John Taylor Arms

From the Ponte Vecchio, Florence

1925

Etching and aquatint on antique laid paper, wide margins. Signed, dated and inscribed "Edition of 100" in pencil, lower margin. Second state (of 2)....

Etching on antique cream laid paper with a partial watermark, 9 5/8 x 4 1/4 inches (246 x 109 mm); full margins. Signed and dated "1928" in pencil, lower margin. Inscribed "Street in Porto Maurizio...

(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...

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...

Guiseppe Capineri (1923-1994) Ponte Veccchio, 1959 Ink on paper, image measures 10.5 x 13.5 inches. Framed measurement: 13.5 x 16.5 inches. Signed in red ink lower right. Titled ...

Roth, Ernest (American, 1879-1964). PONTE DEL TRINITE, FLORENCE. Etching, 1908. Signed and dated in pencil, and inscribed by Roth with tthe title and date, and numbered "26", at the ...

Rio del Santi Apostoli, Venice. 1930. Etching. Fletcher catalog 22 state .ii. 8 x 6 (sheet 11 x 7 3/16). Italian series #4. Illustrated: Dorothy Noyes Arms, Hill Towns and Cities of...

To see more, scroll down to "More from this Seller" and below it click on "See all from this Seller." Valerie Thornton (1931 - 1991) Ponte Vecchio, Florence (1972) Etching and aquatint 33 x 20 cm Numbered 1/60 lower left, titled below, and signed and dated lower right, all in pencil. Here, Thornton muses on the dramatic differences in tone and texture between the water of the River Arno, the smooth paleness of the Ponte Vecchio, and the dark terracotta of the city's roofs. Her work is deeply concerned with material, and many of her etchings focus on eroded stone, emotive landscapes, and weathered architecture. Valerie Thornton was a British etcher and printmaker. She was born in London, but was evacuated to Canada with her two brothers during World War II. She returned to London in 1944 and studied at the Byam Shaw School of Art in 1949. From 1950 to 1953 Thornton studied under P.F. Millard at the Regent Street Polytechnic, then spent eight months at Atelier 17 in Paris. In the early 1960s, she moved to New York and worked at Pratt Graphic Art Center. In 1955, she succeeded Howard Hodgkin as assistant art teacher at Charterhouse School and in 1965 she became a founding member of the Print Makers Council. In 1970 she became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Painters-Etchers and Engravers. Thornton was a member of The Regent Street Group (a group of nine artists who studied together at the Regent Street Polytechnic in the early 1950s). The group also included Susan Horsfield, Renate Meyer, Michael...