Early Mother Russia (La Petite Mere Russie)
Linoleum cut, 1926, Raskin 74; edition 50. 10 3/4 x 8 5/8 in. Initialed in the block with the monogram and signed in pencil,lower right. This is a fine impression on cream wove paper in excellent condition. The margins are full. This impression was issued in La Gravure Originale Belge, Volume 3, 1929, in an edition of 50 impressions. There was also a separate edition of ten impressions. Van Straten, like Masereel, was a social commentator and many of his prints reflect upon the political and social environment between the wars.
$2,000

La Dormeuse (The Sleeper)
Suite of seven linocuts, 1921, Raskin page 122, edition 220. Each print measures about 6 x 5 in. Signed on the title page in pencil. These are fine impressions in fine condition with full margins. Inspired by the poem "The Sleeper" by Edgar Allen Poe (1831), La Dormeuse was one of van Straten's early block books and this particular effort won him the Lumière graphic art prize. Provenance: private collection, Antwerp.
$1,800

La Tentation de Saint-Antoine (The Temptation of Saint Anthony)
Suite of eight linocuts, 1921, Raskin page 120, edition 220. Each print measures about 8 x 4 1/2 in. Each print is signed in pencil with the artist's initials. The impressions are all fine and the condition is excellent. This early, expressionist effort by van Straten shows the influence of German printmaking as well as the work of Frans Masereel. This fine set was published by Lumiere, Antwerp. Provenance: private collection, Antwerp.
$2,000

Le Garde-Champetre
Woodcut, 1937, Raskin 106; edition 65. 9 7/8 x 7 7/8 in. Signed and dated in the block and signed in pencil. This is a fine, dark impression on Japanese paper. Wide margins. Van Straten studied in Antwerp and was influenced by Masereel and Dufy. He's one of the preeminent Belgian expressionist printmakers from the 1930s.
$2,000

Tea at Miranda's (Le Thé Chez Miranda)
Linoleum cut, 1922, Raskin 43, edition 20 plus a few proofs. 12 5/8 x 9 3/8 in. Signed and titled in pencil; also inscribed "2" in pencil. This is a fine impression printed on a light tan paper. The margins are wide and the condition is very good. (There's slight toning on the verso from exposure from an acidic backing.) This modernist tour de force offers up just the right balance between realism and abstraction, and does so within a scene right out of the jazz age of the 1920s. Van Straten was arguably the most gifted block print artist in Belgium during the 1920s-1930s and the quality and range of his achievements are really quite remarkable. The Raskin catalogue raisonné is a wonderful reference and was published in 2002 with text in three languages. (This is possibly a proof apart from the edition of twenty.)
$3,500

The Fair (Kermis), also Massacre of the Innocents
Linoleum cut, 1925, Raskin 65, edition 25. 9 3/4 x 7 in. Signed, titled and numbered in pencil. This is a superb impression printed on thin Japanese paper. The margins are full and the condition is fine. This outstanding work by van Straten is exemplary of his achievements during the 1920s. A sense of humor is so often evident in his prints.
$3,500

The Musicians
Linoleum cut, 1926, Raskin 67 , edition 25. 13 x 9 5/8 in. Initialed in the block, lower left corner. Signed, numbered and titled in pencil. This is a superb impression with full margins. The condition is excellent. This is a rare and exemplary work from his best period, the 1920s and 1930s. He was influenced early on by Masereel by he developed his own mindset which focused his immediate surrounding and everyday things and events. The life of the city (Antwerp) and the entertainment of the port area we among his favorite subjects.
SOLD

The Navigator (De Zeevaarder)
Linoleum cut, 1931, Raskin 79, edition 25. 10 3/4 x 8 3/4 in. Signed in pencil. This is a fine impression on thick, fibrous Japanese paper. The margins are full and the condition is very good. This is an artist's proof apart from the edition of 25. The block for this print and two working drawings are in the Prentenkabinet, Antwerp.
$2,400