South Carolina - Figurative Prints

Kawase Hasui, 'Rain at Shinagawa, Ryoshimachi' from the series 'Selection of Views of the Tokaido', woodblock print, 1931. A very fine, atmospheric impression, with fresh colors; the...

Naoko Matsubara, 'Drop of Life' for the portfolio 'Solitude', color woodcut, 1971. A fine impression with fresh, vivid colors, on cream laid Japan paper, the full sheet with margins,...

James Lesesne Wells, 'Sisters', linocut, edition not stated but small, 1928. Signed, titled, and annotated 'imp' in pencil. A fine impression on off-white wove Japan paper, with wide margins (1 7/8 to 3 3/4 inches), in excellent condition. Printed by the artist. Very scarce. Matted to museum standards, unframed. Image size 8 3/16 x 6 3/4 inches (208 x 171 mm); sheet size 13 1/2 x 10 3/4 inches (343 x 273 mm). Exhibition and Literature: 'Narratives of African American Art and Identity: The David C. Driskell Collection,' The Art Gallery at the University of Maryland, extensive touring exhibition, 1998-2000. Collections: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Smithsonian Institution (Anacostia Community Museum). ABOUT THE ARTIST “Wells is more than an artist with a deep concern for his fellow man. He carries many of his themes a step further into an apocalyptic world, a world of revelation and shifting lights. … He works on large blocks in a bold free style. … His work has a vigor, therefore, that is not often used in the medium today.” —Jacob Kainen (painter, critic, and collector) from Richard J. Powell’s 1986 essay Phoenix Ascending: The Art of James Lesesne Wells. James Lesesne Wells was an American painter, printmaker, educator, and pioneering figure of the Harlem Renaissance, whose work established a vital connection between African heritage, modernist form, and African American cultural identity. Known for his innovative use of linoleum and woodblock printing, Wells played a key role in shaping 20th-century African American art and inspired countless students throughout his lengthy career as a teacher at Howard University. Born in Atlanta, Georgia, Wells' early exposure to the arts came through church and community, where African American cultural traditions were central. He pursued formal artistic training at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania (earning a B.A. in 1924), followed by studies at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and the Barnes Foundation, where he encountered European modernists as well as traditional African sculpture, which profoundly influenced his style. Wells moved to New York in the late 1920s, swiftly immersing himself in the lively artistic and intellectual scene of Harlem. There, he became associated with artists, writers, and thinkers of the Harlem Renaissance, contributing to the growth of Black cultural identity. Considered a mentor to many famed artists of the Harlem Renaissance, Wells served as director of a summer art workshop in Harlem where his assistants included Charles Alston, Jacob Lawrence, and Palmer Hayden...

Samella Sanders Lewis, 'The House of Shango', lithograph, 1992, edition 60. Signed, dated, titled, and numbered '31/60' in pencil. A superb, richly-inked impression, on Arches cream wove paper; the full sheet with margins (1 1/4 to 3 1/2 inches), in excellent condition. Image size 24 x 18 inches (610 x 457 mm); sheet size 30 inches x 22 1/4 inches (762 x 565 mm). Archivally matted to museum standards, unframed. ABOUT THIS WORK “The title of this piece is an unmistakable harkening to African roots. Shango is a religious practice with origins in Yoruba (Nigerian) belief, deifying a god of thunder by the same name. Shango has been adopted in the Caribbean, most notably in Trinidad and Tobago, a fact that underscores the importance of transnationalism to Samella Lewis’s piece. Her work often grapples with issues of race in the U.S., and The House of Shango is no exception. Through a reliance on the gradual transformation of Shango—one that took place across continents and time—Lewis’s piece forms a powerful link between black Americans and their African and Caribbean counterparts. The figure depicted in the piece appears to emerge, quite literally, from the house of Shango. Given the roots and transformative process of the religion, The House of Shango can draw attention to the historical intersections to which black American culture is indebted.” —Laura Woods, Scripps College, Ruth Chander Williamson Gallery, Collection Highlights, 2018 ABOUT THE ARTIST Samella Lewis’ lifelong career as an artist, art historian, critic, curator, collector, and advocate of African American art has helped empower generations of artists in the United States and worldwide, earning her the designation “the Godmother of African American art.” Born and raised in Jim Crow era New Orleans, Lewis began her art education at Dillard University in 1941, transferring to Hampton University in Virginia, where she earned her B. A. and master's degrees. She completed her master's and a doctorate in art history and cultural anthropology at Ohio State University in 1951, becoming the first female African American to earn a doctorate in fine art and art history. Lewis taught art at Morgan State University while completing her doctorate. She became the first Chair of the Fine Arts Department at Florida A&M University in 1953. That same year Lewis also became the first African American to convene the National Conference of African American artists held at Florida A&M University. She was a professor at the State University of New York, California State University, Long Beach, and at Scripps College in Claremont, California. Lewis co-founded, with Bernie Casey, the Contemporary Crafts Gallery in Los Angeles in 1970. In 1973, she served on the selection committee for the exhibition BLACKS: USA: 1973 held at the New York Cultural Center. Samella Lewis's 1969 catalog 'Black Artists on Art', featured accomplished black artists typically overlooked in mainstream art galleries. She said of the book, "I wanted to make a chronology of African American artists, and artists of African descent, to document our history. The historians weren't doing it. It was really about the movement." From the 1960s through the 1970s, her work, which included lithographs, linocuts, and serigraphs, reflected her concerns with the values of human dignity, democracy, and freedom of expression. Between 1969 and 70, Lewis and E.J. Montgomery were consultants for a groundbreaking exhibition at the Oakland Public L designed to create greater awareness of African American history and art. Lewis was the founder of the International Review of African American Art in 1975. In 1976, she founded the Museum of African-American Art with a group of artistic, academic, business, and community leaders in Los Angeles, California. Lewis, the museum’s senior curator, organized exhibitions and developed new ways of educating the public about African American art. She celebrated African American art as an 'art of experience’ inspired by the artists’ lives. And she espoused the concept of African American art as an 'art of tradition', urging museums to explore the African roots of African American art. In 1984, Lewis produced an extensive monograph on Elizabeth Catlett, her beloved mentor at Dillard University. Lewis has been collecting art since 1942, focusing primarily on the WPA era and work created during the Harlem Renaissance. Pieces from her collection were acquired by the Hampton University Museum in Virginia, the world’s earliest collection of African American fine art...

