1920s Figurative Prints

James Lesesne Wells, 'Sisters', linocut, edition not stated but small, 1928. Signed, titled, and annotated 'imp' in pencil. A fine impression on off-white wove Japan paper, with wide margins (1 7/8 to 3 3/4 inches), in excellent condition. Printed by the artist. Very scarce. Matted to museum standards, unframed. Image size 8 3/16 x 6 3/4 inches (208 x 171 mm); sheet size 13 1/2 x 10 3/4 inches (343 x 273 mm). Exhibition and Literature: 'Narratives of African American Art and Identity: The David C. Driskell Collection,' The Art Gallery at the University of Maryland, extensive touring exhibition, 1998-2000. Collections: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Smithsonian Institution (Anacostia Community Museum). ABOUT THE ARTIST “Wells is more than an artist with a deep concern for his fellow man. He carries many of his themes a step further into an apocalyptic world, a world of revelation and shifting lights. … He works on large blocks in a bold free style. … His work has a vigor, therefore, that is not often used in the medium today.” —Jacob Kainen (painter, critic, and collector) from Richard J. Powell’s 1986 essay Phoenix Ascending: The Art of James Lesesne Wells. James Lesesne Wells was an American painter, printmaker, educator, and pioneering figure of the Harlem Renaissance, whose work established a vital connection between African heritage, modernist form, and African American cultural identity. Known for his innovative use of linoleum and woodblock printing, Wells played a key role in shaping 20th-century African American art and inspired countless students throughout his lengthy career as a teacher at Howard University. Born in Atlanta, Georgia, Wells' early exposure to the arts came through church and community, where African American cultural traditions were central. He pursued formal artistic training at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania (earning a B.A. in 1924), followed by studies at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and the Barnes Foundation, where he encountered European modernists as well as traditional African sculpture, which profoundly influenced his style. Wells moved to New York in the late 1920s, swiftly immersing himself in the lively artistic and intellectual scene of Harlem. There, he became associated with artists, writers, and thinkers of the Harlem Renaissance, contributing to the growth of Black cultural identity. Considered a mentor to many famed artists of the Harlem Renaissance, Wells served as director of a summer art workshop in Harlem where his assistants included Charles Alston, Jacob Lawrence, and Palmer Hayden...

Night Shadows. 1921. Etching. Levin 82. 7 x 8 3/8 (sheet 10 x 13 7 1/16).s Series: Six American Etchings: The New Republic Portfolio, 1924. Edition approximately 500-600. Illustrate...

Otto Kuhler, 'The Gateway to the New World', etching (artist's proof), edition 16, 1926, Kennedy 25. Signed in pencil and annotated 'Japan Silk Paper - Trial Proof - Ltd. Ed. Del. et...

Karl Michel, 'Mehr Sonne fur 1924. Viel Gluck Wunscht Karl Michel U. Frau', woodcut, 1924, edition 20. Signed, dated, and numbered 'op. 162' and '15/20' in pencil. Signed in the image, lower left. A fine, richly-inked impression on buff wove paper, with full margins (1 1/2 to 2 3/4 inches), in very good condition. Printed by the artist. Scarce. Matted to museum standards, unframed. New Year's Greeting – English translation: "More Sun for 1924. Good Luck Wishes from Karl Michel and his Wife." Image size 4 5/8 x 4 3/4 inches (118 x 121 mm); sheet size 7 3/4 x 10 inches (198 x 254 mm). ABOUT THE ARTIST Karl Michel (1889-1984) was a noted graphic designer and expressionist printmaker during Germany's pre-Nazi Weimar Republic (1919-1933). Michel’s work was the subject of a feature article in the influential German graphic design magazine Das Plakat...

Boris Lovet-Lorski, Untitled (Portrait of an African Woman), lithograph, edition 250, 1929. Signed and numbered 13 in pencil. Number 13 of Volume 2, a series of 10 lithographs publis...

