Structural Iron
RALPH PEARSON
American, (1883-1958)
Etching, 1912-1913, edition unknown. 13 7/8 x 8 7/8 in. Signed in the plate and signed and titled in pencil. This is a fine, luminous impression in very good condition apart from slight toning within an earlier mat opening. The margins are full. This is plate #5 (of six) from Pearson's "Toilers of the City" series. This excellent series was based on his observations in Chicago during the early teens. The artist admired the work of Joseph Pennell and it shows, but Pearson, also the gifted etcher, was able to introduce a human presence into his city views which is lacking in the prints of Pennell. These early views of Chicago are not especially common and they are important precursors for the WPA era printmakers and their renditions of similar subjects. Pearson exhibited his prints at Marshall Field and Company in Chicago, among other places in the midwest. He also produced a series called "Picturesque Chicago" which is less well-known.
SOLD

Firemen
RALPH PEARSON
American, (1883-1958)
Etching, 1913, edition unknown. 11 7/8 x 7 7/8 in. Signed in the plate and signed in pencil, lower right. A fine impression in very good condition. The margins are full. This is plate No.6 from Pearson's celebrated "Toilers of the City" series. Based on his time in Chicago, these compelling prints are remarkable for their fine draughtsmanship and command of the medium. Prints of firemen are rare in 20th century American printmaking.
SOLD

The Asphalters
RALPH PEARSON
American, (1883-1958)
Etching, 1911, edition unknown. 10 3/4 x 7 7/8 in. Signed and dated in the plate, lower left. Signed and titled in pencil. This is fine impression printed with dramatic plate tone. The margins are full and the condition is excellent. This is plate # 2 from his Toilers of the City Series. This excellent series was based on his observations in Chicago during the early teens. The artist admired the work of Joseph Pennell and it shows, but Pearson, also the gifted etcher, was able to introduce a human presence into his city views which is lacking in the prints of Pennell. These early views of Chicago are not especially common and they are important precursors for the WPA era printmakers and their renditions of similar subjects. Pearson exhibited his prints at Marshall Field and Company in Chicago, among other places in the midwest. He also produced a series called "Picturesque Chicago" which is less well-known.
SOLD

House and Rock, Carmel Highlands
RALPH PEARSON
American, (1883-1958)
Etching, 1922, edition unknown. 11 x 9 in. Signed and dated in the plate on the left side. Signed and titled in pencil. This is a fine impression in fine condition. The margins are full. Pearson traveled all across America promoting etching and etchers by way of lectures and demonstrations at various art institutions. He was one of the early etchers in the Taos area having produced prints there in the teens and early 1920s. He did a small series of California prints and this one depicts the James House in Carmel which was designed by Greene and Greene.
SOLD

Pasadena Palms
RALPH PEARSON
American, (1883-1958)
Etching, 1925, edition unknown. 5 3/4 x 10 in. Signed and dated in the plate, lower right. Signed and titled in pencil. This is a fine impression printed on a cream wove paper. The margins are full. This is one of Pearson's few California etchings. There was an exhibition of his etchings in 1922 in Los Angeles at the Stendahl Galleries in the Ambassador Hotel. In addition, he won a silver medal at the Panama-Pacific Exposition.
SOLD

Taos Pueblo, New Mexico
RALPH PEARSON
American, (1883-1958)
Etching, 1920, edition unknown. 5 1/8 x 9 1/2 in. Signed and dated in the plate, lower left. Signed and titled in pencil and with "#15" and also below in pencil "second state." This is a fine, luminous impression printed on light cream wove paper. The margins are substantial and this is probably the full sheet as issued. Excellent condition. Pearson was one of the earliest printmakers working in New Mexico. He arrived in Taos in 1915 and by 1918 he held an exhibition of some of these prints at the Museum of Fine Arts in Santa Fe. This is a very rare print and is clearly one of the best that he produced there. He was a member of and exhibited with Chicago Society of Etchers, the Art Students League of Chicago, the New York Society of Etchers, the California Art Club, the California Society of Etchers, and the Brooklyn Society of Etchers. His work is represented in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, the Library of Congress, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
SOLD

Standard Oil Building (New York)
JOSEPH PENNELL
American, (1857-1926)
Etching, 1923, Wuerth 817, edition probably 50. 12 1/8 x 9 1/8 in. Signed in pencil. This is a fine, dramatic impression printed on old laid paper. The margin are full and the condition is very good. (There's a subtle irregular stain in the left margin which could have been there when he printed the impression.) There are ink smudges in the margins from the printing process, so very typical of Pennell's working method. The Standard Oil Building is at 26 Broadway in the financial district.
SOLD

Flower Market and Butter Tower, Rouen
JOSEPH PENNELL
American, (1857-1926)
Etching, 1907, Wuerth 463, edition probably 75. 11 x 8 1/2 in. Signed in pencil. This is a fine impression printed on antique laid paper. The margins are full and the condition is fine. (There's a small strip of white paper tape across the top margin edge.) The Butter Tower (Tour de Beurre) is one of the lofty towers that comprise Rouen Cathedral. Constructed in a flamboyant late gothic style, the foundation stone for this tower was laid in 1485.
$600

The Unbelievable City
JOSEPH PENNELL
American, (1857-1926)
Etching, 1908, Wuerth 498, edition probably 50. 8 3/8 x 10 7/8 in. Signed in pencil, lower right. This is a fine impression printed on cream Japanese paper. The margins are full. The condition is fine other than for very faint toning within an early mat opening. This view of lower Manhattan is from Governor's Island. The Singer Tower is the most prominent building depicted.
SOLD

