Carol Wax

Doe Bow (Christmas Bow Features Santa s Reindeer, Word Play)

2016

An exclusive publication for Stone and Press Gallery, "Snow Does" was created in an edition of 100. It is FIROS #66 in the catalogue raisonne. Carol Wax originally trained to be a classical musician at the Manhattan School of Music but fell in love with printmaking. Soon after she began engraving mezzotints she was asked by the renowned print dealer Sylvan Cole to exhibit at Associated American Artists Gallery, launching her career as a professional artist/printmaker. With the publication of her book, The Mezzotint: History and Technique, published by Abrams, 1990 and 1996, Carol added author and teacher to her credits. In the ensuing years she has expanded her repertoire of mediums beyond printmaking into other works on paper and painting. In compositions reflecting an appreciation for antiquated machinery and vintage textiles, Wax creates imagery that, in her own words, “… speaks to an inner life perceived in inanimate objects.” She uses stylization and imagination to reinvent subjects, transforming an ordinary typewriter into a monumental icon...

A series of prints was commissioned by the Metropolitan Museum in New York in a regular edition of 40. This impression is from an edition of 5 artist proofs. This impression is #4/5. Carol Wax originally trained to be a classical musician at the Manhattan School of Music but fell in love with printmaking. Soon after she began engraving mezzotints she was asked by the renowned print dealer Sylvan Cole to exhibit at Associated American Artists Gallery, launching her career as a professional artist/printmaker. With the publication of her book, The Mezzotint: History and Technique, published by Abrams, 1990 and 1996, Carol added author and teacher to her credits. In the ensuing years she has expanded her repertoire of mediums beyond printmaking into other works on paper and painting. In compositions reflecting an appreciation for antiquated machinery and vintage textiles, Wax creates imagery that, in her own words, “… speaks to an inner life perceived in inanimate objects.” She uses stylization and imagination to reinvent subjects, transforming an ordinary typewriter into a monumental icon...

This image is from an exclusive edition published by Stone + Press in 1994 in an edition of 100. This impression is #98. It brings to mind the Robert Frost poem, Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening. The woods are lovely, dark and deep, But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep. Mary Teichman...

The Artist's Christmas homage to the attack on the twin towers with reindeer atop the buildings. Carol Wax originally trained to be a classical musician at the Manhattan School of Music but fell in love with printmaking. Soon after she began engraving mezzotints she was asked by the renowned print dealer Sylvan Cole to exhibit at Associated American Artists Gallery, launching her career as a professional artist/printmaker. With the publication of her book, The Mezzotint: History and Technique, published by Abrams, 1990 and 1996, Carol added author and teacher to her credits. In the ensuing years she has expanded her repertoire of mediums beyond printmaking into other works on paper and painting. In compositions reflecting an appreciation for antiquated machinery and vintage textiles, Wax creates imagery that, in her own words, “… speaks to an inner life perceived in inanimate objects.” She uses stylization and imagination to reinvent subjects, transforming an ordinary typewriter into a monumental icon...

The Deer is an aquatint and drypoint print on chine from one of the deluxe copies of Picasso's 1942 Histoire Naturelle - Textes de Buffon series. The image size is 10.5 x 8.15 inches, unsigned as issued, and framed in a contemporary silver and gray moulding. One of about 36 prints that exist with Picasso's remarqued title in French, from the edition of 262 (there were 226 portfolios, some with additional sets on varying papers). Catalogue - Cramer #37 The exceptional etchings from Picasso’s Histoire Naturelle – Textes de Buffon are a masterful combination of sugar-lift aquatint and drypoint, showcasing a full range of gray tonalities. The etchings of animals, birds and insects are considered some of the most beautiful and most unusual examples of Picasso’s graphic work. Roger Lacourière, Picasso’s master printer, pulled the prints for each etching between 1939-1942. It was Lacourière who taught Picasso the sugar-lift aquatint technique which allowed him to mimic the effect of brushstrokes in these etched images. Picasso first explored the technique in his plates for the Vollard Suite, but it was in the creation of the Buffon images that he fully realized its stunning, painterly potential. For the edition, 226 portfolios were produced with the first thirty-six counting as deluxe compilations. These rare deluxe sets were on diverse papers (chine, japon or vergé ancien) and each included a complete additional suite showing Picasso’s title remarques along the bottom. As such, the remarqued versions of the prints are quite rare with just thirty-six of each produced for the edition (with the exception of The Wolf which is never remarqued – the image always fills the entire etching plate). These prints are based on the writings of French naturalist Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, who extensively documented the natural world in his monumental work Histoire Naturelle. Picasso’s association with the project to illustrate parts of the Buffon came during a tumultuous time in European history – the prelude to, and early years of, World War II. As the continent was ravaged, Picasso lived through the disaster in Paris, which the Germans occupied in 1940. These prints could be seen as a political statement – Picasso channeling his artistic expression into a form of resistance art...

As dawn breaks in the frozen north, a herd of reindeer roam across a winter landscape. This print is made on a copper plate using acid to etch the drawing into the plate. It is print...

