People Figurative Prints
to
15,913
15,430
5,028
4,173
1,766
1,010
Overall Width
to
Overall Height
to
10,076
4,392
2,113
1,410
947
766
731
499
292
220
179
58
33
6
720
685
272
252
219
2,209
5,222
16,617
3,452
240
558
1,175
941
889
1,543
2,393
3,243
1,453
638
1,810
18,154
8,450
776
27,503
15,220
10,985
9,160
7,868
7,333
4,839
4,266
2,441
2,065
1,924
1,854
1,618
1,467
1,453
1,433
1,395
1,290
1,232
1,098
10,898
8,051
3,729
2,363
1,625
2,429
12,844
11,881
11,023
Art Subject: People
Hell 5 : Minos - Woodcut - 1963 [Field #page 189]
Located in Paris, IDF
Salvador Dali (1904-1989)
Hell 5 - Minos
Wood engraving from "Divine Comedy"
with the printed signature
1960/63
Printed on paper Vélin BFK Rives
Size 32,8 x 26,4 cm (c. 13 x 10")
...
Category
1960s Surrealist Figurative Prints
Materials
Woodcut
Salvador Dali - Apparition de Dulcinée - Original Lithograph
Located in Collonge Bellerive, Geneve, CH
Salvador Dali - Apparition de Dulcinée - Original Lithograph
Joseph FORET, Paris, 1957
SIGNATURE : printed in the image
LIMITED : 197 copies.
SIZE : 41 x 33 cm
REFERENCES : Field 57...
Category
1950s Surrealist Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
Leonor Fini - Pregnant - Original Handsigned Lithograph
By Leonor Fini
Located in Collonge Bellerive, Geneve, CH
Leonor Fini - Pregnant - Original Handsigned Lithograph
Circa 1982
On colored paper
Handsigned and Numbered
Edition: 275
Dimensions: 69 x 52.5 cm
Leonor Fini is considered one of the most important women artists of the mid-twentieth century, along with Leonora Carrington, Frida Kahlo, Meret Oppenheim, Remedios Varo, and Dorothea Tanning – most of whom Fini knew well. Her career, which spanned some six decades, included painting, graphic design, book illustration, product design (the renowned torso-shaped perfume bottle for Schiaparelli’s Shocking), and set and costume design for theatre, ballet, opera, and film. In this compellingly readable, exhaustively researched account, author Peter Webb brings Fini’s provocative art and unconventional personal life, as well as the vibrant avant-garde world in which she revolved, vividly in life.
Born in Buenos Aires in 1907 (August 30 – January 18, 1996, Paris) to Italian and Argentine parents, Leonor grew up in Trieste, Italy, raised by her strong-willed, independent mother, Malvina. She was a virtually self-taught artist, learing anatomy directly from studying cadavers in the local morgue and absorbing composition and technique from the Old Masters through books and visits to museums.
Fini’s fledging attempts at painting in Trieste let her to Milan, where she participated in her first group exhibition in 1929, and then to Paris in 1931.
Her vivacious personality and flamboyant attire instantly garnered her a spotlight in the Parisian art world and she soon developed close relationships with the leading surrealist writers and painters, including Paul Eluard, Salvador Dali, Man Ray, and Max Ernst, who became her lover for a time. The only surrealist she could not abide because of his misogyny was André Breton. Although she repeatedly exhibited with them, she never considered herself a surrealist. The American dealer Julien Levy,
very much impressed by Fini’s painting and smitten by her eccentric charms, invited her to New York in 1936, where she took part in a joint gallery exhibition with Max Ernst and met many American surrealists, including Joseph Cornell and Pavel Tchelitchew. Her work was included in MoMA’s pivotal Fantastic Art, Dada and Surrealism exhibition, along with De Chirico, Dali, Ernst, and Yves Tanguy.
In 1939 in Paris she curated an exhibition of surrealist furniture for her childhood friend Leo Castelli for the opening of his first gallery.
Introductions to her exhibition catalogues were written by De Chirico, Ernst, and Jean Cocteau.
A predominant theme of Fini’s art is the complex relationship between the sexes, primarily the interplay between the dominant female and the passive, androgynous male. In many of her most powerful works, the female takes the form of a sphinx, often with the face of the artist. Fini was also an accomplished portraitist; among her subjects were Stanislao Lepri...