Original London Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) vintage Art Deco railway poster from 1925. The artist is Raymond Virac. Archival linen-backed and in excellent condition, ready to ...

New York: c 1920. Etching with aquatint printed in brownish black ink on cream wove paper, 8 3/4 x 12 inches (220 x 304 mm), full margins. Signed and titled in pencil in the lower ma...

Still in her silken evening gown and dancing slippers, the glamorous ingénue is savoring her memories, her ribbon-tied love letters and long draws on her cigarette holder. Was he eve...

Karl Michel, 'Der Gartner' (The Gardener), woodcut, c. 1925. Signed, titled, and numbered '15/50' in pencil. Signed in the block, lower left and right. A fine, richly-inked impression on buff wove paper, with full margins (1 1/2 to 2 3/4 inches), in excellent condition. Matted to museum standards, unframed. Scarce. Image size 5 1/4 x 3 7/8 inches (133 x 98 mm); sheet size 10 x 7 3/4 inches (254 x 198 mm). ABOUT THE ARTIST Karl Michel (1889-1984) was a noted graphic designer and expressionist printmaker during Germany's pre-Nazi Weimar Republic (1919 - 1933). In 1920, his work was featured in the influential German graphic design magazine Das Plakat...

Edward PELLENS Red Bouquet of Flowers, 1929 Original woodcut Handsigned in pencil Numbered /160 On vellum 32.5 x 25.5 cm (c. 13 x 10 in) Bears the blind stamp of the editor 'Imagier...

Tempête à Nice is a photolithograph realized in 1993 after Henri Matisse. Signed on the plate On Milano handmade paper. Very good conditions.

JOSE CLEMENTE OROZCO (1883 – 1949) CABEZA DE MUJER, ( Woman's Head: Mexican Woman) 1929 (Orozco 9) Lithograph, signed and numbered 23/50. in pencil. Pri...

Lithograph and stencil on vélin paper. Paper Size: 15 x 12.2 inches. Inscription: Signed in the plate and unnumbered, as issued. Notes: From the folio, Douze aquarelles de Auguste Ro...

A Mirage. 1928. Etching. Hardie 238. 11 13/16 x 14 3/8 (sheet 12 3/16 x 18 3/4). Edition 76, #46. Illustrated: Fine Prints of the Year, 1928 and 1938; Holmes, Etchings of Today. A ri...

Louis Icart, French (1888 - 1950) - Madame Bovary, Year: 1929, Medium: Color Etching, Signed in Pencil, Image Size: 16 x 20.5 inches, Frame Size: 40 x 43 inches, Reference: Figu...

Detailed and dramatic hand-colored etching by Luigi Kasimir (Austrian, 1881-1962). St. Stephen's cathedral towers above the streets of Vienna, with people going about their daily bus...

Original Swedish movie poster, The Sea Master. (Herre på Skutan).. Archival linen backed in good condition, ready to frame. The USA silent movie was produced in 1917 but released in ...

Clare Leighton, 'Snow Shovellers, New York', 1929, wood engraving, edition 45, Boston Public Library 146. Signed, titled, and numbered '29/45' in pencil. A...

A German Expressionist woodcut, with original hand-coloring in watercolor, depicting a parent and child watching a theatrical production; ...

Jèsus sera en Agonie jusqu'à la fin du Monde; from Folio Miserere, 1922 Aquatint of Jesus' crucifixion by Georges Rouault (French, 1871-1958). Jesus is depicted with his head lowere...

Boris Lovet-Lorski, Untitled (Profile of an African Woman), lithograph, edition 250, 1929. Signed and numbered 15 in pencil. Number 15 of Volume 2, a series of 10 lithographs publish...

HENRI MATISSE (French 1869-1954) LE REPOSE du MODELE 1922 . (Duthuit 416) Original lithograph, FIRST STATE, on Chine volant paper BEFORE image was reduced at the left edge. An uns...

