George Cruikshank

A Scene in the New Farce —as performed at the Royalty Theater

1831

A rare early 19th century view of the Great Fire of London over Ludgate, enhanced with hand coloring. London: Robert Wilkinson, 1811. Copperplat...

London: Thomas McLean, 1835. Third Edition. Etching with hand coloring in watercolor on cream wove paper, 9 1/2 x 13 3/4 inches (240 x 348 mm), full margins. With light, fresh color....

EUGENE ABESHAUS Leningrad, Russia, (1939-2008) Hand-Colored, with watercolor painting, Etching hand signed in pencil in English and Hebrew Numbered 47/110 Framed 21.5 x 16. image 13.5 x 9 Eugene Abeshaus (also spelled Evgeny Abezgauz, Евгений Абезгауз in Russian; 1939–2008) was a Jewish artist who worked in Russia (then USSR) and Israel. Born in Leningrad to a typical intelligentsia family, Abeshaus was educated as an electrical engineer but soon abandoned this career and enrolled in the Mukhina School for Applied Art. By the time of his graduation from the famous “Mukha” (Fly in Russian), he had already developed a critical stance towards the official Soviet art dominated by the Communist ideology and began exhibiting at semi-underground exhibitions. This was culminated by his taking part in a famous 1975 exhibition at the Nevsky Palace of Culture. Abeshaus was fired from his job and censured by the official press – which however admitted his "artistic taste, a good sense of color and form". Soon afterwards, Abeshaus set up, together with several Jewish artists, the Alef Group and became its leader. The group’s first exhibition in November 1975 was held at Abeshauses’ small apartment. According to the Alef Manifesto written by Alek Rapoport, “We are trying to conquer the influence of small-town Jewish art and find sources for our work in deeper, wiser, and more spiritual European culture, and from it build a bridge to today and tomorrow". He was part of a generation of Russian, mostly Jewish artist's that included Oskar Rabin, Evgeny Rukhin...

The two plates in this set were created utilizing both engraving and etching techniques by William Hogarth in 1753, originally as illustrations of his book on aesthetics, entitled "Analysis of Beauty". Due to their popularity, these plates were later published separately. The publication line in the lower right reads: "Designed, Engraved, and Publish'd by Wm. Hogarth, March 5th 1753, according to Act of Parliament." Hogarth's original copper plates were refurbished where needed by James Heath and engravings were republished in London in 1822 by Braddock, Cradock & Joy. This was the last time Hogarth's copper plates were used for printing. Most were melted during World War I for the construction of bombs. These large folio sized "Analysis of Beauty" engravings are presented in antiqued gold-colored frames with double mats; the outer silk mats are light brown-colored and the inner mats are dark brown. Each frame measures 27.38" x 31.25" x 1.13". There is one tiny spot in the right margin of plate 1 and another in the lower margin; the latter could be from the printing process. The prints are otherwise in excellent condition. The "Analysis of Beauty" series is in the collection of many major museums, including: The British Museum, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Tate Museum, The Chicago Art Institute and The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. The first engraving (Plate 1) depicts a courtyard of statues which is filled with some of the most famous works of classical sculpture. The most important sculptures are surrounded by less impressive works. The Medicean Venus (#13) is in the center with a statue of Julius Caesar (#19) to the right, elevated on a pulley with a short, overdressed Brutus stands over the falling Caesar. The Apollo Belvedere (#12) is next. A judge stands to the right with his foot on a cherub (#16). Another crying cherub holds a gallows and wipes his tears with the judge's robe. A sphinx (#21) and the drunken Silenus (#107) are below the Venus. Michaelangelo's torso (#54) and a statue of Antonius (#6) are seen in the foreground. The Farnese Hercules (#3) and a bust of another Hercules (#4) under two statuettes of Isis are also included in the scene. The key to these objects is included in the form of a serpentine line winding around a cone (#26), Hogarth's "Line of Beauty". For Hogarth the winding line is an essential element of beauty in art. Hogarth's theory of beauty is communicated in this plate. Plate 2 is thought to represent the Wanstead Assembly, with the Earl of Tynley and his household. It is an adaptation of a scene in the Happy Marriage series, which complements Hogarth's Marriage à la Mode...