Category
1980s Modern Nude Prints
Materials
Lithograph
Miss Ida Heath
Located in Columbia, MO
HENRI DE TOULOUSE-LAUTREC
La Loge au mascaron doré
1948
Lithograph on paper
Ed. 166/740
20.5 x 14 inches
Category
19th Century Post-Impressionist Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
Fete Champetre
By Jean Dufy
Located in San Francisco, CA
This artwork titled "Fete Champetre" c.1950 is an original colors lithograph by renown artist Jean Dufy, 1888-1964. It is hand signed and numbered 80/220 in pencil by the artist. The...
Category
Mid-20th Century Fauvist Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
Bon Electeur, 1928 Aquatint on Arches by Georges Rouault
Located in Long Island City, NY
Bon Electeur from Le Reincarnations du Pere Ubu
Georges Rouault, French (1871–1958)
Date: 1928
Aquatint on Arches, signed in the plate
Image Size: 10 x 7 inches
Size: 17 x 13 in. (43...
Category
1920s Expressionist Figurative Prints
Materials
Aquatint
Gossip, Itzchak Tarkay
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: Itzchak Tarkay (1935-2012)
Title: Gossip
Year: Circa 2000
Medium: Silkscreen on wove paper
Size: 13.5 x 11.5 inches
Edition: 493/750, plus 100 Remarques
Condition: Excellent
...
Category
Early 2000s American Impressionist Figurative Prints
Materials
Screen
$876 Sale Price
20% Off
Matisse, Mademoiselle D.A., Portraits par Henri Matisse (after)
Located in Fairfield, CT
Medium: Collotype, héliogravure, recto and verso, on grand vélin Renage filigrané paper, as issued
Year: 1954
Paper Size: 12 x 9.25 inches; image size: 9.05 x 5.91 inches
Inscription...
Category
1950s Modern Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
$716 Sale Price
20% Off
"Women Sleeping Face Down" by Gustav Klimt - Original Print from Courtesan Folio
By Gustav Klimt
Located in Chicago, IL
Plate #12 from Gustav Klimt's 1907 "Dialogues of the Courtesans" portfolio, consisting of 15 collotypes on cream japon paper. The drawings in this folio are said to be studies for Klimt's well-known Water Serpents paintings...
Category
Early 1900s Vienna Secession Figurative Prints
Materials
Paper
Lovers with a Tiger - Lithograph, Maeght 1977
Located in Paris, IDF
Richard LINDNER
Lovers with a Tiger
Original lithograph, 1977
Printed signature in the plate
On heavy paper 76 x 56 cm (c. 30 x 22 inch)
Created for the artist exhibition in Maeght ...
Category
1970s American Modern Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
Magritte, Composition, Poèmes 1923-1958, Dix dessins de René Magritte (after)
Located in Auburn Hills, MI
Lithograph on vélin du Marais paper. Paper Size: 11 x 8.25 inches. Inscription: Signed in the plate and unnumbered, as issued. Notes: From the volume, Poèmes 1923-1958. Dix dessins d...
Category
1950s Surrealist Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
$716 Sale Price
20% Off
Music and Girls - Original Lithograph - 1980s
Located in Roma, IT
Hand signed
Edition of 100 copies
Includes a contemporary wooden frame cm. 64x86
Category
1980s Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
$396 Sale Price
25% Off
Pepper Jelly Lady, Modern Lithograph, signed and numbered by Romare Bearden
Located in Long Island City, NY
Romare Bearden, American (1911 - 1988) - Pepper Jelly Lady, Year: 1980, Medium: Lithograph on Arches, signed and numbered, Edition: 113/150, Size: 26 x 21 in. (66.04 x 53.34 cm...
Category
1980s Modern Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
Lorenzaccio - Sarah Bernhardt (after) Alphonse Mucha Poster, 1969
Located in New York, NY
These beautiful and colorful lithographic posters were hand reproduced by the Mourlot Studio's Master Printer Henri Deschamps in 1969. They are not to be mistaken with later cheap di...
Category
1960s Art Nouveau Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
The Warriors Returning from Troy - Lithograph by De Chirico - 1966
Located in Roma, IT
4 colors lithograph realized by De Chirico in 1966.
Edition by Carlo Bestetti.
Image dimension 32 x 46 cm.
Sheet dimension 50,5 x 64 cm.
Hand signed and numbered in pencil.
Edit...