Bernard Picart, 'The Deluge' from 'The Temple of the Muses', engraving, 1730. Signed in the plate and dated '1730' lower left. Titled in French, English, German, and Dutch. A superb...

Karl Michel, 'Der Gartner' (The Gardener), woodcut, c. 1925. Signed, titled, and numbered '15/50' in pencil. Signed in the block, lower left and right. A fine, richly-inked impression on buff wove paper, with full margins (1 1/2 to 2 3/4 inches), in excellent condition. Matted to museum standards, unframed. Scarce. Image size 5 1/4 x 3 7/8 inches (133 x 98 mm); sheet size 10 x 7 3/4 inches (254 x 198 mm). ABOUT THE ARTIST Karl Michel (1889-1984) was a noted graphic designer and expressionist printmaker during Germany's pre-Nazi Weimar Republic (1919 - 1933). In 1920, his work was featured in the influential German graphic design magazine Das Plakat...

Boris Lovet-Lorski, Untitled (Portrait of an African Woman), lithograph, edition 250, 1929. Signed and numbered 13 in pencil. Number 13 of Volume 2, a series of 10 lithographs publis...

Charles Turzak, 'Dancers', 1939, wood engraving, edition 100. Signed, titled, and numbered 72/100 in pencil. A fine, richly-inked impression, on off-white Japan paper, with full marg...

Karl Michel, 'Mehr Sonne fur 1924. Viel Gluck Wunscht Karl Michel U. Frau', woodcut, 1924, edition 20. Signed, dated, and numbered 'op. 162' and '15/20' in pencil. Signed in the image, lower left. A fine, richly-inked impression on buff wove paper, with full margins (1 1/2 to 2 3/4 inches), in very good condition. Printed by the artist. Scarce. Matted to museum standards, unframed. New Year's Greeting – English translation: "More Sun for 1924. Good Luck Wishes from Karl Michel and his Wife." Image size 4 5/8 x 4 3/4 inches (118 x 121 mm); sheet size 7 3/4 x 10 inches (198 x 254 mm). ABOUT THE ARTIST Karl Michel (1889-1984) was a noted graphic designer and expressionist printmaker during Germany's pre-Nazi Weimar Republic (1919-1933). Michel’s work was the subject of a feature article in the influential German graphic design magazine Das Plakat...

Nicholas Panesis, 'Negro', 1934, color lithograph, edition 18. Signed, dated, titled, and numbered 8/28 in pencil. Initialed in the stone, lower right. A fine impression, with fresh colors, on buff wove paper, with margins (1 1/8 to 2 3/8 inches). Minor glue staining at the extreme sheet edges verso, where previously taped (not visible recto), otherwise in excellent condition. Very scarce. Matted to museum standards, unframed. Image size 10 5/8 x 8 1/2 inches; (270 x 216 mm); sheet size 14 13/16 x 10 15/16 inches (376 x 278 mm). Created for the California Works Progress Administration, Federal Art Project (WPA). Impressions of this work are held in the public collections of La Salle University Art Museum (Philadelphia), U.S. General Services Administration, and Weisman Art Museum (University of Minnesota). ABOUT THE ARTIST Born in Massachusetts, Nicholas Panesis (1913-1967) studied art at Syracuse University, NY, and went on to teach ceramics at Alfred University, NY. Panesis moved to San Francisco in the early 1930s shortly before settling in Los Angeles, where he worked for different animation studios...

Bernard Picart, 'The Death of Hercules' from 'The Temple of the Muses', engraving, 1730. Signed in the plate, lower left. Titled in French, English, German, and Dutch. A superb, rich...

'Lot Cleaning, Los Angeles', wood engraving, edition 60, Zeitlin & Ver Brugge 69. Signed, titled and numbered '51/60' in pencil. A brilliant, black impression, on Kitakata Japan pape...

