Men Figurative Prints
to
1,602
5,169
1,619
1,323
596
324
Overall Width
to
Overall Height
to
3,476
1,392
428
400
302
280
241
152
63
62
59
37
11
2
126
110
89
80
77
645
2,076
5,273
1,089
84
237
456
374
307
509
584
907
491
234
502
6,153
2,646
224
26,970
14,773
10,848
9,085
7,841
6,995
4,604
4,207
2,449
2,056
1,933
1,847
1,622
1,459
1,432
1,431
1,405
1,281
1,226
1,107
3,764
2,479
1,224
786
583
709
4,344
3,819
3,605
Art Subject: Men
Toulouse-Lautrec, Composition, Femmes De Lautrec (after)
Located in Fairfield, CT
Medium: Lithograph and stencil on vélin paper
Year: 1954
Paper Size: 13.5 x 9.5 inches
Inscription: Signed in the plate and unnumbered, as issued
Notes: From the folio, Femmes de Lau...
Category
1950s Post-Impressionist Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
$716 Sale Price
20% Off
Toulouse-Lautrec, Composition, Toulouse-Lautrec, Album De Marine (after)
Located in Fairfield, CT
Medium: Lithograph and stencil on Papeteries de Rives paper
Year: 1953
Paper Size: 8.86 x 5.71 inches
Inscription: Unsigned and unnumbered, as issued
Notes: From the album, Toulouse-...
Category
1950s Post-Impressionist Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
$716 Sale Price
20% Off
Toulouse-Lautrec, Composition, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, At the Circus (after)
Located in Fairfield, CT
Medium: Lithograph on vélin paper, hinged on archival backing paper, as issued
Year: 1967
Paper Size: 17.32 x 14.17 inches (backing paper size)
Inscription: Signed in the plate and u...
Category
1940s Post-Impressionist Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
$716 Sale Price
20% Off
Hier is de ganze nee Beschriefung - Etching by Christoph Suhr - 1808
Located in Roma, IT
Hier is de ganze nee Beschriefung is an artwork, realized by Christoph Suhr in 1808.
Etching hand colored. Titled on the lower margin.
The artwork belongs to the Series "Der Ausruf...
Category
Early 1800s Modern Figurative Prints
Materials
Etching
"Praying Warrior" Copper Plate Heliogravure
Located in Chicago, IL
2018 marks the centenary anniversary of Ferdinand Hodler’s death. In that 100 years time, the art world’s esteem of this important artist has proved fickle. It has shifted from extolling his artistic merits during his lifetime to showing something of a feigned disdain- more reflective of the world political order than a true change of heart for Hodler’s work. After years of Hodler being all but a footnote in the annals of art history and generally ignored, finally, the pendulum has righted itself once again. Recent retrospective exhibitions in Europe and the United States have indicated not only a joyful rediscovery of Hodler’s art but a firm conviction that his work and world view hold particular relevance today. DAS WERK FERDINAND HODLERS is not only a collection of printed work reflecting the best of all of his painted work created up to 1914 just before the outbreak of World War I, the portfolio itself is an encapsulation of Hodler’s ethos, Parallelisme.
Hodler developed his philosophy of Parallelisme as a unifying approach to art which strips away detail in search of harmony. By means of abstraction, symmetry and repetition, Hodler sought ways to depict Nature’s essence and her fundamental, universal order. He believed these universal laws governing the natural, observable world extend to the spiritual realm. Symbolist in nature with Romantic undertones, his works are equally portraits of these universal concepts and feelings governing all life as they are a visual portrait in the formal sense. Whether his subject is a solitary tree, a moment in battle, mortal fear, despair, the awe inspired by a vast mountain range, a tender moment or even the collective conviction in a belief, Hodler unveils this guiding principle of Parallelisme.
Several aspects of Hodler’s portfolio reinforce his tenets of Parallelisme. The Table of Contents clearly preferences a harmonious design over detail. The two columns, consisting of twenty lines each, list the images by order of appearance using their German titles. The abbreviated titles are somewhat cryptic in that they obscure the identities of the sitters. Like the image Hodler presents, they are distillations of the sitter without any extraneous details. This shortening was also done in an effort to maintain a harmonious symmetry of the Table of Contents, themselves, and keep titles to a one-line limit. The twenty-fourth title: “Bildnis des Schweizerischen Gesandten C.” was so long, even with abbreviation, that it required two lines; so, for the sake of maintaining symmetry, the fortieth title: “Bauernmadchen” was omitted from the list. This explains why the images are not numbered. Hodler’s reasoning is not purely esoteric. Symmetry and pattern reach beyond mere formal design principles. Finding sameness and imposing it over disorder goes to the root of Hodler’s identity and his art. A Swiss native, Hodler was bi-lingual and spoke German and French. Each printed image, even number forty, have titles in both of Hodler’s languages. Certainly, there was a market for Hodler’s work among francophones and this inclusion may have been a polite gesture to that end; however, this is the only place in the portfolio which includes French. With German titles at the lower left of each image, Hodler’s name at bottom center and corresponding French titles at the lower right of each image, there is a harmony and symmetry woven into all aspects of the portfolio. This holds true for the page design, as it applies to each printed image and as it describes the Swiss artist himself. Seen in this light, Hodler’s portfolio of printed work is the epitome of Hodler’s Parallelisme. DAS WERK FERDINAND HODLERS is also one of the most significant documents to best tell the story of how Hodler, from Switzerland, became caught between political cross-hairs and how the changing tides of nations directly impacted the artist during his lifetime as well as the accessibility of his art for generations to come.
The Munich-based publisher of the portfolio, R. Piper & Co., Verlag, plays a crucial role in this story. Publishing on a wide range of subjects from philosophy and world religion to music, literature and the visual arts; the publisher’s breadth of inquiry within any one genre was equal in scope. Their marketing strategy to publish multiple works on Hodler offers great insight as to what a hot commodity Hodler was at that time. R.Piper & Co.’s Almanach, which they published in 1914 in commemoration of their first ten years in business, clearly illustrates the rapid succession- strategically calculated for achieving the deepest and broadest impact - in which they released three works on Hodler to hit the market by the close of 1914. DAS WERK FERDINAND HODLERS was their premier publication. It preceded C.A. Loosli’s Die Zeichnungen Ferdinand Hodlers, a print portfolio after 50 drawings by Hodler which was released in Autumn of 1914 at the mid-level price-point of 75-150 Marks; and a third less expensive collection of prints after original works by Hodler, which had not been included in either of the first two portfolios, was released at the end of that year entitled Ferdinand Hodler by Dr. Ewald Bender.
The title and timing of DAS WERK FERDINAND HODLERS' debut leaves little doubt as to the connection it has with another avant-garde portfolio of art...
Category
1910s Symbolist Figurative Prints
Materials
Paper
Gerlach's Allegorien Plate #78: "Hunting" Lithograph by Carl Otto Czeschka
Located in Chicago, IL
after Carl Otto Czeschka, (1878-1960), Austrian
A leading member of the Vienna Secession and later the Wiener Werkstätte (Viennese Workshop), Carl Otto Czeschka was a vital figu...
Category
1890s Vienna Secession Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
Two Figures (One with Shadow)
Located in Calabasas, CA
Artist: John Baldessari
Title: Two Figures (One with Shadow)
Year: 1986
Medium: Etching with aquatint on Rives B.F.K paper
Sheet: 20 1/2 x 20 inches (52.07 x 50.8 cm)
Edition: 35; si...
Category
1980s Contemporary Figurative Prints
Materials
Etching, Aquatint
The Investor
Located in Palm Springs, CA
Signed and numbered woodcut from the edition of 15. Political satire is a frequent topic in Hazelwood's work. This print shows a stock investor dancing happily past a homeless figure on the ground, while visions of stock quotes fill his mind. This is the last print available from the edition.