Category
1960s Modern Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
$1,586 Sale Price
25% Off
Picasso, Composition, Les Métamorphoses (after)
Located in Fairfield, CT
Medium: Lithograph on vélin papier Vergé fin blanc des papeteries de Bellerive paper
Year: 1970
Paper Size: 11.024 x 8.66 inches
Inscription: Inscription: Unsigned and unnumbered, as...
Category
1970s Cubist Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
$716 Sale Price
20% Off
The Trajan's Column - Offset by G.B. Piranesi - 1990s
Located in Roma, IT
A beautiful reproduction of one of the most celebrated Piranesi's masterpieces, realized in a limited edition of a few hundreds in 1990s.
The Trajan's Column is the last remaining n...
Category
1990s Old Masters Figurative Prints
Materials
Etching
$1,586 Sale Price
25% Off
Unknown.... Woman at Market, original lithograph
Located in Belgrade, MT
This piece is part of my private collection, it is in very good condition . Limited edition signed by the artist.
It is brilliant in colors of yellows and browns.
Category
Mid-20th Century Contemporary Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
$176 Sale Price
68% Off
Harp Player Beneath The Tree, Folk Art Lithograph by Ira Moskowitz
Located in Long Island City, NY
Ira Moskowitz, Polish/American (1912 - 2001) - Harp Player Beneath The Tree, Portfolio: Song of Songs, Year: 1972, Medium: Lithograph, signed and numbered in pencil, Edition: 100, ...
Category
1970s Folk Art Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
Salvador Dali - Venus in Furs - Original Stamp-Signed Etching
Located in Collonge Bellerive, Geneve, CH
Salvador Dali - Original Etching
Stamp signed by Dali
Edition of 294 copies.
Paper : Arches vellum.
Dimensions : 16x12".
Catalogue Raisonné : Field 68-6 (p. 40-41).
Salvador Dal...
Category
1960s Surrealist Figurative Prints
Materials
Etching
Leonard Tsuguharu Foujita 'Profil de madone ' lithograph. signed in pencil, 1957
Located in Pembroke Pines, FL
Artist: Leonard Tsuguharu Foujita
Title: 'Profil de madone'
Year: 1957
Medium: lithograph on paper
Size: 55.5 x 38 cm. (21.85 x 14.96 in)
Edition: 165/220
signed & numbered in penc...
Category
1940s Contemporary Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
Aphrodite, Framed Art Deco Foil and Screenprint by Erte
By Erté
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Erté
Title: Aphrodite
Year: 1985
Medium: Embossed Serigraph with foil stamping, signed and numbered in pencil
Edition: 185/300
Image Size: 32 x 22.5 inches
Size: 35.5 x 25.5 ...
Category
1980s Art Deco Figurative Prints
Materials
Foil
Chez les Basileus
Located in San Francisco, CA
Artist: Jean-Louis Forain (French, 1852-1931)
Title: Chez les Basileus
Year: 1918
Medium: Lithograph
Edition: Numbered 266/300 in pencil
Paper: Wove
Size paper: 15 x 22.25 inch...
Category
Early 20th Century Impressionist Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
Carnaval.
Located in London, GB
BARBIER, George.
Carnaval.
London, C. W. Beaumont, 1913.
Barbier’s wonderful illustrations of the legendary dancer in Scheherazade, Carnaval and L’Après-midi d’un Faune
‘The d...
Category
1910s Art Nouveau Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
'Eyes for the Night' — Mid-century Surrealism
Located in Myrtle Beach, SC
Benton Spruance, 'Eyes for the Night', lithograph, 1947, edition 35, Fine and Looney 260. Signed, dated, titled, and annotated 'Ed 35' in pencil. A fine impression, on heavy, cream ...
Category
1940s American Modern Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
$720 Sale Price
20% Off
Composition (Mourlot 668-677), La Féerie et Le Royaume, Marc Chagall
By Marc Chagall
Located in Auburn Hills, MI
Lithograph on vélin d’Arches paper. Unsigned and unnumbered, as issued. Good condition. Notes: From the folio, La Féerie et Le Royaume, Lithographies Originales de Marc Chagall, 1972...
Category
1970s Modern Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
$4,796 Sale Price
20% Off
Triumph of The Sea
Located in Hollywood, FL
ARTIST: Salvador Dali
TITLE: Triumph of The Sea
MEDIUM: Lithograph
SIGNED: Hand Signed
PUBLISHER: Sidney Lucas, New York
EDITION NUMBER: 12...