Howard Cook, 'Financial District', lithograph, 1931, edition 75, Duffy 155. A fine, richly-inked impression, on cream wove paper, the full sheet with wide margins (2 3/4 to 5 5/8 inches), in excellent condition. Image size 13 5/16 x 10 3/8 inches (338 x 264 mm); sheet size 23 x 16 inches (584 x 406 mm). Matted to museum standards, unframed. Literature: 'American Master Prints from the Betty and Douglas Duffy Collection', the Trust for Museum Exhibitions, Washington, D.C., 1987. Collections: Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Library of Congress, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Smithsonian American Art Museum. ABOUT THE ARTIST Howard Norton Cook (1901-1980) was one of the best-known of the second generation of artists who moved to Taos. A native of Massachusetts, he studied at the Art Students League in New York City and at the Woodstock Art Colony. Beginning his association with Taos in 1926, he became a resident of the community in the 1930s. During his career, he received two Guggenheim Fellowships and was elected an Academician in the National Academy of Design. He earned a national reputation as a painter, muralist, and printmaker. Cook’s work in the print mediums received acclaim early in his career with one-person exhibitions at the Denver Art Museum (1927) and the Museum of New Mexico (1928). He received numerous honors and awards over the years, including selection in best-of-the-year exhibitions sponsored by the American Institute of Graphics Arts, the Brooklyn Museum, the Society of American Etchers, and the Philadelphia Print Club. His first Guggenheim Fellowship took him to Taxco, Mexico in 1932 and 1933; his second in the following year enabled him to travel through the American South and Southwest. Cook painted murals for the Public Works of Art Project in 1933 and the Treasury Departments Art Program in 1935. The latter project, completed in Pittsburgh, received a Gold Medal from the Architectural League of New York. One of his most acclaimed commissions was a mural in the San Antonio Post Office in 1937. He and Barbara Latham settled in Talpa, south of Taos, in 1938 and remained there for over three decades. Cook volunteered in World War II as an Artist War Correspondent for the US Navy, where he was deployed in the Pacific. In 1943 he was appointed Leader of a War Art Unit...

Thomas Hart Benton, 'Goin' Home', lithograph, 1937, edition 250, Fath 14. Signed in pencil. Signed in the stone, lower right. A fine, richly-inked impression, on off-white, wove pape...

Albert Potter, 'Modern Music' also Twilight Melodies', linocut, c. 1935, from the posthumous edition of 20, printed in 1977, authorized by the artist’s widow. Estate authenticated in...

Imao Keinen, 'Tree Peony and Blue and White Flycatcher' from the series 'Birds and Flowers of the Four Seasons', color woodblock Oban dipty...

Otto Kuhler, 'The Gateway to the New World', etching (artist's proof), edition 16, 1926, Kennedy 25. Signed in pencil and annotated 'Japan Silk Paper - Trial Proof - Ltd. Ed. Del. et...

Hiroshi Yoshida, 'Chion-in Temple Gate (Sunset)' from the series 'Eight Scenes of Cherry Blossoms (Sakura hachi dai: Sakura mon)', color woodblock print, 1935. Signed in brush 'Yoshida' and in pencil 'Hiroshi Yoshida'. A superb, early impression, with fresh colors; the full sheet with margins, on cream Japan paper; an area of slight toning in the top right sheet corner, not affecting the image, otherwise in excellent condition. Marked with a jizuri (self-printed) seal, upper left margin. Self-published by the artist. Image size 9 5/8 x 14 3/4 inches (444 x 375 mm); sheet size 10 7/8 x 16 inches (276 x 406 mm). Archivally sleeved, unmatted. Provenance: M. Nakazawa, Tokyo. Literature: Japanese Landscapes of the 20th Century (Hotei Publishing calendar), 2001, May. Collections: Honolulu Museum of Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. ABOUT THE IMAGE Located in Kyoto, Chionin is the main temple of the Jodo sect of Japanese Buddhism, one of the most popular Buddhist sects in Japan, having millions of followers. The Sanmon Gate, Chionin's entrance gate, standing 24 meters tall and 50 meters wide, it is the largest wooden temple gate in Japan and dates back to the early 1600s. Behind the gate, a broad set of stairs leads to the main temple grounds. ABOUT THE ARTIST Painter and printmaker Yoshida Hiroshi (1876-1950) is regarded as one of the greatest artists of the Japanese 'shin hanga' (New Print) movement. Yoshida was born as the second son of Ueda Tsukane in Kurume, Fukuoka Prefecture, a schoolteacher from an old samurai family. In 1891 he was adopted by his art teacher Yoshida Kasaburo in Fukuoka and took his surname. In 1893 he went to Kyoto to study painting, and the following year to Tokyo to join Koyama Shotaro's Fudosha private school; he also became a member of the Meiji Fine Arts Society. These institutions taught and advocated Western-style painting, greatly influencing Yoshida’s artistic development. In 1899 Yoshida had his first American exhibition at Detroit Museum of Art (now Detroit Institute of Art), making the first of many visits to the US and Europe. In 1902 he helped reorganize the Meiji Fine Arts Society, renaming it the Taiheiyo-Gakai (Pacific Painting...

Louis Conrad Rosenberg, 'Bowling Green, New York', etching, 1940. Signed in pencil. A superb, richly-inked impression, with all the fine lines printing c...

Leon Bibel, 'Abstract Boats', color serigraph, 1938, edition 12. Signed, dated, and numbered ' /12' in pencil. A fine, painterly impression, with fresh colors, on buff wove paper; t...

