Exhibition Announcement
BLANCHE LAZZELL
American, (1878-1936)
Woodcut printed in colors, circa 1930, Shapiro/MFA 52, edition unknown. (image) 7 1/2 x 3 3/4 in. (sheet) 10 1/2 x 5 5/8 in. Initialed in the block, lower left. This is a fine impression of this very rare print. The paper is a thin Japanese and the margins are full. The condition is fine apart from a small, barely visible 1/2" tear at the top edge at left and another tiny split at the bottom. This endearing Provincetown image captures the essence of what was happening in this New England artists community during the 1920s and 1930s. The sheet was first printed (or applied by hand) with this vibrant background color and then the image and text were printed, possibly from two separate blocks. This charming print is illustrated on page one of "From Paris to Provincetown: Blanche Lazzell and the Color Woodcut (2002).
$4,500

Landing
CLARE LEIGHTON
American, (1899-1989)
Wood engraving, 1931, Boston PublicLibrary 195, edition 130. 8 3/8 x 12 1/2 in. Signed and numbered in pencil. This is a fine impression printed on cream Japanese paper. The margins are full and the condition is excellent. This work is among Leighton's best known works called the Lumber Camp series. Six images were done in an edition of 30 for the UK and 100 for the US. These prints were based on her trip to the Laurentian Mountains in Quebec, Canada.
$3,800

Limbing
CLARE LEIGHTON
American, (1899-1989)
Wood engraving, 1931, BPL 191,edition 130. 8 5/8 x 12 in. Signed, titled and numbered in pencil. This is a fine, rich impression printed on Japanese paper. The margins are full. This work is numbered from the American edition of 100. There was an additional edition of 30 for the British market. This print is from the Lumber Camp series which was based on a trip to the Laurentian Mountains in Quebec, Canada.
$3,800

The Net Menders
CLARE LEIGHTON
American, (1899-1989)
Wood engraving, 1933, Boston Public Library 247, edition 200. 6 1/8 x 7 5/8 in. Signed, dated, numbered and titled in pencil. This is a fine, rich impression printed on thin cream wove paper. The margins are full and the condition is very good. (There are the usual three glue spots on the top from when the print was attached to the folder it was issued in.) Specifically, this lovely work was published by the Woodcut Society of Kansas City in 1933 and this folder accompanies the print. It contains an introduction by Martin Hardie.
SOLD

Blackbird on Nest
CLARE LEIGHTON
American, (1899-1989)
Wood engraving, 1935, Boston Public Library 267, edition 30. 7 x 4 3/4 in. Signed, numbered and titled in pencil. This is a fine rich impression printed on japan paper. The margins are full and the condition is fine. (There are a couple of minor soft wrinkles in the outer margins.) This stellar print was created for the book, Four Hedges, which was published in London in 1935.
SOLD

Clam Diggers, Cape Cod
CLARE LEIGHTON
American, (1899-1989)
Wood engraving, 1946, Boston Public Library 599, Stuhlman/Mint Museum 97; edition 250. 7 x 7 7/8 in. Signed and numbered in pencil. This is a fine impression with full margins. The condition is excellent apart from two small old hinges at the top corners. This lovely print was published by the Woodcut Society of Alexandria, VA in 1946. The print is still in the original presentation folder with a forward by the artist.
SOLD

The Net Menders
CLARE LEIGHTON
American, (1899-1989)
Wood engraving, 1948 , BPL 615, edition 300. 6 1/2 x 4 3/4 in. Signed, titled and numbered in pencil. Here we have a fine impression printed on thin Japanese paper. The margins appear to be full. The condition is fine apart from modest old hinges on the corners, verso. This print was commissioned by the Marblehead Arts Association. However, the catalogue entry for the print is incorrect as it states an edition of only 50. (There's another print by Leighton which bears the same title. That one was done in 1933 and was published by the Woodcut Society of Kansas City in an edition of 200.) (See BPL 247).
$1,000