Category
1960s Surrealist Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
Springtime Memory (M.1019), 1983
By Marc Chagall
Located in Greenwich, CT
Springtime Memory (M.1019) is lithograph by Marc Chagall, image size 19.75 x 13.25 inches and framed dimensions 35.5 x 28.5 inches. A proof outside the edition of 64, signed 'Marc Ch...
Category
20th Century Modern Prints and Multiples
Materials
Paper, Lithograph
$23,310 Sale Price
40% Off
Religion and Peace
Located in San Francisco, CA
This artwork titled "Religion and Peace" 1995, is an original color serigraph on thin rice paper taped to a sheet of wove paper for stabilization by noted Ch...
Category
Late 20th Century Modern Figurative Prints
Materials
Screen
La Place de la Pucelle.
By Samuel Prout
Located in Middletown, NY
A market scene; the spot on which the execution of Joan of Arc took place.
London: R. Bower, 1825.
Aquatint with hand-coloring in watercolor on cream wove paper, 10 3/4 x 13 5/8 inc...
Category
Early 19th Century English School Landscape Prints
Materials
Watercolor, Handmade Paper, Aquatint
Festival Procession Of A Daimyo - Original Woodblock Print
Located in Soquel, CA
Procession Of A Daimyo - Original Woodblock Print
Original woodblock print depicting the procession of a Daimyo. Ten Japanese soldiers are seen as they aid in transporting the Daimy...
Category
Late 18th Century Edo Figurative Prints
Materials
Ink, Wood Panel, Rice Paper
NO. 7
Located in New York, NY
The photographs of the young Turkish artist Melissa Mizrakli focus on the human body, giving it a personal interpretation. In some of her black and white works she uses the human body only as a pictorial sign in order to create almost abstract works. First made anonymous, the female model is then cloned and circularly multiplied. The result is a kind of wheel in which the repeated human body gives birth to a new, seemingly vegetal or mineral structure. Thus, the human element seems to be transformed into different other natural species...
Category
2010s Contemporary Black and White Photography
Materials
Photographic Paper, Plexiglass, Archival Paper, Archival Pigment
"Personaje" (Character) - Abstracted Figurative Serigraph on Paper (#146/175)
By Victor Chab
Located in Soquel, CA
"Personaje" (Character) - Abstracted Figurative Serigraph on Paper (#146/175)
Abstracted figure with a collage-like appearance by Victor Chab (Argentinian, b. 1930). A figure with f...
Category
1980s Cubist Figurative Prints
Materials
Paper, Lithograph
Mythology: Amphora Bearer - Original Lithograph
By Maurice Desvallières
Located in Paris, IDF
Maurice Desvallières
Mythology: Amphora Bearer , 1898
Original lithograph (Champenois workshop)
Unsigned
On vellum, 40 x 31 cm (c. 16 x 12 in)
INFORMATION: Lithograph created for t...
Category
1890s Art Nouveau Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
The Creation of Earth and Sea Animals - Lithograph - 1964
Located in Roma, IT
The Creation of Earthly and Sea Animals is an artwork realized by Salvador Dalí in 1964.
It is part of Biblia Sacra vulgatæ editionis published by Rizzoli-Mediolani between 1967 an...
Category
1960s Surrealist Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
$528 Sale Price
25% Off
Composition (Field 69-3; M/L. 1600), VI tavole dal ciclo della, Biblia Sacra
Located in Auburn Hills, MI
Lithograph in colors on vélin Fabriano charta ex meris pannis "ab alveo" manu fabricata, perlucidis figuris intexta paper. Paper size: 19 x 13.75 inches. Inscription: Signed in the p...
Category
1960s Surrealist Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
$1,116 Sale Price
20% Off
The Sunday Before Confirmation; Parson: What did your godfathers & godmothers...
Located in Middletown, NY
English School, 19th century
The Sunday Before Confirmation; Parson: What did your godfathers & godmothers then for you? Boy: Nothing sir, rot'em for I never had none.
London: Thoma...
Category
Mid-19th Century English School Figurative Prints
Materials
Watercolor, Handmade Paper, Engraving, Lithograph
Edo Landscape Japanese Woodblock Print
Located in Houston, TX
Edo Meisho woodblock print of a famous Japanese coastal dock. This woodblock is most likely apart of the series "One Hundred Famous Views of Edo." The woodblock print is printed on r...
