indiana Collections, Indiana University Art Museum (1989); Indianapolis Museum of Art (1990). Number 51 in the catalogue of the exhibition.
Naked Man is attributed by Skippe to a drawing by Guercino in his collection, but he also includes the initials (upper left) L.C., which presumably is a reference to Ludovico Carracci, who Skippe may have thought originated the composition. The meaning of the composition itself is not clear; it is certainly a complex aesthetic study, reminiscent of Michaelangelo’s nudes on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.
Skippe was a “gentleman antiquarian” who traveled widely, collecting drawings which he later used as the basis for his chiaroscuro woodcuts. His intent was to replicate the Italian manner of Ugo da Carpi, and perhaps even encourage a re-birth of chiaroscuro woodcut printing. His prints were a great success, but the re-birth of the medium was not forthcoming. Skippe was not focused on the commercial possibilities of the medium, sharing his prints only with appreciative connoisseurs and colleagues. He created a number of folios of prints; the number is unknown but they are rare, and were of varying sizes. In the United States there are two folios at the Yale Center for British Art (one of 31 prints, the other containing 20); another folio of 42 is at the Cincinnati Museum of Art, and finally a folio of 28 is at the University of Chicago.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Tuesday, December 8th, 2009
John Skippe (1742-1811), St. Sebastian and St. Roch before the Virgin and Child (after Titian), chiaroscuro woodcut, c. 1783. [inscribed Titianus lower center, initials in box lower right in the plate]. In good condition, trimmed just at or within the printed borderline, not affixed to a folio sheet, on laid paper, 6 x 4 1/4 inches.
A fine impression, printed in three blocks (tan, greenish grey, dark brown).
Provenance: ex Collection Mr. and Mrs. Percy Simmons, also with the collector’s mark RE in a circle verso (not located in Lugt).
Exhibited: Beyond Black and White: Chiaroscuro Prints from Indiana Collections, Indiana University Art Museum (1989); Indianapolis Museum of Art (1990). Number 53 in the catalogue of the exhibition.
Skippe was often inaccurate when attributing the drawings in his collection to great artists; in this case the attribution to Titian has been re-assigned by Popham to the famed Dominico Campagnola, a sixteenth century Venetian painter influenced by Titian. The drawing was in reverse of Skippe’s print.
This is one of the few Skippe chiaroscuro prints to employ a key block.
Skippe was a “gentleman antiquarian” who traveled widely, collecting drawings which he later used as the basis for his chiaroscuro woodcuts. His intent was to replicate the Italian manner of Ugo da Carpi, and perhaps even encourage a re-birth of chiaroscuro woodcut printing. His prints were a great success, but the re-birth of the medium was not forthcoming. Skippe was not focused on the commercial possibilities of the medium, sharing his prints only with appreciative connoisseurs and colleagues. He created a number of folios of prints; the number is unknown but they are rare, and were of varying sizes. In the United States there are two folios at the Yale Center for British Art (one of 31 prints, the other containing 20); another folio of 42 is at the Cincinnati Museum of Art, and finally a folio of 28 is at the University of Chicago.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Tuesday, December 8th, 2009
John Skippe (1742-1811), The Three Angels Before the Kneeling Abraham (after Titian), chiaroscuro woodcut, c. 1783. References: Nagler XVI 476,2; Le Blanc III 529, 2. [inscribed lower right “Titian in. JS. scl.”]. In good condition, trimmed just at or within the printed borderline, mounted to old watermarked laid album paper. 7 7 1/6 x 7 7/16 inches.
A fine impression, printed in four blocks (light brown, brown, grayish green, dark brown).
Provenance: ex Collection Mr. and Mrs. Percy Simmons
Exhibited: Beyond Black and White: Chiaroscuro Prints from Indiana Collections, Indiana University Art Museum (1989); Indianapolis Museum of Art (1990). Number 54 in the catalogue of the exhibition.
Skippe was rather liberal in attributing the drawings in his collection to great artists; in this case the attribution to Titian has been re-assigned by Popham to “seventeenth century Italian school.” The drawing was in reverse of Skippe’s print.
Skippe was a “gentleman antiquarian” who traveled widely, collecting drawings which he later used as the basis for his chiaroscuro woodcuts. His intent was to replicate the Italian manner of Ugo da Carpi, and perhaps even encourage a re-birth of chiaroscuro woodcut printing. His prints were a great success, but the re-birth of the medium was not forthcoming. Skippe was not focused on the commercial possibilities of the medium, sharing his prints only with appreciative connoisseurs and colleagues. He created a number of folios of prints; the number is unknown but they are rare, and were of varying sizes. In the United States there are two folios at the Yale Center for British Art (one of 31 prints, the other containing 20); another folio of 42 is at the Cincinnati Museum of Art, and finally a folio of 28 is at the University of Chicago.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Monday, December 7th, 2009
Franz Weirotter (1730-1771), Suite of 12 Views of Italy, etchings, 1759 [most signed in the plate by Weirotter]. Reference: Nagel 5. 10 printed in pairs on one sheet; one on a smaller sheet (still with margins), and the larger frontispiece on a single sheet. In generally good condition, browning toward the outer edge of the sheets, some other defects affecting outer edges but not the images. Each of the paired compositions about 6 1/2 x 8 1/4 inches on sheets 16 3/4 x 10 3/8; the frontispiece 7 1/4 x 10 5/8 on a sheet 16 3/4 x 10 3/8 inches. All on laid paper, most with a Bunch of Grapes watermark.
Very good/fine impressions; the impression of Viterbo possibly a proof before the signature (and printed with some ink/soiling); the rest with the Weirotter signature clearly printed.
Although these views were made in Rome or its outskirts, Tivoli, Viterbo, etc., they are not generally of well-known monuments or vistas but rather portraits of the Italian countryside, often depicting relatively modest structures with nearby ruins, and generally with people busily engaged in fishing, talking, preparing food, or otherwise engaged.
Weirotter was one of the most distinguished of the German 18th Century landscape etchers. Although many of these printmakers specialized in reproducing the work of others, Weirotter tended to create original compositions for his prints. The 12 plates in this set are original Wierotter compositions, although they are remindful of the work of 17th Century Dutch artists such as Jan van Goyen, Pieter Molyn, or Jacob van Ruisdael. Hind noted of Weirotter that he was “most successful when he keeps to plates of the small dimensions, to which his delicate and clearly etched line is fitted.”
We illustrate 3 of the views; of course illustrations of all of them are available on request.
Posted in Artist, Franz Weirotter |
Monday, December 7th, 2009
Thomas Hart Benton (1889-1975), Discussion, 1969, Lithograph.
Fath 82. Edition 250. Signed in pencil. Signed in the stone, lower left.
Image size 9 7/8 x 12 inches (251 x 305 mm); sheet size 12 7/8 x 17 7/8 inches (327 x 454 mm).
A fine, rich impression, on cream wove paper, with full margins (1 1/4 to 3 1/8 inches); hinge glue stains on the top sheet edge, recto, well away from the image; otherwise in excellent condition.
Published by Associated American Artists.
“In the summer of 1937 Life magazine hired me to report, with drawings, on the famous ’sit down’ strikes occurring in the Detroit area at the time. Some newspaper reporters had written of these strikes as if they were the beginnings of revolution. I found neither Talk about or desire for revolution only an itch for more money. The drawing from which this litho was made represents a discussion between a union recruiter and a negro worker. The Union boss sits in the background looking on.” -THB
Posted in Uncategorized |
Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009
Ira Moskowitz (1912-1985), [Mountain Scene], 1943, lithograph, signed in pencil lower right, numbered lower left (27/50) [also signed and dated 1943 in the plate lower right], from the (presumed) edition of 50, not in Czestochowski. In pristine condition, on a cream wove paper with deckle edges, 10 1/8 x 14, the sheet 13 3/4 x 18 inches.
A fine impression of the hilly countryside, with donkeys and goats grazing on the hillside, farm cabins in the distance; probably Taos. A rarely encountered print, apparently not known to Czestochowski (and not in his catalogue raisonné).
Ira Moskowitz was born in Poland in 1912, a descendant of a long rabbinical line. The family moved to Prague in 1914, and then in 1927 to New York City, where Ira studied with Jerome Myers and Henry Wickey at the Art Student’s League. In 1939, Moskowitz made his first trip to Mexico, and stayed for six months. In 1943 he received a Guggenheim Fellowship and moved to New Mexico, where he remained for seven years drawing the Indians and becoming an active member of the Taos-Sante Fe artists group which included John Sloan, a Moskowitz admirer.
- Detail
Posted in Ira Moskowitz |
Tuesday, December 1st, 2009
Alphonse Legros (1837-1921), The Wall of the Presbytery (Le Mur du Presbytere), c. 1890, etching and drypoint, signed in pencil lower right. In good condition, printed on a cream laid paper (probably a journal or bookkeeping paper), very slight toning, remains of prior hinging verso. 5 3/8 x 7 1/4, the sheet 7 3/4 x 9.
A fine impression with substantial burr from the drypoint work.
This etching is closely aligned with a number of Rembrandt’s smaller landscapes; in particular the tower and dense wooded areas in front of it and at the left attest to Legros’s love of the work of the master.
Detail
Posted in Uncategorized |
Tuesday, December 1st, 2009
Cecil Bell (1906-1970), At the Round House, soft-ground etching and aquatint, c. 1935, signed in pencil lower right and titled lower left (also numbered 45), printed on a cream wove paper, the full sheet, in excellent condition, 5 3/4 x 7 5/8, the sheet 8 3/4 x 10 1/4 inches.
A fine impression of this evocative image.
Cecil Bell, born in Seattle in 1906, started his artistic career as a cartoonist. He moved to New York and enrolled in the Art Student’s League in 1930, where he had John Sloan as a teacher. “I want principally to get down life as I see it and if it turns out to be Art, so much the better,” he told an interviewer in 1939, in the spirit of his Ash Can School mentor. Bell’s Depression-era vignettes were informed by a creative sensibility that acknowledged New York City as its life-giving force.
A roundhouse is a building used for servicing trains; it features a turntable. In this depiction we can observe a worker at the right, possibly re-refueling the engine; another works near the center foreground.
Posted in Cecil Bell |
Tuesday, December 1st, 2009
Pierre Gatier (1878-1944), Petite Rue Royale (Prise de l’angle de la rue Saint-Honore), 1922, etching. Reference: Felix Gatier 193, sixth state (of 6). From the edition of 60 published with the catalogue raisonne of Gatier’s prints in 2004 by Felix Gatier [numbered 21/60 and with the Pierre Gatier blindstamp. In pristine condition, the full sheet, 4 3/8 x 6 3/4, the sheet 9 3/4 x 8 1/2.
A fine impression, printed on a firm cream wove paper with full margins, deckle edges.
The lifetime first edition of Petite Rue Royale was printed in an edition of 30 after 19 proofs were pulled in proof states.
Detail
Posted in Pierre Gatier |
Sunday, November 29th, 2009
Mathias Hornung after Callot's Man Playing Grill as Violin (Lieure 423)
Months of the Year, a set of 12 prints derived in large part from Jacques Callot’s Les Gobbi (cf. Lieure 407-426, dated 1616). Published and possibly engraved by Paul Fürst (1608-1666), Nurnberg. [with the publisher/artist’s name P.Fürst Excu in the plate, and the name of each character]. Each print glued to a card just at the corners, with margins, glue and other stains coming through, other defects, 2 x 2 1/2 inches, the sheets 2 3/8 x 3 1/4 inches
A fascinating set, combining the humorous characterizations of Callot and following the German tradition of personifying the months of the year.
Each print is named after a month, i.e., the first is Fabianus Ienner (Fabianus January), then Mathias Hornung (Mathias February), Gregorius Mertz (March), Marcus April (April), up to Simion Weinman (October), Martius Wintermon (November) and Nicolaus Christmon (December). This follows an old tradition in German printmaking. For example, Hans Sebald Beham’s Peasant Festival or The Twelve Months, 1546 (Bartsch 154-163) follows the identical naming practice.
Paul Fürst was a publisher, print dealer, and possibly an artist as well. He is perhaps best know for his image of Doktor von Schnabel von Rom, a man dressed in a hawk costume, which apparently 17th Century doctors used when visiting patients to ward off the Plague. He published a few prints by Hollar; he was a contemporary of Hollar, but not Callot, although the Gobbi set would have been rather freshly known to Fürst since it would presumably have been made only a couple of decades before this set.
In creating the set the Gobbi imagery was followed loosely (and in reverse); in some cases the artist took imagery from a couple of the Gobbi plates to arrive at the desired composition. For example, Simon Weinman has the gross stomach of Callot’s “Man With Large Stomach” (Lieure 415), but holds a cup in the air in line with Callot’s Le Buveur (Lieure 411) (Weinman is of course a wine-man as well as Mr. October). Some of the images do not appear derived from Callot in any way except in spirit. But Nicolaus Christmon is clearly derived from Callot’s Man with a Falling Belly (Lieure 417), Philipus May from Callot’s Violin Player (Lieure 418), and Mathias Hornung from Callot’s Man Playing a Grill as a Violin (Lieure 423).
Posted in Jacques Callot |
Sunday, November 29th, 2009
Mathias Hornung after Callot’s Man Playing Grill as Violin (Lieure 423)
Months of the Year, a set of 12 prints derived in large part from Jacques Callot’s Les Gobbi (cf. Lieure 407-426, dated 1616). Published and possibly engraved by Paul Fürst (1608-1666), Nurnberg. [with the publisher/artist’s name P.Fürst Excu in the plate, and the name of each character]. Each print glued to a card just at the corners, with margins, glue and other stains coming through, other defects, 2 x 2 1/2 inches, the sheets 2 3/8 x 3 1/4 inches
A fascinating set, combining the humorous characterizations of Callot and following the German tradition of personifying the months of the year.
Each print is named after a month, i.e., the first is Fabianus Ienner (Fabianus January), then Mathias Hornung (Mathias February), Gregorius Mertz (March), Marcus April (April), up to Simion Weinman (October), Martius Wintermon (November) and Nicolaus Christmon (December). This follows an old tradition in German printmaking. For example, Hans Sebald Beham’s Peasant Festival or The Twelve Months, 1546 (Bartsch 154-163) follows the identical naming practice.
Paul Fürst was a publisher, print dealer, and possibly an artist as well. He is perhaps best know for his image of Doktor von Schnabel von Rom, a man dressed in a hawk costume, which apparently 17th Century doctors used when visiting patients to ward off the Plague. He published a few prints by Hollar; he was a contemporary of Hollar, but not Callot, although the Gobbi set would have been rather freshly known to Fürst since it would presumably have been made only a couple of decades before this set.
In creating the set the Gobbi imagery was followed loosely (and in reverse); in some cases the artist took imagery from a couple of the Gobbi plates to arrive at the desired composition. For example, Simon Weinman has the gross stomach of Callot’s “Man With Large Stomach” (Lieure 415), but holds a cup in the air in line with Callot’s Le Buveur (Lieure 411) (Weinman is of course a wine-man as well as Mr. October). Some of the images do not appear derived from Callot in any way except in spirit. But Nicolaus Christmon is clearly derived from Callot’s Man with a Falling Belly (Lieure 417), Philipus May from Callot’s Violin Player (Lieure 418), and Mathias Hornung from Callot’s Man Playing a Grill as a Violin (Lieure 423). Note: This set is not for sale.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Monday, November 23rd, 2009
Max Pollack (1886-1970), Bohemia, drypoint with wash and pencil additions, c. 1925, signed in pencil lower right and titled lower left. In very good condition, printed on a chine colle with wove backing, the full sheet with deckle edges, 4 1/2 x 5 1/4, the sheet 11 1/2 x 9 3/8 inches.
A fine impression, printed in a blue/black ink on a white background, rich burr from the drypoint work, with extensive pencil additions particularly as shading for the houses and added trees in the background, and a darker grey wash with pencil additions at the top. The coloration and pencil additions create a snowy landscape, with a dark wintry sky above the horizon.
Pollack was an inventive printmaker, who often added color etching to his plates; here he creates a unique work with the additions to the drypoint composition. Although the added work may have been in contemplation of a later state of the print, it is an aesthetic gem as it stands.
Detail
Detail
Posted in Max Pollack |
Monday, November 23rd, 2009
Israel Silvestre (1621-1691), View of the Palace and Gardens of Cardinal Ludovisi, etching, c. 1660 [with the title and address of Henriet in the margin below]. Printed on a cream laid paper, with a bunch of grapes watermark, in good condition, trimmed just outside or inside of the plate mark and outside of the borderline, 4 5/8 x 9 3/4 inches.
Silvestre was the nephew of the print dealer and publisher Israel Henriet, who often used the name Israel alone when listing himself as a publisher (as in this example). Henriet took his nephew in as an orphan, and Silvestre went on to become a leading etcher in the late 17th Century. Henriet was a friend of Jacque Callot, published much of his work, and in 1661 at his death left the plates to his nephew Silvestre (whose aesthetic debt to Callot is evident in plates such as this view.
The Villa Ludovisi in Rome was built in the 17th century by Domenichino for the Cardinal Ludovico Ludovisi; the gardens, some of which are shown in this view, were made even more opulent and magnificent years later by the designer Andre Le Notre, the architect of the gardens of Versailles.
Detail
Posted in Uncategorized |
Monday, November 23rd, 2009
Israel Silvestre (1621-1691), Veduta di Campo Vaccina, Vieu du Campe Vaccine, etching, c. 1660, from the series of Veduta, plate 8 [with the titles, name of Israel and the publisher Mariette in the plate]. In generally good condition, with margins, 5 1/4 x 10 1/8, the sheet 5 1/2 x 10 5/8 inches. Watermark: dagger with shield.
A very good impression, printed on a cream laid paper.
Israel Silvestre was a nephew of the print dealer Israel Henriet, who was a friend Jacques Callot. Henriet took Silvestre in as an orphan at an early age. Silvestre became a prolific etcher, making many view of France and Italy; later in his career he inherited his uncle’s plates, including many of the works of Callot and Stefano Della Bella. As is evident from this etching, he was strongly influenced by the work of these artists.
During the 17th and 18th Century the Roman Forum, the area between the Capitoline Hill and the Colosseum, was called the “Campo Vaccino” or cow field, for the Forum had been largely buried for many years in this area; in this etching we can still see cattle wandering over the middle ground; the Colosseum is visible in the background.
Detail
Posted in Uncategorized |
Thursday, November 19th, 2009
James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903), The Bead-Stringers, etching, 1879-80, signed on the tab with the butterfly and inscribed “imp”. Reference: Kennedy 198, eighth state (of 8). In excellent condition, trimmed on the platemark by the artist all around except for the tab, printed on laid paper. From the “Set of Twenty-Six Etchings”, the Second Venice Set. From the edition of 30 (an additional 12 were planned for certain titles including The Bead-Stringers. 9 x 6 inches.
A very fine impression, with a subtle plate tone overall, selectively wiped so that the bottom of the plate is slightly darker.
The Bead-Stringers is one of only two subjects from Whistler’s Venice stay for which a drawing exists; the view is that of the Calle de le Mende, Dorsoduro, which opens through the sottoportico, onto the Fondamenta Ospedaleto.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Thursday, November 19th, 2009
James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903), The Velvet Dress, drypoint, 1873, printed in black ink on japan paper, signed with the butterfly on the tab [also signed with the butterfly in the plate]. Kennedy 105, fourth state (of 5). Trimmed on the plate mark by the artist, 9 1/8 x 6 1/8 inches.
A fine delicately printed impression of this rare print, known in only about two dozen impressions, only two of which are signed in pencil.This is one of the first prints in which Whistler used the butterfly monogram.
Whistler made three drypoints of Mrs. Francis Leyland; The Velvet Dress is the most successful of these. Susan Grace Galassi devotes a chapter to Francis Leyland in the catalogue of the exhibit Whistler, Women and Fashion, shown at the Frick Collection in 2003. Apparently after Mrs. Leyland saw a model in a velvet dress she told Whistler she wanted to be painted in a similar dress, and perhaps to appease her Whistler made this beautiful spare drypoint of Mrs. Leyland standing in profile, in a full gown.
In this fourth state impression Whistler has straightened Mrs. Leyland’s hair a bit, added some background lines; in a fifth state (we know of only one example, in the Smithsonian Freer collection) he strenghthened the drypoint substantially.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Thursday, November 12th, 2009
Emil Orlik (1870-1932), Gambler, etching, 1897, signed in pencil lower right margin. Reference: Söhn 52803-6. The matrix in good condition; mat burning well outside of plate mark. 2 x 3 1/4 inches.
A fine impression of this rarely encountered tiny gem, printed on laid paper, with plate tone. This print was later published in Pan, Vol. 3, October 1897.
Allan Wolman, in his indispensable website on Orlik (www.orlikprints.com), writes of the context of Orlik’s career at this early stage:
In 1896 Orlik returned to Munich to work with his fellow pupil and life-long friend Bernhard Pankok on their first essays in the making of colour woodcut prints. They had seen examples of Japanese woodcut prints and were fascinated by them. He began contributing illustrations to the journal Jugend. By 1897 Orlik was such an accomplished print-maker that four of his small etchings were chosen for publication in the prestigious art magazine PAN. Also illustrated in PAN was a reproduction of his first poster ‘Die Weber’, designed for the play of the same name produced by Gerhart Hauptmann. Hauptmann was so impressed by the poster that he invited Orlik to Berlin to visit his studio and this was the first stepping stone to Orlik’s involvement in the theatre.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Thursday, November 12th, 2009
Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720-1778), The Forum of Nerva; With the Two Half-Buried Corinthian Columns, etching, 1770, from the Views of Rome [with the title on stone lower left: Veduta degli Avanzi del Foro di Nerva, signed lower right: C. Piranesi f.]. References: Hind 95, Focillon 750, Wilton Ely 228. The first state (of 4), before numbers. In excellent condition, with the usual centerfold and full margins, 18 3/4 x 28, the sheet 21 x 30 3/4 inches.
A fine fresh impression.
Watermark: Fleur de Lys in a Double Circle (Robison’s watermark 34, Hind’s watermark 3).
This lifetime impression is of course relatively rare; for example both Hind and Wilton-Ely illustrate the print with a second state impression.
Detail
Detail
Posted in Uncategorized |
Thursday, November 12th, 2009
Final State
Auguste Lepère (1849-1918), LA MUSIQUE ET LA POESIE SECOURANT LES ARTISTES, chiaroscuro woodcut, a set of 5 including 4 proofs (two color blocks, two proofs before letters and initials, and the final proof), each signed in pencil. Reference: Texier-Bernier 517. In good condition, each attached at corners to a backing card; the proofs each on chine volant, the final proof on wove. 7 1/2 x 5 1/4, each with margins 1-2 inches, matted on a single presentation mat.
A superb set of proofs demonstrating Lepere’s working method. Includes two color blocks, and two trial proofs before the initial in the block and the letters below. Each proof and the final impression is signed; one proof before letters is inscribed “essai”, another before letters is numbered, and the final proof is also numbered.
Proof before letters, numbered
Although the two trial proofs before letters are similar to the final state in several respects, the final state colors are a bit more vivid, and, most notably, in the final state Lepere has more clearly defined the buildings and particularly the figures.
Proof before letters inscribed "essai"
Orange Block
Yellow Block
Posted in Uncategorized |
Wednesday, November 11th, 2009
Jean-Emile Laboureur (1877-1943), Petite Images de la Guerre Sur le Front Britannique, Portfolio of 9 engravings, 1916, with the signature in pencil on the justification sheet, and numbered (95), from the total edition of 120; there were also about 30 proofs of earlier states and 15 in this state not in the edition. Reference: Laboureur 144-152, fourth state (of 4). In good condition, the cover of the portfolio worn but the prints and inside sheets in very good condition. The portfolio includes a title page which reads in part: “Neuf gravures au burin de J.-E. Laboureur precedees d’une Lettre sur les spectacles de la Guerre, de Roger Allard. A Paris, de ‘imprimerie d’A. Vernant, 6 rue Emile Dubois.” Each print is about 7 x 5 1/2 inches, on a sheet 11 x 8 3/4. Each impression is printed on a double sheet, which, when folded, is 11 x 8 3/4 inches.
Fine impressions, in excellent condition.
For the show The Cubist Print, 1981, Burr Wallen wrote: “The plates represent evolved versions of the artist’s slender, elongated figures with long necks and stylized poses in the matter of Parmigianino. It is possible that Laboureur may have been inspired by Winslow Homer’s Campaign Sketches, a portfolio of lithographs published in Boston in 1863 that take a similarly casual approach to camp life during the Civil War. One cannot fail to be impressed by the consummate precision of his fine engraved lines,possibly executed with the help of a magnifying glass. A rich variety of hatching and cross-hatching grw from the artist’s study of old master engravings…” It seems too that Laboureur was influenced by the Mannerist old master engravings he studied in the years before the Great War; here he melds Mannerist and Cubist idioms to create his own modernist aesthetic.
We show only four of the set of 9 engravings, but of course pictures of all the prints are available on request.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Wednesday, November 11th, 2009
Jean-Emile Laboureur (1877-1943), Paysage aux Buttes-Chaumont (First Plate), etching, 1920, signed in pencil lower left, numbered (2/8) and inscribed imp, also titled. Reference: Laboureur 204, only state. In very good condition, the full sheet, some thin spots in margins verso. 7 7/8 x 9, the sheet 10 5/8 x 14 1/4 inches.
A fine impression of this rare plate, printed on cream wove paper.
Laboureur made only 10 impressions in all, two trial proofs and 8 numbered. He later made another version (L. 205).
Conceived by the architect Haussmann in the late 19th century, the Buttes-Chaumont is a sweeping romantic-style park whose dramatic (albeit primarily man-made) bluffs, waterfalls, and rolling green hills provide a welcome sense of space and fresh air to overcrowded Parisians.
$1150
Detail
Posted in Jean-Emile Laboureur |
Wednesday, November 11th, 2009
Auguste Lepère (1849-1918), Sur la Seine, vue prise de la frégate du Pont Royal, wood engraving, 1879, signed in pencil [also initialed in the plate lower left]. Reference: Lotz-Brissonneau 270. In very good condition apart from some printing scratches, full margins, 8 3/4 x 5 7/8, the sheet 18 1/4 x 12 1/4 inches.
A fine clear impression, printed on a cream simile-japon paper.
Provenance: Phillips Gallery, sold October 27, 1981, to the current owner.
Auguste Lepère was the undisputed leader in the creative revival of wood engraving in Europe in the second half of the nineteenth century. Beginning his art studies as a teenager, he had by the mid 1870s clearly emerged as one of the most renowned printmakers of his time. In both etching and wood engraving, he became known as the prime delineator of daily life. Sur la Seine represents a tour-de-force example of the wood-engraver’s art.
Detail
Posted in Uncategorized |
Wednesday, November 11th, 2009
Emil Orlik (1870-1932), The Courtisan, or Mädchen aus Niingata, 1902, etching, roulette, and aquatint, signed and dated in pencil lower right. Reference: Kuwabara R-6, plate 11 of the portfolio “Aus Japan”. In good condition apart from a number of thin spots and tears in the margins not affecting the matrix; 7 3/4 x 5 1/4, the sheet 10 3/4 x 7 1/4 inches.
A fine fresh impression, printed on cream laid paper; one of the most beautiful of Orlik’s Japan subjects.
An extremely rare print, made just after Orlik’s first major voyage to the Far East.
Detail
Posted in Uncategorized |
Monday, November 2nd, 2009
James Ensor (1860-1949), Les Peches Capitaux Domines Par La Mort (The Deadly Sins Dominated by Death), etching, 1904, signed and dated in pencil lower right, titled in pencil lower left [also signed in the plate lower right]. References: Delteil 126, Croquez 126, Taevernier 126, Elesh 131, only state. In excellent condition, printed on a simile japon paper, with full margins, 3 5/8 x 5 1/2, the sheet 9 3/8 x 11 5/8 inches.
A fine early impression, as indicated by the quality of the printing as well as the early Ensor signature.
The seven sins are represented by carnival figures: Pride as a soldier at the left, then Avarice holding a bag of money, Anger as a women furious at the man representing Lust, then Gluttony eating a sausage, Envy menacing a knife, and finally Sloth falling asleep while a snail creeps up his nightgown.
Detail
Posted in Uncategorized |
Monday, November 2nd, 2009
Alphonse Legros (1837-1921), Les Moissonneurs (The Reapers), etching, c. 1890, signed in pencil lower right margin. Reference: Bliss 464, third state (of 3). In excellent condition, printed on a cream wove paper, the full sheet, 6 x 9 7/8, the sheet 9 1/4 x 12 3/4 inches.
Provenance:
Colnaghi’s, London (with their stock number c65632 verso)
Kennedy Galleries, New York (with their stock number A22741 recto)
A delicately printed impression, with a light veil of plate tone overall.
This is a rare example; there were only 12 impressions of the third state, and 5 of the second.
Detail
Posted in Alphonse Legros |
Monday, November 2nd, 2009
Edmund Blampied (1886-1966), A Jersey Vraic Cart. 1939, etching, signed in ink lower margin [also signed and dated in the plate]. Reference: Appleby 183, the full sheet, on a J. Whatman cream laid paper, with the watermark, in excellent condition, 8 9/16 x 11 1/16 (sheet 11 7/16 x 15 5/16). From the edition of 250 for the Print Club of Cleveland.
Provenance: Gift of the Print Club of Cleveland to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; sold at Christie’s New York to benefit the SFMMA.
A fine fresh impression, still in its original Cleveland mat. Printed with selective use of plate tone, with a light veil of tone left on the plate toward the bottom, the plate wiped cleaner and thus whiter in the area of the figures.
Vraic is the Norman name used in the Channel Islands for the seaweed traditionally used as fertilizer.
Detail
Posted in Edmund Blampied |
Friday, October 30th, 2009
Adolphe Beaufrere (1876-1960), [Mountain and Sea], soft ground etching, c. 1910, signed in pencil lower right margin and with the artist’s red stamp lower right. Not in Morane. In very good condition, printed on a cream/tan card, with small (1/4″) margins all around, 105 x 149 mm, 4 1/4 x 5 7/8 inches.
Provenance: acquired directly from Jean-Noel Beaufrere, the artist’s son.
A fine impression of this most unusual modernist image, printed with plate tone.
This is an exceedingly rare proof impression, quite possibly unique.
Detail, showing estate stamp and signature
Posted in Uncategorized |
Friday, October 30th, 2009
Adolphe Beaufrere (1876-1960), La Vache Noire, Le Pouldu (The Black Cow. Le Pouldu), soft ground etching, 1910, unsigned. Reference: Morane 10-23, only state. In very good condition, trimmed about 1/8-1/4 inch outside of the platemark, 7 x 8 1/8 inches.
Printed in black on a laid paper, with the watermark Original Hindostan Mill, with the letters and crest.
Provenance: acquired directly from Jean-Noel Beaufrere, the artist’s son.
A fine proof impression of this very rare composition. Morane notes that only 1 or 2 proofs of Le Vache Noire was pulled.
It appears that at this time Beaufrere was experimenting with a variation on a soft ground etching technique, perhap just brushing or dabbing acid on the plate, and then printing the plate.
Beaufrere was among the many artists who worked on the French Le Pouldu coast, others included Gauguin, Emile Bernard, and Paul Seurisier.
Detail
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Thursday, October 29th, 2009
Gerald Leslie Brockhurst (1891-1978), Una (Portrait of a Creole Lady), etching, 1929, signed in pencil lower right, and also inscribed by the artist: “2nd State, GB”. Reference: Fletcher 65, second state (of 10), before the edition of 111. In very good condition, printed on a cream wove paper with full margins, 8 5/8 x 6 1/4, the sheet 15 3/8 x 10 1/8 inches, archival matting.
A fine impression of this early state, before the signature in the plate and much additional shading in the background and on the figure.
Only 4 proofs are known in this state.
A painting in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York by Brockhurst is related to this etching; the model is the same woman.
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 (Rushbury, McBey); to print lovers portraits such as this example show him at his best: as a master etcher, and superb draftsman.
Detail
Posted in Gerald Brockhurst |
Wednesday, October 28th, 2009
Mary Cassatt (1844-1926), The Manicure, drypoint, circa 1908, signed in pencil lower left. Reference: Breeskin 199, first state (of 2).In very good condition, printed on laid paper with margins, 8 3/8 x 6, the sheet 12 3/4 x 9 inches.
Provenance: Robert Hartshorne, New York (with his stamp verso, Lugt 2215b).
A fine delicately printed impression, printed in a dark brownish/black ink, with touches of burr from the drypoint work in many places, and a very subtle veil of plate tone.
Robert Hartshorne collected fine examples of work by artists such as Degas, Cezanne, Matisse, and Picasso, and was known for his particularly distinguished collection of Cassatt prints.
Although Manicure is frequently seen in the later second state restrike impressions, first state impressions are exceedingly rare.
Detail
Detail
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Wednesday, October 28th, 2009
Reginald Marsh (1896-1954), Pennsylvania Rail Road Loco Waiting to be Junked, 1932, etching, signed in pencil lower right and numbered “12” lower left. Reference: Sasowsky 130, fifth state (of 5). In very good condition, with margins (slightest trace of light stain), 6 x 11 3/4, the sheet 7 1/4 x 13 3/4 inches.
Provenance: Kennedy Galleries (with their stock number on margins.
A fine impression, printed in black on cream wove BFK Rives paper (with a partial watermark).
This impression was printed by Marsh personally (and has margins trimmed a bit irregularly, as is typically of Marsh’s self-printed prints). His notes are of interest, e.g., he notes that he “Drew design from nature in two afternoons” and that the design was complete in the first state “except for tracks and sky.” He made only small changes thereafter, e.g., in state 3 added “cinders in track and sky drawn.” Only about 19 impressions were made of the 5th state, and only 1, 2 or 3 impressions of the prior states.
Detail
Posted in Reginald Marsh |
Wednesday, October 28th, 2009
Walt Kuhn (1877-1949), Advice, etching and drypoint, 1915, signed in pencil lower right and titled lower left. In generally good condition but obviously a proof impression, with margins (trimmed irregularly), remains of prior hinging showing through at upper margin, a red ink notation lower margin (“29 Conversation”), 4 3/8 x 2 1/2, the sheet 6 1/8 x 4 5/8 inches.
Provenance: ex Collection: Jonathan Greenberg, New York.
A very good, inky impression of this great rarity. The total number of proofs is about 6 or less, probably 3 or 4. This is listed as number 3 in the Kennedy Galleries Walt Kuhn Checklist, made for an exhibit of his prints in 1967; it is cited as a print where no more than 6 impressions are known to exist.
Advice appears to be a portrait of circus or carnival performers in an off-stage moment.
Detail
Posted in Walt Kuhn |
Tuesday, October 27th, 2009
Walt Kuhn (1877-1949), Strong Girl, drypoint, 1916 [signed in pencil by Kenneth Hays Miller and inscribed Zinc sheet E printed by Howard Moore Park 1928). In very good condition, printed on a cream wove paper, 7 1/2 x 5 1/4, the sheet 11 1/8 x 8 1/2 inches.
Provenance: ex Collection: The Metropolitan Museum of New York, with their stamp verso.
ex Coll: Jonathan Greenberg, New York City
A very good impression of this rare early Kuhn print.
This is listed as number 48 in the Kennedy Galleries Walt Kuhn Checklist, made for an exhibit of his prints in 1967.
Kuhn was of course intimately familiar with circuses and carnivals. To the left of the Strong Girl holding the barbells is another woman, less muscular, perhaps a trapeze artist.
Kenneth Hays Miller was an important figure in modernist art for many years, a teacher of Reginald Marsh, Isabel Bishop and other members of the 14th Street school, and a prominent artist and printmaker in his own right.
Posted in Walt Kuhn |
Tuesday, October 27th, 2009
Adolphe Appian (1819-1898), Barque de Pecheurs (also known as Barques de Cabotage Cotes d’Italie), etching, 1874, printed with title below and with the inscription Appian Sc. lower left. References: Curtis and Proute 40, Jennings 35, G. and A. Burton 37, second or third state (of 3). In excellent condition, printed on a cream laid paper, 5 3/4 x 8 3/4, the sheet 8 x 11 1/2 inches.
A fine impression, printed with a subtle veil of plate tone, wiped selectively so that the central sail is bright; printed in a dark brownish/black ink.
In the fine Burton catalogue it is noted that:
“The painting of this title was exhibited at the 1872 Paris Salon, and the print was exhibited there three years later. It is another rare composition arranged around a central element…with the white sail as the static focus of the picture.”
detail
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Sunday, October 25th, 2009
Albrecht Durer (1471-1528), Christ Taking Leave of His Mother (Der Abschied Christi von seiner Mutter), a proof impression before the edition of 1511, woodcut on laid paper, from the Small Woodcut Passion. References: Bartsch 21, Meder 132, Schoch/Mende/Scherbaum 193. In excellent condition, 5 x 3 3/4 inches (128 x 98 mm).
Provenance:
Stefan Jamesy, Vienna and New York (Lugt 1529 d)
Watermark: Bull’s Head (Meder 70)
A fine fresh proof impression (before the edition of 1511)
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Saturday, October 24th, 2009
Gerald Leslie Brockhurst (1891-1978), Una (Portrait of a Creole Lady), etching, 1929, signed in pencil lower right [also signed in reverse in the plate lower left]. Reference: Fletcher 65, tenth state (of 10), from the edition of 111. In very good condition, the slightest marginal toning, printed on a cream wove paper with full margins, 8 5/8 x 6 1/4, the sheet 15 3/8 x 10 1/2 inches, archival matting.
A very fine impression, delicately printed in brownish/black ink.
Provenance: Kennedy Galleries, with their stock number (A53211) lower right.
A painting in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York by Brockhurst is related to this etching; the model is the same woman.
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 (Rushbury, McBey); to print lovers portraits such as this example show him at his best: as a master etcher, and superb draftsman.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Friday, October 23rd, 2009
Henri Matisse (1869-1954), Le Grand Nu, lithograph, 1906, signed and numbered (23/50) in pencil lower right. Reference: Duthuit-Garnaud 403, only state, from the edition of 50. Printed by August Clot, Paris. In excellent condition, the full sheet, 11 1/8 x 9 7/8, the sheet 17 11/16 x 13 3/4 inches, archival matting.
A fine rich impression, printed in black on a soft light China paper.
Le Grand Nu is Matisse’s first lithograph, drawn directly on the stone; it is a landmark print both in his career as an artist and printmaker, and in the history of modernist printmaking.
By 1906 Matisse had been involved in Fauvist art for a couple of years, and Le Grand Nu is often regarded as a Fauvist print (and so it is, at least chronologically). But as many commentators have observed, it also has strong cubist elements, although Braque and Picasso were to embark on their cubist work some time after Le Grand Nu. But perhaps the cubism of Le Grand Nu is really a reflection of the importance of Cezanne to Matisse – Cezanne’s ability to abstract form, to reduce objects to their simplest forms – his cones, cylinders, spheres. At about the time he created Le Grand Nu Matisse defined his aesthetic aims:
“What I am after is expression…Expression to my way of thinking does not consist of the passion mirrored upon a human face or betrayed by a violent gesture. The whole arrangement of my picture is expressive. The place occupied by figures or objects, the empty space around them, the proportions, everything plays a part….every part will be visible and will play the role conferred upon it…All that is not useful in the picture is detrimental. A work of art must be harmonious in its entirety; for superfluous details would, it the mind of the beholder, encroach upon the essential elements. “
detail
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Thursday, October 22nd, 2009
Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720-1778), etching, 1748 [signed in the plate lower left, and titled]. References: Wilton-Ely 87, Focillon 90. First Edition. From Varie Veduti de Roma Anticha e Moderna. In very good condition, stray spots of oil mostly on verso not affecting image, a written number in margin upper right, 4 3/4 x 7 3/4, the sheet 8 3/4 x 12 3/4 inches.
A fine early lifetime example from this series of small plates made early in Piranesi’s career. Printed in black on a firm cream laid paper.
The plates of the Views of Ancient and Modern Rome were made at the outset of Piranesi’s career. Impressions from the First Edition are rare; in fact any impressions from the set are quite rare, largely because Piranesi sold the plates, and they were not included in the many frequently re-issued editions of Piranesi’s collected works.
The Villa Ludovisi in Rome was built in the 17th century by Domenichino for the Cardinal Ludovico Ludovisi; the magnificent gardens were designed by Andre Le Notre, the architect of the gardens of Versailles.
The plate below by Israel Silvestre (1621-1691), an eminent 17th Century etcher, shows the Ludovisi Palace about 75 years earlier, before the construction of the gardens and elaborate entrance area and fountain. (This etching will be sold as an interesting companion piece to the Piranesi impression).
Detail
View of Villa Ludovisi circa 1770 by Israel Silvestre (1621-1691)
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Wednesday, October 21st, 2009
William Zorach (1887-1966), Pegasus, 1921, linocut, signed in pencil lower right. In very good condition, on thin cream laid paper with margins, 4 1/2 x 4 7/8, the sheet 8 x 7 1/2 inches, archival mounting.
A fine clear black impression.
Provenance: Heald Collection.
Pegasus is of course the winged horse of Greek mythology; among other stories, the young warrior Bellerophon rode Pegasus when he went off to slay the monster Chimaera, and after this success he rode Pegasus as he successfully destroyed a series of monsters. Pegasus is also the name of a constellation in the Northern Hemisphere.
Efram Burk, in his brilliant article on Zorach’s prints in the Print Quarterly (The Prints of William Zorach, December, 2002) conjectures that the rider in Zorach’s Pegasus might have represented a girl Zorach met while hiking in 1920; Zorach wrote that he had seen her riding, and he wrote her letters over a period of a decade.
Zorach studied modernist art in Paris in the years 1909-11, and was introduced to it as well through Marguerite Thompson, who met Matisse, Picasso, Zadkine, etc. in Paris at that time; Marguerite met Zorach in 1911 and they married in 1912. Pegasus, one of his more abstract compositions, was created in Provincetown, in 1921.
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Tuesday, October 20th, 2009
John R. Barclay (1884-1962), The Proof, drypoint, c. 1920, signed in pencil lower left and numbered (no. 9) lower right 9also with the stamp number 3551 . In very good condition, on a laid paper (with the partial watermark Gelder), with margins, 7 7/8 x 7 7/8, the sheet 14 3/8 x 9 7/8 inches, archival matting.
A fine impression of this rarely encountered image, printed in a dark brownish/black ink with substantial drypoint burr, and with a subtle layering of plate tone at the right and bottom of the composition, the left area and the face of the man wiped more thoroughly.
Barclay was a member of the Edinburgh Group, a group of Scottish painters who exhibited together in 1912 and 1913, and then after the war in 1919, 1920 and 1921. Other members of the group included Eric Robertson (1887-1941), William Oliphant Hutchison (1889-1970), and Mary Newbery (1892-1985).
This impressionistic composition of a man holding an etching proof may be a self portrait of the artist, and the print itself bears evidence of its being a working proof, i.e., it is printed toward the top of the sheet, and has a number of faint fingerprints or ink marks at the edges of the sheet.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Tuesday, October 20th, 2009
Arthur B. Davies (1862-1928), Girl Running (or Woman Running), drypoint, 1917, signed in pencil (twice) lower leftand dated lower right. Reference: Czestochowski 44, Price 126, first state (of 2). In very good condition, on a light cream laid paper, with margins, 4 3/8 x 3 7/16, the sheet 6 1/2 x 5 1/8 inches.
Provenance: ex Collection Elizabeth Luther Carey (pencil verso). Ms. Carey was an American art and literary critic, well-known in the early 20th century for her works on Tennyson, Browning and Emerson, and the artists Whistler, Daumier and Blake.
A fine impression, with much burr from the drypoint work, and selective plate tone, a bit darker under the lines which suggest a road or path near the bottom of the composition; also many lines have extended shading probably through the use of retroussage (pulling ink out of the etched or drypoint lines with a cloth or feather). Czestochowski notes that Davies experimented with different inkings on Girl Running in its first state, and we show another impression below in the same state (also in our collection) with a very different look because of the inking.
A comparison impression, with darker overall plate tone.
Posted in Arthur B. Davies |
Tuesday, October 20th, 2009
Arthur B. Davies (1862-1928), Iris (Nude Seated), 1916, drypoint on zinc, signed in pencil lower right. Reference: Czestochowski 33, second state (of 2), total printing unknown but small. In very good condition, with margins, printed in black with an overall plate tone on a light cream wove paper. 8 7/8 x 6 15/16, the sheet 12 1/2 x 9 5/8 inches, archival matting.
