John Taylor Arms

From the Ponte Vecchio

1925

The Passing Gondola. c. 1926. Etching. Edition 80, #18. Hardie/Carter 230. 8 1/2 x 10 1/2 (sheet 11 1/4 x 13). Illustrated: Fine Prints of the Year, 1927. Printed on antique wove pap...

Rio della Misericordia. October 1924. Watercolor. 14 x 8 3/4. McBey did a striking nocturnal view of the bridge in his 1926 drypoint, The Bridge by Night Carter 232. Signed and dated, lower right; titled verso. Housed in a French mat and a 22 x 16 1/2-inch gold leaf frame. The Rio Della Misericordia ( from the Venetian to the Misericordia Canal ) is a canal from Venice in the sestiere of Cannaregio, Contrada San Marzillan in Italy. The river runs along the old Servite convent. The canal is crossed by two bridges, from east to west: the San Marziale spawning linking the campo of the same name with the Fondamenta de la Misericordia and the dei dei Servi or Betania linking the Mensa di Betania to the Fondamenta de la Misericordia . Born in Newburgh near Aberdeen, James McBey attended evening classes at Graydon's School of Art and taught himself etching, building his own press at the age of fifteen. He moved to London to prepare for a one-man show at Goupil's Gallery, and shortly after this highly successful first show, he traveled to Morocco with James Kerr...

Lion Brewery. 1914. Etching. Hardie 149. 11 1/2 x 8 1/8 (sheet 13 5/8 x 10 1/8). Edition 50, #7. Illustrated: Salaman, Modern Masters of Etching. A fine impression of this scarce pri...

A Regatta on the Grand Canal. 1930. Drypoint. Hardie/Carter 248. 8 7/8 x 15 3/8 sSheet 13 3/16 x 19 3/8). Edition 80, #5. A fine impression on cream-colored wove paper with full margins. Signed and numbered in ink. Housed in an 18 x20-inch archival mat. Carter writes, "A procession of boats, gaily decorated, is entering the Grand Canal, with the Campanile and the Doges' Palace in the background. On the left is the baroque poop of a boat with a flamboyant, carved female figure; on the right, another boat with a prow of two prancing horses." Born in Newburgh near Aberdeen, James McBey attended evening classes at Graydon's School of Art and taught himself etching, building his own press at the age of fifteen. He moved to London to prepare for a one-man show at Goupil's Gallery, and shortly after this highly successful first show, he traveled to Morocco with James Kerr Lawson...

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

(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...

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...