Michelangelo Mercoli, “Study of a Ram’s Head”, 1795

Michelangelo Mercoli (1773–1802)

“Study of a Ram’s Head” (descriptive title only) (aka “Tratto da una scultura in bronzo di Benvenuto Cellini Fiorentino” [titled in plate]), 1795, after the design by Giocondo Albertolli (1742–1839) and based on a bronze sculpture by Benvenuto Cellini (1500–1571) (as inscribed in the plate). Plate 20 in a series of 20 plates (with the addition of a title plate and dedication plate to Lodovico Galeazzo Busca Arconati Visconti, marchese di Lomagna) in “Miscellanea per i giovani studiosi del disegno .... Parte terza” (Miscellanea for young scholars of drawing .... Third part), published in 1796 in Milan by Giocondo Albertolli. This book is available to view online or to download free of charge from archive.org which also offers detailed information about the publication: https://archive.org/details/gri_33125009355229/page/n43/mode/2up.

Etching on heavy laid paper (with watermark) and full margins as published.

Size: (sheet) 57.1 x 44.5 cm; (plate) 38.9 x 28 cm

Numbered in plate at upper right: “Tav. XX.”

Lettered in plate along the lower edge: (left) “Giocondo Albertolli dis.”; (centre) “Tratto da una scultura in bronzo di Benvenuto Cellini Fiorentino.”; (right) “Michelangelo Mercoli inc.”

Condition: a strong and near faultless impression with generously wide margins (as published). Beyond minor waviness to the outer edge, the sheet is in a near pristine/museum quality condition with no tears, holes, folds, abrasions or stains.

I am selling this study of a curiously devilish ram festooned with Dionysian grape leaves and a ribbon for AU$386 (currently US$252.75/EUR233.47/GBP196.65 at the time of posting this listing) including Express Mail (EMS) postage and handling to anywhere in the world, but not (of course) any import duties/taxes imposed by some countries. Note that payment is in Australian dollars (AU$386) as this is my currency.

If you are interested in purchasing this superb and large etching—a true masterwork of etching in my opinion—please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

Raffaele Albertolli, “Head of the Medusa”, 1793

Raffaele Albertolli (1770–1812)

“Head of the Medusa” (descriptive title only) (aka “L'antecedente Medusa in proffilo” [“The antecedent Medusa in profilo”]), 1793, plate 18 (“Tav. XVIII”) in the series of 20 plates (with the addition of a title and dedication plate to Lodovico Galeazzo Busca Arconati Visconti, marchese di Lomagna) after Giocondo Albertolli (1742–1839) in “Miscellanea per i giovani studiosi del disegno .... Parte terza” (Miscellanea for young scholars of drawing .... Third part), 1796, published by Giocondo Albertolli in Milan, page 40. This book is available to view online or to download free of charge from archive.org which also offers detailed information about the publication: https://archive.org/details/gri_33125009355229/page/n39.

Aquatint with dot roulette etching printed with sanguine coloured ink on heavy laid paper with full margins as published and backed with a support sheet.

Size: (sheet) 58.3 x 42 cm; (plate) 33.4 x 22.2 cm.

Numbered in plate at upper right: “Tav.XVIII.”

Lettered in plate along the lower edge: (left) “Albertolli figlio dis e inc. 1793”; (centre) “L'antecedente Medusa in proffilo”.

Condition: a strong and near faultless impression with generous margins (as published) laid upon a support sheet of archival (millennium quality) washi paper. The sheet is in a near pristine/museum quality condition with no tears, holes, folds, abrasions or stains.

I am selling this large and magnificent etched profile study of the mythological Medusa's head for AU$386 (currently US$252.75/EUR233.47/GBP196.65 at the time of posting this listing) including Express Mail (EMS) postage and handling to anywhere in the world, but not (of course) any import duties/taxes imposed by some countries. Note that payment is in Australian dollars (AU$386) as this is my currency.

If you are interested in purchasing this stunningly beautiful and large aquatint, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

Adrian Hill, “Tree Diminishments”, 1975

Adrian Hill (aka Adrian Keith Graham Hill) (1895–1977)—Adrian Hill is famous for his instructional books on painting (see the following very small selection of his many books: ISBN 10: 0713700211; ISBN 10: 0713718285; ISBN 10: 0713700262;  ISBN 10: 0713703768) and as a British appointed war artist during WWI with his depictions of life on the Western Front now in the collection of the Imperial War Museum. I understand that he “coined” the term, “Art Therapy” and wrote about his ideas in “Art Versus Illness” (George Allen & Unwin Ltd., 1945), later becoming the president of the British Association of Art Therapists (see https://www.sulisfineart.com/adrian-hill-proi-rba-1895-1977-1975-charcoal-drawing-tree-diminishments-pz367.html).

From a personal standpoint, Adrian Hill had a profound influence on me as a young chap wanting to find out everything I could about watercolour painting. At the time, I was especially fond of Adrian Hill’s (1964) “How to Paint Landscapes and Seascapes” (Blandford Press).

“Tree Diminishments”, 1975, a signed, dated and titled charcoal study, executed on a pale green watercolour wash, showing once grand trees in a state of slow disintegration after dying (my apologies if I have misinterpreted what is shown in the scene and title).

