Composition in Red and Black
WOBBE ALKEMA
Dutch, (1900-1984)
Woodcut printed in colors, 1925, Bool / Petersen G31, edition 40. 6 x 3 7/8 in. Signed, dated and numbered in pencil. This is a fine impression printed on very smooth wove paper. The margins are full. The condition is very good apart from slight light toning within a previous mat opening. This important woodcut is from the 1976 edition of 40 impresssions printed by Emile Puettmann for the deluxe edition of "Wobbe Alkema, Lino et Houtsneden 1923-1927." Early impressions of Alkema woodcuts are exceedingly rare as they were not formally editioned. This print is featured on the cover of Adriaan Venema's landmark book, "De Ploeg 1918-1930,"(1978). Alkema was originally trained as a cabinetmaker and he eventually worked with an architectural firm in Groningen. He joined De Ploeg and produced many remarkable works of geometric abstraction in painting as well as printmaking. His paintings from the 1920s are important today and his prints are equally desirable. Alkema was also associated with the Belgian Constructivists including Jozef Peeters and the writer, Paul van Ostaijen.
$2,800

11:45 P.M.
LETTERIO CALAPAI
American, (1902-1993)
Etching, engraving and aquatint, 1947, edition 35. 9 5/8 x 12 in. Signed, dated, titled and numbered in pencil. This impression bears the blindstamp of Calapai in the lower right corner of the margin. This is a superb, rich impression with full margins. The condition is excellent. Among Calapai's best known images, this print combines elements from his traditional study at the Art Students League, New York, with the influence of Stanley W. Hayter's Atelier 17, where Calapai worked in 1946-47.
$3,000

Pedro
HOWARD COOK
American, (1901-1980)
Aquatint and soft ground etching, 1933, Duffy 180, edition 40. 12 x 7 in. Signed, dated and numbered "32" in pencil. This is a superb impression with probably the full margins. (The top margin is a bit narrow.) Fine condition. This print is listed in seven museum collections. Cook produced a few such portraits while he was in Mexico. He had been awarded the first of two Guggenheim Fellowships and lived in Taxco for a time. He returned to the US in mid 1933.
$1,400

Third Avenue Elevated # 2
RALSTON CRAWFORD
American, (1906-1978)
Lithograph printed in colors, 1951, Freeman L51.6, edition 24. 17 x 10 1/4 in. Signed and numbered in pencil. This is a very good impression with slightly attenuated colors. The margins are full and the condition is fine. Five impressions are cited in the Freeman catalogue as belonging to museum collections. Crawford produced seven variations of the "Third Avenue El" title including a horizontal version in black and yellow.
$3,500

Morning Glories in a Chinese Vase
FRANS EVERBAG
Dutch, (1877-1947)
Etching and aquatint printed in colors, circa 1931, Vervoorn 84, edition 75. 9 1/4 x 6 1/2 in. Signed and numbered in pencil. This is a superb impression with fresh colors. The margins are wide and the condition is excellent. Everbag specialized in color intaglio prints and his florals are among his best works. A catalogue raisonné was published in conjunction with a retrospective in 1988 at the Museum Kempenland.
$700

Self Portrait
ISAC FRIEDLANDER
American, (1890-1978)
Wood engraving, 1935, edition unknown. 10 5/8 x 9 in. Signed, dated and titled in pencil. Here we have a fine impression with probably the full margins. The condition is also fine apart from a very faint suggestion of light toning within an earlier mat opening. Friedlander was born in Latvia and taught art there in the 1920s. He was encouraged to come to America by his cousin, Joseph Hirshhorn. He settled in New York where this potent self portrait was made.
$850

Little Sierra Lake
FRANCES GEARHART
American, (1869-1959)
Block print printed in colors, circa 1930, from a small edition. 8 1/8 x 4 1/8 in. Signed and titled in pencil. This is a superb impression printed on fibrous Japanese paper. The margins are full and the condition is excellent. This fine work is typical of the vertical formatting Gearhart used in many of her prints. Trees surround a well lit, inviting image in the distance.
$6,500

