Richard Ranft Art

Karl Alexander Gerich (English, 23.4.1956 - 4.1.2016) Pollonaise No. 24, 1988 - Etching - Sheet ca. 27.8 X 42 cm - No plate mark - Varnished ('Glossy Antique French') Finished, coloured, backed and varnished print likely to be a spare sheet (over production), which were never used. Possibly at some later stage, Karl experimented by partially painting the back with divering number of layers of pink. Held up as finished cards the pink would then shine through the varnished card. By holding up the sheet, this effect can be observed in areas with and without the pink backing. Sheets is in good condition and suitable to be framed. Karl was a brilliant playing card maker and certainly one of the most genius artist-craftsmen I had the pleasure to learn about his work and know. He could do it all: Come up with the tale, weave meaning(s) into it, fill it with spirited characters of his liking, draw it, etch it, print it, colour it and handcraft the inks, paper and card into wondersome packs of playing cards, each of them living in their own, most exquisitely crafted boxes. Every pack a magical marvel, filled with the spirit of this genius card maker … All this he did using his Adana printing press, very simple hand tools and great skill. When Karl closed down his studio in St.Peter’s Terrace in Bath, England and moved to Poplar Close, he sold off work for which he felt he no longer wanted to be the custodian. So a number of prints reached the market then. Printed sheets by Karl Gerich...

Bernard Cathelin (French 1919-2004) "Les Mexicaines" Colored Lithograph on Rice Paper. A peaceful impressionistic scene of three Mexican women in the street. Red. Orange. Black. W...

Joan Miró - Maravillas con variaciones acrósticas en el jardín de Miró XIX Date of creation: 1975 Medium: Lithograph on Gvarro paper Edition: 1500 Size: 49,5 x 35,5 cm Observations: ...

Mary Cassatt 1844 - 1926 "By the Pond" (Breeskin 161; Matthews & Shapiro 21) Drypoint and aquatint printed in colors, circa 1896, on laid paper, framed Fourth state of four. Plate:...

After Andy Warhol Chanel No. 5 (Suite of Four Individual (Separate) Prints on Linen Canvas), 1996 Suite of Four (4) Separate Individual Limited Edition Offset lithographs in colors o...

SAM FRANCIS: Limited Signed Deluxe Edition (Hand signed and numbered by Sam Francis), 1982 Deluxe limited edition hardback monograph with cloth boards, held in special slipcase of ts...

Karl Alexander Gerich (English, 23.4.1956 - 4.1.2016) Mayday No. 28, 1989 - Etching - Sheet ca. 37.5 x 26.1 cm - Plate ca. 32.6 x 23.5 cm You ask why this pack is called Mayday ? Well, the pack was finished on the 1st of May, 1989 – The day Steven Denis won the World Snooker Championship. Karl was a passionate snooker fan and this is how he marked the victory of his hero, who he also made the joker of this pack. The proof sheet printed in blue depicts all the court cards, title card, joker & that extra SD joker and the box in which the pack would live. Sheet is in good condition and suitable to be framed. Karl was a brilliant playing card maker and certainly one of the most genius artist-craftsmen I had the pleasure to learn about his work and know. He could do it all: Come up with the tale, weave meaning(s) into it, fill it with spirited characters of his liking, draw it, etch it, print it, colour it and handcraft the inks, paper and card into wondersome packs of playing cards, each of them living in their own, most exquisitely crafted boxes. Every pack a magical marvel, filled with the spirit of this genius card maker … All this he did using his Adana printing press, very simple hand tools and great skill. When Karl closed down his studio in St.Peter’s Terrace in Bath, England and moved to Poplar Close, he sold off work for which he felt he no longer wanted to be the custodian. So a number of prints reached the market then. Printed sheets by Karl Gerich...

TOULOUSE-LAUTREC, HENRI DE (1864-1901) "LA CHAINE SIMPSON" Original lithograph from "Les Maitres de L'Affiche" series Printed by Imprimerie Chaix, Paris Bearing MDL stamp lower right, from issue #60, 1900. Plate #238 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. "In her recent excellent biography of Lautrec, Julia Frey indicates that 'Henry, the frustrated athlete, was compulsively familiar with the vocabulary and technical aspects of a variety of sports in which he could participate as a spectator: horse and bicycle racing, wrestling, yachting, bullfighting. He watched them all with the same intensity that he watched a line of dancers or a circus bareback rider, attracted by the beauty of movement, but also by the smells, sounds and excitement of the spectacle (Frey, p.353) His 'insider' knowledge of the cycling field shows up abundantly in this poster for the French agent of the Simpson bicycle chain company. In the foreground is the champion cyclist Constant Huret. In the background are Tristan Bernard, the sports impresario who was a close friend of Lautrec, with Louis Bougle, the French agent who adopted the name 'Spoke.' A touch of levity is added by what appears to be a 'bicycle-built-for-ten' in the upper-left corner, in fact it's two five-seaters, known at the time as 'quints.'"(Rennert, PAI-XXII, 35)Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec came from an aristocratic background, having been born the son of an earl.Even as a schoolboy he showed a talent for drawing. By 14 he had suffered two horse back riding accidents, combined with a serious bone disease which eventually left him crippled for life. His body continued to grow but not his legs, he would remain only five feet tall and suffer pain and embarrassment his entire life.At the age of 18, Lautrec moved to Montmartre in Paris to study art seriously. He worked with artists Louis Anquentin, Emile Bernard, Degas, Van Gogh and others. He became a frequenter of the the cafes, cabarets and brothels of the neighborhood, drawing from them inspirations for his artistic themes. As the artist's stature grew, several magazines wanted to publish his work, including Le Rire. His subjects, as well as street life, included some of the most famous music-hall performers, with whom he became friends, such as Yvette Guilbert, La Goulue Jane Avril, May Milton, May Belfort...

TOULOUSE-LAUTREC, HENRI DE (1864-1901) "FEMME AU TUB" (Woman with Tub) From the series, “Elles”, c. 1896 Wittrock 159, Adhemar 204 From the edition of 100; per Wittrock Original color crayon brush and splatter lithograph, five colors, printed on wove paper Printed without margins to deckled edge of paper Bearing Artist’s Monogram Stamp...

Karl Alexander Gerich (English, 23.4.1956 - 4.1.2016) Merry Andrew No. 30, 1989 - Etchings - Sheet 24 x 32 cm - No plate mark (trimmed sheets) With t...

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...

Engraved by Claudine Bouzonnet-Stella (French, 1636-1697) After Jacques Stella (French 1596-1657) The Wedding Procession - Le Cortege nuptial • Copper engraving on laid paper • Sh...