Ruth Laskey Art

Artist: Louis LeGrand (French, 1863-1951) Title: "La Loge (The Lodge)" Portfolio: Gazette des Beaux-Arts *Issued unsigned, though signed by LeGrand in the plat...

Artist: Mark Catesby (English, 1638-1749) Title: "Putorius & Pseudo Phalangium (The Pole-Cat) (Skunk)" (Plate/Tab 62) Portfolio: Natural History of Carolina, Florida & the Bahama Islands *Monogram signed by Catesby in the plate (printed signature) lower right Year: 1771-1810 (third edition) Medium: Original Hand-Colored Etching on cream J. Ruse handmade paper Limited edition: Unknown Printer: Unknown Publisher: Benjamin White, London, UK Framing: Recently framed in a black and gold moulding with 100% cotton linen fabric matting Framed size: 21.63" x 25.19" Sheet size: 13.75" x 21.13" Platemark size: 10.25" x 13.75" Condition: UV staining to sheet and mat stain in margins. Some soft handling creases. In otherwise good condition Very rare Notes: Provenance: private collection - Miami, FL. Comes from Catesby's famous two volume portfolio "Natural History of Carolina, Florida & the Bahama Islands" (1771-1810) (third edition), which consists of 220 hand-colored etchings. "J. Ruse 1800" watermark lower right. Mark Catesby's The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands is generally credited as the first published work to provide illustrations and descriptions of North American flora and fauna. From 1722-1726 Catesby, an English naturalist, ranged over South Carolina, Georgia and the Bahamas sketching and collecting specimens of native plants and animals. Skunks are North and South American mammals in the family Mephitidae. While related to polecats and other members of the weasel family, skunks have as their closest Old World relatives the stink badgers. The animals are known for their ability to spray a liquid with a strong, unpleasant scent. Biography: Mark Catesby (24 March 1683 – 23 December 1749) was an English naturalist. Between 1729 and 1747 Catesby published his Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands, the first published account of the flora and fauna of North America. It included 220 plates of birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, insects, mammals and plants. Mark Catesby's The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands is generally credited as the first published work to provide illustrations and descriptions of North American flora and fauna. From 1722-1726 Catesby, an English naturalist, ranged over South Carolina, Georgia and the Bahamas sketching and collecting specimens of native plants and animals. Little is known of Catesby's early life. He was born in eastern England in 1683. Although Catesby does not appear to have attended university or studied for the Bar, he was sufficiently educated to write clear English and Latin. His interest in and knowledge of plants may have derived from his uncle, who maintained a botanical garden. Catesby also appears to have benefited from an acquaintance with John Ray, a leading English naturalist of the 17th century and the co-author of an early classic study of birds...

Artist: Michael Burghers (Dutch, c.1647/1648-1727) Title: "The New Testament" Portfolio: Holy Bible *Signed by Burghers in the plate (printed signature) lower left Year: 1680 Medium: Original Etching and Engraving with recent Hand-Color on watermarked laid paper Limited edition: Unknown Printer: John Baskett, London?, UK Publisher: Moses Pitt, Peter Parker, and Thomas Guy, London?, UK Sheet size (irregular margins): 17.25" x 10.5" Image size: 14.75" x 9.5" Condition: Uneven trimming and light edgewear in margins. One small tear entering image lower right which has been skillfully repaired with added backing paper with archival tape from verso. It is otherwise a strong impression in very good condition with strong colors Very rare Notes: Provenance: private collection - Cotswolds, UK. Comes from the 1685 "Holy Bible" portfolio. John Baskett was deemed printer to the King's most Excellent Majesty, for Great Britain and to the University of Oxford. Large unidentified watermark within center of sheet. There is an example of this work in the permanent collection of the British Museum in London, UK. In the foreground, John the Evangelist, holding a pen and writing...

Artist: Salvador Dali (Spanish, 1904-1989) Title: "Hommage a Picasso (Cannes) (Cote d'Azur)" *Signed by Dali in pencil lower right Year: 1973 Medium: Original Drypoint Etching on Rives BFK paper Limited edition: L/CC (50/200) Printer: Atelier Rigal, Paris, France Publisher: Felicia, New York, NY and EGI, Beverly Hills, CA Reference: "The Official Catalog of the Graphic Works of Salvador Dali" - Field No. 73-5, page 84; "Dali: Catalogue Raisonné of Etchings and Mixed-Media Prints, 1924-1980" - Michler/Löpsinger No. 719, page 252 Sheet size: 26" x 19.63" Image size: 19.88" x 14.5" Condition: In excellent condition Rare Notes: Provenance: private collection - Clearwater, FL. Numbered by Dali in pencil lower left. BFK Rives watermark lower right. Some dealer reference numbers pencil inscribed on verso. Dali executed this etching in Cannes, France when he learned of Picasso's death. We are specialists in Salvador Dali's printmaking oeuvre, having personally worked with his cataloger Albert Field in the 1980's, we unconditionally guarantee all of our examples to be authentic. Biography: Salvador Dalí (May 11, 1904 – January 23, 1989), was a prominent Spanish Catalan surrealist painter born in Figueres, Spain. Dalí was a skilled draftsman, best known for the striking and bizarre images in his surrealist work. His painterly skills are often attributed to the influence of Renaissance masters. His best-known work, The Persistence of Memory, was completed in August 1931. Dalí's expansive artistic repertoire included film, sculpture, and photography, in collaboration with a range of artists in a variety of media. Dalí attributed his "love of everything that is gilded and excessive, my passion for luxury and my love of oriental...

