Charles Laplante Art

Fritz Eichenberg, 'The Wolf and the Little Kids' from the suite 'Fables with a Twist', wood engraving, 1975-76, artist's proof apart from the edition of c. 50. Signed, titled, and annotated 'Artist’s Proof' in pencil. Signed in the block, lower right. A fine, richly-inked impression, on cream wove paper, with full margins (7/8 to 1 1/2 inches), in excellent condition. Complete with vellum folder with descriptive text in red and black linotype. Printed by master printer Harold McGrath at The Gehenna Press, Northampton, MA. Image size 13 15/16 x 12 1/8 inches (354 x 308 mm); sheet size 16 1/2 x 14 inches (419 x 356 mm). Archivally sleeved, unmatted. Collection: Harvard Museums. ABOUT THE ARTIST Fritz Eichenberg (1901–1990) was a German-American illustrator and arts educator who worked primarily in wood engraving. His best-known works were concerned with religion, social justice, and nonviolence. Eichenberg was born to a Jewish family in Cologne, Germany, where the destruction of World War I helped to shape his anti-war sentiments. He worked as a printer's apprentice and studied at the Municipal School of Applied Arts in Cologne and the Academy of Graphic Arts in Leipzig, where he studied under Hugo Steiner-Prag. In 1923 he moved to Berlin to begin his career as an artist, producing illustrations for books and newspapers. In his newspaper and magazine work, Eichenberg was politically outspoken and sometimes wrote and illustrated his reporting. In 1933, the rise of Adolf Hitler drove Eichenberg, who was a public critic of the Nazis, to emigrate with his wife and children to the United States. He settled in New York City, where he lived most of his life. He worked in the WPA Federal Arts Project and was a member of the Society of American Graphic Artists. In his prolific career as a book illustrator, Eichenberg portrayed many forms of literature but specialized in works with elements of extreme spiritual and emotional conflict, fantasy, or social satire. Over his long career, Eichenberg was commissioned to illustrate more than 100 classics by publishers in the United States and abroad, including works by renowned authors Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy, Charlotte and Emily Brontë, Poe, Swift, and Grimmelshausen. He also wrote and illustrated books of folklore and children's stories. Eichenberg was a long-time contributor to the progressive magazine The Nation, his illustrations appearing between 1930 and 1980. Eichenberg’s work has been featured by such esteemed publishers as The Heritage Club, Random House, Book of the Month Club, The Limited Editions Club, Kingsport Press, Aquarius Press, and Doubleday. Raised in a non-religious family, Eichenberg had been attracted to Taoism as a child. Following his wife's unexpected death in 1937, he turned briefly to Zen Buddhist meditation, then joined the Religious Society of Friends in 1940. Though he remained a Quaker until his death, Eichenberg was also associated with Catholic charity work through his friendship with Dorothy Day...

Fritz Eichenberg, 'Simplicius’ Farewell To The World' from the suite 'The Adventurous Simplicissimus', wood engraving, 1977, artist's proof apart from the edition of 50. Signed in pencil. Signed in the block, lower right. A fine, richly-inked impression, on cream wove paper, with full margins (1 1/2 to 2 inches), in excellent condition. Image size 14 x 12 inches (356 x 305 mm); sheet size 17 1/2 x 15 inches (445 x 381 mm). Archivally sleeved, unmatted. ABOUT THIS WORK 'Simplicius Simplicissimus' (German: Der abenteuerliche Simplicissimus Teutsch) is a picaresque novel of the lower Baroque style, written in five books by Hans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen published in 1668, with the sequel Continuatio appearing in 1669. The novel is told from the perspective of its protagonist Simplicius, a rogue or picaro typical of the picaresque novel, as he traverses the tumultuous world of the Holy Roman Empire during the Thirty Years' War. Raised by a peasant family, he is separated from his home by foraging dragoons. He is adopted by a hermit living in the forest, who teaches him to read and introduces him to religion. The hermit also gives Simplicius his name because he is so simple that he does not know his own name. After the death of the hermit, Simplicius must fend for himself. He is conscripted at a young age into service and, from there, embarks on years of foraging, military triumph, wealth, prostitution, disease, bourgeois domestic life, and travels to Russia, France, and an alternate world inhabited by mermen. The novel ends with Simplicius turning to a life of hermitage, denouncing the world as corrupt. ABOUT THE ARTIST Fritz Eichenberg (1901–1990) was a German-American illustrator and arts educator who worked primarily in wood engraving. His best-known works were concerned with religion, social justice, and nonviolence. Eichenberg was born to a Jewish family in Cologne, Germany, where the destruction of World War I helped to shape his anti-war sentiments. He worked as a printer's apprentice and studied at the Municipal School of Applied Arts in Cologne and the Academy of Graphic Arts in Leipzig, where he studied under Hugo Steiner-Prag. In 1923 he moved to Berlin to begin his career as an artist, producing illustrations for books and newspapers. In his newspaper and magazine work, Eichenberg was politically outspoken and sometimes wrote and illustrated his reporting. In 1933, the rise of Adolf Hitler drove Eichenberg, who was a public critic of the Nazis, to emigrate with his wife and children to the United States. He settled in New York City, where he lived most of his life. He worked in the WPA Federal Arts Project and was a member of the Society of American Graphic Artists. In his prolific career as a book illustrator, Eichenberg portrayed many forms of literature but specialized in works with elements of extreme spiritual and emotional conflict, fantasy, or social satire. Over his long career, Eichenberg was commissioned to illustrate more than 100 classics by publishers in the United States and abroad, including works by renowned authors Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy, Charlotte and Emily Brontë, Poe, Swift, and Grimmelshausen. He also wrote and illustrated books of folklore and children's stories. Eichenberg was a long-time contributor to the progressive magazine The Nation, his illustrations appearing between 1930 and 1980. Eichenberg’s work has been featured by such esteemed publishers as The Heritage Club, Random House, Book of the Month Club, The Limited Editions Club, Kingsport Press, Aquarius Press, and Doubleday. Raised in a non-religious family, Eichenberg had been attracted to Taoism as a child. Following his wife's unexpected death in 1937, he turned briefly to Zen Buddhist meditation, then joined the Religious Society of Friends in 1940. Though he remained a Quaker until his death, Eichenberg was also associated with Catholic charity work through his friendship with Dorothy Day...

