Claude Lorrain’s etching, “Shepherd and Shepherdess Conversing in a Landscape”, c1651

Claude Lorrain (aka Claude Gellée, Claude; Claude Le Lorrain; Claudio di Lorena) (1600–1682)

“Shepherd and Shepherdess Conversing in a Landscape” (aka “Berger et Bergère Conversant”), c1651. This impression is from McCreery’s 1816 edition of “200 Etchings” printed from the original plate.

Etching on wove paper (with lettered watermark), trimmed with a narrow margin around the platemark with a fragment of an engraving (verso) from the 1784 Paris edition of “Stirpes Novae” as is discussed by Mannocci (1988) p. 28 and by H Diane Russell (1982) in “Claude Lorrain 1600–1682”, p. 300.

Size: (sheet) 19.9 x 25.9 cm; (plate) 12.9 x 19.4 cm; (image borderline) 19.3 x 25.4 cm.

Inscribed in plate below the image borderline: (left) “Cl. G. Inu. et F. con licenza de sup.”

State vii (of vii) with the inscription, “42 p 3” erased (see Mannocci, 1988, p. 257).

Mannocci 38 vii (Lino Mannocci 1988, “The Etchings of Claude Lorrain”, New Haven, Yale University Press, pp. 250–57, cat. no. 41, seventh state); Blum 37; Robert-Dumesnil 21; Knab 142–3; Duplessis 21; Russell 48.

Lino Mannocci (1988) advises that this “etching is related to a painting [c1644] done for Pietro Terenzio … which is now in the collection of the Barnes Foundation in Merion, Pennsylvania.” (p. 258). Mannocci also notes that “Roethlisberger [the cataloguer of Lorrain’s drawings] mentions [a] related drawing [c1645] in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford” (op. cit.). Interestingly, Roethlisberger’s (1968) description of this black chalk and wash drawing proposes that the “entire composition …[is closer to the] calm compositions of the late forties … than to the hilly or rocky settings of earlier works” (vol. 1, p. 230, cat. no. 177). Roethlisberger’s insightful comment relates well to the portrayed calm of this etching compared to those preceding it (such as Lorrain’s print that I posted not too long ago: “Le Naufrage” [“The Shipwreck”]). Regarding the date of this print and the related painting, H. Diane Russell (1982) in “Claude Lorrain 1600–1682”, National Gallery of Art, Washington exh. cat.) states that there is "an opinion unanimously held by specialists that the print postdates the painting and was executed during the 1650s” (p. 400).  

The British Museum offers the following description of this print: “Shepherd and shepherdess conversing in a landscape; with herd of cows and goats passing by and fortified town in the background. c.1651 Etching” (https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_M-12-39).

Condition: a strong and well-printed impression showing very little wear to the printing plate, trimmed around the platemark with no tears, holes, folds (but there is a light wave to the upper edge), abrasions, foxing or significant stains. The verso of the sheet has a section of the print, “Stirpes Novae” (as documented regarding McCreery’s 1816 edition of “200 Etchings”) and shows marks from mounting in McCreery’s publication.

I am selling this original etching from the 1816 edition by McCreery, executed by the one of the most famous artists of the 17^th century, for a total cost of AU$398 (currently US$280.20/EUR249.38/GBP208.45 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).

If you are interested in purchasing this superb impression of a very beautiful etching, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

Johann Christian Rugendas’ mezzotint and etching, “Field Camp with Carousing Soldiers”, c1750, after Georg Philipp Rugendas I

Johann Christian Rugendas (1708–1781)

“Field Camp with Carousing Soldiers” (aka “Lagertreiben mit zechenden Soldaten” [Teuscher title]), c1750 (1723–1781), after the painting of the same composition (1696) executed in Rome by his father, Georg Philipp Rugendas I (1666–1742), from the series of 69 plates, "Battle Scenes with Horses", published by Johann Christian Rugendas in Augsburg.

Etching and mezzotint printed from two plates in orange-brown and black ink on laid paper trimmed around (or slightly within) the platemark and backed with a support sheet.

Size: (sheet) 17.9 x 30.3 cm; (image borderline) 16.7 x 29.6 cm.

Lettered in plate below the image borderline: (left) “G. P. Rugendas pinx. et del. A.1696. li 6. Ottobre Augusta.”; (centre) “c. 2.”; (right) “Christiano Rugendas Sculp et excud: Aug. Vindel.”

Teuscher 604 (Andrea Teuscher 1998, “Die Künstlerfamilie Rugendas 1666-1858; Werkverzeichnis zur Druckgraphik”, Augsburg, Wißner, p. 153, cat. no. 604).

See also the technical description of this print offered by MHK (Museumslandschaft Hessen Kassel): https://datenbank.museum-kassel.de/298774/

Condition: a strong and well-printed impression trimmed around (or slightly within) the platemark and laid on a support of archival (millennium quality) washi paper. There are few minor surface marks outside the image borderline, otherwise the sheet is in a very good condition with no tears, holes, folds, abrasions, significant stains or foxing.

I am selling this luminous and velvety mezzotint showing the matter-of-fact events that happen in a 17th century military field camp in the evening—cooking, eating, drinking chatting, making music, dancing and lolling around—rendered with a somewhat startling theatrical (chiaroscuro) lighting—note in particular the way that the artist has captured the muscled haunches and raised tail of the urinating horse in the foreground—for the total price of AU$298 (currently US$209.57/EUR187.65/GBP156.13 at the time of posting this listing) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world.