Considered a major force in the op art movement, Anuszkiewicz is concerned with the optical changes that occur when different high-intensity colors are applied to the same geometric ...

1994, color aquatint, 48 x 36 inches, edition of 40 Although best known for his portraits, Katz has depicted landscapes both inside the studio and out of doors since the beginning o...

Artist: Salvador Dali (Spanish, 1904-1989) Title: "Transfiguration" *Signed by Dali in pencil lower right Year: 1973 Medium: Original Etching on Auvergne paper Limited edition: 90/10...

Artist: John James Audubon (American, 1785-1851) Title: "Tropic Bird" (Plate CCLXII - 262; part No. 53) Portfolio: The Birds of America, Havell Edition Year: 1835 Medium: Original Hand-Colored Engraving with Aquatint on double-elephant folio, J. Whatman paper Limited edition: approx. 180 Printer: Robert Havell Jr., London, England Publisher: John James Audubon, London, England Framing: Not framed, but matted in a handmade custom French matting Matted size: 30" x 38.75" Sheet size: 25.5" x 36" Platemark size: 20.75" x 30.25" Image size: 18.5" x 27.75" Condition: A few tiny foxmarks. In excellent condition with clean paper and strong colors Rare Notes: Provenance: private collection - New York, NY. Engraved, printed, and hand-colored by English artist Robert Havell Jr. (1793-1878). Comes from Audubon's monumental book volume "The Birds of America", (Havell Edition, 1827-1838), which consists of 435 hand-colored, life-size prints, made from engraved plates, with each sheet originally measuring around 39" x 26". "J. Whatman 1835" watermark upper right. Based on a composition painted between 1832 and 1835. Audubon sailed the entire length of Florida, around the Keys and as far as the Dry Tortugas, from which, on another occasion, "The specimens - in the plate were taken - by my kind friend Robert Day, Esq. of the United States Revenue Cutter...

PROPOSITION is a hand-tooled aluminum intaglio print on Rives BFK 250g paper with deckle edge. It is a framed monotype in white matte wood with spacers under glass to maintain the de...

Artist: Henri Matisse (French, 1869-1954) Title: "Figure Allongée devant un Carrelage (Figure Lying in front of a Tiled Floor)" *Signed and numbered by Matisse in pencil lower right ...

OWL ROCK is a hand-tooled aluminum intaglio print on Rives BFK 250g paper with deckle edge. It is currently unframed. Like Wortsman's own sculptures, the abstract components here mix the organic with roughly-hewn geometric forms. Note the dialogue between the colors umber, green and white, with the 3 perforations tying it all in – it is characteristic of Wortsman's practice. Warm, contemporary, uniquely crafted, yet speaks to ancient, tribal traditions of art-making that cross cultures and histories. Highly attuned to the indigenous art of Africa, the Middle East, India and Asia, his forms are organic and geometric abstracts with masculine and feminine attributes that resonate together as a pleasing enigma. They make sense immediately, yet never give up all their secrets. OWL ROCK was exhibited at Tabla Rasa Gallery, Brooklyn, New York in 2013. And at Made In Brooklyn, Hanson Gallery, Honesdale, Pennsylvania, 2015. From Harold Wortsman – "I was introduced to printmaking in the 1990s by legendary printmaker, the late Sheila Marbain. Printer to the masters of Pop Art, like Oldenberg, Lichtenstein and Warhol, she tired of conventional silkscreen and developed her own silkscreen monotype technique. Several years of work with Marbain led to etching and hand-tooled aluminum intaglio with the great printer Sheila Goloborotko. I currently work with master printer Kathy Caraccio. While working together on a difficult project, Caraccio exclaimed: “This is not a print; it’s a painting.” Printmaking is now an integral part of the work I do." From Jonathan Goodman, Art Critic – "There are certain kinds of art that endure beyond the novel effect, demonstrating an awareness of time-honored methods and even historically potent imagistic biases, and Wortsman's work belongs to this ongoing vision." – Fronterra D, October 2016. Harold Wortsman is a sculptor and printmaker based in Brooklyn, NY. He “creates forms that bring to mind archaic cult objects and exude a quiet concentrated strength.” (Argauer Zeitung, Switzerland). His work, an edgy mix of freedom and clarity, can be found in public and private collections in the US, including The Library of Congress, Yale University, The New York Public Library Print Collection, The New York Historical Society, Smith College, Indiana University’s Lilly Library, Brandeis University, The Newark Public Library Special Collections Division, and the Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum Print Archive. Also in private and public collections in Europe, including the Municipal Collection of the City of Brugg, Switzerland. Harold studied at the New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting and Sculpture, with sculptor George Spaventa...

CYCLOPS is a hand-tooled aluminum intaglio print on Rives BFK 250g paper with deckle edge. It is a framed monotype in black matte wood with spacers under glass to maintain the deckle edge of paper. The print floats on museum board using archival Hayaku Japanese Hinging Paper. Like Wortsman's sculptures, the abstract components here seem to possess both organic and geometric forms. Note the four corners of black, bracing the center serpentine shape of copper and black speckled white – it is characteristic of Wortsman's practice. Warm, contemporary, uniquely crafted, yet speaks to ancient, tribal traditions of art-making that cross cultures and histories. Highly attuned to the indigenous art of Africa, the Middle East, India and Asia, his forms are organic and geometric abstracts with masculine and feminine attributes that resonate together as a pleasing enigma. They make sense immediately, yet never give up all their secrets. CYCLOPS was exhibited at Harold Wortsman...