Category
1850s Edo Landscape Prints
Materials
Woodcut
Magical Thinking By Grayson Perry
Located in London, GB
Magical Thinking
By Grayson Perry
Grayson Perry is a British artist and potter celebrated for his bold ceramics and tapestries that explore themes of i...
Category
2010s Contemporary Figurative Prints
Materials
Silk, Screen
Crucifixion (Christ of Gala) With Stereographic Viewer
Located in Hollywood, FL
ARTIST: Salvador Dali
TITLE: Crucifixion (Christ of Gala)
MEDIUM: 2 Lithographs
SIGNED: One Lithograph is Hand Signed and one lithograph bears an emb...
Category
1980s Surrealist Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
Rowland Langmaid RA (1897-1956) - Framed Etching, Plymouth Hoe
Located in Corsham, GB
An original early 20th century etching of Plymouth Hoe by Rowland Langmaid (1897-1956). Signed and titled in pencil to the lower margin. Presented in a narrow black frame with a cris...
Category
Early 20th Century Figurative Prints
Materials
Etching
'Winter Serenity' —from 'Solitude' for Henry David Thoreau's 'Walden'
Located in Myrtle Beach, SC
Naoko Matsubara, 'Winter Serenity' for the portfolio 'Solitude', woodcut, 1971, edition 100. Signed and numbered '58/100' in pencil. A fine, richly-inked impression, on cream laid J...
Category
1970s Modern Figurative Prints
Materials
Woodcut
La Tour Eiffel à l'âne (Cramer 24; Mourlot 97), Derrière le miroir
By Marc Chagall
Located in Auburn Hills, MI
Lithograph on vélin paper. Paper Size: 15 x 11 inches. Inscription: Unsigned and unnumbered, as issued. Catalogue raisonné references: Chagall, Marc, and Julien Cain. Chagall Lithogr...
Category
1950s Expressionist Landscape Prints
Materials
Lithograph
$7,196 Sale Price
20% Off
Picasso, Composition (Cramer 84), Picasso en marge du Buffon (after)
Located in Fairfield, CT
Medium: Lithograph on vélin du Marais paper
Year: 1957
Paper Size: 14.5 x 11 inches
Catalogue raisonné reference: Cramer, illustration 84
Inscription: Inscription: Unsigned and unnum...
Category
1950s Cubist Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
$956 Sale Price
20% Off
Le Paradis XX (Field 189-200; M/L 1039-1138), La Divine Comédie
Located in Auburn Hills, MI
Woodcut in colors on vélin pur chiffon de Rives paper. Paper size: 13 x 10.375 inches. Inscription: Unsigned and unnumbered, as issued. Catalogue raisonné reference: Michler & Löpsin...
Category
1960s Surrealist Figurative Prints
Materials
Woodcut
$796 Sale Price
20% Off
Conversation
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Conversation
Lithograph, 1893-1894
Signed and numbered in pencil lower left (see photo)
Edition: (57/100) 100
Printed on wove paper
Published by Edouard Kleinmann
An early Nabi schoo...
Category
1890s French School Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
Walking Sticks and Round-A-Bouts. For the Year 1801
Located in Middletown, NY
An excellent example of Rowlandson's visual commentary on the challenges of changing fashion for those with a less than ideal physique.
Rowlandson, Thomas (after George Murgatroyd W...
Category
Early 19th Century English School Portrait Prints
Materials
Handmade Paper, Etching, Engraving, Watercolor
Purgatory Canto 25 (The Divine Comedy)
Located in Greenwich, CT
Purgatory Canto 25 is a wood engraving on BFK Rives with an image size of 10 x 7" from the popular French edition of the portfolio. Framed in a classic, gold-tone frame.
Cataloging:...
Category
20th Century Surrealist Prints and Multiples
Materials
Paper, Woodcut
The Mythology The Milky Way
Located in Hollywood, FL
ARTIST: Salvador Dali
TITLE: The Mythology The Milky Way
MEDIUM: Etching
SIGNED: Hand Signed
PUBLISHER: Editions Argillet, Paris
EDITION NUMBER: 30/150
MEASUREMENTS: 22" x 30"...