A very good impression, after the addition of roulette and various shades of aquatint in 1918.
In this delicately printed impression Davies achieves the floating gauzy effect of his pre-Armory show symbolist imagery. The light drypoint lines of the first state are now barely evident, as if they have been burnished, and three layers of aquatint now surround the wispy image.
There is an impression of Iris in the second state hand-colored by Frank Nankivell at Michigan State University. This was perhaps a guide for a contemplated color edition; however, no such color edition was made.
Posted in Arthur B. Davies |
Monday, October 19th, 2009
Arthur B. Davies (1862-1928), Iris (Nude Seated), drypoint on zinc, 1916, signed in pencil lower left. Reference: Czestochowski 33, first state (of 2). In excellent condition, on a very light laid paper. With margins, 8 7/8 x 6 15/16, the sheet 11 1/4 x 8 3/4 inches, archival matting.
Provenance: ex Collection Lansing C. Baldwin
A fine impression of this rare proof, with a substantial layer of plate tone, and burr from the drypoint work. This print was not editioned in any state.
This first state impression shows the design drawn in drypoint; in the second state aquatint was added as well as some roulette work.
At this stage of his printmaking career Davies was immersed in experimentation with cubism, surely as influenced by his involvement in the Armory Show of 1913 – but Davies had always been one of the few American artists conversant with the work of the European modernists. In Iris he explores a number of cubist elements such as the intersection of flat planes, while adhering to a realistic rendering of the central figure.
Detail
Posted in Arthur B. Davies |
Monday, October 19th, 2009
Arthur B. Davies (1862-1928), Moonlight on the Grassy Bank, soft ground etching and aquatint, drypoint and roulette, 1919, signed in pencil lower right. Reference: Czestochowski 71, fourth state (of 5); total printing unknown but small. In good condition apart from traces of foxing and staining especially toward to the margin edges away from the image, remains of prior hinging verso, with margins, 11 3/4 x 7 3/4, the sheet 14 1/4 x 9 7/8 inches.
A fine impression, with the aquatint layering contrasting vividly. Printed in black ink on a cream laid paper.
Moonlight on the Grassy Bank is a tour-de-force both compositionally and technically. Here Davies has his emblematic nude figures posing, dancing with their hands, in an usual vertical composition. The etching is rich with at least 4 layers of aquatint, from a very light layer on the figures and in the sky to a deep black in the tree. Davies has also added drypoint, with rich burr, as well as dotted lines created by a roulette, between the arms of the figure at the left, and the arm of the right figure and the tree.
Detail
Posted in Arthur B. Davies |
Thursday, October 15th, 2009
Gerard Edelinck (1649-1707), Philippe, Duc d’Anjou, after de Troy, engraving, c. 1698. Reference: Randall Coll. 736. In very good condition (remains of prior hinging verso), with margins, 15 1/4 x 11 1/2, the sheet 16 5/8 x 12 7/8 inches, archival matting.
Provenance: ex Collection Gottfried Eissler (Lugt Supplement 805b, with his stamp verso)
A fine impression.
Philippe, Duc d’Anjou (1683-1746) is pictured just before he was named King Philippe V of Spain in 1700. Philippe was born at Versailles, the second son of Louis, le Grand Dauphin and Duchess Maria Anna of Bavaria. At his birth he was named Duke d’Anjou, which he would be known as until he became the king of Spain.
Edelinck is of course well known as one of the great 17th Century masters of portraiture, and the burin. Francoise de Troy (1645-1730), who painted this portrait, was a renowned painter and engraver, a director of the Royal Academie of Painting and Sculpture, and a member of an eminent family of artists.
Detail
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Thursday, October 15th, 2009
Gerard Edelinck (1649-1707), Philippe, Duc d’Anjou, after de Troy, engraving, c. 1698. Reference: Randall Coll. 736. In very good condition (remains of prior hinging verso), with margins, 15 1/4 x 11 1/2, the sheet 16 5/8 x 12 7/8 inches, archival matting.
Provenance: ex Collection Gottfried Eissler (Lugt Supplement 805b, with his stamp verso)
A fine impression.
Philippe, Duc d’Anjou (1683-1746) is pictured just before he was named King Philippe V of Spain in 1700. Philippe was born at Versailles, the second son of Louis, le Grand Dauphin and Duchess Maria Anna of Bavaria. At his birth he was named Duke d’Anjou, which he would be known as until he became the king of Spain.
Edelinck is of course well known as one of the great 17th Century masters of portraiture, and the burin. Francoise de Troy (1645-1730), who painted this portrait, was a renowned painter and engraver, a director of the Royal Academie of Painting and Sculpture, and a member of an eminent family of artists.
Detail
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Thursday, October 15th, 2009
Jacques Villon (1875-1963), Pour le Bapteme de Madeleine, 1900, aquatint , etching, printed in soft blue ink, signed in pencil lower right and numbered 7/10. On laid paper. Reference: Genestet and Pouillon 45, only state. [Also signed in the plate “G Duchamp”, fully titled, dated “Juin 1900”, and with the name Madeleine added on the box cover (?) lower right.] In very good condition, the full sheet with margins (indications of inking in margins, as typical of a trial proof). 7 1/8 x 5 5/8, the sheet 14 1/4 x 11 inches.
A fine, delicately and lightly printed impression of this great rarity (the picture above shows a pink not in the actual print). Although an edition of 50 impressions is indicated, this print is only rarely encountered, and is here numbered as in an edition of 10.
In 1970 Lucien Goldschmidt (Jacques Villon, A Collection of Graphic Work 1896-1913 in Rare or Unique Impressions) catalogued an impression of “Pour le Bapteme de Madeleine” as the frontispiece of a menu, presumably for the celebration of Madeleine’s (Villon’s young sister) Baptism.
At this early point in his career (he was 25) Villon had begun experimenting with aquatint; this proof shows that he had achieved mastery by this time.
Posted in Jacques Villon |
Tuesday, October 13th, 2009
Raoul Dufy (1877-1953), L’Amour, woodcut, 1910, signed in pencil lower right and annotated “a J. E. Laboureur”, printed on a chine appliqué, in adequate condition apart from small creases mostly in margins, a stain and associated thin spot lower left. Printed apart from the early edition of 100 which were signed and numbered by Dufy (there was also a later edition unsigned and estate stamped); this is probably a proof apart from the initial edition of 100 reserved for the artist (which he then gave to Laboureur). Impressions from the original edition are now rare. 11 7/8 x 12 1/2, the sheet 17 3/8 x 20 1/2 inches.
A very good impression of this important woodcut.
It is quite fitting that we find Dufy inscribing this woodcut to Jean-Emile Laboureur (1877-1943). Laboureur and Dufy were contemporaries (born in the same year, 1877), and both were influenced by similar currents of modernism, including the adaptation of the woodcut technique to modern art (particularly the example of Vallotton’s woodcuts), and of course Cubism. Dufy had an early exposure to Cubism (in 1908, working with Braque at L’Estaque, near Marseilles); Laboureur created his unique adaptation of the Cubist idiom a few years later.
L’Amour is one of a set of woodcuts Dufy made on his return in 1910 from a visit to Munich; observers have noted that it shows evidence of his being inspired by the German Expressionists. But largely because of its date and Dufy’s involvement with the Fauvists, L’Amour can be seen as an important example of Fauvist woodcutting. The set of woodcuts was exhibited at the Salon d’Automne of 1910.
Detail
Posted in Raoul Dufy |
Monday, October 12th, 2009
Adriaen Van Ostade, The Singers, circa 1668, etching. References: Godefry, Hollstein 19. The fifth state (of seven). In very good condition. [with the inscription on the plate [A. v. oftade fecit et excud.]. With margins, 9 7/16 x 7 17/32, the sheet 9 17/32 x 7 19/32 inches. On old laid paper.
Provenance: Craddock and Barnard, London, acquired on December 8, 1967 by Dr. S. W. Pelletier (with his stamp verso, Lugt 4193). Dr. Pelletier was known for his fine collection of Van Ostade etchings (as well as superb examples of etchings by Rembrandt, Van Dyke, Meryon, and others).
A fine impression in black ink on ivory laid paper, with superb contrasts.
In this state the three vertical lines above the jug are crossed by three diagonal strokes, also appearing in the margin, before the scratch on the nose of the standing man). Dr. Pelletier notes that Godefry is not correct in stating that state V is a Picart (and thus possibly posthumous) printing; and that the Picart is of state VI (cf. Adriaen Van Ostade, Etcher of Peasant Life in Holland’s Golden Age, pp. 109-110. This impression is illustrated in this volume, p. 106).
Further data on this and other Van Ostade prints, in the exhibition catalog for the 1998 exhibition at the Rembrandthuis, Everyday Life in Holland’s Golden Age: The Complete Etchings of Adriaen van Ostade, sheds additional light on the dating of this impression. Laurentius points out, based on watermark evidence, that there were posthumous printings of Van Ostade prints in the period 1685-1700, probably by Gole, and indeed, that Picart may not have printed/published a posthumous edition at all. In the initial essay in the catalogue Pelletier revises his ’94 opinion that this impression is definitely lifetime in light of Laurentius’s conclusion that the print in this state is found in the posthumous editions. Pelletier notes, however, that “In some cases impressions of a Picart-Gole state are still in the condition left by Van Ostade. My own studies indicate that the following fifteen etchings, in the states corresponding to those in the Picart-Gole edition, do not contain the characteristic fine, close, parallel strokes, and therefore probably exist in lifetime impressions: B. 1,2,5,6,8,10,13,16,19,20,24,27,33,40, and 41.” He then gives examples of Mariette-dated prints that were in lifetime states but the same states in the posthumous edition(s). (Slatkes also notes that whomever produced the early posthumous edition re-worked only those plates which were especially worn.) Laurentius points out that a number of the etchings examined did not have watermarks. Watermark evidence would shed light on the lifetime status of this impression but unfortunately, without the watermark evidence, we can not conclude with certainty that this is not (or is) a lifetime impression (and we can not find a watermark on this impression, nor could Pelletier).
The Singers is one of Van Ostade’s most important and impressive works. It shows four singers, three of whom are highlighted by the candlelight held by the man at the left; a fourth man is in the shadows upper left, and other shapes, suggesting figures, lurk in the background as well.
The Singers probably depicts members of a rhetorical group; these groups were common in The Netherlands during the late 15th and 16th centuries (there were two in Haarlem at the time, and many local artists such as Frans Hals and Esaias van de Velde, were members). Their members presented public readings, plays, and sponsored literary competitions. Jan Steen created well-known paintings of such a group (at Worcester and Philadelphia), probably after Van Ostade’s conception. Van Ostade as well made several drawings and a watercolor on the subject, and probably at least one painting (now lost). The triangular shape at the bottom of the etching is surely the upper half of a “blazon” or coat of arms that these rhetorical groups used to identify themselves.
Detail
Posted in Uncategorized |
Monday, October 12th, 2009
Etienne Delaune (1519-1583) Grotesques Sur Fond Noir, engravings, circa 1560, the set of 6 plates of Grotesques Sur Fond Noir (Oval Compositions of Divinities and Fables). Reference: Robert-Dumesnil 371-376. Very good condition, tiny crease upper left margin (R-D 373); parts of collector’s stamps on several at margins; trimmed well outside of oval borders, archival mat. Sizes: two prints are larger size (R-D 375-6 2 7/8 x 2 1/4 inches), the rest smaller (R-D 371-4 2 1/4 x 2 1/2 inches). Archival mounting.
Fine impressions of these rarities.
Provenance: unidentified collector’s stamps (not in Lugt) recto
The greatest achievement of the early 16th C. French School of engraving was in ornamental and architectural prints, and Delaune, trained as a goldsmith, was the pre-eminent master and leader of this school. In this set we see depictions of Apollo, Mars and Hercules, as well as women with palms, women sitting, and a sacrificial altar; each in great detail in a gloriously ornamental context.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Monday, October 12th, 2009
Adriaen Van Ostade, The Singers, circa 1668, etching. References: Godefry, Hollstein 19. The fourth state (of seven). In very good condition. With the inscription on the plate [A. v. oftade fecit et excud.]. With margins, 9 7/16 x 7 15/32, the sheet 9 3/4 x 7 3/4 inches. On old laid paper with the Fleur de Lys in Crowned Shield watermark, a variant of the several comparable watermarks cited by Godefry as characteristic of the early impressions.
Provenance: J. Danser Nyman, sale Amsterdam, March 19, 1798, to Hendriks [Knoedler Gallery, New York (Lugt 2007)]; Martin Carlsson, Stockholm; George Bjorklund, Stockholm, acquired from him on August 18, 1966 by Dr. S. W. Pelletier (with his stamp [twice] verso). Inscribed in graphite by J. Danser Nyman verso, also by another unidentified collector [OE] in violet ink verso. (This is the earliest state impression of this print collected by the eminent Van Ostade collector Dr. S. W. Pelletier.)
A fine richly printed impression in black ink with plate tone, with superb contrasts – a fine example of Van Ostade’s use of chiaroscuro – on ivory laid paper. This state shows Van Ostade’s signature bottom right, and the three very tiny vertical strokes across the border above the jug at the top, before the further shading above.
It is of course only in the early, lifetime impressions that Van Ostade etchings can be fully appreciated. Additional printings were made posthumously; this is the fourth state; the Picart (posthumous) edition was made in the sixth state (not the fifth, as noted by Godefry). Godefry described impressions of this state as “rare.”
The Singers is one of Van Ostade’s most important and impressive works. It shows four singers, three of whom are highlighted by the candlelight held by the man at the left; a fourth man is in the shadows upper left, and other shapes, suggesting figures, lurk in the background as well.
The Singers probably depicts members of a rhetorical group; these groups were common in The Netherlands during the late 15th and 16th centuries (there were two in Haarlem at the time, and many local artists such as Frans Hals and Esaias van de Velde, were members). Their members presented public readings, plays, and sponsored literary competitions. Jan Steen created well-known paintings of such a group (at Worcester and Philadelphia), probably after Van Ostade’s conception. Van Ostade as well made several drawings and a watercolor on the subject, and probably at least one painting (now lost). The triangular shape at the bottom of the etching is surely the upper half of a “blazon” or coat of arms that these rhetorical groups used to identify themselves.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Tuesday, October 6th, 2009
Adriaen Van Ostade (1610-1685), Bust of a Peasant (or, A Female Peasant Laughing), etching, 1647 (see discussion below). Reference: Godefroy 2, third state (of 5). In very good condition, with small margins outside of the platemark, 1 1/4 x 1 1/4 inches.
A fine strong impression, before the artist’s initials were added and the borderline was strengthened with a burin.
Godefroy indicates that impressions from this state were included in the later Picart edition, but there is evidence that impressions of this state were also taken before the Picart edition; this impression appears sufficiently fine to suggest that it is a lifetime impression.
Godefroy dates this to 1636, but subsequent authorities have concluded that this work is far too mature to date that early, and suggest a later date (Schnackenburg 1647-52; Slatkes 1650-52).
This was probably meant as a companion piece or pendant to Godefroy 1, Bust of a Laughing Peasant.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Tuesday, October 6th, 2009
Francisco Goya (1746-1828), Hilan Delgado, (They Spin Finely), etching, aquatint, drypoint and burin, 1799. References: Harris 79, Delteil 81. Plate 44 from Los Caprichos, First Edition (of 12), edition of approximately 300. In very good condition, with wide margins, 8 1/4 x 6, the sheet 11 5/8 x 8 inches.
A fine impression, printed in sepia ink, on a fine quality, soft but strong laid paper. The two layers of aquatint contrast effectively with the highlights on the spinner. The drypoint lines on the threads held by the spinner, and the gravure lines on her neck, can be seen clearly in this impression (along with touches of burr).
Goya’s commentary: They spin finely and the devil himself will not be able to undo the warp which they contrive.
Detail
Posted in Uncategorized |
Tuesday, October 6th, 2009
Francisco Goya (1746-1828), Se Repulen (They Spruce Themselves Up), etching, burnished aquatint and burin, 1799. References: Harris 86, Delteil 88. Plate 51, Los Caprichos, First Edition (of 12), edition size was approximately 300. In very good condition, with wide margins. Printed on fine quality, soft but strong laid paper, 8 3/8 x 6, the sheet 12 x 8 inches.
A fine impression, printed in sepia ink, with the 2 layers of aquatint contrasting well between each other and the white sky. The burnishing on the figures and the cloud to the right creates an effective half-tone. (These subtleties are lost in the later, posthumous, impressions from the eleven subsequent editions of Los Caprichos.)
This is one of the series of portrayals of witches in the Caprichos. Goya’s commentary: This business of having long nails is so pernicious that it is forbidden even in Witchcraft.
Detail
Posted in Uncategorized |
Tuesday, October 6th, 2009
Wenzel Hollar (1607-1677), The Mineral Spring, etching, c. 1645. Reference: Pennington 1238, fourth state (of 4). In generally adequate condition, trimmed on or just into the borderline, tiny nick lower margin edge, repair (?) upper right, hinging slightly showing through. 4 5/8 x 7 5/8. Watermark: Crown with initials MM.
A good/fair impression, showing wear at the extreme left.
This interesting composition shows a sunken stone basin with steps; water is running from two pipes in a decorated wall. People are seated in the basin and under the trees, and a man with two pitchers walks toward the well.
Pennington notes that various locations have been identified for the Mineral Spring.
The publisher, Paul Furst (1608-1666) died about a decade before Hollar.
Detail
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Monday, October 5th, 2009
Wenzel Hollar (1607-1677), Charles I, etching, 1644. Reference: Pennington 1686, third state (of 3) [with initials WH fec in the plate]. On laid paper, In adequate condition, a pinhole in the wide margin at bottom away from image, slight staining in spots, with small margins top and sides, larger bottom, 9 7/8 x 7 3/4, the sheet 11 1/2 x 8 inches, archival matting.
A fair impression printed in 1705 for the frontispiece of Edward Walker’s Historical Discourses, with lettering verso (showing through slightly).
Charles I is pictured bareheaded, in armor, holding a baton; in the background between the horse’s feet are battalions of cavalry and infantry.
Detail
Posted in Wenzel Hollar |
Wednesday, September 30th, 2009
State 14
Henry Somm (1844-1907), Japonisme, drypoint, c. 1881. Four proofs, in states 2 (with pencil additions), 7, 14, and an intermediate state between 7 and 14 with pencil drawing, states 2, 7 and 14 signed and annotated as to their states. Each impression in good condition, with margins, 9 1/2 x 12 1/2 inches.
State 2: A fine impression on wove, with a figure drawn in to the left of the woman, with extensive penciling below the woman’s face and elsewhere in preparation for later states, signed and annotated “2 epreuves”.
State 7: A fine rich impression on cream wove, still with the figure to the left of the woman, but with two figures added in the lower foreground – a woman in a stylish dress and a devilish figure to her left, signed and annotated “7eme etch” and 2 epr”.
Intermediate working proof: A fine rich impression on cream laid paper, with the man at the right fully drawn as in state 7 above, but with the figure to the left of the woman and the two foreground figures burnished out, with extensive penciling in the unprinted areas.
State 14: A fine rich impression on cream wove, with the man on the right now holding a lantern with a detailed picture on it, standing on folders and in front of a house, signed and annotated 14 etat, 2 epreuves.
Henry Somm, whose original name was Francois-Clement Sommier, was a well-known impressionist illustrator and artist, a friend of Buhot, and of course much influenced by Japonisme.
State 2, with extensive pencil additions
State 7, with new figures in the foreground
Working Proof between states 7 and 14, with extensive penciling.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Wednesday, September 30th, 2009
Charles Meryon 1821-1868), La Morgue, etching, fourth state (of 7), printed in brown/black ink, Schneiderman 42 [with the inscription, date, address in the plate]. In very good condition, with margins (several nicks at margin edges, remains of prior hinging verso, tiny loss left margin edge, bottom right corner). 9 x 8 1/8 inches, the sheet 10 13/16 x 9 1/2 inches.
Provenance:
Sir John Day (his blindstamp recto lower left, Lugt 526)
C.W. Dowdeswell, 36 Chancery Lane, London (stamp verso, Lugt 690)
Arthur Hahlo and Company
A fine, richly inked impression, printed on thin laid paper in a dark brown/black ink.
Meryon personally printed the impressions of this state (he printed all the impressions of The Morgue up to state 6 himself). In this impression he has left a delicate layer of plate tone throughout, but has wiped the plate slightly more on the central third of the plate.
The Morgue isone of the Meryon’s greatest achievements, and a landmark in 19th Century printmaking. It was done as part of Meryon’s program of creating etchings of some of the wonderful architectural landmarks of Paris that had remained essentially untouched through the years, but that were likely to be demolished or moved. (The morgue, moved after the etching was made, stood on the Ile de la Cite; it was built in 1568, and was formerly an abbatoir.) The superimposed roofs, the collision of angles, the striking contrasts of shadows all create an aesthetic excitement that was new to the art of its time, and eventually became recognized as an early expression of modernism, presaging cubism, and even precisionism. The composition has a mysterious quality – not only because of its subject matter, but because of the extraordinary mood Meryon achieves through the interplay of lights and shapes.
Detail
Posted in Charles Meryon |
Monday, September 28th, 2009
Charles Meryon (1821-1868), La Morgue, etching, 1854, third state (of 7), printed in dark brown/black ink. References: Delteil Wright 36, Schneiderman 42. On a thin laid paper with a watermark with the initials CD. In excellent condition, hinge remains verso, with margins, image 8 3/8 x 7 1/2, the plate 9 1/8 x 8 1/8, the sheet 9 3/4 x 8 1/2 inches.
A superb atmospheric impression, with extensive and selective wiping of the plate, and particularly effective inking and plate tone in the ominous clouds of smoke and the shadowy areas at the left. The richness of the lines attest to the fine condition of the plate at this stage of its evolution. This is of course a proof impression hand printed by Meryon.
Provenance: Henri M. Petiet, with his blue oval stamp verso (affixed to the hinge verso); cf. Lugt 2021A).
Impressions of the Morgue in the third state are of the utmost rarity. One impression of the first state is known (National Gallery), 2 of the second (Cincinnati and Paris), and eight of the third. We have not seen other impressions of this state on the market, and believe this may be the only impression of the third state still in private hands (cf. James D. Burke, Charles Meryon Prints and Drawings, p. 70; other third state impressions are in Cincinnati, Chicago, Detroit, London, New York, New York PL, and Washington).
In this state the borderline and work on the composition are complete, but the inscriptions in cursive at the lower border have yet to be entered (including the name, date, address).
The Morgue is one of the Meryon’s greatest achievements, and a landmark in 19th Century printmaking. It was done as part of Meryon’s program of creating etchings of some of the wonderful architectural landmarks of Paris that had remained essentially untouched through the years, but that were likely to be demolished or moved. (The morgue, moved after the etching was made, stood on the Ile de la Cite; it was built in 1568, and was formerly an abbatoir.) The superimposed roofs, the collision of angles, the striking contrasts of shadows all create an aesthetic excitement that was new to the art of its time, and eventually became recognized as an early expression of modernism, presaging cubism, and even precisionism. The composition has a mysterious quality – not only because of its subject matter, but because of the extraordinary mood Meryon achieves through the interplay of lights and shapes.
Posted in Charles Meryon |
Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009
Ursula Fookes (1906-1991), Dancers, two linocuts, c. 1930, each signed in pencil, one impression also numbered (9/50). Only state. In very good condition, one impression trimmed to the image (with a fold or crease across the matrix), the other with about a half inch margin (two tiny loses in the lower margin).
Fine fresh impressions of these great rarities. Each printed on a very thin Japanese mulberry paper. Printed in green, sea green, red, brown, blue.
These prints are mirror images of each other. We initially thought these were from separate linocut plates, but after much examination realized that since the paper is so thin Ms. Fookes was able to turn one impression over, sign it on the verso side, and achieve a slightly (almost indiscernible) different, muted, effect (in addition to an entirely different direction).
Ursula Fookes was a member of the Grosvenor School, the early 20th Century British movement associated with Sybil Andrews, Claude Flight, and Cyril Power. Her linocuts were made in small editions, and only recently, as the work of Andrew et al has become sought after, has it been brought to the light of the marketplace. We have not encountered other impressions of this print.
Because of the unusual method Fookes employed to create these two impressions, they will be sold as a pair.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009
Hans Sebald Beham (1500-1550), Ornament with Two Genii Riding on Two Chimeras, engraving, 1544 [with initials and date in the plate]. References: Bartsch 236, Hollstein 241, Pauli 241, third state (of 4, but see note below). In very good condition, trimmed on the borderline, slight thinning bottom verso, 1 1/4 x 4 inches.
A superb impression; impressions of this quality are of the greatest rarity in today’s print market.
The state progression of this print is subtle, e.g., the second state is identified as one hatching on the shank of the genius on the left, the third as “with a third diagonal hatching on some parts of the background”, and the fourth as a fourth vertical hatching between the body of the left genius and the back of the chimera. We have had difficulty assessing the state but believe this is an early impression based on it’s extraordinary quality.
Beham was one of the Northern Renaissance Little Masters, so called because of their eminence in producing small-scale engravings such as Ornament with Two Genii Riding on Two Chimeras. Beham was born in Nuremberg in 1500, and may have trained under Durer, though his training is no more certain than that of his younger brother Barthel. He made his first engraving in 1518, and later became known for producing woodcuts, as well as engravings.
This is one of the tiny prints Beham which no doubt served as the basis for decoration of objects during the Northern Renaissance, objects such as clocks, locks, cups, ceramics, stained glass windows, boxes, cabinets, swords, etc.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009
Hans Sebald Beham (1500-1550), Hercules and Cerberus, engraving, 1545. Bartsch 100, Pauli 104, Hollstein 67, second state (of 3) [with initials, date and title in the plate]. In very good condition, trimmed on the platemark but outside of the borderline, 2 1/4 x 3 inches.
Provenance: I.H. von Hefner, Alteneck (Lugt 1254, his stamp on verso)
A fine impression.
This shows the last of Hercules’s labors: pulling Cerberus out of the underworld. To do this he got Pluto to bring the monstrous dog into the light of day, but on the condition that Hercules would not use his weapons to drag Cerberus – and so his weapons can be seen on the ground.
The buildings burning in the background are borrowed from a Caraglio print of the same subject; Beham borrowed heavily from Italian sources for his Labors, and in fact his entire series appears to have been based on Caraglio’s series.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009
Emil Orlik (1870-1932), Am Gänsehäufel in Wien, 1911, soft-ground etching, signed and dated in pencil lower right. In very good condition, on firm laid paper with margins, 5 1/2 x 8, the sheet 9 3/4 x 12 1/2 inches.
A fine impression of this great rarity; few impressions are known to exist. Printed on a cream colored laid paper in dark brownish/black ink.
In this splendid example of Orlik’s printmaking expertise, he may have used aquatint to achieve the solid areas of print and selected wiping of the plate to achieve shading; the burr on some of the figures suggests that he used the drypoint needle as well.
I am indebted to Alan Wolman, Orlik expert, for his pointing out that The Gänsehäufel was a popular swimming resort on the banks of the Danube, still existing today. (A treasury of Orlik information is available on his website www.orlikprints.com)
Posted in Emil Orlik |
Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009
Hans Sebald Beham (1500-1550), A Mask Held by Two Genii (First State) 1544, engraving, Bartsch 228, Pauli, Hollstein 232, first state (of 2), [initialed and dated in the plate], in excellent condition, trimmed on the platemark but outside of the borderline, archival mounting. 1 15/16 x 2 7/8 inches.
A brilliant impression of the rare first state.
In the second state lines were added to the right hand of the geni at the left; in this first state impression these lines have yet to be added (see detail below).
Provenance: Unidentified collector EW (with initials in graphite verso, not located in Lugt).
Beham was one of the Northern Renaissance Little Masters, so called because of their eminence in producing small-scale engravings such as A Mask Held by Two Genii. Beham was born in Nuremberg in 1500, and may have trained under Durer, though his training is no more certain than that of his younger brother Barthel. He made his first engraving in 1518, and later became known for producing woodcuts, as well as engravings.
A Mask Held by two Genii is one of the better known small prints made by Beham which has (apparently) served as the basis for decoration of objects during the Northern Renaissance, objects such as clocks, locks, cups, ceramics, stained glass windows, boxes, cabinets, swords, etc.
Detail
Posted in Uncategorized |
Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009
Henri Matisse (1869-1954), Jeune Femme Enserrant son Genou Gauche (Young Woman Holding her Left Knee), drypoint, 1929, signed in pencil lower right margin and numbered (24/25). Reference: Duthuit 144, only state. From the edition of 25 (there was also one artist’s proof). In good condition (unobtrusive creasing upper right), printed on chine applique on a strong Arches wove paper, the full sheet, 4 7/8 x 6 1/8, the sheet 11 x 12 3/8 inches.
A fine impression.
In his small etchings and drypoints Matisse displayed a mastery of draftsmanship unmatched in modernist printmaking. Jeune Femme Enserrant is a splendid example of Matisse’s genius.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Sunday, September 20th, 2009
Hans Sebald Beham (1500-1550), A Mask Held by Two Genii, 1544, engraving, Bartsch 228, Pauli, Hollstein 232, second state of two,[initialed and dated in the plate], in very good condition, trimmed on or possibly just into the platemark but outside of the borderline (on the borderline at left), some ink drawing verso not visible recto, archival mounting. 1 15/16 x 2 7/8 inches.
A fine black evenly printed and clear impression. In this second state lines have been added to the right hand of the genius at the left.
Provenance: Dr. Karl Herweg, with his stamp verso (Lugt 3974).
Beham was one of the Northern Renaissance Little Masters, so called because of their eminence in producing small-scale engravings such as A Mask Held by Two Genii. Beham was born in Nuremberg in 1500, and may have trained under Durer, though his training is no more certain than that of his younger brother Barthel. He made his first engraving in 1518, and later became known for producing woodcuts, as well as engravings.
A Mask Held by two Genii is one of the better known small prints made by Beham which has (apparently) served as the basis for decoration of objects during the Northern Renaissance, objects such as clocks, locks, cups, ceramics, stained glass windows, boxes, cabinets, swords, etc.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Wednesday, September 16th, 2009
Hans Sebald Beham (1500-1550), an engraving after Beham’s Two Fools (or Fool and Foolish Woman), engraving, c 1540, a copy or impression in reverse of Pauli 215, Bartsch 213, the copy after the first state. In excellent condition, trimmed on or just outside or inside the plate mark, on old laid paper, numerous notes in pencil verso, 1 15/16 x 2 1/16 inches.
A brilliant impression of this famous image, after the Beham composition.
The subject matter for this print was addressed by numerous artists in the 15th and 16th centuries. In this rendering the allusions refer to the folly of love. For example, the man holds what was known as the “fool’s stick”, an instrument with obvious phallic references. The woman rests her hand on a vessel, a reference to female sexuality. The man holds a flagon of wine – wine drinking was at the time a metaphor for love-making. Many prints of the time show flies or dragonflies flying around a lover’s head in association with love; here three dragon flies circle the man, but another is aiming toward the woman.
Detail
Posted in Hans Sebald Beham |
Saturday, September 12th, 2009
Reginald Marsh (1898-1954), Steeplechase, etching and engraving, 1932, signed in pencil lower right and numbered (13) lower left. Reference: Sasowsky 138, Tenth state (of 10). Edition of about 25. Very good condition, a touch of light tone, printed on a cream wove paper, with margins, 7 7/8 x 10 7/8, the sheet 9 1/16 x 12 inches, window matting.
A superb black impression.
This is one of Marsh’s iconic Coney Island images, a couple – a girl and a sailor – at the center of the composition, and two girls at either end. The sense of movement is palpable.
Posthumous impressions were made for the Whitney benefit edition, but of course these are merely a ghostly reminder of the richness and sweep of the lifetime impressions, which in this case was printed by Marsh personally (he printed impressions 6 through 19).
A painting was made of this subject, called George Tilyou’s Steeplechase, which is now at the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
Steeplechase Park was one of the most famous amusement parks in the industry’s history. The park opened in 1897 and its feature attraction was the Steeplechase Ride, a horse race which wound around the Pavilion of Fun. The park closed in 1964.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Thursday, September 10th, 2009
Charles Meryon (1821-1868), Le Pont au Change, 1854, etching. Reference: Schneiderman 40, fifth state (of 12). On old laid paper with a Crowned Shield watermark. In very good condition, with full margins, 6 1/8 x 13 1/8, the sheet 11 1/2 x 17 1/4 inches.
A brilliant, rich impression, printed in dark brown ink.
Provenance: Dr. William Pelletier, with his stamp on verso.
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), as evidence of Meryon’s mental instability after his stay at the institution Clarenton; and of course there were other possibilities. Indeed, the meanings of the print in its earlier states – the ironies of the conjunction of the balloon Speranza, the drowning man and those turning away from him, and the funereal procession, for example – has been the subject of much speculation as well.
It is however indisputable that in this early state, Le Pont au Change is one of the most dramatic and beautiful of Meryon’s compositions.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Tuesday, September 8th, 2009
Jean-Emile Laboureur (1877-1943), Chez la Corsetiere, soft ground etching and drypoint, a color etching made with two plates, 1934, signed in pencil lower left, also titled and inscribed “epreuve d’essai (en couleur)” and “tire a 5 epreuves” lower margin by the artist. Reference: Sylvain Laboureur 494, first state (of 2). In excellent condition, printed on a cream wove paper with the watermark initials AMV. The full sheet with margins, 8 1/4 x 6, the sheet 11 x 8 3/4 inches, archival matting.
A fine impression of the rare first state, before additional definitional lines to the mirror and other areas were added. Printed in black and sanguine. Only 5 trial proofs of the first state were made, and only 22 impressions printed overall (although a larger edition may have been intended).
In this trial state this print has an experimental impressionistic quality which is quite affecting and effective; in the second state the composition was more straightforward and perhaps a bit less seductive.
$1250
Posted in Jean-Emile Laboureur |
Friday, September 4th, 2009
Arthur B. Davies (1862-1928), Sea Maidens (or, Sunshine; Girls on the Beach), soft ground etching and aquatint, 1919, signed in pencil lower right. Reference: Czestochoski 79, second state (of 3). Total edition unknown but small. In generally good condition apart from a tear (repaired, now unobtrusive, see detail one below) upper center c 1″ into image, soiling verso and in margins, nicks at paper edges. Printed in black on a green laid paper. With margins, 8 x 11 7/8, the sheet 9 5/8 x 14 1/2 inches.
A fine impression, with the several aquatint layers contrasting effectively against the greenish paper (see detail number 2 below).
Czestochoski describes the first state as a cut down plate focusing on the group of girls, with some aquatint on the girls, and the second state as the larger plate. This is curious because ordinarily the first state would be the larger plate; the cutting down of the plate would be later (and then this impression would be a first state).
This modernist/symbolist composition is one of Davies’s most popular; he rendered it in a drawing and oil as well.
Detail #1
Detail #2
Posted in Arthur B. Davies |
Thursday, September 3rd, 2009
Emil Orlik (1870-1932), Old Arab Man, etching with platetone, c. 1912-16, signed in pencil and annotated (or dated) 16. In very good condition, printed on cream laid paper, 3 3/4 x 2 1/8, the sheet 5 3/4 x 3 7/8 inches.
A fine clear impression.
The invaluable Emil Orlik website (www.orlik.com) dates this print to about 1912; they note that “In 1912 he made his next important journey abroad, visiting North Africa, Ceylon, China, Korea and Japan, returning via Siberia.”
Orlik demonstrates his familiarity with the old masters, especially Rembrandt, in this tiny print – he had carefully studied and copied the old masters as a student, working at the Munich Pinakothech in the early 1890’s.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Thursday, September 3rd, 2009
Charles Emile Jacque (1813-1894), Petits, Petits, etching on chine colle, c. 1864 [signed in the plate upper left, also with the name of the artist and the printer (Sarazin)]. Reference: Guiffrey 187, third state (of 3). In good condition, the full sheet, 5 x 6 7/8, the sheet 12 x 16 3/4 inches, archival matting.
Provenance:
Alfred Beurdeley (his stamp recto lower right, Lugt 421).
A fine clear impression.
Although Jacque’s training as an artist was spotty, he did learn printmaking early in his career, and developed a strong reputation in the graphic arts. In 1845 Baudelaire wrote of this young printmaker, who had submitted a copy of a Rembrandt self-portrait to the Salon: M. Jacque is a name which will continue, let us hope, to grow greater. M. Jacque’s etching is very bold and he has grasped his subject admirably. There is a directness and a freedom about everything that M. Jacque does upon his copper which reminds one of the old masters. He is known besides to have executed some remarkable reproductions of Rembrandt’s etchings.
When a cholera epidemic hit Paris in 1849 Jacque and his family, along with his friend Millet, decided to move to Fountainebleau, where they were to become associated with the famed Barbizon School.
Detail
Posted in Charles Émile Jacque |
Thursday, September 3rd, 2009
Henri Rivière (French, 1864-1951), Loguivy le Soir (Loguivy at Evening), 1904,Plate 7 for Le Beau Pays de Bretagne. Published by Eugène Verneau, Paris. Color lithograph. Signed in blue crayon lower right and numbered 37 [also signed in the stone]. The full sheet with full margins, 9 x 14, the sheet 19 x 23 5/8 inches. In good condition, some soft folds well outside of the image.
Provenance: ex Collection Ernest Shapiro
A fine atmospheric impression, with the intentionally subdued colors effectively contrasting.
Rivière was one of the most creative artists of his time – he created a form of shadow theatre at the Chat Noir in Paris in the late 1880’s; later he helped originate color printmaking in woodcuts and lithographs; he was a photographer and etcher as well. Much of his work was influenced by the Japanese woodcut tradition, and that’s evident in Loguivy le Soir, which, although it is lithography, has the look of a complex woodcut.
Rivière first visited Brittany in 1884, spending most of his summers there until 1916. Together with bustling Parisian life, rural Brittany was the subject for most of his landscape works.
Posted in Henri Rivière |
Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009
Alphonse Legros (1837-1911), Un Charron (The Wheelwright), etching, c. 1890, signed in pencil lower right. Reference: Bliss 267. In good condition, printed on a cream laid paper with a flower (?) watermark, with margins, 6 x 8, the sheet 6 5/8 x 8 5/8 inches.
Provenance:
Frank E. Bliss (with his stamp verso, Lugt 265. Bliss was the author of a catalogue raisonne of the Legros prints).
Collection of the Artist. The following is written on the mat: “Ex library Deigton 16/12/09. The proof bought from Deighton was subsequently exchanged Legros for the proof in the artist’s Private Collection.”
A fine lightly printed impression, printed with a layer of plate tone.
It is also noted on the mat “Rare only 10 proofs.”
The wheelwright is apparently shaping wheels or related implements from the wood being brought to him by the woman to his left.
Detail
Detail
Posted in Alphonse Legros |
Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009
Alphonse Legros (1837-1921), A Wayfairer, etching and drypoint, c. 1890, signed in pencil lower right [also signed in the plate lower right]. Reference: Bliss 265. In good condition, with margins (some dealer stock numbers in margins, slight soiling), printed on a cream laid paper, 5 1/2 x 10 5/8, the sheet 9 x 12 7/8 inches, archival mounting.
Provenance:
Frank E. Bliss (stamp [variation] lower right recto, Lugt 265. Bliss was the author of the a catalogue raisonne for the artist)
C.J. Knowles (1840-1900), London, oval stamp with initials CJK (Lugt 576). Knowles was an active art collector, a close friend of Legros, as well as other artists such as Strang and Rodin.
A fine impression.
The British Museum entitles their impression Un Vagabond Passant dans une Ruelle.
Detail
Posted in Uncategorized |
Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009
Barbara Latham (1896-1988), Bear Family, 1937, wood engraving, unsigned [signed and dated in the block]. Published by American Artists Group. In excellent condition, on an ivory wove paper, the full sheet with full margins, 10 x 8, the sheet 13 x 18 inches. Window matting, with archival board, unattached mylar hinging.
A fine impression of this charming image.
The American Artists Group was formed in 1934, during the Great Depression, with the express purpose of providing unsigned inexpensive prints which were to be widely distributed. AAG published prints by Ganso, Spruance, Meissner, Ruzicka and Lankes, among many other noted artists. Although the prices of these prints was minimal, sales were sluggish in that economy and editions were not sold out; most printings were under 200 and many under 100. Today, these prints are prized and highly valued by discerning print collectors.
Barbara Latham studied art in New England and New York, and started her career as a commercial artist. She later moved to Taos, New Mexico, married artist Howard Cook, and became famous in her own right for her paintings and prints depicting people and animals of the Southwest.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Tuesday, September 1st, 2009
Honore Daumier (1808-1879), The Fireworks (Le Feu D’Artifice), lithograph, 1840. Reference: Daumier Register 656, second state (of three). Published initially in this state in Actualities as number 14 in this series; then later in state 3 in La Charivari. A sur blanc impression, in very good condition, printed on a cream wove paper, 11 5/8 x 8, the sheet 13 3/4 x 10 inches, archival mounting.
A fine fresh impression of this night scene, with dark charcoal blacks contrasting with the light of the woman lower left and the father.
This sur blanc impression has no lettering verso; it is from the rare collector’s limited edition, made at the time of the publication of the lithograph in newsprint for collectors who wanted the Daumier lithographic composition on a heavier paper than the newsprint, and without the interference of the newsprint in the image.
Taken unabashedly from the invaluable Daumier Register, here’s a translation:
Original Text:
LE FEU D’ARTIFICE.
Un Père est un traiteau donné par la nature.
Translation:
AT THE FIREWORKS DISPLAY.
A father is a draft horse, provided by nature.
$250
Detail
Posted in Uncategorized |
Tuesday, September 1st, 2009
Richard Earlom (1743-1822), etching and roulette, mezzotint, 1776, after a drawing by Claude Lorrain (Claude Gelee), number 135 from the Original Collection of the Duke of Devonshire, 1776, published by John Boydell. [With the lettering in the plate Claude le Lorrain delin at left, the Boydell address center, R. Earlom fecit right, and below the lettering From the Original Drawing in the Collection of the Duke of Devonshire, No. 135]. In generally good condition, with margins (a stain upper right edge well away from image), printed in sepia on a laid paper with a watermark 1809, 8 1/4 x 10 1/4, the sheet 10 1/2 x 16 1/2 inches, matted.
A very good impression.
Richard Earlom was a master printmaker, specializing in the mezzotint. In 1774 the Duke of Devonshire lent his collection of Claude drawings to the publisher Boydell for the purpose of having them engraved, and Boydell commissioned Earlom to do this job. It took about three years, and resulted in several volumes entitled Liber Veritas – the same as the title for the collection.
To create the look of the original drawings Earlom started with etching, then used the roulette tool which he was familiar with in his mezzotint work to create the wash tones. It appears that in certain areas Earlom would scrape the roulette work, using a conventional mezzotint technique, to create areas of solid wash with varying intensities of darkness and light. The plates were then printed in a sepia ink, similar to the bistre of the drawings.
The impressions were printed in a number of editions; the watermark 1809 suggests a printing of that date. Earlom died in 1822.
Detail
Posted in Richard Earlom |
Tuesday, September 1st, 2009
Harriet Lanfair (1900-1988) lithograph, c. 1935, signed in pencil on lower right margin. Printed on a very light japan paper, with margins. A proof impression, with printers ink and creasing in irregularly trimmed margins (as characteristic of a working proof, these margin defects not affecting image), slight foxing also mostly in margins. Archival matting, 8 1/4 x 13 inches, the sheet 12 x 15 inches.
A fine impression of this rarity – this is a working proof impression, and we know of no edition or other impressions of this fascinating composition that have appeared on the market.
Lanfair, a California painter and printmaker (born in Pasadena, studied art in California and lived in the LA area), specialized in lithography; she exhibited actively with the LA Print Group during the 1930’s.