Sunset, from Williamsburg Bridge
JOSEPH PENNELL
American, (1857-1926)
Etching, 1915, Wuerth 674, edition probably about 100. 8 1/2 x 11 in. Signed in pencil. This is a fine impression in fine condition. The margins are narrow on the top and sides but this is likely the full sheet as printed. The condition is fine. Seen on the left side we have the Woolworth Building and the Singer Tower. The smokestacks on the right are part of sugar refineries and other factories on Kent Avenue in Williamsburg.
SOLD

Caissons on Vesey Street (New York)
JOSEPH PENNELL
American, (1857-1926)
Etching, 1924, Wuerth 854, edition probably 75. 13 3/4 x 9 1/8 in. Signed in pencil. This is a fine, dark impression printed on antique paid paper. The margins are full although the sheet edge runs close to the platemark in the lower left corner. The condition is good and there's a skillful repaired break in the upper left corner of the image.
SOLD

New York, from Weehawken
JOSEPH PENNELL
American, (1857-1926)
Etching, 1908, Wuerth 495, edition probably 50. 10 15/16 x 8 3/8 in. Signed, titled "Weehawken" and dated in the plate, lower left. Signed in pencil. Here we have a fine impression with full margins. The condition is very good apart from slight time toning along the bottom edge of the sheet and also on the verso. Inscribed "trial proof" in pencil by the artist. Weehawken is opposite New York in the Lincoln Tunnel area.
SOLD

St. Peter's from the Pincian Gardens
JOSEPH PENNELL
American, (1857-1926)
Ething, 1911, Wuerth 624, edition probably 70. 12 1/8 x 9 1/4 in. Signed in the plate along the bottom and signed and titled in pencil. This is a superb, dramatically inked impression of this uncommon print. The margins are full and the condition is very good apart from a skillfully reinforced area along the platemark at the bottom right. This beautiful part of Rome, Italy, is also known as the Pincio Gardens.
SOLD

New York from Governor's Island
JOSEPH PENNELL
American, (1857-1926)
Etching, 1915, Wuerth 668, edition probably 80. 7 1/2 x 11 3/4 in. Signed in pencil. This is a fine, tonal impression in very good condition. The top margin is narrow but this could well be the full sheet as printed. The view across the harbor shows the steel arches of the Municipal Ferry Terminal with the Brooklyn Bridge on the far left.
SOLD

On the Way to Bessemer
JOSEPH PENNELL
American, (1857-1926)
Etching, 1909, Wuerth 520, edition probably 90. 11 x 7 in. Signed in the plate, lower left. Signed in pencil. This is a fine, atmospheric impression with full margins. The condition is excellent. (There's a subtle printing crease in the lower left corner of the image.) This Pennsylvania subject epitomizes Pennell's interest in the growth of industrialized America during the early years of the 20th century.
SOLD

Thames Below the Bridges, Night
JOSEPH PENNELL
American, (1857-1926)
Etching, 1894, Wuerth 217, edition probably 20. 4 15/16 x 9 3/8 in. Signed in pencil. This is a superb, atmospheric impression of this rare print. The margins are full (but narrow on the sides, as printed). The condition is fine. Pennell produced several etchings and a few aquatints along the Thames during this period. Many of them were published as part of the "Easter Set" but Wuerth does not indicate that this print is part of the series. Our impression is selectively inked to show lights along the docks.
SOLD

Le Puy (third plate)
JOSEPH PENNELL
American, (1857-1926)
Etching, 1894, Wuerth 208, edition probably 30. 16 x 11 7/8 in. Signed in the plate, lower right. Signed in pencil. This is a fine impression printed with plate tone. The margins are full. The condition is very good other than for old adhesive showing on the outer edges of the sheet, verso, from a previous mount and three small old hinges at the top edges, recto. This large and majestic view is described by the artist as "the most picturesque place in the world."
$800

Brooklyn Bridge at Night
JOSEPH PENNELL
American, (1857-1926)
Aquatint, 1922, Wuerth 790, edition probably 60. 7 3/8 x 8 5/8 in. Signed in pencil. This is a superb impression of this uncommon print. The margins appear to be full and the condition is excellent. This stellar work was done in pure aquatint without any etched lines. He produced a few aquatints of New York and London and he referred to these tonal works as "printed paintings." The artist was living in Brooklyn at the time.
SOLD

Café Orientale, Venice
JOSEPH PENNELL
American, (1857-1926)
Etching, 1911, Wuerth 618, edition probably 50. 9 1/4 x 12 3/8 in. Signed in pencil. This is a very fine impression of this uncommon print. The paper is antique laid and the margins are full. The condition is very good apart from a few tiny rust specks in the paper which have developed over the years. This lovely Whistlerian view is somewhat similar to Whistler's Traghetto.
SOLD

Mist on the Thames
JOSEPH PENNELL
American, (1857-1926)
Aquatint, 1903, Wuerth 247, edition probably 35 proofs. 8 1/2 x 10 3/8 in. Signed and numbered in pencil "32." The margins are probably full and untrimmed and the condition is fine. The paper is a soft, fairly thin laid. This uncommon, beautiful print was done the year Whistler died. It's a subject which reminds us of Whistler, certainly, and the painterly, tonal effects are also reminiscent of Whistler's watercolors and oils of the Thames.
SOLD