In the Garden (from Let's Play)
FRANCES GEARHART
American, (1869-1959)
Linoleum cut printed in colors, 1927-1929, edition unknown. 8 x 7 in. Signed in pencil, "The Gearharts" and titled in pencil. This is a fine impression printed on japanese paper. The margins are full. The condition is also fine apart from subtle horizontal wrinkling along the lower margin, well away from the image. This endearing work is one of the best prints in this series. The project called "Let's Play" is the work of the three Gearhart sisters; Frances, May and Edna. (Edna wrote the verses that accompany the prints.) Always intended to be published as a book, the unfinished manuscript remained with the Gearharts all of their lives. In 1930, all of the "Let's Play" prints were exhibited in Hingham, MA at Frances' dealer, the Print Corner. The blocks, prints and manuscript were eventually sold to Lloyd Cotson for the Cotson Children's Collection which was established at Princeton University in 1997. We are offering, along with this print, a copy of the first and only edition of "Let's Play" published in 2009 by the Book Club of California, edited by Victoria Dailey and Susan Futterman.
$3,500

Two Huizen Women by a Pond (Huizer Meisjes bij een Vijver)
RICHARD ROLAND HOLST
Dutch, (1868-1938)
Lithograph printed on gray paper, 1895, edition unknown. 10 1/2 x 8 in. Signed and dated on the stone. This is a fine impression and the margins are full. The condition is fine apart from two old hinges at the top corners and a very faint suggestion of toning within an earlier mat opening. This impression is as published in the Portefeuille der Nederlandsche Etsclub, 1895. Roland Holst was a skilled lithographer and counted among his friends William Morris, Charles Shannon, and Charles Ricketts; all from his time spent in London. The Etching Club of Holland was founded in 1885. (The scene is the small village called Huizen, near Blaricum in Holland.) This fine work is illustrated and discussed in Cliff Ackley's book, Holland on Paper in the age of Art Nouveau (2014), pp. 114-115.
$1,300

Revisitation
ROCKWELL KENT
American, (1881-1940)
Lithograph, 1928, Burne Jones / Rightmire 26, edition 100. 8 1/2 x 13 3/4 in. Signed in pencil. This is a fine impression printed on RIVES watermarked paper. The margins are full and the condition is fine. "This print demonstrates an interesting combination of crayon and tusche wash technique used to advantage in the sharp contrasts of early twilight, which lends a religiously mystical feeling to the work." (See Burne-Jones, pg 44.)
$2,200

Rima
PAUL LANDACRE
American, (1893-1963)
Wood engraving, 1933-1936, Wien 126, edition about 225. 8 1/2 x 6 in. Signed with the artist's mongram, lower left. Dated 1936 in the block, lower center. This is a fine, rich impression with full margins. The condition is also fine. Three years after the artist printed this work in a signed edition of 60, he authorized the American Artist's Group (AAG) to publish the print in an unsigned edition of about 225 impression. According to Wien, the first edition, published in 1933, was not completed. Landacre conceived of Rima and eight other wood engravings for a new edition of W.H. Hudson's novel "Green Mansions". Rima appears as a forest nymph and the protagonist, Abel, is shown hiding in the upper left corner. Only his face is evident.
$1,500

Before the Mirror
SAMUEL JESSURUN DE MESQUITA
Dutch, (1868-1944)
Woodcut, circa 1899, Van Es H015 11 x 6 1/8 in. Initialed in the block, lower right. This is a fine impression of this very rare, early print. The margins are trimmed to the borderline (by the artist) and the sheet is attached at the four corners to a support sheet. There's a small stain below her right arm which is subtle. Va Es cites only eight impressions are accounted for. Ex-collection: Philip J (with his collectors mark, not in Lugt, showing just below the image on the support sheet. His large collection of modern Dutch prints was auctioned at Bubb Kuyper in December 2000,Part II, this being lot 1297.) Ex-collection: W.F. Veldhuysen, a former chairman of the M.C. Escher Foundation in the Netherlands.
$5,500

Fantasy: Two Groups of Figures in Two Frames, placed Back to Back
SAMUEL JESSURUN DE MESQUITA
Dutch, (1868-1944)
Lithograph, 1924, Van Es L055, edition 25. 9 x 18 5/8 in. Signed on the stone, upper right corner. Signed, dated and numbered in pencil. This is a fine rich impression with full margins. The condition is also fine. This exceptionally large lithograph by Mesquita exemplifies his interest in fantastic images with distorted figures and faces. The expressions of the figures vary enormously which is large part of their appeal. Most of these "sensitivic" works were done in etching and drypoint but a few were done as woodcuts and lithographs. He produced these works in small editions and they were done primarily for fun but they also have mystical and religious overtones and are ripe with social commentary. They are unique in the history of Dutch art and are an important aspect of Mesquita's graphic work. Ex-collection: W.F. Veldhuysen, a former chairman of the M.C.Escher Foundation in the Netherlands.
$2,800