Federico Castellon, 'Body and Soul', 1938, lithograph, edition 30, Freundlich 3. Signed in pencil. Signed in the stone, lower left. A fine, richly-inked, atmospheric impression on cr...

James Allen, 'Pipe and Brawn,' 1937, lithograph, edition 40. Signed and annotated 'Ed/40' in pencil. A superb, richly inked impression on cream wove paper, the full sheet with margin...

Ian Hugo, 'Encircled', engraving, 1946, edition 50. Signed, dated, titled, and numbered '5/50' in pencil. With the blind stamp 'madeleine-claude jobrack EDIT...

Otto Kuhler, 'Grand Central Station', etching and drypoint, 1927, edition c. 50, Kennedy 27. Signed and titled in pencil. A superb, richly-inked impression, in brown/black ink, with ...

Leonard Baskin, 'Iris ( 5 )', etching, 1988, artist proof before the edition of 10, outside the book edition. Signed and annotated 'proof' in pencil. A fine impression, with expertly...

Reginald Marsh, 'Erie R.R. Locos Watering (Locomotives Watering)', etching, 1934, edition 100 (Whitney, 1969), Sasowsky 155. Unsigned as published; numbered '68/100' in pencil. A su...

Le Tir Forain, engraving, edition 108, 1920-21, Sylvain Laboureur 191. Signed and numbered '19/85 ép' in pencil. Initialed 'L' and dated 1920 in the matrix,...

Luigi Kasimir, 'Brooklyn Bridge', color etching with aquatint, 1927, edition 100. Signed in pencil. A superb impression, with fresh colors, on heavy, cream wove paper; with margins...

A German Expressionist woodcut, with original hand-coloring in watercolor, depicting a parent and child watching a theatrical production; ...

Edouard Benedictus, 'Poppy' from the portfolio 'Relais', plate 14, color pochoir, 1930. Signed in the matrix, in the center bottom margin. A superb, richly-inked impression, with fresh, vibrant colors, including metallic gold and silver inks, on heavy, cream wove paper; the full sheet with margins (1 3/8 inches), in excellent condition. Published by Éditions Vincent, Fréal et Cie, Paris. The pochoir production is by Jean Saudé, the French printmaker known for his mastery of the technique and the author of the first how-to book on the pochoir process. Matted to museum standards, unframed. Image size 14 3/8 x 11 inches (365 x 279 mm); sheet size 17 1/4 x 13 7/8 inches (438 x 352 mm). Impressions of this work are held in the following museum collections: Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum Library (Smithsonian), Metropolitan Museum of Art, Minneapolis Institute of Art, New York Public Library, Toledo Museum of Art, Victoria and Albert Museum (London), Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. ABOUT THIS WORK The Pochoir process is a refined stencil-based technique employed to create multiples or to add color to prints produced in other mediums. Characterized by its crisp lines and rich color, the print-making process was most popular from the late 19th century through the 1930s, with its center of activity in Paris. The pochoir process began with the analysis of an image’s composition, including color tones and densities. The numerous stencils (made of aluminum, copper, or zinc) necessary to create a complete image were then designed and hand-cut by the 'découpeur.' The 'coloristes' applied watercolor or gouache pigments through the stencils, skillfully employing a variety of different brushes and methods of paint application to achieve the desired depth of color and textural and tonal nuance. The pochoir process, by virtue of its handcrafted methodology, resulted in the finished work producing the effect of an original painting, and in fact, each print was unique. ABOUT THE ARTIST Edouard Benedictus (1878 -1930), artist, designer, composer, and chemist, was born and died in Paris. A highly-regarded designer and art critic of the Art Nouveau era, Benedictus gained renown as a colorist and creator of Art Deco-inspired geometric and floral motifs. His work had a significant influence on international fashions in clothing, home furnishings, graphic design, and decorative objects of the period, earning him commissions from leading European design firms. In 1925 he was invited to represent Art Deco textile design...

Morris Blackburn, 'Avalon South', wood engraving, 1951, edition 30. Signed, titled, and numbered '12/30' in pencil. A fine black impression on cream wove Japan paper, with wide margins (1 3/8 to 2 1/4 inches), in excellent condition. Archivally sleeved, unmatted. Image size 5 x 7 inches (127 x 178 mm); sheet size 8 5/8 x 10 7/8 inches (219 x 276 mm). ABOUT THE ARTIST Morris Blackburn was a prominent painter, printmaker, and graphic artist, as well as a respected teacher at the Philadelphia Museum School of Industrial Art and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. Born in Philadelphia, where he spent most of his career, Blackburn was a descendant of the notable colonial portrait artist Joseph J. Blackburn (c. 1700–1780). He developed an interest in art early on and studied architectural drawing at the Philadelphia Trade School. In 1922, he took classes at the Graphic Sketch Club and later attended the School of Industrial Art. While working for the well-known Philadelphia furniture designer Oscar Mertz, he studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts from 1925 to 1929. During his studies, he learned painting from Henry Bainbridge McCarter...

Howard Cook, 'Soaring New York', aquatint, soft-ground etching, roulette, 1931-32, edition 25, Duffy 165. Signed, dated, and annotated 'imp' in pencil. A superb, richly-inked, atmosp...

