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Art Subject: Photography
Robert Mapplethorpe 'Untitled, 1985' 1991
Located in Brooklyn, NY
This untitled image by Robert Mapplethorpe features Ken Moody, captured in the photographer’s unmistakable black-and-white aesthetic. Originally published in a 1991 box set by teNeue...
Category

1990s Prints and Multiples

Materials

Offset

"Girl in the Garden" Copper Plate Heliogravure
Located in Chicago, IL
2018 marks the centenary anniversary of Ferdinand Hodler’s death. In that 100 years time, the art world’s esteem of this important artist has proved fickle. It has shifted from extolling his artistic merits during his lifetime to showing something of a feigned disdain- more reflective of the world political order than a true change of heart for Hodler’s work. After years of Hodler being all but a footnote in the annals of art history and generally ignored, finally, the pendulum has righted itself once again. Recent retrospective exhibitions in Europe and the United States have indicated not only a joyful rediscovery of Hodler’s art but a firm conviction that his work and world view hold particular relevance today. DAS WERK FERDINAND HODLERS is not only a collection of printed work reflecting the best of all of his painted work created up to 1914 just before the outbreak of World War I, the portfolio itself is an encapsulation of Hodler’s ethos, Parallelisme. Hodler developed his philosophy of Parallelisme as a unifying approach to art which strips away detail in search of harmony. By means of abstraction, symmetry and repetition, Hodler sought ways to depict Nature’s essence and her fundamental, universal order. He believed these universal laws governing the natural, observable world extend to the spiritual realm. Symbolist in nature with Romantic undertones, his works are equally portraits of these universal concepts and feelings governing all life as they are a visual portrait in the formal sense. Whether his subject is a solitary tree, a moment in battle, mortal fear, despair, the awe inspired by a vast mountain range, a tender moment or even the collective conviction in a belief, Hodler unveils this guiding principle of Parallelisme. Several aspects of Hodler’s portfolio reinforce his tenets of Parallelisme. The Table of Contents clearly preferences a harmonious design over detail. The two columns, consisting of twenty lines each, list the images by order of appearance using their German titles. The abbreviated titles are somewhat cryptic in that they obscure the identities of the sitters. Like the image Hodler presents, they are distillations of the sitter without any extraneous details. This shortening was also done in an effort to maintain a harmonious symmetry of the Table of Contents, themselves, and keep titles to a one-line limit. The twenty-fourth title: “Bildnis des Schweizerischen Gesandten C.” was so long, even with abbreviation, that it required two lines; so, for the sake of maintaining symmetry, the fortieth title: “Bauernmadchen” was omitted from the list. This explains why the images are not numbered. Hodler’s reasoning is not purely esoteric. Symmetry and pattern reach beyond mere formal design principles. Finding sameness and imposing it over disorder goes to the root of Hodler’s identity and his art. A Swiss native, Hodler was bi-lingual and spoke German and French. Each printed image, even number forty, have titles in both of Hodler’s languages. Certainly, there was a market for Hodler’s work among francophones and this inclusion may have been a polite gesture to that end; however, this is the only place in the portfolio which includes French. With German titles at the lower left of each image, Hodler’s name at bottom center and corresponding French titles at the lower right of each image, there is a harmony and symmetry woven into all aspects of the portfolio. This holds true for the page design, as it applies to each printed image and as it describes the Swiss artist himself. Seen in this light, Hodler’s portfolio of printed work is the epitome of Hodler’s Parallelisme. DAS WERK FERDINAND HODLERS is also one of the most significant documents to best tell the story of how Hodler, from Switzerland, became caught between political cross-hairs and how the changing tides of nations directly impacted the artist during his lifetime as well as the accessibility of his art for generations to come. The Munich-based publisher of the portfolio, R. Piper & Co., Verlag, plays a crucial role in this story. Publishing on a wide range of subjects from philosophy and world religion to music, literature and the visual arts; the publisher’s breadth of inquiry within any one genre was equal in scope. Their marketing strategy to publish multiple works on Hodler offers great insight as to what a hot commodity Hodler was at that time. R.Piper & Co.’s Almanach, which they published in 1914 in commemoration of their first ten years in business, clearly illustrates the rapid succession- strategically calculated for achieving the deepest and broadest impact - in which they released three works on Hodler to hit the market by the close of 1914. DAS WERK FERDINAND HODLERS was their premier publication. It preceded C.A. Loosli’s Die Zeichnungen Ferdinand Hodlers, a print portfolio after 50 drawings by Hodler which was released in Autumn of 1914 at the mid-level price-point of 75-150 Marks; and a third less expensive collection of prints after original works by Hodler, which had not been included in either of the first two portfolios, was released at the end of that year entitled Ferdinand Hodler by Dr. Ewald Bender. The title and timing of DAS WERK FERDINAND HODLERS' debut leaves little doubt as to the connection it has with another avant-garde portfolio of art prints, Das Werk Gustav Klimts, released in 5 installments from 1908 -1914 by Galerie Miethke in Vienna. Hodler, himself, was involved in Klimt’s ground-breaking project. As the owner of Klimt’s 1901 painting, “Judith with the Head of Holifernes” which appears as the ninth collotype print in the second installment of Das Werk Gustav Klimts, Hodler was obliged to grant access of the painting to the art printers in Vienna for them to create the collotype sometime before 1908. Hodler had been previously invited in 1904 to take part in what would be the last exhibition of the Vienna Secession before Klimt and others associated with Galerie Miethke broke away. In an interview that same year, Hodler indicated that he respected and was impressed by Klimt. Hodler’s esteem for Klimt went beyond the art itself; he emulated Klimt’s method aimed at increasing his market reach and appeal to a wider audience by creating a print portfolio of his painted work. By 1914, Hodler and his publisher had the benefit of hindsight to learn from Klimt’s Das Werk publication. Responding to the sluggish sales of Klimt’s expensive endeavor, Hodler’s publisher devised the same diversified 1-2-3 strategy for selling Hodler’s Das Werk portfolio as they did with regards to all three works on Hodler they published that year. For their premium tier of DAS WERKS FERDINAND HODLERS, R. Piper & Co. issued an exclusive Museum quality edition of 15 examples on which Hodler signed each page. At a cost of 600 Marks, this was generally on par with Klimt’s asking price of 600 Kronen for his Das Werk portfolio. A middle-tiered Preferred edition of 30, costing somewhat less and with Hodler’s signature only on the Title Page, was also available. The General edition, targeting the largest audience with its much more affordable price of 150 Marks, is distinguishable by its smaller size. Rather than use the subscription format Miethke had chosen for Klimt’s portfolios which proved to have had its challenges, R. Piper & Co. employed a different strategy. In addition to instantly gratifying the buyer with all 40 of the prints comprising DAS WERK FERDINAND HODLERS and the choice among three price points, they advertised in German journals a fourth possibility of ordering single prints from them directly. These printed images are easily discernible from the three complete folio editions. The paper size of the single purchased images is of the larger format like the Museum and Preferred editions, measuring 65 h x 50 w cm; however, the paper itself is the same copper print paper used in the General edition and then mounted on poster board. The publishing house positioned itself to be a direct retailer of Hodler’s art. They astutely recognized the potential for profitability and the importance, therefore, of having proprietary control over his graphic works. R. Piper & Co. owned the exclusive printing rights to Hodler’s best work found in their three publications dating from 1914. That same year, a competing publication out of Weimar entitled Ferdinand Hodler: Ein Deutungsversuch von Hans Muhlestein appeared. Its author, a young scholar, expressed his frustration with the limited availability of printable work by Hodler. In his Author’s Note on page 19, dated Easter, 1914, Muhlestein confirms that the publisher of Hodler’s three works from that same year owned the exclusive reproductive rights to Hodler’s printed original work. He goes further to explain that even after offering to pay to use certain of those images in his book, the publisher refused. Clearly, a lot of jockeying for position in what was perceived as a hot market was occurring in 1914. Instead, their timing couldn’t have been more ill-fated, and what began with such high hopes suddenly found a much different market amid a hostile climate. The onset of WWI directly impacted sales. Many, including Ferdinand Hodler, publicly protested the September invasion by Germany of France in which the Reims Cathedral, re-built in the 13th century, was shelled, destroying priceless stained glass and statuary and burning off the iron roof and badly damaging its wooden interior. Thomas Gaehtgens, Director of the Getty Research Institute describes how the bombing of Reims Cathedral triggered blindingly powerful and deeply-felt ultra-nationalistic responses: “The event profoundly shocked French intellectuals, who for the most part had an intense admiration for German literature, music and art. By relying on press accounts and abstracting from the visual propagandistic content, they were unable to interpret the siege of Reims without turning away from German culture in disgust. Similarly, the German intelligentsia and bourgeoisie were also shocked to find themselves described as vandals and barbarians. Ninety-three writers, scientists, university professors, and artists signed a protest, directed against the French insults, that defended the actions of the German army.” In similar fashion, a flurry of open letters published in German newspapers and journals as well as telegrams and postcards sent directly to Hodler following his outcry in support of Reims reflected the collectively critical reaction to Hodler’s position. Loosli documents that among the list of telegrams Hodler received was one from none other than his publisher in Germany, R.Piper & Co. Allegiances were questioned. The market for Hodler in Germany immediately softened. Matters worsened for the publisher beyond the German backlash to Hodler and his loss of appeal in the home market; with the war in full swing until 1918, there was little chance a German publisher would have much interest coming from outside of Germany and Austria. Following the war and Hodler’s death in 1918, the economy in Germany continued to spiral out and just 5 years later, hyper-inflation had rendered its currency worthless vis-a-vis its value in the pre-war years. Like the economy, Hodler’s reputation was slow to find currency in these difficult times. Even many French art fans had turned sour on Hodler as they considered his long-standing relationship in German and Austrian art circles. Thus, the portfolio’s rarity in Hodler’s lifetime and, consequently, the availability of these printed images from DAS WERK FERDINAND HODLERS since his death has been scarce. In many ways, Hodler and his portfolios were casualties of war. Thwarted from their intended purpose of reaching a wide audience and show-casing Parallelisme, Hodler’s unique approach to art, this important, undated work has been both elusive and shrouded in mystery. Perhaps DAS WERK FERDINAND HODLERS was left undated as a means of affirming the timelessness of Hodler’s art. Digging back into the past, Hodler’s contemporaries, like R. Piper, C.A. Loosli and Hans Muhlestein, indeed provide the keys to unequivocally clarify what has largely been mired in obscurity. Just after Hodler’s death, the May, 1918 issue of the Burlington Review ran a small column which opined hope for better access to R.Piper & Co.’s DAS WERK FERDINAND HODLERS; 100 years later, it is finally possible. Hodler’s voice rings out through these printed works. Once more, his modern approach to depicting portraits, landscapes and grand scale scenes of Swiss history speak to us of what is universal. Engaging with any one of these images is the chance to connect to Hodler’s vision and his world view- weltanschauung in German, vision du monde in French- however one expresses these concepts through language, its message embedded in his work is the same: “We differ from one another, but we are like each other even more. What unifies us is greater and more powerful than what divides us.” Today, Hodler’s art couldn’t be more timely. FERDINAND HODLER (SWISS, 1853-1918) explored Parallelisme through figurative poses evocative of music, dance and ritual. His images of sex, night, desertion and death as well as his many landscapes exploring the universal longing for harmony with Nature are unique and important works embodying a Symbolist paradigm. Truly a Modern Master, Hodler’s influence can be felt in the work of Gustav Klimt and Kolomon Moser and subsequent Expressionist artists such as Egon Schiele. He was born into an impoverished family in Bern, Switzerland in 1853. His entire family succumbed to tuberculosis, and he was orphaned by the age of 13, the only surviving child among his 13 siblings. In the absence of family, the influence and guidance which his art instructors provided Hodler was foundational and profound. Hodler began formal studies in 1872 at the Geneva School of Design. Under Barthelemy Menn, Hodler was drawn to the ordered beauty of Euclidian geometry and Durer’s fundamentals of human proportion that proved to be guiding principles informing his art throughout his life. By the 1880s, Hodler began to enjoy some recognition for his work which put him on a new path towards stability. Remaining in Geneva, he became assistant to the well-known muralist, Edouard Castres. Following his first solo show in 1885, Hodler’s work took on a Symbolist quality. He frequently associated with a group of Swiss Symbolist...
Category