Art Hazelwood calls himself artist, instigator and impresario to define the three intertwining areas of his practice. He uses printmaking within a range of political allegory and satire making work from political posters to fine press edition artist books. He has curated and organized a range of exhibitions at venues from museums to immigrant centers. He has worked for over 20 years with homeless rights groups; creating prints, and street posters, and has authored one book and contributed to another on art and homelessness.
He has been a regular visiting guest artist at San Quentin State Prison and teaches currently at the San Francisco Art Institute. He organized the San Francisco Poster...
Category
Early 2000s Contemporary Figurative Prints
Materials
Etching, Aquatint
Devil at Cocktail Hour /// Funny Contemporary Monoprint Bar Romantic Alcohol Art
By Dan May
Located in Saint Augustine, FL
Artist: Dan May (American, 1955-)
Title: "Devil at Cocktail Hour"
*Signed by May in pencil lower left
Year: 2003
Medium: Original Monoprint on unbranded ...
Category
Early 2000s Contemporary Figurative Prints
Materials
Paint, Monoprint, Oil
Picasso, Modèle et Grande Tête Sculptée (after)
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: After Pablo Picasso (1881-1973)
Title: Modèle et Grande Tête Sculptée (after Bloch 170)
Year: 1992
Medium: Reproduced from the original edition using the grain Autotype halft...
Category
1990s Cubist Nude Prints
Materials
Lithograph
$2,920 Sale Price
20% Off
Ostend Bathing Machine.
Located in Storrs, CT
1926. Drypoint. Appleby 119. 6 7/8 x 8 7/8 (sheet 9 x 12 1/4). Edition 100, #97. Printed by David Strang on cream laid paper. Wrinkling in the margins; otherwise fine condition. A rich impression with tonal wiping and drypoint burr. Signed and numbered in pencil.n pencil. Housed in a 16 x 20-inch archival mat, suitable for framing.
The bathing machine...
Category
Early 20th Century Modern Landscape Prints
Materials
Drypoint, Etching
Red Rider by Bill Schenck
By Bill Schenck
Located in Phoenix, AZ
SHIPPING CHARGES INCLUDE SHIPPING, PACKAGING & **INSURANCE**
Red Rodeo Rider 1981
Bill Schenck
Serigraph, edition of 75
Image size 35 x 25 inches
UNFRAMED
Billy Schenck has been...
Category
1980s Figurative Prints
Materials
Screen
Kabuki Kyo by Al Hirschfeld
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Albert Hirschfeld
Title: Kabuki Kyo
Medium: Lithograph, signed and numbered in pencil
Edition: 1116/275
Size: 30 x 21.75 in. (76.2 x 55.25 cm)
Category
1970s Post-Modern Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
Métarmorphoses d'Ovide, Two Fighters - Original Etching (Baer #165)
Located in Paris, IDF
Pablo PICASSO
Métarmorphoses d'Ovide, Two Fighters, 1936
Original etching (Atelier Lacourière, Paris)
Unsigned
On BFK Rives vellum 32.5 x 25 cm (12.7 x 9.8 in)
REFERENCES :
- Cata...
Category
1930s Modern Figurative Prints
Materials
Etching
Ballet und Pantomime "Der Vogelfanger" (The Bird Catcher), plate #19.
Located in Chicago, IL
Walter Schnackenberg’s style changed several times during his long and successful career. Having studied in Munich, the artist traveled often to Paris where he fell under the spell o...
Category
1920s Art Deco Figurative Prints
Materials
Paper
1970s Alexander Calder lithograph (Calder prints)
Located in NEW YORK, NY
1970s Alexander Calder Lithograph from Derriere le Miroir:
Medium: Lithograph in colors. 1975.
Dimensions: 15 x 22 inches.
Center fold-line as issued; v...
Category
1970s Pop Art Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
Awakening
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Amy Judd – Awakening (Limited Edition Framed Print)
A captivating limited edition archival pigment print by renowned contemporary artist Amy Judd, “Awakening” is part of her first-ev...
Category
2010s Surrealist Figurative Prints
Materials
Archival Pigment
$2,500
LADIES & GENTLEMEN FS II.137
By Andy Warhol
Located in Aventura, FL
From the Ladies and Gentlemen Portfolio. Screenprint in colors on arches paper. Hand signed and numbered by the artist on verso. From the edition of 125. Published by Luciano Ans...
Category
1970s Pop Art Figurative Prints
Materials
Screen, Paper
"Battle at Nafels" Copper Plate Heliogravure
Located in Chicago, IL
2018 marks the centenary anniversary of Ferdinand Hodler’s death. In that 100 years time, the art world’s esteem of this important artist has proved fickle. It has shifted from extolling his artistic merits during his lifetime to showing something of a feigned disdain- more reflective of the world political order than a true change of heart for Hodler’s work. After years of Hodler being all but a footnote in the annals of art history and generally ignored, finally, the pendulum has righted itself once again. Recent retrospective exhibitions in Europe and the United States have indicated not only a joyful rediscovery of Hodler’s art but a firm conviction that his work and world view hold particular relevance today. DAS WERK FERDINAND HODLERS is not only a collection of printed work reflecting the best of all of his painted work created up to 1914 just before the outbreak of World War I, the portfolio itself is an encapsulation of Hodler’s ethos, Parallelisme.
Hodler developed his philosophy of Parallelisme as a unifying approach to art which strips away detail in search of harmony. By means of abstraction, symmetry and repetition, Hodler sought ways to depict Nature’s essence and her fundamental, universal order. He believed these universal laws governing the natural, observable world extend to the spiritual realm. Symbolist in nature with Romantic undertones, his works are equally portraits of these universal concepts and feelings governing all life as they are a visual portrait in the formal sense. Whether his subject is a solitary tree, a moment in battle, mortal fear, despair, the awe inspired by a vast mountain range, a tender moment or even the collective conviction in a belief, Hodler unveils this guiding principle of Parallelisme.
Several aspects of Hodler’s portfolio reinforce his tenets of Parallelisme. The Table of Contents clearly preferences a harmonious design over detail. The two columns, consisting of twenty lines each, list the images by order of appearance using their German titles. The abbreviated titles are somewhat cryptic in that they obscure the identities of the sitters. Like the image Hodler presents, they are distillations of the sitter without any extraneous details. This shortening was also done in an effort to maintain a harmonious symmetry of the Table of Contents, themselves, and keep titles to a one-line limit. The twenty-fourth title: “Bildnis des Schweizerischen Gesandten C.” was so long, even with abbreviation, that it required two lines; so, for the sake of maintaining symmetry, the fortieth title: “Bauernmadchen” was omitted from the list. This explains why the images are not numbered. Hodler’s reasoning is not purely esoteric. Symmetry and pattern reach beyond mere formal design principles. Finding sameness and imposing it over disorder goes to the root of Hodler’s identity and his art. A Swiss native, Hodler was bi-lingual and spoke German and French. Each printed image, even number forty, have titles in both of Hodler’s languages. Certainly, there was a market for Hodler’s work among francophones and this inclusion may have been a polite gesture to that end; however, this is the only place in the portfolio which includes French. With German titles at the lower left of each image, Hodler’s name at bottom center and corresponding French titles at the lower right of each image, there is a harmony and symmetry woven into all aspects of the portfolio. This holds true for the page design, as it applies to each printed image and as it describes the Swiss artist himself. Seen in this light, Hodler’s portfolio of printed work is the epitome of Hodler’s Parallelisme. DAS WERK FERDINAND HODLERS is also one of the most significant documents to best tell the story of how Hodler, from Switzerland, became caught between political cross-hairs and how the changing tides of nations directly impacted the artist during his lifetime as well as the accessibility of his art for generations to come.
