Large Primitive Head in Profile
Linocut printed with unique color inking, 1920-21, Rubenstein 33, edition unknown. 7 3/4 x 3 3/8 in. Signed in pencil, lower right. This is a superb, uniquely colored impression printed on thin Japanese paper. The margins appear to be full and there's a number "32" in pencil in the lower left corner. The condition is fine. There are three impressions of this image in the National Gallery; two in brown ink and another is a color variation from the Rosenwald Collection. Weber studied with Arthur W. Dow at the Pratt Institute early on and later in Paris with Matisse. He was impressed with the work of Cezanne. Weber was friendly with William Zorach from their Greenwich Village days and could have been influenced by his printmaking technique. This is an exceptional and rare example of Weber's color woodcut style.
SOLD

Nude With Upraised Arm
Woodcut printed in colors, 1919-1920, Rubenstein 7, very small edition. 4 1/4 x 2 in. Signed in pencil, lower right. This is a superb, luminous impression printed on cream colored Japanese paper. The margins are wide and probably full. The condition is very good apart from a skillful repaired tear in the right margin and one below in the bottom margin; both well apart from the image. This outstanding work, like all of his color woodcuts, is quite rare. Another impression is located in the Smithsonian American Art Museum which is considerably different than our impression. (Go to: americanart.si.edu/collections/search/) There is an insightful and informative discussion of Weber's color woodcuts in American Color Woodcuts, Bounty from the Block, 1890s-1990s, by James Watrous and Andrew Stevens (1993), page 98.
SOLD

Primitive Figure
Woodcut, 1921-25, Rubenstein 40; from the edition of 25 printed in 1956. 10 x 3 1/8 in. Signed in pencil. This is a fine impression printed on cream Japanese paper. Full margins. Fine condition. This impression was printed by Joseph Blumenthal for the Spriral Press, New York, with the permission of the artist. It was included in the suite, "Five Prints by Max Weber" published by Weyhe Gallery. A comparable impression of this print is in the collection of the National Gallery. Additional impressions are in the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art.
$1,400