This exquisite lithograph after Henri Matisse (1869–1954), titled Nuit de Noel (Christmas Night), from Verve, Revue Artistique et Litteraire, Vol. IX, No. 35–36, originates from the 1958 issue published by Editions de la revue Verve, Paris, under the direction of Teriade, Editeur, Paris, and printed by Mourlot Freres, Paris, 1958. Created during Matisse’s final period, Nuit de Noel embodies his profound synthesis of form, color, and spirituality. The composition, evoking the calm radiance of the nativity, expresses a sense of universal harmony through luminous shapes and vibrant contrasts. This piece exemplifies Matisse’s late cut-out technique, where visual rhythm and color convey the serenity and joy of life and faith. Executed as a lithograph on velin du Marais paper, this work measures 14 x 10.5 inches. Unsigned and unnumbered as issued. The edition exemplifies the superb craftsmanship of the Mourlot Freres atelier, faithfully capturing the coloristic richness and compositional rhythm of Matisse’s late paper cut-outs. Artwork Details: Artist: After Henri Matisse (1869–1954) Title: Nuit de Noel (Christmas Night), from Verve, Revue Artistique et Litteraire, Vol. IX, No. 35–36, 1958 Medium: Lithograph on velin du Marais paper Dimensions: 14 x 10.5 inches Inscription: Unsigned and unnumbered as issued Date: 1958 Publisher: Editions de la revue Verve, Paris, under the direction of Teriade, Editeur, Paris Printer: Mourlot Freres, Paris Catalogue raisonne reference: Duthuit, Claude. Henri Matisse: Catalogue raisonne des ouvrages illustres. Editions Claude Duthuit, Paris, 1988, illustration 139 Condition: Well preserved, consistent with age and medium Provenance: From Verve, Revue Artistique et Litteraire, Vol. IX, No. 35–36, published by Editions de la revue Verve, Paris, 1958 Notes: Excerpted from the publication, Verve, Revue Artistique et Litteraire, Vol. IX, No. 35–36, published under the direction of Teriade, Editeur, Paris, and printed by Mourlot Freres, Paris, 1958. This double issue of Verve was entirely devoted to the final works of Henri Matisse, composed of his celebrated gouache cut-outs, which the artist called “painting with scissors.” Completed shortly before his death, this issue represents the culmination of Matisse’s lifelong exploration of color, rhythm, and spiritual joy through the simplest means of expression. About the Publication: Verve, Revue Artistique et Litteraire was one of the most influential art periodicals of the 20th century, founded in Paris in 1937 by the visionary Greek-born publisher Teriade (Stratis Eleftheriades). Conceived as a synthesis of art and literature, Verve brought together the greatest modern artists and writers of its time—Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall, Georges Braque, Joan Miro, Fernand Leger, and others—alongside poets and philosophers such as Paul Eluard, Albert Camus, and Jean-Paul Sartre. Each issue was a work of art in itself, luxuriously printed by master lithographers such as Mourlot Freres and produced in collaboration with leading typographers and designers. Verve became a platform for avant-garde creativity, publishing original lithographs and essays that reflected the evolving spirit of modernism. Matisse collaborated closely with Teriade from the magazine’s inception, producing some of its most iconic issues, including those devoted to his paper cut-outs. The final Verve issue of 1958, which featured La Tristesse du Roi, the Nu Bleu series, and Nuit de Noel, stands as a testament to Matisse’s enduring genius and to the publication’s legacy as the definitive meeting of art, poetry, and printing craftsmanship in 20th-century France. About the Artist: Henri Matisse (1869–1954) was a French painter, sculptor, draughtsman, and printmaker whose revolutionary vision redefined modern art through his daring use of color, line, and form. Celebrated as one of the greatest artists of the 20th century, Matisse led the Fauvist movement and devoted his life to the pursuit of balance, beauty, and emotional expression in visual art. His early works burst with vibrant hues and liberated brushwork, while his later “cut-out” compositions achieved a poetic simplicity that transformed the relationship between color and space. Deeply influenced by the work of Paul Cezanne, Vincent van Gogh, and Georges Seurat, as well as by the rhythmic patterns of Islamic art, Byzantine mosaics, and Japanese prints, Matisse forged a new visual language that celebrated joy, movement, and serenity. He was part of an extraordinary generation of artists who shaped the evolution of modernism, maintaining lifelong dialogue and friendly rivalry with contemporaries such as Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, Marc Chagall, Andre Derain, Albert Marquet, and Raoul Dufy—peers who, like him, sought to expand the expressive potential of color and composition. Matisse’s influence extended across generations, inspiring modern and contemporary masters including Alexander Calder, Alberto Giacometti, Salvador Dali, Joan Miro, Wassily Kandinsky, Marcel Duchamp, and Man Ray, each of whom drew upon his fearless experimentation and refined visual harmony. His paintings, sculptures, and works on paper are held in the most prestigious museums in the world, including the Museum of Modern Art, the Centre Pompidou, the Tate, and the Hermitage Museum, where his art continues to symbolize the essence of creativity and human emotion. The highest price ever paid for a Henri Matisse artwork is approximately $80.8 million USD, achieved in 2018 at Christie’s New York for Odalisque couchee aux magnolias (1923). Henri Matisse Nuit de Noel...

Andy Warhol Original vintage Christmas Card, ca. 1957 Offset lithograph card Plate signed on the front (see close up image) Unnumbered Frame included Offset lithograph card, ca. 1957...