The Munich-based publisher of the portfolio, R. Piper & Co., Verlag, plays a crucial role in this story. Publishing on a wide range of subjects from philosophy and world religion to music, literature and the visual arts; the publisher’s breadth of inquiry within any one genre was equal in scope. Their marketing strategy to publish multiple works on Hodler offers great insight as to what a hot commodity Hodler was at that time. R.Piper & Co.’s Almanach, which they published in 1914 in commemoration of their first ten years in business, clearly illustrates the rapid succession- strategically calculated for achieving the deepest and broadest impact - in which they released three works on Hodler to hit the market by the close of 1914. DAS WERK FERDINAND HODLERS was their premier publication. It preceded C.A. Loosli’s Die Zeichnungen Ferdinand Hodlers, a print portfolio after 50 drawings by Hodler which was released in Autumn of 1914 at the mid-level price-point of 75-150 Marks; and a third less expensive collection of prints after original works by Hodler, which had not been included in either of the first two portfolios, was released at the end of that year entitled Ferdinand Hodler by Dr. Ewald Bender.
The title and timing of DAS WERK FERDINAND HODLERS' debut leaves little doubt as to the connection it has with another avant-garde portfolio of art prints, Das Werk Gustav Klimts, released in 5 installments from 1908 -1914 by Galerie Miethke in Vienna. Hodler, himself, was involved in Klimt’s ground-breaking project. As the owner of Klimt’s 1901 painting, “Judith with the Head of Holifernes” which appears as the ninth collotype print in the second installment of Das Werk Gustav Klimts, Hodler was obliged to grant access of the painting to the art printers in Vienna for them to create the collotype sometime before 1908. Hodler had been previously invited in 1904 to take part in what would be the last exhibition of the Vienna Secession before Klimt and others associated with Galerie Miethke broke away. In an interview that same year, Hodler indicated that he respected and was impressed by Klimt. Hodler’s esteem for Klimt went beyond the art itself; he emulated Klimt’s method aimed at increasing his market reach and appeal to a wider audience by creating a print portfolio of his painted work. By 1914, Hodler and his publisher had the benefit of hindsight to learn from Klimt’s Das Werk publication.
Responding to the sluggish sales of Klimt’s expensive endeavor, Hodler’s publisher devised the same diversified 1-2-3 strategy for selling Hodler’s Das Werk portfolio as they did with regards to all three works on Hodler they published that year. For their premium tier of DAS WERKS FERDINAND HODLERS, R. Piper & Co. issued an exclusive Museum quality edition of 15 examples on which Hodler signed each page. At a cost of 600 Marks, this was generally on par with Klimt’s asking price of 600 Kronen for his Das Werk portfolio. A middle-tiered Preferred edition of 30, costing somewhat less and with Hodler’s signature only on the Title Page, was also available. The General edition, targeting the largest audience with its much more affordable price of 150 Marks, is distinguishable by its smaller size.
Rather than use the subscription format Miethke had chosen for Klimt’s portfolios which proved to have had its challenges, R. Piper & Co. employed a different strategy. In addition to instantly gratifying the buyer with all 40 of the prints comprising DAS WERK FERDINAND HODLERS and the choice among three price points, they advertised in German journals a fourth possibility of ordering single prints from them directly. These printed images are easily discernible from the three complete folio editions. The paper size of the single purchased images is of the larger format like the Museum and Preferred editions, measuring 65 h x 50 w cm; however, the paper itself is the same copper print paper used in the General edition and then mounted on poster board. The publishing house positioned itself to be a direct retailer of Hodler’s art. They astutely recognized the potential for profitability and the importance, therefore, of having proprietary control over his graphic works.
R. Piper & Co. owned the exclusive printing rights to Hodler’s best work found in their three publications dating from 1914. That same year, a competing publication out of Weimar entitled Ferdinand Hodler: Ein Deutungsversuch von Hans Muhlestein appeared. Its author, a young scholar, expressed his frustration with the limited availability of printable work by Hodler. In his Author’s Note on page 19, dated Easter, 1914, Muhlestein confirms that the publisher of Hodler’s three works from that same year owned the exclusive reproductive rights to Hodler’s printed original work. He goes further to explain that even after offering to pay to use certain of those images in his book, the publisher refused. Clearly, a lot of jockeying for position in what was perceived as a hot market was occurring in 1914.
Instead, their timing couldn’t have been more ill-fated, and what began with such high hopes suddenly found a much different market amid a hostile climate. The onset of WWI directly impacted sales. Many, including Ferdinand Hodler, publicly protested the September invasion by Germany of France in which the Reims Cathedral, re-built in the 13th century, was shelled, destroying priceless stained glass and statuary and burning off the iron roof and badly damaging its wooden interior. Thomas Gaehtgens, Director of the Getty Research Institute describes how the bombing of Reims Cathedral triggered blindingly powerful and deeply-felt ultra-nationalistic responses: “The event profoundly shocked French intellectuals, who for the most part had an intense admiration for German literature, music and art. By relying on press accounts and abstracting from the visual propagandistic content, they were unable to interpret the siege of Reims without turning away from German culture in disgust. Similarly, the German intelligentsia and bourgeoisie were also shocked to find themselves described as vandals and barbarians. Ninety-three writers, scientists, university professors, and artists signed a protest, directed against the French insults, that defended the actions of the German army.”
In similar fashion, a flurry of open letters published in German newspapers and journals as well as telegrams and postcards sent directly to Hodler following his outcry in support of Reims reflected the collectively critical reaction to Hodler’s position. Loosli documents that among the list of telegrams Hodler received was one from none other than his publisher in Germany, R.Piper & Co. Allegiances were questioned. The market for Hodler in Germany immediately softened. Matters worsened for the publisher beyond the German backlash to Hodler and his loss of appeal in the home market; with the war in full swing until 1918, there was little chance a German publisher would have much interest coming from outside of Germany and Austria. Following the war and Hodler’s death in 1918, the economy in Germany continued to spiral out and just 5 years later, hyper-inflation had rendered its currency worthless vis-a-vis its value in the pre-war years. Like the economy, Hodler’s reputation was slow to find currency in these difficult times. Even many French art fans had turned sour on Hodler as they considered his long-standing relationship in German and Austrian art circles. Thus, the portfolio’s rarity in Hodler’s lifetime and, consequently, the availability of these printed images from DAS WERK FERDINAND HODLERS since his death has been scarce.
In many ways, Hodler and his portfolios were casualties of war. Thwarted from their intended purpose of reaching a wide audience and show-casing Parallelisme, Hodler’s unique approach to art, this important, undated work has been both elusive and shrouded in mystery. Perhaps DAS WERK FERDINAND HODLERS was left undated as a means of affirming the timelessness of Hodler’s art. Digging back into the past, Hodler’s contemporaries, like R. Piper, C.A. Loosli and Hans Muhlestein, indeed provide the keys to unequivocally clarify what has largely been mired in obscurity. Just after Hodler’s death, the May, 1918 issue of the Burlington Review ran a small column which opined hope for better access to R.Piper & Co.’s DAS WERK FERDINAND HODLERS; 100 years later, it is finally possible. Hodler’s voice rings out through these printed works. Once more, his modern approach to depicting portraits, landscapes and grand scale scenes of Swiss history speak to us of what is universal. Engaging with any one of these images is the chance to connect to Hodler’s vision and his world view- weltanschauung in German, vision du monde in French- however one expresses these concepts through language, its message embedded in his work is the same: “We differ from one another, but we are like each other even more. What unifies us is greater and more powerful than what divides us.” Today, Hodler’s art couldn’t be more timely.