Posted in Harriet Lanfair |
Tuesday, September 1st, 2009
Richard Earlom (1743-1822), etching and roulette, mezzotint, 1776, after a drawing by Claude Lorrain (Claude Gelee), number 162 from the Original Collection of the Duke of Devonshire, 1776, published by John Boydell. [With the lettering in the plate Claude le Lorrain delin at left, the Boydell address center, R. Earlom fecit right, and below the lettering From the Original Drawing in the Collection of the Duke of Devonshire, No. 162]. In generally good condition, with margins (a stain upper right edge well away from image), printed in sepia on a laid paper with a watermark 1809, 8 1/4 x 10 1/4, the sheet 10 1/2 x 16 1/2 inches, matted.
A very good impression.
Richard Earlom was a master printmaker, specializing in the mezzotint. In 1774 the Duke of Devonshire lent his collection of Claude drawings to the publisher Boydell for the purpose of having them engraved, and Boydell commissioned Earlom to do this job. It took about three years, and resulted in several volumes entitled Liber Veritas – the same as the title for the collection.
To create the look of the original drawings Earlom started with etching, then used the roulette tool which he was familiar with in his mezzotint work to create the wash tones. It appears that in certain areas Earlom would scrape the roulette work, using a conventional mezzotint technique, to create areas of solid wash with varying intensities of darkness and light. The plates were then printed in a sepia ink, similar to the bistre of the drawings.
The impressions were printed in a number of editions; the watermark 1809 suggests a printing of that date. Earlom died in 1822.
Detail
Posted in Richard Earlom |
Tuesday, September 1st, 2009
Jerome Myers drypoint, Springtime: Immigrant Mother and Children, circa 1907, signed in pencil lower right, in good condition (soft printer’s creases lower left margin corner), on a soft cream wove paper with a shell/leaf watermark, wide margins, 7 7/8 x 5 7/8 (the sheet 17 1/4 x 11 1/2) inches, archival mounting.
A fine clear impression, with a veil of plate tone, with substantial drypoint burr.
Myers (1876-1940) 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; this is a prototypical example of his work. 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 run 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 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 with an impressionistic approach to printmaking.
Posted in Jerome Myers |
Monday, August 31st, 2009
Honore Daumier (1808-1879), Les Envies de Madame, lithograph, c. 1839-42, plate 32 from the series Moeurs Conjugales. Reference: Daumier Register 655, second state (of 3). In good condition, sur blanc, 12 x 8 1/2, the sheet 13 1/2 x 10 1/2.
A fine impression with the blacks particularly strong and fresh.
This is a sur blanc impression, produced especially for collectors in a limited edition; the paper is a cream wove, and there is no newprint verso as found in the journal impressions.
This print was first published in the journal La Caricature, then later it was selected for publication in La Charivari.
Here is a translation, taken from the Daumier Register:
Original Text:
LES ENVIES DE MADAME.
– Oscar je veux manger du melon ! va m’acheter du melon !
– Mais il est une heure du matin, et nous sommes en Janvier !
– N’importe, Oscar, je veux du melon à tout prix, ou je vais te mordre.
Translation:
THE WHIMS OF A WIFE.
– Oscar, I want to eat a melon! Go and buy a melon for me!
– But it is one o’clock in the morning and we are in January!
– Doesn’t matter, I want a melon at any cost, or else I bite you!
$250
Detail
Posted in Uncategorized |
Monday, August 31st, 2009
Kenneth Hayes Miller (1876-1952), Nurse and Child (or Virgin and Child), etching, c.1928, signed in pencil lower right and numbered 25 lower left. Reference: Associated American Artists 25, from the edition of about 25, probably the second state (of 2). Printed on a strong wove paper, watermark FRANCE. In good condition apart from moderate light stain, with margins, 6 7/8 x 5, the sheet 10 1/2 x 7 7/8 inches.
A very good impression, with the lines added to the pillow at the left, and cross hatching added to the woman’s dress at the right.
Hayes Miller studied at the Art Students League and the New York School of Art, teaching at the latter for 12 years and the former for 38 years. His students at the League included Isabel Bishop, Edward Hopper, Reginald Marsh, and Yasuo Kuniyoshi. He loved printmaking, and studied and emulated the old masters including Durer and Rembrandt, Callot and Meryon. He exhibited at the famous Armory Show in 1913, and his paintings and prints were shown widely throughout his life; his work is represented at the Whitney, MOMA, Brooklyn and Met in New York, and other museums throughout the US.
Detail
Posted in Kenneth Hayes Miller |
Monday, August 31st, 2009
Kenneth Hayes Miller (1876-1952), Nurse and Child (or Virgin and Child), etching, c.1928, signed in pencil lower right, titled Virgin and Child, signed, priced ($25) and addressed by the artist verso (Hayes Miller, 6 E. 14th Street, New York). Reference: Associated American Artists 25. A proof impression of presumably the first state (of 2?), in generally good condition but somewhat soiled in the margins, remains of prior hinging verso, some grease stains in margin and matrix bottom right and verso, creases in matrix (all as befitting a proof impression). On a heavy wove paper, 6 7/8 x 5, the sheet 8 x 6 inches.
A fine strong impression, with plate tone.
This is a first or early state, before lines were added to the pillow at the left and elsewhere.
Hayes Miller studied at the Art Students League and the New York School of Art, teaching at the latter for 12 years and the former for 38 years. His students at the League included Isabel Bishop, Edward Hopper, Reginald Marsh, and Yasuo Kuniyoshi. He loved printmaking, and studied and emulated the old masters including Durer and Rembrandt, Callot and Meryon. He exhibited at the famous Armory Show in 1913, and his paintings and prints were shown widely throughout his life; his work is represented at the Whitney, MOMA, Brooklyn and Met in New York, and other museums throughout the US.
Detail
Posted in Kenneth Hayes Miller |
Monday, August 24th, 2009
Edward Landon (1911-1984), In the Beginning, serigraph, 1953, signed in pencil lower, titled lower left, and numbered (7/25) center. Reference: Ryan 102, only state, from the edition of 25. In good condition (no signs of prior matting or framing), with margins (soft folds in margins away from image), 12 x 18, the sheet 15 x 21 1/2 inches.
A very good impression, printed in colors on a cream wove paper.
During his travels from about 1950 Landon devoted himself to the study of pre-Christian Scandinavia art, filling his notebooks with studies of Viking ships, runes, sculpture and design. The forms in In the Beginning are direct descendants of prehistoric Celtic petroglyphs.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Monday, August 24th, 2009
Edward Landon (1911-1984), Time Silhouette, serigraph, 1969, signed in pencil lower right, inscribed “Edition 30” lower center, and titled lower left. Reference: Ryan 201, only state, edition of 30. In excellent condition (no sign of prior matting or framing), the full sheet with margins (some trivial soft folds near edges), 18 x 9, the sheet 13 1/4 inches.
A fine rich impression. This is the cover print for the Ryan catalogue raisonne of the Landon prints.
Late in his complicated and often difficult life and career Landon often focused very intently on a few well-chosen forms, leaving aside the complex imagery and references of earlier years. Among these career-culminating images, Time Silhouette is one of his most successful.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Monday, August 24th, 2009
Edward Landon (1911-1984), Disputation, serigraph, 1949, signed in ink lower right and titled in pencil lower left. Reference: Mary Ryan 59, only state, from the edition of 35. Pictured in Ryan on page 18. In good condition (soft folds at bottom edge not near image); the full sheet, 21 1/2 x 25 1/2, the sheet 25 1/2 x 14 7/8 inches.
A very good impression, printed in colors on a cream wove paper.
Disputation exemplifies Landon’s involvement with abstraction, and with Surrealism – with its concerns with irrationality, absurdity and unconsciousness. Here, figures appear to be in conflict but they seem to arise from the same place, so the conflict portrayed may be psychological, internal.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Monday, August 24th, 2009
George Biddle (1885-1973), Carnival in Rio No. 4, lithograph, 1947, signed and dated in pencil lower right; titled lower left [also signed and dated in the stone lower left]. Reference: Pennigar 151, only state, from the edition of 20. In good condition, with margins (remains of prior hinging verso), 10 1/2 x 11 1/4, the sheet 11 3/4 x 16 inches, not matted.
Biddle signs and dates the print “Biddle 1944” in the stone in barely visible scratches just above the pencil title. This dating would presumably change Pennigar’s dating of the print from 1947 to 1944. Also, it might change the title of the print; perhaps this should be Carnival in Rio No. 1 (currently the title for Pennigar 141, dated to 1944) or Carnival in Rio No. 2. Still, Biddle dated the print in pencil 1947 – could this be the date he signed it, a couple of years after it was printed?
A very good impression, printed in black on wove paper.
After Groton, Harvard College and Harvard Law (and several breakdowns) Biddle decided that a conventional career in law was not for him; he decided on art, went to Paris, worked with Mary Cassatt and familiarized himself with modernist currents in art (as well as more traditional European art).
After serving in WWI, and the dissolution of his marriage, he became interested in working outside of the European tradition (although his travels continued to include Europe, and he spent a period working under the influence of Jules Pascin in Paris in the mid-20’s).
Carnival in Rio seems to reflect Pascin’s influence, particularly in the modernistic flattening of the perspective, and also in the exacting lithographic lines more characteristic of drypoint (a favorite medium for Pascin) than lithography. Indeed, the black areas of the print have the character of drypoint burr.
This print along with several other Rio subjects was based on sketches Biddle made while in Rio de Janeiro in 1942 executing a mural.
Detail
Posted in George Biddle |
Monday, August 24th, 2009
Honore Daumier (1808-1879), Un Dernier Toast, lithograph, 1843. Reference: Daumier Register 1040, third state (of 4). With letters [signature in the stone]. From the Album Les Canotiers Parisiens, Plate number 18. With text this print appeared in the journal Le Charivari; it was also issued sur blanc (see below) by Pannier and Aubert. In good condition, slight staining outside of image lower left, 11 1/2 x 8, the sheet 13 7/8 x 10 1/2 inches.
A fine clear impression.
This is a sur blanc impression, printed in a small contemporaneous edition for collectors (probably 100-150 impressions only). This form of the print was and generally is preferred over the newprint impressions for a number of reasons – the paper is better quality, one doesn’t see newsprint through the image because there’s no newsprint verso (that’s why they call it sur blanc), and of course it’s just rarer than the newsprint editions – and for all these reasons the sur blancs do have the drawback of being more costly than the newprint versions (although the price difference is minimal given the other differences).
I unabashedly quote the invaluable Daumier Register for a translation:
Original Text:
UN DERNIER TOAST.
Messieurs, ne retournons pas à bord sans porter un dernier toast en l’honneur de deux des objets qui contribuent le plus à charmer notre existence… buvons aux dames et au veau froid…….
Translation:
A LAST TOAST!
Gentlemen, let’s not go back on board without a final toast in honour of the two things which, most of all, bring charm to our lives… let’s drink to the ladies and cold veal!
$325
Detail
Posted in Uncategorized |
Friday, August 21st, 2009
Charles Turzak (1899-1986), Methodist Temple, Chicago, c. 1930, woodcut, signed, titled and numbered (16/50), from the edition of 50. Reference: Turzak 22. In very good condition, with margins on a very thin hand made Japan paper, 8 1/2 x 13 1/4, the sheet 16 x 11 1/4 inches; archival mounting.
A fine bright impression. Printed on a cream/tan paper in a black ink.
Turzak noted in his catalogues that this print was cut on bass wood, and that this was the “view from my studio window – 6th floor.”
Turzak was a painter, printmaker, illustrator and designer. While a high school senior he won a national cartoon contest sponsored by Purina Mills. With the (relative) notoriety and riches he achieved through the contest he was able to get into (and pay for) the Art Institute of Chicago in 1920. After graduating in 1924 Turzak stayed in Chicago as a free-lance and commercial artist.
He gained a measure of serious fame during the Depression, participating in various federal arts programs; his modernist versions of Chicago sights created during those years are particularly valued today.
After the Depression he made more commercial art, then in his later years worked again as a painter and printmaker. His art is represented in the collections of the Library of Congress, Yale University Art Gallery, The Art Institute of Chicago, Northwestern University’s Mary and Leigh Block Gallery, the Illinois State Historical Library, and other public collections.
Detail
Posted in Uncategorized |
Tuesday, August 18th, 2009
Michael Goldberg (1924-2007), Cover (from Odes)– – 1961, Color Serigraph.
Edition 10. Signed, dated and annotated Special Edition 2/10 in pencil.
Image size 16 1/4 x 13 1/2 inches (425 x 343 mm); sheet size 19 5/8 x 14 15/16 (498 x 379 mm).
A fine, painterly impression, with fresh colors, on off-white wove paper; full margins (5/16 to 2 1/4 inches), in excellent condition.
Created for the Tiber Press four-volume set of poetry by Kenneth Koch, John Ashbery, Frank O’Hara, and James Schuyler, illustrated with original silkscreen prints by Alfred Leslie, Joan Mitchell, Michael Goldberg, and Grace Hartigan. The four volumes are entitled Permanently, Odes, Salute, and The Poems. Printed by Floriano Vecchi.
Posted in Michael Goldberg |
Tuesday, August 18th, 2009
Cornelis Bega (1631/32-64), The Young Hostess, c. 1660-64, etching. Reference: Hollstein, Bartsch 33, third state (of 5). With the address of J. Covens and C Mortier bottom left – before the address was removed (in the fourth state) and the artist’s signature was added (in the fifth state). In excellent condition, printed in black/grey ink on an old laid paper, with a 3/16 inch margin outside the plate mark all around, archival matting.
Provenance: Ex collection Graff (with stamp verso, Lugt 1092a), LRV (with stamp verso, Lugt 1761), an unidentified collector’s stamp verso, and Dr. Karl Herveg (his stamp verso, not in Lugt). (Verso illustrated.)
A very good impression, with the guidelines of the address strongly visible.
Dr. Karl Herweg was a noted collector of 17th Century Dutch prints, especially those of Van Ostade and Bega. Dr. Herweg bought most of his old master prints from CG Boerner in Dusseldorf, where he was advised by legendary connoisseur and scholar-dealer Eduard Trautscholdt whose real passion was the etchings of the Haarlem genre painter-etchers: Cornelis Bega, Adriaen van Ostade, and the latter’s pupil Cornelis Dusart.
In this late stage of Bega’s career he typically grouped his figures tightly in a pyramidal cluster. Here the setting is austere, with various elements extending the middle grouping. The light comes from an undisclosed source in the foreground, and from the open window at the right.
The figures in this scene are characteristic of Bega’s portrayals of Dutch tavern life in the late 17th Century: one old patron caresses the barmaid as the other – his left foot seemingly placed between the feet of the girl – chews on a bone.
Verso, showing collector's marks
Posted in Cornelis Bega |
Monday, August 17th, 2009
Lester George Hornby (1882-1956), Market Day on Blvd. Edouard Quinet, Paris, c. 1910, etching, signed in pencil lower right and numbered (8/30) lower left [also signed and titled in the plate lower left. In excellent condition, with small margins (trimmed just outside of the plate mark top and sides, a bit more space below), 6 x 8 7/8, the sheet 6 3/8 x 9 3/8 inches.
Provenance: Kennedy Galleries, New York (with their label intact)
A fine impression, printed in a dark brown ink on thick laid paper, with a strong layering of plate tone wiped slightly more towards the middle of the composition to highlight the donkeys and the activity underneath the central market tents.
Hornby moved from Massachusetts to Paris in 1906, and made that his home base for several years while he traveled throughout Europe.
The critic Rowland Thomas wrote in 1910 “Hornby is beyond doubt a master etcher with such power of eye and hand as our generation has hardly known before. Not since Whistler posed with the Universe on his needle point has anyone scratched on solid metal lines of such electrifying, such insolently simple conciseness as these- a new old Paris leaps transfigured and revealed for those who will glory in her.”
Hornby often numbered prints in terms of his hoped for sales rather than in terms of the actual number of impressions printed; hence this print, rarely encountered, may in fact have been issued in less than 30 impressions.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Friday, August 14th, 2009
Muirhead Bone (1876-1953), On the Stocks, lithograph, 1917, signed in pencil lower right [also signed in the stone], in very good condition (remains of hinging verso), printed on a handmade cream wove paper, 13 7/8 x 18, the sheet 15 1/4 x 21.
Provenance: Kennedy Galleries, New York, with their mat and annotations.
A very good impression.
Bone started his printmaking career in lithography, eventually achieving renown as a leader of the British Etching movement through his work in etching and drypoint. On the Stocks suggests that lithography, rather than drypoint, would seem to be just the right medium to capture the rough grit and smoke of shipbuilding, and the mammoth size of the effort – but Bone created most such compositions in drypoint.
In On the Stocks a large merchant ship is being built under a shed to shelter a hive of workmen beneath the weather. The many little railways seen in the foreground bring the material from the shops to the stocks. This is one of a group of lithographs of the Western Front (a reproduction of which is included in a book called the Western Front, Doubleday, New York, 1917, with drawings by Bone, documenting the World War I effort); it was also included (as number 2) in a set of 6 lithographs entitled Building Ships.
Detail
Posted in Uncategorized |
Thursday, August 13th, 2009
Arthur B. Davies, Uprising, soft ground etching and aquatint on a green laid paper, 1919, signed in pencil lower right margin. Reference: Czestochowski 78, second state (of 3). In good condition, with margins (slight mat stain away from platemark); on a green laid paper. From a small edition, 6 x 9, the sheet 8.3/4 x 12 inches.
A fine atmospheric impression, carefully printed in black/grey ink on old green laid paper.
The first state of this print was before the aquatint; it was in soft ground etching only (the third state was printed in color by Frank Nankivell in 1924). The few impressions of the second state show the aquatint to fine effect.
At this stage of his career Davies was experimenting with modernism in his printmaking; he had developed substantial expertise in sophisticated printmaking techniques (here effectively using soft ground and aquatint), and was fusing the cubism which interested him in the years after the 1912 Armory Show (he was a primary organizer of the show), with the symbolism that had led him to be regarded as America’s most distinguished artist prior to that. His printmaking continues to be one of the most interesting areas of his work.
This is one of a large number of Davies prints that we maintain in our inventory. Inquiries about these, or other fine prints, are always welcome.
Posted in Arthur B. Davies |
Thursday, August 13th, 2009
Jacques Callot (1592-1635), Les Fantaisies, etchings, 12 from the set of 14, 1635. Reference: Lieure 1372-5, 1377-84, first states (of 2); the frontispiece second state (of 2). In excellent condition (the Lieure numbers had been written on each, now erased), with small/thread margins, printed on laid paper, each c. 2 9/16 x 3 3/8 inches.
Fine early impressions of these tiny figures, three to a sheet. These first state impressions are each before the numbers which were added to the lower right.
According to Lieure, in each of these prints Callot depicts the “dames, les seigneurs et les cavaliers du regne de Louis XIII.” They are drawn in a line, with all the grace and character of the figures that Watteau would paint a half-century later.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Thursday, August 13th, 2009
Jean-Emile Laboueur (1877-1943), La Repasseuse (The Presser), 1937, engraving and drypoint. Signed and numbered in pencil (29/67) [with the monogram bottom left]. Reference: Sylvain Laboureur 527, third state of three. In good condition, on tan wove paper, with wide margins (remains of prior hinging verso), 9 1/4 x 7, the sheet 13 1/2 x 10 1/2 inches, archival mounting.
A fine impression.
Jean-Emile Laboureur traveled to Paris in 1895 intending to study law at the Sorbonne, but found himself drawn to the nearby famed Academie Julian, and although he never officially matriculated there, he became immersed in the Parisian art scene. In 1886 he met Toulouse Lautrec, who influenced Laboureur’s emerging aesthetic style, as did the work of Odilon Redon, Bonnard, and perhaps most notably Felix Vallotton, who became a close colleague. Laboureur traveled widely, staying for periods in the US and London, and studying classic art and printmaking in Italy and Germany. Although he had moved back to Paris by 1910, a time when analytical cubism was emerging in the work of Picasso and Braque, he continued working in an abstract, modernist mode, waiting until about 1913 or shortly thereafter to invent a cubist idiom all his own. Cubism remained an important theme for Laboureur, a theme he varied, sometimes using it as a strong design or compositional component, sometimes only as a subtle background element.
In La Repasseuse, Laboureur shares his fascination with the modernist shapes of the shirts and collars dwarfing the girl pressing them in the background. His work is perhaps looser than usual, and, at this mature stage of his career, brimming with confidence.
$900
Posted in Jean-Emile Laboureur |
Wednesday, August 12th, 2009
Grace Hartigan (1922-2008), Untitled (from Salute), 1961, color serigraph, edition not stated, unsigned, numbered 23 in pencil verso.
Image size 17 x 14 1/2 inches (432 x 368 mm); sheet size 17 1/2 to 14 1/2 inches (445 x 368 mm).
A fine, painterly impression, with fresh colors, on the full sheet of off-white wove paper; with top and bottom margins (1/16 to 1/2 inch) and the image extending to left and right sheet edges; in excellent condition.
Created for the Tiber Press four-volume set of poetry by Kenneth Koch, John Ashbery, Frank O’Hara, and James Schuyler, illustrated with original silkscreen prints by Alfred Leslie, Joan Mitchell, Michael Goldberg, and Grace Hartigan. The four volumes are entitled Permanently, Odes, Salute, and The Poems. Printed by Floriano Vecchi.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Wednesday, August 12th, 2009
Arthur B. Davies (1862-1928), Dawn (or, Kneeling Figure), 1918, soft ground etching and aquatint, signed in pencil lower right. Reference: Czestochowski 59, second state (of 3). In very good condition, with margins, 11 7/8 x 7 7/8, the sheet 14 x 9 1/2 inches. Printed in black ink on a cream wove paper.
A fine impression of this very strong composition.
Dawn is unusual among Davies’s printed images for the great clarity and strength of the image, undergirded by the blackness of the aquatint background. At this stage of his career Davis was making a transition from explorations into the areas of cubism/modernism, back to a Symbolist idiom that had characterized much of his work prior to World War I and the 1913 Armory Show. Although not cubist, Dawn could certainly be regarded as essentially modernist.
Posted in Arthur B. Davies |
Wednesday, August 12th, 2009
Arthur B. Davies (1862-1928), Baptism (or, Group of Ten Men – One Seated), drypoint on zinc, 1917, signed in pencil , printed in black on very thin laid paper. In very good condition, cockling top and bottom margins (result of printing process), the matrix excellent, 6 3/8 x 4 1/4, the sheet 9 1/2 x 8 1/2 inches. Reference: Czestochowski 52, second state (of 2), total printing unknown but small.
A fine rich impression of this great rarity (most of the other impressions are in museums), with substantial burr from the drypoint work, with platetone overall but carefully wiped to shed more light on the central figures.
An excellent example of Davies’s cubism, which he experimented with after the 1913 Armory Show (which he was instrumental in organizing). Here Davies begins with a characteristic composition – a complex Symbolist figural group – and re-works it in a modernist/cubist spirit. Baptism, and the few other cubist/modernist prints that Davies did at this time are important expressions of the growing American interest in modernist art; Baptism is one of his most successful achievements in this realm. After several more such works he returned to the “pre-modernist” Symbolist idiom which had earned him the esteem of his artist colleagues, and the reputation as one of the great American artists of his time.
Posted in Arthur B. Davies |
Wednesday, August 12th, 2009
Arthur B. Davies (1862-1928), Guiding Spirit, 1918, etching, drypoint and roulette, signed in pencil lower right. Reference: Czestochowski 55, Second state (of 2), edition of 22, 4 ¾ x 6 7/8, the sheet 8 ¾ x 11 inches. In good condition apart from some light rust marks or paper imperfections dotting the surface.
A fine impression with substantial burr from the drypoint work, wiped selectively so that the central floating figures are much lighter than the figures below or to the sides.
Printed in black on a cream wove paper.
A superb example of Davies’s Symbolist work as well as a demonstration of his effectiveness in using the medium of printmaking to achieve his aesthetic aims.
Posted in Arthur B. Davies |
Wednesday, August 12th, 2009
Felix Vallotton (1865-1925) woodcut The Piano Player, 1896, signed in blue crayon, numbered 35, from the edition of about 100. Plate IV of Instruments de Musique. Reference: Vallotton and Goerg 174. In good condition apart from an unobtrusive printing crease at right, occasional pale staining in margin, with full margins, conservation matted, 9 x 7 1/8 inches, the sheet 12 7/8 x 10.
Provenance: Sold at Christie’s New York, May 3, 1999.
A fresh, clearly printed impression of this striking composition, printed on cream wove paper.
Vallotton was the Fin de Siecle master of the modernist woodcut, using just a few lines to create a readable and delightful image. Nowhere is this ability more evident than in The Piano.
The pianist portrayed is Raoul Pugno, a well-known turn of the century musician.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Saturday, August 8th, 2009
Gerald Brockhurst (1890-1978), A Galway Peasant (also, An Irish Peasant), etching, 1920, signed in pencil lower right. Reference: Fletcher 10, from the edition of 55, third state (of 3), printed on laid paper, the full sheet, in very good condition (remains of prior hinging verso), 4 x 4 1/4, the sheet 10 1/2 x 9 inches, window mount.
A fine impression, printed in greyish/black ink on ivory laid paper.
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 (including the famed Adolescence) and several portraits of contemporaries (Rushbury, McBey); to print lovers portraits such as this example show him at his best: a master etcher, and superb draftsman.
Posted in Gerald Brockhurst |
Saturday, August 8th, 2009
Gerald Brockhurst, Elizabeth (Anais, also called the London Coster Girl), etching, 1922, signed in pencil lower right, also initialed and annotated “1st State” lower left margin corner [also signed, in reverse, in the plate lower left]. Reference: Fletcher 32, first state (of 10), 2 proofs in this state, edition of 76. In very good condition, with inkmarks, slight soiling and fingerprints in the margins as befits an early proof impression. 7 x 5 3/8, the sheet 8 1/2 x 11 1/8; the image is 5 3/4 x 4 3/8.
A very fine impression of this first state impression (there were only two proofs in this state), before any wear and thus with Brockhurst’s exquisite detailing intact.
In this state Brockhurst has yet to cut the plate down to the borders which he has etched in in this proof, so the plate mark is well away from the image. The composition is completed at this stage. There are some practice etching marks in the borders; these will of course be lost when the plate is cut down, and at that point Brockhurst also strengthened the borderline.
The subject appears to be Brockhurst’s first wife. A coster is one who sells goods – fruits, vegetables, crafts – on the street.
Posted in Gerald Brockhurst |
Saturday, August 8th, 2009
Irving Wolfson (b.1899), West Street, New York City, etching and drypoint with plate tone, signed, titled and inscribed in pencil “ed 99.” In very good condition (with only the slightest hint of any light stain) on a cream laid paper with margins, 11 7/8 x 7 7/8, the sheet 15 1/4 x 11 1/4 inches, archival mounting.
A fine atmospheric impression.
Wolfson here looks at downtown, facing east from West Street (which lies close to the Hudson on the lower west side of Manhattan), and of course the most famous landmark from that vantage point at the time (and perhaps still today) is the Woolworth Building, which is the large building in the composition.
Wolfson was working in the tradition of Whistler, and later Pennell, leaving some ink in selected areas on the copper plate when he printed this (instead of wiping the plate clean), thereby creating plate tone (darker or lighter areas where more or less ink is left on the plate) representing areas of darkness and light, shadows and space.
Posted in Irving Wolfson |
Saturday, August 8th, 2009
Michael Augustin Power O’Malley (1870-1946), Cat in Doorway, c. 1930, etching and drypoint, on pinkish/tan wove paper with the watermark with the Van Gelder Zonen Holland watermark, with condition issues: slight creasing in the image, creasing, handling folds and soiling in the margins, rippling in the matrix associated with printing, staining verso, browning toward margin edges, the full sheet with full margins, deckle edges. 9 7/8 x 8, the sheet 18 3/4 x 12 1/4 inches, not matted.
A very good impression of this modernist, stark image.
Provenance:
Ex Collection: Albert M. Bender Collection
San Francisco Museum of Art (with its label verso)
Christie’s New York, 2008
Power O’Malley was born in Waterford, Ireland in 1870, studied at the National Academy of Design with Robert Henri and Walter Shirlaw, and between 1913 and 1919 painted covers for Life (magazine). He was active in Los Angeles in 1926-29 and, after a decade in Ireland, again in 1938. He died in New York on 3 July 1946.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Friday, August 7th, 2009
Honore Daumier (1808-1879), Les Mannequins Politiques, lithograph, 1834. Reference: Daumier Register 96, first state (of 2), on wove paper (no lettering verso).Published in La Caricature, 11/20/1834. In good condition, slight soiling at outer edges, with wide margins, 9 1/2 x 10 1/2, the sheet 10 5/8 x 13 3/4 inches.
Provenance: ex Collection: Vouay, S. Mme (Lugt 2373c, with the red stamp lower right recto)
Here is the explanation of this print, and translation, unabashedly taken verbatim from the invaluable online Daumier Register (with my continuing indebtedness and thanks to Lilian and Dieter Noack):
Two persons, the King and de Rigny (or Dupin?) are holding straw puppets. The caption says: “This game only lasted three days”. The King is holding Marshall Gérard, playing the old political game of shaking straw men at each other. Between July 1834 and March 1835, Louis-Philippe was unable to form a stable government. A provisional government was formed, which lasted only three days.
Original Text:
Les Mannequins Politiques.
Ce jeu n’a duré que trois jours.
Translation:
Political puppets.
The game has lasted only three days.
$700
Posted in Honore Daumier |
Friday, August 7th, 2009
Adolphe Beaufrere (1876-1960), Fermes et Marais, Port-Louis, 1908, etching, signed in pencil lower right [also initialed and dated in the plate lower right]. References: Morane 08-03, Laran 36. Printed on a thin wove Japan paper, in brown/olive ink. In very good condition, with margins, 7 7/8 x 11 3/4, the sheet 8 1/2 x 12 1/4 inches.
Provenance: acquired directly from Jean-Noel Beaufrere, the artist’s son.
A fine impression, with a light veil of plate tone, carefully wiped more cleanly in the field and middle sky; the foreground, especially the foreground right, is dark.
Morane notes that the intended edition was 40, there were 3 proofs of a first state and 5 of a second.
Beaufrere was born at Quimperle, in Brittany, and though he traveled widely he re-connected with this area throughout his life. As a teenager he decided that he wanted to become an artist and he traveled to Paris where, shortly after his arrival, he encountered the eminent Gustave Moreau, who took him on as a student. Moreau encouraged him to study old master prints, especially the prints of Rembrandt and Durer, which were available in the Cabinet des Estampes in Paris – this was to be critical in his development. He was also influenced by the stirrings of modernism in Paris at the time, as well as the Japanese woodcut tradition and the French frenzy with Japonisme.
Beaufrere began printmaking near the end of his formal training; he made a number of woodcuts, but soon focused more on etching and engraving, as well as painting (curiously, one of his printmaking teachers at that time was the Canadian etcher Donald Shaw MacLaughlan; Fermes and Marais appears to evidence a MacLaughlan influence). He began showing his prints, with some success, but after his marriage in 1905 his new wife convinced him to move out of Paris and back to Brittany, a move having a mixed effect on his career – contacts with other artists became fewer, but he did maintain gallery relationships, and the French countryside and it’s inhabitants would provide a continuing source of inspiration – as illustrated in Fermes et Marais, Port-Louis.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Friday, August 7th, 2009
Adolphe Beaufrere (1876-1960), Lavoir de Kervino, 1908, etching, with the Beaufrere red estate stamp lower left recto [also signed and dated in the plate lower right]. References: Morane 08-02, Laran 35. Printed in a dark brown ink, on a thin wove Japan paper. In very good condition, unobtrusive water stain lower left, crease lower right corner, with margins, 9 1/2 x 12, the sheet 10 1/4 x 13 1/4 inches.
Provenance: acquired directly from Jean-Noel Beaufrere, the artist’s son.
A fine impression of this very rare print.
This impression is probably a first state working proof, before some foliage was added lower right, shading lines lower left, and clouds in the sky (as illustrated in Morane). Morane notes that there were only 6 proofs of the state he illustrated (presumably the second state); then the plate was cut down radically to about one-third of its width, leaving only a strange looking vertical print of the trees and lavoir (where a woman appears to be washing her feet); then cut a bit more for a small edition of 10.
Beaufrere was born at Quimperle, in Brittany, and though he traveled widely he re-connected with this area throughout his life. As a teenager he decided that he wanted to become an artist and he traveled to Paris where, shortly after his arrival, he encountered the eminent Gustave Moreau, who took him on as a student. Moreau encouraged him to study old master prints, especially the prints of Rembrandt and Durer, which were available in the Cabinet des Estampes in Paris – this was to be critical in his development. He was also influenced by the stirrings of modernism in Paris at the time, as well as the Japanese woodcut tradition and the French frenzy with Japonisme.
Beaufrere began printmaking near the end of his formal training; he made a number of woodcuts, but soon focused more on etching and engraving, as well as painting (curiously, one of his printmaking teachers at that time was the Canadian etcher Donald Shaw MacLaughlan). He began showing his prints, with some success, but after his marriage in 1905 his new wife convinced him to move out of Paris and back to Brittany, a move having a mixed effect on his career – contacts with other artists became fewer, but he did maintain gallery relationships, and the French countryside and it’s inhabitants would provide a continuing source of inspiration – as illustrated in Lavoir de Kervino.
Posted in Adolph Beaufrere |
Thursday, August 6th, 2009
Francisco de Goya Y Lucientes (1746-1828), La Tauromaquia, the complete set of 33 etchings with aquatint, drypoint and engraving, 1814-16. First Edition, with the explanatory text page, impressions printed in sepia ink on laid paper, one with watermark SERRA, nine with watermark MORATO. References: Delteil 224-256, Harris 204-236, 247 x 353mm, the sheets approx. 298 x 411 mm. Published in Madrid by the artist, with wide margins, in very good condition, some plates with unobtrusive printing creases, with black cloth-covered binding with artist’s name in gilt.
Fine impressions of this great rarity.
Provenance:
M. Murillo (19th C.), bookseller, Madrid (not in Lugt, with his label inside back cover)
Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery (1847-1929), The Durdans, Epsom, Surrey (not in Lugt, his stamp on the front fly-leaf)
Philip Hofer (1898-1984), Curator, Houghton Library, Harvard University (not in Lugt, with his book plate inside front cover)
Much has been written about Goya’s intent in creating the Tauromaquia set (of course including many articles and books by Philip Hofer, a prior owner of this set). Goya was nearing 70 as he began the plates, and to a certain degree he recalls his youth in them – growing up he knew or at least had seen many of the great bullfighters, and later claimed to have done some bullfighting himself. He began the set with portraits of contempory bullfighting, and the great moments he personally recalled, but then added historical figures as well, going back to medieval times, and 16th Century figures, so the set became a sort of review – although certainly not an accurate history – of bullfighting through the years. Goya is unconcerned with the historical validity of the costuming or even the setting, and as he redid certain plates and worked from his original drawings, he simplified the compositions radically, so that only the most essential shapes and characters appear. Many commentators have identified the plates of the Tauromaquia set as forerunners of impressionism, and expressionism, which they surely are; we would also suggest their evolution also evokes the modernist temper of abstraction, for in these plates one can see Goya re-ordering a finite number of shapes in different ways, in each instance revealing a new and fascinating aesthetic form.
The First Edition of La Tauromaquia was published in very small numbers, both as a set and as single plates; the initial edition is thought to have been much smaller than that of the Caprichos (which was about 300). Long after Goya’s death the Calcographia produced additional editions, starting with a small one in 1855 (on wove), a Third in 1876 (on laid), up to a Seventh in 1937. The plates of La Tauromaquia deteriorated substantially after the First Edition, so it is only be viewing the prints of the lifetime First Edition that one can fully appreciate the splendid technical and aesthetic achievement that Goya’s Tauromaquia represents.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Thursday, August 6th, 2009
Camille Pissarro (1830-1903), Narrow Street in Rouen (Petite Rue Nationale, a Rouen), etching, drypoint, maniere grise, aquatint, 1896, signed in pencil lower right, numbered (No 6) and annotated “ep defi” (definitive proof) lower left, titled below (and with the added annotation Z). Reference: Delteil 122, third state (of 3). In excellent condition, the full sheet with very wide margins (remains of prior hinging verso, mat staining in margins not affecting image), printed on an ivory laid paper, 6 1/2 x 5 1/8, the sheet 16 1/4 x 11 5/8 inches.
There was one impression of the first state, one of the second state, and 8 or 9 of the third state, according to Delteil. Each of the third state impressions is annotated “ed defi”, numbered and signed, as is this impression; this impression is also titled. In the second and third states Pissarro darkened the plate substantially (see notes below).
Provenance: Henri Petiet, with his blindstamp verso (Lugt Supplement 2021a)
A very fine impression of this great rarity, printed in a black/grey ink with substantial plate tone overall, wiped to convey a sense of light near the streetlight at the back of the street, in the sky, and in the face of the building to the right.
Several years before etching Petite Rue Nationale Pissarro and Degas had worked closely together, developing a variant of the aquatint technique called “maniere grise”, in which they scraped the plate with an emery point; that technique appears to have been used in this print. Both Pissarro and Degas loved to re-work their plates through a number of states, carefully giving the plates different shadings and nuances. Printing in this way is time consuming, and for the vast majority of prints Pissarro insisted on doing the printing himself. Although Petite Rue Nationale was created in only three states, and printed only about 10 or 11 impressions in all, the plate appears to have been worked over in astonishing detail, with a myriad of etching or drypoint lines as well as aquatint and maniere grise. Then the plate was wiped carefully after each printing. Of course all this meant that the plate could withstand only very limited printings (and no large edition was even contemplated). For all of these reasons, it is understandable that only a relatively few lifetime impressions of Petite Rue Nationale were ever made, and today lifetime impressions of Pissarro etchings such as this are rarely available.
Posted in Camille Pissarro |
Wednesday, August 5th, 2009
Kenneth Hayes Miller (1876-1952), Pause by a Window (or Waiting for the Bus), etching, 1930. Associated American Artists checklist 101. Two impressions, one of the first state, one of the second. The first is stamp/estate signed, the second pencil signed by the artist and numbered 27. In very good condition, both with wide margins, the state 1 proof with drying holes all around, on a white/cream wove paper,9 x 4 7/8, the sheet 13 x 7; state 2 on a cream/ivory wove paper, 9 x 4 7/8, the sheet 13 3/8 x 9 inches.
Fine impressions of each state, the second state printed with a light veil of plate tone.
The composition is essentially the same in each state, with one major exception: in state 2 Miller has burnished an area on the boy’s right hand and added a ball (or an apple?)!
Kenneth Hayes Miller is known both as a teacher and inveterate etcher. Working in the area of 14th Street, he observed the crowds on the sidewalks, and shoppers at Kleins (on-the-Square) and Hearns. A student of great printmakers such as Durer, Callot, Meryon, Rembrandt, he taught a generation of great American printmakers including of course Isabel Bishop and Reginald Marsh.
Detail - State 1
Detail - State 2
Posted in Kenneth Hayes Miller |
Wednesday, August 5th, 2009
George Bellows (1882-1925), Legs of the Sea, lithograph, 1921, signed in pencil lower right, signed by the printer Bolton Brown and annotated “imp” (impressit) lower left [also initialed in the plate]. Reference: Mason 85, only state, edition of 53. In very good condition, with margins (hinging at upper corners showing through slightly), 8 1/2 x 11 1/4, the sheet 9 3/4 x 12 1/8 inches.
Provenance: H.V. Allison and Company, 11 East 57th Street, New York; with their label on mat verso.
A fine fresh impression.
Legs of the Sea depicts Third Beach in Newport, Rhode Island; Bellows and his family summered for two seasons in Rhode Island, where he made a number of sketches which were re-worked into paintings and four lithographs: another bathing lithograph (Bathing Beach, Mason 86), and his two tennis lithographs (Mason 71 and 72).
Two related drawings for Legs of the Sea are in the Wiggin Collection, Boston Public Library.
Detail
Posted in Uncategorized |
Wednesday, August 5th, 2009
George Bellows (1882-1925), Tennis (Tennis Tournament), lithograph, 1921, signed in pencil lower right, also signed and annotated by the printer Bolton Brown, imp lower left, and numbered 37. Reference: Mason 71, only state, from the edition of about 63. In very good condition, repaired tears in margins left and bottom not affecting image, with margins; 18 3/8 x 20 inches.
A superb impression, printed on a thin Japan paper.
A souvenir of the summers Bellows spent with his family at Middletown, Rhode Island. Emma Bellows can be seen wearing the black hat, sitting at the left. Critics have speculated that the Rhode Island lithographs and paintings provided unusual subject matter for Bellows, who often focused on social or political issues in his work, but a broader view of Bellows indicates that aesthetic considerations were generally of primary concern to him. For example, in this lithograph the spectators and setting are given greater primacy than the tennis match itself. Still, Bellows depicts the spectators, including his wife, as an elegant and rather pretentious group, a perspective consistent with his social viewpoint.
Bellows created two major paintings related to this lithograph: Tennis Tournament (at Newport), in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; and Tennis at Newport in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. In addition there is at least one drawing nearly identical to Mason 71, Tennis at Newport, at the Arkansas Arts Center; he also created a smaller, less ambitious lithograph on the same subject (The Tournament, Mason 72).
Detail
Posted in George Bellows |
Tuesday, August 4th, 2009
Childe Hassam (1859-1935), The Old Mulford House, etching, 1926. Signed by the artist with his monogram in pencil, together with the annotation “imp.” Titled The Old Mumford House in the artist’s hand, bottom left sheet edge. [Also signed and dated in the plate lower right] Reference: Wofsy 264. Edition not known but very rare.
On cream wove paper with full margins. In very good condition, with the artist’s tack holes (used for drying) at the sheet edges, repaired tear and reinforced crease bottom left corner away from image. 8 3/8 x 10 7/8 inches (213 x 276 mm); the sheet 12 1/2 x 16 1/4 inches (318 x 413 mm).
A fine impression of this rarely encountered American Impressionist print – an atmospheric impression of an Easthampton landmark, with the play of shadows across the house working effectively as seen in the best impressions of Hassam’s work.
The “imp” after Hassams monogram stands for the Latin imprimivit, a notation indicating that this was printed personally by the artist.
Hassam is of course one of America’s pre-eminent Impressionist artists, celebrated on a large stage most recently with a show devoted to his work at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Tuesday, August 4th, 2009
Louis Lozowick (1892-1973), Queensboro Bridge , 1930, Lithograph.Flint 61. Edition 50. Signed, titled and dated in pencil.
Image size 13 1/2” x 7 5/8” (342 x 193 mm); sheet size 15 7/8” x 10 3/4” (403 x 272 mm).
A fine, rich impression, on Rives BFK cream wove paper, with full margins ( 7/8 to 1 5/8 inches), in excellent condition.
Lozowick attended Kiev Art School from the age of 12 to 14, at which point he emigrated to the US. In New York he studied for three years at the National Academy of Design, then attended Ohio State, worked as a lithographer, and traveled extensively in Europe and Russia between 1919 and 1924. With this exposure to cubism and Russian modernism, combined with his talent as a draughtsman, he was able to help adapt cubism/modernism to America, creating an exciting new idiom called Precisionism.
By 1930, when Queensboro Bridge was made, Lozowick had already spent several years making superb Precisionist lithographs, proving that this printmaking method was ideal for the movement. But the public was not convinced, and he reverted in the later ’30s to more conventional, easily accessible compositions. Of course with hindsight it’s clear (and has been for about the last 30 years!) that this Precisionist work was the high point of Lozowick’s career, and of American art of the period.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Tuesday, August 4th, 2009
Jean-Emile Laboureur (1877-1943), Le Marché aux Fleurs ou la Rencontre, 1914, Engraving. Sylvain Laboureur 127, second state (of 2). Edition of 35. Signed, titled, and numbered 2/35 ép 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 Laboureur’s most successful and earliest essays in his adaptation of cubism.
Laboureur printed the first part of the edition, numbers 1 through 20, in 1914; then after the War, in 1920, completed the printing of the edition.
$4500
Posted in Jean-Emile Laboureur |
Tuesday, August 4th, 2009
Jean-Emile Laboureur (1887-1943), Le Jockey d’Epsom (Deuxieme Planche), 1913, engraving. Reference:Sylvain Laboureur 125, only state. Edition of only 30. Signed, titled, and numbered 17/30 in pencil. Initialed and dated in the plate, lower left.
Image size: 8 1/4 x 8 13/16 inches (210 x 224 mm); sheet size 9 1/2 x 10 inches (241 x 254 mm).
A fine impression, with rich burr throughout and delicate overall plate tone, on cream wove paper; full margins (5/8 to 3/4 inch), in excellent condition.
In the “L’Express de l”Ouest” of February 18, 1914, the critic Bernesto wrote: “Cette eau-forte est une des seules manifestations en cette exposition [the XXIII exposition des Amis des Arts] de la mentalite et de l’interpretation du mouvement artistique moderne.”
Laboureur created a painting of the same subject, now at Nantes, and also a drawing on a fan of the same subject (which is less cubistic than the etching); he also created a sketchy “draft” of this etching which he apparently discarded after printing only 3 examples, and then created this print (in reverse of the first plate).
Posted in Jean-Emile Laboureur |
Tuesday, August 4th, 2009
Jean-Emile Laboureur (1887-1943), Le Jockey d’Epsom (Deuxieme Planche), 1913, engraving. Reference:Sylvain Laboureur 125, only state. Edition of only 30. Signed, titled, and numbered 17/30 in pencil. Initialed and dated in the plate, lower left.
Image size: 8 1/4 x 8 13/16 inches (210 x 224 mm); sheet size 9 1/2 x 10 inches (241 x 254 mm).
A fine impression, with rich burr throughout and delicate overall plate tone, on cream wove paper; full margins (5/8 to 3/4 inch), in excellent condition.
In the “L’Express de l”Ouest” of February 18, 1914, the critic Bernesto wrote: “Cette eau-forte est une des seules manifestations en cette exposition [the XXIII exposition des Amis des Arts] de la mentalite et de l’interpretation du mouvement artistique moderne.”
Laboureur created a painting of the same subject, now at Nantes, and also a drawing on a fan of the same subject (which is less cubistic than the etching); he also created a sketchy “draft” of this etching which he apparently discarded after printing only 3 examples, and then created this print (in reverse of the first plate).
Posted in Jean-Emile Laboureur |
Tuesday, August 4th, 2009
John Sloan (1871-1951), Night Windows (also referred to by Sloan as Roof and Windows, and Man on Roof), etching, 1910, signed, titled and annotated 100 proofs in pencil [also signed and dated in the plate lower left]. Reference:Morse 152, state 5 (of 5). Edition 100 (110 printed). In very good condition (minor toning in the margins well away from image), 5 1/8 x 6 3/4 inches (130 x 171 mm); sheet size 9 5/8 x 12 1/2 inches (232 x 318 mm).
A fine, rich impression, on cream wove paper, with full margins (2 1/4 to 2 7/8 inches).
The tack holes near the margin edges of this impression indicate that it was printed by Peter Platt, one of Sloan’s favorite printers; Platt impressions are coveted by Sloan collectors since they are invariably masterfully printed – fine, rich, and black.
Years later Sloan wrote of Night Windows: “While his faithful wife is doing the wash downstairs my neighbor casts a roving eye across the areaway. A commonplace or even vulgar incident may produce a work of art.”
Exhibited in the Armory Show, New York, February 1913.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Sunday, August 2nd, 2009
TRAVIÈS, (Traviès de Villers, Charles-Joseph) (Wülflingen, Switzerland, February 21, 1804 – Paris, August 13, 1859), Drole Politicians, c. 1845 hand painted lithograph. Published by Aubert [with signature lower left image, letters and addresses in margin below, in the plate]. In very good condition, small paper loss left margin, printed on a tan wove paper with wide margins, 10 x 7 1/2, the sheet 13 1/2 x 10 1/4 inches, archival window matting.
A fine impression of this amusing portrait, skillfully hand colored; a print sur blanc (on wove paper, no lettering verso).
This balding establishment figure, himself surely a member of the Chamber of Deputies, expresses amusement at the appearance of a fellow member who has a somewhat similar appearance.
Traviès came from the atelier of François Joseph Hein at the Beaux-Arts, debuted as a genre painter at the Salon of 1823, then dedicated himself to industrial drawing, cloth and wallpaper. He made himself a name with his creation of the figure of the hunchback Mayeux. Collaborator at “La Caricature” and “Le Charivari”. He also did illustrations for novels by Balzac (1842-1855). (Note: I am indebted to the invaluable Daumier Register and associated website for background on Traviès, which I’ve taken the liberty of quoting verbatim.)
Posted in Charles Traviès |
Sunday, August 2nd, 2009
Leo Meissner (1895-1977), Sea Gulls, wood engraving, 1936, not signed [signed and dated in the plate lower left]. Published by American Artists Group. In very good condition, on an ivory wove paper, the full sheet with full margins, 8 x 10, the sheet 13 x 18, still in the original AAG mat with the printed statement by the artist verso.
A fine impression of this dramatic image.
Although Meissner worked in several media he was a leading master of the difficult technique of wood engraving (using engraving tools to create an image on the polished hard end of the timber). Sea Gulls likely represents the birds hovering over the craggy Maine coast where he generally summered.
The American Artists Group was formed in 1934, during the Great Depression, with the express purpose of providing unsigned inexpensive prints which were to be widely distributed. AAG published prints by Ganso, Spruance, Meissner, Ruzicka, Chaffetz and Lankes, among many other noted artists. Although the prices of these prints was minimal, sales were still sluggish in that difficult economy; most printings were in editions of under 200 and many under 100. Today, these prints are highly valued by discerning print collectors.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Sunday, August 2nd, 2009
Boris Margo (1902-1995), [Abstract Composition], 1969, etching, aquatint and embossing [cellocut method] signed and dated in pencil lower right margin; initialed AP lower left. In pristine condition, on BFK RIVES cream wove paper, with their watermark, the full sheet, 8 7/8 x 12 7/8, the sheet 13 x 19 3/4 inches. Archival mounting (mylar unattached hinging between acid free boards, glassine cover).
A fine atmospheric impression.
Here Margo creates a powerful image, using a rather more direct composition than in many of his works, and working with only black and white, and a range of intermediate greys.
This impression was made shortly after completion of the important catalogue raisonne of Margo’s print work (Gelb and Schmeckebier, Boris Margo Graphic Work, 1932-1968). However we believe this work was done using the cellocut method, a printmaking technique which Margo invented. Margo had been making prints of cut plywood, but one day found a piece of celluloid on the ground, and began using it as a printing matrix. It is subject to solvents, and so there were various ways in which the celluloid could be worked upon: by dripping a solvent onto it, by brushing or drawing on it with the solvent.
Best known as a painter of surrealist imagery, Boris Margo was born in Wolotschisk, Ukraine, in Russia. In 1919 he enrolled at the Polytechnik of Art at Odessa, and in 1924 received a grant to study at the Futemas (Workshop for the Art of the Future) in Moscow. A second grant enabled him to study the work of the old masters in the Hermitage Museum in Leningrad and to attend Pavel Filonov’s Analytical School of Art in 1927. In 1928 Margo received a certificate from the Polytechnik and immigrated to Montreal, where he worked as a muralist for a year. Moving to New York City in 1930, he studied at the Roerich Museum and two years later began teaching there.
Margo appeared in a show called “The Ideographic Process” at the famed Betty Parsons Gallery in 1947, along with Hans Hoffman, Rothko, Ad Reinhardt, and a year later had his own one man show with Betty Parsons. Later important shows were held at the Brooklyn Museum, the Tweed Gallery at the University of Minnesota, Duluth, and the Michael Rosenfeld Gallery in New York in 1993.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Sunday, August 2nd, 2009
Nicholas LeSueur (French 1691 – 1764), Emperor Henry IV at the Feet of Pope Gregory VII, chiaroscuro woodcut, circa 1730, from two blocks (olive brown, tan), and etching, from a drawing by Frederick Zucarri, in the Cabinet Crozat [with the names of the artist, title, cabinet in the block]
On heavy laid paper with a Shield watermark, with very wide margins, on a mottled laid paper, in very good condition, 17 1/2 x 8 1/2, the sheet 20 3/4 by 14 inches.
A fine, fresh impression of this striking composition.
From the Cabinet Crozat series – a folio of works, by LeSueur and others, of chiaroscuro woodcuts after famous drawings and paintings in France (sponsored by Pierre Crozat). Shortly after his initial involvement in this project (about 1725), he became the chief wood engraver for the series, and was one of the champions of the chiaroscuro woodcut technique during the 18th Century.
The outline of the drawing was initially done in etching, and then the color tones were successively added using the woodcut blocks. This accounts for the strong detailing ordinarily not possible using a pure chiaroscuro woodcut technique.
This impression was exhibited in the show Beyond Black and White: Chiaroscuro Prints from Indiana Collections, at the Indianapolis Museum of Art and the Indiana University Art Museum, 1989-90, catalogue number 39.
Detail
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Friday, July 31st, 2009
Erich Heckel (1883-1970), In der Muschelstube II (In the Oyster Bar), also known as Gent (Ghent), lithograph, 1916, signed in pencil lower left [also signed in the plate lower left and titled Gent lower right]. From the publication Der Bildermann [The pictureman], Vol.I, No.4, 1916 Edition: 137: 12 on Japan for the deluxe edition of Der Bildermann 1916; 75 on cream wove, and 50 on wove as published by Paul Cassirer Berlin, 1920. Reference: Dube 229 I/B (of II), from the edition of 75. In good condition, with slight soft folds in margins, with full margins, 11 x 8, the sheet 13 1/4 x 12 inches.
A fine impression, printed in black on cream/ivory wove paper.
Heckel was classified as unfit for service during World War I, but volunteered to work in an ambulance unit stationed in Roeselaar and Ostend, each quite near Ghent (title of this lithograph). The unit was staffed mostly by artists, who were allowed time to work on their art.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Friday, July 31st, 2009
James Ensor (1860-1949), Les Diables Dzitts et Hihahox Conduisant le Christ aux Enfers (The Devils Dzitts and Hihahox Leading Christ to Hell), etching and drypoint, 1895, signed and dated in pencil lower right, titled lower left, also countersigned on verso [also signed and dated in the plate]. References: Delteil 88, Croquez 90, Taevernier 90, Elesh 90, only state. Printed on strong tan/ivory wove Japan paper. In excellent condition, with full margins, 6 5/16 x 8 7/8, the sheet 9 1/4 x 11 3/4 inches.
A fine impression of this enigmatic – and emblematic – Ensor composition.
According to apocryphal texts after his death Christ descended into Limbo to bring redemption to the first sinners, Adam and Eve. In 1886 Ensor made a drawing of this event, and later made this etching, both with the same curious title. Many years later he explained in a letter to Max Gevers in May 1936 that the title, including the names of the devils, was purely imaginary.
In the etching Christ is led to Satan, who sits at the top of the stairs at the upper left; the two Devils leading Christ are armed and ugly. Fanciful characters and insects crawl along the bottom foreground, and at the lower right is a menacing group of horned and lobster-like creatures – some with faces reminiscent of the masks then available in his mother’s Ostende souvenir shop, still on display there today.
Another fine impression of this print, printed in brown ink, is included in the major Ensor exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art, New York.
Detail
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Thursday, July 30th, 2009
Jacques Villon (1873-1963), Une Grand Mere, drypoint, 1943, signed in pencil lower right, inscribed “epreuve d’essai” lower left, and inscribed “a Arnold Newman” center. Reference: Ginestet and Pouillon 475, only state; a trial proof impression before the edition of 45. In very good condition, with margins (slight soiling in margins and verso, slightest mat tone), on laid paper, 9 3/8 x 7, the sheet 12 5/8 x 9 7/8 inches, matted.
A fine impression of this rarely encountered image.
Villon’s cubist prints are among his most interesting and sought after. Here he demonstrates his use of the drypoint technique to interweave various gradations of black against a background of straight drypoint or engraved lines.
This impression is inscribed to the late Arnold Newman, a world-famous photographer; Newman was friendly with a number of artists who, as in this instance, provided him with examples of their work.
Une Grand-Mere has been exhibited at various museums in the United States including the Museum of Modern Art (1953) and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts (1964), and was also shown widely in Europe – Athens, Paris, Oslo, Lisbon, etc.
The portrait is of Mme. Merlin, the mother of Mme. Andre Mare; Villon also made a painting of this woman.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Thursday, July 30th, 2009
Jacques Villon, Minne Sitting (Minne Assise a Terre), drypoint, 1907, signed in pencil. Reference: Ginestet and Pouillon 196. In very good condition, on hand made cream laid paper, the full sheet with deckle edges, 9 1/2 x 6 3/4, the sheet 11 x 8 1/2 inches, archival mounting.
A very fine artist’s proof impression of this delightful subject (who was the subject of a number of etchings Villon made at about this time), with carefully wiped plate tone creating a halo-like ground surrounding Minne.
G&P call for an edition of approximately 50; however, we have not seen other impressions of this print on the market, nor was it included in Lucien Goldschmidt’s major Villon print sale of 1970 (A Collection of Graphic Work 1896-1913 in Rare or Unique Impressions); we thus believe this print to be quite uncommon in any state, and this proof impression of the utmost rarity.
This is from the Minne series, a group of prints made by Villon in 1907, portraying the young daughter of a friend in various poses. Minne’s real name was Renee, and she achieved a sort of fame four years later when Villon made his landmark cubist prints of her. In this modernist/expressionist portrait Villon explores the enigmatic character of a young girl, a subject which held much fascination for him at this early stage in his career.
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Tuesday, July 28th, 2009
James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903), The Lime-Burner, 1859, etching and drypoint, printed in black ink on very thin Japan paper with margins
Kennedy 46, second (final) state; Lochnan 49. With small margins, 10 x 7, the sheet 10 1/2 x 7 1/2 inches.
A very fine rich impression.
The print was exhibited at the Royal Academy in London in 1860 under the title W. Jones, lime-burner, Thames Street. Forming the visual center of an early example of Whistler’s frame-within-a-frame compositions, the figure of Mr. Jones, although small, is nevertheless treated very much like a portrait and the name explicitly given by Whistler in the title for the Royal Academy would confirm this. The lime-burner looks straight out at the viewer while the artist’s complex perspectival devices draw us back into the depth of the image; here a passage opens a small view onto the river and even beyond to the other bank of the Thames.
Published as part of the Thames Set in 1871.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Tuesday, July 28th, 2009
James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903), The Lime-Burner, 1859, etching and dryoint, printed in brown on laid paper, with wide margins
Kennedy 46, first state (of two), Lochnan 49; 9 7/8 x 6 3/4, the sheet 14 5/8 x 10 5/8 inches. Watermark: Hudelist
provenance:
Edgar Degas, Paris (Lugt 657)
P. & D. Colnaghi & Co., London (their stock no. in pencil in lower margin C.13502)
A fine impression of the rare first state. This impresssion was exhibited widely in the traveling exhibit of etchings and other works from the Degas collection.
The print was exhibited at the Royal Academy in London in 1860 under the title W. Jones, lime-burner, Thames Street. Forming the visual center of an early example of Whistler’s frame-within-a-frame compositions, the figure of Mr. Jones, although small, is nevertheless treated very much like a portrait and the name explicitly given by Whistler in the title for the Royal Academy would confirm this. The lime-burner looks straight out at the viewer while the artist’s complex perspectival devices draw us back into the depth of the image; here a passage opens a small view onto the river and even beyond to the other bank of the Thames.
The Degas provenance of this print is highly intriguing. Katharine Lochnan (Etchings of James Whistler) quotes a letter from Mary Cassatt to Joseph Pennell in which she writes that “long ago M. Degas told me he had once written a very urgent letter to Whistler asking him to join a group of painters who were intending to exhibit together, the same group afterwards nicknamed impressionists, but Whistler never replied to the letter” (Lochnan, p. 223). (For an interesting discussion of the relationship of Whistler and Degas see: Betsy G. Fryberger, Whistler: Themes & Variations, 1978.)
Posted in Uncategorized |
Tuesday, July 28th, 2009
Honore Daumier (1808-1879), lithograph (Delteil 94), published in La Caricature (November 11, 1834), [with the inscription, address, initials in the plate].
A very good impression of this early (1834) political print.
Louis-Phillipe is shown addressing 3 Republicans in the ruins of the prison at St. Michel (“Tres-bien! Tres-bien! Vous etes parfaitment conduites!”).
An impression of the only state, on heavy white wove paper without the letterpress verso (as published and inserted in the journal).
The top margin is trimmed closely and roughly, outside the upper borderline but just abutting printing on top, otherwise with margins and in satisfactory condition, archival matting. 9 1/2 x 11 inches.
The indispensable Daumier Register points out: “This print shows political prisoners who had helped extinguishing a fire in their prison Saint-Michel. Although an amnesty was already in the making, they were simply moved to a different prison after the fire.”
Here is a translation of the text, courtesy of the Daumier Register:
Original Text:
Très bien! très bien! vous vous êtes parfaitement conduits! l’on va vous diriger sur Beaulieu, sur Poissy, sur Bicêtre, je suis content de vous.
Translation:
Very good!… You have behaved perfectly and done a good job… thank you, you will be transferred immediately to another prison at Beaulieu, Poissy or Bicètre.
$450
Posted in Honore Daumier |
Tuesday, July 28th, 2009
James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903), Seymour Standing Under a Tree, 1859, etching and drypoint on fine laid paper; inscribed in pencil by Seymour Haden in lower margin “1st pr from plate”. References: Glasgow 30, second state (of three); Kennedy 31, second state (of three); Lochnan 35. On laid paper, watermark:
Hunting Horn in Shield, 5 ¼ x 3 7/8, the sheet 7 1/8 x 5 5/8 inches
Provenance:
Kennedy Galleries, New York (their stock number in pencil on verso a37155)
Ethel Gardner; a gift in memory of her husband George Peabody Gardner (nephew and heir of Isabella Stewart Gardner)
to Bishop Laurence of the Archdiocese of Boston
George S. van Houten, Waalre, Netherlands
The young boy leaning against a tree, possibly in Greenwich Park near London, with his partial reflection visible on the surface of
the water in the foreground, is Francis Seymour Jr. (born 1850), the older son of Whistler’s half-sister Deborah Delano, known
as Dasha (1825–1908), and her husband Francis Seymour Haden (1818–1910). The couple had another son, Arthur Charles
(born 1852) and a daughter, Anne Harriet, known as Annie (born 1848), both of whom were portrayed by their uncle in some
of his earliest etchings (Kennedy 9 and 10).
Posted in Uncategorized |
Tuesday, July 28th, 2009
Mortimer Menpes (1855-1938), Dresden, Old Market Square, etching and drypoint, c. 1908, signed by the artist in pencil lower right and annotated “imp” indicating that he personally printed this impression; on a fine antique laid paper. The full sheet, in very good condition, with deckle edges all around (some slight printer’s ink fingerprints and some fox marks in margins), 5 7/8 x 7 7/8, the sheet 10 x 16 inches, archival matting with window mat, acid free non adhesive mylar hinging.
This was first exhibited by Menpes at the Fine Art Society, London, 1908, no 14 and entitled “Dresden, Old Market Square.”
Reference: National Museum of Australia Accession Number 84.1328.
A fine impression, printed in a dark brownish/black ink, with a subtle veil of plate tone overall.
Menpes was of course the great Australian printmaker and printer, known for his close relationship to Whistler – as a student and colleague in printmaking – but also famed in his own right as one of the towering figures of the British Etchers movement.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Tuesday, July 28th, 2009
James Abbot McNeill Whistler (1834-1903), Gabled Roofs, lithograph, 1893. Reference: Chicago (Spink et al) 64, only state. From the lifetime edition of 12 (there was also a posthumous edition of 53 printed by Goulding in 1904). In very good condition, with margins, 7 3/4 x 6 1/4, the sheet 12 1/4 x 7 3/4 inches.
Provenance: Childs Gallery, Boston, with their stamp verso, and on their mat (with their catalogue notations).
A fine impression of this rare lithograph, printed on a cream laid paper with the watermark ProPatriaB (this is Spink watermark 251, one of the watermarks specified in Spink as characteristic of the lifetime impressions of this lithograph.
Gabled Roofs is one of the five lithographs Whistler made during the tour through Brittany he made in 1893 with his wife.
Gabled Roofs - Detail
Posted in James Whistler |
Tuesday, July 28th, 2009
Honore Daumier (1808-1879), Le Bambillon (Red Mullet; or Le Barbillon entraîne la ligne, The Fish Pulls the Line), lithograph, 1840-41, [with initials in the plate]. Reference: Daumier Register 818, second state (of 2), with the letters, Plate 4 from LA PÊCHE, in the published form in Caricature, a sur blanc impression, in very good condition, with margins, on wove paper, 8 1/4 x 6 3/8, the sheet 14 x 9 1/2 inches, archival matting.
A fine clear impression.
This is a sur blanc impression, printed in a small contemporaneous edition for collectors (probably 100-150 impressions only). This form of the print was and generally is preferred over the newprint impressions for a number of reasons – the paper is better quality, one doesn’t see newsprint through the image because there’s no newsprint verso (that’s why they call it sur blanc), and of course it’s just rarer than the newsprint editions – and for all these reasons the sur blancs do have the drawback of being more costly than the newprint versions (although the price difference is minimal given the other differences).
The text of this print, stolen unabashedly from the indispensable Daumier Register, reads as follows:
Original Text:
Le Barbillon entraîne la ligne, notre homme se penche, le pied lui glisse, et voilà le pêcheur qu’on repêche.
Translation:
The fish pulls the line… our man bends down, his foot slips and there goes our fisherman… ready to be fished out.
$275
Posted in Honore Daumier |
Tuesday, July 28th, 2009
Rudolph Ruzicka (1883-1978), A Summer Day, wood engraving, 1936, unsigned [with the initial R in the plate; the AAG logo, title, name, address stamp verso). Published by the American Artists Group. In very good condition, in the original AAG mat, the full sheet with full margins, 5 1/16 x 7 7/8 inches, the sheet 13 x 18 inches.
A fine impression, still in its original mat as issued.
The American Artists Group was formed in 1934, during the Great Depression, with the express purpose of providing unsigned inexpensive prints which were to be widely distributed. AAG published prints by Ganso, Spruance, Meissner, and Lankes, among many other noted artists. Although the prices of these prints was minimal, the editions were still not sold out; most printings were under 200 and many under 100. Ironically, today, these prints are considered rare collector’s items.
On the reverse of the mat for this print these words are written: This print is an original woodcut made by me and printed from the block with my approval. It is issued exclusively in this form and its price is made possible by the edition being neither signed nor limited – Rudolph Ruzicka. (Of course the edition was in fact limited, in large part by the market.)
Rudolph Ruzicka was an eminent wood engraver, etcher, illustrator, book designer and inventor of typographic fonts. He came to the US from Bohemia, living first in Chicago where he took drawing lessons at Hull House and later becoming an apprentice wood engraver. From 1900 to 1902 he studied at the Chicago art institute, and in 1903 moved to New York where he worked as an engraver and furthered his artistic studies. He went on to achieve fame as a book illustrator, artist and typographer. As a wood engraver he surely was influenced by the 19th Century French master August Lepere, and in turn Ruzicka influenced generations of American artists and illustrators who worked in the difficult and exacting field of wood engraving.
$125
Posted in Rudolph Ruzicka |
Monday, July 27th, 2009
Carl Schultheiss (1885-1961), The Shepherd, engraving, 1951, signed in pencil lower right margin. In excellent condition, with prior hinging verso, on a cream wove paper, the full sheet, 7 1/2 x 4 3/4, the sheet 11 3/8 x 8 5/8 inches. Archival storage, with non-attached mylar hinging between acid free boards.
A fine fresh impression.
Provenance: The Print Club of Rochester Presentation Print, 1951.
At the time Schultheiss was created the presentation print for the Print Club of Albany John Taylor Arms wrote of him: “His prints have a rich mellowness born of study, contemplation and understanding. Conceived in the classical spirit, the warmth of the artist’s imagination and his sympathy with life assure for them a significance and vitality for which his brilliant but disciplined technique is a fitting vehicle.”
A note from the Print Club of Rochester discussing Schultheiss’s work and life will accompany this print.
Posted in Carl Schultheiss |
Monday, July 27th, 2009
Carl Max Schultheiss (1865-1963), Off to Market, etching, 1944. Signed in pencil bottom right and numbered bottom left margin (2/50). In excellent condition, on a cream wove paper, with wide margins, 8 3/8 x 7 3/8, the sheet 11 3/4 x 10 5/8 inches, archival matting.
A fine fresh impression printed in black ink.
Provenance: Kennedy Galleries, Inc. (still in their mat, with their label)
German-born artist Carl Schultheiss was trained classically, and his respect for the Old Masters is always evident in his work (and Off to Market is no exception; it recollects the pastoral tradition in 15th and 16th C. Northern Renaissance printmaking). Although best known for his etching, he also worked as an engraver and painter. He came to the United States in the 1930s, and eventually was so highly regarded by his colleagues that he was chosen to serve as honorary president of the Society of American Graphic Artists.
Posted in Carl Schultheiss |
Monday, July 27th, 2009
Camille Pissarro (1830-1903), Vue de Rouen (Cours-la-Reine), etching, soft ground etching, drypoint, maniere grise, 1884, signed in pencil lower right “C Pissarro”, numbered (No. 3) lower left, inscribed “Epreuve d’artiste” lower left, and titled “Vue de Rouen au Cours la reine” lower left. Reference: Delteil 50, state 3 (of 3). One of the dozen or so artist proofs of the third state (there was no edition, and only 1 proof of the first state and 4 of the second), and one of the five artist’s proofs that were numbered. In excellent condition with full margins, printed on a tan/buff colored hand made Dutch laid paper with the watermark Van Gelder. 5 7/8 x 7 7/8, the sheet 11 x 14 1/4 inches
A fine impression, printed in brown ink, with a veil of plate tone overall.
Pissarro did not like professional printing of his etchings, and so he printed most of his plates himself (working at this time with Degas, who also apparently printed many Pissarro proofs). The concept was not to produce a large edition of prints similar in appearance (only about 5 of Pissarro’s prints were in fact editioned during his lifetime); printmaking for Pissarro was a way of experimenting, achieving variations in light, mood, sensibility, with each proof. He did not intend to earn much money through printmaking (and he never did). In 1883 Pissarro was painting at Rouen, and returned to Paris with a number of sketches and full of recollections, which he used in developing the Rouen prints, which were probably completed in early 1884; Pissarro did not yet have a printing press of his own, so he used printing facilities in Paris. These are among his most engaging prints, and Vue de Rouen (Cours-la-Reine) is among the most successful of this group.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Monday, July 27th, 2009
Sir Frank Short (1857-1945), The Lifting Cloud, mezzotint, 1901, signed in pencil lower right. Reference: Hardie 118. In good condition, slight light toning, remains of prior hinging verso, with margins, on an ivory wove paper, 6 x 9, the sheet 8 x 11 1/4 inches, archival matting with un-attached mylar hinging and acid free window mat.
A fine atmospheric impression.
Hardie describes the print in dramatic terms: Heavy clouds cast a shadow over an angry sea, with breakers showing flashes of white; the clouds lift to the right, where a labouring ship is seen; in the foreground a large boulder and a half-submerged anchor. Short based the print on a color sketch he made on Whitby Scaur.
Short was one of the most productive and eminent of the British Etchers; an artist whose influence as a teacher was profound, and who in addition to promoting the art of printmaking in general, revived the techniques of aquatint and mezzotint. The Lifting Cloud demonstrates his total mastery of the difficult and laborious mezzotint technique.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Monday, July 27th, 2009
Emil Ganso (1895-1941). Little Harbor or Boats, Maine, etching and aquatint, c. 1920, not signed [signed with a copyright mark in the plate], inscribed “To Lucille”. Reference: Smith I78B. In very good condition, the matrix excellent, a couple of small spots in margins and the remains of a prior hinge verso, with margins, 10 3/8 x 14 7/8, the sheet 13 x 17 inches, window mat.
A fine impression, with effective aquatint tonalities.
Little Harbor, a very successful composition, was chosen as an American Artists Group print, reproduced in AAG original etchings, and also in Zink, American Artists Group Prints, 30. We do not believe this impression itself was an American Artists Group print but that it was printed earlier, since the paper is heavier than most of the AAG prints, and it does not bear the AAG imprint verso (the AAG produced relatively inexpensive prints during the Great Depression, explicitly and intentionally unsigned and thus sold as populist art works available and accessible widely. Ironically, these prints and their proofs have a special collector’s appeal and value today).
Posted in Emil Ganso |
Monday, July 27th, 2009
Emil Ganso (1895-1941), Studio Mirror, chiaroscuro wood engraving, 1936. Not signed [signed and dated in the block, with the backward s in Ganso and the date also reversed]. Reference: Smith R-77B, edition not stated. In very good condition, on cream wove paper, the full sheet, 14 3/8 x 9 3/8 inches, the sheet 18 x 13 inches. Published by the American Artists Group, and in their original mat.
A fine impression, printed in two colors, light and dark brown.
The American Artists Group was formed in 1934, during the Great Depression, with the express purpose of providing unsigned inexpensive prints which were to be widely distributed. AAG published prints by Ganso, Spruance, Meissner, Ruzicka, and Lankes, among many other noted artists. Although the prices of these prints was minimal, collectors were saving what money they had, and so the editions were not sold out; most printings were under 200 and many under 100. Ironically, today, these prints are considered rare collector’s items.
Ganso, a master of a number of printmaking techniques, here successfully recreates a composition – now in greater detail and in two colors – that he first explored in the etching and aquatint Nude with Mirror of about 1930. One interesting difference: the two pictures on the wall, not identifiable in the etching, are here shown to be a Ganso nude and a country scene.
Posted in Emil Ganso |
Monday, July 27th, 2009
Honore Daumier (1808-1879), Le Trepas du Caniche, lithograph, 1840. Reference: Delteil 651. Plate 28 from Moeurs Conjugales. [initialed in the plate, and with the inscription, name of publisher, seller.] Third state of three, after removal of the address of Aubert; a sur blanc impression (no newprint verso). On cream wove paper, pale light staining overall, tear upper right and bottom margins (not affecting image), light foxing verso, mounted in acid free mats, 10 x 8, the sheet 13 1/2 x 10 inches.
A very good impression.
The sur blanc impressions of this print were taken apart from the large run for the letterpress (the prints appeared in the journal Le Charivari). The sur blancs were printed on better paper than the newsprint impressions, and there’s no newprint interfering with the image (as in the newpaper impressions). The size of the edition varied, but is likely to have been around 100-150; the sur blanc edition was for collectors of Daumier lithographs.
As the older woman bemoans the passing of her poodle (she calls him “pauvre zozore”), her husband comforts her saying he too is heartbroken, and that we are all mortal (“que veux tu nous sommes tous mortels”). The woman at the back, standing over “zozore,” appears not to empathize with these emotions (and one suspects the husband isn’t very upset either).
Here, from the invaluable online Daumier Register (see my eBay Guide on this resource) is the full commentary and translation:
Le trépas du caniche.
Oh mon Dieu, mon Dieu, est il possible!…. pauvre zozore, ma joie, ma consolation, je ne le verrai plus!…. ah! je vois que je n’y survivrai pas. – Malheureuse épouse! comme le tien mon cœur est navré. Viens sur mon sein nous confondrons nos larmes. Hélas! que veux tu: nous sommes tous mortels!
The Demise of the Poodle.
– Oh my God, my God, is it possible?…. my poor Zozore, my joy, my consolation, I shall never see him again… ah! I shan’t survive.
– Wretched wife! like yours, my heart is saddened. Come to my bosom and we shall mingle our tears. Alas, what can we do… we are all mortal!
$275
Posted in Honore Daumier |
Monday, July 27th, 2009
Honore Daumier (1808-1879), She’s Gone (Ciel! apres trois mois…), lithograph, 1841, published in Le Charivari as plate 45 in the series Moeurs Conjugales. References: Delteil 668, Daumier Register 668, Delteil’s third state of three, DR’s fourth state of four. A sur blanc impression, without letterpress verso. [With the address, inscription, number, and initials of artist in the plate] In very good condition, with wide margins, 12 1/4 x 8, the sheet 14 x 11 inches, archival matting.
A fine clear and black good impression of this humourous print.
Loys Delteil did not identify this state of the print, but the recently published (online) Daumier Register notes that this is a fourth state, with the address of the publisher Bauger at the lower left.
The sur blanc issues of the Daumier prints were for collectors of the prints who appreciated the heavier paper (heavier than newsprint) and lack of interference of the letterpress verso in the image. They were issued in very limited editions of about 100 (especially popular prints perhaps a few more, others possibly less), in this case probably just after the publication of the lithograph in Le Charivari.
Uncharacteristically, the idea for this print, and the language below, were Daumier’s.
Here the translation (courtesy of the Daumier Register):
Original Text:
Ciel! après trois mois d’absence, je trouve ma femme déménagée!….. et quels souvenirs me laisse-t-elle, grand Dieu!…
Translation:
My God!… After having been away for three months I find that my wife has moved out! And what memories she leaves behind, good Lord!
Posted in Honore Daumier |
Monday, July 27th, 2009
Honore Daumier (1808-1879), She’s Gone (Ciel! apres trois mois…), lithograph, 1841, published in Le Charivari as plate 45 in the series Moeurs Conjugales. References: Delteil 668, Daumier Register 668, Delteil’s third state of three, DR’s fourth state of four. A sur blanc impression, without letterpress verso. [With the address, inscription, number, and initials of artist in the plate] In very good condition, with wide margins, 12 1/4 x 8, the sheet 14 x 11 inches, archival matting.
A fine clear and black good impression of this humourous print.
Loys Delteil did not identify this state of the print, but the recently published (online) Daumier Register notes that this is a fourth state, with the address of the publisher Bauger at the lower left.
The sur blanc issues of the Daumier prints were for collectors of the prints who appreciated the heavier paper (heavier than newsprint) and lack of interference of the letterpress verso in the image. They were issued in very limited editions of about 100 (especially popular prints perhaps a few more, others possibly less), in this case probably just after the publication of the lithograph in Le Charivari.
Uncharacteristically, the idea for this print, and the language below, were Daumier’s.
Here the translation (courtesy of the Daumier Register):
Original Text:
Ciel! après trois mois d’absence, je trouve ma femme déménagée!….. et quels souvenirs me laisse-t-elle, grand Dieu!…
Translation:
My God!… After having been away for three months I find that my wife has moved out! And what memories she leaves behind, good Lord!
$250
Posted in Honore Daumier |
Monday, July 27th, 2009
Honore Daumier, The Pleasures of Fishing, lithograph, Plate 50 from the series Moeurs Conjugales, 1839-42. Reference: Daumier Register 673, Delteil 673. DR fourth state (of 4). A sur blanc impression (without newsprint verso) issued apart from the edition published in La Caricature. In very good condition, only slight traces of foxing. With margins, 11 1/2 x 8 1/2, the sheet 12 3/4 x 8 3/4 inches, matted.
A fine bright impression.
The sur blanc edition was made for collectors, published on a cream wove paper (the Caricature impressions are on a lighter paper, and the newsprint can be seen through the image). The sur blanc edition size varied but was about 100 impressions, and so is relatively rare.
Here’s the translation of the French, courtesy of the Daumier Register (which is available free online):
Original Text:
LES PLAISIRS DE LA PÊCHE.
– Tu es toujours pressée toi!…. que diable nous sommes arrivés à midi et il n’est encore que cinq heures un quart……. donne moi le temps, je suis sur que je finirai par en attraper un!…
Translation:
THE PLEASURES OF FISHING.
You are always in such a rush – Good God, we only just got here at noon and it is now only a quarter past five – Just give me a little more time, I am sure I’ll end by catching one.
$275
Posted in Honore Daumier |
Monday, July 27th, 2009
Honore Daumier (1808-1879), Une Navigation Difficile, lithograph, 1843, plate 6 from the series Les Canotiers Parisiens [with the addresses, text, and Daumier’s initials in the plate]. Reference: Daumier Register, Delteil 1028. Second state (of 3), on wove paper, sur blanc, with the address of Aubert; printed before the publication in the journal Le Charivari. In very good condition, 9 3/4 x 10 3/8, the sheet 10 x 13 1/2 inches, archival matting.
A fine strong impression, printed on a heavy wove paper, before the newsprint edition (sur blanc) for the collector’s edition, which was limited to about 150 impressions.
During the 1840’s boating on the Seine was a popular pastime for Parisiens, but it was not always the pleasure it was supposed to be. Here (courtesy of the online Daumier Register) is the translation of the text:
Original Text:
UNE NAVIGATION DIFFICILE.
– Le canot n’avance pas!… tirez donc M. Dumouchel… que diable vous ne tirez pas!. – Mais je ne fais que cela depuis 3 heures… et on appelle ça une partie de plaisir! j’aime encore mieux vendre mes pruneaux rue de la verrerie… c’est moins fatiguant.
Translation:
A DIFFICULT NAVIGATION.
– The boat doesn’t move! Pull Dumouchel, pull…. why the devil don’t you pull!
– But I am doing nothing else than that for the last three hours!…. and this is called a pleasure trip! I’d rather sell my prunes in rue de la Verrerie…. that’s less tiring!
$275
Posted in Honore Daumier |
Monday, July 27th, 2009
Honore Daumier (1808-1879), Jeune et Vielle Garde, 1848, lithograph. Plate 52 froma the series Tout ce que on Voudra; as published in the Album Comique. Reference: Daumier Register 1698, Delteil 1698. Second state of two, sur blanc (without the letterpress verso as it appeared in the journal Charivari). [with the initials hD and stone number 1267 in the plate]
In very good condition (with only a few fox marks mostly verso not affecting image, mounted on the left side), with margins, 10 1/4 x 7 1/2, the sheet 13 x 9 inches, matted with a window mat.
A fine fresh black impression of this rare print.
This print is in a number of institutional collections, always on wove paper in the second state, as our impression (impressions in the first state either do not exist or have not been located); it is rarely encountered in the market.
$250
Posted in Honore Daumier |
Monday, July 27th, 2009
Hans Burgkmair (1459-1519), The White King Receiving a Message About the Defeat of the Croats, woodcut, 1514-1516. Reference: Bartsch 80-(224) 153 [by Leonhard Beck], from the History of Emperor Maximilian I. In very good condition (with margins; some very old script in ink bottom margin, some slight staining, foxing), on old laid paper, 8 1/4 x 7 5/8, the sheet 10 x 8 1/2 inches.
Provenance: Karl Edward von Liphart (1808-1891, Dorpat, Bonn and Florence), with his graphite mark verso (Lugt 1651, see also Lugt 1687, 1688). Lugt notes of Liphart, a distinguished collector of old master prints, “il commence par l’oeuvre de Ridinger et par un achat considerable GG. Boerner in Leipsig en 1836.”
A very good impression, superbly printed on the right side, a bit dry on the left.
The History of the Weisskunig (White King) is an autobiography in the style of an illustrated novel without words. Although it is the story of Emperor Maximilian I all the characters have symbolic names. The White King is the name Maximilian chose for himself, as it both stands for whiteness (purity) and is associated with the word for wisdom (Weisheit).
Hans Burgkmair, the eminent Augsburg painter and printmaker was in effect Maximilian’s official court artist. He worked with other artists, including Leonhard Beck (Germany, Augsburg, 1480 – 1542), in developing the plates for the Maximilian series. At the time of the original cataloguing this block was given to Beck; in the more recent edition of Bartsch it is given to Beck but the decision was made to continue its cataloguing under Burgkmair, to avoid confusion and keep the ordering and placement of all the blocks of the series intact.
This is one of a bound group of old master prints, including other woodcuts by Burgkmair, Hans Weiditz, Hans Schaufelein and others. Many of these prints have the mark of the eminent collector Karl Edward von Liphart (Lugt 1651) verso. We are currently doing research on the collection so it is not on the market as yet.
Posted in Hans Burgkmair |
Thursday, July 23rd, 2009
Camille Pissarro (1830-1903), Femme a la Barriere (Woman at the Gate), etching and drypoint, 1889, signed in pencil with the initials CP lower right (annotated “imprime par C.P.”), annotated “No. 3, 6 etat” lower left and also titled “femme a la barriere” (largely erased) lower left. Reference: Delteil 84, sixth state (of 10). In very good condition, on a cream laid Arches paper, with a partial Arches watermark, with wide or full margins (remains of prior hinging verso), 6 7/8 x 4 1/8, the sheet 9 3/8 x 6 inches.
A fine delicately printed impression, printed in brown ink.
Pissarro printed Woman at the Gate himself, working through successive states as he experimented with slight variations from state to state and, as was his typical printmaking practice, making only one or a few impressions of each state and then omitting any edition. Here, he added the two ducks and the chicken in the yard just to the left of the woman (her right) in the third state (only 1 proof of this state), and added some shadow lines to the peasant’s dress and the house in the 4th and 5th states. In this impression, the sixth state, he added some lines to the leaves of the trees and clarified the hair of the woman. He printed (personally) three proofs of the sixth state, each annotated and numbered (1 to 3, this is 3). He made small changes in states 7, 8; darkened the plate quite a bit in state 9, and in state 10 added a layering of aquatint. Some lifetime impressions were made of state 10, and another group of 12 impressions in the 10th state were printed posthumously (of course these later impressions do not withstand comparison in aesthetic terms to the lifetime impressions).
The Impressionists, especially Pissarro and his printmaking partner Degas, approached printmaking as an evolutionary medium. It allowed them to have a composition evolve through successive states; the initial state or states were not viewed as merely a prelude to some definitive finality, but rather as a representation of one impression of the subject, and the last state generally represented the point at which they abandoned the print, not as the place to print an edition (and typically no edition, at least no lifetime edition, was made).
Even within states Pissarro experimented with different papers and inks; e.g., we’re aware of one impression of the 7th state (of 3 altogether) printed in bistre, and other impressions printed in black; this impression is printed in a brown ink which contrasts well with the light brown tint of this paper.
Posted in Camille Pissarro |
Sunday, July 19th, 2009
Jean-Emile Laboureur (1877-1943), Toilette– 1930, Drypoint.
Sylvain Laboureur 432, Godefroy 432. Total printing only 26, in both states; 2nd state (of 2). Signed and annotated 4/15 ép. in pencil. Signed in the plate, lower left.
Image size: 10 1/2 x 7 inches (267 x 178 mm); sheet size 17 5/8 x 11 inches (448 x 479 mm).
A fine impression, on pale gray wove paper, with full margins (2 to 4 1/2 inches), in excellent condition.
Laboureur considered Toilette, initially titled “Le Baton de Rouge or Femme a Sa Toilette, an “essai de pointe seche”; it is a very rare example of a Laboureur drypoint.
$2000
Posted in Jean-Emile Laboureur |
Sunday, July 19th, 2009
Jean-Emile Laboureur (1887-1943), La Peche aux Crevette– 1928, Engraving.
Sylvain Laboureur 375, Godefroy 375. Total printing 82 (58 in the third state); 3rd state (of 3). Signed and numbered 24/58 ep in pencil. Initialed in the plate, lower left.
Image size: 5 3/8 x 4 1/8 inches (143 x 105 mm); sheet size 12 7/8 x 9 3/4 inches (327 x 248 mm).
A fine impression, on cream wove paper, with full margins (2 3/4 to 4 5/8 inches); in excellent condition.
One of Laboureur’s most delightful small-scale compositions, La Peche aux Crevette has been included in at least 24 important exhibitions of Laboureur’s work; in addition 10 of the 15 impressions made of the second state were included in deluxe volumes of Godefroy’s catalogue raisonne of Laboureur’s prints.
$2250
Posted in Jean-Emile Laboureur |
Friday, July 17th, 2009
Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn (1606-1669), Christ and the Woman of Samaria, 1657, etching, drypoint and burnishing, signed in the plate and dated (1658). References: White-Boon 70, Bartsch, Rovinski, Seidlitz 70; third state (of 3); Nowell Usticke 3e (of 5). Printed on a heavy ivory/tan gampi laminate Japan paper, in excellent condition, with margins, 4 7/8 x 6 3/16, the sheet 5 5/8 x 6 7/8 inches.
Provenance:
Collections of Carlos Gaa (cf. Lugt 538a), and the Kopping collection (according to sales records of C.G. Boerner, as described in sales in 1926 and 1929)
Richard Gutekunst, Stuttgart, London and Bern, 1870-1961 (Lugt 2213/a; stamp verso). The Gutekunst Collection was renowned for the quality of each and every one of its Rembrandt impressions.
