Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 2

John Taylor Arms
La Bella Venezia

1930

About the Item

(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 for Christmas in 1913, during the time that the couple called New York home. Arms, having been trained in architecture, was sparked and fascinated by the potential for exceptional precision that etching provided as a media. His immediate projects focused on the architectural wonderland that Manhattan presented, but he quickly realized that it was no love affair for him. Jane Glaubinger, PhD., Curator of Prints, Cleveland Museum of Art, quotes a manuscript owned by the Museum in which Arms confides, “I can admire the skyscrapers of New York, that unbelievable city which is a very gold mine for the architectural etcher, but I do not love them and I cannot etch what I do not love.” Glaubinger explains in her 2012 essay, Images of Inspiration, that Arms opined that the creation of art furthered the spiritual and moral improvement of mankind, and he believed that Gothic cathedrals represented “the most significant expression of man’s aspirations.” Arms, a dedicated and industrious devotee to detail, saw printmaking as a vehicle for inspiring joy and uplift in contemporary society. Glaubinger continues, "Over several decades Arms traveled throughout France, Italy, England, and Spain drawing Gothic structures. These studies were the basis for the etchings he produced back in his Connecticut studio. Arms admired the craftsmanship of medieval art and, aided by magnifying glasses, used fine-gauge sewing needles set into wooden handles to draw the elaborate churches on copper plates. Extremely dedicated and industrious, Arms rendered each building with exceptional precision, spending 1,000 hours or more on a single plate. He was a gifted draftsman and technical virtuoso who created compositions full of keenly observed details and nuanced light." [Glaubinger, Jane, "Modern Gothic: The Etchings of John Taylor Arms," Cleveland Museum of Art, 2012.].
  • Creator:
    John Taylor Arms (1887 - 1953, American)
  • Creation Year:
    1930
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 7.125 in (18.1 cm)Width: 16.5 in (41.91 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    Middletown, NY
  • Reference Number:
    Seller: BH4821stDibs: LU1979210364022

More From This Seller

View All
Wrexham Tower, Yale University
Located in Middletown, NY
Etching with aquatint on watermarked cream laid J Perrigot Arches paper, 15 7/8 x 9 3/4 inches (400 x 248 mm), full margins. Signed, dated, and dedicated to the the artist Ruth Knobl...
Category

Early 20th Century American Modern Landscape Prints

Materials

Handmade Paper, Etching, Aquatint

The Grand Canal, Venice
By Elias S. Mandel Grossman
Located in Middletown, NY
1926. Etching in sepia ink on Japon paper, 9 5/8 x 11 1/2 inches (245 x 292 mm), full margins with the lower margin slightly notched. Signed, titled and dated in pencil in the lower ...
Category

Early 20th Century American Modern Landscape Prints

Materials

Handmade Paper, Etching

Ruff's Farm
By Sidney Mackenzie Litten
Located in Middletown, NY
A nostalgic image of a bucolic farmyard and thatched cottage, hearkening to a bygone era. c 1920. Etching with drypoint on laid watercolor paper with deckle edges, and an indiscerni...
Category

Early 20th Century American Modern Landscape Prints

Materials

Handmade Paper, Laid Paper, Drypoint, Etching

Sunlight on Stone; Caudebec-en-Caux
By John Taylor Arms
Located in Middletown, NY
Etching on antique laid Japon paper, 14 1/2 x 7 5/8 inches ( 368 x 195 mm), full margins. Signed, dated and inscribed "Ed. 100 II" in pencil in the lower margin. One of 100 impressio...
Category

Mid-20th Century American Modern Landscape Prints

Materials

Laid Paper, Etching, Handmade Paper

A Hong Kong Canal Boat
By John Taylor Arms
Located in Middletown, NY
Aquatint with hand coloring in watercolor on watermarked, laid Arches paper, 8 1/16 x 5 9/16 inches (206 x 142 mm), full margins. Signed, titled, dated, and numbered 22/40 in pencil,...
Category

Mid-20th Century American Modern Landscape Prints

Materials

Handmade Paper, Laid Paper, Watercolor, Aquatint

Chicago Skyline
By Paul Schumann
Located in Middletown, NY
A beautiful turn-of-the-century lake view of Chicago by an American artist known for his Texas landscapes. Etching with drypoint on watermarked Umbria laid paper with deckle edges, 7 1/4 x 10 7/8 inches (182 x 275 mm), full margins. Signed and numbered 4/25 in pencil, lower margin. In good condition with adhesive residue at the sheet edges on the verso, does not show through to the recto. A lovely Lake Michigan landscape...
Category

Early 20th Century American Modern Landscape Prints

Materials

Handmade Paper, Etching, Drypoint

You May Also Like

The Biggest of All; Telephone and Telegraph Building.
By Joseph Pennell
Located in Storrs, CT
The Biggest of All; Telephone and Telegraph Building. 1925. Etching. Wuerth 853. 9 7/8 x 11 7/8 (sheet 11 1/2 x 17 1/8). Edition probably 35. An atmospheric impression with plate tone, printed on antique laid paper...
Category

Early 20th Century American Modern Landscape Prints

Materials

Etching, Drypoint

Out of My Window. (Vista; My Own; De Ma Fenêtre)
By John Taylor Arms
Located in Storrs, CT
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...
Category

20th Century American Modern Landscape Prints

Materials

Etching

The Gargoyle and His Quarry
By John Taylor Arms
Located in Storrs, CT
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...
Category

1920s American Modern Landscape Prints

Materials

Etching, Drypoint

Guardians of the Spire (Amiens Cathedral Number 2)
By John Taylor Arms
Located in Storrs, CT
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...
Category

1920s American Modern Landscape Prints

Materials

Etching, Drypoint

The Gothic Spirit
By John Taylor Arms
Located in Storrs, CT
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...
Category

1920s American Modern Landscape Prints

Materials

Etching, Drypoint

S. L Margolies, Silent Symphony
Located in New York, NY
S. L Margolies (Samuel L.) made dynamic urban views and calm country scenes. This peaceful subject, with snow-covered hills and tidy cabin, Silent Symphony, 1946, marks an end to the...
Category

Mid-20th Century American Modern Landscape Prints

Materials

Etching

Recently Viewed

View All