Waiting for the Breeze
PEDRO JOSEPH DE LEMOS
American, (1882-1954)
Woodcut printed in colors, 1925, Edwards 29b, edition unknown. 8 1/4 x 7 3/4 in. Signed and titled in pencil. This is a fine, luminous impression printed on Japanese paper. The margins are wide and probably full. The condition is very good apart from a soft wrinkle in the lower right corner of the margin. Lemos' work is illustrated and discussed in A Spectrum of Innovation, Color in American Printmaking 1890-1940, by David Acton (1990), see pages 94-95. A leading exponent of the the California arts and crafts movement, Lemos had a major retrospective at the Monterey Museum of Art in 2015 accompanied by a catalogue by Robert W. Edwards.
$3,500

Puffing Billies
MARTIN LEWIS
American, (1881-1962)
Etching and sand ground, 1916, McCarron 20, edition 15. 13 x 9 3/4 in. Signed in pencil. This is a superb, atmospheric impression with full margins. The condition is fine. (There's a minor smudge on the right margin.) This dynamic, early work depicts New York harbor and the subject of tugboats turns up in other Lewis prints (see McCarron 2,21,28 & 38.) Provenance: Kennedy Galleries, NY (with their label).
SOLD

Building a Babylon, Tudor City, N.Y.
MARTIN LEWIS
American, (1881-1962)
Drypoint, 1929, McCarron 76, edition 84. 12 3/4 x 7 7/8 in. Signed in pencil, lower right. This is a superb, luminous impression with full margins. The condition is excellent. Tudor City was completed in 1928 as a middle class housing project and became a historic district in 1988. The location is 40th to 43rd Street between 1st and 2nd Avenues. As McCarron aptly states on page 140 of the catalogue raisonné, "The dripping stains on the embankment were possibly influenced by another print, Charles Meryon's 'La Morgue, Paris,' of 1854. Lewis included Meryon among the etchers he admired..."
$12,000

Wet Saturday
MARTIN LEWIS
American, (1881-1962)
Drypoint, 1929, McCaron 81, edition 72. 9 7/8 x 10 1/2 in. Signed in the plate, lower left. Signed in pencil. This is a superb impression with full margins. The paper is a fine cream laid and the condition is excellent.
SOLD

Under the Street Lamp
MARTIN LEWIS
American, (1881-1962)
Etching, 1928, McCarron 70, edition 83. 14 7/8 x 9 3/8 in. Signed in the plate, lower right. Signed in pencil. This is a superb impression printed on white laid paper with full margins. The condition is excellent. From the collection of Patricia Lewis with her stamp on the bottom edge of the sheet, verso.
SOLD

Quarter of Nine, Saturday's Children
MARTIN LEWIS
American, (1881-1962)
Drypoint, 1929, McCarron 78, edition 107. 9 7/8 x 12 7/8 in. Signed in the plate, lower left. Signed in pencil, lower right. Also inscribed by the artist,"watakashi no E." This is a superb impression printed on off white laid paper. The margins are full and the condition is excellent. Provenance: Kennedy Galleries (with their label). The scene is 34th Street at Park Avenue, New york.
SOLD

Shadow Magic
MARTIN LEWIS
American, (1881-1962)
Drypoint, 1939, McCarron 126, edition 34. 13 1/2 x 9 1/2 in. Initialed in the plate, lower left. Signed in pencil. This is a superb, luminous impression with full margins. The printed surface is pristine. The condition is excellent. As McCarron mentions in the catalogue on page 216, "this is one of Lewis's most abstract designs." (This is also the only Martin Lewis print with a cat in it.) Provenance: Knoedler Galleries, NY.
SOLD

