Bernard Brussel-Smith

City Scene II — Mid-Century Modernism, Precisionism

1949

Wuanita Smith, 'Humming Birds and Orchids', white-line color woodcut, circa 1930, edition 50. Signed and titled in pencil. Annotated '50 edition', 'no 5'...

Jacques La Grange, 'The Yankee', color woodcut, edition 500, 1934. Signed and numbered '25/500' in pencil. A fine impression, with fresh colors, on cream wove paper, with margins (1 1/8 to 1 1/4 inches), in excellent condition. A work from La Grange’s celebrated series of woodcuts 'Drama and Color in the America's Cup Races'. Image size 10 x 10 11/16 inches (254 x 271 mm); sheet size 12 1/4 x 13 1/4 inches (311 x 337 mm). Archivally matted to museum standards, unframed. When the artist created this print in 1934, the 'Yankee' was one of the most promising yachts eligible for the America's Cup but ultimately 'Rainbow' was chosen to defend against England's 'Endeavor' in that year's race. The 'Endeavor' was built for Thomas Sopwith who used his aviation design expertise to ensure the yacht was the most advanced of its day with a steel hull and mast. She was launched in 1934 and won many races in her first season but the Cup challenge was blighted by a strike of Sopwith's professional crew prior to departing for America. Forced to rely mainly on keen amateurs, who lacked the necessary experience, the campaign failed. 'Rainbow' won the series 4–2. This was one of the most contentious of the America's Cup battles and prompted the headline "Britannia rules the waves and America waives the rules." ABOUT THE ARTIST Jacques La Grange was born in Clanwilliam (near Cape Town) in South Africa in 1895. He studied at London University and later immigrated to the United States. La Grange established himself as a painter, illustrator, and printmaker specializing in nautical subjects. He and his wife, Helen La Grange, published 'Drama and Color in the America's Cup Races' in 1934 and 'Clipper Ships of America and Great Britain 1833-1869', in 1936. Both were deluxe hardcover limited edition volumes with signed original color woodblock prints. La Grange had solo exhibitions at the Buchanan Gallery in 1929; the Babcock Gallery and the 56th Street Gallery, New York, in 1930; and at the Nicholas Roerich...

Bernard Brussel-Smith, 'City Scene I', wood engraving, 1949, edition 100. Signed, titled, and numbered '93/100' in pencil. A superb, richly-inked impression, on white wove paper, wi...

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...

Self Portrait-L.B. AET 56 Color woodcut printed in black and green, 1978 Signed in pencil lower right (see photo) Edition: 150 (97/150) Condition: Excellent Image: 32 x 22” Sheet: 35...

Shift Change Mike Goscinsky, American (1933–2021) Woodblock on thin wove paper, signed, titled and numbered in pencil Edition of 15/75 Image Size: 14 x 19 inches Size: 22 x 26.5 in. ...

Barnet, Will. SLEEPING MAN (REST). Szoke 42, Cole 41, Johnson 40. Woodcut, 1937. Edition of 10. Titled "Sleeping Man" at left, and signed at right, both in pencil. This print is usua...

Barnet, Will. AT THE SEASHORE. Szoke 69, Cole 68, Johnson 54. Woodcut printed in black, brown and white, 1939. There was no edition, only a few proofs printed by the artist on Japane...