1910s Symbolist Figurative Prints

Materials

Paper

My Great Mum (the artist's mother, a quintessential Italian matriarch)
Located in New Orleans, LA
"My Great Mum" is a loving portrait of the artist's Italian mother. Paolo Ciampini was born in Montopoli in Val d'Arno in 1941. After graduating from the Art Institute of Cascina (...
Category

1990s Portrait Prints

Materials

Etching

'Monday in Wick Haven' original linoleum cut print by Howard Thomas
Located in Milwaukee, WI
In this image, Howard Thomas presents the viewer with a domestic interior. The image is dominated by the figure of a black woman, resting her arm on an ironing board. To the right, the tool of her task dangles a chord above a checker tiled floor. Beyond, though a window, neighboring homes fill the landscape. The careful line-work of the linocut adds a sense of expressionism to the scene, but the image nonetheless falls into the Social Realism that captivated most American artists during the Great Depression. This print was published in 1936 as part of the Wisconsin Artists' Calendar for the year 1937, which included 52 original, hand-made prints – one for each week of the year. 6 x 5 inches, image 10 x 7.13 inches, sheet 12.37 x 12.43 inches, frame Entitled "Monday in Wick Haven" lower left (covered by matting) Inscribed "Linoleum Cut" lower center (covered by matting) Artist name "Howard Thomas" lower right (covered by matting) Framed to conservation standards using 100 percent rag matting and museum glass, all housed in a silver gilded moulding. Quaker-born in Ohio, Thomas trained in the Midwest at Ohio State University and the Chicago Art Institute. He taught in the Art Department of the Milwaukee State Teachers College (now University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee) where he became good friends with Carl Holty, Edward Boerner, Robert von Neumann...
Category

1930s American Modern Figurative Prints

Materials

Linocut

LIVING FOR KICKS 2 Risograph Print Handsigned and Numbered by Prefab77
Located in Palm Desert, CA
Living For Kicks 2, 2013 by Prefab77 3 Color Risograph Print on Paper 16 1/2 × 11 7/10 in 41.9 × 29.7 cm Edition of 300 Signed, Numbered (21/300), and Stamped by the artist The roo...
Category

2010s Street Art Portrait Prints

Materials

Screen

Chon-Mon-I-Case, an Otto half chief.
Located in Pasadena, CA
History Of The Indian Tribes Of North America, With Biographical Sketches And Anecdotes Of The Principal Chiefs. Embellished With One Hundred And Twenty Portraits, From The Indian Ga...
Category

Early 20th Century American Realist Figurative Prints

Materials

Lithograph

TOMAS PINEDA MATUS I THINK OF YOU
Located in Dallas, TX
Tomas Pineda Matus. I Think of You. Ed I/I - "Te pienso. Ed. I/I. Oaxaca, México. Technique: Linoleum. Size: 31 1/2 x 24 Inches. Framed and Acrylic Plexiglass.
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Prints and Multiples

