John Taylor Arms

From Knoedler's Window MCMXXXV

1935

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

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

Out of My Window. (Vista; My Own; De Ma Fenêtre). 1916. Etching. Fletcher 4, Library of Congress 254. 7 x 5 9/16 (sheet 9 3/8 x 9 1/2). Edition 75. Good condition apart from two re...

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

1930. Etching and aquatint. Fletcher catalog 229 state g ii. 10 1/8 x 12 (sheet 11 5/8 x 16 1/2). Italian Series, plate #16. Edition 140 (+ 14 trial proofs). Illustrated: Dorothy Noy...

From the Ponte Vecchio, Florence. 1925. Etching and aquatint. Fletcher catalog 159. state ii. Image: 11 1/8 x 15 1/4 (sheet 13 3/8 x 18 1/4). Edition 160 in this state (total edition...

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

Signed and dated in pencil, inscribed " Ed 100 I." In excellent condition, except for tape remains at upper margin corners on verso. Also called South Portal of The Collegiate Church...

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

New York Bouquet Lithograph, 1917 Edition: 93 Signed with the artist's cipher in pencil lower right (see photo) This lithograph is inspired by Hassam's oil painting of the same title...

Paul Landacre, 'Hill', wood engraving, 1936, edition 60 (only 54 printed); only 2 impressions printed in a second edition of 150. Signed, titled, and numbered '49/60' in pencil. Wien...

John Taylor Arms, 'Downtown, New York', etching with aquatint, 1921, edition 75, Fletcher 108. Signed, dated, and numbered 14/75 in pencil. A superb, finely nuanced impression, in d...

Etching and aquatint on antique laid paper, wide margins. Signed, dated and inscribed "Edition of 100" in pencil, lower margin. Second state (of ...

Signed lower right, 'Max Pollak' (American, 1886-1970) with number and limitation, lower center, '21/150' and titled, lower left, 'New York: East River'. Published by Rudolph Lesch and with copyright stamp 'Corp. Rud. Lesch NY' in lower left corner. (Reference: Triton cat. 51). Paper dimensions: 13.25 x 18.5 inches. Max Pollak achieved a reputation for the skill of his etchings as a young man living in Vienna, Austria. He is perhaps best known for his singular and penetrating portrait of Sigmund Freud (1913), which is widely reproduced. Pollak created many portraits of famous figures in Europe, and later in the United States, along with genre scenes and landscapes. Born in Prague, Czechoslovakia, Max Pollak grew up in Vienna and attended the Vienna Academy of Art, where he studied with the portraitist, Ferdinand Schmutzer...

This image is the 3rd etching created by Arms. It was printed byGrederick Reynolds in an edition of 116. Referenced as Fletcher #3 the image is the second in his Gable series. Lis...

Unique Silver Gelatin print from circa 1977 by Andy Warhol. Andy Warhol carried a camera with him obsessively. Similarly to his tape recorder, he use...

Etching and aquatint on antique laid paper, wide margins. Signed, dated and inscribed "Edition of 100" in pencil, lower margin. Second state (of ...

Etching and aquatint on hand made F.J. Head & Co watermarked cream laid paper, full margins. Signed and dated in pencil, lower right margin. From the edition of 160 (from a total of ...

Ecthing in black ink on cream laid paper with a partial watermark, full margins. In excellent condition. A very scarce work from an edition of less than 20 impressions. Signed, date...

(New York: John Taylor Arms, 1930) Etching on antique cream laid paper with a fancy "G" watermark, 7 1/8 x 16 1/2 inches (182 x 442 mm), full margins. Signed, dated and inscribed "Ed. 70" in pencil, lower margin. From a total edirion of 81 plus 5 trial proofs. Printed by Henry E. Carling. Number 18 from the Italian Series. A superb impression of this scarce print, with all of the subtleties and details of the reflections in the water printing clearly. [Fletcher 232] [Illustrated: Page 192, Arms, Dorothy Noyes, "Hilltowns and Cities of Northern Italy"]. Along with his constant companion and wife, Dorothy Noyes, Arms spent decades exploring and documenting gothic structures throughout Europe. Noyes, an accomplished travel writer, had gifted Arms an etching set...

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

Etching on F.J. Head & Co. watermarked cream laid paper, 8 1/8 x 7 5/8 (205 x 184 mm), full margins. Signed and dated in pencil, lower margin. Illustrated in Dorothy Noyes Arms, Chur...