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

The Elevated (New York)
JOSEPH PENNELL
American, (1857-1926)
Etching, 1921, Wuerth 789, edition perhaps 50. 10 x 6 7/8 in. Signed in pencil. This is a superb impression printed on a light cream wove paper. The margins are full and the condition is fine. (There are Pennell's inky fingerprints showing here and there in the margins.) This print depicts the Sixth Avenue El at the very heart of the shopping district. Gimbels, Sacks and Co. and Macy's are nearby. This print was done when Pennell and his wife moved to Brooklyn Heights in 1921.
SOLD

The Avenue, Valenciennes
JOSEPH PENNELL
American, (1857-1926)
Etching, 1910, Wuerth 603, edition probably 50. 9 1/4 x 12 3/8in. Signed in pencil. This is a fine impression printed on antique laid paper. The margins are full and the condition is fine. (There are a few ink smudges in the margins, primarily on the back, which are Pennell's finger prints from the printing process.) This lovely tree lined view is a refreshing glimpse of the variety of subjects etched by the artist. There's an unidentified collector's mark in the lower left corner of the sheet.
SOLD

The Grand Canyon
JOSEPH PENNELL
American, (1857-1926)
Lithograph, 1912, Wuerth 257, edition 25. 22 x 16 7/8 in. Signed in pencil. This is a fine impression of this rare, monumental print. The margins are full and the paper bears an ARCHES watermark. The condition is fine apart from a small wrinkle in the upper right corner. He created several lithographs of the Grand Canyon as he was impressed with the beauty of the American west and northwest. (Note: an informed source has told me that the title listed in the Wuerth catalogue is not accurate. It's listed as "The City under the Black Mountain." Black Mountain is not too far away in the Southern Sierra.
$2,800

Westminster, Evening
JOSEPH PENNELL
American, (1857-1926)
Mezzotint, 1909, Wuerth 509, edition probably 50. 9 7/8 x 14 3/4 in. Signed on the tab in pencil and inscribed "imp." This is a superb impression of this rare print. The margins are trimmed by the artist to just outside the platemark which is not uncommon. Consider it a tribute to his colleague, James A. McNeill Whistler. The condition is superb. The printed surface is pristine with no rubs or any other problems which can often affect the delicate mezzotint surface. Impressions of this work are found in the following museums: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago and the National Gallery of Art. Ex-collection: R. Dalton (Lugt 354).
SOLD

St. Paul's, New York
JOSEPH PENNELL
American, (1857-1926)
Etching, 1915, Wuerth 678, edition probably 100. 10 7/8 x 8 3/8 in. Signed in the plate, lower right. Signed in pencil. This is a superb, dramatically inked impression. The paper is an antique laid probably from an old ledger book. The condition is very good apart from spots of foxing in the margins and two old, small hinges at the top. St. Paul's Chapel is a chapel building located at 209 Broadway, between Fulton and Vesey Street in lower Manhattan. It was opened in 1766 and it's the oldest surviving church building in Manhattan.
$900

The Woolworth Building
JOSEPH PENNELL
American, (1857-1926)
Etchhing, 1915, Wuerth 675, edition probably 100 proofs. 11 7/8 x 7 3/4 in. Signed and dated in the plate, lower right. Signed in pencil. Here we have a fine, luminous impression with full margins. The condition is generally fine. (There's a trace of an old adhesive along the outer edges of the sheet, verso, on both sides, and a few specks of foxing on the verso.) Designed by Cass Gilbert, the Woolworth Building was the tallest building in the world from 1913 to 1929. It's a major contribution to America's "skyscraper style," gracefully expressing in its neo-Gothicism the soaring verticality of steel-frame construction.
$1,000

Times Square
JAMES PENNEY
American, (1910-1982)
Lithograph, 1933, edition 15. 14 x 19 3/4 in. Signed, titled, numbered and dated in pencil. This is a fine impression with full margins. The condition is fine other than for a couple of repaired splits in the margins, well away from the image. Penney was from Missouri and studied at the University of Kansas. He moved to New York where he spent three years at the Art Students League and studied with John Sloan and Charles Locke among others. He was a WPA mural painter in addition to his fine work as a lithographer. This is one of his finest works and other examples of his printmaking are found in the National Gallery. Times Square is a rare print.
SOLD