Chester Leich

'New York' — 1930s American Scene Etching

c. 1935

Luigi Kasimir, 'Coenties Slip', color etching with aquatint, 1927, edition 100. Signed in pencil. Dated in the plate, lower right. Annotated 'NEW YORK HANOVER SQUARE (COENTIES SLIP)'...

Howard Cook, 'Financial District', lithograph, 1931, edition 75, Duffy 155. A fine, richly-inked impression, on cream wove paper, the full sheet with wide margins (2 3/4 to 5 5/8 inches), in excellent condition. Image size 13 5/16 x 10 3/8 inches (338 x 264 mm); sheet size 23 x 16 inches (584 x 406 mm). Matted to museum standards, unframed. Literature: 'American Master Prints from the Betty and Douglas Duffy Collection', the Trust for Museum Exhibitions, Washington, D.C., 1987. Collections: Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Library of Congress, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Smithsonian American Art Museum. ABOUT THE ARTIST Howard Norton Cook (1901-1980) was one of the best-known of the second generation of artists who moved to Taos. A native of Massachusetts, he studied at the Art Students League in New York City and at the Woodstock Art Colony. Beginning his association with Taos in 1926, he became a resident of the community in the 1930s. During his career, he received two Guggenheim Fellowships and was elected an Academician in the National Academy of Design. He earned a national reputation as a painter, muralist, and printmaker. Cook’s work in the print mediums received acclaim early in his career with one-person exhibitions at the Denver Art Museum (1927) and the Museum of New Mexico (1928). He received numerous honors and awards over the years, including selection in best-of-the-year exhibitions sponsored by the American Institute of Graphics Arts, the Brooklyn Museum, the Society of American Etchers, and the Philadelphia Print Club. His first Guggenheim Fellowship took him to Taxco, Mexico in 1932 and 1933; his second in the following year enabled him to travel through the American South and Southwest. Cook painted murals for the Public Works of Art Project in 1933 and the Treasury Departments Art Program in 1935. The latter project, completed in Pittsburgh, received a Gold Medal from the Architectural League of New York. One of his most acclaimed commissions was a mural in the San Antonio Post Office in 1937. He and Barbara Latham settled in Talpa, south of Taos, in 1938 and remained there for over three decades. Cook volunteered in World War II as an Artist War Correspondent for the US Navy, where he was deployed in the Pacific. In 1943 he was appointed Leader of a War Art Unit...

Louis Lozowick, 'Backyards of Broadway ( Waterfront I )', lithograph, 1926, edition 10, Flint 7. Signed in pencil. A fine, richly-inked impression, on BFK Rives off-white, wove paper...

Luigi Kasimir, 'Brooklyn Bridge', color etching with aquatint, 1927, edition 100. Signed in pencil. A superb impression, with fresh colors, on heavy, cream wove paper; with margins...

Lawrence Nelson Wilbur (1897-1988), 'The East River', drypoint, edition 65, 1946. Signed, titled, and annotated 'A. Jones Proof 1946' in pencil. Signed and dated in the plate, lower ...

Bertha Landers, 'Mountain Trees', etching and drypoint, c. 1938, edition not stated but small. Signed and titled in pencil. A fine, richly-inked impres...

The Gothic Spirit (also called A Gargoyle, A Gothic Spirit). 1922. Etching and stipple. Fletcher 120. 11 5/8 x 7 (sheet 15 1/4 x 11 1/4). Gargoyle Series #8. Edition 130. Illustrated...

Guardians of the Spire (Amiens Cathedral Number 2). 1921. Etching. Fletcher 102. 6 3/4 x 9 7/8 (sheet 8 7/8 x 13 3/4). Gargoyle Series #4. Edition 75. Illustrated: Dorothy Noyes Arms...

McCarron 74. 11 7/8 x 9 7/8 (sheet 17 1/8 x 13 3/4). Edition of 111. Illustrated: American Etchers: Martin Lewis. A brilliant, luminous impression with rich, velvety burr, printed on cream laid paper. Signed in pencil. Price upon request. Housed in an archival mat and a 25 x 21-inch black wood frame. According to McCarron, page 136, "The popularity of Relics when first issued is clear; the entire edition sold in just a few months, a spectacular achievement for a printmaker of the time." The location depicted in Relics is the intersection of Charles Street and West Fourth Street in Greenwich Village, a few blocks from Lewis's house on Bedford Street. During Lewis' lifetime, Relics was his most popular print, and the entire edition was sold. Relics and Glow of the City...

House on Cliff Walk, Newport, R.I. 1931-1932. Etching and drypoint. Hausberg catalog 13 state .i/ii. Edition 75 in this state. 5 7/8 x 7 7/8 (sheet 9 x 13 1/2). A rich impression pr...

Old Brownstones-- New York. c. 1985. Etching and drypoint. 8 7/ 8 x 12 1/3 (sheet 16 5/8 x 16 1/4). Fourth state. Printed on cream wove paper, on the full sheet with deckle edges. A rich impression in pristine condition, housed in an archival folder. This etching has never been matted. Provenance: the artist's estate. Signed, titled, and annotated 'Fourth state -- wheel changed to left' and 'Steves' in pencil. A dramatic view of a Manhattan neighborhood. Painter and printmaker Lawrence Nelson Wilbur...

Manhattan Mountains. 1938. Etching and drypoint. 14 3/4 x 12 3/8 (sheet 17 1/4 x 14 3/4). Artist proof, previous to the edition of 40. An atmospheric impression printed on buff-colored laid paper. Signed and dated in the plate. Signed, titled, and annotated 'Final state' and 'Jones Proof'in pencil. Housed in an archival sleeve. Painter and printmaker Lawrence Nelson...