Lithograph on vélin Lafuma paper. Unsigned and unnumbered, as issued. Good Condition; never framed or matted. Notes: From the volume, Dessins de Henri-Matisse, 1925. Published by Édi...

Lithograph on vélin Lafuma paper. Unsigned and unnumbered, as issued. Good Condition; never framed or matted. Notes: From the volume, Dessins de Henri-Matisse, 1925. Published by Édi...

Louis Icart, French (1888 - 1950) - Les Masques, Year: 1926, Medium: Color Etching, Signed in Pencil, Edition: 308, Size: 18.68 in. x 14.38 in. (47.43 cm x 36.51 cm), Frame Size:...

Le Tir Forain, engraving, edition 108, 1920-21, Sylvain Laboureur 191. Signed and numbered '19/85 ép' in pencil. Initialed 'L' and dated 1920 in the matrix,...

Louis Icart, French (1888 - 1950) - Paresse, Year: 1925, Medium: Etching, Image Size: 15 x 18.75 inches, Size: 23.5 in. x 27.5 in. (59.69 cm x 69.85 cm)

Original, Italian, Vini di Lusso lithograph vintage poster for fine wines. The Italian Society for Superior Wine. The image of a satyr (or Bacchus) getting ready to eat a group ...

Shadows on the Ramp. 1927. Drypoint and sand ground. McCarron 64. 9 x 10 1/2 (sheet 12 3/8 x 14). Edition 75 recorded impressions. A rich, tonal impression with drypoint burr, printe...

The Gargoyle and His Quarry, Notre Dame. 1920. Etching.Fletcher 90. 7 1/8 x 5 1/4 (sheet 10 1/2 x 9 1/16). Gargoyle series #1. Edition 75. A rich impression printed on 'FJHead&Co' c...

Kees Van Dongen (1877-1968) - La Garçonne Original Lithograph, pochoir from 1925. Arches paper (no watermark). Dimensions of work: 23.5 x 18 cm Publisher: E. Flammarion Éditeur. ...

Lithograph and stencil on papier vélin des Manufactures d'Arches paper. Unsigned and unnumbered, as issued. Good Condition. Notes: From the volume, Les Biches, 1924. Published by Édi...

Artist: Louis Icart, French (1888 - 1950) Title: Conchita Year: 1929 Medium: Etching, signed in pencil Image Size: 20 x 13 inches Frame Size: 32.5 x 25 inches Reference: Figure 361 ...

Otto Kuhler, 'The Furnace', drypoint, edition 26, 1924, Kennedy 5. Signed and annotated 'Drypoint. Ltd Ed. Del. et imp.' in pencil. Titled in pencil, in the bottom center sheet edge....

Medium: original woodcut. Catalogue reference: Colnaghi 142. Published in London in 1921 by Herbert Furst at the Little Art Rooms for inclusion in the "Modern Woodcutters 4" volume, ...

Hand Signed. Edition of 130 pieces. This artwork is from the collection "Dix danseures"  Ref. Duthuit 481 Very good condition.

Marc Chagall (1887-1985) Tall Nude with a Fan, 1924 Original etching On vellum 34 x 51,5 cm (c. 14 x 20 in) REFERENCE: Catalog raisonne Kornfeld #39 INFORMATION : Beautiful proof...

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...

Jean Cocteau, Portrait de Jean Desbordes is a Lithograph on vélin pur fil des Papeteries du Marais, realized by Cocteau in 1929. Belongs to the suite "25 Dessins d'Un Dormeur", publ...

Henri MATISSE (1869-1964) Paris : Saint Michel Bridge, 1927 Original etching Printed signature in the plate Limited to 225 copies On BFK Rives vellum 25 x 33 cm (c. 9.8 x 12.9 in)...