FERDINAND HODLER (SWISS, 1853-1918) explored Parallelisme through figurative poses evocative of music, dance and ritual. His images of sex, night, desertion and death as well as his many landscapes exploring the universal longing for harmony with Nature are unique and important works embodying a Symbolist paradigm. Truly a Modern Master, Hodler’s influence can be felt in the work of Gustav Klimt and Kolomon Moser and subsequent Expressionist artists such as Egon Schiele. He was born into an impoverished family in Bern, Switzerland in 1853. His entire family succumbed to tuberculosis, and he was orphaned by the age of 13, the only surviving child among his 13 siblings. In the absence of family, the influence and guidance which his art instructors provided Hodler was foundational and profound. Hodler began formal studies in 1872 at the Geneva School of Design. Under Barthelemy Menn, Hodler was drawn to the ordered beauty of Euclidian geometry and Durer’s fundamentals of human proportion that proved to be guiding principles informing his art throughout his life.
By the 1880s, Hodler began to enjoy some recognition for his work which put him on a new path towards stability. Remaining in Geneva, he became assistant to the well-known muralist, Edouard Castres. Following his first solo show in 1885, Hodler’s work took on a Symbolist quality. He frequently associated with a group of Swiss Symbolist...
Category
1910s Symbolist Figurative Prints
Materials
Paper
"Vincent: A Delirium, " Collection of 6 prints with prose by Frederic Tuten
By Eric Fischl
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Eric Fischl, American (b. 1948)
Title: Vincent: A Delirium
Year: 1993
Medium: Collection of 6 Aquatints with prose by Frederic Tuten, lithograph inset into cover, signed and ...
Category
1990s Contemporary Figurative Prints
Materials
Aquatint
Antoine de Marcenay de Ghuy, after Joseph Parrocel - 1755 Engraving, The Battle
Located in Corsham, GB
A dramatic 18th century engraving showing a brutal and bloody battle scene. The engraving is by Antoine de Marcenay de Ghuy, after Joseph Parrocel. There is an inscription at the low...
Category
18th Century Figurative Prints
Materials
Engraving
Theophile Alexandre Steinlen Original Stone Lithograph, 1894 - Petit Voyage
Located in Phoenix, AZ
Original Lithograph by Theophile Steinlen - Swiss born French Artist (1859-1923).
Titled: “Petit Voyage” (Little Journey). Signed “Steinlen” in the stone lower left.
The work is in ...
Category
Late 19th Century Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
Aurora sive Tempus Matutinum; Der Wohl und Übel angewandte Morgen /// Old Master
Located in Saint Augustine, FL
Artist: (after) Johann Daniel Preissler (German, 1666-1737)
Title: "Aurora sive Tempus Matutinum; Der Wohl und Übel angewandte Morgen (Dawn or Morning Time; The Morning Used for Better or For Worse)"
Portfolio: Die Vier Tageszeiten (The Four Times of Day)
Year: 1723
Medium: Original Etching and Engraving on laid paper
Limited edition: Unknown
Printer: likely Johann Balthasar Probst, Augsburg, Germany
Publisher: Jeremias Wolff (Erben), Augsburg, Germany
Reference: Le Blanc No. 255, 38; Nagler No. 23
Sheet size: 22.57" x 16.38"
Image size: 17.75" x 14"
Condition: Soft handling creases, folds, and scattered faint areas of discoloration to sheet. Three tears skillfully repaired from verso. Has been professionally stored away for decades. It is otherwise a strong impression in good condition with full margins
Extremely rare
Notes:
Provenance: private collection - Aspen, CO. Engraved by German artist Johann Balthasar Probst (1673-1750) after a drawing by German artist Johann Daniel Preissler (1666-1737). Comes from Preissler's 1723 "Die Vier Tageszeiten (The Four Times of Day)" portfolio of four etchings and engravings. Printed from one copper plate in one color: black. Descriptions of the portrayed image are printed in Latin and German.
Biography:
Johann Daniel Preissler, or Preisler (1666–1737) was a German painter and director of Nuremberg's Academy of Fine Arts. He was a notable member of a German artistic family, originating in Bohemia. His children included Johann Justin Preissler (1698–1771), Georg Martin Preisler (1700–1754), Barbara Helena Preisler (1707–1758; married to Oeding), Johan Martin Preisler (1715–1794), and Valentin Daniel Preisler (1717–1765), all in their time renowned artists. Most notable for his portraits, nudes and history paintings, Johann Daniel Preissler also produced drawings and frescoes. He was particularly known beyond his native Nuremberg for his "Die durch Theorie erfundene Practic", a sequence of works on art theory – the individual works were translated into several other languages and served as textbooks for students such as the Swiss Salomon Gessner...
Category
1720s Old Masters Figurative Prints
Materials
Laid Paper, Engraving, Etching
FLEETING MOMENT
By Pino Daeni
Located in Aventura, FL
Giclee on canvas. Hand signed and numbered on front by the artist. Image size 32 x 40 in. Artwork is in excellent condition. Certificate of authenticity included. Edition of 295. Not...
Category
Late 20th Century Contemporary Portrait Prints
Materials
Canvas, Giclée
$1,396 Sale Price
30% Off
18th Century Native Floridians Etching
Located in San Francisco, CA
Mid 18th century etching of native Floridians probably used for a book. Very good condition for its age. Etching measures 7 1/2 inches high by 5 3/4 inches wide. The beautiful custom...
Category
1750s Realist Figurative Prints
Materials
Etching
Overture 1 BY CLARE GROSSMAN, Figurative Art, Solar Etching, Contemporary Print
Located in Deddington, GB
Clare Grossman
Overture 1
Limited edition of 70 solar plate etchings hand printed by the artist on 300gsm Somerset paper.
Actual image/plate size 13x10cm.
One example from a portfoli...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Figurative Prints
Materials
Paper, Etching
Portrait of a Model - Original lithograph
Located in Paris, IDF
Maurice DENIS (1870 - 1943)
Portrait of a Model, Study for the Bacchanale, 1918
Original lithograph enhanced in pastel
On light cream tinted vellum 35 x 26 cm (c. 13,7 x 10,2 inch)
...
Category
Early 20th Century Academic Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
Hommage to Gustave Courbet - Lithograph by Renato Guttuso - 1980s
Located in Roma, IT
Hommage to Gustave Courbet is a lithograph realized by Renato Guttuso in 1980.
Hand-signed on the lower.
Numbered, edition of 100.
Drystamp "La Spirale".
Category
1980s Contemporary Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
THE CAPTURE OF MAJOR ANDRE
Located in Portland, ME
Smillie, James and Robert Hinshelwood and Alfred Jones. THE CAPTURE OF MAJOR ANDRE. Engraving after the painting by Asher B. Durand, 1845. Printed on cream-colored wove paper. 13 1/8 x 17 inches 333 x 431 mm.(image). In the margin, just under the image, left: "Painted by A.M. Durand," center: "Figures engr'd by Alfred Jones," right: "Landscaped engr'd by Smillie & Hinshelwood." Ttiled "The Capture of Major Andre" in the margin, Center, and further annotated "From a painting by A. B. Durandin the possession of the Honble James K.Paulding / Published by the American Art Union...
Category
1840s Figurative Prints
Materials
Engraving
Keith Haring Area Nightclub invite New York, 1986
Located in NEW YORK, NY
Keith Haring at Area Nightclub, New York, 1986:
Rare vintage 1986 announcement for a Splash Magazine event at the historic 1980s New York Area nightclub...
