Anton Schutz

'Venice, Maria della Salute' — Serenissima Impressionism

c. 1930

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...

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...

Anton Schutz, 'Notre Dame, Paris', etching, 2nd state, 1927. Signed, titled, and annotated '2nd State', in pencil. Signed and dated in the plate, lower left. A superb, richly-inked...

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...

Dame Laura Knight (1877-1970) "The Circus Dressing Room" 1925 Aquatint Engraving Signed in Pencil Lower Right Image Size: approx 14 x 9 inches Framed Size: approx. 23.5 x 18.5 inche...

Dame Laura Knight "The Circus Dressing Room" 1925 Etching Ed. 20 Signed Lower Right Image Size: approx. 14 x 10 inches Framed Size: approx. 23.5 x 17.75 inches An English impressio...

Gerald Leslie Brockhurst (1891-1978), The Dancer (Anais), 1925, etching, signed lower right and dedicated by the artist (to F.L. Berry, Esq.) lower left [also signed and dated in reverse in the plate lower left]. Reference: Fletcher 52, seventh state (of 7). From the edition of 107. In good condition, with slightest toning, with full margins and as issued and (not archivally) matted, 9 1/4 x 5 1/2, the sheet 15 3/8 x 9 3/8 inches. Provenance: F. L. Berry (not in Lugt, see note below) Roddy Willis has graciously provided an extensive background note on this provenance, which I quote from with permission: “Francis Berry...

Gerald Brockhurst, L’Eventail (The Fan), etching, 1926, signed in pencil, from the edition of 76. Reference: Fletcher 22, Wright 22. In good condition, on cream laid paper with margins (a thin spot inherent in paper lower margin near edge), the matrix pristine, archival matting. A fine impression of this small but impressive demonstration of Brockhurst’s mastery of etching. The woman carrying the fan is of course Brockhurst’s favorite model, at least at this time, his wife Anais. She wears an embroidered coat which allows Brockhurst to display his capacity to capture complex textures with the etching needle – much as his predecessor Wenzel Hollar used women’s furs...