Frank Benson

RUNNING THE RAPIDS

1927

Sloan, John. MAN MONKEY. M.130. Etching, 1905. Edition of 100, Signed by Sloan. Dated in the lower margin "June 13 - 1905," and further inscribed "J. S. imp. dated by Sloan - final s...

Benson, Frank. THE BRIDGE. Paff 227. Drypoint on copper, 1923. A trial proof of the second state, printed on uncalendared Japanese Vellum, annotated "B-1," the first of two trial pro...

Hutty, Alfred. PHOEBE PASSES MY GATE. Drypoint, c. 1931. Edition size c.75. 8 1/8 x 7 1/4 inches (plate), 10 1/4 x 8 3/4 inches (sheet). Printed on laid paper. In excellent condit...

Soyer, Raphael. SIXTEEN ETCHINGS. Published by Associated American Artists, NY, 1965. From the Deluxe suite of 25 on Japan paper, this copy number 24/25. (There were a further 60 p...

Meryon, Charles. LE STRYGE. D.23, S.27. Etching, 1853. 6 3/4 x 5 1/4 inches; 171 x 130 mm., with wide margins. Schneiderman's Seventh, Delteil's Sixth state (of 10), or possibly an i...

Marsh, Reginald. BOWERY. S.54. Etching, 1928. A proof, one of only four, from the 5th State of 7. This proof is numbered "9" (there was one proof in each of the first three states,...

Reginald Marsh (1898-1934), Tattoo-Shave-Haircut, etching, 1932. Signed, titled (“Tattoo-Haircut-Shave”), dedicated (“for Arnold Newman”), and annotated (“Fourth State. First of Two Prints”). Reference: Sasowsky 140. On cream wove paper. In very good condition, with small margins (as trimmed, slightly irregularly, by the artist) (slight foxing in margins), remains of prior hinging verso; 9 7/8 x 9 3/4, the sheet 10 15/16 x 10 5/8 inches; archival matting. A very fine rich black impression; we have not seen impressions of comparable quality on the market. Provenance: Estate of Arnold Newman. Arnold Newman (1918-2006) was one of the great 20th Century masters of photography, and a friend of many leading artists; it is appears that Marsh took special care in printing this impression for Newman. Sasowsky calls for 10 states of Tattoo-Shave, based largely on Marsh’s notes. But the states are not clearly delineated (e.g., his States 3 and 4, one proof each, are characterized by Marsh as “Engraving added”; no information is given for State 5). The design for the print was complete in the first state, and subsequent state changes were not, apparently, major. This impression does not appear to differ in etching lines from the final state impression shown in Sasowsky. Its inscription (as a Fourth State, by Marsh), as well as its rich inking and quality, attest to its being a proof before the edition (of about 34 impressions), but the state of this print (and, presumably of many of the other several proof impressions) cannot at this time be stated with confidence. Marsh printed this impression personally (we recall his famous answer to a question about the size of his editions: “Since I do practically all my own printing, I do not limit the edition. The buyer limits the edition – he rarely buys, I rarely print”). Tattoo-Shave-Haircut depicts a scene in the Bowery, a section of New York’s Lower East Side, during the Great Depression. The building and train structures in the top half of the print recall Piranesi’s Carceri...

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...

James Allen, 'Spiderboy', 1937, etching, edition 40, Ryan 86. Signed in pencil. A superb, richly-inked impression, on cream laid paper, with full margins (1 1/4 to 2 7/8 inches). A s...

Isabel Bishop (1902-1988), Putting on the Coat, etching, 1943, signed in pencil lower right and titled (Putting on Coat (front)) lower left margins. Reference: Teller 31. In excellen...

'Scratchin' High', etching, edition not stated, c. 1919. Signed in pencil. A fine, rich impression, in warm black ink, on cream wove paper, with margins (11/16 to 2 1/8 inches). Two small spots of toning in the bottom right margin, away from the image; barely visible printing creases in the top left margin and the middle right background, otherwise in very good condition. Matted to museum standards, unframed. ABOUT THIS WORK The cowboy's work of breaking wild horses into riding horses evolved into the competitive sport of professional rodeo in the 1880s. In 1919 at the Calgary Stampede in Alberta, Canada, Borein sketched a rider on the famous bucking horse named 'I-See-U'. He later made this etching of the dramatic scene, entitling it 'Scratchin' High'. ''Scratching'' refers to the rider's technique of maintaining balance on a bucking horse by a continuous movement of the feet in a kicking motion. Impressions of this work are in the permanent collections of the Buffalo Bill Center of the West (online), and the Whitney Western Art Museum. ABOUT THE ARTIST No other artist captured the "disappearing West" with the authenticity and spirit of John Edward Borein (1872-1945). A native of the San Francisco Bay Area, Borein rode south in 1893 at the age of twenty-one, and over the next few years, worked his way through California and the vast stretch of Mexico. While on the range, the young cowboy sketched...

Jerome Myers (1867-1940), At the Show, etching and drypoint, c. 1920, signed in pencil lower right. In good condition, with margins (paper losses upper corners), faint ink marks and ...