A fine impression, with substantial burr on the well and the vines lower left, the faces of Christ and the woman, Christ’s hand, and elsewhere. In the third state Rembrandt burnished a number of areas including the upper right above Christ’s head, and the area between Christ and the woman; in this impression the burnishing marks are quite evident. There is a light veil of plate tone overall.
From about 1647 Rembrandt often favored for printmaking the heavy Japan paper available in Amsterdam through the Dutch East India Company; he used this very rare and expensive paper on many of his finest impressions, including this example.
In this state Rembrandt has darkened the lower left area of the composition and the well significantly with drypoint, added some definition to the stones of the well, lightened the area between Christ and the woman and the section above Christ’s head. In this impression the blackening of the lower left quadrant is particularly dramatic.
The woman of Samaria was amazed that Christ, a Jew, would speak to her as Jews traditionally stood quite apart from the Samaritans. He explains that “whomever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst.” The woman was interested. Christ suggested she go and bring her husband, but she said she has no husband. Christ intuits that in fact she had five husbands, and that the present one is no true husband. The woman, impressed by this insight, declares that Christ must be a prophet. Christ’s disciples, who had gone into town to get some food, return (as seen at the right) and are amazed to find Christ involved in discussion with this woman. Christ proceeds to Galilee, noting that although this woman – from another land – was able to understand him, “a prophet hath no honour in his own country.”
Posted in Uncategorized |
Wednesday, July 15th, 2009
Anders Zorn (1860-1920), The Waltz, etching, 1891, signed in pencil lower right margin [also signed and dated in the plate lower left]. Reference: Hjert and Hjert 178, Asplund 54, third state (of three), from the edition of 40. In excellent condition, on an ivory/tan Japan paper, with full margins, 13 5/8 x 8 13/16, the sheet 16 x 11 1/8 inches.
A fine fresh impression of one of Zorn’s best known images.
An oil painting of this subject was bought by Mr. George Vanderbilt at the World’s Columbian Exposition in 1893; the painting, together with a watercolor study, are now in the Vanderbilt collection in Biltmore House, Asheville, North Carolina.
In the original draft of this composition the artist Louis Sparre was dancing in the foreground with Zorn’s model Marta Petrini, but in the final version Zorn substituted himself for Sparre. The woman of the couple at the right is Emma Zorn. The setting is a ball given by the Zorns in their Paris studio on the Boulevard de Clichy.
The use of light, the composition, and movement created by the linear patterning make this one of Zorn’s most successful compositions.
$13,500
Posted in Uncategorized |
Wednesday, July 15th, 2009
Israhel van Meckenam (c.1440/5-1503), Children’s Bath (Das Kinderbad), engraving, c. 1480. Lehrs, Band IX, 478III – Hollstein III. In excellent condition, with small/thread margins all around, 4 1/4 x 5 3/4 inches, 11 x 13 cm.
Provenance:
Karl Ferdinand Friedrich von Nagler, Bayern and Berlin, 1770-1846 (Lugt 2529, stamp verso)
Kupferstichkabinett der Koniglichen Sammlung, Berlin (Lugt 1606, stamp verso)
Richard Fisher, Hill Top, Midhurst, 1809-1890 (Lugt 2204, stamp verso)
Adalbert Freiherr von Lanna, Prague, 1836-1909 (Lugt 2773, stamp verso); then sold at the auction of H.G. Gutekunst in Stuttgart, May 11, 1909, and described there as “Ausgezeichneter Abdruck von schonster Erhaltung und mit Randchen. Ausserst selten.”
Ritter Rudolf von Gutmann (Lugt 2770)
Albert Blum, Short Hills New Jersey and Zurich (Lugt 79/b, stamp verso).
A superb impression; an impression of this condition and quality is of the greatest rarity.
One of Israhel van Meckenem’s specialties was scenes of everyday life, including engravings of couples engaged in various activities. He often engraved an elaborate banderole around the figures, not including any printed material on the banderole but perhaps suggesting the observer supply some witty inscription inspired by the composition. Although it is a larger print than the couples subjects, and the composition more complex, Das Kinderbad appears to be created in this spirit, inviting the viewer to write a proverb or witticism in the blank banderole at the top.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Wednesday, July 15th, 2009
Israhel van Meckenam (c.1440/5-1503), Children’s Bath (Das Kinderbad), engraving, c. 1480. Lehrs, Band IX, 478III – Hollstein III. In excellent condition, with small/thread margins all around, 4 1/4 x 5 3/4 inches, 11 x 13 cm.
Provenance:
Karl Ferdinand Friedrich von Nagler, Bayern and Berlin, 1770-1846 (Lugt 2529, stamp verso)
Kupferstichkabinett der Koniglichen Sammlung, Berlin (Lugt 1606, stamp verso)
Richard Fisher, Hill Top, Midhurst, 1809-1890 (Lugt 2204, stamp verso)
Adalbert Freiherr von Lanna, Prague, 1836-1909 (Lugt 2773, stamp verso); then sold at the auction of H.G. Gutekunst in Stuttgart, May 11, 1909, and described there as “Ausgezeichneter Abdruck von schonster Erhaltung und mit Randchen. Ausserst selten.”
Ritter Rudolf von Gutmann (Lugt 2770)
Albert Blum, Short Hills New Jersey and Zurich (Lugt 79/b, stamp verso).
A superb impression; an impression of this condition and quality is of the greatest rarity.
One of Israhel van Meckenem’s specialties was scenes of everyday life, including engravings of couples engaged in various activities. He often engraved an elaborate banderole around the figures, not including any printed material on the banderole but perhaps suggesting the observer supply some witty inscription inspired by the composition. Although it is a larger print than the couples subjects, and the composition more complex, Das Kinderbad appears to be created in this spirit, inviting the viewer to write a proverb or witticism in the blank banderole at the top.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Sunday, July 12th, 2009
Emil Orlik (1870-1932), Portrait of Slevogt, etching, 1921, signed in pencil and numbered (27/100) [also signed and dated in the plate], from the presumed edition of 100. In very good condition, 3 5/8 x 3 3/4, the sheet 12 x 10 1/4 inches.
A very good impression, on ivory laid paper.
Max Slevogt (1866-1932), a friend of Orlik, was a leading German artist, printmaker, and illustrator.
The definitive source of information on Orlik, with pictures of his prints (some for sale) and an extensive biography, is of course the comprehensive website produced by Allan Wolman and Anne Schneider (www.orlikprints.com).
Posted in Emil Orlik |
Sunday, July 12th, 2009
Adriaen Von Ostade (1610-1685) etching, circa 1647(Godefry 41, Bartsch 41), 6th state (of 8). [signed in the plate] In very good condition, with (small) margins all around, archival matting. 118 x 116 mm (4 5/8 x 4 1/2 inches)
A fine, bright and clear impression, with traces of inky plate edges and wiping scratches still printing outside of the image.
The Pig Killers is the first of Ostade’s complex compositions, made when he was in his late 30’s. It portrays the entire farm family in this celebratory ritual: the head of the family oversees the operation (at the left), the farmhand kneels on the just slaughtered pig while the farmer’s wife collects the blood in a ladle; the eldest son holds a candle lighting up the scene while two other children – perhaps understandably – are less focused on what’s going on.
Night scenes such as this were popular with Van Ostade and his contemporaries (most notably, Rembrandt). Van Ostade’s work at this time sometimes resembles that of Rembrandt, although Van Ostade’s teacher was Frans Hals, and Van Ostade worked and lived in Haarlem his whole life (but of course Rembrandt’s etchings were known to him, and the tradition of night scenes in 17th Century Dutch etching precedes both Van Ostade and Rembrandt).
Posted in Uncategorized |
Sunday, July 12th, 2009
Jean-Emile Laboureur, The Amores, plate 5 (Impotence), etching in sanguine, 1931, signed. Reference: Sylvain Laboureur 440, volume 2, page 231. The rare first state (there were six proofs of the first state, only one printed in sanguine); in the second state the etching was included as part of the book The Amores at the Golden Cockerel Press, Waltham St. Lawrence, Berkshire. In very good condition, remains of prior hinging top corners, on a cream wove paper with the watermark AMV, the full sheet with wide margins, 5 3/8 x 4, the sheet 11 x 8 3/4 inches, archival window matting.
A fine fresh impression of this rarity; only 6 proofs were made before Laboureur’s monogram was added for the book edition, 5 in black ink and only one – this impression – in sanguine.
The book The Amores of P. Ovidius Naso was illustrated with 5 etchings by Laboureur. Plate 5, called Impotence, was to illustrate these words: “Though I desired it, and the girl desired it just as much, I could not use the pleasant part of my futile groin.”
The final production of this apparently steamy book was limited to 350 copies, issued in 1931; by 1933 the publisher conceded that book sales had not gone well in this period of the Great Depression. Of course today Golden Cockerel books, and the books illustrated by Laboureur are sought after by book collectors.
Posted in Jean-Emile Laboureur |
Sunday, July 12th, 2009
Jean-Emile Laboureur (1877-1943), Negres Americains a Saint-Nazaire, 1917-1920, engraving on cream wove paper, signed in pencil lower left, titled lower left margin edge, and numbered (4/35) and inscribed imp lower right [monogram in the plate], 6.25 x 5.06, the sheet 9.75 x 7.5 inches. Reference: Sylvain Laboureur, Godefry 180. Second state (of 2). In very good condition, with margins and archival mounting.
A fine impression of this important and rare cubist-influenced engraving. One of the most popular and engaging of Laboureur’s early images of World War I, Negres Americains a Saint-Nazaire has been exhibited at at least 18 of the larger Laboureur shows and retrospectives.
Although this print was numbered as if the edition was 35, only 28 impressions were printed in total, 8 in the first state (before the monogram in the plate), and 20 in the second.
This is a splendid example of the effectiveness of Laboureur’s engraving technique, with its pointed and regularized incisions, in a cubist/modernist composition. This impression was printed (by Laboureur himself) with a light veil of platetone which lend an atmospheric quality to the scene.
Posted in Jean-Emile Laboureur |
Sunday, July 12th, 2009
Israhel van Meckenem (1445-1503), St. Stephen, engraving, circa 1480-1490. Reference: Lehrs IX 382, Bartsch 93. First state of two. [with initials below in the plate] On old laid paper with a Hand and Flower watermark (Lehrs watermark 10), edges made up a few mm. within borderline, skinned and reinforced in places on verso from removal of old backing, with a few associated repaired breaks, most noticeably on right arm of the saint, and another into top of palm frond in his left hand, some stains.
A fine impression of this great rarity (we know of no other impressions in North America). In a brown/black ink, unusually strong in the printing of the lower part of the vestments and on the ground.
Provenance: ex coll S. Paelinck (sepia ink inscription on verso, “V Pael, No 103”, see Lugt 257)
Ducs d”Arenberg (Lugt 567)
Dr. Albert M. Blum (stamp on mat), his sale Sothebys New York, 2/88
This impression is cited by Lehrs in his register of sales (auction Paelinck, Brussels, 1860 first state, 60 francs to the Duke of Arenberg) and classified as a * impression (no *** impressions are cited). Lehrs knew of 40 impressions only.
Israhel van Meckenem, trained as a goldsmith, was one of the earliest, and most prolific Renaissance printmakers. He is notorious for copying the work and reworking the plates of other engravers (including Master ES) and well-known also for creating the first double portrait – of himself and his wife.the printing process. His original engravings show scenes from everyday life, recording contemporary dress and manners with honesty and humour; but of course he also made religious prints, and in fact made prints of anything that would sell; he was well-attuned to the market.
St. Stephen was the first Christian martyr – according to the Acts of the Apostles he was taken outside of the city and stoned to death. Generally depicted as a young and beardless man, with the stones, he’s invoked by headache sufferers; the association is with the pain of the stoning.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Friday, July 10th, 2009
Rembrandt Harmensz. Van Rijn (Leiden 1606-1669 Amsterdam), Self Portrait in a Cloak with a Falling Collar: Bust, 1630-31, etching, [signed RHL and dated 1630 which was altered to 1631 in the plate]. References: Bartsch 15, White/Boon, Hollstein 15; fifth state (of six; see note below). In very good condition, with a 1/4 inch thread margin all around. 2 1/2 x 2 1/8, the sheet 2 5/8 x 2 3/16 inches.
Provenance:
George Hibbert, London (Lugt 2849)
William Esdaile, London (Lugt 2617)
Otto Gerstenberg, Berlin (Lugt 2785; with the “Montag number” M. 180 on the verso, cf. Lugt 1840c)
David Tunick Inc., New York (ca. 1983)
Private collection, USA.
A fine crisp impression of this exceedingly rare print. Nowell-Eusticke rates its rarity as RRRR (“Practically unobtainable, greatest rarity”)
In a note in the Print Quarterly (Vol. 1, no. 2, June 1984, p. 124) Linda Papaharis described an impression of Self-Portrait in a Cloak in the Morgan Library as a sixth state; this impression has a broad area of additional shading to the left center edge of the plate above the shading at the lower left. She noted that this Morgan Library impression was apparently known to Rembrandt expert Arthur Hind for there is a pencil notation indicating this on the mount, but that the Morgan had catalogued the impression as an undescribed state; hence although earlier cataloguers traditionally account for five states of this print we catalogue this impression as a fifth state (of 6).
Posted in Uncategorized |
Tuesday, July 7th, 2009
Camille Pissarro (1830-1903), Femme Cuellant des Choux (Woman Picking Cabbage), etching, 1888. Signed, titled and inscribed by the artist (lower right: “Imp. par C.P.”; lower left: “3’etat No. 2, femme cueillant des choux/cuivre”). Reference: Delteil 77, third state (of 7). In very good condition, with wide margins (barely discernible mat stain in margins), 3 15/16 x 2 1/2, the sheet 9 1/4 x 6 inches.
A fine, delicately printed impression of this rare print, printed in a light brownish/red ink, with a subtle layer of plate tone overall, on a laid paper.
Eight impressions of this state were pulled (by Pissarro himself), each annotated 3rd etat and numbered. There were only one or two impressions pulled in each of the prior or subsequent states. After this, the third state, Pissarro darkened the composition considerably. (There were also 24 impressions pulled posthumously.)
The cabbages toward the bottom of this impression appear to be printed twice, on a greyish ground, and then defined with careful etching lines (see detail below). Here Pissarro has used the technique he and Degas developed when working together in the early 1880’s, which has been called “maniere grise” (gray manner). According to Pissarro scholar Barbara S. Shapiro (Camille Pissarro, The Impressionist Printmaker), “a pencil-shaped emery stone rubbed on the plate simulated very fine-grained aquatint that reads as a gray tonality.” The technique gives the impression that the artist has either created the print with two plates, or perhaps worked over the paper somehow with a pencil or wash by hand before pulling the impression. But although the plate has in fact been worked over carefully using different techniques, the print is made in a single pull through the press. Pissarro (and Degas) wanted to produce various printmaking effects through the print process itself, not by inking the plate by hand (a la Whistler).
As Shapiro notes: “The prints of these brief years are triumphs of printmaking, characterized by shimmering surfaces that show varying degrees of light. Yet the unusual and seemingly spontaneous effects were the result of complex procedures.”
Detail
Posted in Uncategorized |
Tuesday, July 7th, 2009
Jean-Emile Laboureur, Anzacs, woodcut, 1918-22, signed and numbered (7/45), the second state (of 2). Reference: Sylvain Laboureur 713. In good condition, with remains of old hinges at left margin, a fold at bottom margin edge, archival matting. Plate 10 x 5 1/2 inches, the sheet 17 x 9 1/4 inches.
A clean, bright impression, made in 1918 (a few proofs printed at that time; the edition printed a bit later) just as Laboureur’s singular approach to cubism was emerging. ANZACs stands for Australian New Zealand Army Corps (in France during WWI). On laid paper, with an MBM watermark.
Jean-Emile Laboureur was born in Nantes in 1877. He traveled to Paris in 1895 intending to study law at the Sorbonne, but found himself drawn to the nearby famed Academie Julian, and although he never officially matriculated there, he became immersed in the Parisian art scene.
The great wood engraver Auguste Lepere taught him woodcutting, which initiated Laboureur in an involvement in printmaking that would extend through his career. In 1886 he met Toulouse Lautrec, who influenced Laboureur’s emerging aesthetic style, as did the work of Odilon Redon, Bonnard, and perhaps most notably Felix Vallotton, who became a close colleague, and whose woodcut work often bears a close relationship to Laboureur’s. Laboureur traveled widely, staying for periods in the US and London, and studying classic art and printmaking in Italy and Germany. Although he had moved back to Paris by 1910, a time when analytical cubism was emerging in the work of Picasso and Braque, he continued working in an abstract, modernist mode, waiting until about 1913 or shortly thereafter to invent a cubist idiom all his own.
ANZACS shows Laboureur working confidently, and successfully, within a cubist idiom.
We maintain a large inventory of Laboureur prints; your inquiries are always welcome.
$900
Posted in Jean-Emile Laboureur |
Tuesday, July 7th, 2009
Theophile Alexandre Steinlen (1859-1923), Dan le Rue, lithograph, 1911, signed in pencil [also signed in the plate). Reference: Crauzat 295, titled by him as Dan la Rue or also Femme Seule. In the only state, printed on a chine colle, on a heavy cream wove paper. In good condition, with full margins (9 3/4 x 6 1/8, the sheet 15 x 11 inches), archival matting.
Published “hors texte” in the volume La Misere Sociale de la Femme,” a compilation of essays by writers from the 16th to the 20th Century, in 1911, in Paris, by Dewambez.
A very good impression of this rarely encountered image.
Theophile Alexandre Steinlen began his career as an illustrator for several Paris journals (Le Chat Noir, Gil Blas), and was attracted to printmaking presumably because he was such an excellent draughtsman. His lithographic work, such as Dan la Rue, was of course informed by the marvelous draughtsmanship of his fellow-countryman and predecessor Honore Daumier, and in this example we see also the strong influence of impressionism.
Although he is famed publicly for his studies of cats, and his fin de siecle posters, his work throughout his career was marked by strong social consciousness. Early on, he created images of French life – prostitutes and pimps, construction workers and miners, ragpickers and soldiers, and, in this example, a young woman with an umbrella, alone in the wind-blown streets, probably coming home from work.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Tuesday, July 7th, 2009
Jean-Emile Laboureur (1877-, Souper a New York, etching on zinc, 1907, signed in pencil bottom left margin; also annotated “No 11/20 imp” bottom margin. Reference: Sylvain Laboureur 67, only state. [with the signature and date in the plate lower right] From the small edition of only 16 impressions. In very good condition, the full sheet with deckle edges, on cream laid Ch. Whittman paper with their watermark, 6 x 7 1/2, the sheet 9 3/4 x 13 inches; archival mounting.
A fine impression, printed in a dark brown/black ink.
Sylvain Laboureur notes that this print was numbered according to a proposed edition size of 30, but only 16 were pulled; according to the annotation at the bottom of this impression the proposed edition may have been only 20. In any case, this print is quite rare, as are the few other prints of New York subjects Laboureur created in his early trip to the US.
Jean-Emile Laboureur was born in Nantes in 1877. He traveled to Paris in 1895 intending to study law at the Sorbonne, but found himself drawn to the nearby famed Academie Julian, and although he never officially matriculated there, he became immersed in the Parisian art scene. In 1886 he met Toulouse Lautrec, who influenced Laboureur’s emerging aesthetic style, as did the work of Odilon Redon, Bonnard, and Felix Vallotton. Laboureur traveled widely as a young artist, staying for periods in the US, where he created Souper a New York, and London, and studying classic art and printmaking in Italy and Germany, before returning to Paris in 1910.
Displaying what contemporary poet and friend Max Jacob described as “chic” and “grand classical elegance”, Laboureur has been widely collected in both Europe and North America; in the US his work can be found at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Philadelphia Museum of Art and the National Gallery of Art, Washington.. Laboureur died in 1943.
We maintain a large inventory of Laboureur prints, and welcome your inquiries about them.
$3000
Posted in Jean-Emile Laboureur |
Tuesday, July 7th, 2009
Jan-Emile Laboureur (1877-1943), Touristes en Bretagne, engraving and roulette, 1928, signed in pencil lower left; numbered (42/58) and annotated “imp.” lower right [with the initial L bottom right in the plate]. Reference: Sylvain Laboureur 376, third state (of 3). In very good condition, with wide/full margins, printed on a cream wove paper, 4 3/8 x 4 3/4, the sheet 9 1/4 x 12 1/2 inches, archival matting.
A fine delicately printed impression.
The natives of this small town are at the left, carrying baskets and wearing aprons and wooden shoes; the small group of tourists at the right are gazing at the architecture – one woman reads a guidebook as the other two talk. Laboureur used a roulette tool to create regularized patterns of dots marking the fine woolen clothing of the tourists.
Posted in Jean-Emile Laboureur |
Tuesday, July 7th, 2009
Jean-Emile Laboureur (1877-1943), L’Enfant Blessé, engraving, 1916, signed in pencil lower left and numbered (4/25) twice lower right. Reference: Laboureur 142, second state (of 2). From the edition of 25, the total printing was 32. In very good condition apart from some soft folds toward the left; printed on a cream laid paper with margins, 4 x 3 3/4, the sheet 5 x 4 1/4 inches, archival matting.
A fine impression of this exquisitely detailed rendering.
This composition is a marvelous example of Laboureur’s adaptation of the Cubist idiom to his own work. In particular, Laboureur capitalizes on the capacity of the engraving burin to create nearly microscopic regularized sharp lines and patterns which compliment the modernist, cubist approach.
This World War I subject is a walking couple: a woman and a man – a soldier – cradling a bandaged child.
Posted in Jean-Emile Laboureur |
Tuesday, July 7th, 2009
Jean-Emile Laboureur, Jeunes Filles Sur Le Port, 1920, engraving, signed in pencil [also initialed and dated in the plate]. Reference: Godefry, Sylvain Laboureur 200, second state of two. An artist’s proof apart from the edition of 85 in this state; there were about 110 impressions printed in all before the plate was cancelled. In pristine condition, the full sheet with deckle edges, 6 x 5 3/8, the sheet 11 x 9 inches, archival mounting.
A fine clear impression.
Jean-Emile Laboureur was born in Nantes in 1877. He traveled to Paris in 1895 intending to study law at the Sorbonne, but found himself drawn to the nearby famed Academie Julian, and although he never officially matriculated there, he became immersed in the Parisian art scene. The great wood engraver Auguste Lepere taught him woodcutting, which initiated Laboureur in an involvement in printmaking that would extend through his career. In 1886 he met Toulouse Lautrec, who influenced Laboureur’s emerging aesthetic style, as did the work of Odilon Redon, Bonnard, and perhaps most notably Felix Vallotton, who became a close colleague, and whose woodcut work often bears a close relationship to Laboureur’s.
Laboureur traveled widely, staying for periods in the US and London, and studying classic art and printmaking in Italy and Germany. Although he had moved back to Paris by 1910, a time when analytical cubism was emerging in the work of Picasso and Braque, he continued working in an abstract, modernist mode, waiting until about 1913 or shortly thereafter to invent a cubist idiom all his own. Cubism remained an important theme for Laboureur, a theme he varied, sometimes using it as a strong design or compositional component, as in this engraving, sometimes only as a subtle background element. His experiments with engraving, started about 1915, began perhaps because of the difficulty of carrying complicated etching materials while working as an interpreter in the British Army, but were also based on his familiarity with the old masters, who typically worked in engraving.
Few modern artists use engraving, for although it doesn’t require much equipment, it is far more difficult and time consuming than etching. But engraving became his method, and the clear, clean engraving line seemed to complement Laboureur’s cubism. This happy marriage of cubism and engraving is demonstrated in Jeunes Filles Sur Le Port.
$1200
Posted in Jean-Emile Laboureur |
Tuesday, July 7th, 2009
Jean-Emile Laboureur (1877-1943), La Promenade Sur Le Port, 1933, engraving, signed in pencil lower left. Reference: Godefry 482, Sylvain Laboureur 482, second state (of 2); from the edition of 235 (a total of 263 were printed) printed for the Print Club of Cleveland as a Presentation Print (1935). In pristine condition, still in the original presentation mat, on a cream wove paper with full margins, 8 1/2 x 8 3/4, the sheet 13 1/2 x 12 3/4 inches.
A fine impression, printed with a subtle veil of plate tone.
By the mid-Thirties Laboureur was of course well known as a printmaker who had developed his own variation on cubism, using etching and engraving as his medium. In this print chosen by the print lovers of Cleveland for their annual print Laboureur – perhaps ironically – has depicted a scene in his beloved (French) Croisic. Perhaps it is remindful of Cleveland.
This print was issued in a rather larger edition than is typical for Laboureur prints, and so is not considered rare today, at least in the US. But this print is considered somewhat of a rarity in Europe (Sylvain Laboureur notes of the edition impressions “ces dernieres sont d’une grande rarete en Europe”), and when it has appeared at auction there it commands a hefty premium.
Posted in Jean-Emile Laboureur |
Tuesday, July 7th, 2009
Jean-Emile Laboureur (1877-1943) engraving La Halte des Bohemiens, 1938, signed and numbered (73/108) in pencil. References: Godefry, Sylvain Laboureur 539. Third state of three, edition of 108 in this state, about 120 in all states. Published by the Societe de Peintres – Graveurs, and with their blindstamp lower left. In excellent condition, with full margins (tiny nick bottom margin edge); archival mounting. 12 3/4 x 11, the sheet 19 x 14 3/4 inches.
A fine impression of this tour-de-force of modernist engraving.
La Halte des Bohemiens is one of Laboureur’s larger plates, an ambitious undertaking for the artist who was just over 70 at the time; in fact he fell ill while working on the print, and it is one of his last (and his last major engraving). The subject was inspired by an encampment of Bohemians between Herbignac and Asserac, near Penestin.
Jean-Emile Laboureur traveled to Paris in 1895 intending to study law at the Sorbonne, but found himself drawn to the famed Academie Julian, and although he never officially matriculated there, he became immersed in the Parisian art scene. Laboureur traveled widely, staying for periods in the US and London, and studying classic art and printmaking in Italy and Germany. Although he had moved back to Paris by 1910, a time when analytical cubism was emerging in the work of Picasso and Braque, he continued working in an abstract, modernist mode, waiting until about 1913 or shortly thereafter to invent a cubist idiom all his own. His experiments with engraving, started about 1915. Few modern artists use engraving, for although it doesn’t require much equipment, it is far more difficult and time consuming than etching. But engraving became his method, and the clear, clean engraving line seemed to complement Laboureur’s cubism.
In La Halte Laboureur creates a work of extraordinary complexity. Many of the figures are carrying on activities – the woman at the left hovers over a boiling pot on a fire, a boy carries a pail, another walks a monkey; the old man is weaving a tall basket; a young girl carries an infant. An older woman stands in the doorway, and a younger one faces us. Throughout his career Laboureur loved to create beautifully engraved trees and plants, and he populates this grove with a range of wonderful examples.
$900
Posted in Jean-Emile Laboureur |
Tuesday, July 7th, 2009
Jean-Emile Laboureur (1877-1943) etching and engraving Paysage au Buttes-Chaumont (2nd Planche), 1920-21, signed and numbered ( 38/55) in pencil. Reference: Sylvain Laboureur 205. In very good condition with wide margins (remains of old hinging on margin verso, some showing through not near image). On white wove paper, 7 7/8 x 9 1/4, the sheet 10 x 13 1/2 inches, archival matting.
A fine, fresh and clear impression of this important cubist-influenced scene.
Jean-Emile Laboureur was born in Nantes in 1877. He traveled to Paris in 1895 intending to study law at the Sorbonne, but found himself drawn to the nearby famed Academie Julian, and although he never officially matriculated there, he became immersed in the Parisian art scene. Laboureur then traveled widely, staying for periods in the US and London, and studying classic art and printmaking in Italy and Germany. Although he had moved back to Paris by 1910, a time when analytical cubism was emerging in the work of Picasso and Braque, he continued working in an abstract, modernist mode, waiting until about 1913 or shortly thereafter to invent a cubist idiom all his own.
Cubism remained an important theme for Laboureur, a theme he varied, sometimes using it as a strong design or compositional component, sometimes only as a subtle background element. In Paysage aux Buttes Chaumont we see Laboureur working confidently within the idiom, using cubist elements in various ways in different parts of this complex composition. He also mixes his modes of printmaking, combining etching and engraving. This successful composition was preceded by a less successful simpler version which lacked the strong tonal contrasts, depth, and structural elements (such as the bridge lower right) of the present image.
$1250
Posted in Jean-Emile Laboureur |
Tuesday, July 7th, 2009
Jean-Emile Laboureur (1877-1947), Coin de Rue Dans Soho, woodcut, 1909, signed in pencil lower left and numbered (15/15) [also initials in the plate]. Reference: Sylvain Laboureur 642, Godefroy 642, second state (of 2). In very good condition, with wide margins, deckle edges left and bottom, slight traces of spotting in margin at left and bottom. 4 1/2 x 5 3/4, the sheet 8 1/2 x 11 1/2 inches. Archival mounting with window mat.
A fine clear and bright impression of this early and rare woodcut.
At this stage of his development Laboureur had arrived at an interesting modernist approach to the woodcut, somewhat comparable to that of his colleague and friend Felix Vallotton. Here he achieves an atmospheric sketch in woodcut; people are dressed for cold weather, engaged in walking or talking on a busy London street corner. In the sign at the upper right one can read Laboureur’s initials in tiny letters.
$875
Posted in Jean-Emile Laboureur |
Tuesday, July 7th, 2009
Arthur B. Davies, Spring Dance (or On Willow Brook), lithograph, 1924, signed in pencil. Reference: Czestochowski 211, Price 116, only state. From the edition of 25. Printer: George C. Miller. In good condition apart from moderate light stain, remains of glue and backing from prior hinging verso. With margins, 12 x 19 1/2, the sheet 14 1/2 x 21 1/2 inches, archival mounting.
A very good impression of this classic Davies composition.
Provenance: Fort Worth Art Museum. This impression is the print shown in Czestochowski’s catalogue raisonne of the Davies prints. It is noted there that the impression was a “Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Edward R. Hudson, Jr.” The print was deaccessioned from the Fort Worth Art Museum and sold for its benefit at Sotheby’s New York on March, 2004. The Fort Worth cataloguing numbers are on the mat.
Arthur Davies was America’s pre-eminent artist at the time of the New York Armory Show (1913), and the organizers of the show (including Walt Kuhn) involved Davies as a way of lending prestige to the exhibit. Davies had much familiarity with his European counterparts and their work, and helped the organizers locate the work, and legitimate the entire enterprise. Spring Dance or On Willow Brook was done after a period in which Davies experimented with cubism; here he reverts to his earlier Symbolist/Impressionist leanings.
Posted in Arthur B. Davies |
Tuesday, July 7th, 2009
John Sloan ((1871-1951), Westminster Abbey, c. 1891, the complete set of13 etchings, ribbon bound with ahand-painted gilt cover [many of the etchingssignedand variously annotated in the plate]. Reference: Morse 11-23, only state. Printed byPeters Brothersand published byA. Edward Newton (1864-1940).Theetching imagematrices are in excellent condition, thefull sheets with wide margins (slight soiling and foxing near margin edges, the first (blank) page with some losses; other pages with nicks, some water stains not near images). Etchings are c. 3 1/4 x 5,the sheets 8 x 10 1/4 inches.
These etchings are finelyand delicately printed in dark brown or sepia ink on heavy wove paper;an exceedingly rare set of these very early Sloan etchings.
Morse knew of only one complete set of Westminster Abbey, in the Philadelphia Museum of Art, which is also with an embossed and painted cardboard cover (also with the illustration of hand-painted flowers, but in the Philadelphia set the flowers are placed a bit further to the right) tied with a ribbon (a flat ribbon in Philadelphia, braided here).
Although the publisher’s name is not on the volume,Sloan recalled doing this series forA. Edward Newton, who in later years became America’s most revered rare book collector. Sloan had worked at a bookshop in Philadelphia called Porter and Coates after high school, where Newton was a young salesman. After Newton left and set up a “fancy goods” business he recruited (with a three dollar a week raise) Sloan as a designer, and Sloan, who had learned etching techniques from reading at Porter and Coates,suggested doing some etching sets. Hecreated the Westminster Abbey series after photogravures made after paintings by English artist Alfred Dawson (Sloan never left the US). Size differences and other comparisons with a few of the photogravures that have been located show that Sloan did not trace them but copied them freehand.
Although A. Edward Newton achieved fame as a rare book collector and author, very little is known about the few early “books” he did with Sloan, including the size of the editions. Morse noted that “In many respects[Newton] was the first man to popularize book collecting beyond a small select group. For this reason his works have themselves become the object of book collectors…” Yet although this bound set is quite beautiful, and may have been produced in relatively large numbers, this appears to be the onlybound complete set knownoutside of the Philadelphia Museum set.
The 6 illustrative plates are signed by Sloan and variously titled and annotated,e.g., the Poet’s Corner includes names of several poets. The 6 title plates have verses as well as titles and are illustrated with decorative designs, e.g.,the West Front title with an “Ancient Coronation Chair”; the Poet’s Corner title with a harp; the Henry VII Chapel title with a knight’s armor and shield.
It is likely that Sloan designed the gilt tower on the cover, which is very similar to the etched tower; the hand painted flowers may have been done by him or, more probably, by one of the 28 (!) women of varying ages who worked at Newton’s with Sloan (the only male) painting frolicking French lovers and flowers and on the covers of candy boxes, portfolios, and novelties at Newton’s store.
Posted in John Sloan |
Monday, July 6th, 2009
Clement Haupers (1900-1982), Metro 2nd Class, aquatint and etching, 1928, signed, titled, numbered (6/20), dated and inscribed “Paris.” In very good condition, slight toning and remains of prior hinging, on Van Gelder Zonen cream wove paper with margins, the full sheet, 4 x 5 3/4, the sheet 9 7/8 x 12 1/2 inches, archival mounting.
A fine fresh impression, with the various aquatint tonalities contrasting vividly.
A fascinating study of rush hour in a Paris Metro 2nd Class car.
Haupers studied in Paris with the Cubist painter André Llote, who influenced his style and perspective. Upon completing his studies in France, Haupers returned to Minnesota where he became an influential teacher at the St. Paul School of Art. He rose to prominence in 1935 as the state and regional director of the New Deal’s Federal Art Project in Minnesota, which hired unemployed artists to decorate public buildings and parks.
In 1981 Clement Bernard Haupers was the first recipient of the “Minnesotan of the Year” award. He was born and died in the same house in St. Paul.
Posted in Clement Haupers |
Monday, July 6th, 2009
Paul Gavarni (1804-1866), Fashion Plates (a collection of 12), lithographs, c. 1840, as published in Le Charivari, with the letterpress verso. [Some are signed in the plate, the address of the gallery Aubert is noted, most are noted as by Gavarni] Several with customs stamps (Royal Seine) verso. In generally good condition, with folds (generally four folds per sheet, as the newspaper was folded), the full or near full sheets, the images c. 8 x 6 1/2, the sheets c. 13 1/2 x 8 1/2, unmatted, to be issued loose.
Very good impressions of these fascinating fashions and models.
Paul Gavarni (the nom de plume of Hippolyte Guillaume Sulpice Chevalier) started his career as an engineering draftsman, but turned to making portraits of fashionable French woman and men, and there found his metier – in fact, he was surely the leading illustrator of French fashion in his time. He moved from directing the Gens de Monde to the journal Le Charivari, where these illustrations appeared (9 are part of a series called Revue Fashionable). He later moved to caricature and book illustrations, showing a less cheerful and more cynical side, and in the last stage of his career became interested in scientific endeavors, such as aerial navigation, which were not nearly so successful as the fashion plates, such as those in this collection, created much earlier in his career.
Posted in Paul Gavarni |
Monday, July 6th, 2009
Prescott Chaplin (1896-1968), Purse Sienners, color woodcut, signed in pencil lower right and titled lower left margins; on a heavy brown wove paper, with margins, in very good condition, 11 5/8 x 6 7/8, the sheet 14 x 9 1/4, archival mounting.
A fine impression of this splendid image; one of Chaplin’s great woodcuts. The colors appear to have been applied by hand, perhaps using the guidance of a stencil.
Prescott Chaplin was a California artist noted for his woodcuts, and especially esteemed for his work in color. His modernist aesthetic, perhaps best known through his many works on Mexican subjects, works particularly well in this harbor scene, which shows the reflections of light on the water.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Monday, July 6th, 2009
Francisco Goya (1746-1828), Los Moros Hacen Otho Capeo en Plaza con Su Albornoz (The Moors made another pass at the bull with their cape). Etching, burnished aquatint and drypoint. 1815-1816. Plate 6 from Tauromaquia. Reference: Harris 209, Delteil 229. First Edition (of 7). In very good condition, on laid paper with full margins, 310 x 440 mm (exactly the sheet size specified by Harris of the First Edition), 9 1/4 x 13 7/8, the sheet 12 1/4 x 17 1/2 inches, archival mounting.
A fine clear impression, printed in sepia ink As noted by Harris: This edition is the only one in which the full qualities of the plates can be appreciated. The impressions are extremely fine and are all clean-wiped. (Only the First Edition impressions are lifetime).
Goya etched the Moorish bullfighters wearing their traditional Marmeluke uniforms; he also thought that hey introduced the notion of enticing the bull with a cape (or albornoz).
Posted in Uncategorized |
Thursday, July 2nd, 2009
Emil Ganso (1895-1941), Two Nudes, 1928, wood engraving, signed in pencil lower right. Reference: Smith R-86A, First state (of 2). Edition of 5. In pristine condition, printed on a wove paper with margins, 3 3/4 x 5 1/8, the sheet 6 x 7 7/8 inches. Loose as issued, not matted.
A good impression of this engraving, rare (edition of 5) before letters.
In a later state this print was used as an announcement card, with these letters added: Paintings and Drawings by Emil Ganso at the Weyhe Gallery…October 22nd to November 10th, 1928.
These models are picknicking, as evidenced by the basket lower right; a lake and mountain are in the background.
This was reproduced in Salaman, New Woodcuts, and American Artists No. 17.
Posted in Emil Ganso |
Thursday, July 2nd, 2009
Emil Ganso (1895-1941), Landscape and Houses (or, Woodstock, number 3, or Country Path), c. 1928, signed in pencil lower right. Reference: Smith R-29, only state. In pristine condition, not mounted or matted, with margins, deckle edges sides and bottom, 3 7/8 x 5 3/8, the sheet 5 1/8 x 6 7/8 inches.
A fine impression of this tiny wood engraving, printed in black ink on a cream wove paper with the watermark ITALY.
We believe this is a relatively rare Ganso print; Smith did not know of an edition.
Starting in the late ’20’s Ganso spent much of May through November in Woodstock, New York, and in the period from 1925-30 he did most of his woodcuts and wood engravings. Wood engravings are often made in a small format largely because they are difficult to create – this is a relief technique where the artist uses engraving-like tools to cut the smoothed end of a log or board. Ganso learned this technique relatively early in his career; eventually he was to master most of the basic printmaking methods.
Reproduced in Rochester, Prints from the Collection of Charles Rand Penney, 76.
Posted in Emil Ganso |
Thursday, July 2nd, 2009
Emil Ganso (1895-1941), Eddyville, or Morning Stroll, 1935 (also given as 1932), wash and scratch lithograph in brown ink, signed in pencil lower right and inscribed Ed 35 lower left. Reference: Smith L 30B. In good condition, with margins (loss at upper left corner), on a chine colle on cream wove, 10 3/4 x 15 1/2, the sheet 13 5/8 x 18 1/2 inches, archival window matting.
A fine impression, printed in brownish black ink.
Eddyville is a superb example of Ganso’s experimental “wash and scratch” lithographic technique – one can see numerous scratches in the grassy banks in the foreground, and wonderful wash effects in the hills in the middle ground.
Eddyville is just south of Woodstock, where Ganso generally spent much of the year working (other artists in the area included Eugene Speicher, Leon Kroll, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Mortimer Borne, and Aline Freuhauf).
Posted in Emil Ganso |
Thursday, July 2nd, 2009
Marguerite Zorach, Temptation, etching and drypoint, signed, dated (1909) and inscribed “Paris” in pencil, lower right. In good condition, on a cream laid paper with margins (7 3/4 x 5, sheet 9 3/4 x 7 inches).
A fine impression, with a veil of plate tone, carefully wiped to create dark passages (e.g., to the left of the trees, against the wall).
Marguerite Zorach ( 1887-1968) had enrolled at Stanford, but was invited to Paris by her aunt. On the day of her arrival, in November 1908, she visited the Salon Automne, and so was exposed to the French Fauves. Soon thereafter she met Gertrude Stein, talked with Picasso, and was befriended by Zadkine (and eventually met, and married, William Zorach). In the very rare and early etching (we have not seen another impression on the market) The Temptation we get a feel for the swirl of artistic movements which may have affected Marguerite soon after her arrival in Paris. Though she was later influenced by cubism and expressionism, here the dominant themes appear to be Symbolism and its counterpart in the applied arts, Art Nouveau. So this very unusual etching and drypoint represents a pivotal moment in the history of America’s – and an American’s – adoption of modernism. At the time Marguerite Zorach made this print (1909) she was not yet married to William Zorach (they met in Paris in 1911 and married in 1912); she was still Marguerite Thompson. The print was no doubt signed and dated (for the time the print was made) after she was married to Zorach, and she used her married name when signing it.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Thursday, July 2nd, 2009
John Sloan (1871-1954) etching, James B. Moore, Esq., signed in pencil lower right and inscribed “100 proofs” lower left (although only 25 were printed). [Also signed and dated lower left, and titled upper left, in the plate.] Reference: Morse 126. Third state of three. In very good condition, on a cream wove watermarked Van Gelder-Zonen Holland paper, archival matting. Plate size 12 x 10, picture size 11 1/4 x 9 1/4, sheet 15 x 12 1/2, with the drying holes at left and right margin edges. This paper, the characteristic drying holes, as well as the high quality of the impression, indicate that Peter Platt (one of the great printers at the time, and one of Sloan’s favorite) was the printer.
A very good impression of this great rarity. We have not seen another impression of this print on the market in over 25 years. Sloan routinely put an edition size on his prints, but this often represented wishful thinking, or at least habit; in this case Morse gives a printing size of 25.
Sloan’s notes to his friend, advisor and supporter John Quinn tend to confirm the rarity of the print, and give us a good notion of who Moore was: “My dear Quinn – I have just unearthed this in going through some old proofs. It was drawn on copper from the life. It represents James B. Moore who, as proprietor of The Cafe Francis, Bohemian Rendezvous, figures quite importantly in the artistic life of New York. His house, ‘The Secret Lair Beyond the Moat’ was the scene of such gay parties as few of us who participated can hope or wish to see again. He dozed in the chair while I drew the copper…”
The picture at the upper right appears to portray the devil toasting a couple writhing in bed.
$3250
Posted in John Sloan |
Thursday, July 2nd, 2009
John Sloan (1871-1951), Romany Marye in Christopher Street, 1922, etching, signed in pencil lower right, titled, dated and inscribed 100 proofs bottom margin. Reference: Morse 278, seventh state (of 7), from the edition of 52 impressions, all printed by Charles White. In very good condition, with barely visible light toning, printed on a cream laid paper with margins (small loss upper left margin edge), 6 x 8 inches, the sheet 8 1/4 x 10 3/8 inches, archival mounting.
A fine rich atmospheric impression, printed with a plate tone overall which heightens the sense that this is a night scene.
Although Sloan writes “100 proofs” in the lower left margin, as he customarily did, the total printing size of the edition was half that – 52.
Sloan wrote of this print: “All Greenwich Villagers know Romany Marye, who has acted the part of hostess, philosopher, and friend in her series of quiet little restaurants for the past thiry-five years. The etching shows her chatting in her deep comfortable voice to Dolly and myself.” Sloan is depicted at the lower right, with the pipe; his wife Dolly is at the lower left.
$3400
Posted in John Sloan |
Thursday, July 2nd, 2009
Jan Matulka (1890-1972), Spanish Woman with Guitar, lithograph, 1925, an unsigned proof impression. Reference: Flint 13, only a few impressions known. In generally good condition except for faint soiling or spotting, trimmed near the margin at left, just outside the margin right and bottom, and well above the margin (although unevenly) top. 13 3/4 x 11 5/8, the sheet 15 x 11 3/4 (approx.) inches, archival window mat.
A very good strong impression of this rarity, printed on a cream wove paper. The inky borders and irregular trimming (as well as the lack of signature) are characteristic of Matulka’s proof printing.
Born in Prague, Czechoslovakia, in 1890, Jan Matulka became a leading American modernist working at the same time as Lozowick to develop the earliest American Precisionist work, and with Stuart Davis to evolve a new form of Americanized Cubism. In 1907, he came to the Bronx, New York where he had a poverty-ridden childhood with a mother who tried to raise a family by herself. From 1908 to 1917, he studied at the National Academy of Design, and in 1917, received the first Pulitzer traveling scholarship with which he traveled and painted in the Southwest and Florida. In 1919, he first went to Paris, where he was exposed to European modernism, (especially Cubism).
Spanish Woman reflects both the realism that was always a theme in the Matulka’s work and also a Cubist idiom that he was to work with through the years. Matulka often varied his approach from rather conventional realism to cutting edge modernism, even during the same periods. Matulka had his first one-man exhibit in New York City in 1925, the year Spanish Woman was created. A reclusive and independent figure, he did not fashion his art or career for optimal art world recognition. Still, he has been the subject of great interest and regard over the years, especially among artists and curators, and his work is increasingly sought after among those interested in the evolution of American modernism.
Posted in Jan Matulka |
Thursday, July 2nd, 2009
Jan Matulka (1890-1972), Maine, lithograph, c. 1925, an unsigned proof impression. Reference: Flint 25, only a few impressions known. In generally good condition, with the inky and oily margins and irregular trimming (as well as the lack of signature) characteristic of Matulka’s proof printing. 11 1/2 x 14 3/8, the sheet 12 1/2 x 19, archival matting.
A good strong impression of this rarely encountered print (no edition was published), printed on a cream wove paper.
Provenance: ex Collection Sylvan Cole
Born in Prague, Czechoslovakia, in 1890, Jan Matulka became a leading American modernist working at the same time as Lozowick to develop the earliest American Precisionist work, and with Stuart Davis to evolve a new form of Americanized Cubism. In 1907, he came to the Bronx, New York where he had a poverty-ridden childhood with a mother who tried to raise a family by herself. From 1908 to 1917, he studied at the National Academy of Design, and in 1917, received the first Pulitzer traveling scholarship with which he traveled and painted in the Southwest and Florida. In 1919, he first went to Paris, where he was exposed to European modernism, (especially Cubism).
Maine exemplifies both the realism that was always a theme in the Matulka’s work and also a Cubist idiom that he was to refine through the years. Matulka often varied his approach from rather conventional realism to cutting edge modernism, even during the same periods. Matulka had his first one-man exhibit in New York City in 1925, about the time that Maine was created.
A reclusive and independent figure, Matulka did not fashion his art or career for optimal art world recognition. Still, he has been the subject of great interest and regard over the years, especially among artists and curators, and his work is increasingly sought after among those interested in the evolution of American modernism.
Posted in Jan Matulka |
Thursday, July 2nd, 2009
Childe Hassam (1859-1935), Fifth Avenue, Noon, 1916, etching, signed with the artist’s monogram in pencil, and inscribed “imp” [also signed and dated in the plate]. Reference: Cortissoz 77. Edition c. 20, 2nd state of two. In excellent condition, with full margins (the artist’s drying tack holes at the sheet edge), 9 15/16 x 7 3/16 inches (252 x 183 mm); sheet size 12 5/8 x 9 3/4 inches (321 x 248 mm).
A fine, crisp impression, on cream wove paper
Hassam printed this impression personally.
A view from a window at Fifth Avenue, New York, looking north from 34th Street, etched from life.
Collections: Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts, Cleveland Museum of Art, Corcoran Museum of Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art. Exhibited: Museum of Fine Arts Boston, 1922; Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, 1916, 1922. Cover illustration for 94 Prints by Childe Hassam, Joseph Czestochowski, 1980.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Thursday, July 2nd, 2009
Jean-Emile Laboureur (1877-1943), Le Tir Forain, engraving, 1920-21, signed in pencil lower left, titled lower left, and numbered 10//85 lower right, also annotated “imp.” [also with the monogram and date 1920 in the plate upper right]. Reference: Godefroy, Laboureur 191. Fourth state (of 4), total lifetime edition of 108 including all states. Posthumous impressions were taken in 1988, which are clearly stamped and identified. The plate has been cancelled. In very good condition, on an ivory laid paper with a double MBM watermark; the full sheet with wide margins (very slight toning, remains of prior hinging verso), 10 1/2 x 9, the sheet 15 1/2 x 10 3/4 inches.
Provenance:
Unidentified collector’s stamp verso ( ABS, not found in Lugt)
Purchased Exposition Galerie Marcel LeComte, 1974, to current owner.
A superb, rich impression of this splendid image, printed in an unusual dark brown ink.
Le Tir Forain was conceived in sketches and drawings in 1914, and some components of the image can be seen in one of the small woodcuts Laboureur created for a series of scenes depicting the troops in World War I. A major painting on the theme was not completed, and the engraving itself was done in 1920-21; the edition was printed in 1921. Le Tir Forain is one of the most famous of Laboureur’s images, and has been exhibited widely, serving as a theme for art shows and even as a decorative panel for the restaurant Boulestin.
Le Tir Forain demonstrates Laboureur’s remarkable adaptation of the cubist idiom; his engraving technique is a perfect way of achieving the angularity and freshness of line that his unique approach requires.
The general composition of Le Tir Forain was set out in the first state, which is of great interest in understanding the development of the print, and the intermediate states are of interest as well (and of course represent the plate in its early and more pristine condition). But in this case, the final state – in which the lines of the targets are filled in – is really a culmination of the developmental process; so in the case of Le Tir Forain the definitive fourth state represents the last word on what the artist was aiming at in this, one of his most appealing prints.
The drawing is in pencil on a very thin orange Japan paper, the same size as the engraving (10 1/2 x 9 inches), and then carefully re-traced by the artist in ink on the verso, so the verso is in the same direction as the print. It is signed in pencil. The verso is pictured. The condition is typical of a working drawing, i.e., not pristine – a paper loss upper left (outside of the image), a tear (now expertly repaired) where a pencil line was drawn too hard and sharp. Interestingly, in the upper left of the drawing the artist has drawn lines within the curtains in a purple ink.
(Note: a superb impression of the print, without the drawing, is also available; please inquire if interested)
Laboureur – Le Tir Forain – The Drawing
Posted in Jean-Emile Laboureur |
Wednesday, July 1st, 2009
The rare first state
James Whistler (1834-1903), La Marchande de moutarde – The Mustard Merchant 1858, etching and drypoint on cream laid paper (with a partial script watermark). Reference: Kennedy 22, first state (of five); Glasgow 20 (Margaret F. MacDonald, Grischka Petri, Meg Hausberg, and Joanna Meacock, James McNeill Whistler: The Etchings, a catalogue raisonné, University of Glasgow, 2011) first state (of 5). Lochnan 24. In very good condition, with wide margins: 6 ¼ x 3 1/2; the sheet 9 1/8 x 7 ¼ inches.
A very fine impression of the extremely rare first state of five, printing with rich tone; before the intricate lines above the pots on the shelf and the vertical lines on the beam just below the arch.
According to the Glasgow catalogue : “The unique first state is in the National Gallery in Washington DC. There are comparatively few impressions of the second state (but more of the third state).” This first state impression would thus double the total of known first state impressions. This impression has been examined by Margaret MacDonald, head of the Glasgow project, and will be included in the Glasgow catalogue as the second known impression of this print.
The composition is based on a pencil drawing Whistler made in Cologne during a walking tour through France and the Rhineland
with Ernest Delannoy in 1858. The print was shown together with a portrait etching at the Paris Salon of 1859 and can be considered
the artist’s first introduction to the public. For this historic reason, but also because of the charming quality of the image
itself, La Marchande is rightly considered one of Whistler’s most important early prints.
This impression has wide margins: 6 ¼ x 3 1/2; the sheet 9 1/8 x 7 ¼ inches.
Posted in James Whistler |
Wednesday, July 1st, 2009
Honore Daumier (1808-1879), Desperate Fisherman (or, There is No Accounting for Taste), lithograph, 1840 [with letters in the plate]. Reference: Daumier Register 817. A sur blanc impression, on cream wove paper, issued apart from the newsprint publication in Charivari (also issued in the Album Comique in 1842). In very good condition, with margins, 11 3/4 x 8, the sheet 13 3/8 x 10 1/4 inches, archival window matting.
A fine fresh impression of this classic fishing scene.
The sur blanc impressions were published in quite limited editions for collectors (typically 100 or so impressions), in this case prior to the wider publication of the lithograph. Collectors generally preferred the sur blancs because the paper was better grade, there was no newsprint to show through and, the printing quality was generally quite fine.
Here, from the invaluable online Daumier Register, is a translation of the lettering, as well as a comment on the translation:
Original Text:
LE PÊCHEUR ACHARNÉ
ou
il ne faut pas disputer les gouts.
Translation:
THE DESPERATE FISHERMAN
or
“There is no accounting for tastes”.
There is a play on words in the text of this print. “des goûts” means “of tastes”. It is pronounced in the same was as the word “d’égout”, meaning “sewage”.
Posted in Honore Daumier |
Wednesday, July 1st, 2009
Honore Daumier (1808-1879), Desperate Fisherman (or, There is No Accounting for Taste), lithograph, 1840 [with letters in the plate]. Reference: Daumier Register 817. A sur blanc impression, on cream wove paper, issued apart from the newsprint publication in Charivari (also issued in the Album Comique in 1842). In very good condition, with margins, 11 3/4 x 8, the sheet 13 3/8 x 10 1/4 inches, archival window matting.
A fine fresh impression of this classic fishing scene.
The sur blanc impressions were published in quite limited editions for collectors (typically 100 or so impressions), in this case prior to the wider publication of the lithograph. Collectors generally preferred the sur blancs because the paper was better grade, there was no newsprint to show through and, the printing quality was generally quite fine.
Here, from the invaluable online Daumier Register, is a translation of the lettering, as well as a comment on the translation:
Original Text:
LE PÊCHEUR ACHARNÉ
ou
il ne faut pas disputer les gouts.
Translation:
THE DESPERATE FISHERMAN
or
“There is no accounting for tastes”.
There is a play on words in the text of this print. “des goûts” means “of tastes”. It is pronounced in the same was as the word “d’égout”, meaning “sewage”.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Wednesday, July 1st, 2009
Honore Daumier 1808-1879), Ah Tu Trouves…, lithograph, 1841 [with initials in the plate, other annotation: Chez Aubert, gal. Véro-Dodat lower center Se vend chez Bauger & Cie Editeurs… lower right Imp. d’Aubert & Cie]. Reference: Daumier Register 661, second state (of 3), before the erasure of the address. Published in Le Charivari. Plate 38 from Moeurs Conjugales. In good condition, with margins (spotting in margins) 9 x 12, the sheet 13 1/2 x 10 1/8 inches, archival matting.
A very good black sur blanc impression. The sur blanc impressions were printed in a limited edition apart from the large newsprint edition, for collectors, on a white wove paper. This paper is stronger than the newprint, and is superior insofar as the newsprint does not show through the image. For more background on the print, including the position of women v. men in French households in the mid-19th Century, please see the discussion of the topic in the Daumier Register, a free on-line catalogue raisonne.
Here is the translation of the text from the Daumier Register:
. Original Text: – Ah! tu trouves que ta femme ne te soigne pas assez, brigand; quand tu dépenses tout, canaille!… Eh bien je m’en ferai des accroche-cœur, polisson!…. et je m’achèterai des bonnets…. et je te ferai manger des bouchons de liège, gredin…….. – Mon ange j’ai tort, tu es une bonne femme de ménage….. mais tu casses tout.
Translation: – Ah! So you think your wife does not care enough about you, you rascal, when you spend everything you good-for-nothing! Well, I am going to arrange my hair in lovelocks, you scoundrel! And I am going to buy fancy hats and I will give you corks to eat, you villain! – My angel, I am wrong, you are a good housewife …. but you’re breaking everything!
$250
Posted in Honore Daumier |
Wednesday, July 1st, 2009
Honore Daumier (1808-1879), UNE DEMANDE EN SÉPARATION (A Divorce Case), lithograph, 1845. Reference: Daumier Register, second state (of 2, with letters [initials in the plate]), Plate 40 of Les Beaux Jours de la Vie, published in Le Charivari, 8 7/8 x 9 1/4, the sheet 14 1/2 x 9 3/4 inches. In good condition, slight paper toning, horizontal fold.
A fine strong and clear impression of this iconic Daumier lawyer image, as published in Le Charivari, with the letterpress verso.
Here, as quoted from the Daumier Register is the translation:
Original Text: UNE DEMANDE EN SÉPARATION. – Mon client n’est pas un des maris présomptueux qui viennent se vanter devant vous d’avoir été trompés par leur femme, sans avoir autre chose que de vagues soupçons…. grâce au ciel nous avons des preuves… nous en avons à foison, et c’est le front levé et sans crainte d’un démenti, que monsieur peut annoncer hautement et en tout lieux… qu’il est… enfin ce qu’il est!….
Translation: A DIVORCE CASE. My client is not one of these presumptuous husbands who appear here before you in order to boast that they have been deceived by their wives and have only vague suspicions for saying so… Thank God, we have proof… More than that. We have ample proof, and holding his head high, and without fear of contradiction, the gentleman can say loud and clear that he… that he is… well, that he is what he is…
The complainant appears to be as baffled by his lawyer as he seems to have been by his wife.
$750
Posted in Honore Daumier |
Wednesday, July 1st, 2009
Theodore Roussel (1847-1926), The Sleeping Model or The Sleeper, etching and drypoint with additional pencil coloring, signed on the tab and inscribed “imp”, also inscribed “to Hetty” and initialed verso. Reference: Hausberg 145, an undescribed third state (of 5), colored by the artist in pencil, in very good condition, on antique laid paper trimmed to the plate mark by the artist with the tab left for the signature, 5 1/8 x 7 inches, archival mounting.
A fine impression of a proof before the addition of lines on the couch and background, shading near the model’s fingers, and the addition of aquatint for color printing. In this proof the artist has added colors in pencil; in the last state a small number of impressions (5) were printed in colors.
This proof impression was given to the model, Hetty Pettigrew, by Roussel. Ms Pettigrew (1867-1953), a model for Whistler as well as Roussel, was also Roussel’s student, and had, according to Hausberg, a personal relationship with Roussel as well as a professional one. Both Roussel and Whistler made a number of prints, and Whistler a few pastels, of Ms. Pettigrew on the couch depicted in this etching.
Posted in Theodore Roussel |
Wednesday, July 1st, 2009
Theodore Roussel (1847-1926), Low Tide Fowey (First Plate), etching, 1911, signed on the tab and inscribed imp (Latin for impressit)[also signed in the plate lower left]; Reference: Hausberg 100, third state (of 3). In excellent condition (remains of prior hinging verso), trimmed by the artist on the platemark with a tab left for the signature and annotation, on a laid paper, 3 1/2 x 5 inches, archival matting.
A fine delicately printed impression of this rare print. Roussel printed only 15 in this state, 8 in the second state and 1 in the first.
Apparently this delicate plate wore out quickly, so Roussel made another version (Hausberg 101) which was then steel-faced (although no edition was made of this version).
Roussel was an admirer, and one of the more talented students of Whistler, and, like Whistler, he printed his etchings personally, then trimmed them at the plate mark and left his signature on a tab.
The subject dates from Roussel’s visit to Fowey, Cornwall during the summer of 1911.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Wednesday, July 1st, 2009
Theodore Roussel (1847-1926), The Street, Chelsea Embankment, etching, 1888-9, signed in pencil on the tab and annotated “imp” [also signed lower left in the plate]. Reference: Hausberg 26, only state, about 40 impressions printed. In good condition (tiny repaired tear upper margin, trimmed by the artist at the platemark leaving a tab for the signature), 5 7/8 x 8 1/4 inches. Printed in brownish/black ink on an old laid paper, archival mounting.
A fine atmospheric impression, printed by the artist with an overall veil of plate tone.
Roussel was a student and admirer of Whistler, and, like Whistler, he printed his etchings personally, then trimmed them at the plate mark and left his signature on a tab. This print is illustrated in Lochnan’s The Etchings of Whistler, as an example of Roussel’s work (Lochnan notes that Roussel was so full of respect for the master that he always went bareheaded in his presence). As it developed, Roussel was surely one of the most outstanding of Whistler’s accolytes.
This commercial section of Cheyne Walk was destroyed in 1889, when it was razed in connection with the building of Battersea Bridge. Meg Hausberg, in her superb catalogue raisonne of Roussel’s prints, was able to find the names of each of the shops; the sign board for James Clarke, Dining Rooms; and Mrs. Sarah Weller, Furniture Dealer are both visible in the etching, as is the large News of the World sign above the shop at the far left.
Posted in Theodore Roussel |
Wednesday, July 1st, 2009
James Whistler (1834-1903), The Bridge, Santa Marta, 1879-80, etching with drypoint, printed in sepia on fine laid paper. Signed with the butterfly and inscribed imp on the tab (also with an exceedingly light butterfly lower right in the plate). Kennedy 204, probably eighth (final) state; Glasgow 201, probably state 9 (of 9) (cf. Margaret F. MacDonald, Grischka Petri, Meg Hausberg, and Joanna Meacock, James McNeill Whistler: The Etchings, a catalogue raisonné, University of Glasgow, 2011), Lochnan 199. Trimmed to the platemark by the artist, h: 11.8 x w: 7.9 in / h: 30 x w: 20.1 cm.
A fine impression, printed with subtle tone.
The bridge theme occurs repeatedly in Whistler’s vistas. It is also the main focus of more than one of the Venetian prints. While some bridges are seen from below, from where one would see it if approaching in a gondola (for example Ponte del Piovan, Kennedy 209), The Bridge depicts the scene from a high perspective, opening up the view into the far distance. The small boat approaching the arch in the foreground is again, as in the earlier Thames prints, a stock motif that is probably ultimately derived from the Japanese woodcuts of Hokusai and Hiroshige. The bridge here is the Ponte de le Terese over the Rio de l’Arzere in the Santa Marta quarter.
The early biography of Whistler by Elizabeth and Joseph Pennell is essential for its “immense quantity of information” but also notorious for “the inherent hyperbole and misinformation” (Eric Denker, Annotated Bibliography, in Fine, p. 184). Still, it is worth quoting from the Pennels’ appraisal of The Bridge: “Simplicity of expression has never been carried further. Probably the finest plate, in its simplicity and directness, is The Bridge. Whistler now obtained the quality of richness by suggesting detail, and also by printing. In The Traghetto there is the same scheme as in The Miser and The Kitchen, but the Venice plate is more painterlike. Without taking away from the etched line he has given a fullness of tone which makes the background of [Rembrandt’s ] The Burgomaster Six weak by comparison. And he knew this” (Pennell/Pennell, p. 197).
The plate was originally advertised for but not included in the First Venice Set where it was substituted by the somewhat more conventional view of The Little Mast (Kennedy 185). It was published as part of the Second Venice Set in 1886.
Posted in James Whistler |
Wednesday, July 1st, 2009
James Whistler (1834-1903), Price’s Candle Works, drypoint on laid Japan paper, circa 1875. Trimmed on the platemark by the artist. With an early butterfly signature and inscribed imp in pencil on the tab. Kennedy 154, an intermediate state between states III and IIIa, before drypoint addition to the topsail but with additions to main sail; Lochnan 155. h: 8.9 x w: 8.9 in / h: 22.6 x w: 22.6 cm
Provenance:
Kennedy Galleries, New York (their stock no. in pencil on verso a65820)
Tracy Dows, New York (Lugt 2427)
Charles C. Cunningham, Jr., Boston (not in Lugt)
The Fine Art Society, London
George S. van Houten, Waalre, Netherlands
A fine impression, printed with subtle and even plate tone and burr on the drypoint.
Kennedy initially listed four states and then added two additional states; one should therefore properly count six states, this one being an intermediate one between (new) states four and five.
This print is an example of the effect that Whistler could achieve with the contrasts of night and illumination, making, as Wedmore remarked, “the chimney of a brewery or a candle works […] not less beautiful than […] King’s College Chapel”.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Wednesday, July 1st, 2009
James Whistler (1834-1903), Price’s Candle Works, drypoint on laid Japan paper, circa 1875. Trimmed on the platemark by the artist. With an early butterfly signature and inscribed imp in pencil on the tab. Kennedy 154, an intermediate state between states III and IIIa, before drypoint addition to the topsail but with additions to main sail; Glasgow (Margaret F. MacDonald, Grischka Petri, Meg Hausberg, and Joanna Meacock, James McNeill Whistler: The Etchings, a catalogue raisonné, University of Glasgow, 2011) 166, twelfth state (of 13). Lochnan 155. h: 8.9 x w: 8.9 in / h: 22.6 x w: 22.6 cm
Provenance:
Kennedy Galleries, New York (their stock no. in pencil on verso a65820)
Tracy Dows, New York (Lugt 2427)
Charles C. Cunningham, Jr., Boston (not in Lugt)
The Fine Art Society, London
George S. van Houten, Waalre, Netherlands
A fine impression, printed with subtle and even plate tone and burr on the drypoint. This is the impression illustrated in the Glasgow catalogue for the twelfth state.
Kennedy initially listed four states and then added two additional states; one should therefore properly count six states, this one being an intermediate one between (new) states four and five. But Glasgow (see reference above) describes 13 states; this would appear to be a very early impression of the twelfth state.
This print is an example of the effect that Whistler could achieve with the contrasts of night and illumination, making, as Wedmore remarked, “the chimney of a brewery or a candle works […] not less beautiful than […] King’s College Chapel”.
on reserve
Posted in Uncategorized |
Wednesday, July 1st, 2009
James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903), The Palaces, 1879-80, etching on laid paper; trimmed on the platemark by the artist, signed with the butterfly and inscribed imp on the tab. Reference: Kennedy 187, third (final) state; Lochnan 184.
Provenance: P. & D. Colnaghi & Co., London (their stock no. in pencil verso C.13455)
Kennedy Galleries, New York (their stock no., partially erased, in pencil verso a 66798)
Thérèse Lowndes Noble, New York (Lugt 1953 but not stamped; according to a note on the mat of the previous owner)
private collection, USA (acquired 1979–80)
A fine impression.
The print shows on the verso three tiny circles in pencil, a sign that has often been interpreted as Whistler’s method of marking a choice impression. However, as Ruth Fine has pointed out, “no document […] has been located which verifies this. […] If these annotations were a Whistlerian designation of quality, they were probably one more aspect of the artist’s public relations campaign, allowing certain buyers to think they were getting something extraordinary”.
The Palaces is Whistler’s largest etching, depicting the Sagredo and Pesaro palaces at Santa Sofia. Both of them “are Gothic, a period Whistler otherwise largely avoided in Venice”. Compositionally one may position it at an interesting transition point. In most of the other architectural views from the First Venice Set Whistler continues to use his characteristic framing devices, usually with some kind of passageway that pulls the viewer into the image (see e.g. The Lime-Burner above). Here one is confronted with the large facade of the palace, set parallel to the picture plane. The door is shaded with dense lines and does not allow any view through into a deeper layer of space. If one were to cut out the palace alone without the surrounding sky and water, the composition would already closely resemble the later Venice and Amsterdam facades. Steps and The Embroidered Curtain show this artistic development in the present catalogue at its most accomplished level.
Published as part of the First Venice Set in 1881.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Tuesday, June 30th, 2009
Francisco Goya (1746-1828), etching, lavis, burin and burnisher, 1810, Plate 20 from the Disasters of War. Harris 140 I/2 (of III/7). A working proof before letters and numbers [with signature and date lower left]. 6 1/8 x 9, the sheet 7 5/8 x 9 15/16 inches.
Provenance: Infante Don Sebastian de Borbon y Branganza; George Prevot (This is the proof referred to in Harris as Lima Private Coll. (ex Provot). Sold by Prevot in Paris, April 10, 1935, Hotel Drouot, in the sale of Prevot’s Goya collection, catalog number 49. );Private Swiss Collection
An extraordinarily fine proof impression.
One first state impression is known, and about nine other second state proofs have been accounted for; eight are in major institutions (Boston MFA, Madrid BN, New York MMA, Paris BN and BAA, Berlin KK).
In this state there was extensive etched re-working of the original design and filling in of the unworked areas in the right foreground; with the false biting burnished on the figures, with lavis which fails to print in some of the very clean wiped impressions. Although relatively clean wiped, lavis bordering can be seen quite clearly on this impression. No proof is known with the earlier 8 only, or with nos. 8 and 20.
The print quality is extraordinary, particularly when compared to that of the edition (the First Edition was printed posthumously, in 1863; six additional editions followed).
Detail
Posted in Uncategorized |
Tuesday, June 30th, 2009
Marguerite Zorach (1887-1968), Two Female Nudes (also known as The Dancers), c. 1915-20, lineolum cut, signed in pencil lower right margin. One of a small number of proofs; there was no edition. In excellent condition, on a very thin cream Japan paper, with margins, 8 1/4 x 6 1/2, the sheet 12 x 10 1/2 inches. Archival mounting with window mat.
A fine impression of this very rarely encountered American modernist/cubist print.
Provenance: The Heald Collection, with its mat.
The Zorachs (William and Marguerite), who met in Paris, spent several summers in Provincetown (1915, 1916, 1921, 1922), and it is surely there that Marguerite created this cubist composition, which bears some resemblance to other linoleum cuts she created there, including A New England Family, and Provincetown Players (indeed the two women portrayed here may have been Provincetown Players).
The linoleum cut technique was well suited to Zorach’s approach to printmaking at the time; she could carve the image herself, and print it herself by hand.
Zorach was focused on the artmaking, not marketing or distribution of prints, so she did not edition them, number them, sign them all, or keep careful records of the number of prints produced. This has had a mixed effect on Zorach’s reputation as a printmaker – some of her prints are little known and rarely seen – but today her prints are increasingly sought after by knowledgeable collectors.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Tuesday, June 30th, 2009
Francisco Goya (1746-1828), Who Will Bell the Cat (Quien se Pondra El Cascabel at Gato?); also Animal Folly (Disparate de Bestia), etching, c. 1820, burnished aquatint and drypoint. Reference: Harris 268, Delteil 222. In excellent condition, the full sheet, on fine laid paper, 9 1/2 x 13 3/4, the sheet 12 x 17 1/4, archival window mat.
Published by L’Art with the title “Otras Leyes Por el Pueblo and below “(Autres loie pour le peuple)” [other laws for the people] with “Goya inv. et sc.” and “L’Art” to the left and “Fcois Lienard, Imp Paris” to the right. One of the four additional plates prepared for the Proverbios Series but unpublished until the late nineteenth century (1877). (There were initially 18 prints in the set, which was first published in 1864.) One working proof of Quien se Pondra is known, then some posthumous trial proofs before letters prior to the edition.
Provenance: ex Collection Frederick Garnet Rice (Lugt Supplement 1042a), his stamp verso.
A fine impression, with the aquatint contrasts clear, and the drypoint scratches vivid as well.
Harris notes that the “elephant is copied from a pen and ink drawing which represents two elephants and their keeper. There are etched traces of the second elephant in the rocks above the Moors.” In this impression these etched traces are quite clear.
The generally accepted interpretation of this print is that the elephant, representing the people, is being seduced into accepting laws which would sap its strength and put it at the mercy of the ruling class. The fable of the mice who held a meeting to discuss what to do with the cat (they decided to bell it, but then had to decide who would take on the task) was in an anthology that was almost surely known to Goya. In the composition one of the cowering Moors holds a book (laws?) while another holds out a bell harness in the direction of the massive animal.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Tuesday, June 30th, 2009
Francisco de Goya (1746-1828), Bien te se está – It serves you right, etching with aquatint with touches of burin; on laid paper, circa 1808-1814, Harris 126 I.3 (of III.7). 14.1 x 20.4 cm; the sheet 20.8 x 29.7
A working proof impression for plate 6 of Los Desastres de la Guerra , with the earlier number 26 in the lower left corner, but before the additional burin work in the two known I.4 working proofs (Paris Gil and the Cean Bermudez Album impressions).
Harris lists one impression of state I.1 (Berlin) and one of state I.2 (Boston). Of the present state I.3, six impression are known, including this one that was formerly in the collection Georges Provôt in Paris
Provenance: Infante Don Sebastian de Borbón y Braganza
Georges Provôt, Paris
his sale, Hôtel Drouot, April 10, 1935, lot 37
private collection, Switzerland
Working (lifetime) proofs of the Disasters prints are of course of the utmost rarity; no edition was made during Goya’s lifetime – the First Edition of Los Desastres de la Guerra was published posthumously, in 1863, and seven editions were made in all.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Tuesday, June 30th, 2009
Jules Pascin (1885-1930), Comparaison (Nude Bathers), 1929, drypoint and aquatint, signed in pencil and numbered (99/253). Reference: Hemin 162 (p. 133). In good condition with full margins, slight light stain, on cream wove paper, 7 1/4 x 7, the sheet 16 1/2 x 13 inches.
The plate for this print was not cut squarely, so the top margin is angled; also, at the right of the plate one can see a watery line within the platemark where the plate was not completely bitten by acid.
A very good impression of this rather idiosycratic print. The voluminous nudes, and light virtuoso drypoint lines are characteristically Pascin’s; the darkness and shading of the aquatint gives the print an ominous, disturbing feel – another side to Pascin’s character.
Although the numbering suggests an edition of 253, we believe this number (and the other number shown, 99, might well have been made up; our experience with Pascin prints is that the numbering is often quite arbitrary, bearing no relation to the actual number of impressions printed (which, we believe in this case to have been relatively small).
The plate for this print was not cut squarely, so the top plate mark is angled; also, at the right of the plate one can see a watery line within the platemark where the plate was not completely bitten by acid. These are characteristics of a trial proof; one wonders – again – whether an edition for this plate was even planned. Yet despite it’s curious flaws – it’s hardly an example of professional printing – it has its aesthetic value.
Pascin (born Julius Pincas) was born in Bulgaria, in 1885. By his mid-teens he had experienced life in a bordello, had traveled widely in Europe developing as an artist, and early in the new century ventured to Paris, where he became a fixture in the burgeoning art scene. He had a dozen works in the Armory Show in New York (1913), and soon thereafter became a citizen of the US, living and showing his works in New York. He was married to the artist Hermine David.
Posted in Jules Pascin |
Tuesday, June 30th, 2009
Edgar Chahine (1874-1947), drypoint, Le Ciacolone (Les Bavardes), Venise, 1922, signed, titled and numbered (74/100) in pencil. Reference: Tabanelli 348, third state of three, from the edition of 100. On a green laid paper with a letters watermark. With small margins, 12 1/2 x 8 1/2 (the sheet 13 1/2 x 10). In generally good condition apart from nicks and remains of old hinging right margin edge; fold at lower right; the image surface excellent, archival mounting.
A fine atmospheric impression, printed in brownish/black ink on an old green laid paper, with a veil of plate tone but carefully wiped to create areas of light (e.g., the blouse of the woman at left), and with ink left on the plate to create areas of shadow (e.g., lower left). The very heavy burr from the drypoint work gives the print a satiny glow.
Les Bavardes was created at a propitious moment in Chahine’s career – he had recently married Julia Gaumet, had left Paris and traveled through France and down to Venice. At the height of his artistic powers (and about to receive much recognition back in Paris), his Venice portraits of this time are quite different from his earlier Belle Epoque work – he portrayed women with children, little known Venetian alleys and courtyards, and, as in this example, older Venetian women talking in the streets.
Posted in Edgar Chahine |
Tuesday, June 30th, 2009
Edgar Chahine (1874-1947), drypoint, Le Ciacolone (Les Bavardes), Venise, 1922, signed, titled and numbered (74/100) in pencil. Reference: Tabanelli 348, third state of three, from the edition of 100. On a green laid paper with a letters watermark. With small margins, 12 1/2 x 8 1/2 (the sheet 13 1/2 x 10). In generally good condition apart from nicks and remains of old hinging right margin edge; fold at lower right; the image surface excellent, archival mounting.
A fine atmospheric impression, printed in brownish/black ink on an old green laid paper, with a veil of plate tone but carefully wiped to create areas of light (e.g., the blouse of the woman at left), and with ink left on the plate to create areas of shadow (e.g., lower left). The very heavy burr from the drypoint work gives the print a satiny glow.
Les Bavardes was created at a propitious moment in Chahine’s career – he had recently married Julia Gaumet, had left Paris and traveled through France and down to Venice. At the height of his artistic powers (and about to receive much recognition back in Paris), his Venice portraits of this time are quite different from his earlier Belle Epoque work – he portrayed women with children, little known Venetian alleys and courtyards, and, as in this example, older Venetian women talking in the streets.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Tuesday, June 30th, 2009
Sir David Young Cameron (1865-1945), Old St. Etienne, etching and drypoint, 1907, signed in pencil lower right. Reference: Rinder 400. In very good condition, on old cream wove paper, with small margins (remains of prior hinging verso), 16 7/8 x 9, the sheet 19 1/2 x 9 1/2 inches. Archival storage with window mat.
Provenance: estate of Elizabeth Hutton Tupson, Lady Cameron.
A fine impression, printed in a dark brown ink with a veil of plate tone.
Cameron was, of course, one of the greatest of the British Etchers, and Old St. Etienne is one of the finest of his several church-front portraits.
In 1929 Cameron’s work sold at record prices for British prints; his The Five Sisters, York Minster sold for $3200 in August 1929, perhaps a higher price than any British print even to this day. Cameron’s star fell with the Depression. Robin Garton, always an insightful observer, noted in the early 1990’s that Cameron was “an artist of quite remarkable qualities and it would be hard to find a more worthwhile artist who is more out of fashion.” Today there are stirrings of interest in artists whose reputations have withstood the fashions of recent art movements, and Cameron’s time may be – again – at hand. In any case, this is a splendid print.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Tuesday, June 30th, 2009
Fiske Boyd (1895-1975), Interior, woodcut, 1936, unsigned. Published by the American Artists Group. In very good condition, on ivory wove paper, the full sheet, 6 x 10 1/4, the sheet 13 x 18 inches. In the original mat as issued (the mat has some soiling and a tear, not affecting the print).
A very good impression.
The American Artists Group was formed in 1934, during the Great Depression, with the express purpose of providing unsigned inexpensive prints which were to be widely distributed. AAG published prints by Ganso, Spruance, Meissner, and Lankes, among many other noted artists. Although the prices of these prints was minimal, collectors were saving what money they had, and so the editions were not sold out; most printings were under 200 and many under 100. Ironically, today, these prints are considered rare collector’s items.
Boyd seems to have become more modernist over time; in the picture depicted in this woodcut one can see a vision of the sort of prints he was to make a bit later in his career. Even here, he uses the medium of the woodcut to carve out a flat, modernist composition, in a sense ahead of his time for an American artist.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Tuesday, June 30th, 2009
Fiske Boyd (1895-1975) woodcut Concept, 1951, signed in pencil [also initialed and dated in the block], from the edition of 100 published by the Society of American Etchers-Engravers and Woodcutters, NY.
A fine impression, in very good condition, with wide margins, on a heavy cream wove paper, 12 x 9 inches (the sheet 17 1/4 x 14 1/4), archival mounting.
This is a modernist view of the East River Drive (also known as Franklin Delano Roosevelt Drive), New York City. (The tall building is the UN Building, etc.) One of Boyd’s most famous images, this print is frequently chosen by museum curators to represent the post War modernist woodcut in America (and it is featured in the collection of many museums such as the Smithsonian Museum of American Art or the San Francisco Museum of Art).
Fiske Boyd printed each of his woodcuts by hand, “by hand rubbing with the back of a spoon.” He said that “Even though it is relatively labourious and takes too long the way I do it, I come back to it time and time again….the very tediousness of the labor involved makes possible – nay unavoidable – the working out of a pictorial design with a kind of deliberateness that gives a peculiar control over certain aspects of the work.”
Posted in Uncategorized |
Tuesday, June 30th, 2009
HERMAN ARMOUR WEBSTER (1878-1970), Monte Caprino, Rome, etching, c. 1925, signed in pencil lower right. In excellent condition, with full margins and deckle edges, 5 3/8 x 7, the sheet 9 1/4 x 11 1/4 inches, archival matting.
A fine strong impression, printed in black ink on cream laid paper.
Born in New York and educated at Yale, Webster discovered Paris and its artistic ferment in 1900, moved there in 1904 to study at the Académie Julian with J.-P. Laurens and the etcher Eugène Béjot, and also was inspired by the etchings of Whistler and Meryon. Webster travelled extensively in Europe, and made numerous etchings of Paris and other European cities; he became widely distinguished as a painter-etcher both in Europe and the U.S.
During the middle ages the Campidoglio, one of the Seven Hills of Rome, was simply known as “Monte Caprino” where goats grazed among the ruins. In the 16C Michelangelo redesigned the square to accommodate the position of a pre-existent palace, the Palazzo dei Conservatori. On its foot there is the imposing Piazza Venezia, one of the biggest and most central squares of the city.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Tuesday, June 30th, 2009
Henri Boutet (1851-1919), Au Theatre a Paris, drypoint, 1884, signed in pencil and inscribed 1 etat (1st state). Reference: Henri Beraldi, Les Gravures du XIX Siecle, Vol. 2, p. 176. In excellent condition, printed on wove paper with full margins, 9 1/4 x 5 1/2, the sheet 13 1/4 x 8 1/2 inches, archival matting.
With the red Boutet stamp (Lugt Supp. 1295a).
A fine rich impression, with much burr from the drypoint work, a light plate tone wiped selectively, e.g., the ribbon is whiter than the background. Boutet apparently used a tiny roulette tool to create the effects of gray shading in the spaces surrounding the model.
This is a proof impression; before the addition of letters at the bottom margin.
Boutet was one of the most talented of the Belle Epoque artists. He made a number of small drypoint portraits of women in tiny editions (20 or so), of which this example is a first state proof. These prints, carefully printed, wiped and signed, are rarely encountered today, although reproductions of Boutet’s work are quite common. He became popular as an illustrator for magazines such as the Paris-Croquis and Le Courrier Francais, and later founded publications including La Revue Artistique. He was well known at the turn of the century as “le Petit maître au corset” – the small master of the corset.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Tuesday, June 30th, 2009
Georges Braque (1882-1963), Femme Assise (Seated Woman), etching, 1934, signed in pencil lower right and numbered (12/50) lower left. Reference: Vallier 24, only state. From the edition of 50 published by Maeght, Paris, in 1953 (only a few trial proofs were printed in 1934). Printed by Visat, Paris. In very good condition apart from pale light and mat stain, on Arches wove paper, the full sheet with deckle edges, 9 1/2 x 7 1/8, the sheet 17 3/4 x 12 1/2 inches. Archival mounting with window mat.
A fine impression, with good contrast among the various cross-hatching and linear patterns.
In this classic cubist composition of a girl playing a guitar Braque displays a panoply of textures and patterns, apparently working the plate to a near breaking point in pure etching. In doing this he follows a long tradition of printmaking, from Callot and Hollar to Meryon and Whistler, and then even to his cubist colleague Picasso.
The etching is similar to a Braque painting called Femme a la Guitare (Girl with a Guitar); this is shown in the Maeght volume Peintures de Braque, 1928-35, p. 59.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Tuesday, June 30th, 2009
George Biddle (1885-1973), Goat Herder’s Wife, 1928, lithograph, signed in pencil lower right and titled and numbered (64/100) in pencil lower left margin [with the inscription “Biddle/1928” in the plate lower right] Reference: Pennigar 82, Trotter 48. Printed by George C. Miller. From the edition of 100. In excellent condition, on Rives cream wove paper, with full margins (tiny nick upper right edge); 9 1/2 x 13, the sheet 16 x 18 1/2 inches. Archival mounting (unattached mylar hinging between acid free boards, glassine cover).
A fine clear impression, in pristine condition.
After Groton, Harvard College and Harvard Law (and several breakdowns) Biddle decided that a conventional career in law was not for him; he decided on art, went to Paris, worked with Mary Cassatt and familiarized himself with modernist currents in art (as well as more traditional European art).
After serving in WWI, and the dissolution of his marriage, he became interested in working outside of the European tradition (although his travels continued to include Europe, and he spent a period working under the influence of Jules Pascin in Paris in the mid-20’s). Goat Herder’s Wife reflects the time he spent with Pascin, expecially in terms of the modernist flatness and freedom of the composition. Biddle reached a an aesthetic high point in this and several other prints he did of Mexico and Haiti in the late ’20’s; later his work was caught up in the social realism of the ’30’s.
Posted in George Biddle |
Tuesday, June 30th, 2009
George Biddle (1885-1973), Goat Herder’s Wife, 1928, lithograph, signed in pencil lower right and titled and numbered (64/100) in pencil lower left margin [with the inscription “Biddle/1928” in the plate lower right] Reference: Pennigar 82, Trotter 48. Printed by George C. Miller. From the edition of 100. In excellent condition, on Rives cream wove paper, with full margins (tiny nick upper right edge); 9 1/2 x 13, the sheet 16 x 18 1/2 inches. Archival mounting (unattached mylar hinging between acid free boards, glassine cover).
A fine clear impression, in pristine condition.
After Groton, Harvard College and Harvard Law (and several breakdowns) Biddle decided that a conventional career in law was not for him; he decided on art, went to Paris, worked with Mary Cassatt and familiarized himself with modernist currents in art (as well as more traditional European art).
After serving in WWI, and the dissolution of his marriage, he became interested in working outside of the European tradition (although his travels continued to include Europe, and he spent a period working under the influence of Jules Pascin in Paris in the mid-20’s). Goat Herder’s Wife reflects the time he spent with Pascin, expecially in terms of the modernist flatness and freedom of the composition. Biddle reached a an aesthetic high point in this and several other prints he did of Mexico and Haiti in the late ’20’s; later his work was caught up in the social realism of the ’30’s.
Posted in George Biddle |
Tuesday, June 30th, 2009
George Biddle (1885-1973), The Expectant Thistles, 1928, lithograph, signed and dated in pencil lower right, titled and numbered in pencil lower left [also inscribed in the plate lower left Biddle/1928/46]. References: Pennigar 80, Trotter 46, only state, from the edition of 100. Printed by George C. Miller. On cream wove Rives paper, the full sheet with deckle edges, in pristine condition (never framed or matted), 7 x 11 1/4, the sheet 11 1/2 x 15 3/4 inches. Archival mounting (mylar unattached hinging between acid free mats, glassine cover).
A fine fresh impression; a good example of Biddle’s technique of scratching and sanding the lithographic stone in order to get detailed effects (which sometimes approximated the appearance of drypoint burr in etching).
The year 1928 was important for Biddle; he made many of his greatest images of Haiti and Mexico (where he traveled with Diego Rivera) in this year.
The composition of The Expectant Thistles reflects the experience Biddle had working with Jules Pascin, who became his friend and colleague when Biddle was in Paris from 1924-6. The composition is modernist – without rigid adherence to conventional positioning and depth, and it’s witty too; while Pascin typically populated sheets such as this with nudes, Biddle turns to donkeys, and a few tiny (dressed) people as well.
Posted in George Biddle |
Monday, June 29th, 2009
Hans Sebald Beham (1500-1550), Virgin and Child with the Pear, engraving, 1520. Initials monogram and date in the plate. References: Bartsch 18, Pauli, Hollstein 19. First state (of two). In good condition, on old laid paper with thread margins on three sides, trimmed on the platemark bottom right and bottom, and archival mounting. h: 4.5 x w: 3 in / h: 11.4 x w: 7.6 cm
A very good impression of this rarity.
Hollstein indicates that earlier impressions, such as this one, do not have a scratch above the head of the Virgin.
Beham was one of the Northern Renaissance Little Masters, so called because of their eminence in producing small-scale engravings such as the Virgin and Child with a Pear. Beham was born in Nuremberg in 1500, and may have trained under Durer, though his training is no more certain than that of his younger brother Barthel. He made his first engraving in 1518, and later became known for producing woodcuts as well.
Beham’s Madonna with the Pear has a similar composition but in reverse to Durer’s engraving of the same subject done only 9 years earlier. In both prints the Madonna rests against a tree and holds the pear away from the Child; Durer’s image is larger and includes a city background; Beham draws no clouds or buildings in the space next to the Virgin, but instead features her long curly hair blowing towards the right.
