St. Jean de Luz
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.