Break in the Thunderstorm
MARTIN LEWIS
American, (1881-1962)
Drypoint, 1930, McCarron 86 (ii/II), intended edition of 85. 12 3/8 x 9 7/8 in. Signed in the plate, lower left. Signed in pencil. This is a superb impression printed on a wove paper with a subtle greenish-blue tint. The margins are full and the condition is exceptionally fine. According to the catalogue, the location is the corner of 34th Street and Park Avenue, near Lewis's studio. Provenance: Kennedy Galleries, New York (with their label). The McCarron catalogue states 66 recorded impressions including 16 trials.
PRICE ON REQUEST

Chance Meeting
MARTIN LEWIS
American, (1881-1962)
Drypoint, 1940-41, McCarron 131, edition 105. 10 1/2 x 7 1/2 in. Initialed in the plate, lower left. Signed in pencil. This is a superb impression with full margins. The condition is excellent. This outstanding print was commissioned by the Society of American Etchers and they were originally known as the Brooklyn Society of Etchers. The plate was printed by Charles White. Thirty-seven impressions are cited in museum collections. As McCarron states, "This is one of Lewis's most complex prints, one in which he was able to harmonize many diverse elements."
SOLD

Ha'nted
MARTIN LEWIS
American, (1881-1962)
Drypoint and sand ground, 1932, McCarron 100, edition 107. 13 1/4 x 8 7/8 in. Signed in the plate, lower left. Signed in pencil and inscribed, "to Chas S. White from M.L." This is a superb impression with full margins. The condition is excellent apart from a small speck of printer's ink in the outer right margin. (Note: Charles S. White was the printer for many of Lewis's plates. There is no record that Lewis used any other printer than White throughout his career.) This outstanding, underrated print was done in Sandy Hook, Connecticut where the Lewis family lived in the early 1930s.
$10,000

Corner Shadows
MARTIN LEWIS
American, (1881-1962)
Drypoint and sand ground, 1930, McCarron 83 (ii/II), edition 242. 8 3/8 x 9 in. Signed in the plate, lower left. Signed in pencil. This is a fine, luminous impression with full margins. The condition is fine apart from two small indiscreet hinges on the verso, top corners. This stellar work is included in at least twenty-five museum collections. This work was commissioned by the Print Club of Cleveland and the preparatory drawings and proofs are now in the Cleveland Museum of Art. The edition was printed by Charles S. White.
SOLD

Derricks at Night
MARTIN LEWIS
American, (1881-1962)
Drypoint, 1927, McCarron 62 (i/II); edition 104. 7 7/8 x 11 3/4 in. Signed in the plate, lower right. Signed in pencil. This is a superb impression with full margins. The paper is ARCHES and the condition is excellent. According to McCarron, "'Derricks at Night' is the only Lewis print with such extensive changes between states. The second state was begun two years after he had essentially finished the composition, an exception to Lewis's usual procedure in completing a plate." Both versions are exceptionally fine and a casual glance at museum collections which own this print show an almost equal number of museums own the first or the second states. First state impressions are owned by the Whitney Museum, the Museum of Modern Art and the Achenbach Foundation for the Graphic Arts, among others. This engaging print has a compelling sense of geometry and a single worker walks along on the street at night, conveying the solitude of the evening.
$10,000

Night in New York
MARTIN LEWIS
American, (1881-1962)
Etching, 1932, McCarron 102, edition 135. 8 3/8 x 8 3/4 in. Signed in the plate, lower right. Signed in pencil. This is a fine, richly inked impression printed with retroussage. This was the presentation print for the Chicago Society of Etchers and their blindstamp appears in the lower left corner of the sheet. The margins are full and the condition is fine. McCarron states, "Retroussage is used to obtain a softer but stronger and richer effect. In this technique the printer drags a cloth, preferably muslin, over the already inked lines of a heated plate in order to raise the ink, making it spread over both edges of the etched lines." This edition was printed by Charles White who was the only other printer Lewis liked. Lewis gave White specific directions: "wipe clean, very clean on window and light foreground - retroussage on background and darks, very little retrossage on pavement and window."
$9,500