Category
1960s Surrealist Figurative Prints
Materials
Etching
Bezeleel and His Two Golden Cherubim
By Marc Chagall
Located in Washington, DC
Artist: Marc Chagall
Medium: Original lithograph on Arches wove paper
Title: TBezeleel and His Two Golden Cherubim
Portfolio: The Story of the Exodus
Year: 1966
Edition: 41/250
Signa...
Category
1960s Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
"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
Original Keep These Off The U.S.A., Buy Liberty Bonds vintage WW1 poster
Located in Spokane, WA
Original Keep These Off the U.S.A." buy more Liberty Bonds vintage World War One posters. Archival linen backed in excellent condition, ready to frame. The images shown are of the exact poster you will receive. Grade A- Artist: John Norton. Printed by The Strobridge Litho Co., Cincinnati & New York. Ref: Johnson 21, Rawls 214, Full-size paper, not trimmed 31" x 40.25" in size.
Bend right corner straightened during linen backing and tiny edge repair. Excellent bright colors. Clean, ready to frame.
This poster was part of the Committee on Public Information (CPI) 's broader propaganda campaign to rally American support for the war effort. It shows a pair of boots with red stains, showing blood dripping onto the ground. The German Adler is on the top of each boot and is shown wearing spurs.
The "Keep These Off the USA" poster was created during World War I as part of a broader American propaganda campaign to rally support for the war effort and demonize the enemy, particularly Germany. Propaganda posters...
Category
1910s American Modern Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
Original New Year's Eve Central Park 1974-1975 vintage poster
Located in Spokane, WA
Original New Year's Eve Central Park 1974-1975 vintage pop-art poster. Excellent condition, ready to frame. The poster is not linen-backed. Images are of the exact poster you ...
Category
1970s Pop Art Figurative Prints
Materials
Offset
Uses and Customs - Indian Rajah - Lithograph - 1862
Located in Roma, IT
Uses and Customs - Indian Rajah is a lithograph on paper realized in 1862.
The artwork belongs to the Suite Uses and customs of all the peoples of the universe: " History of the gov...
Category
1860s Modern Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
$176 Sale Price
25% Off
Icart, Composition, Le Sopha (after)
By Louis Icart
Located in Auburn Hills, MI
La pointe sèche etching on vélin de Rives filigrané à notre nom paper. Paper size: 9.5 x 7.5 inches; image size: 6.5 x 4.5 inches. Inscription: unsigned and unnumbered, as issued. No...
Category
1930s Modern Figurative Prints
Materials
Drypoint, Etching
$876 Sale Price
20% Off
The Moon. Paris. Limited edition print Surreal Established Polish artist
Located in Warsaw, PL
Contemporary colorful figurative surrealistic print on paper by Polish artist Rafal Olbinski. This print shows a woman sitting on chair with her feet on a Moon. There is parisian arc...
Category
2010s Surrealist Figurative Prints
Materials
Paper, Color
Salvador Dali - Biblia Sacra - Offset Lithograph
Located in Collonge Bellerive, Geneve, CH
Salvador Dali - The Biblia Sacra was published in 1969 by Rizzoli of Rome
- SIGNATURE : printed in the image
- LIMITED : 1499
- SIZE : 19 x 13 3/4"
- REFERENCES : Michler and Lopsi...
Category
1960s Surrealist Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph
Ares Aristides Esteban Cuban Artist Original Hand Signed Poster Rolling Stone 4
Located in Miami, FL
Arístides Esteban (ARES) Hernández Guerrero (Cuba, 1963)
'The Rolling Stone (verde)', 2016
silkscreen on paper
27.6 x 19.7 in. (70 x 49.8 cm.)
Edition of 50
ID: ARE-204
Hand-signed ...
Category
2010s Contemporary Prints and Multiples
Materials
Paper, Screen
Purgatorio, Canto XIV (Field 189-200; M/L. 1039-1138), La Divina Commedia
Located in Auburn Hills, MI
Woodcut in colors on vélin pur chiffon de Rives paper. Paper size: 13 x 10.375 inches. Inscription: Unsigned and unnumbered, as issued. Catalogue raisonné reference: Michler & Löpsin...
Category
1960s Surrealist Figurative Prints
Materials
Woodcut
original lithograph
Located in Henderson, NV
Medium: original lithograph. Printed in Paris in 1967 at the atelier of Clot, Bramsen et Georges and published in an edition of 2500 for "Les Temps Situationistes" (The Situationist ...
Category
1960s Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph