James Abbott McNeill Whistler

Penny Passengers, Limehouse

1860

James Whistler (1834-1903), The Mill, 1889, etching and drypoint, signed in pencil with the butterfly on the tab and inscribed “imp”, and inscribed “first state” (twice) and annotated “Wunderlich” and signed again with the butterfly verso. Reference: Kennedy 413, first state (of 5). Glasgow 457, second state (of 6; see discussion below) (cf. Margaret F. MacDonald, Grischka Petri, Meg Hausberg, and Joanna Meacock, James McNeill Whistler: The Etchings, a catalogue raisonné, University of Glasgow, 2011) On laid paper, in very good condition, trimmed just outside of the platemark all around except for the tab by the artist, 6 1/4 x 9 3/8 inches. A very fine impression of this great rarity, printed in black/brown ink with a slight veil of plate tone. provenance: H. Wunderlich & Co., New York Louis B. Dailey, New York (Lugt 4500) sale, Sotheby’s, New York, October 31, 2003, lot 69 literature; Neue Lagerliste 122: James McNeill Whistler – Etchings...

James Whistler (1834-1903), Venus, 1859. Etching and drypoint, printed in black ink on laid paper, an impression in the second (final) state: there was no published edition. 6 x 9 inches (15 x 22.6 cm) sheet 73/8 x 117/8 inches (18.8 x 30.3 cm) Reference: Kennedy 59; Glasgow 60 A very fine impression. A study of Héloïse, ‘Fumette’, asleep in bed, her head pressed into the pillow and the bedclothes covering her lower legs. This is one of three portraits Whistler made of Fumette in 1859: one of the others shows her standing and in the third only her head and shoulders are depicted. Venus is a work in the Realist tradition, and may be compared with Courbet’s nudes of the same period. The artist may also have had in mind Rembrandt’s study of Antiope in his etching Jupiter and Antiope. Venus was never published and there is no record of it being shown until 1898 when it was included in an Exhibition of Etchings, Drypoints and Lithographs by Whistler at H. Wunderlich & Co., New York. To have been overlooked for exhibition until so late in Whistler’s life might suggest that the subject was considered improper. Frederick Wedmore, whose catalogue of Whistler’s etchings...

James Whistler (1834-1903), J.H. Woods’ Fruit Shop, Chelsea, etching and drypoint, 1887-88. Signed with the butterfly on the tab and annotated “imp,” also signed with the butterfly in pencil verso and numbered “1”. References: Kennedy 265 second state (of 2), Glasgow 327 second state (of 4). Trimmed by the artist around the plate mark except for the tab, in excellent condition. Printed in black ink on ivory laid paper, 3 3/4 x 5 1/8 inches. A fine impression of this great rarity; the print was never published. Glasgow accounts for four impressions. watermark: partial arms of Amsterdam(cf. Spink/Stratis/Tedeschi, watermark nos. 12ff.) This is before the third state in which heavy shading was added around the woman at the center, and the heads of figures at right and left of the figure are defined. In Glasgow’s fourth state the shading and the figure were removed; no impression is known of this state, but the state is inferred from the cancelled plate. According to Glasgow “Joseph Henry Wood had a greengrocer’s shop at 1 Park Walk...

Seymour Haden (1818-1910), Shere Mill Pond II (Large Plate), etching and drypoint, 1860, signed in pencil lower right [also signed in the plate lower right]. Schneiderman 37, sixth state (of 9). In generally good condition (see note below) with margins, on a cream/ivory laid paper, 7 x 13 1/2, the sheet 8 1/8 x 13 3/4 inches. A very good impression, with rich burr especially in the reeds toward the right. Provenance: Frederick Keppel and Co., New York, NY. Illustrated: Guichard, British...

Camille Pissarro (1830-1903), Grand-mere (effet de lumiere), etching and drypoint, 1889, signed in pencil lower right, titled lower left, inscribed “No 3 – ...

Arthur B. Davies (1862-1928), Resurrection (aka Flying Figures; Border of the Lake), drypoint and aquatint on zinc, 1916, signed with the estate stamp lower right. Reference: Price 2...

Artist: Sidney Tushingham (English, 1884-1968) Title: "Molly" *Signed by Tushingham in pencil lower right. It is also monogram signed in the plate (printed signature) upper right Cir...

Artist: Sidney Tushingham (English, 1884-1968) Title: "Peggy" *Signed by Tushingham in pencil lower right. It is also monogram signed in the plate (printed signature) lower right Cir...