The pear as a pacifier as opposed to the “apple of discord” or temptation occurs as an attribute of the Virgin in a sculpture at the Cathedral at Chartres, completed in 1240.
Posted in Hans Sebald Beham |
Monday, June 29th, 2009
James Whistler (1830-1903), Battersea Morn (also Battersea Dawn), drypoint, 1875, Kennedy 155, signed in pencil with the butterfly and inscribed “imp”. Kennedy 155, first state (of 4), Glasgow 174, first state (of 5). On laid paper with a Coat of Arms watermark, also signed in the plate with a faint butterfly upper right, with full margins, in good condition apart from a few slight fox marks and light soiling in the margins, a tiny printer’s crease in the right edge, hinge stains and small related creases in the upper corners verso, 5 3/4 x 8 7/8 (sheet 8 x 13) inches, archival mounting.
Provenance: Ex coll. George Mathew Adams (Lugt 59, with his stamp on recto lower right and verso).
Kennedy Galleries (stock no. a 38302)
Knoedler & Co., New York (stock no. MK 17120).
A fine, rare, very early proof impression, printed in a pale sepia ink, before extensive additional line work and shading were added to give the buildings and vessels further definition. In this state the print is an iconic impressionist image. This is rather rare; this print was not published but only issued in proofs.
Katherine Lochnan has suggested that when Whistler turned to the Thames in the 1870’s for subjects for printmaking (as he had in earlier years) he was experimenting with the possibilities of printmaking, without having any publication in mind. In Battersea Dawn, according to Lochnan, Whistler “reduced his line to the thinnest, most suggestive ever employed in the history of the medium. The images were drawn with faint, hair like lines, probably using a diamond-tipped needle.” In this delicate impression, Whistler gives the industrial area of Battersea, across the Thames from Chelsea, an atmospheric, impressionistic glow.
Posted in James Whistler |
Monday, June 29th, 2009
Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669), Three Oriental Figures (Jacob and Laban), etching, 1642, [signed and dated in reverse in the plate].h: 5.8 x w: 4.4 in / h: 14.7 x w: 11.2 cm
References: Bartsch, Hollstein 118, second state of two. In very good condition, two tiny (oil?) dots in matrix, with thread margins all around. With a Seven Provinces watermark (characteristic of numerous lifetime impressions of Rembrandt prints). Archival mounting.
Provenance: J.B. de Graaf (Lugt 1120), with the chop mark recto bottom edge
A very fine clear impression, with the drypoint work at the right of the porch, the man’s hat at center, and the pointing hand clear, with faint traces of burr on the latter. Still with lines in the sky. This is not an uncommon print, but it is unusual to encounter the Three Oriental Figures in such a fine impression.
In the second state light drypoint work was added to the foliage at the right opposite the porch and elsewhere, but the essential composition was unchanged from the first state.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Monday, June 29th, 2009
Rudolph Ruzicka (1883-1978), [Riverside Factory], wood engraving in colors, circa 1920, signed in pencil lower right and inscribed imp. In excellent condition, on laid paper with wide margins, 7 3/4 x 5 1/4, the sheet 12 x 9 1/2 inches, archival mounting with window mat.
A fine impression, with the subtle colors fresh.
Ruzicka’s color wood engravings are rarely encountered in today’s marketplace, but are highly valued by collectors, both because of the subtlety of their design and composition, and Ruzicka’s technical mastery of the medium.
Rudolph Ruzicka was an eminent wood engraver, etcher, illustrator, book designer and inventor of typographic fonts. He came to the US from Bohemia, living first in Chicago where he took drawing lessons at Hull House and later becoming an apprentice wood engraver. From 1900 to 1902 he studied at the Chicago art institute, and in 1903 moved to New York where he worked as an engraver and furthered his artistic studies. He went on to achieve fame as a book illustrator, artist and typographer. As a wood engraver he surely was influenced by the 19th Century French master August Lepere, and in turn Ruzicka influenced generations of American artists and illustrators who worked in the difficult and exacting field of wood engraving.
$1000
Posted in Uncategorized |
Monday, June 29th, 2009
Wallerant Vaillant (1623-1677), [Venetian Woman], mezzotint, circa 1670. References: Wurzbach 68, Hollstein p. 205, in good condition, with thread margins, on old laid paper, 12 1/8 x 9 1/8 inches.
A fine rich impression.
This rare print has been the subject of much discussion among art historians. Wurzbach attributes it to Vaillant; Hollstein to another (unknown) artist. It was clearly done in the 17th Century, early in the development of the mezzotint technique.
Vaillant, a French portrait painter and etcher trained in Flanders was a collaborator of Prince Rupert, one of the earliest artists working in mezzotint, and he developed the technique further after leaving the employ of Rupert, to achieve prints more beautiful and technically satisfying than those of Rupert. The subtle technique and professionalism of Venetian Woman has led historians to attribute the print to Valliant.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Monday, June 29th, 2009
Tod Lindenmuth (1885-1956), Low Tide, color woodcut, c. 1915, signed and titled in pencil lower margin. In very good condition, with wide margins (some flattened creases in margins, small area of thinning upper left margin edge, a few prior hinges attached to margin edges, only the slightest hint of light tone); on a Japan wove paper, 14 7/8 x 14, the sheet 21 x 17 3/4 inches, archival mounting with window mat.
A fine impression of this rare Provincetown woodcut, made from three blocks in light, medium and dark blue.
Although Lindemuth himself titled this Low Tide, there appears to be some confusion about this title. In her classic volume American Prints and Printmakers Una Johnson refers to another Lindemuth color woodcut (pictured on page 15) as Low Tide. (We believe this may in fact be The Runway, as titled in another impression by Lindenmuth.)
We do not know the edition sizes of the Lindenmuth prints, but believe they are small; they are rarely encountered on the market today.
In the extensive archives on Lindenmuth in the Archives of American Art (Smithsonian Institute), his daughter, in an interview, points out the Provincetown piers and fishing runways Lindenmuth depicted in his color woodcuts. These prints were important to Lindenmuth, who regarded the color print as a “small painting.”
These woodcuts were important as well to the group of American artists (including the Zorachs, Max Weber, BJO Nordfeldt) who were influenced by European Modernism and Japonisme (quite evident in Low Tide), and who made woodcuts along with Lindenmuth in Provincetown in the 1915-1925 period; these were in many respects the beginnings of American Modernism.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Monday, June 29th, 2009
Tod Lindemuth (1885-1956), The Runway (Provincetown), color woodcut, 1917, signed in pencil lower right, titled and numbered (67/100; possibly later, see below) lower left. On medium weight Japan paper, in very good condition, with margins (slight evidence of yellowing here and there, the slightest marginal light staining), the full sheet with deckle edges, 14 3/8 x 11 1/8, the sheet 18 x 15 1/2 inches, archival mounting with window mat.
A fine, carefully printed impression of this important – and rare – American early modernist woodcut.
Although the print is annotated with a number, we believe this is probably not evidence of the number of impressions made (and this misnumbering of prints was not unusual at that time); in fact this print appears to be exceedingly rare, and probably was not made in an edition at all. When Lindemuth’s daughter was interviewed for the artist’s file for the Archives of American Art (Smithsonian Institute) she noted that this print was “one of the few color wood blocks I’m aware of, it’s of the fish hauling runways in Provincetown in 1917.”
A variant of this print (from the collection of the New York Public Library), without the background structure (the runway, in fact) is pictured in Una Johnson’s American Prints and Printmakers (page 14). There it’s called “Low Tide.” (We have another Lindemuth print which he titled “Low Tide” which bears no resemblance to either of these.)
Lindemuth, a painter, was one of a number of American artists (including the Zorachs, Max Weber, BJO Nordfeldt) who were influenced by European Modernim and Japonisme, and who made woodcuts (often in Provincetown) in the 1915-1925 period; these were in many respects the beginnings of American Modernism.
Posted in Tod Lindenmuth |
Monday, June 29th, 2009
Reginald Marsh (1898-1954), Irving Place Burlesque (#2), etching, 1928, signed in pencil lower right by Felicia Meyer Marsh, numbered (21) lower left margin, also with the initials RW lower left. Reference: Sasowsky 49, a proof impression of the 7th state (of 8). In good condition with margins, with characteristics of a Marsh proof, i.e., some inky fingerprints in margins, trimmed irregularly especially at left margin edge, printer’s creases. On an ivory laid paper, 7 x 10 3/4, the sheet 9 3/4 x 13 1/4 inches.
A very good impression, before engraving and additional work darkening composition.
Apparently Marsh experimented with burnishing and scraping this plate, particularly the group of dancers at the left. In this impression they are rather lightly drawn, and in the final state they appear to be darker. The only lines he added for the final state (that we can find) are cross-hatching lines on the column at the far right (partly hidden by a man); this is definitive evidence that this is an earlier state, but in other respects the lines and composition are the same as in the last state.
The numbering 21 on this impression is a confusing element; according to Sasowsky an impression in the final state was numbered 21 (and the two known impressions in the seventh state were numbered 13 and 14), but of course Marsh (and to a lesser degree Sasowsky) were not infallible in their numbering and records. The highest number Sasowsky cites for the print is 25.
Irving Place Burlesque #2 is a close-up depiction of the stage, the piano player, and some of the audience; aother print entitled Irving Place Burlesque (S 75) done about the same time shows only a tiny portion of the stage and focuses more on the house and the audience.
Posted in Reginald Marsh |
Monday, June 29th, 2009
Reginald Marsh (1898-1954), Switch Engines, Erie Yards, Jersey City, Stone No. 3, lithograph, 1948, signed in pencil lower right. Reference: Sasowsky 30, only state, from the edition of 253 as published by the Print Club of Cleveland. In very good condition, slight spotting verso, 9 x 13, the sheet 13 x 16 3/4 inches.
A fine fresh impression, in its original mat with the inscription on the mat of the Print Club of Cleveland, with its stamp verso, printed on a cream wove paper, the full sheet with deckle edges.
Marsh made two earlier versions of this lithograph, which he apparently decided were not adequate, before developing this version for the edition. The earlier versions were more detailed and realistic; this is more impressionist, and perhaps captures the feel of the rail yards better than the more straightforward versions.
Railroad imagery was an important recurring theme for Marsh, both in his etching and lithographic work. Sasowsky wrote that the locomotives “are phallic in form and appear in Marsh’s work almost as a leitmotif throughout his career. They are rendered with great knowledge, affection, and dignity.”
Posted in Reginald Marsh |
Monday, June 29th, 2009
Reginald Marsh (1898-1954), St. Jean de Luz, lithograph, c. 1928, signed in pencil lower right and inscribed “40 proofs” lower left [also signed in the plate lower left], printed on a chine colle. In good condition, the full sheet with full margins (slight soiling, nicks, handling folds in margins, remains of prior hinging verso). 8 1/4 x 12 5/8, the sheet 12 3/4 x 19 1/4 inches, archival matting.
A good strong impression.
Provenance: Estate of Ernest Shapiro
In this marvelous display of draftsmanship, Marsh draws a fierce storm, with a fiery sky and a group of people trying to get onto a pier just as an enormous wave breaks over it.
Marsh made a group of lithographs during a trip to France in 1928; most were scenes of Paris street and cafe life. Aesthetically St. Jean de Luz is surely the most accomplished of this group (and is also a rather unusual subject for Marsh).
Saint-Jean-de-Luz is a fishing port on the Basque coast, just south of Biarritz. The port lies on the estuary just before the river joins the ocean.
Posted in Reginald Marsh |
Monday, June 29th, 2009
Reginald Marsh (1898-1954), Loco-Erie Watering, 1929, etching, signed in pencil lower right, and numbered (16) lower left. Reference: Sasowsky 85, fourth state (of 4). On Whatman paper. In very good condition (apart from two hinging stains verso showing through top margin just into plate mark, some printers ink and soiling in margins), with margins, 7 x 9 7/8, the sheet 8 1/4 x 11 7/8 inches. Archival matting (acid free hinging and board, window mat, glassine cover).
A fine clear black impression.
Provenance: Kennedy Galleries, New York, and with their label and annotations still on mat.
Marsh (obviously) printed this personally, and this paper is specified in Sasowsky for his numbered impressions 8-18 of the definitive fourth state. He probably did not print more than about 20 impressions.
In Thomas Craven’s Treasury of American Prints (1939), Marsh is quoted as saying in response to a question about the size of his editions: “Since I do practically all my own printing, I do not limit the edition. The buyer limits the edition – he rarely buys, I rarely print. I usually print fifteen or twenty and sell one or two in the next five years – so why limit the edition?” (That was in 1939; today of course Marsh’s etchings are treasured as icons of American printmaking in the ’20’s and 30’s.)
Posted in Reginald Marsh |
Monday, June 29th, 2009
Reginald Marsh (1898-1954), Fan Dance at Jimmy Kelly’s, etching, 1936, signed and inscribed 50 proofs (only 24 known printed) [also with the initials and date in the plate lower left]. Reference: Sasowsky 161, third state (of 3). In very good condition, with wide margins, on Rives cream wove paper (with the Rives watermark). 6 x5, the sheet 9 1/2 x 7 inches. Archival mounting.
A fine, delicately printed impression.
Fandance was printed in three states; the design was essentially complete in the first state and small changes were made for the second and third states. Two proofs were made of each of the first and second states; Sasowsky indicates that although Marsh noted that an edition of 50 impressions was scheduled, only 20 impressions of the third state were printed.
The Marsh notation “50 impressions” represented wishful thinking as to the size of the edition on his part. In Thomas Craven’s Treasury of American Prints (1939), Marsh is quoted as saying in response to a question about the size of his editions: “Since I do practically all my own printing, I do not limit the edition. The buyer limits the edition – he rarely buys, I rarely print. I usually print fifteen or twenty and sell one or two in the next five years – so why limit the edition?” (That was in 1939; today of course Marsh’s etchings are treasured as icons of American printmaking in the ’20’s and 30’s.)
Posted in Reginald Marsh |
Monday, June 29th, 2009
Reginald Marsh (1898-1954), Fan Dance at Jimmy Kelly’s, etching, 1936, signed and inscribed 50 proofs (only 24 known printed) [also with the initials and date in the plate lower left]. Reference: Sasowsky 161, third state (of 3). In very good condition, with wide margins, on Rives cream wove paper (with the Rives watermark). 6 x5, the sheet 9 1/2 x 7 inches. Archival mounting.
A fine, delicately printed impression.
Fandance was printed in three states; the design was essentially complete in the first state and small changes were made for the second and third states. Two proofs were made of each of the first and second states; Sasowsky indicates that although Marsh noted that an edition of 50 impressions was scheduled, only 20 impressions of the third state were printed.
The Marsh notation “50 impressions” represented wishful thinking as to the size of the edition on his part. In Thomas Craven’s Treasury of American Prints (1939), Marsh is quoted as saying in response to a question about the size of his editions: “Since I do practically all my own printing, I do not limit the edition. The buyer limits the edition – he rarely buys, I rarely print. I usually print fifteen or twenty and sell one or two in the next five years – so why limit the edition?” (That was in 1939; today of course Marsh’s etchings are treasured as icons of American printmaking in the ’20’s and 30’s.)
Posted in Reginald Marsh |
Monday, June 29th, 2009
Reginald Marsh (1898-1954), Erie Rail Road Locos Watering, etching and engraving, 1934, signed and number (# 2). Reference: Sasowsky 155, eighth state (of 8). From small group of impressions in this state (highest number located is #18, but possibly numbering was not in order; earlier states only 1 or 2 proofs. On BFK Rives cream wove paper, with their (partial) watermark. In very good condition, with margins, 8 7/8 x 11 3/4, the sheet 10 3/4 x 14 3/4 inches.
A brilliant black impression.
Marsh has captured the grime, dirt, black colors of the trains and smoke, partly through his artistry, and partly through the difficulty he had creating and printing this plate. After making two proofs the etching ground collapsed, and he had to burnish and scrape a film of foul biting; the plate still shows spots, akin to the phospherous grains which etchers from the time of Rembrandt used to create tiny dots of black on their impressions. Marsh then repeatedly re-engraved the plate, and this accounts for the astonishing blacks, and the burr (in the smoke at right center, for example). The final product was well worth the effort – it is arguably Marsh’s finest railroad engraving.
The number of prints that Marsh printed is not known precisely, but this print is quite rare, and many of the impressions are accounted for (e.g., #7 is at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, #8 at the Whitney, #12 is at the New York Public Library, etc.). This impression is #2.
On the size of Marsh’s lifetime editions, his famous quote explains the situation: “Since I do practically all my own printing, I do not limit the edition. The buyer limits the edition – he rarely buys, I rarely print.” Written on pencil at the bottom margin of this print, quite probably in Marsh’s hand, are the words: “Erie Locomotives Watering – $20.”
Posted in Uncategorized |
Monday, June 29th, 2009
Reginald Marsh (1898-1954), Tank Car Rail, 1929, etching, signed lower right and numbered 15 lower left margin [also signed and dated in the plate]. Reference: Sasowsky 86, fifth state (of 5). In very good condition, on cream laid paper with margins, 6 x 8 3/4, the sheet 8 1/8 x 11 inches, archival mounting.
A fine impression of this rarely seen image.
Marsh printed this personally, and worked on the plate extensively after creating areas of foul biting in the first state (foul biting occurs when acid gets through the etching ground and creates tiny holes in the plate, and resulting spots on the print). In his notes he writes that he “scraped, snaked and charcoaled this plate for hours.” He also added many lines in the sky and the smoke. The resulting gritty look, with tiny specks of black and lines of is perfectly appropriate for the subject matter.
Provenance: Kennedy Galleries, with their mat and label intact.
There are only about 18 impressions known of this print, and about 13 in this state. This was numbered 15 by Marsh; number 12 is in the Library of Congress, numbers 3, 5 and 6 in the New York Public Library Marsh estate collection.
In Thomas Craven’s Treasury of American Prints (1939), Marsh is quoted as saying in response to a question about the size of his editions: “Since I do practically all my own printing, I do not limit the edition. The buyer limits the edition – he rarely buys, I rarely print. I usually print fifteen or twenty and sell one or two in the next five years – so why limit the edition?” (That was in 1939; today of course Marsh’s etchings are treasured as icons of American printmaking in the ’20’s and 30’s.)
Posted in Reginald Marsh |
Monday, June 29th, 2009
Reginald Marsh (1898-1954), Star Burlesk, 1933, etching, signed in pencil lower right margin. Reference: Sasowsky 142. First state of three.
A very fine, early, clear and sharply printed proof impression of the very rare (perhaps unique) first state. (Sasowsky calls for only one impression of the first state, two of the second, and then an edition of an unknown number, probably about 20-25). In this impression some of the columns have yet to be shaded, the upper left corner is not yet fully etched, and some addititional shading has yet to be added to some of the heads in the foreground.
Star Burlesk was one of a series of such subjects undertaken by Marsh, and in the view of many observers (including this writer), is his most effective. The burlesque show took place at the Minsky’s Theatre in New York. Marsh had studied at Yale, and traveled through Europe, but found an inspiration in the life of New York. He was interested in sex, and the human body, but not just as an academician – he insisted on portraying real life rather than studio models. He discussed the burlesque work and world in these terms, “The whole thing is extremely pictorial. You get a woman in the spotlight, the gilt architecture of the place, plenty of humanity. Everything is nice and intimate.”
In very good condition, on white wove with margins (slight skinning margin corners verso), 12 x 9 (sheet 15 x 10 1/2) inches, archival mounting.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Monday, June 29th, 2009
John Sloan (1871-1951), Subway Stairs, etching, 1926, signed, titled and inscribed “working proof 1;” also with the notation “JS imp” in pencil bottom margin [with the name and date in the plate]. Reference: Morse 221, third state (of 7). There was an edition in the seventh state, 60 printed. In very good condition, on ivory laid paper with margins (the slightest toning toward the margin edges). 6 7/8 x 5, the sheet 8 1/2 x 7 1/2 inches. Archival mounting, with acid free board, window mat.
A fine early state proof impression of one of Sloan’s most alluring subjects.
In this third state proof impression the composition is essentially complete, but the heavy cross hatching has yet to be done on the girl’s legs (which was added in the fourth state, and then burnished out in the seventh state), and some work has yet to be done on the girl’s face. According to the notation this impression was printed by Sloan; the prints for the edition were done by printers Platt, White and others.
Sloan wrote of this print: “In modern times incoming trains cause updrafts in the subway entrances. Getting on an omnibus in the hoop-skirt was exciting in grandmother’s day.”
$5250
Posted in John Sloan |
Monday, June 29th, 2009
John Sloan etching Schuylkill River, 1894, signed, titled, annotated “100 proofs” [only 25 were printed], also signed by the printer “Peter Platt imp’ in pencil lower left margin. From the edition (of 25) all printed by Peter Platt. Morse 60, only state. Provenance: ex. coll. VO and MP Potamkin Collection; Kraushaar Galleries.
A fine impression, with plate tone. On a tan wove paper with a partial crest and fleur de lys watermark, with margins, in good condition, a tiny nick right edge, slightest browning toward outer margin edges, 8 1/4 x 5 1/4 (the sheet 12 1/2 x 10) inches, archival matting.
A relatively early (and rarely seen) print for Sloan (1871-1954), he was 23 when he made this etching. Here are his later comments on the print: “One of my few plates that looks like an etching from the connoisseur’s point of view. It might be that had I pursued the direction here suggested my etchings might have become quite popular. This plate was made with William Glackens beside me, absorbing his first and only lesson in etching.”
By 1894 Sloan was coming into his own as an illustrator for the Philadelphia Inquirer, and Glackens and Sloan had become devoted students of a local artist just a few years older than Sloan – Robert Henri. At this stage Sloan had become interested in Japanese prints, Fin de Siecle French posters; also, of course, there’s the hint of aWhistlerian aesthetic here.
Peter Platt was one of Sloan’s best and most favored printers. This print demonstrate why: the subtle use of plate tone (ink left on the plate during printing process) gives the impression an atmospheric quality.
$2250
Posted in John Sloan |
Monday, June 29th, 2009
John Sloan (1871-1951), “Up the Line, Miss?”, etching, 1930, signed, titled and inscribed 100 proofs [also signed in the plate]. Reference: Morse 243, fifth state (of 5). In excellent condition, with full margins (slightly irregular lower edge, typical for the older paper favored by this printer, see note below). On an old laid paper with a circles in shield watermark. 5 1/2 x 7, the sheet 9 1/2 x 12 inches. Archival mounting.
A fine impression.
Only 80 impressions of the edition were printed.
This impression is printed on an old laid paper, of the sort the printer and artist Ernst Roth collected and sometimes used for printing Sloan’s prints. Sloan remarked on this: “Roth is using some wonderful old paper he brought from Europe some years ago. This is very kind of him, as he is a first rate etcher himself.” This sheet may have been pulled from a book of old paper, accounting for the rough bottom edge.
Although this etching was made in 1930, it has the look of one of Sloan’s New York etchings, done much earlier. In fact, it is based on a 1907 drawing Sloan made, and was done when his dealer (Kraushaar) suggested he do some etchings based on his earlier New York drawings.
Sloan’s 1945 note on this etching: “A young lady of Greenwich Village who is about to treat herself to an afternoon drive on Fifth Avenue.”
Posted in John Sloan |
Monday, June 29th, 2009
John Sloan (1871-1951), “Up the Line, Miss?”, etching, 1930, signed, titled and inscribed 100 proofs [also signed in the plate]. Reference: Morse 243, fifth state (of 5). In excellent condition, with full margins (slightly irregular lower edge, typical for the older paper favored by this printer, see note below). On an old laid paper with a circles in shield watermark. 5 1/2 x 7, the sheet 9 1/2 x 12 inches. Archival mounting.
A fine impression.
Only 80 impressions of the edition were printed.
This impression is printed on an old laid paper, of the sort the printer and artist Ernst Roth collected and sometimes used for printing Sloan’s prints. Sloan remarked on this: “Roth is using some wonderful old paper he brought from Europe some years ago. This is very kind of him, as he is a first rate etcher himself.” This sheet may have been pulled from a book of old paper, accounting for the rough bottom edge.
Although this etching was made in 1930, it has the look of one of Sloan’s New York etchings, done much earlier. In fact, it is based on a 1907 drawing Sloan made, and was done when his dealer (Kraushaar) suggested he do some etchings based on his earlier New York drawings.
Sloan’s 1945 note on this etching: “A young lady of Greenwich Village who is about to treat herself to an afternoon drive on Fifth Avenue.”
$2100
Posted in John Sloan |
Monday, June 29th, 2009
John Sloan (1871-1954), Copyist at the Metropolitan Museum, etching, 1908, signed, titled, and inscribed “100 proofs,” also inscribed by the printer “Ernest Roth imp.” Reference: Morse 148, eighth state (of 8), from the JS edition (75 printed). In very good condition, on tan/ivory wove paper, with full margins, 7 1/2 x 9, the sheet 11 x 13 1/8 inches.
A fine impression printed in a brownish/black ink.
In his diary of September 1908 Sloan wrote “In the evening I stared to make a plate of a copyist at work in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, crowd around as it is a sheep picture which the lay copyist is ‘takin’ off’. Made preliminary drawing on tissue paper and grounded my plate and got the red chalk tracking sketches on the ground.”
Sloan had much difficulty with the faces of Dolly (his wife) and himself, at the left; that’s the reason for the multiple states. He noted in later years: “I’ve always had trouble with portraits of members of the family. I had the head of Dolly in and out of the plate innumerable times.”
In addition to the JS edition (in which this impression was included) there was a Weyhe edition of 115 prints, as part of a portfolio called Twelve Prints by Contemporary Artists, published in 1919.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Monday, June 29th, 2009
John Skippe (1742-1811), Joseph Sold by His Brothers, chiaroscuro woodcut after Raphael, 1783. [with these inscriptions in the plate lower right: R d’Urbino JS: Scul 1783 indicating that Raphael of Urbino is responsible for the composition and John Skippe for the print]. In good condition, mounted on a sheet of old cream laid paper, trimmed on the borderline; 8 1/4 x 11 1/4 inches; archival mounting.
A fine fresh impression of this rare chiaroscuro woodcut, printed in four blocks: light and medium olive green, dark grayish green and dark brown.
Provenance: ex Collection: Mr. and Mrs. Percy Simmons
Exhibited: Beyond Black and White, Chiaroscuro Prints, Indiana University Art Museum, and Indianapolis Museum of Art; 1989-90; number 55 in the catalogue.
Joseph Sold by His Brothers is based on the fresco designed by Raphael and executed in the Vatican by his assistant Polidoro da Caravaggio. Skippe has added three pyramids in the background, which were not in the original fresco – these may represent his own reaction to the slaver market he personally witnessed when he visited Cairo – he was appalled at the scene, and may be using this Biblical scene as an opportunity to depict it.
Skippe was a gentleman painter who made a series of chiaroscuro woodcuts, often based on paintings or drawings he had in his collection, to please himself and his friends. Because these were not distributed in large numbers commercially (Skippe was independently wealthy) they are quite scarce and rarely seen today. The Victoria and Albert Museum, and the British Museum are strong repositories of his work; in the United States small Skippe collections can be found at the Yale Center for British Art, the Cincinnati Museum of Art, and the Chicago Art Institute. Skippe prints are rarely encountered today on the print market.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Monday, June 29th, 2009
John Skippe (1742-1811), Two Standing Warriors (after Andrea Del Sarto), chiaroscuro woodcut, 1783, Reference: Le Blanc 25. [with these inscriptions in the plate upper left: Del Sarto Inv.; JS: Scul: 1783]. Printed in three blocks. The matrix in good condition, trimmed on the borderline and mounted onto a large sheet of old cream laid paper, 10 x 6 3/4 inches, the (backing) sheet 19 1/2 x 13 1/2 inches.
Provenance: Christopher Mendez (London Old Master Print Dealer), with his label appended to mat
Exhibited: Beyond Black and White, Chiaroscuro Prints, Indiana University Art Museum, and Indianapolis Museum of Art; 1989-90.
A strong, clear impression, with the colors (3 shades of green) contrasting effectively.
Skippe considered himself primarily a painter, but made a series of chiaroscuro woodcuts, often based on paintings or drawings he had in his collection, to please himself and his friends. Because these were not distributed in large numbers commercially (Skippe was independently wealthy) they are quite scarce and rarely seen today. The Victoria and Albert Museum, and the British Museum are strong repositories of his work; in the United States folios of his work can be found at the Yale Center for British Art, the Cincinnati Museum of Art, and the Chicago Art Institute, and although individual impressions can be found in other collection, they seem rarely to be found on the print market.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Monday, June 29th, 2009
Jerome Myers (1867-1940), On Rivington Street, c. 1910, colored etching, signed in pencil lower right. In very good condition, with margins, 6 1/4 x 7 3/4, the sheet 9 1/4 x 10 3/8 inches, printed on a cream wove paper, archival matting.
A fine impression of this rarely encountered print, with the colors fresh, printed in brown, red, yellow, orange, two shades of green. This print shows no signs of having been editioned.
Myers printed his color prints personally, using different plates for the coloring. Myers’s artistry, and printing skill, are apparent here – one can discern that the various plates used for the coloring were not registered perfectly. This gives the print a hand-crafted, unique quality all too absent in contemporary printmaking.
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; and those immigrants are the subject matter of this work.
Active in the art life of the times, he was a prime mover behind the Armory Show of 1913, successfully working with Walt Kuhn to get the 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 alongside those of Everett Shinn, John Sloan, George Bellows.
Posted in Jerome Myers |
Monday, June 29th, 2009
Jerome Myers (1867-1940), Children in Mulberry Street, c. 1910, soft ground etching and plate tone, signed in pencil lower right. In good condition (apart from weakening at platemark left), with full margins, on a cream laid paper, 8 1/8 x 10 1/2, the sheet 12 x 18 7/8 inches, archival mounting.
A fine fresh impression of this great rarity.
This is a sketch pad, using the print medium (a la Rembrandt). The figure at the upper left is apparently a drawing, or at least the same figure, as Myers used in another etching called Conversation, two women on a bench talking. The other figures are sketches as well – a girl at the upper right reading, children sleeping on the sidewalk. We have not encountered another impression of these sketches, and they were certainly not issued in any edition or great number.
Provenance: Kennedy Galleries, Inc. (still in their mat with their label)
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; and those immigrants are the subject matter of this work. 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 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 with an impressionistic approach to printmaking. Children in Mulberry Street demonstrates this.
Posted in Jerome Myers |
Monday, June 29th, 2009
Jean-Emile Laboureur (1877-1943), La Receveuse, engraving, 1919-1920, signed in pencil lower left, numbered (2/38) lower right and annotated ”imp” [also with initials and the date 1918 in the plate (Godefry’s notes indicate that the plate was finished in 1919)]. Reference: Godefroy 190, Sylvain Laboureur 190, second state (of 2). In very good condition, the full sheet, printed on a cream wove paper with deckle edges, 7 7/8 x 5 7/8, the sheet 11 1/2 x 10 inches, archival mounting.
A fine impression of this Cubist portrait.
Here Laboureur uses the engraving technique which produces straight or regularly curved sharp lines, well suited to his modernist/cubist perspective.
La Receveuse (train conductor) is working on the Nantes Tramway (hence the initials on her bag), and so it is fitting that Laboureur donated the plate for this print to the Nantes Museum, where it has been exhibited; the museum also has a Laboureur gouache of the same subject.
This print has been exhibited widely; the Laboureur catalogue lists about 20 exhibits where it has been shown.
$2400
Posted in Jean-Emile Laboureur |
Monday, June 29th, 2009
Jean-Emile Laboureur (1877-1943), La Cabaretiere Obese, engraving, 1917, signed in pencil lower left and numbered 7/8 lower right, also inscribed imp. Reference: Sylvain Laboureur, Godefry 172, first state (of 2). There was a trial proof and eight impressions of the first state, made in 1917; then in 1921 an edition of 45 in the second state. In very good condition, on greenish/ivory laid paper, with an elaborate Crown with the initials MBM watermark, with margins, 7 1/2 x 6 3/4, the sheet 8 7/8 x 7 1/2, archival matting.
A fine impression, still with wiping marks and plate tone, especially on the apron of the woman.
The first state is compositionally complete, but before lines were added on the figure’s apron, some cross-hatching upper left corner, and a few other more minor additions.
La Cabaretiere Obese was shown in the famous The Cubist Print exhibit (1981), and widely exhibited in other shows. Laboureur also made a painting of this subject.
In a review in the Daily Telegraph (1929) R.R. Tatlock wrote: “Depicting a perfectly enormous lady in a wine cellar that seems only just large enough to contain her and the heap of barrels…the woman bears in her arms, like so many infants, a dangerously large number of tiny glasses and bottles.” He called this an example of Laboureur’s subtle humor.
$2750
Posted in Jean-Emile Laboureur |
Sunday, June 28th, 2009
John Sloan (1871-1951), Connoisseurs of Prints, etching, 1905, signed in pencil bottom right (also titled in lower left margin near edge), Morse 127, from the New York City Life Series, edition of 100, on Arches cream laid paper, with wide margins (5 x 7, sheet 9 3/4 x 13 inches), in very good condition, tiny spot left margin just outside of platemark, barely visible light stain, archival window mounting.
Provenance: ex Collection Jessup Memorial Library, Bar Harbor, with the blindstamp of the University of Maine; sold at Sotheby’s New York sale, March 1988 ($4750 plus 10% commission), and then to current owner.
A very fine, black, vivid impression, with a light plate tone.
Here are Sloan’s notes: “Connoisseurs of Prints is the first of my New York life plates. It shows an exhibition of prints that were to be auctioned at the old American Art Galleries on 23rd St. Henri [Robert Henri, artist and teacher] and I talked about making a series of connoisseurs, he was so pleased with this one.”
The New York City Life set, 1905-6, consisted of 10 prints, which Sloan hoped to sell as a set (he met with little success, and eventually sold them separately). He later added three more prints which were also to be considered as part of the New York group. These prints of early 20th Century New York have ranked among Sloan’s most popular etchings, and Connoisseurs of Prints became one of the most famous of this set and of Sloan’s images generally.
Posted in John Sloan |
Sunday, June 28th, 2009
John Sloan (1871-1951), Nude on Stairs, etching, 1930, signed in pencil lower right margin, titled in pencil center, inscribed “100 proofs” lower left [also signed in the plate lower left]. Reference: Morse 241, ninth (published) state (of 9). In very good condition, the full sheet with margins (slightest toning in margins), printed in black on a cream wove paper, 9 7/8 x 8, the sheet 14 1/2 x 11 1/2 inches, archival matting.
A superb impression, printing very black and clear.
Provenance: Collection unknown collector, stamp SN in a circle verso (not located in Lugt)
At this point in his career Sloan was experimenting with the use of lines to produce sculptural effects in his prints, drawings, and paintings, and he tried these effects first in his prints. (Some of the great prints and paintings of Rembrandt and Durer had appeared at the Metropolitan Museum in New York, and Sloan – even at this mature stage of his career – became an eager student of these artists.) Of this print he noted: “The etching Nude on Stairs of 1930 is the first important use of super-glazing with linework. There are sets of lines which define the form in light and shade, more which give it sculptural texture, and then there are top-texturing lines which attack the lights and give them greater realization than the eye can see.”
$1600
Posted in John Sloan |
Sunday, June 28th, 2009
Louis Legrand (1863-1955), Le Tub, drypoint, 1909, signed in pencil lower right, also annotated Bon a Tirer bottom margin edge [also signed in the plate upper left]; published by Gustave Pellet (with his red stamp lower right margin recto (Lugt 1191). Reference: Exsteens 264. In very good condition, on Louis Legrand laid cream paper, with the Swan and the Legrand signature watermark. The full sheet, 11 x 5 3/4, the sheet 17 1/4 x 12.
A fine bon a tirer impression, with the remarque, before steelfacing of the plate and with substantial drypoint burr. Printed in a dark brown/black ink.
Legrand trained at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Dijon and in 1884 moved to Paris, where he worked initially as a caricaturist and political satirist. After learning etching from Felicien Rops, he produced a successful series of etchings on themes of women, and dancing, that brought him to the attention of the great publisher Gustave Pellet, who published a set of Legrand prints in 1892, and worked with him for many years thereafter. This impression captures the artist at the height of his career.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Sunday, June 28th, 2009
Lovis Corinth (1858-1925), Self Portrait, 1909, drypoint, signed in pencil lower right [also signed and dated in the plate]. Reference: Schwartz 34. In good condition, with full margins (slight but discernible light stain), 8 3/4 x 6 3/8, the sheet 16 5/8 x 10 1/2 inches, archival mounting. Published by Bruno Cassirer, Berlin. On cream laid paper, with the watermark H Antique. From the edition of 50.
A fine clear impression, with the burr from the drypoint particularly effective.
Corinth, surely influenced by Rembrandt, made a series of self-portrait prints through his career. This relatively early portrait is one of his strongest; it shows a mature, confident artist working at the height of his powers. At this stage, the end of the first decade of the Twentieth Century, Corinth was indeed a well-regarded artist, one of the leading German “impressionists.” It had been ten years since he had participated in the first Berlin Secession exhibition (that was in 1899, and the following year had a one man show with Cassirer). He was now well-known for his large romantic paintings of religious and mythological subjects – terribly fashionable at the time. This was a few years before he had his stroke (in 1911), which led to a series of darker portraits.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Sunday, June 28th, 2009
Louis Lozowick (1892-1973), White Tanks, lithograph, 1930, signed in pencil and dated “30”. In very good condition, on BFK cream wove paper (with their watermark), with full margins, 10 1/2 x 7 1/2, the sheet 16 x 11 inches. Archival mounting. An unnumbered impression apart from the small edition of only 5 impressions, published in 1972; the 1930 edition was only 10. (Lozowick had a few impressions made 1972 when he realized that the stone was intact, and that there was a demand for this print; he signed and dated these impressions, numbering 5 and reserving an additional few for himself; this impression is one of the latter.)
A fine impression of this exceedingly rare print.
Lozowick attended Kiev Art School from the age of 12 to 14, at which point he emigrated to the US. In New York he studied for three years at the National Academy of Design, then attended Ohio State, worked as a lithographer, and traveled extensively in Europe and Russia between 1919 and 1924. With this exposure to cubism and Russian modernism, combined with his talent as a draughtsman, he was able to help adapt cubism/modernism to America, creating an exciting new idiom called Precisionism.
By 1930, when White Tanks was made, Lozowick had already spent several years making superb Precisionist lithographs, proving that this printmaking method was ideal for the movement. But the public was not convinced, and he reverted in the later ’30s to more conventional, easily accessible compositions. Of course with hindsight it’s clear (and has been for about the last 30 years!) that this Precisionist work was a high point of Lozowick’s career, and of American art of the period.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Sunday, June 28th, 2009
Odilon Redon (French, 1840-1916), Tentation de St. Antoine, lithograph, signed in pencil upper left,h: 12.2 x w: 9.9 in / h: 31 x w: 25.1 cm. Troisieme Serie Plate XVIII, Antoine: Quel Est Le But de Tout, Cela?. Mellerio 151.
A fine rare signed impression from the First Edition (< 50 impressions), on chine applique, with the printed text in the lower margin of the support sheet, printed by Blanchard, with full margins, in very good condition apart from light foxing mainly in the margins of the support sheet and verso.
Provenance: Sotheby’s New York, 1984, Lot 536
Posted in Uncategorized |
Sunday, June 28th, 2009
James McBey (1883-1959), Ransdorp, etching, 1910, signed in ink bottom right margin and numbered XXXVI bottom left [also signed, titled and dated 29 Aug. 1910 in the plate]. Reference: Hardie and Carter 75, only state, edition of 41, 4 7/8 x 8 15/16, the sheet 9 1/4 x 11 1/2 inches. Printed on old laid paper, with wide margins, a deckle edge bottom and sides. In very good condition, slight soiling in margins, a touch of light tone, archival mounting.
A fine impression, with a veil of plate tone on the area of water in the foreground.
At the age of 26 McBey left his bank job (which he had had for 15 years!) and traveled to Holland, where from July to September of 1910 he created a number of etchings depicting the Dutch landscape. McBey had of course studied Rembrandt’s prints, and the influence of the Master is evident in etchings such as Ransdorp (and the subject matter is reminiscent of Rembrandt’s scenic etchings as well). During this trip McBey found a folio of old laid paper which he discovered enhanced his printmaking, thereby beginning a life-long habit of printing etchings on fine old papers.
Posted in James McBey |
Sunday, June 28th, 2009
James McBey (1883-1959), Laguna Veneta, 1926, etching, signed in ink bottom right and inscribed “Trial proof IX” bottom left margins. Reference: Hardie 227. One of 11 trial proofs before the edition of 80. In very good condition, with margins (slight mat staining upper margin well above plate line, trimmed irregularly bottom with a loss away from image). On fine laid paper with an elaborate initials (IHS?) watermark. Archival mounting. 7 x 15, the sheet 9 1/2 x 16 1/2 inches.
A fine impression, with plate tone especially toward the left in the water and sky, printed in a dark brown ink.
This is one of the 5 trial proofs used to test the different effects of printing. Here, the plate tone is used to create a brilliant lighting of the sky at the right. The skyline of Venice is shown mistily on the horizon, in the morning sun. McBey added his signature in the plate later for the edition.
McBey’s Venice plates were issued at the height of his career, at a point when his prints were commanding the highest prices in the history of the medium. Noted McBey commentator Robin Garton has written that McBey’s Venice prints are “one of the greatest achievements in twentieth century British printmaking,” and “the high point of his career, images of passion and energy, full of fascination in the subjects and the process of creating them.”
Posted in James McBey |
Sunday, June 28th, 2009
James McNeill Whistler (1830-1903), Lagoon: Noon, etching and drypoint, 1879-1880, signed with the butterfly and inscribed “imp” on the tab [also signed with the butterfly in the plate lower left]. Reference: Glasgow 209, third state (of 3), Kennedy 216, third state (of 3); Lochnan 231, 4 7/8 x 7 7/8 inches.
A fine impression with very little plate tone, and printed with extraordinary attention to the etching and drypoint details. The printed butterfly, usually only barely visible, is clearly defined in this impression (see detail below). Kennedy mades special note that an impression like this, with the clearly visible butterfly, was in the collection of John H. Wrenn.
On a commission from the Fine Arts Society, Whistler created the plates of his Venice series, including Lagoon: Noon during the fall and winter of 1879-1880. He published them in two groups, first with the Fine Arts Society, and then, after much disputation with the Society, a second group with the firm of Dowdeswell and Dowdeswell (called the “Second Venice Set”). Lagoon: Noon was published in the latter set. Whistler insisted on printing these proofs himself, and of course had extremely high standards, so he got behind in printing these impressions (and he had not yet finished the impressions from the First Set) – but of course the care he took in printing these proofs make them highly sought after today.
Posted in James Whistler |
Saturday, June 27th, 2009
Max Weber (1881-1961), Prayer, color linocut with unique inking, signed in pencil, numbered 2 in the bottom left sheet corner. Reference:Rubenstein 32. Image size 8.94 x 2.75 inches (227 x 70 mm); sheet size 9.25 to 6.75 inches (235 x 171 mm)
A fine impression of this rare cubist work, with fresh colors, on tissue-thin cream laid Japan; apparently the full sheet, with narrow margins top and bottom (1/8 inch), wide margins left and right (2 1/4 inches). Several invisibly repaired tears in the top sheet edge, two extending into the image; otherwise in excellent condition.
Another impression of this work was reproduced on the exhibition catalog cover Max Weber: Prints and Color Variations, Daryl R. Rubenstein, National Collection of Fine Arts, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., 1980.
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Saturday, June 27th, 2009
Jan Matulka (1890-1972), Three-Quarter View of Nude Bathing Seated Near Lamp, lithograph, 1925, signed and dated in pencil lower right. Reference: Flint 9. Edition: only a few impressions known. On cream laid Japan paper. In good condition, with wide margins at top and bottom, narrow margins on sides, 11 1/2 x 9 7/8, the sheet 17 x 10 3/4 inches, archival mounting.
A fine impression of this important – and rare – Matulka lithograph. This proof impression shows evidence of printing by the artist himself since there is substantial inking in the margins and outside of the image itself; also it is trimmed rather idiosyncratically – wide at the top and bottom, narrow at the sides. No edition is known.