Giovanni Domenico Campiglia, 'Dei Praestitis Signumexaere' (God's Providence Signumexaere), engraving, 1734, edition unknown. Signed 'Dom. Campiglia del.' in the plate, lower left. E...

Yasuo Kuniyoshi, 'Dancing', lithograph, 1928, edition 30, Davis L-29. Signed, dated, and numbered '8/30' in pencil. A superb, richly-inked impression, printed on cream chine appliqué on heavy off-white wove backing; the full sheet with wide margins (1 3/8 to 4 7/8 inches), in excellent condition. Printed by Desjobert, Paris. Scarce. Matted to museum standards, unframed. Impressions of this work are in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, Whitney Museum of Modern Art, and Yasuo Kuniyoshi Museum (Japan). ABOUT THIS WORK The French economy boomed from 1921 until the Great Depression reached Paris in 1931. This period called 'Les années folles' or the 'Crazy Years', saw Paris reestablished as a capital of art, music, literature, and cinema. Paris in the 1920s and 1930s was the home and meeting place of some of the world's most prominent painters, sculptors, composers, dancers, poets, and writers. For those in the arts, it was, as Ernest Hemingway described it, "A moveable feast". Paris was home to an exceptional number of galleries, art dealers, and a network of wealthy patrons who offered commissions and held salons. Pablo Picasso, perhaps the most famous artist in Paris, shared renown with a remarkable group of others, including the Romanian sculptor Constantin Brâncuși, the Belgian René Magritte, the Italian Amedeo Modigliani, the Russian émigré Marc Chagall, the Catalan and Spanish artists Salvador Dalí, Joan Miró, Juan Gris, and the German surrealist...

Karl Michel, 'Venus, Ex Libris - Hanns U. Herta Heeren', woodcut, 1923, edition not stated but small. Signed, dated, and numbered 'op.154' in pencil. Signed in the block, lower left. A fine impression, on cream Japan paper, with full margins (15/16 to 2 11/16 inches), in good condition. Printed by the artist. Matted to museum standards (unframed). . Translation: Venus Ex Libris for Hanns and Herta Heeren. Image size 5 15/16 x 4 inches (156 x 102 mm); sheet size 9 5/8 x 6 inches (245 x 152 mm). ABOUT THE ARTIST Karl Michel (1889-1984) was a noted graphic designer and expressionist printmaker during Germany's pre-Nazi Weimar Republic (1919-1933). Michel’s work was the subject of a feature article in the influential German graphic design magazine Das Plakat (The Poster) in 1920. An anti-war advocate, Michel created a suite of 12 wood engravings depicting his impressions of the humanitarian toll of WWII entitled ‘Humanitas’ (Humanity). The German publishing house Greifenverlag published the series in a reduced folio of unsigned prints. Michel’s graphic work is held in the permanent collections of the Auckland War Memorial Museum (New Zealand), Frederikshavn Kunstmuseum & Exlibrissamling (Denmark), Museum of Applied Arts (Budapest), The Robert Gore Rifkind Center for German Expressionist Studies at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the German Expressionism...

Margo Humphrey, 'The Garden (Adam and Eve)', reductive color woodcut, 1989. Signed, dated, and annotated 'A/P' in pencil. Signed and dated in the image, lower right. A fine, richly-inked, artist's proof impression, with fresh, vivid colors, on BFK Rives, heavy, off-white wove paper; the full sheet with margins (1 to 1 3/8 inches), in excellent condition. Archivally sleeved, unmatted. Scarce. Image size 27 1/4 x 39 1/8 inches (692 x 994 mm); sheet size 29 1/2 x 42 inches (749 x 1,067 mm). ABOUT THIS WORK "Humphrey continued to reinterpret stories from the Bible with African American figures. In 1989 she published the woodcut print 'The Garden' at Magnolia Editions in Oakland, CA. For this rare foray into relief printmaking, she employed the reductive method, which uses only one block that is successively carved for each color segment, reducing the block with each cutting. Technically challenging, this lush and elaborate print is a testament to Humphrey’s skills as a printmaker. A youthful Adam and Eve are depicted in a luxuriant tropical landscape. Here, Humphrey chooses not to include the traditional symbols of humanity’s downfall but instead portrays them as being protected by angels in an atmosphere of idyllic bounty. ...Although Humphrey challenges traditional representation of Christian themes, her images are not iconoclastic but present a broader, more inclusive engagement with religious spirituality." — Adrienne L. Childs, 'Margo Humphrey, The David C. Driskell Series of African American Art: Volume VII,' Pomegranate Communications, Inc., 2009, page 71. ABOUT THE ARTIST American printmaker, illustrator, and art teacher Margo Humphrey was born in Oakland, California, in 1942. She earned a BFA in Painting and Printmaking from the California College of Arts and Crafts and a Master of Fine Arts degree in Printmaking from Stanford University. Humphrey began teaching in 1973 at the University of California Santa Cruz and has since taught at the University of Texas at San Antonio, the San Francisco Art Institute, and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She has also taught at the University of the South Pacific in Suva, Fiji; Yaba Technological Institute of Fine Art, Ekoi Island, Nigeria; the University of Benin in Benin City, Nigeria; the Margaret Trowell School of Fine Art in Kampala, Uganda, and the Fine Art School of the National Gallery of Art, Harare, Zimbabwe. In 1989, she was appointed Department Head of Printmaking at the University of Maryland in College Park. Humphrey has worked in lithography, monoprint, and woodcut with significant printmaking ateliers, including the Rutgers Center for Innovative Print and Paper, the Bob Blackburn Printmaking Workshop, and the Tamarind Institute in New Mexico. She was one of the earliest African-American woman artists to distinguish herself as a lithographer in a highly technical, male-dominated profession and was the first to have her prints published by Tamarind in 1974. Humphrey’s imagery combines historical perspective, autobiography, and fantasy to illuminate her experience as an African American woman. Bold, saturated color, animated figures, and syncopated rhythmic arrangements are hallmarks of Humphrey's oeuvre. Though Humphrey labels her distinctive style "sophisticated naive," the narrative complexity and technical skill of her works attest to her artistic virtuosity. Joyful, expressive, and at times humorous, her works offer engaging commentary on the presumptions of American culture and myth while embracing her personal vision of authenticity and spirituality. She developed her 1987 work The Last Bar-B-Que, a vividly colored transformation of the Last Supper, following a three-year period during which she examined portrayals of the iconic subject by artists from Pietro Lorenzetti to Emil Nolde. Her narrative work The Garden, a monumentally scaled reductive woodcut, is a further example of an archetypal subject—Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden—debunked and rendered with fresh, life-affirming vibrancy. Since her first solo exhibition in 1965, Humphrey’s works have been exhibited internationally. They are held in major institutions, including the Museum of Modern Art, The Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Hampton University Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum (London), the Museum of Modern Art, Rio de Janeiro, and the National Gallery of Modern Art, Lagos. In 1996, she was invited to be part of the World Printmaking Survey at the Museum of Modern Art, New York. In 2011, Hampton University Museum mounted a 45-year retrospective of Humphrey’s work Her Story: Margo Humphrey Lithographs and Works on Paper, jointly curated by Robert E. Steele, executive director of the David Driskell...

