William Kentridge

Flatiron Building

1985

Adolphe-Marie Beaufrere (1876-1960), Aux Approches de Madrid (also Aux Abords de la Ville), drypoint, 1927, signed and numbered (14/55), from the edition of 55, with the blindstamp of Sagot, publisher (Lugt 2254). Reference: Morane 27-19. In good condition, on very thin cream Japan paper, 6 1/2 x 9, the sheet 8 3/8 x 11 1/4 inches, archival matting. A fine impression, with the drypoint burr extremely rich and effective (due in part to the use of a Japan paper, which tends to diffuse the ink surrounding the drypoint lines). Beaufrere was born at Quimperle, in Brittany, and though he traveled widely he re-connected with this area throughout his life. As a teenager he decided that he wanted to become an artist and he traveled to Paris where, shortly after his arrival, he encountered the eminent Gustave Moreau, who took him on as a student. Moreau encouraged him to study old master prints, especially the prints of Rembrandt and Durer, which were available in the Cabinet des Estampes in Paris – this was to be critical in his development. Beaufrere began printmaking in about 1904, with some woodcuts, but soon got into etching and engraving. Curiously, one of his colleague/teachers at the time was the Canadian etcher Donald Shaw MacLaughlan. He began showing his prints, with some success, but after his marriage in 1905, and with the urging of his new wife, moved out of Paris and back to Brittany. This move had a mixed effect on his career – contacts with other artists became fewer, but he did maintain gallery relationships, and the French countryside and it’s inhabitants would provide a continuing source of inspiration. During the Great War Beaufrere served in the infantry, and had few opportunities to make art. But he did study a volume of Rembrandt’s prints...

Jean-François Raffaëlli (1850-1924), La Fumee du Bateau, color etching and drypoint, 1911, signed and numbered in pencil lower right. Reference: Delteil 98. In very good condition, ...

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...

A lovely dark and inky impression, signed by the artist. Drypoint etching on cream laid paper, 10 7/8 x 8 5/8 inches (275 x 218 mm), full margins. Signed in pencil, lower center marg...