Category
1980s Pop Art Figurative Prints
Materials
Offset
Marc Chagall - Creation - Adam and Eve - Original Lithograph from Bible
By Marc Chagall
Located in Collonge Bellerive, Geneve, CH
Marc Chagall, Original Lithograh depicting an instant of the Bible.
Technique: Original lithograph in colours (Mourlot no. 234)
On the reverse: another black and white original litho...
Category
1960s Modern Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
18th-century celestial - Eridanus Orion Lepus
Located in London, GB
18th-century celestial
FLAMSTEED, John.
Eridanus Orion Lepus
London, C. Nourse, 1753.
A fine star chart from the Atlas Coelestis, the largest and most accurate star atlas publish...
Category
1750s Naturalistic Figurative Prints
Materials
Watercolor, Engraving
Qaravi Yaqona: Kava Ceremony
By Jean Charlot
Located in San Francisco, CA
Artist: Jean Charlot (French 1898-1979)
Title: Qaravi Yaqona: Kava Ceremony from Kei Viti (No. 2)
Portfolio: Kei Viti – Melanesian Images
Year: 1978 Printed by Lynton Kistler
Medium...
Category
1970s Modern Figurative Prints
Materials
Paper, Lithograph
Untitled - Lithograph by Ugo Attardi - 1985
By Ugo Attardi
Located in Roma, IT
Lithograph realized by Ugo Attardi in 1985.
Very good condition.
Ugo Attardi was born in Sori, near Genoa, in 1923 - 2006
In 1948 in Rome he shared with Carla Accardi, Pietro Consa...
Category
1980s Contemporary Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
Yes, o Beautiful Dione - 1978
Located in Roma, IT
Yes, o Beautiful Dione is a woodcut print on Arches Paper realized in 1978 to illustrated "L'Art d'Aimer" (The Art of Love) by Ovid.
Hand signed and numbered in pencil. Dali's Drys...
Category
1970s Surrealist Figurative Prints
Materials
Woodcut
Le Viol II
Located in Wien, 9
- handsigned on the lower right
- dated and unreadable inscripted in the plate
- from the Suite Vollard
- plate size: 19,5 x 27,6 cm; sheetsize: 34 x 44,5 cm
- edition of 260, unnumb...
Category
1930s Modern Figurative Prints
Materials
Drypoint, Etching, Aquatint
Christian Martyr Tarcisius (El Hadjii Malick Gueye), Limited Edition skate deck
Located in New York, NY
Kehinde Wiley
Christian Martyr Tarcisius (El Hadjii Malick Gueye), Limited Edition skate deck, 2022
Color silkscreen on limited edition maple wood Skateboard Skate Deck
Signed in pla...
Category
2010s Contemporary Figurative Prints
Materials
Wood, Maple, Screen, Mixed Media
"Departure of Jena Volunteers in 1813" Copper Plate Heliogravure
Located in Chicago, IL
2018 marks the centenary anniversary of Ferdinand Hodler’s death. In that 100 years time, the art world’s esteem of this important artist has proved fickle. It has shifted from extolling his artistic merits during his lifetime to showing something of a feigned disdain- more reflective of the world political order than a true change of heart for Hodler’s work. After years of Hodler being all but a footnote in the annals of art history and generally ignored, finally, the pendulum has righted itself once again. Recent retrospective exhibitions in Europe and the United States have indicated not only a joyful rediscovery of Hodler’s art but a firm conviction that his work and world view hold particular relevance today. DAS WERK FERDINAND HODLERS is not only a collection of printed work reflecting the best of all of his painted work created up to 1914 just before the outbreak of World War I, the portfolio itself is an encapsulation of Hodler’s ethos, Parallelisme.
Hodler developed his philosophy of Parallelisme as a unifying approach to art which strips away detail in search of harmony. By means of abstraction, symmetry and repetition, Hodler sought ways to depict Nature’s essence and her fundamental, universal order. He believed these universal laws governing the natural, observable world extend to the spiritual realm. Symbolist in nature with Romantic undertones, his works are equally portraits of these universal concepts and feelings governing all life as they are a visual portrait in the formal sense. Whether his subject is a solitary tree, a moment in battle, mortal fear, despair, the awe inspired by a vast mountain range, a tender moment or even the collective conviction in a belief, Hodler unveils this guiding principle of Parallelisme.
Several aspects of Hodler’s portfolio reinforce his tenets of Parallelisme. The Table of Contents clearly preferences a harmonious design over detail. The two columns, consisting of twenty lines each, list the images by order of appearance using their German titles. The abbreviated titles are somewhat cryptic in that they obscure the identities of the sitters. Like the image Hodler presents, they are distillations of the sitter without any extraneous details. This shortening was also done in an effort to maintain a harmonious symmetry of the Table of Contents, themselves, and keep titles to a one-line limit. The twenty-fourth title: “Bildnis des Schweizerischen Gesandten C.” was so long, even with abbreviation, that it required two lines; so, for the sake of maintaining symmetry, the fortieth title: “Bauernmadchen” was omitted from the list. This explains why the images are not numbered. Hodler’s reasoning is not purely esoteric. Symmetry and pattern reach beyond mere formal design principles. Finding sameness and imposing it over disorder goes to the root of Hodler’s identity and his art. A Swiss native, Hodler was bi-lingual and spoke German and French. Each printed image, even number forty, have titles in both of Hodler’s languages. Certainly, there was a market for Hodler’s work among francophones and this inclusion may have been a polite gesture to that end; however, this is the only place in the portfolio which includes French. With German titles at the lower left of each image, Hodler’s name at bottom center and corresponding French titles at the lower right of each image, there is a harmony and symmetry woven into all aspects of the portfolio. This holds true for the page design, as it applies to each printed image and as it describes the Swiss artist himself. Seen in this light, Hodler’s portfolio of printed work is the epitome of Hodler’s Parallelisme. DAS WERK FERDINAND HODLERS is also one of the most significant documents to best tell the story of how Hodler, from Switzerland, became caught between political cross-hairs and how the changing tides of nations directly impacted the artist during his lifetime as well as the accessibility of his art for generations to come.
The Munich-based publisher of the portfolio, R. Piper & Co., Verlag, plays a crucial role in this story. Publishing on a wide range of subjects from philosophy and world religion to music, literature and the visual arts; the publisher’s breadth of inquiry within any one genre was equal in scope. Their marketing strategy to publish multiple works on Hodler offers great insight as to what a hot commodity Hodler was at that time. R.Piper & Co.’s Almanach, which they published in 1914 in commemoration of their first ten years in business, clearly illustrates the rapid succession- strategically calculated for achieving the deepest and broadest impact - in which they released three works on Hodler to hit the market by the close of 1914. DAS WERK FERDINAND HODLERS was their premier publication. It preceded C.A. Loosli’s Die Zeichnungen Ferdinand Hodlers, a print portfolio after 50 drawings by Hodler which was released in Autumn of 1914 at the mid-level price-point of 75-150 Marks; and a third less expensive collection of prints after original works by Hodler, which had not been included in either of the first two portfolios, was released at the end of that year entitled Ferdinand Hodler by Dr. Ewald Bender.