Woodcut. 8 1/4 x 6 1/4 (sheet 14 7/16 x 10 1/2). Signed, dated and titled in pencil. Helen West Heller was born near Rushville, Illinois. From 1876 she lived in Canton, IIlinois. ...

"Suwa Kintai Bridge at Iwakuni", a beautiful mid-century Japanese woodblock print by master modern printmaker Tomikichiro Tokuriki (Japanese, 1902-2000), c.1960s. This iconic bridge of five arches is depicted in the traditional clean and minimalist style, with tiny figures silhouetted under a full moon. From the series "Hanga Nihon Hakkei" (The Eight Views of Japan). Signed with the artist's chop lower right. Signed with chop of publisher, Uchida Bijutsu Shoten, lower right margin. "Suwa Kintai Bridge at Iwakuni / Hiroshima" noted on verso. Displayed in a new grey mat with acid free foam core backing. Unframed. Paper size: 11.25"H x 16"W. Tokuriki was born in Kyoto, where he has always worked. The last of a long line of traditional-style painters, he turned early to woodblock prints and became a leader of the Kyoto 'Sosaku Hanga'. He graduated from the Kyoto City School of Fine Arts and Crafts and then from the Kyoto City Specialist School of Painting in 1924. In 1928 he studied 'Nihonga' painting under Tsuchida Bakusen (1887-1936) and Yamamoto Shunkyo...

Todros Geller (1889 – 1949) was a Jewish American artist and teacher best known as a master printmaker and a leading artist among Chicago’s art community.Geller was born in Vinnytsia, the Russian Empire (now Ukraine) in 1889.[2] He studied art in Odessa and continued his studies after moving to Montreal in 1906 where he immigrated to Canada. He married and moved to Chicago in 1918, where he studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago until 1923. Geller produced paintings, woodcuts, woodcarvings, and etchings. His work focused on Jewish tradition, often including moralistic themes and social commentary, shtetl, ghetto life, and the intersection of Jewish tradition with modern-day Chicago. He regarded art as a tool for social reform and he spent a large part of his career teaching art. His work was commissioned for stained glass windows, bookplates, community centers and Yiddish and English books. He was regarded as a leader in the field of synagogue and religious art. He designed stained glass window for synagogues in Omaha, Fort Worth, Dayton, Stamford, and Chicago Heights. Over the course of his career he illustrated more than 40 books. In addition to conducting classes in his studio, Geller was head of art at the Jewish People’s Institute (JPI), supervisor of art for the Board of Jewish Education and director of art for the College of Jewish Studies (which became the Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning and Leadership) and taught at Hull House. Many prominent Chicago artists studied drawing and painting under Geller. Geller was a source of inspiration to Aaron Bohrod and Mitchell Siporin...

Hooves. 1927. Woodcut. 7 1/2 x 12 (sheet 11 7/8 x 15 1/8). Printed on heavy Japanese mulberry paper. Signed, dated, and titled in pencil. An example of this work is in the collectio...

Woodblock on colored paper by Margo Hoff (1910-2008) titled 'Observers' of a black and red abstract scene with seventeen figures whose arms are in various positions, looking out at t...

Woodcut print of a vase with flowers. The work is signed by the artist and dated. It is framed in a gold frame with a dark blue matte. Artist Biography: Mabuchi Toru was born in 192...

Fritz Eichenberg, 'City LIghts', wood engraving, 1934, edition 200. Signed, titled 'Lights', and annotated 'No 2/200 for Howard M. Chapin' in pencil. Initialed in the block, lower right. A fine, richly-inked black impression, on cream wove paper, with full margins (1 1/4 to 1 7/8 inches); a small loss (5/8 inch) in the top right sheet corner, well away from the image, otherwise in excellent condition. Printed by master printer Ernest Roth...

"Chamber Music" is an original wood engraving by Robert Franz von Neumann. It features a room full of men in the thralls of creating music together. A small audience stands outside their circle. Image: 5.5" x 7" Framed: 14" x 15.56" 1888 - 1976 Born in Rostock, Mecklenburg, Germany, Robert von Neumann...

Salvador Dali (1904-1989) Hell 12 - The Minotaure Woodcut Printed signature in the plate 1960/63 Printed on paper Vélin BFK Rives Size 32,8 x 26,4 cm (c. 13 x 10") REFERENCES : Fi...

Naoko Matsubara, 'Decaying Beauty' for the portfolio 'Solitude', color woodcut, 1971, edition 100. Signed and numbered '49/100' in pencil. A fine, fres...