Materials

Paper

DAMA NEGRA
Located in Santa Monica, CA
DAVID ALFARO SIQUEIROS (1896 – 1974) DAMA NEGRA 1937-1945 (Williams 8) Transfer lithograph, signed and no. 38-EE/50 and dated 1945. 13 5/8 x 19 3/16”. Very large full margins,, sheet 29 x 21 ½”. Stamped lower sheet edge “Original Lithograph” It is difficult to determine the various editions of Siqueiros’ prints. He would often reprint small editions of his early prints over time. Some of these were transfer lithographs in reverse and slightly smaller. These are sometimes numbered E/E “Edicion Especial”. Reba Williams discusses the problems with identifying editions in her catalog “Mexican Prints...
Category

1940s Modern Figurative Prints

Materials

Lithograph

Framed Etching Print by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres
Located in Chesterfield, MI
Etching print by Jean Ingres Piece measures 28 in x 22 in x 1 Good condition
Category

20th Century Portrait Prints

Materials

Etching

Frank Sinatra IV, Screenprint Art, Celebrity Art, Yellow Art, David Studwell
Located in Deddington, GB
Frank Sinatra IV by David Studwell. Hand pulled screen print of music icon Frank Sinatra. 58x36cm Edition of 30 Signed by the artist
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Pop Art Portrait Prints

Materials

Paper, Screen

"Praying Warrior" Copper Plate Heliogravure
Located in Chicago, IL
2018 marks the centenary anniversary of Ferdinand Hodler’s death. In that 100 years time, the art world’s esteem of this important artist has proved fickle. It has shifted from extolling his artistic merits during his lifetime to showing something of a feigned disdain- more reflective of the world political order than a true change of heart for Hodler’s work. After years of Hodler being all but a footnote in the annals of art history and generally ignored, finally, the pendulum has righted itself once again. Recent retrospective exhibitions in Europe and the United States have indicated not only a joyful rediscovery of Hodler’s art but a firm conviction that his work and world view hold particular relevance today. DAS WERK FERDINAND HODLERS is not only a collection of printed work reflecting the best of all of his painted work created up to 1914 just before the outbreak of World War I, the portfolio itself is an encapsulation of Hodler’s ethos, Parallelisme. Hodler developed his philosophy of Parallelisme as a unifying approach to art which strips away detail in search of harmony. By means of abstraction, symmetry and repetition, Hodler sought ways to depict Nature’s essence and her fundamental, universal order. He believed these universal laws governing the natural, observable world extend to the spiritual realm. Symbolist in nature with Romantic undertones, his works are equally portraits of these universal concepts and feelings governing all life as they are a visual portrait in the formal sense. Whether his subject is a solitary tree, a moment in battle, mortal fear, despair, the awe inspired by a vast mountain range, a tender moment or even the collective conviction in a belief, Hodler unveils this guiding principle of Parallelisme. Several aspects of Hodler’s portfolio reinforce his tenets of Parallelisme. The Table of Contents clearly preferences a harmonious design over detail. The two columns, consisting of twenty lines each, list the images by order of appearance using their German titles. The abbreviated titles are somewhat cryptic in that they obscure the identities of the sitters. Like the image Hodler presents, they are distillations of the sitter without any extraneous details. This shortening was also done in an effort to maintain a harmonious symmetry of the Table of Contents, themselves, and keep titles to a one-line limit. The twenty-fourth title: “Bildnis des Schweizerischen Gesandten C.” was so long, even with abbreviation, that it required two lines; so, for the sake of maintaining symmetry, the fortieth title: “Bauernmadchen” was omitted from the list. This explains why the images are not numbered. Hodler’s reasoning is not purely esoteric. Symmetry and pattern reach beyond mere formal design principles. Finding sameness and imposing it over disorder goes to the root of Hodler’s identity and his art. A Swiss native, Hodler was bi-lingual and spoke German and French. Each printed image, even number forty, have titles in both of Hodler’s languages. Certainly, there was a market for Hodler’s work among francophones and this inclusion may have been a polite gesture to that end; however, this is the only place in the portfolio which includes French. With German titles at the lower left of each image, Hodler’s name at bottom center and corresponding French titles at the lower right of each image, there is a harmony and symmetry woven into all aspects of the portfolio. This holds true for the page design, as it applies to each printed image and as it describes the Swiss artist himself. Seen in this light, Hodler’s portfolio of printed work is the epitome of Hodler’s Parallelisme. DAS WERK FERDINAND HODLERS is also one of the most significant documents to best tell the story of how Hodler, from Switzerland, became caught between political cross-hairs and how the changing tides of nations directly impacted the artist during his lifetime as well as the accessibility of his art for generations to come. The Munich-based publisher of the portfolio, R. Piper & Co., Verlag, plays a crucial role in this story. Publishing on a wide range of subjects from philosophy and world religion to music, literature and the visual arts; the publisher’s breadth of inquiry within any one genre was equal in scope. Their marketing strategy to publish multiple works on Hodler offers great insight as to what a hot commodity Hodler was at that time. R.Piper & Co.’s Almanach, which they published in 1914 in commemoration of their first ten years in business, clearly illustrates the rapid succession- strategically calculated for achieving the deepest and broadest impact - in which they released three works on Hodler to hit the market by the close of 1914. DAS WERK FERDINAND HODLERS was their premier publication. It preceded C.A. Loosli’s Die Zeichnungen Ferdinand Hodlers, a print portfolio after 50 drawings by Hodler which was released in Autumn of 1914 at the mid-level price-point of 75-150 Marks; and a third less expensive collection of prints after original works by Hodler, which had not been included in either of the first two portfolios, was released at the end of that year entitled Ferdinand Hodler by Dr. Ewald Bender. The title and timing of DAS WERK FERDINAND HODLERS' debut leaves little doubt as to the connection it has with another avant-garde portfolio of art...
Category

1910s Symbolist Figurative Prints

Materials

Paper

A Greek Idyll - Proof Etching by Robert Walker MacBeth after G F Watts
Located in London, GB
ROBERT WALKER MACBETH (British 1848-1910) After GEORGE FREDERIC WATTS (British 1817-1904) A Greek Idyll Proof etching Signed in pencil by both the artist l.l. and engraver l.r. Framed Plate size 42 by 54 cm., 16 ½ by 21 ¼ in. (frame size 72.5 by 85 cm., 28 ½ by 33 ½ in.) After Watt’s 1894 painting...
Category