This is from the original first edition 1923 printing. there was a much later edition done after these originals. These are individually hand signed in pencil by artist as issued. This listing is for the one print. the other documentation is included here for provenance and is not included in this listing. The various images inspired by the Jewish Mysticism and rabbis and mystics of jerusalem and Kabbalah is holy, dramatic and optimistic Rubin succeeded to evoke the spirit of life in Israel in those early days. They are done in a modern art style influenced by German Expressionism, particularly, Ernst Barlach, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, and Franz Marc, as introduced to Israel by Jakob Steinhardt, Hermann Struck and Joseph Budko. Reuven Rubin 1893 -1974 was a Romanian-born Israeli painter and Israel's first ambassador to Romania. Rubin Zelicovich (later Reuven Rubin) was born in Galati to a poor Romanian Jewish Hasidic family. He was the eighth of 13 children. In 1912, he left for Ottoman-ruled Palestine to study art at Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem. Finding himself at odds with the artistic views of the Academy's teachers, he left for Paris, France, in 1913 to pursue his studies at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts. He was of the well known Jewish artists in Paris along with Marc Chagall and Chaim Soutine, At the outbreak of World War I, he was returned to Romania, where he spent the war years. In 1921, he traveled to the United States with his friend and fellow artist, Arthur Kolnik. In New York City, the two met artist Alfred Stieglitz, who was instrumental in organizing their first American show at the Anderson Gallery. Following the exhibition, in 1922, they both returned to Europe. In 1923, Rubin emigrated to Mandate Palestine. Rubin met his wife, Esther, in 1928, aboard a passenger ship to Palestine on his return from a show in New York. She was a Bronx girl who had won a trip to Palestine in a Young Judaea competition. He died in 1974. Part of the early generation of artists in Israel, Joseph Zaritsky, Arieh Lubin, Reuven Rubin, Sionah Tagger, Pinchas Litvinovsky, Mordecai Ardon, Yitzhak Katz, and Baruch Agadati; These painters depicted the country’s landscapes in the 1920s rebelled against the Bezalel school of Boris Schatz. They sought current styles in Europe that would help portray their own country’s landscape, in keeping with the spirit of the time. Rubin’s Cezannesque landscapes from the 1920s were defined by both a modern and a naive style, portraying the landscape and inhabitants of Israel in a sensitive fashion. His landscape paintings in particular paid special detail to a spiritual, translucent light. His early work bore the influences of Futurism, Vorticism, Cubism and Surrealism. In Palestine, he became one of the founders of the new Eretz-Yisrael style. Recurring themes in his work were the bible, the prophet, the biblical landscape, folklore and folk art, people, including Yemenite, Hasidic Jews and Arabs. Many of his paintings are sun-bathed depictions of Jerusalem and the Galilee. Rubin might have been influenced by the work of Henri Rousseau whose naice style combined with Eastern nuances, as well as with the neo-Byzantine art to which Rubin had been exposed in his native Romania. In accordance with his integrative style, he signed his works with his first name in Hebrew and his surname in Roman letters. In 1924, he was the first artist to hold a solo exhibition at the Tower of David, in Jerusalem (later exhibited in Tel Aviv at Gymnasia Herzliya). That year he was elected chairman of the Association of Painters and Sculptors of Palestine. From the 1930s onwards, Rubin designed backdrops for Habima Theater, the Ohel Theater and other theaters. His biography, published in 1969, is titled My Life - My Art. He died in Tel Aviv in October 1974, after having bequeathed his home on 14 Bialik Street and a core collection of his paintings to the city of Tel Aviv. The Rubin Museum opened in 1983. The director and curator of the museum is his daughter-in-law, Carmela Rubin. Rubin's paintings are now increasingly sought after. At a Sotheby's auction in New York in 2007, his work accounted for six of the ten top lots. Along with Yaacov Agam and Menashe Kadishman he is among Israel's best known artists internationally. Education 1912 Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, Jerusalem 1913-14 École des Beaux Arts, Paris and Académie Colarossi, Paris Select Group Exhibitions Eged - Palestine Painters Group Eged - Palestine Painters Group, Allenby Street, Tel Aviv 1929 Artists: Chana Orloff, Abraham Melnikoff, Rubin, Reuven Nahum Gutman, Sionah Tagger,Arieh Allweil, Jewish Artists Association, Levant Fair, Tel Aviv, 1929 Artists: Ludwig Blum,Eliyahu Sigad, Shmuel Ovadyahu, Itzhak Frenel Frenkel,Ozer Shabat, Menahem Shemi...