Artist: Félix Bracquemond (French, 1833-1914) Title: "Canards Surpris (Surprised Ducks)" *Signed by Bracquemond in pencil lower right. It is also initial signed in ink lower left Year: 1882 Medium: Original Drypoint Etching on cream Japanese paper Limited edition: 100 Printer: Imprimerie Lemercier, Paris, France Publisher: likely the artist Bracquemond himself, Paris, France Reference: "Les graveurs du XIXe siècle: Guide de l'amateur d'estampes modernes", Vol. XII, Paris, 1885–1892 - Henri Béraldi: cat. No. 778; "Inventaire du Fonds Francais Apres 1800" - Jean Adhémar, Jacques Lethève: cat. No. 394, page 383; Laran No. 394 Framing: Recently framed in a gold Baroque moulding and rag matting from Holland Framed size: 23.75" x 19.75" Sheet size: 15.25" x 11.5" Image size: 14" x 10.5" Condition: In excellent condition Notes: "B" inscribed by Bracquemond in ink lower left. There is an example of this work in the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY. Biography: Félix Bracquemond was born in Paris. He was trained in early youth as a trade lithographer, until Guichard, a pupil of Ingres, took him to his studio. His portrait of his grandmother, painted by him at the age of nineteen, attracted Théophile Gautier's attention at the Salon. He applied himself to engraving and etching about 1853, and played a leading and brilliant part in the revival of the etcher's art in France. Altogether he produced over eight hundred plates, comprising portraits, landscapes, scenes of contemporary life, and bird-studies, besides numerous interpretations of other artist's paintings, especially those of Jean-Louis-Ernest Meissonier, Gustave Moreau and Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot. After having been attached to the Sèvres porcelain factory in 1870, he accepted a post as art manager of the Paris atelier of the firm of Haviland of Limoges. He was connected by a link of firm friendship with Édouard Manet, James McNeill Whistler, and all the other fighters in the impressionist cause, and received all the honors that await the successful artist in France, including the grade of Officer of the Legion of Honor in 1889. Bracquemond was a prominent figure in artistic and literary circles in the second half of the 19th century. He was close to writers such as Edmond de Goncourt and critic Gustave Geffroy, and numbered among his friends Millet and Corot, Henri Fantin-Latour, Degas and the Impressionist circle, and Auguste Rodin. He was one of the more prolific printmakers of his time and he was awarded the grande medaille d'honneur at the Universal Exhibition of 1900. He was also a painter, ceramist, and an innovator in decorative arts. Gabriel Weisberg called him the "molder of artistic taste in his time". Indeed, it was he who recognised the beauty of the Hokusai woodcuts used as packing around a shipment of Japanese china, a discovery which helped change the look of late 19th-century art. He married French Impressionist artist Marie Bracquemond...

This original etching and drypoint is hand signed in pencil by the artist "L. Ury" at the lower left margin. It was published in an edition of 110 hand signed impressions by Propyläe...

Kennedy catalog 36 state ii; Glasgow 45 state ii. Image: 4 7/8 x 7 3/4 (sheet 6 7/8 x 9 5/8).The Glasgow catalog records 32 known impressions. A scarce early etching -- there was no ...

Dans les Cendres (In the embers). 1887. Delteil catalog 67 state iii. State after the plate was cut down and a second figure eliminated (the two earlier states are of the greatest rarity). Etching, drypoint and roulette. 16 3/4 x 12 1/8 (sheet 19 1/2 x 14). Edition 50. Illustrated: Print Collector's Quarterly 9 (1921): 254. A very rich impression with plate tone and drypoint burr, printed on simili-japon. Provenance: Frederick Keppel & Co. This is one of the artist's most striking images. Signed in pencil. Housed in 25 x 20-inch archival mat, suitable for framing. Paul Albert Besnard, was an impressionist painter. In 1866, the seventeen-year-old son of artist parents began his studies at the École des Beaux-Arts Paris. In 1874, Besnard won the important Prix de Rome, with which the academy distinguished young talent. A portion of the scholarship is a stay of several years in Rome. Besnard married Charlotte Dubray, a sculptress, during this time in Rome. The couple lived in England, where Besnard exhibited at the Royal Academy London, between 1881 and 1884. He became involved with English portrait painting during this period, which had a lasting influence on his work. In the years that followed, Besnard broke with the academic tradition. In 1886, he presented the portrait of Madame Roger Jourdain...