Dike Worker
Engraving, circa 1900, Wielick D-9, edition probably 50. 10 x 13 in. Signed in pencil. A fine impression in fine condition. Full margins. This is a masterful example of Aarts as engraver. His skills compare favorably with those of Robert Austin, the well-known British printmaker.
SOLD

Perseus and Andromeda
Woodcut, circa 1905, Wielick H77, edition unknown. 9 3/8 x 7 in. Signed in the block with the monogram, lower left. Signed in pencil. This is a very good impression of this rare print. The margins are wide and the condition is fine. We believe this woodcut shows the story of Perseus and Andromeda. Perhaps Aarts showed the head of Medusa and Pegasus just to combine the most important images of the Perseus cycle. In other depictions of the story, Perseus and the head of Medusa are left out. Wielick catalogued this as Perseus and the Head of Medusa and the Rijksmuseum titles their impression as Perseus and Andromeda. Our website shows a similar print which we previously sold, Wielich H-75, titled as Perseus with the Head of Medusa. Aarts was born in the Hague and moved to Amsterdam in 1911 were he became an influencial teacher at the Rijksacademie. (He replaced Pieter Dupont who died prematurely in 1911.)
SOLD

Perseus with the Head of Medusa (Perseus en Het Hoofd van Medusa)
Woodcut, circa 1905, Wielick H-75, edition unknown. 9 3/8 x 7 in. Signed in pencil, lower right. This is a superb impression with full margins. The condition is very good apart from slight toning within a previous mat opening. Aarts was one of the finest draughtsman working in Holland at the time. He specialized in printmaking and spent his working career in Amsterdam, after moving from the Hague in 1911. There he succeeded Pieter Dupont at the Rijksacademie. Etching, lithography and woodcut were part of his repertoire and he produced mythological scenes such as this as well as studies of workers and religious scenes. He was greatly influenced by Hendrik Goltzius.
SOLD