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John Taylor ArmsThe Enchanted Doorway; Venezia1930
1930
About the Item
Etching and drypoint on antique cream laid paper, 12 3/8 x 6 9/16 inches (315 x 167 mm), full margins. Signed, dated, and inscribed "Edition 100" in pencil, lower margin. In very good condition with minor marginal toning and several very small edge losses along the left sheet edge, including a loss at the extreme top-right corner (well outside of image area). An excellent impression with good inking on 19th century paper which was hand-chosen by the artist.
[Fletcher 227]
Italian Series #15
Illustrated p. 170 in Dorothy Noyes Arms, Hill Towns and Cities of Northern Italy.
Born in 1887 in Washington DC, John Taylor Arms studied at Princeton University, and ultimately earned a degree in architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1912. With the outbreak of W.W.I, Arms served as an officer in the United States Navy, and it was during this time that he turned his focus to printmaking, having published his first etching in 1919. His first subjects were the Brooklyn Bridge, near the Navy Yard, and it was during his wartime travel that Arms created a series of extraordinarily detailed etchings based on gothic cathedrals and churches he visited in France and Italy (the plate for Guardians of the Spire was created in 1921). He used what was available to him, namely sewing needles and a magnifying glass, to create the incredibly rich and fine detail that his etchings are known for. Upon his return to New York after the war, Arms enjoyed a successful career as a graphic artist, created a series of etchings of American cities, and published Handbook of Print Making and Print Makers (Macmillan, 1934). He served as President of the Society of American Graphic Artists, and in 1933, was made a full member of the National Academy of Design. Arms died in Fairfield, Connecticut in 1953.
Paper: Arms was typical of the artists of this period - he was obsessed with paper, a mania for collecting paper that could/would improve an edition. The quantity he left after his death, distributed by his wife to fellow artists, witnesses his love for finely made paper -paper interesting because of texture, color, distinctive weave. The earliest paper known to have been used by Arms came from a Baptismal Register Kirchen Ordnung, The Reformed Church, Middletown, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, 1708, bought in a bookshop in Philadelphia. His early prints, 1915-1919, evidence paper taken from old books with gilded edges. Some prints appear on stationary from the Cisalpine Napoleonic Italy, still bearing the estampe of the office or department; others carry penned ink page numbers, taken from old ledgers of the Eighteenth Century-all beautiful shades of grey, blue and green, handmade, ribbed and otherwise. Some of his color aquatints were printed on full sheets of heavy chine or Japanese vellum, giving a sense of luxury in the richness of the stock and the width of the margins. There was a myriad of modern papers gleaned in England, France, Italy and the United States.
-William Dolan Fletcher, A Man For All Times, p. 15.
- Creator:John Taylor Arms (1887 - 1953, American)
- Creation Year:1930
- Dimensions:Height: 12.41 in (31.5 cm)Width: 18.39 in (46.7 cm)
- Medium:
- Movement & Style:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Gallery Location:Middletown, NY
- Reference Number:Seller: BH7841stDibs: LU1979215118382
John Taylor Arms
John Taylor Arms was born in Washington, D.C., in 1887. Arms studied architecture at Princeton and MIT and later became the country’s finest etcher of his age. His renderings of European and American architectural subjects are not only beautiful, but they are unrivaled in their technical virtuosity and nuanced light. In a recent exhibit, the Cleveland Museum noted, Arms believed that art could be a tool for the spiritual and moral improvement of mankind and that Gothic cathedrals represented the most significant expression of man’s aspirations. He viewed printmaking as a vehicle for disseminating images of subjects that would uplift and inspire contemporary society. He served as President of the Society of American Etchers and as an ambassador for American printmakers and printmaking throughout the world.
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