The title and timing of DAS WERK FERDINAND HODLERS' debut leaves little doubt as to the connection it has with another avant-garde portfolio of art prints, Das Werk Gustav Klimts, released in 5 installments from 1908 -1914 by Galerie Miethke in Vienna. Hodler, himself, was involved in Klimt’s ground-breaking project. As the owner of Klimt’s 1901 painting, “Judith with the Head of Holifernes” which appears as the ninth collotype print in the second installment of Das Werk Gustav Klimts, Hodler was obliged to grant access of the painting to the art printers in Vienna for them to create the collotype sometime before 1908. Hodler had been previously invited in 1904 to take part in what would be the last exhibition of the Vienna Secession before Klimt and others associated with Galerie Miethke broke away. In an interview that same year, Hodler indicated that he respected and was impressed by Klimt. Hodler’s esteem for Klimt went beyond the art itself; he emulated Klimt’s method aimed at increasing his market reach and appeal to a wider audience by creating a print portfolio of his painted work. By 1914, Hodler and his publisher had the benefit of hindsight to learn from Klimt’s Das Werk publication.
Responding to the sluggish sales of Klimt’s expensive endeavor, Hodler’s publisher devised the same diversified 1-2-3 strategy for selling Hodler’s Das Werk portfolio as they did with regards to all three works on Hodler they published that year. For their premium tier of DAS WERKS FERDINAND HODLERS, R. Piper & Co. issued an exclusive Museum quality edition of 15 examples on which Hodler signed each page. At a cost of 600 Marks, this was generally on par with Klimt’s asking price of 600 Kronen for his Das Werk portfolio. A middle-tiered Preferred edition of 30, costing somewhat less and with Hodler’s signature only on the Title Page, was also available. The General edition, targeting the largest audience with its much more affordable price of 150 Marks, is distinguishable by its smaller size.
Rather than use the subscription format Miethke had chosen for Klimt’s portfolios which proved to have had its challenges, R. Piper & Co. employed a different strategy. In addition to instantly gratifying the buyer with all 40 of the prints comprising DAS WERK FERDINAND HODLERS and the choice among three price points, they advertised in German journals a fourth possibility of ordering single prints from them directly. These printed images are easily discernible from the three complete folio editions. The paper size of the single purchased images is of the larger format like the Museum and Preferred editions, measuring 65 h x 50 w cm; however, the paper itself is the same copper print paper used in the General edition and then mounted on poster board. The publishing house positioned itself to be a direct retailer of Hodler’s art. They astutely recognized the potential for profitability and the importance, therefore, of having proprietary control over his graphic works.
R. Piper & Co. owned the exclusive printing rights to Hodler’s best work found in their three publications dating from 1914. That same year, a competing publication out of Weimar entitled Ferdinand Hodler: Ein Deutungsversuch von Hans...
Category
1910s Symbolist Figurative Prints
Materials
Paper
LIVING FOR KICKS 2 Risograph Print Handsigned and Numbered by Prefab77
By Prefab77
Located in Palm Desert, CA
Living For Kicks 2, 2013 by Prefab77
3 Color Risograph Print on Paper
16 1/2 × 11 7/10 in 41.9 × 29.7 cm
Edition of 300
Signed, Numbered (21/300), and Stamped by the artist
The roo...
Category
2010s Street Art Portrait Prints
Materials
Screen
Dialogue Entre un Prêtre et un Moribond - Etching by Hans Bellmer - 1968
By Hans Bellmer
Located in Roma, IT
Hand Signed. From the Portfolio "Petit Traité de Morale", Paris, Editions Georges Visat, 1968.
Copy on Japon Nacré from the additional suite. Includes matting
Hans Bellmer was a Ge...
Category
1960s Modern Figurative Prints
Materials
Paper, Etching
Plate 5 from the Portfolio Derriere le Miroir #212
Located in Washington, DC
Alexander Calder Plate 5 (Derriere le Miroir # 212)
Artist: Alexander Calder
Medium: Original lithograph in colors
Title: Plate 5
Portfolio: Derriere le M...
Category
1970s Post-Modern Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
Toulouse-Lautrec, Composition, The Circus by Toulouse-Lautrec (after)
Located in Fairfield, CT
Medium: Lithograph on vélin paper
Year: 1952
Paper Size: 12.125 x 9.25 inches
Inscription: Signed in the plate and unnumbered, as issued
Notes: From the album, The Circus by Toulouse...
Category
1950s Post-Impressionist Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
$716 Sale Price
20% Off
It’s Alright if You Love Me
By Todd White
Located in Toronto, ON
40" x 16" Unframed
Limited Edition Giclee on Canvas of 5
Hand Singed by Todd White
Todd white captures restaurant, night and Hollywood scenes with contrasting colors serving the vie...
Category
2010s Expressionist Figurative Prints
Materials
Giclée
19th century lithograph landscape battle scene military figurative print
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Battle of Monmouth June 28, 1778" is an original lithograph by Kurz & Allison. It depicts a battle in the American Revolutionary War.
12 1/4" x 18" art
21 1/4" x 27" frame
Kurz &...
Category
1890s Other Art Style Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
Here They Come Derby Day - Etching by Adolphe Lalauze - 1878
Located in Roma, IT
Here They Come Derby Day is a print artwork realized in 1878 by French artist Adolphe Lalauze created in 1878 after a work by C. Green.
Etching on paper
Signed and title on the pla...
Category
1870s Modern Figurative Prints
Materials
Etching
The Attention - Etching by Léon Cogniet - 19th century
Located in Roma, IT
The Attention is a print artwork realized by French artist Léon Cogniet (1794–1880).
Lithograph on paper
Signed on the plate
Good conditions.
Image dimension:13 x 17 cm
It is al...
Category
19th Century Modern Figurative Prints
Materials
Etching
Francesco Clemente, Geography, North
Located in New York, NY
NORTH
Year: 1992
Medium: 2-color, soft ground etching
Paper Size: 28 x 25 inches (71 x 64 cm)
Plate Size: 19 x 18 inches (48 x 46 cm)
Edition: 60
Price: $6,000
Suite of four also a...
Category
1990s Contemporary Figurative Prints
Materials
Etching
Raare englische Bleschticken - Etching by Christoph Suhr - 1808
Located in Roma, IT
Raare englische Bleschticken is an artwork, realized by Christoph Suhr in 1808.
Etching hand colored. Titled on the lower margin.
The artwork belongs to the Series "Der Ausruf in H...
Category
Early 1800s Modern Figurative Prints
Materials
Etching
India Landscape Etching Original 1917 Limited Edition Signed Listed Artist Rare
Located in Norfolk, GB
Ernest Stephen Lumsden RE, RSA
(1883 – 1948)
Enthusiast
Image Size: 15cm x 30 cm
Sheet size: 21.5 cm x 35 cm
Mounted: 50cm x 41 cm
Lumsden reference: 254
Edition 33/50
Whatman ...
Category
1910s Figurative Prints
Materials
Paper, Etching
Frontline and Homefront diptych
By Harry Bunce
Located in Deddington, GB
Harry Bunce
Love Wars Series, Frontline
Limited Edition Hand Pulled Silkscreen
Image Size: H 63cm x W 49cm x D 0.1cm
Mounted Size: H 73cm x W 59cm x 0.5cm
So...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Folk Art Animal Prints
Materials
Paper, Screen
My Relationship with Whiskey Is On The Rocks
Located in London, GB
My Relationship with Whiskey Is On The Rocks
By The Connor Brothers
The Connor Brothers are a contemporary British art duo known for blending fiction with reality, often creating w...
Category
2010s Contemporary Figurative Prints
Materials
Pigment
SCREAMING COUPLE
Located in Portland, ME
Dalla Venezia, David (Italian, born 1965). COUPLE SHOUTING. Etching. 1998. Inscribed PdA (Artist's Proof), and signed and dated in pencil. 3 3/8 x 4 1/2 inches, framed to 12 1/3 x 10...