Utagawa Kunisada (Tokoyuni III), 'Tokaido', color woodblock, 1863. Signed in the cartouche, lower right. A fine impression, with rich, fresh colors and pronounced woodgrain, the full...

Milton Avery, 'Little Girl', drypoint, 1936, edition 60, Lunn 11. Signed, dated, and numbered '22/60' in pencil. A superb impression, in warm black ink with delicate overall plate tone, on off-white wove paper, with wide margins (2 5/8 to 4 1/8 inches); hinge stains on the top sheet edge, verso, otherwise in excellent condition. Matted to museum standards, unframed. Image size 8 3/4 x 4 3/4 inches (222 x 121 mm); sheet size 14 7/8 x 13 1/8 inches (378 x 333 mm). Collections: Cantor Arts Center, National Gallery of Art. ABOUT THE ARTIST "I never have any rules to follow; I follow myself." "I paint not by sight but by faith. Faith gives you sight." —Milton Avery 'His is the poetry of sheer loveliness.' —Mark Rothko in his 1965 eulogy to Avery. Milton Avery (1885-1965) is recognized as one of America's foremost modernist artists, renowned for his uniquely expressive style, evocative use of color, and captivating compositions. Growing up in a working-class family in Altmar, New York, Avery's early life was marked by the struggles and realities of rural New York. Despite lacking formal artistic training, he displayed an innate talent for drawing from an early age. In 1905, his family relocated to Hartford, Connecticut, where he worked various odd jobs while developing his artistic skills through self-study and experimentation. In 1915, he enrolled at the Connecticut League of Art Students, where he received formal instruction and began to refine his distinctive style. In 1918, Avery transferred to the School of the Art Society of Hartford and worked in the evenings so that he could paint during the day. He became a member of the Connecticut Academy of Fine Arts in 1924. That summer in Gloucester, Massachusetts, he met the artist Sally Michael...

Lou Barlow (Louis Breslow), 'Tenant Farmers', color wood engraving, 1936, edition 25. Signed, titled, and numbered '15/25' in pencil. A superb, richly-inked impression, with fresh c...

Zena Kavin, 'Judgment of Souls', lithograph, c. 1935, edition 20. Signed, titled, and numbered '17/20' in pencil. A fine, richly-inked impression, on cream wove paper, with full marg...