Early 1900s Pre-Raphaelite Figurative Prints

Materials

Etching

Jewish Student
Located in Surfside, FL
Maybe her name doesn’t ring a bell. Like everyone else who ever went into the old Mooresville Post Office at 305 N. Main St., across the street from the bank, I would look at the large mural over the door to the postmaster’s office — now the school district superintendent’s office — read the name of the artist, and wonder who she was. Alicia Wiencek (April 23, 1918- Feb. 17, 1961) has remained something of an enigma, at least locally. I set about finding more regarding the artist. The first clue I found about her came from a small, 1937 article in the old Mooresville Enterprise: “Miss Alicia Wiencek of New York City will paint the mural for the local [post office] building. She was in the city several days last week, looking over the various industries and talking with a number of ‘old–timers’ about Mooresville’s early history and present trend of development. She visited a number of places of business, the cotton gins and the mills, seeming to be impressed with the importance of the cotton industry, so that it is believed cotton will at least have its share of the subject matter of the decoration. “The mural will cover the space above the entrance to the postmaster’s office, a space of about 8 by 4 feet. It is not known whether Miss Wiencek will do the work here, or whether she will bring it with her completed, upon her return.” Fine, but what happened to her after she did the mural in Mooresville? What other works did she complete? Where might one go to view them? How long did Miss Wiencek stay in the Mooresville area, absorbing local color and sights? Alicia was born in Chicopee, Mass., and was apparently of Polish descent. She studied at the Art Students League in New York City. One of her instructors there was Ernest Feine (1894-1965), a naturalized citizen of German birth who was both a painter and a printmaker. He was also known for his fine murals and frescoes. Ernest, with Alicia as his assistant, worked on two murals, one for the post office in Canton, Mass., and one in Washington, D.C., in the Department of the Interior Building. The two must have worked well together, for Feine divorced his first wife and married Alicia on Aug. 13, 1945, in Connecticut. Of the two artists, Ernest is the more famous. But back to Mooresville. The official title of her oil-on-canvas work in Mooresville is “The Cotton Industry in North Carolina.” It is interesting to note that the post office building was completed and in use by August 1937, several months before Alicia received the government contract for the mural. Her work was part of President Roosevelt’s New Deal, a Works Progress Administration project to put artists and writers to work during the Great Depression. The old Mooresville Post Office Building is one of several in the same style in North Carolina built according to the town’s population. The old post offices in Beaufort, Laurinburg, Marion, Siler City, Wake Forest...
Category

Early 20th Century Modern Portrait Prints

Materials

Lithograph

"Ludovic Halevy Meeting Madame Cardinal Backstage" after Edgar Degas
Located in Hinsdale, IL
Degas, Edgar (after) (1834 -1917) "Ludovic Halevy Meeting Madame Cardinal Backstage" Soft-Ground Etching created from a Monotype, 1938-9 First State. # 251 from the edition of 350 o...
Category

Early 20th Century Art Nouveau Figurative Prints

Materials

Etching

Tim Southall, Lili Marlene, Limited Edition Screen print, Celebrity Art
Located in Deddington, GB
Tim Southall Lili Marlene Limited Edition Screen print Edition of 50 Size: H 40cm x W 30cm Sold Unframed (Please note that in situ images are purely an indication of how a piece may ...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Prints

Materials

Paper, Screen

Salvador Dali "Bust"
Located in Boston, MA
Artist: Dali, Salvador Title: Bust Series: Faust Date: 1969 Medium: drypoint Framed Dimensions: 22.5" x 18.5" Signature: Pencil signed Edition: 49/145 Literature: Albert Fie...
Category

1960s Surrealist Prints and Multiples

Materials

Drypoint

Black and White Bouquet in Vase on Table, Marc Chagall lithograph
Located in Milwaukee, WI
6 x 6.5 inches, image 14.88 x 11 inches, paper 22.63 x 20.13 inches, frame Offset lithograph after the original drawing Framed to conservation standards using 100 percent silk-lined rag matting and museum glass, housed in a gold cassetta-style moulding with a gilded fillet insert Marc Chagall was born in Liozno, near Vitebsk, now in Belarus, the eldest of nine children in a close-knit Jewish family led by his father Khatskl (Zakhar) Shagal, a herring merchant, and his mother, Feige-Ite. This period of his life, described as happy though impoverished, appears in references throughout Chagall's work. The family home on Pokrovskaya Street is now the Marc Chagall Museum...
Category

1970s Modern Still-life Prints

Materials

Lithograph

H.O. Miethke Das Werk folio "Portrait of Sonja Knips" collotype print
Located in Chicago, IL
DAS WERK GUSTAV KLIMTS, a portfolio of 50 prints, ten of which are multicolor collotypes on chine colle paper laid down on hand-made heavy cream wove paper with deckled edges; under ...
Category

Early 1900s Vienna Secession Figurative Prints

Materials

Paper

Double Portrait (1906)-Offset Lithograph, edition of 1000, with COA
Located in Chesterfield, MI
PAUL CÉZANNE (French, 1839-1906). Offset Lithograph, edition of 1000. Measures 19.5 x 23.5 inches Framed. The image is in Excellent Condition. The frame, mat and casing show signs of...
Category

Early 1900s Portrait Prints

Materials

Offset

Cherry Kate by BATIK Oversize Limited Print
Located in London, GB
Cherry Kate by BATIK BATIK is an increasingly collectable pop artist currently living and working in London. The artist is purposely elusive with their true identity, sex and age ...
Category