Category
1990s Figurative Prints
Materials
Etching
Dribble, American Realist Lithograph by Allan Mardon
Located in Long Island City, NY
Allan Mardon, Canadian (1931 - ) - Dribble, Year: circa 1979, Medium: Lithograph, signed and numbered in pencil, Edition: 300, AP 40, Image Size: 28 x 21 inches, Size: 28 in. x ...
Category
1970s American Realist Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
Original "This Time For Keeps" , 1947 US 1- sheet vintage movie poster. 47/486
Located in Spokane, WA
Original 1947 “This Time For Keeps” vintage American movie poster. NSS: 47/486. Archival linen backed in very good condition, ready to frame. The original theater issued fold ...
Category
1940s American Realist Portrait Prints
Materials
Offset
"Retreat from Marignano" set of 3 Copper Plate Prints
Located in Chicago, IL
The three prints included in this set are: "Retreat from Marignano", "Retreat from Marignano (left panel)", "Retreat from Marignano (right panel)".
2018 marks the centenary anniversary of Ferdinand Hodler’s death. In that 100 years time, the art world’s esteem of this important artist has proved fickle. It has shifted from extolling his artistic merits during his lifetime to showing something of a feigned disdain- more reflective of the world political order than a true change of heart for Hodler’s work. After years of Hodler being all but a footnote in the annals of art history and generally ignored, finally, the pendulum has righted itself once again. Recent retrospective exhibitions in Europe and the United States have indicated not only a joyful rediscovery of Hodler’s art but a firm conviction that his work and world view hold particular relevance today. DAS WERK FERDINAND HODLERS is not only a collection of printed work reflecting the best of all of his painted work created up to 1914 just before the outbreak of World War I, the portfolio itself is an encapsulation of Hodler’s ethos, Parallelisme.
Hodler developed his philosophy of Parallelisme as a unifying approach to art which strips away detail in search of harmony. By means of abstraction, symmetry and repetition, Hodler sought ways to depict Nature’s essence and her fundamental, universal order. He believed these universal laws governing the natural, observable world extend to the spiritual realm. Symbolist in nature with Romantic undertones, his works are equally portraits of these universal concepts and feelings governing all life as they are a visual portrait in the formal sense. Whether his subject is a solitary tree, a moment in battle, mortal fear, despair, the awe inspired by a vast mountain range, a tender moment or even the collective conviction in a belief, Hodler unveils this guiding principle of Parallelisme.
Several aspects of Hodler’s portfolio reinforce his tenets of Parallelisme. The Table of Contents clearly preferences a harmonious design over detail. The two columns, consisting of twenty lines each, list the images by order of appearance using their German titles. The abbreviated titles are somewhat cryptic in that they obscure the identities of the sitters. Like the image Hodler presents, they are distillations of the sitter without any extraneous details. This shortening was also done in an effort to maintain a harmonious symmetry of the Table of Contents, themselves, and keep titles to a one-line limit. The twenty-fourth title: “Bildnis des Schweizerischen Gesandten C.” was so long, even with abbreviation, that it required two lines; so, for the sake of maintaining symmetry, the fortieth title: “Bauernmadchen” was omitted from the list. This explains why the images are not numbered. Hodler’s reasoning is not purely esoteric. Symmetry and pattern reach beyond mere formal design principles. Finding sameness and imposing it over disorder goes to the root of Hodler’s identity and his art. A Swiss native, Hodler was bi-lingual and spoke German and French. Each printed image, even number forty, have titles in both of Hodler’s languages. Certainly, there was a market for Hodler’s work among francophones and this inclusion may have been a polite gesture to that end; however, this is the only place in the portfolio which includes French. With German titles at the lower left of each image, Hodler’s name at bottom center and corresponding French titles at the lower right of each image, there is a harmony and symmetry woven into all aspects of the portfolio. This holds true for the page design, as it applies to each printed image and as it describes the Swiss artist himself. Seen in this light, Hodler’s portfolio of printed work is the epitome of Hodler’s Parallelisme. DAS WERK FERDINAND HODLERS is also one of the most significant documents to best tell the story of how Hodler, from Switzerland, became caught between political cross-hairs and how the changing tides of nations directly impacted the artist during his lifetime as well as the accessibility of his art for generations to come.
The Munich-based publisher of the portfolio, R. Piper & Co., Verlag, plays a crucial role in this story. Publishing on a wide range of subjects from philosophy and world religion to music, literature and the visual arts; the publisher’s breadth of inquiry within any one genre was equal in scope. Their marketing strategy to publish multiple works on Hodler offers great insight as to what a hot commodity Hodler was at that time. R.Piper & Co.’s Almanach, which they published in 1914 in commemoration of their first ten years in business, clearly illustrates the rapid succession- strategically calculated for achieving the deepest and broadest impact - in which they released three works on Hodler to hit the market by the close of 1914. DAS WERK FERDINAND HODLERS was their premier publication. It preceded C.A. Loosli’s Die Zeichnungen Ferdinand Hodlers, a print portfolio after 50 drawings by Hodler which was released in Autumn of 1914 at the mid-level price-point of 75-150 Marks; and a third less expensive collection of prints after original works by Hodler, which had not been included in either of the first two portfolios, was released at the end of that year entitled Ferdinand Hodler by Dr. Ewald Bender.
The title and timing of DAS WERK FERDINAND HODLERS' debut leaves little doubt as to the connection it has with another avant-garde portfolio of art prints, Das Werk Gustav Klimts, released in 5 installments from 1908 -1914 by Galerie Miethke in Vienna. Hodler, himself, was involved in Klimt’s ground-breaking project. As the owner of Klimt’s 1901 painting, “Judith with the Head of Holifernes” which appears as the ninth collotype print in the second installment of Das Werk Gustav Klimts, Hodler was obliged to grant access of the painting to the art printers in Vienna for them to create the collotype sometime before 1908. Hodler had been previously invited in 1904 to take part in what would be the last exhibition of the Vienna Secession before Klimt and others associated with Galerie Miethke broke away. In an interview that same year, Hodler indicated that he respected and was impressed by Klimt. Hodler’s esteem for Klimt went beyond the art itself; he emulated Klimt’s method aimed at increasing his market reach and appeal to a wider audience by creating a print portfolio of his painted work. By 1914, Hodler and his publisher had the benefit of hindsight to learn from Klimt’s Das Werk publication.
Responding to the sluggish sales of Klimt’s expensive endeavor, Hodler’s publisher devised the same diversified 1-2-3 strategy for selling Hodler’s Das Werk portfolio as they did with regards to all three works on Hodler they published that year. For their premium tier of DAS WERKS FERDINAND HODLERS, R. Piper & Co. issued an exclusive Museum quality edition of 15 examples on which Hodler signed each page. At a cost of 600 Marks, this was generally on par with Klimt’s asking price of 600 Kronen for his Das Werk portfolio. A middle-tiered Preferred edition of 30, costing somewhat less and with Hodler’s signature only on the Title Page, was also available. The General edition, targeting the largest audience with its much more affordable price of 150 Marks, is distinguishable by its smaller size.
Rather than use the subscription format Miethke had chosen for Klimt’s portfolios which proved to have had its challenges, R. Piper & Co. employed a different strategy. In addition to instantly gratifying the buyer with all 40 of the prints comprising DAS WERK FERDINAND HODLERS and the choice among three price points, they advertised in German journals a fourth possibility of ordering single prints from them directly. These printed images are easily discernible from the three complete folio editions. The paper size of the single purchased images is of the larger format like the Museum and Preferred editions, measuring 65 h x 50 w cm; however, the paper itself is the same copper print paper used in the General edition and then mounted on poster board. The publishing house positioned itself to be a direct retailer of Hodler’s art. They astutely recognized the potential for profitability and the importance, therefore, of having proprietary control over his graphic works.
