Studio Mirror
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.