2010s Modern Figurative Prints

Materials

Archival Pigment

"Looking at Infinity" Copper Plate Heliogravure
Located in Chicago, IL
2018 marks the centenary anniversary of Ferdinand Hodler’s death. In that 100 years time, the art world’s esteem of this important artist has proved fickle. It has shifted from extolling his artistic merits during his lifetime to showing something of a feigned disdain- more reflective of the world political order than a true change of heart for Hodler’s work. After years of Hodler being all but a footnote in the annals of art history and generally ignored, finally, the pendulum has righted itself once again. Recent retrospective exhibitions in Europe and the United States have indicated not only a joyful rediscovery of Hodler’s art but a firm conviction that his work and world view hold particular relevance today. DAS WERK FERDINAND HODLERS is not only a collection of printed work reflecting the best of all of his painted work created up to 1914 just before the outbreak of World War I, the portfolio itself is an encapsulation of Hodler’s ethos, Parallelisme. Hodler developed his philosophy of Parallelisme as a unifying approach to art which strips away detail in search of harmony. By means of abstraction, symmetry and repetition, Hodler sought ways to depict Nature’s essence and her fundamental, universal order. He believed these universal laws governing the natural, observable world extend to the spiritual realm. Symbolist in nature with Romantic undertones, his works are equally portraits of these universal concepts and feelings governing all life as they are a visual portrait in the formal sense. Whether his subject is a solitary tree, a moment in battle, mortal fear, despair, the awe inspired by a vast mountain range, a tender moment or even the collective conviction in a belief, Hodler unveils this guiding principle of Parallelisme. Several aspects of Hodler’s portfolio reinforce his tenets of Parallelisme. The Table of Contents clearly preferences a harmonious design over detail. The two columns, consisting of twenty lines each, list the images by order of appearance using their German titles. The abbreviated titles are somewhat cryptic in that they obscure the identities of the sitters. Like the image Hodler presents, they are distillations of the sitter without any extraneous details. This shortening was also done in an effort to maintain a harmonious symmetry of the Table of Contents, themselves, and keep titles to a one-line limit. The twenty-fourth title: “Bildnis des Schweizerischen Gesandten C.” was so long, even with abbreviation, that it required two lines; so, for the sake of maintaining symmetry, the fortieth title: “Bauernmadchen” was omitted from the list. This explains why the images are not numbered. Hodler’s reasoning is not purely esoteric. Symmetry and pattern reach beyond mere formal design principles. Finding sameness and imposing it over disorder goes to the root of Hodler’s identity and his art. A Swiss native, Hodler was bi-lingual and spoke German and French. Each printed image, even number forty, have titles in both of Hodler’s languages. Certainly, there was a market for Hodler’s work among francophones and this inclusion may have been a polite gesture to that end; however, this is the only place in the portfolio which includes French. With German titles at the lower left of each image, Hodler’s name at bottom center and corresponding French titles at the lower right of each image, there is a harmony and symmetry woven into all aspects of the portfolio. This holds true for the page design, as it applies to each printed image and as it describes the Swiss artist himself. Seen in this light, Hodler’s portfolio of printed work is the epitome of Hodler’s Parallelisme. DAS WERK FERDINAND HODLERS is also one of the most significant documents to best tell the story of how Hodler, from Switzerland, became caught between political cross-hairs and how the changing tides of nations directly impacted the artist during his lifetime as well as the accessibility of his art for generations to come. The Munich-based publisher of the portfolio, R. Piper & Co., Verlag, plays a crucial role in this story. Publishing on a wide range of subjects from philosophy and world religion to music, literature and the visual arts; the publisher’s breadth of inquiry within any one genre was equal in scope. Their marketing strategy to publish multiple works on Hodler offers great insight as to what a hot commodity Hodler was at that time. R.Piper & Co.’s Almanach, which they published in 1914 in commemoration of their first ten years in business, clearly illustrates the rapid succession- strategically calculated for achieving the deepest and broadest impact - in which they released three works on Hodler to hit the market by the close of 1914. DAS WERK FERDINAND HODLERS was their premier publication. It preceded C.A. Loosli’s Die Zeichnungen Ferdinand Hodlers, a print portfolio after 50 drawings by Hodler which was released in Autumn of 1914 at the mid-level price-point of 75-150 Marks; and a third less expensive collection of prints after original works by Hodler, which had not been included in either of the first two portfolios, was released at the end of that year entitled Ferdinand Hodler by Dr. Ewald Bender. The title and timing of DAS WERK FERDINAND HODLERS' debut leaves little doubt as to the connection it has with another avant-garde portfolio of art prints, Das Werk Gustav Klimts, released in 5 installments from 1908 -1914 by Galerie Miethke in Vienna. Hodler, himself, was involved in Klimt’s ground-breaking project. As the owner of Klimt’s 1901 painting, “Judith with the Head of Holifernes” which appears as the ninth collotype print in the second installment of Das Werk Gustav Klimts, Hodler was obliged to grant access of the painting to the art printers in Vienna for them to create the collotype sometime before 1908. Hodler had been previously invited in 1904 to take part in what would be the last exhibition of the Vienna Secession before Klimt and others associated with Galerie Miethke broke away. In an interview that same year, Hodler indicated that he respected and was impressed by Klimt. Hodler’s esteem for Klimt went beyond the art itself; he emulated Klimt’s method aimed at increasing his market reach and appeal to a wider audience by creating a print portfolio of his painted work. By 1914, Hodler and his publisher had the benefit of hindsight to learn from Klimt’s Das Werk publication. Responding to the sluggish sales of Klimt’s expensive endeavor, Hodler’s publisher devised the same diversified 1-2-3 strategy for selling Hodler’s Das Werk portfolio as they did with regards to all three works on Hodler they published that year. For their premium tier of DAS WERKS FERDINAND HODLERS, R. Piper & Co. issued an exclusive Museum quality edition of 15 examples on which Hodler signed each page. At a cost of 600 Marks, this was generally on par with Klimt’s asking price of 600 Kronen for his Das Werk portfolio. A middle-tiered Preferred edition of 30, costing somewhat less and with Hodler’s signature only on the Title Page, was also available. The General edition, targeting the largest audience with its much more affordable price of 150 Marks, is distinguishable by its smaller size. Rather than use the subscription format Miethke had chosen for Klimt’s portfolios which proved to have had its challenges, R. Piper & Co. employed a different strategy. In addition to instantly gratifying the buyer with all 40 of the prints comprising DAS WERK FERDINAND HODLERS and the choice among three price points, they advertised in German journals a fourth possibility of ordering single prints from them directly. These printed images are easily discernible from the three complete folio editions. The paper size of the single purchased images is of the larger format like the Museum and Preferred editions, measuring 65 h x 50 w cm; however, the paper itself is the same copper print paper used in the General edition and then mounted on poster board. The publishing house positioned itself to be a direct retailer of Hodler’s art. They astutely recognized the potential for profitability and the importance, therefore, of having proprietary control over his graphic works. R. Piper & Co. owned the exclusive printing rights to Hodler’s best work found in their three publications dating from 1914. That same year, a competing publication out of Weimar entitled Ferdinand Hodler: Ein Deutungsversuch von Hans...
Category

1910s Symbolist Figurative Prints

Materials

Paper

Yoshitomo Nara - The Little Star Dweller
Located in London, GB
Yoshitomo Nara The Little Star Dweller Offset lithograph on paper Sheet size: 51.5 x 36.4 cm Stamped with title, artist's name, copyright and year published by N's Yard, Japan
Category

2010s Contemporary Portrait Prints

Materials

Offset

Robert Mapplethorpe 'Urn with Fruit' 1994
Located in Brooklyn, NY
This image, Urn with Fruit, is drawn from a 1994 box set of Robert Mapplethorpe photographs, published by teNeues Publishing Company and printed in Germany. Classical in style and co...
Category

1990s Abstract Impressionist Prints and Multiples

Materials

Offset

Think Different Poster Apple Computer Original 1998 - Thomas Edison
Located in Boca Raton, FL
Steve Jobs had just returned to the struggling company, Apple Computer in 1997. Jobs and Lee Clow had collaborated back in 1984 to launch the MacIntosh. Now was the time to recover t...
Category

1990s Prints and Multiples

Materials

Lithograph

Framed eighteenth century botanical engraving in a decalcomania frame.
Located in Richmond, GB
From a wonderful selection of hand-coloured mezzotint engravings from: "Phytanthoza Iconographia", c1739, presented in a hand- made parcel-gilt, ebonised and decalcomania frame. So...
Category

Mid-18th Century Figurative Prints

Materials

Handmade Paper, Engraving, Mezzotint

Kate Moss on Silver
Located in Boston, MA
Artist: Quinn, Marc Title: Kate Moss on Silver Date: 2012 Medium: Screenprint, hand finished in silver leaf overglaze Unframed Dimensions: 27.5" x 21.250" Framed Dimension...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Prints and Multiples

Materials

Screen

Early 1945 Realist Etching of Rice University Building Architecture Houston, TX
Located in Houston, TX
Early realist etching of the architecture around Rice University campus in Houston, TX by an unnamed student. The work features a cropped view of a tower and an open courtyard area. ...
Category

1940s American Realist Landscape Prints

Materials

Etching

Max Eisler Eine Nachlese folio "Lady in a Feathered Hat" collotype
Located in Chicago, IL
After Gustav Klimt, Max Eisler Plate #2, Dame mit Blumenhut (aka The Violet Hat); sepia monochrome collotype after the 1909 painting in oil on canvas. ...
Category

1930s Vienna Secession Figurative Prints

Materials

Paper

H.O. Miethke Das Werk folio "Portrait of Lady in Red and Black" collotype print
Located in Chicago, IL
DAS WERK GUSTAV KLIMTS, a portfolio of 50 prints, ten of which are multicolor collotypes on chine colle paper laid down on hand-made heavy cream wove paper with deckled edges; under each of the 50 prints is a gold signet intaglio...
Category

Early 1900s Vienna Secession Figurative Prints

Materials

Paper

Sharbat Gula, Peshawar, Pakistan (Hand signed)
Located in New York, NY
Steve McCurry Sharbat Gula, Peshawar, Pakistan (Hand signed), 2002 Offset lithograph poster (hand signed by Steve McCurry) Boldly signed in black marker by Steve McCurry on the front...
Category

Early 2000s Realist Portrait Prints

Materials

Offset

King David, Surrealist Intaglio Etching and Color Pochoir by Salvador Dali
Located in Long Island City, NY
Salvador Dali, Spanish (1904 - 1989) - King David, Portfolio: Our Historical Heritage, Year: 1975, Medium: Intaglio Etching and Color Pochoir on Arches Paper, signed and numbered ...
Category

1970s Surrealist Portrait Prints

Materials

Etching, Intaglio

"Cheetah" Lithograph by Linda Lloyd
Located in Pasadena, CA
Two cheetahs, lying in tall grass, occupy the foreground of an engraving defined by clean, refined outlines. Their posture—both relaxed and tinged with alertness—reflects the inheren...
Category