Pablo Picasso "Joie Maternelle" Original Etching Stamp signed, Numbered 8/50 from the edition of 50 printed in 1961, (The first edition was printed in 1922) Published by Galerie Loui...

PKZ vintage Poster (man in top hat). 1927, Color lithograph. Lined on linen. PKZ has and still is an important department store in Zurich, Switzerland...

Bernard Kretzschmar (1889-1972), Auction, etching, drypoint, and burnished aquatint, 1921, signed and dated (’20) in pencil lower right [also initialed in the plate lower left] Refe...

Kees VAN DONGEN (1877-1968) Paris : Parisian Club, 1927 Original etching Unsigned Limited to 225 copies On BFK Rives vellum 33 x 25 cm (c. 12.9 x 9.8 in) REFERENCE : Catalogue ra...

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...

M. Le Trouhadec is an Original etching realized by Jean Auscher in 1926. The artwork is in good condition, included a brown cardboard passpartout (33x25 cm). Another etching repres...

Jean Cocteau - Young Woman - Drawing Circa 1912 27 x 21 cm Unsigned With an attestation of authenticity by Annie Guédras, Jean Cocteau Writer, artist and film director Jean Cocte...

A large format book (15.25 x 11.25 inches), following the trend among leading Parisian couture houses who had been producing elaborately designed luxury catalogs since Paul Poiret’s ...

Fifth Avenue Bridge. 1928. Drypoint. McCarron 72. 9 7/8 x 12 (sheet 12 3/4 x 15). Edition of 108 recorded impressions. A rich impression printed on cream laid paper, with full margin...

Norman Rockwell (American, 1894-1978) Family Tree Original painting produced 1959, this print published 1959 in Japan by The Curtis Publishing Company Lithograph Sight: 19 1/4 x 13 3...

Louis Icart, French (1888 - 1950) - Mimi, Year: 1927, Medium: Color Etching, Signed in Pencil, Edition: 105/500, Image Size: 20.5 x 13 inches, Size: 27 in. x 19 in. (68.58 cm x ...

Louis Icart, French (1888 - 1950) - Hydrangeas, Year: 1929, Medium: Color Etching, Signed in Pencil, Image Size: 16 x 20 inches, Frame Size: 24.5 x 28.5 inches, Reference: Figur...

Le chapeau épinglé (La fille de Berthe Morisot et sa cousine) 3e planche. Etching realized by Renoir in 1894. Image dimension 11.5x8 cm. / sheet dimension 33.2x15.1 cm. The final s...

Henri AMEDEE-WETTER (1869-1929) Life in the Sea : Mermaid Maternity, 1922 Original woodcut Handsigned in pencil Numbered /105 On vellum 32.5 x 25.5 cm (c. 13 x 10 in) Bears the blin...

Fall Der Engel is a black and white héliogravure on cream-colored cardboard realized by Choisy Le Conin, as is remembered Franz Von Bayros (Agram, 1866 – Vienna, 1924). From Mappe, ...

Woodcut print realized by Mathilde Hérouard in the 1920s. Mounted on paper. Signed in the plate. Very good condition.

Les Biches is a ballet by Bronislava Nijinska, with music by Francis Poulenc and with costume design by Marie Laurencin. Edition of 335 copies. Copy nu...

Cornetto con fiori di campo is an original artwork realized by Giorgio Morandi in 1924. Etching on paper. Hand-signed and dated on the lower right margin. Edition of 50 prints includ...

Luigi Kasimir, 'Brooklyn Bridge', color etching with aquatint, 1927, edition 100. Signed in pencil. A superb impression, with fresh colors, on heavy, cream wove paper; with margins...