R. Piper & Co. owned the exclusive printing rights to Hodler’s best work found in their three publications dating from 1914. That same year, a competing publication out of Weimar entitled Ferdinand Hodler: Ein Deutungsversuch von Hans Muhlestein appeared. Its author, a young scholar, expressed his frustration with the limited availability of printable work by Hodler. In his Author’s Note on page 19, dated Easter, 1914, Muhlestein confirms that the publisher of Hodler’s three works from that same year owned the exclusive reproductive rights to Hodler’s printed original work. He goes further to explain that even after offering to pay to use certain of those images in his book, the publisher refused. Clearly, a lot of jockeying for position in what was perceived as a hot market was occurring in 1914.
Instead, their timing couldn’t have been more ill-fated, and what began with such high hopes suddenly found a much different market amid a hostile climate. The onset of WWI directly impacted sales. Many, including Ferdinand Hodler, publicly protested the September invasion by Germany of France in which the Reims Cathedral, re-built in the 13th century, was shelled, destroying priceless stained glass and statuary and burning off the iron roof and badly damaging its wooden interior. Thomas Gaehtgens, Director of the Getty Research Institute describes how the bombing of Reims Cathedral triggered blindingly powerful and deeply-felt ultra-nationalistic responses: “The event profoundly shocked French intellectuals, who for the most part had an intense admiration for German literature, music and art. By relying on press accounts and abstracting from the visual propagandistic content, they were unable to interpret the siege of Reims without turning away from German culture in disgust. Similarly, the German intelligentsia and bourgeoisie were also shocked to find themselves described as vandals and barbarians. Ninety-three writers, scientists, university professors, and artists signed a protest, directed against the French insults, that defended the actions of the German army.”
In similar fashion, a flurry of open letters published in German newspapers and journals as well as telegrams and postcards sent directly to Hodler following his outcry in support of Reims reflected the collectively critical reaction to Hodler’s position. Loosli documents that among the list of telegrams Hodler received was one from none other than his publisher in Germany, R.Piper & Co. Allegiances were questioned. The market for Hodler in Germany immediately softened. Matters worsened for the publisher beyond the German backlash to Hodler and his loss of appeal in the home market; with the war in full swing until 1918, there was little chance a German publisher would have much interest coming from outside of Germany and Austria. Following the war and Hodler’s death in 1918, the economy in Germany continued to spiral out and just 5 years later, hyper-inflation had rendered its currency worthless vis-a-vis its value in the pre-war years. Like the economy, Hodler’s reputation was slow to find currency in these difficult times. Even many French art fans had turned sour on Hodler as they considered his long-standing relationship in German and Austrian art circles. Thus, the portfolio’s rarity in Hodler’s lifetime and, consequently, the availability of these printed images from DAS WERK FERDINAND HODLERS since his death has been scarce.
In many ways, Hodler and his portfolios were casualties of war. Thwarted from their intended purpose of reaching a wide audience and show-casing Parallelisme, Hodler’s unique approach to art, this important, undated work has been both elusive and shrouded in mystery. Perhaps DAS WERK FERDINAND HODLERS was left undated as a means of affirming the timelessness of Hodler’s art. Digging back into the past, Hodler’s contemporaries, like R. Piper, C.A. Loosli and Hans Muhlestein, indeed provide the keys to unequivocally clarify what has largely been mired in obscurity. Just after Hodler’s death, the May, 1918 issue of the Burlington Review ran a small column which opined hope for better access to R.Piper & Co.’s DAS WERK FERDINAND HODLERS; 100 years later, it is finally possible. Hodler’s voice rings out through these printed works. Once more, his modern approach to depicting portraits, landscapes and grand scale scenes of Swiss history speak to us of what is universal. Engaging with any one of these images is the chance to connect to Hodler’s vision and his world view- weltanschauung in German, vision du monde in French- however one expresses these concepts through language, its message embedded in his work is the same: “We differ from one another, but we are like each other even more. What unifies us is greater and more powerful than what divides us.” Today, Hodler’s art couldn’t be more timely.
FERDINAND HODLER (SWISS, 1853-1918) explored Parallelisme through figurative poses evocative of music, dance and ritual. His images of sex, night, desertion and death as well as his many landscapes exploring the universal longing for harmony with Nature are unique and important works embodying a Symbolist paradigm. Truly a Modern Master, Hodler’s influence can be felt in the work of Gustav Klimt and Kolomon Moser and subsequent Expressionist artists such as Egon Schiele. He was born into an impoverished family in Bern, Switzerland in 1853. His entire family succumbed to tuberculosis, and he was orphaned by the age of 13, the only surviving child among his 13 siblings. In the absence of family, the influence and guidance which his art instructors provided Hodler was foundational and profound. Hodler began formal studies in 1872 at the Geneva School of Design. Under Barthelemy Menn, Hodler was drawn to the ordered beauty of Euclidian geometry and Durer’s fundamentals of human proportion that proved to be guiding principles informing his art throughout his life.
By the 1880s, Hodler began to enjoy some recognition for his work which put him on a new path towards stability. Remaining in Geneva, he became assistant to the well-known muralist, Edouard Castres. Following his first solo show in 1885, Hodler’s work took on a Symbolist quality. He frequently associated with a group of Swiss Symbolist...
Category
1910s Symbolist Figurative Prints
Materials
Paper
Santiago (A/P)
Located in San Francisco, CA
Serigraph by Mexican painter Rafael Coronel. Edition of 100. Certificate of authenticity included.
Category
Late 20th Century Contemporary Portrait Prints
Materials
Screen
Happy Birthday Elvis! - Jailhouse Pop (framed hand finished screen print)
Located in Aventura, FL
One color screen print hand finished with acrylic paint. Hand signed and numbered on front, thumb print on verso Mr. Brainwash. Edition 30 of 50. Artwork size 24 x 22 inches. Fr...
Category
2010s Street Art Figurative Prints
Materials
Screen, Paper
$2,962 Sale Price
25% Off
Tennis, Contemporary Lithograph by Beryl Cook
By Beryl Cook
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Beryl Cook, British (1927 - 2008)
Title: Tennis
Medium: Lithograph, signed and numbered in pencil
Edition: 300
Size: 34 in. x 27 in. (86.36 cm x 68.58 cm)
Category
1980s Contemporary Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
$1,200 Sale Price
20% Off
Original "FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE" - US 1-sheet, 1967 vintage movie poster
Located in Spokane, WA
Original, “For A Few Dollars More”, professionally linen-backed US one sheet movie poster with restored original fold marks: for Sergio Leone's Per qualche dollaro in piu, Eastwood! ...
Category
1960s American Modern Portrait Prints
Materials
Offset
Tree, Exhibiting the Various Congregations of the Benedictine Order /// Hollar
Located in Saint Augustine, FL
Artist: Sir William Dugdale (English, 1605-1686)
Title: "Tree, Exhibiting the Various Congregations of the Benedictine Order"
Portfolio: Monasticon Anglicanum: A History of the Abbie...
Category
1810s Old Masters Figurative Prints
Materials
Engraving
Recently Viewed
View AllMore Ways To Browse
Dali Cervantes
Dali Corridor
Dali Fallen Angel
Dali Ghost Of Ancestors
Dali La Pieta Nera
Dali Sacred Cow
Dali Signed Ecstatic
Dali Thus Was Earth Created
Dali Tree Of Penitence
Dali Trilogy
Dali Venus In Furs
David Klein Zebra Poster
David Shrigley Black Cats Everywhere
Degas Ballerina Etchings
Dieu Et Mon Droit
Eduardo Paolozzi On Sale
El Cid
Erte Circe