Andrew Fairbairn Affleck’s etching, “Une Liseuse Hollandaise”, 1907

Andrew Fairbairn Affleck (1874–1936)

“Une Liseuse Hollandaise” (A Dutch Reader), 1907, etching with plate tone printed in a warm-black ink on fine Japanese paper, hand signed and titled by the artist, with wide margins in an edition of twenty impressions. This may be a proof edition before formal lettering for publication, but I have not been able to find this etching in any of the online repositories. This is the first impression in the edition.

Size: (sheet [irregular]) 61 x 41 cm; (plate [soft]) 40.5 x 32.3 cm; (image borderline) 36 x 28.1 cm.

Inscribed in plate within the image borderline: (lower right corner) “A. F. AffLeck/ 1907”.

Hand-inscribed in pencil below the image borderline: (left) “1/20”; (centre) “Une liseuse hollandaise”; (right) [signature] “Andrew F. Affleck”.

Condition: a strong and well-printed impression in near pristine condition with no tears, holes, folds, abrasions, significant stains, foxing or signs of use.

Although I do not have personal insights about the artist’s interest in this Dutch lady reading—mindful that Affleck’s oeuvre leans more towards magnificently bold architectural scenes and is arguably best known for his etchings of Venice (see for example https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1934-0807-8)—I suspect that his choice of title for this print (inscribed in pencil) and the gentle light bathing the sitter may be an historical reference to François-Anne David’s (c1748–1824) engraving (1772) lettered with the same title, after Gabriel Metsu’s (1629-1667) painting (see https://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb445459174). There may also be a connection to the tradition of showing women engaged in reading made famous by Johannes Vermeer (1632–1675); e.g., “La Liseuse à la Fenêtre”, c1657 and “Femme Lisant une Lettre” (aka “Woman in Blue Reading a Letter”), c1663.

I am selling this huge etching executed (from my viewpoint) in the spirit of Vermeer and the Dutch genre artists of the 17^th century, for AU$320 (currently US$236.94/EUR200.19/GBP170.39 at the time of this listing) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world, but not (of course) any import duties/taxes imposed by some countries. Please note that this print may be mailed rolled because of its size.

If you are interested in purchasing exceptionally rare etching in superb/museum quality condition, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.