If you are interested in purchasing this glowing twilight scene of a army camp, executed in the delicate medium of mezzotint by the son of the great master of the technique and arguably the foremost battle scene painter of the 17th century, Georg Philipp Rugendas I, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

Unidentified artist’s etching after John Singer Sargent’s “Le Docteur Pozzi à la Maison”

Unidentified artist from the circle of John Singer Sargent (1856-1925)

“Le Docteur Pozzi à la Maison”, c1890, a proof state impression after John Singer Sargent’s (1856–1925) remarkable portrait, “Dr. Pozzi at Home”, 1881, in the Collection of the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, California.

Etching and drypoint (with aquatint?) printed in a warm black ink on buff laid paper with a lettered watermark, trimmed close to the platemark on the top and bottom with wider margins on the sides.

Size: (sheet) 54.6 x 32.3 cm; (plate) 53.8 x 28 cm; (image borderline) 50.8 x 25.3.

Regarding the Sargent’s portrait, the Metropolitan Museum of Art offers the following insights:

“Samuel-Jean Pozzi (1846–1918), was a pioneer in the field of modern gynaecology in France; his practices advanced the reproductive safety and dignity of women. He was also an aesthete and an art collector whom Sargent greatly revered. The artist’s admiration for his charismatic sitter is evident in this dramatic portrait. Sargent portrays the worldly man in an almost ecclesiastical mode, with a gracious, slightly mannered pose and crimson costume that reference images of popes and cardinals by the old masters. Pozzi’s long fingers and elegant hands suggest his surgical prowess but also hint at his sensuality, which is further evoked by his informal dressing gown and the lush velvet curtains. This portrait was the first work Sargent exhibited at the Royal Academy in London in 1882” (https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/644345).

Condition: a richly inked and well-printed (near faultless) impression. The sheet is trimmed close to the platemark on the top and bottom with wider margins (approx. 2.3 cm) on the sides. There are inky finger and other surface marks appropriate to a proof impression, otherwise the sheet is in a good condition with no tears, holes, abrasions, significant stains or foxing.

I am selling this magnificent and large etching of the utmost rarity—note that after extensive research I have been unable to find another copy of this very beautiful and skilfully executed print in any museum repository—for AU$398 (currently US$278.52/EUR249.75/GBP207.84 at the time of posting this listing) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world, but not (of course) any import duties/taxes imposed by some countries.

If you are interested in purchasing this amazing etching made by a printmaker of great creative ingenuity and flair who has (to my eyes) successfully captured the essence of Sargent’s dazzling portrait without its arresting blaze of red, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

This print has been sold 

Stefano della Bella’s etching, “Young woman facing right wearing a feathered cap", c1640 (2nd copy)

Stefano della Bella (1610–1664)

“Young woman facing right wearing a feathered cap” (descriptive title only) (aka “mid-bust of a young woman in profile wearing a hat topped with feathers”), c1640 (1620–1664), plate 15 from the series of 16 plates, “Livre pour Apprendre à Dessiner” (The Book for Learning to Draw), published by Israël Henriet (c1590–1661) in Paris.

Etching on fine laid buff paper with a narrow margin.

Size: (sheet) 8.6 x 6.7 cm; (plate) 8.1 x 6.2 cm

Inscribed on plate at lower right: “Israel excud.”

State i (of i) a lifetime impression based on the quality of line showing no sign of wear to the printing plate.

De Vesme/Massar 306 (Alexandre de Vesme & Phyllis D. Massar, 1971, “Stefano della Bella. Catalogue Raisonné”, New York, Collectors Editions, [Text] p. 90, cat. no. 306, [Illust.] p. 80, cat. no. 306); Jombert (Della Bella) 146-15 (Charles Antoine Jombert 1772, “Essai d'un catalogue de l'oeuvre d'Etienne de la Belle, peintre et graveur florentin”, Paris, p. 152, cat. no. 146-15).

The British Museum and the Rijksmuseum offer descriptions of this print:

https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1871-0513-110;

http://hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.collect.76841.

Condition: an excellent, well-printed impression, in a superb/near pristine condition for its age with no tears, holes, folds, abrasions or stains or foxing.

I am selling this delicately etched head of a young woman with the curling feathers adorning her hat exemplifying the Baroque period style of the time when the small print was executed, for AU$244 (currently US$170.75/EUR153.11/GBP127.42 at the time of posting this listing) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world, but not (of course) any import duties/taxes imposed by some countries.

If you are interested in purchasing this tiny but very beautiful etching by one of the most famous of the old master printmakers, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

Note that this is the second impression of this etching that I have listed. The previous impression has been sold.

This print has been sold

Walter Vaes’ etching, “Du Haut du Clocher”, 1904

Walter Vaes (1882–1958)—a Belgian painter and printmaker active mainly in Antwerp.

“Du Haut du Clocher” (From the Top of the Bell Tower/Steeple), 1904—based on the artist’s other etchings of bells circa 1904, the scene is possibly around Veurne, Belgium.

Etching (soft-ground, hard-ground and drypoint?) with plate tone on cream laid paper.

Size: (sheet) 30.4 x 24.5 cm; (plate) 19.9 x 15 cm.

Inscribed in plate: (lower right on building edge) “Vaes”

Condition: a richly inked and well-printed impression in excellent condition with no tears, holes, abrasions, significant stains or foxing. There are previous collectors’ pencil notations verso.

I am selling this visually arresting etching showing a view from a high vantage point looking past a perched bird and ringing bells to farmlands and a windmill in the distance—note that images designed to connote sound (here the ringing bell) and a split second of “frozen” action are uncommon in art, but there are precedents such as Jan Sadeler’ engraving, “Hermit Ciomus”, c1585, that also features a ringing bell—for a total cost of AU$238 (currently US$166.55/EUR149.35/GBP124.28 at the time of this listing) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world.

If you are interested in purchasing this marvellous etching with its scenic leap from the almost tactile linework of the soft-ground etching in the foreground to the atmospherically finer linework of the hard-ground etching rendering the distance, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.