William Robinson Leigh, 'Foul Rope (Left)', etching, c. 1920, edition unknown but small. Signed in pencil and signed in the plate, lower left. A superb, richly-inked impression, in dark brown ink, on buff wove Umbria paper, the full sheet with margins (1 1/2 to 2 3/4 inches); slight toning at the sheet edges, otherwise in excellent condition. Very scarce. Archivally matted to museum standards, unframed. Image size 14 7/8 x 11 15/16 inches (378 x 303 mm); sheet size 20 3/8 x 15 3/8 inches (518 x 391 mm). ABOUT THE ARTIST Born near Falling Waters, West Virginia, on a plantation a year after the Civil War and raised in Baltimore, William Robinson Leigh (1866 - 1955) became one of the foremost painters of the American West. His career spanning some seventy-five years, Leigh created some of the most iconic depictions of the Western landscape, with admirers referring to him as ‘The Sagebrush Rembrandt.’ The son of impoverished Southern aristocrats, Leigh received his first art training at age 14 from Hugh Newell at the Maryland Institute, where he was regarded as the best student in his class. From 1883 to 1895, he studied in Europe, mainly at the Royal Academy in Munich with Ludwig Loefftz. From 1891 to 1896, he painted six cycloramas or murals in the round, a giant German panorama. In 1896, Leigh began working as a magazine illustrator for Scribner's and Collier's Weekly Magazine in New York City. He also painted portraits, landscapes, and genre scenes. Leigh's trips to the Southwest began in 1906 when he agreed to paint the Grand Canyon with William Simpson, Santa Fe Railway advertising manager, in exchange for free transportation West. In 1907, he completed his Grand Canyon painting, which led to more commissions and an extensive painting trip through Arizona and New Mexico. These travels inspired him to paint western subjects for the next 50 years, and his primary interests were the Hopi and Navajo Indians. In 1910, he traveled to Wyoming, where he painted in Yellowstone Park and created sketches, many of which he later converted into large canvases such as ‘Lower Falls of the Yellowstone’ (1915) and ‘Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone’ (1911). In 1926, he traveled to Africa at the invitation of Carl Akeley for the American Museum of Natural History, and from this experience, wrote and illustrated 'Frontiers of Enchantment: An Artist's Adventures in Africa'. In 1933, he wrote and illustrated 'The Western Pony'. His adventures were chronicled in several popular magazines, including Life, the Saturday Evening Post, and Colliers. For many years, Grand Central Art Galleries at the Biltmore Hotel handled his work exclusively in New York. In 1953, Leigh was elected an associate member of the National Academy of Design and became a full Academician in 1955. In March 1999, the Historical Center of Cody, Wyoming, held an exhibition of his field sketches and finished works depicting his experiences near Cody early in the century. Between 1910 and 1921, when he often painted in the Carter Mountain vicinity, these years were considered pivotal to his artistic development and devotion to the Western landscape. Leigh's work is held in many museum collections of American Western art...

Anton Schutz, 'L' Abside de Notre Dame' (The Apse of Notre Dame), etching, 1st state, c. 1927. Signed, titled, and annotated 'First State', in pencil. A supe...

Boris Lovet-Lorski, Untitled (Profile of an African Woman), lithograph, edition 250, 1929. Signed and numbered 15 in pencil. Number 15 of Volume 2, a series of 10 lithographs publish...

Leon Bibel, 'Unemployed Marchers', 2-color lithograph, c. 1938, edition 25. Signed, titled, and numbered '2/25' in pencil. A fine, richly-inked impression on off-white, wove paper, w...

Ernst Haeckel, 'Art Forms in Nature' (Plate 79 - Basiliscus), offset lithograph, 1899. Signed and titled in typeset, upper left. Titled 'Tafel 79 — Basi...

Zena Kavin, 'To Market, to Market', lithograph, c. 1935, edition 20. Signed, titled, and numbered '6/20' in pencil. A fine, richly-inked impression, on cream wove paper, with full ma...

Naoko Matsubara, 'Winter Serenity' for the portfolio 'Solitude', woodcut, 1971, edition 100. Signed and numbered '58/100' in pencil. A fine, richly-inked impression, on cream laid J...

Zena Kavin, 'Victim of Misfortune and Folly, lithograph, c. 1935, edition 20. Signed, titled, and numbered '17/20' in pencil. A fine, richly-inked impression, on cream wove paper, wi...

J. R. Hutchinson, 'Broadway from the Bowling Green, 1828', hand-colored etching, 1828. Signed and dated in the plate, beneath the image, lower right. Ann...

Anonymous, Japanese Kimono Fabric Design, color woodcut, c. 1930. A superb impression, with fresh colors, fine graduations, and metallic gold motifs, on ...

Lynd Ward, 'Madman's Drum, Plate 41', wood engraving, 1930, edition small. Signed in pencil. A fine, richly-inked impression, on off-white tissue-thin Japan paper; the full sheet with margins (1 5/8 to 2 1/2 inches); a small paper blemish in the upper right margin, away from the image, otherwise in excellent condition. A scarce, artist-printed, hand-signed proof impression before the published edition. Matted to museum standards, unframed. Image size 5 1/2 x 3 3/4 inches (140 x 95 mm); sheet size 9 5/8 x 7 1/8 inches (244 x 181 mm). From Lynd Ward’s book of illustrations without words, 'Madman’s Drum', Jonathan Cape and Harrison Smith, New York, 1930. Reproduced in 'Storyteller Without Words, the Wood Engravings of Lynd Ward', Harry N. Abrams, New York, 1974. ABOUT THE ARTIST Lynd Ward is acknowledged as one of America’s foremost wood engravers and book illustrators of the first half of the twentieth century. His innovative use of narrative printmaking as a stand-alone storytelling vehicle was uniquely successful in reaching a broad audience. The powerful psychological intensity of his work, celebrated for its dynamic design, technical precision, and compelling dramatic content, finds resonance in the literature of Poe, Melville, and Hawthorne. Like these classic American writers, Ward was concerned with the themes of man’s inner struggles and the role of the subconscious in determining his destiny. An artist of social conscience during the Great Depression and World War II, he infused his graphic images with his unique brand of social realism, deftly portraying the problems that challenged the ideals of American society. The son of a Methodist preacher, Lynd Ward, moved from Chicago to Massachusetts at an early age. He graduated from the Teachers College of Columbia University, New York, in 1926, where he studied illustration and graphic arts. He married May Yonge McNeer in 1936 and left for Europe for their honeymoon in Eastern Europe. After four months, they settled in Leipzig, where Ward studied at the National Academy of Graphic Arts and Bookmaking. Inspired by Belgian expressionist artist Frans Masereel's graphic novel ‘The Sun,’ and another graphic novel by the German artist Otto Nückel, ‘Destiny,’ he determined to create his own "wordless" novel. Upon his return to America, Ward completed his first book, ‘God's Man: A Novel in Woodcuts,’ published in 1929. ‘Gods’ Man’ was a great success for its author and publisher and was reprinted four times in 1930, including a British edition. This book and several which followed it, ‘Madman’s Drum,’ 1930, ‘Wild Pilgrimage...