Size: (sheet) 17.7 x 24.5 cm; (image borderline) 14.8 x 21.1 cm.

Handwritten inscriptions: in graphite within the image borderline at lower-right: “[artist’s signature and date] Adrian Hill - - 75 - ”; in blue ink in the margin at lower-left: “Tree diminishments —”; in graphite in the margin at lower-right: “A”.

Condition: the sheet is slightly age-toned/yellowed along the outer edge with minor signs of handling, otherwise the sheet is in an excellent condition with no tears, holes, folds, abrasions or significant stains.

I am selling this boldly expressive charcoal drawing capturing in loosely laid strokes the effect of a massive old tree in a state of crumbling decay, for the total cost of AU$298 (currently US$193.48/EUR178.77/GBP150.67 at the time of posting this listing) including Express Mail (EMS) postage and handling to anywhere in the world, but not (of course) any import duties/taxes imposed by some countries. Note that payment is in Australian dollars (AU$298) as this is my currency.

If you are interested in purchasing this marvellous study of trees by a well-documented artist and writer, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

Virgil Solis, “Allegory on Geometry, c1540

Virgil Solis (1514–1562)

“Allegory on Geometry” (ala “Geometry (Geometria) above Ruined Buildings” “Meetkunde (Geometria) boven ruïneuze bouwwerken” [Rijksmuseum title]; “Geometrie”), c1540 (1524–1562 [Rijksmuseum attrib.]).

Etching with engraving on laid paper trimmed around the image borderline and backed with a support sheet providing wide margins.

Size: (sheet) 10.4 x 8.8 cm.

Inscribed within the image borderline: (lower-left corner): “[artist’s monogram] VS”; (on tablet at upper centre) “LE MERI”—Note that my reading of this tablet may be incorrect and it may read “IE ME’RI”.

Hollstein German 456 (Dieter Beaujean [comp.] 2004, “German Engravings, Etchings and Woodcuts, ca.1400–1700: Virgil Solis: Part I”, vol. 63, Rotterdam, Sound and Vision, p. 128, cat. no. 456); not described in TIB (Jane S Peters & Walter L Strauss [eds.] 1987, “The Illustrated Bartsch: German Masters of the Sixteenth Century”, vol. 19 [Part 1]).

See also the description of this print offered by the Rijksmuseum: http://hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.177999.

Condition: a strong and well-printed early impression with no significant stains, holes or folds, trimmed slightly unevenly around the image borderline with rounding of the lower right corner and laid onto a support of archival (millennium quality) washi paper providing wide margins.

I am selling this exceptional rare etching (with engraving)—note that this print is so rare that it escaped been recorded in the TIB catalogue—monogramed by the great Virgil Solis and showing a cloud-borne female personification of Geometry looking down upon architectural ruins, for the total cost of AU$415 (currently/approximately US$271.88/EUR251.19/GBP211.53 at the time of posting this listing) including Express Mail (EMS) postage and handling to anywhere in the world, but not (of course) any import duties/taxes imposed by some countries. Note that payment is in Australian dollars (AU$415) as this is my currency.

If you are interested in purchasing this small and richly detailed etching, 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

Léon Bonnat, “Velasquez”, 1898, after Diego Velasquez

Léon Bonnat (aka Léon Joseph Florentin Bonnat) (1833–1922)

“Velasquez” (aka “Vélasquez d’après lui-même dans ‘Les Ménines’” [in Spanish, “'Las Meninas'']), 1898, after Diego Velasquez’s (aka Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez) (1599–1660) self-portrait in the painting, “'Las Meninas'', 1656, in the Museo del Prado (Madrid) (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Las_Meninas), published in the March 1898 issue of the art journal, “Gazette des Beaux-Arts”, between pages 182 and 183.

Etching with pale plate tone printed in a cool-black ink on laid paper and backed with a support sheet.

Size: (sheet) 25.5 x 18.4 cm; (plate) 22.7 x 17.1 cm; (image borderline) 21.3 x 15.8 cm.

Inscribed in plate: (upper left corner) “VELAZQUEZ”; (lower left) “[artist monogram]/ =Janvrier 1898=/ Gazette des Beaux-Arts”; (lower right corner) “Léon Bonnat sc.”

IFF 9 (“Inventaire du Fonds Français”, Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, Départment des Estampes).

Condition: a strong and well-printed impression in an excellent condition with no tears, holes, folds, abrasions or significant stains and laid upon a support sheet of archival (millennium quality) washi paper providing wide margins.

I am selling this extraordinarily beautiful etching capturing in a gauze of cross-hatched lines the slightly hazy self-portrait by Velasquez—an effect of fuzziness resulting from the portrayed distance that the painter had positioned himself from the viewer—for AU$244 in total (currently US$159.92/EUR147.21/GBP124.19 at the time of posting this listing) including Express Mail (EMS) postage and handling to anywhere in the world, but not (of course) any import duties/taxes imposed by some countries. Note that payment is in Australian dollars (AU$244) as this is my currency.

If you are interested in purchasing this marvellous translation of the colours and tones of Velasquez’s self-portrait into a layering of line, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.