Church of Saint Jean, Laigle, Orne
1940. Etching on white laid paper with an "England" watermark, 3 x 1 3/4 inches (76 x 45 mm), full margins. Signed, dated and inscribed "II" in pencil, lower margin. One of 13 trial proof impressions of the second state (of 2), aside from the regular edition of 551 signed and dated impressions. Fletcher states an unknown number of first state impression. Printed by Charles S. White. In superb condition.
[Fletcher 343].
French Church Series No. 43
Minature Series No. 26
Paper: Arms was typical of the artists of this period - he was obsessed with paper, a mania for collecting paper that could/would improve an edition. The quantity he left after his death, distributed by his wife to fellow artists, witnesses his love for finely made paper -paper interesting because of texture, color, distinctive weave.
The earliest paper known to have been used by Arms came from a Baptismal Register Kirchen Ordnung, The Reformed Church, Middletown, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, 1708, bought in a bookshop in Philadelphia.
His early prints, 1915-1919, evidence paper taken from old books with gilded edges. Some prints appear on stationary from the Cisalpine Napoleonic Italy, still bearing the estampe of the office or department; others carry penned ink page numbers, taken from old ledgers of the Eighteenth Century-all beautiful shades of grey, blue and green, handmade, ribbed and otherwise. Some of his color aquatints were printed on full sheets of heavy chine or Japanese vellum, giving a sense of luxury in the richness of the stock and the width of the margins. There was a myriad of modern papers gleaned in England, France, Italy and the United States. -William Dolan Fletcher, A Man For All Times, p. 15.
Item number: 821
Price: $250.00
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