Spaightwood Galleries

Every year for the past 26 years we have said to ourselves, we should have special pages for interesting holidays. And every year for the past 26 years we have said, having failed once again to put up a page, "Oh well, we'll do it next year." Welcome to next year. We had planned to do a page for Hanukkah, but with pages devoted to Chagall's etchings for the Bible, his Bible lithographs from the 1956 and 1960 Verves devoted to this subject, and his lithographs of The Story of the Exodus as well as his Jerusalem Windows lithographs all aavailable on our web site, we thought that might do. Click here for examples). We were all set to do a page for Christmas, when we read a feature on Christmas in The Boston Globe reminding readers in the Commonwealth (and elsewhere as well I suppose, but when one lives 30 miles from "The Hub [of the Universe]," it is occasionally hard to remember that there is an elsewhere), that in the Massachusetts Bay Colony it was illegal to celebrate Christmas and that as late as the 1840s, December 25th was not a legal holiday: schools and offices were open for normal business and truants were punished. This reminded us that in Shakespeare and Spenser's England, Christmas was not the day on which the hoarded "handsels" or gifts (as J. R. R. Tolkien's translation of the late 14th-century poem, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, puts it), were distributed, but the first day in a series of days (as commemorated in the popular carol about partridges in pear trees, gold rings, lords a leaping, and other useful gifts) to celebrate the end of the old era and the beginning of the new one. Hence Shakespeare's play Twelfth Night, or What You Will, ends, as do the twelve days of Christmas, with an epiphany or revelation that shows us "A natural perspective, that is and is not," just as the Three Magi arrived in a stable and saw a new-born king when they looked at the child of impoverished parents sleeping in a stable.

We herewith present, for your consideration, our own Twelfth Night mixture of old master prints and more recent works whose common theme is that we like them quite a lot.

Albrecht Dürer (Nuremburg, 1471-1528), Holy Family with the three hares (Bartsch 106, Strauss 36, Meder 312h/i). Original woodcut, c. 1496. One of Dürer's earliest major prints, this work was one of the first to reveal his genius. The three rabbits add a playful touch to this scene of domesticity. C. 1580 impression of a work that has been praised by Wolfflin as "radiant" in its revelation of "the abundance of life." A clear impression that is stil printing quite well. Image size: 392x280mm. Price: $6000.

Albrecht Dürer (Nuremburg, 1471-1528), AFTER, Madonna with the Swaddled Infant (Bartsch 38, Strauss 94, Meder 40). Reverse copy of Durer's 1520 engraving executed by Jan Wierix (Antwerp, 1549-1618) c. 1563 (Maquoy-Hendrixx 1705). Heller notes the existence of twelve other copies. A beautiful impression on laid paper of one of Wierix' most successful recreations of a Durer masterpiece. The Wierix brothers were the most technically proficient engravers in Antwerp in the later 16th century. They chose to make engravings after Durer's masterpieces to prove their technicl skills. Image size: 143x100mm. Price: $1900.

Flemish School, 17th Century, The Holy Family. Red chalk on laid paper with the fleur-de-lys above coat of arms watermark, early-mid 17th century. This large, beautifully-drawn work reflects Rubens' influence over Flemish painting and drawing during the 17th century and is similar in style and subject matter to several of the Louvre's Rubenses and closer to them than to any other of the Flemish Masters on display in November 2007. Image size: 308x500mm. Price: $7500.

Jean-François de Neufforge, Comblain-au-Point, 1714-1791 Paris), Infant Christ child III. Red chalk on tan laid paper. Watermark: none. Image size: 455x332mm. Price: $2750.

James A. McNeill Whistler (American, 1834-1903), The Long Gallery at the Louvre (Way 52, Levy 83). Original lithograph, 1894. Published in The Studio, 1894, with their blindstamp (lower right). Signed in the stone with the Butterfly (lower right-center). Ours is a rich impression of this depiction of crowds at the Louvre, newly returned from the conservator. Image size: 200x140mm. Price: $1500.

