John Taylor Arms

Portait of a Romanesque Capital

1946

Guardians of the Spire; Amiens Cathedral Number 2 New York: 1937. Etching and drypoint on watermarked F.J. Head cream-colored, antique laid paper, 6 3/4 ...

Etching on cream wove paper, 3 3/16 x 1 9/16 inches (81 x 41 mm), full margins. Signed, dated, and inscribed "II" in pencil, lower margin, and with an inscription and dedication in t...

Etching on cream wove Japon paper, 7 3/8 x 7 3/4 inches (188 x 197 mm), full margins. Signed and dated in pencil, lower margin. In excellent condition with some minor surface soiling...

Palazzo dell'Angelo 1931 Etching and drypoint on cream-colored, handmade laid paper with deckle edges, 7 1/4 x 6 3/4 inches (185 x 171 mm), edition of 100, full margins. Signed, dated and numbered "Ed. 100" in pencil, lower margin, second state (of three). Printed by Henry Carling, New York. Extremely minor mat tone and some inky residue in the top right corner, all unobtrusive and well outside of image area. An exquisite impression of this intricate image, with astonishing detail, and all the fine lines printing clearly. The image represents the first print which Arms printed on his own handmade paper. Framed handsomely with archival materials and museum grade glass in a wood gilt frame with a flower and garland motif. Illustrated: Dorothy Noyes Arms, Hill Towns and Cities of Northern Italy, p. 180; Anderson, American Etchers Abroad 1880-1930; Eric Denker, Reflections & Undercurrents: Ernest Roth and Printmaking in Venice, 1900-1940, p. 116. [Fletcher 233] Born in 1887 in Washington DC, John Taylor Arms studied at Princeton University, and ultimately earned a degree in architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1912. With the outbreak of W.W.I, Arms served as an officer in the United States Navy, and it was during this time that he turned his focus to printmaking, having published his first etching in 1919. His first subjects were the Brooklyn Bridge, near the Navy Yard, and it was during his wartime travel that Arms created a series of extraordinarily detailed etchings based on Gothic cathedrals and churches he visited in France and Italy. He used what was available to him, namely sewing needles and a magnifying glass, to create the incredibly rich and fine detail that his etchings are known for. Upon his return to New York after the war, Arms enjoyed a successful career as a graphic artist, created a series of etchings of American cities, and published Handbook of Print Making and Print Makers (Macmillan, 1934). He served as President of the Society of American Graphic Artists, and in 1933, was made a full member of the National Academy of Design. In its most modern incarnation, Palazzo dell'Angelo was constructed in or around 1570. The building, which has a rich and storied history, was erected upon the ruins of an earlier structure which predates the Gothic period. Some remnants of the earliest features of the residence were most certainly still visible when Arms visited, as they are today. Having a background in architecture, there's no question that Arms was moved by the beauty, history and ingenuity represented in the physical structure. One thing specifically gives away Arms's passion for the architecture, and that is the fact that he focused on the building's Moorish entranceway, balustrade, and two mullioned windows, and not on the curious Gothic era bas-relief of an angel nestled into the facade of the building, after which the structure is named. The sculpture itself doesn't appear in Arms's composition at all, despite the fact that it is the feature of the building that is most famous in its folklore. Arms instead focuses on the oldest portion of the architecture, even documenting some of the remnants of a fresco, and a funerary stele for the freedman Tito Mestrio Logismo, and his wife Mestria Sperata (visible above the water level, to the left of the door, behind the gondola), which was first described in 1436. Among the many notable bits of history regarding the Palazzo, it has been documented that Tintoretto painted frescos of battle scenes on the facade of the building. The paintings have been lost to time and the elements, but not entirely to history. The empty frame...

The Gothic Spirit (also called A Gargoyle, A Gothic Spirit). 1922. Etching and stipple. Fletcher 120. 11 5/8 x 7 (sheet 15 1/4 x 11 1/4). Gargoyle Series #8. Edition 130. Illustrated...

John Taylor Arms was known for making such finely drawn etchings that commercial tools were not good enough: He regularly used sewing needles with corks ...

'Rocamadour' (French Church Series # 10), etching, 1927, edition 50, Fletcher 186. Signed, dated, and annotated 'First State' in pencil. Titled and dated 'Rocamadour 1926' in the plate, bottom right. A superb, finely detailed impression, in dark brown ink, on buff laid Japan paper, with full margins (1 to 1 7/8 inches), in excellent condition. Image size 13 3/4 x 10 inches (349 x 254 mm); sheet size 15 3/4 x 13 5/8 inches (400 x 346 mm). Matted to museum standards, unframed. Literature: illustrated in Dorothy Noyes Arms, 'Churches of France', The Macmillan Company, 1929. Impressions of this work are in the permanent collections of the Blanton Museum of Art, Chrysler Museum of Art, Cleveland Museum of Art, Davis Museum (Wellesley), McNay Art Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design Museum, and the Whitney Museum of Art. ABOUT THE SUBJECT Rocamadour is a small clifftop village in south-central France. It is known for the Cité Réligieuse complex of religious buildings, accessed via the Grand Escalier staircase. It includes the Chapelle Notre-Dame, with its Black Madonna statue, and the Romanesque-Gothic Basilica of St-Sauveur. ABOUT THE ARTIST “John Taylor Arms will live on and on and future generations centuries from now will marvel at his work... . As a friend and as a man, he fully matched his superb work.” —John Winkler, printmaker Born in Washington, D.C. in 1887, John Taylor Arms attended the Lawrenceville School and began the study of law at Princeton University. In 1907, he transferred to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and took up the study of architecture. Arms evolved his unique drafting style, with its highly realistic, precise detail and exquisitely rendered effects of light, from his experience and practice as an architectural student. He graduated in 1911 and completed a master’s degree the following year. He then worked as a draftsman with the well-known Carrere and Hastings Company in New York. In 1913 Arms was given a hobbyist’s etching set, and he began to dabble with copperplate and acid. In 1915, after copying a handful of prints by Jongkind and other Etching Revivalists, Arms created his first original etching. His early experiments were picturesque views of European villages, reflecting the influence of Whistler. He inked and printed several of these plates in color in the manner of Charles Mielatz...

Guardians of the Spire (Amiens Cathedral Number 2). 1921. Etching. Fletcher 102. 6 3/4 x 9 7/8 (sheet 8 7/8 x 13 3/4). Gargoyle Series #4. Edition 75. Illustrated: Dorothy Noyes Arms...