Honey Buzzard
SAMUEL JESSURUN DE MESQUITA
Dutch, (1868-1944)
Woodcut (counterproof), 1918, Van Es H 086, only 7 known impressions. 17 5/8 x 13 1/4 in. Signed in pencil in the image lower right. Signed below is pencil as well. This is a superb impression printed on very thin Japanese paper, mounted professionally on another such sheet. The condition in fine and the margins are apparently full and untrimmed. This large dynamic print has a decorative quality to it depicting most likely the trees and leaves behind the bird. This is the first time we've ever offered this print for sale. Ex-collection: W.F. Veldhuysen, a former chairman of the M.C. Escher Foundation in the Netherlands. The Dutch word for honey buzzard is "Wespendief."
$6,500

Sunflower (Zonenbloem)
SAMUEL JESSURUN DE MESQUITA
Dutch, (1868-1944)
Woodcut (counterproof), 1914, Van Es H 065, 8 impressions cited in the catalogue. 11 7/8 x 7 3/4 in. Initialed and dated in the block along the bottom. Signed in pencil in the top left corner and below the image to the right. Here we have a fine impression printed on gray paper. The margins are full and the condition is excellent. We've sold this lovely print before printed in the other direction and not as a counterproof as seen here. Mesquita made a significant number of counterproofs and they are remarkably well done. Ex-collection: W.F. Veldhuysen, a former chairman of the M.C. Escher Foundation in the Netherlands.
$2,800

Two Men Digging
BJO NORDFELDT
American, (1878-1955)
Woodcut printed in colors, 1906, Donovan 17, edition unknown. 11 1/4 x 7 5/8 in. Signed, dated and numbered "No. 205" in pencil. This is a superb impression on japanese paper trimmed to just outside the margin by the artist. The condition is fine. Our impression is nicer than the one illustrated in the catalogue raisonné. Nordfeldt was born in Sweden and later went to England to study with Frank Morley Fletcher. The year after this print was made the artist left Chicago for the east coast and ended up in New York. He summered in Provincetown, MA. This is a rare print in spite of the 'No. 205" written on it. Provenance: The Old Print Shop, NY. (Framed in a lovely arts and crafts oak frame.)
$10,000

The Irish Lady, Lands End
JOHN PLATT
British, (1886-1967)
Woodcut printed in colors, 1922, Chapman 9, projected edition of 100. 8 1/8 x 10 1/2 in. Signed, titled and numbered in pencil. Here we have a fine impression with probably the full margins. Fine condition apart from two small old paper hinges at the top corners. (The edition was never completed and just 78 impressions were recorded.) This dramatic work beautifully conveys the waves crashing against the rocks at this famous locale in Cornwall, England.
$1,600

Landscape 2025-I
GRIETJE POSTMA
Dutch, (b. 1961)
Woodcut printed in colors, 2025, edition 25. 14 1/4 x 18 in. Signed, titled, numbered and dated in pencil. This is a stellar impression with full margins. The condition is excellent. The scene is Mt. Dandenong in Kalorama, Victoria, Australia. This somewhat remote, exotic area is perched atop the Dandenong Ranges about 40 km east of Melbourne along the Mt.Dandenong Tourist Road. The artist visited this part of the world awhile back.
$875

Boogie Woogie
MILDRED RACKLEY
American, (1906-1992)
Screenprint, circa 1940, edition 86. 10 3/8 x 14 3/8 in. Signed and numbered in pencil. This is a fine impression with full margins. The condition is also fine. Rackley actively exhibited during the 1930s and 1940s and she was a member of the National Serigraph Society. She moved to New York in 1935 and worked for the the American League Against War and Fascism's magazine called "Flight." She was born in New Mexico and later taught in Taos. She was quite the traveler and an activist. Her work is in the National Gallery and she was active with the New York WPA program.
$2,850

Spatterdocks
WILLIAM S. RICE
American, (1873-1963)
Woodcut printed in colors, circa 1930, edition probably about 15. 8 1/8 x 9 1/8 in. Signed and titled in pencil. This is a fine impression printed on japanese paper. The margins appear to be full. The condition is fine apart from two subtle stain lines just touching the upper corners of the image. This is barely noticeable in the mat. This rare print is from the collection of Reba White Williams, NY.
$3,800