Otto Kuhler, 'Cargo Carriers', etching and drypoint, c. 1932, edition 10, Kennedy 44. Signed in pencil. A superb, atmospheric impression with rich burr and selectively wiped overall plate tone, in dark brown ink, on Arches cream laid paper; wide margins (2 to 2 3/4 inches), in very good condition. Printed by the artist. Original Kennedy Galleries mat and label. Very scarce. "On my trips up and down N.Y. harbor on the Weehawken Ferry, the late evening sun playing on the side of the big liners has always intrigued me... The liner shown I believe to be the Vaterland of the North German Lloyd...

George Josimovich, 'Commuters', linocut, 1922-23, edition 20. Signed, dated '22, titled, and annotated '9/20' in pencil. Initialed in the block 'G.J....

Martin Lewis, 'Tree, Manhattan', drypoint, 1930, edition 91 (including 10 trial proofs), McCarron 87. Signed in pencil. A superb, atmospheric impression, in warm black ink, on cream...

Lou Barlow (Louis Breslow), 'On the Beach' (Coney Island) wood engraving, c. 1937, edition c. 25. Signed and titled in pencil. Stamped 'FEDERAL ART PROJECT NYC WPA' in the bottom left margin. A fine, richly-inked impression, with all the fine lines printing clearly, on cream wove paper, with full margins (1 1/2 to 3 inches), in excellent condition. Matted to museum standards, unframed. Scarce. Image size 11 x 8 1/8 inches; sheet size 16 x 11 3/8 inches. Created during the Great Depression for the Works Progress Administration (WPA), Federal Art Project, New York City. Impressions of this work are in the permanent collections of the Amon Carter Museum of Art, Illinois State Museum, and the New York Public Library. ABOUT THE IMAGE Due to Coney Island's proximity to Manhattan, Brooklyn, and other New York boroughs, it began attracting vacationers in the 1830s and 1840s. Most of the vacationers were wealthy and went by carriage roads and steamship services that reduced travel time from a formerly half-day journey to two hours. By the late 1870s, the development of Coney Island's amusement park attractions and hotels drew people from all social classes. When the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company electrified the steam railroads and connected Brooklyn to Manhattan via the Brooklyn Bridge at the beginning of the 20th century, Coney Island turned rapidly from a resort to an accessible location for day-trippers seeking to escape the summer heat in New York City's tenements. In 1915, the Sea Beach Line was upgraded to a subway line, and the opening of the Stillwell Avenue station in 1919 ushered in Coney Island's busiest era. On the peak summer days, over a million people would travel to Coney Island. In 1937, New York City purchased a 400-foot-wide strip of land along the shoreline to allow the boardwalk to be moved 300 feet inland. At this point, Coney Island was so crowded on summer weekends that parks commissioner Robert Moses...

James Allen, 'The Connectors', 1934, etching, edition not stated, Ryan 66. Signed in pencil. A superb, richly-inked impression, on handmade, cream laid paper, with margins (1/2 to 1...

Lynd Ward, 'Wild Pilgrimage', No. 26, wood engraving, 1932, edition not stated but very small. Signed in pencil. A fine, black impression, with full margins (1 1/16 to 3 3/16 inches), on tissue-thin cream Japan paper, in very good condition. A scarce, artist-printed, hand-signed proof impression before the published edition. Matted to museum standards, unframed. Created by Lynd Ward for his narrative book of illustrations without words, 'Wild Pilgrimage', published by Harrison Smith...

William Monk, 'The Elevated, East 42nd Street, New York', etching, 1910. Signed in pencil and titled in the bottom right sheet corner. Signed in the plate, lower right. A superb, ric...

Martel Schwichtenberg (1896-1945), 'Varietésoubrette, Schwalbennest (Variety Soubrette, Swallow’s Nest), drypoint, 1922. Signed in pencil. A fine, richly-inked impression; the full sheet of cream wove paper, with wide margins (3 3/4 to 5 1/4 inches), in excellent condition. Image size 7 3/16 x 4 5/16 inches; sheet size 16 3/8 x 12 1/8 inches. Archivally matted to museum standards, unframed. Published in Die Schaffenden...

Anton Schutz, 'Venice, Maria della Salute', etching, c. 1930. Signed and titled in pencil. A superb, richly-inked impression, with skillfully wiped plate tone, on cream wove paper, ...