Mid-20th Century Post-War Animal Prints

Materials

Lithograph

"Young Peasant Girl" Copper Plate Heliogravure
Located in Chicago, IL
2018 marks the centenary anniversary of Ferdinand Hodler’s death. In that 100 years time, the art world’s esteem of this important artist has proved fickle. It has shifted from extol...
Category

1910s Symbolist Figurative Prints

Materials

Paper

Sonia Delaunay (1885-1979) - Composition - etching on paper - 1964
Located in Varese, IT
Etching on paper, edited in 1964 signed in pencil by artist paper size: 34 x 28 cm framed size: 67 x 49 x 5.5 cm Framed to museum standards in a handmade frame , the background is m...
Category

1960s Abstract Prints and Multiples

Materials

Etching

"First Airplane Ride"
Located in Warren, NJ
Norman Rockwell "First Airplane Ride" lithograph signed artist proof. In good condition measures 33x27
Category

20th Century Prints and Multiples

Materials

Lithograph

Untitled (Nr. 0937) Photography 18" x 24" Edition of 20 by Ben Cope
Located in Culver City, CA
Untitled (Nr. 0937) Photography 18" x 24" Edition of 20 by Ben Cope Unframed - ships rolled in a tube Ben Cope + Rowan Daly Off the Grid Off the Grid is the culmination of a six...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Nude Photography

Materials

Archival Pigment

Christo-The Gates, Project for Central Park, New York City Vintage
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Vintage postcard from Christo and Jeanne-Claude's 'The Gates, Project for Central Park, New York City' of a drawing from 2003 in two parts. Framed in a white wood frame with a 2-inch...
Category

Early 2000s Contemporary Landscape Prints

Materials

Offset

Untitled Poster Print by Gleen Green. McGaw Editions - Art Expo Cal.
Located in Chesterfield, MI
Untitled Poster Print by Gleen Green Published by McGaw Editions Print Measures 33 in x 26 in
Category

20th Century Prints and Multiples

Materials

Lithograph

"Quinquina Dubonnet" Original Jules Cheret Maitre de l'Affiche
Located in Hinsdale, IL
CHERET, JULES (1836 - 1932) "Quinquina Dubonnet" Original lithograph from “Les Maitres de L’Affiche” series Printed by Imprimerie Chaix, Paris Bearing MDL stamp lower right, from issue #28, 1898. Plate #109 Unframed Size: 11 3/8 x 15 3/4” The “Les Maitres de l’Affiche” series was offered as a subscription series to collectors every month for 60 months, from December 1895 through November 1900. The “Maitres de l’Affiche,” were issued as separate numbered sheets, referred to as “plates”. They were numbered, with the printers name “Imprimerie Chaix,” in the margin at the bottom left hand corner, “PL.1” to “PL.240.” In the margin at the bottom right hand corner of each, is a blind embossed stamp from a design of Cheret’s. The smaller format and the fact the “Maitres” were a paid subscription series, allowed Imprimerie Chaix to use the latest state of the art printing techniques, not normally used in the large format posters due to cost. A very high quality of paper was used, where as the large format posters were printed on lesser quality newsprint, due to cost and a short expected life span. This explains why the quality of the printing, in the “Maitres de l’Affiche,” usually far exceeds that of their larger counterparts. “The Dubonnet poster...
Category

1890s Art Nouveau Figurative Prints

Materials

Lithograph

Happy Birthday Elvis! - Jailhouse Pop (framed hand finished screen print)
Located in Aventura, FL
One color screen print hand finished with acrylic paint. Hand signed and numbered on front, thumb print on verso Mr. Brainwash. Edition 30 of 50. Artwork size 24 x 22 inches. Fr...
Category

2010s Street Art Figurative Prints

Materials

Screen, Paper

Paris Rue
Located in Sag Harbor, NY
JOHN CHAMBERLAIN Paris Rue 1991 Ektacolor Professional print taken with Wide Lux camera Unsigned AP 1/1 apart from an edition of 9 24” x 20” Chamberlain began to explore photogr...
Category

1990s Abstract Expressionist Photography

Materials

C Print

BY THE SEA
Located in Aventura, FL
Giclee on canvas. Hand signed and numbered on front by the artist. Canvas image size 40 x 30 in. Artwork is in excellent condition. Certificate of authenticity included. Edition of ...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Portrait Prints

Materials

Canvas, Giclée

BY THE SEA
$1,256 Sale Price
30% Off
Sylvie
Located in New York, NY
Enclosed is a rare etching of the famous image of "Sylvie" with either she was a model or a lover. Nicola was a Lady's man and loved woman who are his major theme. Sylvie, was origin...
Category

1980s Impressionist Prints and Multiples

Materials

Etching

FLEURS DEVANT LA FENETRE (MOURLOT 478)
Located in Aventura, FL
Lithograph in colors on Arches paper. Hand signed and numbered by Marc Chagall. Mourlot 478. Edition 5/50 (there were also 25 artist’s proofs numbered in Roman numerals). Image size 17.75 x 16.5 inches. Sheet size 26.25 x 21 inches. Frame size approx 33 x 28 inches. Artwork is in excellent condition. All reasonable offers will be considered. About the Artist: Marc Chagall (French/Russian, 1887–1985) was an artist whose work anticipated the dream-like imagery of Surrealism. Over the course of his career, Chagall developed the poetic, amorphous, and deeply personal visual language evident in paintings like I and the Village...
Category

1960s Surrealist Figurative Prints

Materials

Paper, Etching

Le banc de jardin (The Garden Bench).
Located in Storrs, CT
Le banc de jardin (The Garden Bench). 1883. Mezzotint. Tissot catalog 79, Béraldi catalog 66, Wentworth catalog 75 state ii/iii. 16 1/2 x 22 1/8 (s...
Category

19th Century Impressionist Portrait Prints

Materials

Mezzotint

JACQUELINE KENNEDY I FS II.13
Located in Aventura, FL
Jacqueline Kennedy I, from 11 Pop Artists I. Screenprint in silver, on wove paper. Artist's stamped signature on the reverse and numbered. From the edition of 200. Published by O...
Category

1960s Pop Art Figurative Prints

Materials

Screen

Erte, 'Nocturne', Signed Limited Edition Serigraph, 1985
Located in Pembroke Pines, FL
Title: "Nocturne" Artist:Erte Type: Serigraph Image Dimensions: 26 x 20 Framed: 42x32.5 inches Year Produced: 1985 Edition: 258/300 Condition: Excellent The Russian born Romain de T...
Category

1980s Art Deco Prints and Multiples

Materials

Screen

Cindy Sherman, Untitled 103 - Signed Print from 1999, Contemporary Photography
Located in Hamburg, DE
Cindy Sherman (American, b. 1954) Untitled #103, 1982 Medium: Offset lithograph on paper Dimensions: 101 × 65 cm (39¾ h × 25½ w in) Edition size: Unknown (presumably 100 to 200) Mark...
Category

20th Century Contemporary Figurative Prints

Materials

Offset

Jeune Fille A La Voilette-Poster. Printed in France.
Located in Chesterfield, MI
Poster. Measures 23.75 x 18 inches and is Unframed. Good Condition.
Category

Late 20th Century Portrait Prints

Materials

Lithograph

François Fanch Ledan Monte Carlo - The Arms, 1997, Lithograph on Arches Paper
Located in Rochester Hills, MI
Artist: Francois Fanch Ledan Title: Monte Carlo - The Arms, Year: 1997 Medium: Lithograph on Arches Paper Size: 19 x 22 inches Signed in pencil and marked 198/200 UNFRAMED Born ...
Category

