78-2 (Water) In 1978 Haku Maki was nearing the end of his artistic effort using kanji (Chinese characters) as the main theme of his work. This print is one bold kanji, for Water. To make it easier for his gaijin admirers to know what it meant, he wrote "water' in the bottom margin...

This is a work by highly regarded American artist THOMAS WILLOUGHBY NASON (1889-1971). Nason was a Boston-born artist who by the late 1920's had taught himself the fine art of creating prints in the wood engraving process. This process was popular for illustrating books in the 19th century but by the twentieth it had fallen from favor. He revived the medium and truly excelled at it. By the early 1930's he had been exhibited at Boston's prestigious landmark Goodspeeds book store...

An elegantly understated print of flowers appearing to be carnations, and dahlias, the imagery generally appearing as monochromatic and grayish, with some light green and yellow color, signed in pencil at lower right corner and numbered 139/150 at lower left, by the noted American contemporary artist ROBERT KIPNISS (1931-). Kipniss is known for his graphic art and for his paintings, which have gone into five figures at auction...

Peter Moran, American, 1842-1914, etching, "Church of San Miguel, Santa Fe", image size 4 15/16 x 6 3/4 inches, plate signed lower left

Adolphe M.T. Beaufrere 1876-1960 This is an original drypoint etching by French artist Adolphe Beaufrere (1876-1960) The title of this etching is "Cottages by the Stream", it was created and printed circa 1930. It is editioned as 19/60. The image measures 8 1/2X8 3/4 inches. Hand signed in pencil in the lower margin.

"William Hogarth" The Bench and Five Orders of Perriwigs The Works of William Hogarth" as published by Baldwin, Cradock and Joy in 1822 with the original plates restored by James Heath, engraver to His Majesty. The Heath edition was the last to print directly from Hogarth's original engraved plates. All William Hogarth prints appearing after this date are copies of these original graphic works of art. Heath edition 1822 An original copperplate engraving — over 195 years old...

An elegantly understated print featuring spindly trees in a strangely empty landscape with one small structure, signed in pencil at lower right corner and numbered 146/260 at lower left, by the noted American contemporary artist ROBERT KIPNISS (1931-). Kipniss is known for his graphic art and for his paintings, which have gone into five figures at auction. He was born in Brooklyn and was taking art classes at the Art Students League as early as 1947...

An elegantly understated print featuring somewhat Hopperesque houses framed by trees, the imagery generally appearing as monochromatic and grayish, with some light green and pinkish color, signed in pencil at lower right corner and numbered 76/90 at lower left, by the noted American contemporary artist ROBERT KIPNISS (1931-). Kipniss is known for his graphic art and for his paintings, which have gone into five figures at auction...

The main woodcut shows the enchantress Circe in front of Odysseus and one of his crew members changed into a swine. Circe holds a beaker, which stands for her vast knowledge of potions and herbs.
The woodcut below depicts Samson with remains of the Philistine temple. Further vignettes show the descendants of Eli, and depictions of four Jewish judges...

Dramatic linocut print, the sheet 26 1/4" by 17 7/8", unframed, numbered at lower left 3/6 and pencil signed at lower right and dated there 1971, the "HB" blind stamp adjacent, by the important and still highly underrated Swiss-California modernist HANS GUSTAV BURKHARDT (1904-1994). The subject is somewhat uncertain; perhaps a look at a catalogue raisonne of the artist's graphic works would provide the title. Burkhardt was born in Switzerland and arrived in America in 1924...

Through his career, Haku Maki did a wide array of Chinese characters used in the Japanese language as well (kanji). The large prints that Daniel Tretiak called Big Reds were such kanji. Among Maki’s depictions were black kanji on white backgrounds, some stark, some playful, some easily decipherable, others with which he took great liberties. The artistic possibilities that kanji offered were a fascination of his. This broad-brushed embossed print, Poem 72-55, was done in 1972...

This horizontal print, created in 1973, is Work 73-14A, a dramatic depiction of the kanji for Dragon. It is 17 of 103 and measures 16.25inW x 11.5inH. Maki did perhaps a dozen dragons and this is one of the most striking.

Engraving on paper, the sheet 16" by 13 /4" (23 3/4" by 20" as framed), the subject man's cruelty to animals. This work, part of a series of images dealing with the subject, has become over time a landmark commentary on man's cruelty to his fellow creatures. This print is by one of the most famous satirists and social commentators of all time, WILLIAM HOGARTH of England (1697-1764)...

This small lively print depicts two generations of small children playing. It measures 6.25in x 8 3/16in.

ONE OF TWO OF THIS SAME PRINT IN MY SHOP, lithograph print in elegant gray and white on black paper, 27" by 22", (and 33 1/2" by 27" in silvery modern frame), pencil signed at lower right, and numbered 5/100 at lower left. The title is "Daphne and Apollo", the imagery consisting of idealized male and female figures with leafy trees in the background, creating a most interesting and modern composition that looks almost like a "solarized" photo...

A beautiful Romantic Victorian Garden Scene circa 1900 lithograph 18x13” in its original frame

This is an attractive and elegant poster, issued in 1954 for an exhibition of the works of the ultra famous and important Swiss sculptor, painter and printmaker, ALBERTO GIACOMETTI (1901-1966). Measuring 29" by 20 1/2", it is simply framed in modern metal with glass and no mat...

One of an identically framed pair of Currier trotter horse prints in my shop, this example, "The Grand Horse ST. JULIEN, the 'King of Trotters'." (measuring 11 1/2" by 14 1/2" inside the mat, and 19" by 23" framed), is in very good condition. The print is after a painting by the noted American artist Scott Leighton. I have not examined it out of the frame but for the most part, the kinds of problems that most Currier and Ives print acquire over time are not present. There is light browning of...