Mary Cassatt (American, 1844-1926), Denise holding her child (B. 204 ii/ii). Original drypoint, c. 1905. Printed for the artist in 1923 by Delatre. One of the artist's most tender depictions of the bond between child and adult. A very fine impression on grayish laid paper watermarked "J. Bouchet" with all lines printing very clearly (the lower left has been over-lightened by the flash; the background of the print is uniformly light gray). Like all of Cassatt's drypoints, good impressions (such as this) are scarce. Image size: 209x146mm. Price: SOLD.

For other Cassatt drypoints featuring a mother and her child, please click here.

Paul Klee (Swiss, 1879-1940), Sommeil d'hiver / Winter's Dream. Original lithograph, 1938. Edition: as published in the deluxe art review Verve in 1938. Signed in the stone. Winter, though blue with cold is also pink and red with life and seems to be pregnant with spring. A wonderful piece, full of our yearning for spring and summer, rebirth, growth, and the fullness of life, in the midst of winter's delathly cold and barrenness, like the dead tree in the upper left side. On the reverse there is a black & white lithograph by Joan Miro which incorporates Klee's name and the title of the work. Image size: 349x250mm. Price: $1250.

Marc Chagall (Russian, 1887-1985), Le Ballet: Daphnis et Chloe (M. 581). Original color lithograph, 1969. 10,000 unsigned impressions for Marc Chagall : Le Ballet. One of Chagall's more joyful explorations of the theme of Daphnis and Chloe, the innocent young lovers whose adventures Chagall repeatedly rehearses. In another of his works on this topic, the goatish musician is replaced by Cupid with his bow flying over the lovers. Image size: 325x258mm. Price: $1,275.

Pablo Picasso (Spanish, 1881-1973), Le picador II (Mourlot 350, Gauss 788, Bloch 1017).. Original 23-color lithograph, 1961. 50 signed & numbered impressions plus an unsigned edition ublished in Jaime Sabartes' A los toros avec Picasso (Monte Carlo: Editions Andre Sauret, 1961). Edition size unknown. Picasso was a lifelong fan of bullfights. Our impression dated in the stone. Another impression of this print was recently offered at Sotheby's for $2300. Our photograph of this print was reproduced in Directions in Art: Printmaking by Louisa Sherman and Dianne Hofmeyr (London: Heinemann Library, 2003), p. 5. Image size: 200x260mm. Price: $3000.

Joan Miró (Spain 1893-1983), La danse de feu / The Fire's Dance (Maeght 341). Original color lithograph, 1963. 90 signed & numbered impressions of which this is one plus c. 1500 unsigned impressions with centerfolds published in the deluxe art review, Derrière le Miroir, in a celebration of Miro's collaborations with the ceramicist Jospe Llorens Artigas. The title probably refers to the action of the fire on the clay in Artigas' Japanese wood-fired kiln where they worked. There is a full-page illustration of this piece in Indelible Miro. Image size: 475x655mm. Price: $17,500.

Also available in the unsigned edition published in Derrière le Miroir with the centerfold and without margins. Image size: 380x560mm. Price: $1400.

Claude Garache (French, b. 1929), Bleue V. Original color aquatint and etching, 1994. Printed by Maurice Felt in Paris and published by Spaightwood Galleries. 25 signed and numbered impressions plus 3 e.a. and 6 H.C. impressions. Image size: 820x610mm. Price: $1500; holiday special: $1200.

Frank Stella (American, b. 1936), Atvatabar. Original lithograph, intaglio, stamping, screenprint, 1996. 32 signed and numbered impressions on TGL handmade paper plus several artist's proofs. This is part of Stella's Imaginary Places II series. Published by Tyler Graphics with their blindstamp. Image size: 665x665mm. Price: $6250.

Photographed in the frame through the plexiglas—the image is actually much more vibrant than the photograph suggests.