1990s Figurative Prints

Materials

Lithograph

Annie Leibovitz 'Jodie Foster, Malibu, California' 1992
Located in Brooklyn, NY
This features an iconic image of actress Jodie Foster, photographed by renowned photographer Annie Leibovitz in Malibu, California. The portrait is drawn from a collectible box set p...
Category

1990s Prints and Multiples

Materials

Offset

Fernando Botero 'Mujer con Sombrero Rojo' 1991- Poster
Located in Brooklyn, NY
This reproduction of Mujer con Sombrero Rojo was featured in the Miami International Art Exposition in 1991. The piece showcases Botero’s iconic style, depicting a voluptuous woman a...
Category

1990s Prints and Multiples

Materials

Offset

Andy Warhol, NYC, 2019
Located in Palo Alto, CA
Created in 2019, this screenprint with diamond dust is hand-signed by Russell Young Russell Young, British (Northern England, 1959- ) in pencil on verso. This is a unique and origina...
Category

2010s Contemporary Portrait Prints

Materials

Screen

“Apéritif” (FRAMED) Photography 24" x 36" inch Edition of 7 by Brian Ziff
Located in Culver City, CA
“Apéritif” (FRAMED) Photography 24" x 36" inch Edition of 7 by Brian Ziff Giclee (Archival Ink) Print on Canson Platine Fibre Rag From "Park Drive" series
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Surrealist Figurative Photography

Materials

Archival Ink, Rag Paper, Giclée

Marilyn Chanel, 2023
Located in Toronto, ON
72" x 58" 8/20 Limited Edition Silkscreen of 20 with Diamond Dust on Coventry Paper with Hand-Deckled edges Hand Signed by Russell Young
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Romantic Portrait Prints

Materials

Screen

Jellyfish Eyes - Black 3. Limited Edition (print) by Takashi Murakami signed
Located in Hong Kong, HK
Jellyfish Eyes - Black 3 by Takashi Murakami (2004) Offset print, numbered and signed by the artist 19 ¹¹/₁₆ × 19 ¹¹/₁₆ in 50 × 50 cm Edition 34/300 T...
Category

Early 2000s Pop Art Figurative Prints

Materials

Offset

The Circus Dressing Room
Located in Missouri, MO
Dame Laura Knight "The Circus Dressing Room" 1925 Etching Ed. 20 Signed Lower Right Image Size: approx. 14 x 10 inches Framed Size: approx. 23.5 x 17.75 inches An English impressio...
Category

1920s Realist Figurative Prints

Materials

Aquatint

Playmates, For My People, Elizabeth Catlett
Located in Southampton, NY
Lithograph on vélin d’Arches 300gm paper. Paper Size: 21.8125 x 18.3125 inches. Inscription: Unsigned and unnumbered, as issued. Notes: From the album, For My People, 1992. Published...
Category

1990s Expressionist Figurative Prints

Materials

Lithograph

Blood Wedding- Vintage Poster - Mid-20th Century
Located in Roma, IT
Blood Wedding is an original vintage poster of mid-20th Century. The poster is an offset print, depicts the protagonists of the film and on the back the poster of the film with all ...
Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Figurative Prints