Born in Prague, Czechoslovakia, in 1890, Jan Matulka became a leading American modernist working at the same time as Lozowick to develop the earliest American Precisionist work, and with Stuart Davis to evolve a new form of Americanized Cubism.
In 1907, he came to the Bronx, New York where he had a poverty-ridden childhood with a mother who tried to raise a family by herself. From 1908 to 1917, he studied at the National Academy of Design, and in 1917, received the first Pulitzer traveling scholarship with which he traveled and painted in the Southwest and Florida.
In 1919, he first went to Paris, where he was exposed to European modernism, (especially Cubism). Three-Quarter View reflects both the realism that was always a theme in the Matulka’s work and also a Cubist idiom that he was to work with through the years. Matulka often varied his approach from rather conventional realism to cutting edge modernism, even during the same periods.
Matulka had his first one-man exhibit in New York City in 1925. A reclusive and independent figure, he did not fashion his art or career for optimal art world recognition. Still, he has been the subject of great interest and regard over the years, especially among artists and curators, and his work is increasingly sought after among those interested in the evolution of American modernism.
Posted in Jan Matulka |
Saturday, June 27th, 2009
Jan Matulka (1890-1972), Three Nudes in a Landscape, drypoint, 1923, not signed. Reference: Flint 5, no edition, only several proofs were made. In very good condition, some soiling verso and some inky marks including fingerprints in margins (as characteristic of an artist’s proof), printed in black ink on an ivory laid paper with a bull in a circle (?) watermark, the full sheet with margins and deckle edges, 14 1/16 x 10 13/16, the sheet 15 5/8 x 11 5/8 inches, achival mounting with non-attached mylar hinging, window mat.
A fine fresh and rich impression of a rare proof (no edition is known), with extensive burr from the drypoint work, and a substantial layering of plate tone. It is quite unusual to encounter prints by Matulka – signed or not- in today’s art market, particularly since he often seemed to produce these prints in very limited numbers, without regard to making them in editions.
Born in Prague, Czechoslovakia, in 1890, Jan Matulka came to New York City in 1907, eventually becoming a leading American modernist. From 1908 to 1917 he studied at the National Academy of Design, and in 1917, received the first Pulitzer traveling scholarship enabling him to work Southwest and Florida. In 1919, he first went to Paris, where he was exposed to European modernism (especially Cubism).
Three Nudes reflects both the realism that was always a theme in Matulka’s work and also a Cubist idiom that he was to work with through the years. Matulka often varied his approach from rather conventional realism to cutting edge modernism, even during the same periods.
Matulka had his first one-man exhibit in New York City in 1925. His reputation as an iconoclast and loner, oblivious to the workings of the art world, prevented him from achieving the fame that was his due during his lifetime, but he has gained substantial and increasing recognition, especially among artists and curators, in recent years. He continued to paint until he died, in New York City, in 1972.
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Saturday, June 27th, 2009
Jan Matulka (1890-1972), Boat Scene in Central Park, etching and drypoint, 1923 [initialed in the plate JM and bearing signature by another hand lower right]. Reference: Flint 20, second state (of three), a proof impression. In very good condition, with margins (the usual ink marks in the margins as typical of proofs pulled by Matulka), on J Whatman wove paper, with the J Whatman 1923 watermark, 10 3/4 x 13 1/2, the sheet 13 3/4 x 16 1/2 inches, archival mounting.
A very fine rich and fresh impression of this night scene, with a moderate veil of platetone overall, wiped only slightly more on figures in foreground and around the lamp, and with the burr from the drypoint work strong.
The British Museum recently exhibited their impression of this rare work in their landmark show “The American Scene.” Their impression, also an unsigned proof, has the same watermark and although they identified its state as between first and second, appears to be the same state as this proof (Flint’s description calls for the addition of considerable linework to the lamp, sky, platform, fence and figures in the third state, but the differences between the first two states are not so clear).
The evening boat scene in New York’s Central Park was a subject of great interest to Matulka, who returned to it a number of times in prints and paintings.
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Saturday, June 27th, 2009
James McBey (1883-1959), Early Morning, Fintray, etching and drypoint, 1911, signed in ink lower right and numbered XIX lower left [also signed, titled and dated in the plate]. Reference: Hardie and Carter 89, from the edition of 40 proofs. In very good condition, printed on cream laid paper, 5 3/8 x 8 3/4, the sheet 6 15/16 x 10 inches, archival matting.
A fine delicately printed impression, with a subtle veil of plate tone.
Provenance: Kennedy Galleries, New York, with their inventory number recto (A3688).
A view of the river Don, Aberdeenshire, with very lightly sketched trees and even more lightly sketched hills in the distance. A woman leans on the fence just to the right of the tree at the right. A boat with its bow out of the water can be seen in the marshy foreground.
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Saturday, June 27th, 2009
James McBey (1883-1959), Haarlem, etching, 1910, signed in ink bottom right margin and numbered XXXV bottom left [also signed, titled and dated July 1910 in the plate]. Reference: Hardie and Carter 61, only state, edition of 40, 4 3/4 x 6 7/16, the sheet 6 1/4 x 8 inches. Printed on old laid paper, with a partial crest watermark, with margins. In good condition, a paper loss upper right corner (away from image), slight soiling in margins, archival mounting.
A fine impression, with a light veil of plate tone.
At the age of 26 McBey left his bank job (which he had had for 15 years!) and traveled to Holland, where from July to September of 1910 he created a number of etchings depicting the Dutch landscape. McBey had studied Rembrandt’s prints, and the influence of the Master is evident in etchings such as Haarlem; Haarlem also is reminiscent of Whistler’s Thames etchings (particularly in the use of the device of the man in the foreground looking over the parapet onto the water), and of course McBey was a student of Whistler as well. During this trip McBey found a folio of old laid paper which he discovered enhanced his printmaking, thereby beginning a life-long habit of printing etchings on fine old papers.
Posted in James McBey |
Saturday, June 27th, 2009
James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903), Black Lion Wharf, etching, 1859 [signed and dated in the plate lower right]. Reference: Kennedy 42, third state (of 3). One of the 16 etchings of the Thames Set. Printed in black on thin antique cream laid paper. In very good condition, with full margins, 5 7/8 x 8 7/8, the sheet 8 7/8 x 14 inches, archival
Provenance: Ex Collection S. William Pelletier, with his stamp, initials and date of purchase (1990) verso (not in Lugt). Dr. Pelletier was renowned for his collection of old master prints including Rembrandt, Van Ostade, and Meryon, and for collecting fine examples of other artists such as Muirhead Bone and James Whistler.
Kennedy Galleries, with their stock number a66332 verso.
Frederick Keppel, with their labels attached to the mat verso.
An extraordinarily rich, atmospheric impression.
Black Lion Wharf is one of Whistler’s best known portraits of the London waterfront (and seemingly a favorite of Whistler as well, since it appears on the wall of his famed painting of his Mother in the Louvre).
The patterns and details of the buildings along the shoreline were surely influenced by Meryon’s depictions of Paris, made only a few years earlier – they presage Whistler’s focus on storefronts and facades as a compositional vehicle. Simultaneously, the sketchy lines of the figures and boats in the foreground signals his interest in impressionism, in breaking away from rigid adherence to conventional rendering of details.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Saturday, June 27th, 2009
James Whistler (1834-1903), The Mill, 1889, etching and drypoint, signed in pencil with the butterfly on the tab and inscribed “imp”, and inscribed “first state” (twice) and annotated “Wunderlich” and signed again with the butterfly verso. Reference: Kennedy 413, first state (of 5). Glasgow 457, second state (of 6; see discussion below) (cf. Margaret F. MacDonald, Grischka Petri, Meg Hausberg, and Joanna Meacock, James McNeill Whistler: The Etchings, a catalogue raisonné, University of Glasgow, 2011)
On laid paper, in very good condition, trimmed just outside of the platemark all around except for the tab by the artist, 6 1/4 x 9 3/8 inches.
A very fine impression of this great rarity, printed in black/brown ink with a slight veil of plate tone.
provenance:
H. Wunderlich & Co., New York
Louis B. Dailey, New York (Lugt 4500)
sale, Sotheby’s, New York, October 31, 2003, lot 69
literature;
Neue Lagerliste 122: James McNeill Whistler – Etchings and Lithographs, sale catalogue, C.G. Boerner/Harris Schrank Fine Prints, New York/Düsseldorf 2007, no. 39
A very fine impression.
This impression shows accents of fresh drypoint work with burr, most discernable above the head of the woman standing in the shadows at right, above her right hand, and close to her left foot; these touches and additional lines on the woman seated at the left suggest this is a second state, not a first as noted by the artist (and, according to Glasgow, the only example of this state). It is a much richer impression, with more drypoint burr, than the examples of the first state (at the National Gallery and the Freer, Washington D.C.)
The print is annotated by Whistler himself in pencil on the verso 1st state (twice) and signed again with a small butterfly. Below this, the artist wrote Wunderlich, designating this impression for Hermann Wunderlich, the founder of H. Wunderlich & Co. in New York and the artist’s first and most important dealer in the United States. Whistler is known to have chosen particularly fine impressions for Wunderlich.
The print is extremely rare in every state. Fine calls it “little known because of its rarity” (p. 179) and Glasgow lists no more than a total of 13 impression. To our knowledge this is the only impression to have reached the market in the past thirty years.
Whistler attempted in his Amsterdam etchings to use extensive etching and drypoint lines to create the atmospheric changes in tone which he achieved in the Venice group through plate tone. Doing so, he created extremely delicate plates, which could only produce a few impressions before the plate became unusable.
Critics have viewed The Mill as a paean to Rembrandt, which it surely is, but one wonders whether Whistler might have also thought of the etchings of Van Ostade, particularly those showing the shadowy indoor settings (such as The Barn), with workers or peasants merging into the darkness. Whistler’s brilliant chiaroscuro etchings (such as Doorway and Vine, or the Nocturne: Furnace of the Venice Set) come to mind also – here the light of day illuminates windmills in the horizon.
POR
Posted in James Whistler, James Whistler |
Saturday, June 27th, 2009
James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903), Bibi Lalouette, 1859, drypoint and etching, printed in dark brown ink on old laid paper with a Bouchet watermark. [Signed and dated in the plate; at this stage Whistler was not signing prints in pencil] References: Glasgow 33, second state (of 2; see discussion below), Kennedy 51, second state (of 2). In very good condition, with small margins, 8 7/8 x 6, the sheet 9 1/4 x 6 1/4 inches.
A fine early impression, with burr from the drypoint work quite visible especially in the boy’s hair (only visible in the early impressions). In the early impressions of this state a scratch is visible on the sleeve of the child; in the later impressions it is removed. It is visible in this impression. Also in later impressions of this state a scratch appeared on the blouse of the child (which some have considered a cancellation mark), which was also then removed; in this early impression this scratch has yet to appear.
Provenance: Kennedy Galleries, New York, with their stock number (a81516) verso.
Also on the verso in graphite the following words are written: London Office Collection and the initials WX (neither found in Lugt)
In the first state of this print there were two heads (upside-down) at the bottom of the plate, made when Whistler was formulating the composition. These were removed in the second state, but they (one in particular) are still visible in this impression. Also in the second state light horizontal lines to the left and right of the child were added.
Bibi’s father owned a pension where Whistler, Henri Fantin-Latour and Alphonse Legros (who called themselves the Societe des Trois) often ate during their student days. In this delightful portrait Whistler features the boy’s curly hair (reminiscent of his own).
Posted in Uncategorized |
Saturday, June 27th, 2009
James Abbott McNeill Whistler (1834-1903), Father and Son, 1895, lithograph, signed with the butterfly in pencil [also signed with the butterfly in the stone upper left]. Reference: Spink 123, Way 87. In good condition, with margins (slight browning at edges, cataloguer’s notations at margin edges), 9 1/2 x 7 inches, the sheet 12 1/2 x 8 inches. Archival matting.
A fine carefully printed lifetime impression of this very rare print.
This is the only impression we know of to appear on the market in recent history. Thomas Way, who printed Whistler’s lithographs, noted that he printed 15 impressions; we are able to account for 14 impressions in public institutions such as the Chicago Art Institute, Glasgow, Metropolitan Museum, British Museum, National Gallery in Washington, etc.
This impression is printed on ivory laid paper with the watermark Pro Patria and the letters IVDL countermark. This is Spink watermark number 232 (noting that this is a lifetime watermark).
Provenance: Birnie Philip stamp verso (Lugt 406). This is the Birnie Philip (Whistler’s sister in law) mark she used to denote the lifetime impressions in her collection.
P. & D. Colnaghi & Co., London (their stock no. verso C3315044).
The two blacksmiths pictured are George Govier and his son Samuel, shown working at their shop in the seaside town of Lyme Regis, Dorset. Whistler had problems with the printing of the several lithographs he made of these blacksmiths working; Father and Son was among the better printed examples, and he chose to include it in a show of his lithographs held at the Fine Art Society on Bond Street in 1895-6.
$8500
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Saturday, June 27th, 2009
James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903), Wapping – The Pool (or, The Large Pool), etching, 1878-9, signed in pencil lower margin with the butterfly, dated 1879 and annotated “imp”, also titled and dedicated to James Waddell. References: Kennedy 174, fifth state (of 7), Glasgow 180, seventh state (of 8). On laid paper with a Strasbourg Lily and initials WR watermark. In good condition (tiny fox mark at lower center), with wide margins. 7 3/8 x 10 7/8 inches, the sheet 9 3/4 x 13 3/4 inches, archival mounting.
Provenance: H. Wunderlich and Co., New York (with their stock number a25414 verso)
A. LE MASSON (cf Lugt 1746, with his collector’s mark, in pencil, not a stamp, verso). He is known to have had an impression of Wapping which was sold at Sothebys May 16, 1878.
James Waddell (see below)
A fine impression of this extremely rare print, signed in pencil with the early large shaded butterfly (butterfly of 1879). This print was not published; the Whistler Etchings Project at Glasgow has identified a total of 13 impressions in all states.
James Waddell was the accountant appointed to oversee the reclamation of Whistler’s artworks after his 1879 bankruptcy.
The Large Pool shows the Pool of London at Wapping, the scene of several prints of the Thames done some twenty years earlier. In composition it anticipates the etchings Whistler was about to do in Venice.
According to the Glasgow catalogue Whistler apparently had a high regard for this plate, as evidenced by the care he took with selection of papers and printing of various states, and by correspondence regarding the plate; and he may have hoped it would help him avert bankruptcy. But it did not; in the end no edition of the print was made.
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Saturday, June 27th, 2009
James Ensor (1860-1946), The Entry of Christ into Brussels, etching and drypoint, 1898, on a cream colored simili Japan paper, signed, dated and titled recto, countersigned and titled verso, 9 ¾ x 14 ¾, the sheet 14 x 18 1/8 inches. Reference: Elesh 118, fourth state (of 4), Taevernier 114, third state (of 3). In superb condition, with some slight rubbing margins verso only, some tiny creases verso margins with archival matting.
A very fine dark impression, with wonderfully clear detailing, printing with relief.
Provenance: Paul van der Perre Behaegel, with their collector stamp (BG in a circle) verso (not in Lugt)
Sale: CG Boerner, to current owner.
The Entry of Christ into Brussels is perhaps Ensor’s most famous image, both through the painting and the print. In addition to the astonishing – and of course successful – complexity of the composition, the Entry shows in exquisite detail Ensor’s talent as a draftsman. Here is the myriad of faces, feelings and activities found throughout his work, but no where else so concentrated in a single composition.
Christ, a smallish figure, is located at the center of the composition, riding on a donkey. All around him are the citizens of the town – some stolid, some skeletal; wearing masks, demonstrating, playing music, marching, waving, kissing, snarling, watching – many staring at him, others at us. The scene is a carnival.
The related painting is in the J. Paul Getty Museum, Malibu; the Getty has a related drawing as well. The print is not identical to the painting at the Getty; the composition is reversed, and there are additional characters, other flags waving as part of the demonstration; the print may also have a darker quality, as exemplified by the many characters (not found in the painting) viewing the scene from the crevices and rooftop of the viewing stand at the left. Although the painting is perhaps Ensor’s greatest work, Ensor, the consummate artist, would never have been satisfied merely to copy it as a print; the print has a unique quality and flavor of its own, making it one of the masterpieces of printmaking.
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Saturday, June 27th, 2009
James Ensor (1860-1949), Boulevard Van Iseghem, Ostend, etching and drypoint, 1889, signed in pencil lower right [also signed and dated in the plate lower right, and annotated “Ostende” lower left]. References: Delteil 66, Taevernier 66, Elesh 66, third state (of 3). In very good condition, with margins (remains of prior hinging verso), printed in greyish/brown ink on ivory simuli-Japan paper, 5 1/2 x 4, the sheet 9 3/4 x 6 1/8 inches, archival window mounting.
A very fine impression, with exquisite detailing and clarity in the complex patterning of shades and textures in the buildings, street and sky.
The impression quality is evidence that this is an early impression. In addition Ensor’s signature conforms to that found in the early printings; it is quite likelythat this was signed about the time the print was created (Ensor had impressions made over a number of years).
This is a view of the seaside town roofs of Ostend, from Ensor’s studio. In many of his etchings and paintings of the town he filled the streets with people, but here the streets are vacant, but for two tiny carriages parked halfway up the street.
A painting of the same view (and title) is included in the major Museum of Modern Art show on Ensor; the painting is much more impressionistic than the print (it is not surprising that Ensor would chose this subject for work in various media, since it was the view from his studio, but other than having similar subject matter, the painting and the print do not appear related in any way; in addition the painting was done much earlier, perhaps c. 1880).
$3500
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Saturday, June 27th, 2009
James Ensor (1860-1949), etching, 1899, signed and dated (1900) in pencil lower right, countersigned and titled verso. The title verso is: “La Reine Parysatis ecorchant un eunuque” (Queen Parysatis flaying a eunuch). References: Elesh 121, Taevernier 116; Elesh’s second state (of 2). In very good condition, remains of prior hinging verso, on an ivory/tan simile Japon paper with wide margins, 6 3/4 x 4 3/4, the sheet 11 3/8 x 9 1/4 inches, archival matting.
A fine rich atmospheric impression, printed in dark brown/black ink with aquatint or grainy areas probably achieved through the use of phosphorus or other grainy elements.
Ensor illustrates an episode from Plutarch, in which the Persian Queen Parysatis, at the left, flays the eunuch who had killed her son. Her assistant stands at the center. Flames emanate from the helmets of those on the right, and a crowd of faces, one skeletal at the bottom, witness this sadistic happening.
$4500
Posted in Uncategorized |
Saturday, June 27th, 2009
James Ensor (1860-1949), Exterminating Angel (L’Ange Exterminateur), etching with drypoint, 1889, signed and dated in pencil lower right, also titled and countersigned verso. References: Delteil 77, Croquez 77, Elesh 77, Taevernier 77; second (final) state. In very good condition, on a Japan paper with wide margins, (remains of old hinging verso showing through at extreme corners). 4 3/4 x 6 1/8, the sheet 7 3/4 x 11 1/8 inches.
A fine impression printed in a grey/black ink, with substantial plate tone.
Provenance: ex Collection Johannes Hendricus de Bois (1878-1946), with his mark recto lower left corner (Lugt 733).
Only a few impressions of a first state of this print are known; one definitively identified in 2002 by Eric Gillis and Patrick Florizoone, published in the catalogue on Ensor prints presented for sale by CG Boerner.
Gillis and Florizoone note that this print “combines a Catholic element, the destroying angel of the apocalypse with the Flemish proverb ‘to go in one’s pants from fear.’ In his catalogue of the graphic works of Ensor, Albert Croquez made the link between this work and the painting [and print] by Henri Rousseau titled La Guerre. It is not very likely that the painting influenced Ensor, but it is possible that both artists were inspired by the same source, namely the parody of Le Tsar, published in the French magazine L’Egalite on October 6, 1889.”
Posted in James Ensor |
Saturday, June 27th, 2009
Jacques Villon (1875-1963) etching, aquatint, and drypoint, Minne Playing with a Cat (Minne Jouant avec un Chat),1907, signed in pencil and numbered (12/30)(Ginestet and Pouillon 192).
A very good impression, with bright contrasts and strong burr from the drypoint, on laid Japan with margins. Ex. coll: Estate of June W. Schuster; Mrs David Steinmetz III.
In good condition, with margins (pale light and mat stain in margins, minor soiling at the bottom left margin corner), 9 3/8 x 6 5/8 (the sheet 13 x 9) inches.
This is from the Minne series, a group of prints made by Villon in 1907, portraying the young daughter of a friend in various poses. Minne’s real name was Renee, and she achieved a sort of fame four years later when Villon made his landmark cubist prints of her. In this modernist/expressionist portrait Villon explores the enigmatic character of a young girl, a subject which held much fascination for him at this early stage in his career.
Posted in Jacques Villon |
Saturday, June 27th, 2009
Jacques Villon (1875-1963), Impressions (Drawings after Nature), 1907, lithographs, the complete suite of 10 lithographs plus the cover and album case, E221 (Vautours, Vultures) is pencil signed and numbered, and with the Sagot blindstamp [each sheet is also signed in the plate]. Reference: Ginestet and Pouillon E212-221, only states. As edited and published by Sagot.
In very good condition overall, the cover with slight soiling, nicks, minor losses; the lithographs in (original) mats, in very good condition (E212 with slight creasing upper corners). The title cover with the lithographed Vultures from the set recto and the Eagle verso, and also with the address of Sagot, is about 15 x 22 inches (folded); the lithographs are each c. 9 x 6 3/4 inches; and the cover and lithographs are included in a strong blue portfolio case titled in gilt lettering “Impressions.”
Fine impressions of this now-rare early set of Villon’s delightful lithographs based on his watercolors, with the subtle colors still fresh and vital. Printed on a light laid paper.
The 10 lithographs included in this set are, starting with E221, are: Femme de Profil; Fillette; Femme a L’Ombrelle; Femmes au Bord de la Mer; Jeune Serveuse; Femme au Cafe; Soldats (soldiers); Soldat; Aigle (eagle); Vautours (vultures).
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Saturday, June 27th, 2009
Jacques Callot (1592-1635), The Large Passion, 7 etchings (2 are illustrated), 1619-1624. Reference: Lieure 281-287. Five in the first state, one in the second and one in the second or third, as discussed below; an extraordinarily large proportion of the plates (6 of 7) have watermarks Lieure identifies as characteristic of the earliest impressions of this set (see below). Each in very good condition, on a brownish laid paper, with thread or small margins trimmed outside of the platemark, each approximately 4 1/2 x 8 3/4 inches.
States: Lieure 281 (Washing of Hands) second state (of 3)(the first state is extremely rare); L282 (Last Supper) first state (of 3); L283 (Condemnation) first state (of 2); L284 (Crowning of Thorns) first or second state, before completion of the background (of 4); L285 (Presentation to the People) first state (of 3); L286 (Carrying to the Cross) first state (of 3); L287 (Crucifixion) first state (of 2).
Lieure 281 has Lieure watermark 35 (countermark to the Cross of Lorrain mark)
Lieure 282, 283, 284, 285, 287 have the Cross of Lorraine watermarks (Lieure watermark 30).
A fine uniform, early set of this monumental work.
Provenance: Donald Judd Foundation
Unidentified collector (pencil signature verso on each impression, not found in Lugt)
The Large Passion is one of Callot’s larger format religious sets. Most of the portrayals are set as on a stage. For example, the Presentation to the People is set in classic architecture, with Christ isolated in the center background, and larger more darkly etched figures in the foreground. This theatrical approach would be used repeatedly by future generations of artists.
This set is complete, but Callot may have contemplated a larger grouping; he made sketches for as many as fourteen scenes for a Large Passion, most of which today are in the Collection of the Duke of Devonshire at Chatsworth; other preparatory drawings, including sketches of figures found in the Large Passion, can be found in the Louvre, the Morgan Library, and the National Gallery in Washington.
This set is currently on reserve.
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Saturday, June 27th, 2009
Isabel Bishop (1902-1988), Putting on the Coat, etching, 1943, signed in pencil lower right and titled (Putting on Coat (front)) lower left margins. Reference: Teller 31. In excellent condition, printed on cream wove paper, with margins, 5 7/8 x 3 7/8, the sheet 7 5/8 x 4 5/8 inches, archival mounting with window mount.
A fine atmospheric proof impression, before the edition printed decades later and before the corners of the plate were burnished (and thus with a platemark set in strong relief), printed with a light veil of plate tone.
Provenance: Associated American Artists, with a copy of their signed certificate of authenticity attached to the mat.
This is one of a small number of proofs that Bishop personally printed in 1943. In 1981 an edition of 25 was printed; these were printed professionally and numbered I-XXV. Proof examples are highly coveted today; printed by Bishop herself, they tend to have an atmospheric character that the later impressions lack.
Bishop was of course a member of the Union Square group of New York artists, an informal circle of friends including Reginald Marsh, Armin Landeck, Raphael Soyer, and Yasuo Kuniyoshi. Virtually all her prints were figure studies. In the early years her printmaking was focused on etching; later she added aquatint to her repertoire.
Posted in Isabel Bishop |
Saturday, June 27th, 2009
Hermine David, drypoint and engraving Boxing Match, circa 1927, signed and numbered (4/10) in pencil, lower margin. Reference: Jean Adhemar, Inventaire Bibliotheque Nationale #12. In excellent condition, with full margins (some staining top margin near edge) (8 1/4 x 9 1/2, the sheet 12 3/4 x 16 1/4 inches), on BFK Rives cream wove paper, archival mounting.
A fine impression, with the burr from the drypoint giving the composition an atmospheric quality, while at the same time the drypoint is used to convey even the finest details of the many figures.
Hermine David (1886-1970) studied at the Ecole des Beaux Arts from the age of 16, and showed frequently at the Salon des Femmes Peintures from 1905. She met Jules Pascin in 1907, becoming his steady companion; they later married. David and Pascin traveled together to the US, where Hermine continued her successful career, then returned to Europe in 1920. Her flair for detailed drypoint work is evident in the Boxing Match, as is her talent at composition.
This impression captures the gay atmosphere of this event, a match – really a social event – taking place in a baroque Parisian theatre.
Posted in Hermine David |
Saturday, June 27th, 2009
Hermine David (1886-1970) La Corrida, etching and drypoint, 1929, signed and numbered (20/100) in pencil (Inventaire Bibliotheque Nationale de France #22). From Trois Plates au Nouvel Essor. On a medium weight cream wove paper, in very good condition with only the slightest trace of light stain, the matrix perfect, with wide margins, 10 x 11 3/4, the sheet 14 x 18 inches, archival acid free matting.
A fine, bright impression, with substantial burr from the drypoint and engraving work.
Hermine David was an established artist in Paris from about 1905 onward, even before she met Jules Pascin (in 1907), who she eventually married. She and Pascin exhibited in the US from about 1915-20 while they lived here, then moved back to France. Although David worked into the ’60s, her work of the ’20s and ’30s, particularly the drypoints, is perhaps most renowned today; this is the period when La Corrida was made.
Posted in Hermine David |
Saturday, June 27th, 2009
Gerald Brockhurst, L’Eventail (The Fan), etching, 1926, signed in pencil, from the edition of 76. Reference: Fletcher 22, Wright 22. In good condition, on cream laid paper with margins (a thin spot inherent in paper lower margin near edge), the matrix pristine, archival matting.
A fine impression of this small but impressive demonstration of Brockhurst’s mastery of etching.
The woman carrying the fan is of course Brockhurst’s favorite model, at least at this time, his wife Anais. She wears an embroidered coat which allows Brockhurst to display his capacity to capture complex textures with the etching needle – much as his predecessor Wenzel Hollar used women’s furs and fashions to display his legendary abilities.
The meticulous etching is contrasted – in an aethetically effective way – with the curiously messy border area below. It appears that Brockhurst was practicing using the etching needle in an area that would not affect the image, and he left it that way – surely intentionally – in the edition (including also his printed signature, written normally in the plate and thus printed backwards).
Posted in Gerald Brockhurst |
Saturday, June 27th, 2009
Gerald Brockhurst, L’Eventail (The Fan), etching, 1926, signed in pencil, from the edition of 76. Reference: Fletcher 22, Wright 22. In good condition, on cream laid paper with margins (a thin spot inherent in paper lower margin near edge), the matrix pristine, archival matting.
A fine impression of this small but impressive demonstration of Brockhurst’s mastery of etching.
The woman carrying the fan is of course Brockhurst’s favorite model, at least at this time, his wife Anais. She wears an embroidered coat which allows Brockhurst to display his capacity to capture complex textures with the etching needle – much as his predecessor Wenzel Hollar used women’s furs and fashions to display his legendary abilities.
The meticulous etching is contrasted – in an aethetically effective way – with the curiously messy border area below. It appears that Brockhurst was practicing using the etching needle in an area that would not affect the image, and he left it that way – surely intentionally – in the edition (including also his printed signature, written normally in the plate and thus printed backwards).
Posted in Gerald Brockhurst |
Saturday, June 27th, 2009
Gerald Leslie Brockhurst (1891-1978), Aglaia, etching, 1926, signed in pencil lower right [also signed in reverse in the plate]. Reference: Fletcher 54, ninth state (of 9), from the edition of 106. In very good condition apart from slight light toning, with wide margins, 5 x 3 1/2, the sheet 11 x 8 1/4 inches, archival window matting.
A fine delicately printed impression, printed in a blackish/grey ink, on an ivory wove paper.
Aglaia was the Greek goddess of beauty, splendour, glory, magnificence and adornment. She was the youngest and most beautiful of the Three Graces, the sisters who typically appear dancing in a circle (the others were Euphrosyne (joy and mirth) and Thalia (bringer of flowers).
Brockhurst would often add a touch of drama to the naming of his etchings and paintings, using such names as Aglaia, Xenia, Melisande, Nedajda. But in this as in many other cases, the model for the work is Brockhurst’s first wife, Anais.
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 (Rushbury, McBey); to print lovers portraits such as this example show him at his best, as a master etcher and superb draftsman.
Posted in Gerald Brockhurst |
Saturday, June 27th, 2009
Franz Edmund Weirotter (1730-1771), Paysages (Landscapes), 1759, complete set of 6 (4 are illustrated on this site), [signed in the plates lower right Weirotter sc, and also signed and dated in the images upper left; plate one with the title and inscription “Dessines et engraves apre nature par Weyrotter”]. Reference: Nagler 22. In generally good condition, with full margins (stains and spotting in margins away from images, browning at edges, plate 5 with an unobtrusive printer’s crease and thin area outside of image, plate 1 with a stain bottom edge well away from image). Platemarks app. 7 x 9 1/2, images 6 1/2 x 8 3/4, sheets 10 1/4 x 16 1/2 inches. Not hinged or matted.
A fine complete set of these rarely encountered images.
Weirotter was one of the most distinguished of the German 18th Century landscape etchers. Although many of these printmakers specialized in reproducing the work of others, Wierotter tended to create original compositions for his prints. The 6 plates in this set are original Wierotter compositions, although they are remindful of the work of 17th Century Dutch artists such as Jan van Goyen, Pieter Molyn, or Jacob van Ruisdael. Hind noted of Weirotter that he was “most successful when he keeps to plates of the small dimensions, to which his delicate and clearly etched line is fitted.”
Each of these six scenes involves waterways – rushing falls, and lakes and rivers with people walking along the shores, fishing and boating, and crossing flimsy bridges.
Posted in Franz Weirotter |
Saturday, June 27th, 2009
Felix Vallotton (1865-1925), Le Bon Marché Department Store, woodcut, 1893, signed in pencil lower right margin [also with the title in the block lower left and initials lower right]. Reference: Vallotton-Georg 116 a (of d). In very good condition, printed on a yellow/cream wove paper as specified for the lifetime impressions (there were also posthumous stamp-signed editions of 25 on white Japan and 15 on white wove), 7 7/8 x 10 1/4, the sheet 9 15/16 x 12 1/16 inches, archival matting.
A fine strong impression from the lifetime edition.
Founded in 1852, Le Bon Marché (which translates roughly to “good deal”) continues in operation today as a pre-eminent Paris department store.
Vallotton made drypoints and etchings early in his career, and began making woodcuts in 1891. By the next year he had achieved some measure of fame in this medium, with the publication of an article on his breakthrough approach by Octave Uzanne in the Paris journal “L’Art et L’Idee.” By 1893 he had obviously hit his stride, and Le Bon Marché represents one of the great examples of woodblock printmaking.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Saturday, June 27th, 2009
Francisco Goya (1746-1828), The Disasters of War, etchings and aquatint.
Made in the Workshop of Laurenciano Potenciano for the Real Academia; published in 1863. On heavy, absorbent wove paper, many sheets with the watermark JGO and a palmette. Reference: Harris 121-200, First Edition 1b, with letters as corrected, 247 x 340 mm, 9 1/2 x 13 1/4 inches, images approximately 5 1/2 x 8.
An extremely fine complete set in superb condition, with the dated title page and biographical introduction on paper with the El Arte en Espana watermark; in a gilt-lettered box, the binding threads carefully removed.
The sets of the First Edition varied in quality (the edition was limited to about 500); this is one of the finest sets we have encountered. Seven editions were made in all.
The images of war and famine in Goya’s Los Desastres de la Guerra are timeless in their depictions of man’s inhumanity to man.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Saturday, June 27th, 2009
Hans Burgkmair (1459-1519), The Old White King Warning His Son Not to Trust the Flemish Party, woodcut, 1514-1516. Reference: Bartsch 80-(224) 62 [by Leonhard Beck], from the History of Emperor Maximilian I. In very good condition (with margins; some very old script in ink top and bottom margin, some slight staining, foxing), on old laid paper, 8 3/4 x 7 5/8, the sheet 10 1/2 x 8 1/2 inches.
Provenance: Karl Edward von Liphart (1808-1891, Dorpat, Bonn and Florence), with his graphite mark verso (Lugt 1651, see also Lugt 1687, 1688). Lugt notes of Liphart, a distinguished collector of old master prints, “il commence par l’oeuvre de Ridinger et par un achat considerable GG. Boerner in Leipsig en 1836.”
A very good impression.
The History of the Weisskunig (White King) is an autobiography in the style of an illustrated novel without words. Although it is the story of Emperor Maximilian I all the characters have symbolic names. The White King is the name Maximilian chose for himself, as it both stands for whiteness (purity) and is associated with the word for wisdom (Weisheit).
Hans Burgkmair, the eminent Augsburg painter and printmaker was in effect Maximilian’s official court artist. He worked with other artists, including Leonhard Beck (Germany, Augsburg, 1480 – 1542), in developing the plates for the Maximilian series. At the time of the original cataloguing this block was given to Beck; in the more recent edition of Bartsch it is given to Beck but the decision was made to continue its cataloguing under Burgkmair, to avoid confusion and keep the ordering and placement of all the blocks of the series intact.
This is one of a bound group of old master prints, including other woodcuts by Burgkmair, Hans Weiditz, Hans Schaufelein and others. Many of these prints have the mark of the eminent collector Karl Edward von Liphart (Lugt 1651) verso. We are currently doing research on the collection so it is not on the market as yet.
Posted in Hans Burgkmair |
Saturday, June 27th, 2009
Hans Sebald Beham (1500-50), Doric Columns I and II, engravings, 1543. References: Bartsch 247 and 248; Pauli 257 and 258, first state of two. With the monogram, date and extensive annotation in the plate. In very good condition, on old laid paper. Both prints engraved on one sheet, and so with margins; each 3 x 2, the sheet 3 1/2 x 5 3/8 inches; archival mounting.
Both fine early impressions, with the guidelines for the lettering still clearly printing; these prints are rarely seen and very rare as printed on a single sheet.
Provenance: Dr. Karl Herweg (a well-known collector of Northern Renaissance prints); and an unidentified collector’s mark (KB?, not found in Lugt).
Beham, like the other illustrious German Little Masters of the Northern Renaissance including his brother Barthel, Heinrich Aldegrever, Albrecht Altdorfer, Georg Pencz and others, made a number of prints which were used as decorative models or with decorative applications in mind.
In this case the columns appear to have been referred to and perhaps illustrated in the writings of Vitruvius (active c. 90-20 BC), a Roman writer on architecture, whose writings were highly influential during the Renaissance. The first printed version of his works appeared in the late 15th C., and the first illustrated edition in 1511. Beham’s engravings may have been a way to circulate the illustrations widely, and they’re an aesthetic treat regardless of their function when issued.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Saturday, June 27th, 2009
Adolphe-Marie Beaufrere (1876-1960), Les Enfants Le Gall, drypoint, 1927, signed in pencil lower right and numbered lower left margins (13/45) [also dated and monogrammed in the plate]. Reference: Laran 208, Morane 27-04, only state. In very good condition, with margins, printed on a ivory/orange laid Japan paper, 7 5/8 x 6 1/2, the sheet 10 x 8 3/4 inches, archival matting.
A fine impression, the black contrasting warmly with the ivory/orange paper.
With the Sagot blindstamp.
Beaufrere was born at Quimperle, in Brittany, and though he traveled widely he re-connected with this area throughout his life. As a teenager he decided that he wanted to become an artist and he traveled to Paris where, shortly after his arrival, he encountered the eminent Gustave Moreau, who took him on as a student. Beaufrere began printmaking in about 1904, with some woodcuts, but soon got into etching and engraving. He began showing his prints, with some success, but after his marriage in 1905, and with the urging of his new wife, moved out of Paris and back to Brittany. This move had a mixed effect on his career – contacts with other artists became fewer, but he did maintain gallery relationships, and the French countryside and it’s inhabitants – such as the woman, children and cows in Les Enfants – would provide a continuing source of inspiration.
During the Great War Beaufrere served in the infantry, and had few opportunities to make art. After the War Beaufrere experienced great success, both in France and the US. He received many awards (including Chevalier of the Legion of Honor in 1939, nominated by his friend Jean-Emile Laboureur). And throughout his life, despite various maladies including eye problems in the ’40’s and later, he continued to make prints as well as paintings and watercolors.
Posted in Uncategorized |
Saturday, June 27th, 2009
Hans Burgkmair (1459-1519), The Alliance of the Four Kings, woodcut, 1514-1516. Reference: Bartsch 80-(224) 183 [by Leonhard Beck], from the History of Emperor Maximilian I. In very good condition (with margins; some very old script in ink bottom margin, some slight staining), on old laid paper, 8 3/4 x 7 3/4, the sheet 10 1/4 x 8 3/8 inches.
Provenance: Karl Edward von Liphart (1808-1891, Dorpat, Bonn and Florence), with his graphite mark verso (Lugt 1651, see also Lugt 1687, 1688). Lugt notes of Liphart, a distinguished collector of old master prints, “il commence par l’oeuvre de Ridinger et par un achat considerable GG. Boerner in Leipsig en 1836.”
A very good impression.
The History of the Weisskunig (White King) is an autobiography in the style of an illustrated novel without words. Although it is the story of Emperor Maximilian I all the characters have symbolic names. The White King is the name Maximilian chose for himself, as it both stands for whiteness (purity) and is associated with the word for wisdom (Weisheit).
Hans Burgkmair, the eminent Augsburg painter and printmaker was in effect Maximilian’s official court artist. He worked with other artists, including Leonhard Beck (Germany, Augsburg, 1480 – 1542), in developing the plates for the Maximilian series. At the time of the original cataloguing this block was given to Beck; in the more recent edition of Bartsch it is given to Beck but the decision was made to continue its cataloguing under Burgkmair, to avoid confusion and keep the ordering and placement of all the blocks of the series intact.
This is one of a bound group of old master prints, including other woodcuts by Burgkmair, Hans Weiditz, Hans Schaufelein and others. Many of these prints have the mark of the eminent collector Karl Edward von Liphart (Lugt 1651) verso. We are currently doing research on the collection so it is not on the market as yet.
Posted in Hans Burgkmair |
Friday, June 26th, 2009
Felix Vallotton (1865-1925) woodcut, La Modiste, signed in pencil lower right margin, 1894. Reference: Maxime Vallotton and Charles Georg 138a (of a-d). On a greenish tan wove paper, in good condition (apart from several repaired tears and nicks at margin edges and upper corners, a tiny pinhole lower left image), archival mounting, wide margins, 7 1/4 x 9, the sheet 11 3/8 x 13 1/4 inches.
A fine impression of this Fin de Siecle icon. From the signed edition of about 60; there were also some (35) posthumous impressions made, then the plate was destroyed.
Vallotton was of course known as a foremost Nabi painter, and a social critic as well. But perhaps his most notable contribution was through his woodcuts, all of which were done in the period of about 7 years, from age 26 to 33 (1891-98). In La Modiste, he satirizes the middle class shopping, while showing the design line and shapes, with their limited planar quality, that anticipate much of modernism including the Art Nouveau movement. Yet shortly after this period Vallotton married into a rich art dealer’s family – and he gave up the critical printmaking of his “youth.”
Posted in Uncategorized |
Friday, June 26th, 2009
Felix Vallotton (1865-1925), L’Assassinat, woodcut, 1893, signed in pencil lower right [also titled lower left and initials lower right in the block]. Reference: Vallotton/Georg 113b; a signed impression from the edition of 75 (most but not all numbered). On orange wove paper, in very good condition, with wide margins as published, 5 3/4 x 9 3/4, the sheet 10 x 12 3/4 inches, archival mounting.
A fine impression of this powerful work.
This is an impression from the lifetime edition; there were two subsequent posthumous editions, one of 25 on white Japan, another of 10 on white wove, each identifiable by the stamped initials as well as the paper and blindstamps in the paper; after these editions the woodblock was canceled.
Vallotton (1865-1925) made drypoints and etchings early in his career, and began making woodcuts in 1891. By the next year he had achieved some measure of fame in this medium with the publication of an article on his breakthrough approach by Octave Uzanne in the Paris journal “L’Art et L’Idee.” By 1893 he had obviously hit his stride, and L’Assassinat, made in that year, represents one of the great examples of Vallotton’s woodblock printmaking.
In an interesting variant on most of his prints, he printed this on an orange/yellow paper; during this period of course many artists experimented with paper color and type, and this appears to be a particularly appropriate paper color for this medium (and perhaps, for this subject matter).
Posted in Uncategorized |
Friday, June 26th, 2009
Felix Vallotton (1865-1925), L’Assassinat, woodcut, 1893, signed in pencil lower right [also titled lower left and initials lower right in the block]. Reference: Vallotton/Georg 113b; a signed impression from the edition of 75 (most but not all numbered). On orange wove paper, in very good condition, with wide margins as published, 5 3/4 x 9 3/4, the sheet 10 x 12 3/4 inches, archival mounting.
A fine impression of this powerful work.
This is an impression from the lifetime edition; there were two subsequent posthumous editions, one of 25 on white Japan, another of 10 on white wove, each identifiable by the stamped initials as well as the paper and blindstamps in the paper; after these editions the woodblock was canceled.
Vallotton (1865-1925) made drypoints and etchings early in his career, and began making woodcuts in 1891. By the next year he had achieved some measure of fame in this medium with the publication of an article on his breakthrough approach by Octave Uzanne in the Paris journal “L’Art et L’Idee.” By 1893 he had obviously hit his stride, and L’Assassinat, made in that year, represents one of the great examples of Vallotton’s woodblock printmaking.
In an interesting variant on most of his prints, he printed this on an orange/yellow paper; during this period of course many artists experimented with paper color and type, and this appears to be a particularly appropriate paper color for this medium (and perhaps, for this subject matter).
Posted in Uncategorized |
Friday, June 26th, 2009
Jean-Emile Laboureur (1877-1943), engraving, 1925, signed in pencil lower left, numbered 53/65 lower right and annotated imp. Reference: Laboueur 300, third state (of 3), from the total of about 69 lifetime proofs (there was also a posthumous edition). In very good condition, minor handling folds at margin edges; with wide/full margins, on a cream wove paper, archival mounting with window mat, 7 1/4 x 7 5/8, the sheet 9 3/4 x 12 3/4 inches.
A fine fresh impression.
Laboureur created Pecheurs au Carrelet in engraving, a technique which provided sharp and exact lines complimenting his personal interpretation of cubism; as is apparent, he had perfected the technique by the time he made Pecheurs.
The fishers (pecheurs) pictured are using a square net (a carrelet).
$1750
Posted in Jean-Emile Laboureur |