Materials

Offset

"Portrait of Prof. Dr. Hermann Sahli" Copper Plate Heliogravure
Located in Chicago, IL
2018 marks the centenary anniversary of Ferdinand Hodler’s death. In that 100 years time, the art world’s esteem of this important artist has proved fickle. It has shifted from extolling his artistic merits during his lifetime to showing something of a feigned disdain- more reflective of the world political order than a true change of heart for Hodler’s work. After years of Hodler being all but a footnote in the annals of art history and generally ignored, finally, the pendulum has righted itself once again. Recent retrospective exhibitions in Europe and the United States have indicated not only a joyful rediscovery of Hodler’s art but a firm conviction that his work and world view hold particular relevance today. DAS WERK FERDINAND HODLERS is not only a collection of printed work reflecting the best of all of his painted work created up to 1914 just before the outbreak of World War I, the portfolio itself is an encapsulation of Hodler’s ethos, Parallelisme. Hodler developed his philosophy of Parallelisme as a unifying approach to art which strips away detail in search of harmony. By means of abstraction, symmetry and repetition, Hodler sought ways to depict Nature’s essence and her fundamental, universal order. He believed these universal laws governing the natural, observable world extend to the spiritual realm. Symbolist in nature with Romantic undertones, his works are equally portraits of these universal concepts and feelings governing all life as they are a visual portrait in the formal sense. Whether his subject is a solitary tree, a moment in battle, mortal fear, despair, the awe inspired by a vast mountain range, a tender moment or even the collective conviction in a belief, Hodler unveils this guiding principle of Parallelisme. Several aspects of Hodler’s portfolio reinforce his tenets of Parallelisme. The Table of Contents clearly preferences a harmonious design over detail. The two columns, consisting of twenty lines each, list the images by order of appearance using their German titles. The abbreviated titles are somewhat cryptic in that they obscure the identities of the sitters. Like the image Hodler presents, they are distillations of the sitter without any extraneous details. This shortening was also done in an effort to maintain a harmonious symmetry of the Table of Contents, themselves, and keep titles to a one-line limit. The twenty-fourth title: “Bildnis des Schweizerischen Gesandten C.” was so long, even with abbreviation, that it required two lines; so, for the sake of maintaining symmetry, the fortieth title: “Bauernmadchen” was omitted from the list. This explains why the images are not numbered. Hodler’s reasoning is not purely esoteric. Symmetry and pattern reach beyond mere formal design principles. Finding sameness and imposing it over disorder goes to the root of Hodler’s identity and his art. A Swiss native, Hodler was bi-lingual and spoke German and French. Each printed image, even number forty, have titles in both of Hodler’s languages. Certainly, there was a market for Hodler’s work among francophones and this inclusion may have been a polite gesture to that end; however, this is the only place in the portfolio which includes French. With German titles at the lower left of each image, Hodler’s name at bottom center and corresponding French titles at the lower right of each image, there is a harmony and symmetry woven into all aspects of the portfolio. This holds true for the page design, as it applies to each printed image and as it describes the Swiss artist himself. Seen in this light, Hodler’s portfolio of printed work is the epitome of Hodler’s Parallelisme. DAS WERK FERDINAND HODLERS is also one of the most significant documents to best tell the story of how Hodler, from Switzerland, became caught between political cross-hairs and how the changing tides of nations directly impacted the artist during his lifetime as well as the accessibility of his art for generations to come. The Munich-based publisher of the portfolio, R. Piper & Co., Verlag, plays a crucial role in this story. Publishing on a wide range of subjects from philosophy and world religion to music, literature and the visual arts; the publisher’s breadth of inquiry within any one genre was equal in scope. Their marketing strategy to publish multiple works on Hodler offers great insight as to what a hot commodity Hodler was at that time. R.Piper & Co.’s Almanach, which they published in 1914 in commemoration of their first ten years in business, clearly illustrates the rapid succession- strategically calculated for achieving the deepest and broadest impact - in which they released three works on Hodler to hit the market by the close of 1914. DAS WERK FERDINAND HODLERS was their premier publication. It preceded C.A. Loosli’s Die Zeichnungen Ferdinand Hodlers, a print portfolio after 50 drawings by Hodler which was released in Autumn of 1914 at the mid-level price-point of 75-150 Marks; and a third less expensive collection of prints after original works by Hodler, which had not been included in either of the first two portfolios, was released at the end of that year entitled Ferdinand Hodler by Dr. Ewald Bender. The title and timing of DAS WERK FERDINAND HODLERS' debut leaves little doubt as to the connection it has with another avant-garde portfolio of art prints, Das Werk Gustav Klimts, released in 5 installments from 1908 -1914 by Galerie Miethke in Vienna. Hodler, himself, was involved in Klimt’s ground-breaking project. As the owner of Klimt’s 1901 painting, “Judith with the Head of Holifernes” which appears as the ninth collotype print in the second installment of Das Werk Gustav Klimts, Hodler was obliged to grant access of the painting to the art printers in Vienna for them to create the collotype sometime before 1908. Hodler had been previously invited in 1904 to take part in what would be the last exhibition of the Vienna Secession before Klimt and others associated with Galerie Miethke broke away. In an interview that same year, Hodler indicated that he respected and was impressed by Klimt. Hodler’s esteem for Klimt went beyond the art itself; he emulated Klimt’s method aimed at increasing his market reach and appeal to a wider audience by creating a print portfolio of his painted work. By 1914, Hodler and his publisher had the benefit of hindsight to learn from Klimt’s Das Werk publication. Responding to the sluggish sales of Klimt’s expensive endeavor, Hodler’s publisher devised the same diversified 1-2-3 strategy for selling Hodler’s Das Werk portfolio as they did with regards to all three works on Hodler they published that year. For their premium tier of DAS WERKS FERDINAND HODLERS, R. Piper & Co. issued an exclusive Museum quality edition of 15 examples on which Hodler signed each page. At a cost of 600 Marks, this was generally on par with Klimt’s asking price of 600 Kronen for his Das Werk portfolio. A middle-tiered Preferred edition of 30, costing somewhat less and with Hodler’s signature only on the Title Page, was also available. The General edition, targeting the largest audience with its much more affordable price of 150 Marks, is distinguishable by its smaller size. Rather than use the subscription format Miethke had chosen for Klimt’s portfolios which proved to have had its challenges, R. Piper & Co. employed a different strategy. In addition to instantly gratifying the buyer with all 40 of the prints comprising DAS WERK FERDINAND HODLERS and the choice among three price points, they advertised in German journals a fourth possibility of ordering single prints from them directly. These printed images are easily discernible from the three complete folio editions. The paper size of the single purchased images is of the larger format like the Museum and Preferred editions, measuring 65 h x 50 w cm; however, the paper itself is the same copper print paper used in the General edition and then mounted on poster board. The publishing house positioned itself to be a direct retailer of Hodler’s art. They astutely recognized the potential for profitability and the importance, therefore, of having proprietary control over his graphic works. R. Piper & Co. owned the exclusive printing rights to Hodler’s best work found in their three publications dating from 1914. That same year, a competing publication out of Weimar entitled Ferdinand Hodler: Ein Deutungsversuch von Hans Muhlestein appeared. Its author, a young scholar, expressed his frustration with the limited availability of printable work by Hodler. In his Author’s Note on page 19, dated Easter, 1914, Muhlestein confirms that the publisher of Hodler’s three works from that same year owned the exclusive reproductive rights to Hodler’s printed original work. He goes further to explain that even after offering to pay to use certain of those images in his book, the publisher refused. Clearly, a lot of jockeying for position in what was perceived as a hot market was occurring in 1914. Instead, their timing couldn’t have been more ill-fated, and what began with such high hopes suddenly found a much different market amid a hostile climate. The onset of WWI directly impacted sales. Many, including Ferdinand Hodler, publicly protested the September invasion by Germany of France in which the Reims Cathedral, re-built in the 13th century, was shelled, destroying priceless stained glass and statuary and burning off the iron roof and badly damaging its wooden interior. Thomas Gaehtgens, Director of the Getty Research Institute describes how the bombing of Reims Cathedral triggered blindingly powerful and deeply-felt ultra-nationalistic responses: “The event profoundly shocked French intellectuals, who for the most part had an intense admiration for German literature, music and art. By relying on press accounts and abstracting from the visual propagandistic content, they were unable to interpret the siege of Reims without turning away from German culture in disgust. Similarly, the German intelligentsia and bourgeoisie were also shocked to find themselves described as vandals and barbarians. Ninety-three writers, scientists, university professors, and artists signed a protest, directed against the French insults, that defended the actions of the German army.” In similar fashion, a flurry of open letters published in German newspapers and journals as well as telegrams and postcards sent directly to Hodler following his outcry in support of Reims reflected the collectively critical reaction to Hodler’s position. Loosli documents that among the list of telegrams Hodler received was one from none other than his publisher in Germany, R.Piper & Co. Allegiances were questioned. The market for Hodler in Germany immediately softened. Matters worsened for the publisher beyond the German backlash to Hodler and his loss of appeal in the home market; with the war in full swing until 1918, there was little chance a German publisher would have much interest coming from outside of Germany and Austria. Following the war and Hodler’s death in 1918, the economy in Germany continued to spiral out and just 5 years later, hyper-inflation had rendered its currency worthless vis-a-vis its value in the pre-war years. Like the economy, Hodler’s reputation was slow to find currency in these difficult times. Even many French art fans had turned sour on Hodler as they considered his long-standing relationship in German and Austrian art circles. Thus, the portfolio’s rarity in Hodler’s lifetime and, consequently, the availability of these printed images from DAS WERK FERDINAND HODLERS since his death has been scarce. In many ways, Hodler and his portfolios were casualties of war. Thwarted from their intended purpose of reaching a wide audience and show-casing Parallelisme, Hodler’s unique approach to art, this important, undated work has been both elusive and shrouded in mystery. Perhaps DAS WERK FERDINAND HODLERS was left undated as a means of affirming the timelessness of Hodler’s art. Digging back into the past, Hodler’s contemporaries, like R. Piper, C.A. Loosli and Hans Muhlestein, indeed provide the keys to unequivocally clarify what has largely been mired in obscurity. Just after Hodler’s death, the May, 1918 issue of the Burlington Review ran a small column which opined hope for better access to R.Piper & Co.’s DAS WERK FERDINAND HODLERS; 100 years later, it is finally possible. Hodler’s voice rings out through these printed works. Once more, his modern approach to depicting portraits, landscapes and grand scale scenes of Swiss history speak to us of what is universal. Engaging with any one of these images is the chance to connect to Hodler’s vision and his world view- weltanschauung in German, vision du monde in French- however one expresses these concepts through language, its message embedded in his work is the same: “We differ from one another, but we are like each other even more. What unifies us is greater and more powerful than what divides us.” Today, Hodler’s art couldn’t be more timely. FERDINAND HODLER (SWISS, 1853-1918) explored Parallelisme through figurative poses evocative of music, dance and ritual. His images of sex, night, desertion and death as well as his many landscapes exploring the universal longing for harmony with Nature are unique and important works embodying a Symbolist paradigm. Truly a Modern Master, Hodler’s influence can be felt in the work of Gustav Klimt and Kolomon Moser and subsequent Expressionist artists such as Egon Schiele. He was born into an impoverished family in Bern, Switzerland in 1853. His entire family succumbed to tuberculosis, and he was orphaned by the age of 13, the only surviving child among his 13 siblings. In the absence of family, the influence and guidance which his art instructors provided Hodler was foundational and profound. Hodler began formal studies in 1872 at the Geneva School of Design. Under Barthelemy Menn, Hodler was drawn to the ordered beauty of Euclidian geometry and Durer’s fundamentals of human proportion that proved to be guiding principles informing his art throughout his life. By the 1880s, Hodler began to enjoy some recognition for his work which put him on a new path towards stability. Remaining in Geneva, he became assistant to the well-known muralist, Edouard Castres. Following his first solo show in 1885, Hodler’s work took on a Symbolist quality. He frequently associated with a group of Swiss Symbolist...
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1910s Symbolist Figurative Prints

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