Bernard Picart, “Academic Study of a Male Nude”, 1733

Bernard Picart (1673–1733)
“Academic Study of a Male Nude,” 1733

Technical Details & Condition:
Etching on fine laid paper with full margins as issued. This is plate number 59 in a series of academic figure studies titled “Impostures innocentes, ou Recueil d'Estampes d'après Divers Peintres Illustres” (Innocent Impostures / Collection of Prints after Various Illustrious Painters), first published in Amsterdam in 1734 by the widow of Bernard Picart (Veuve Bernard Picart).

Archive.org provides an online view of this print in its original context alongside other images from the folio, published by John Boydell (1720–1804) in London: https://archive.org/details/bim_eighteenth-century_impostures-innocentes-o_picart-bernard_1756/page/n111/mode/2up.

This is a strong, well-printed impression. Aside from small tears in the lower left margin, the sheet is in excellent condition—free of holes, folds, abrasions, stains, or signs of handling.

Dimensions:
• Sheet: 40.7 x 25.2 cm
• Platemark: 33.4 x 22 cm
• Outer image borderline: 31.9 x 21.3 cm

Numbering and Lettering on Plate:
• Upper right corner: “59”
• Lower centre: “Académie dessinée et Gravée par B. Picart. / l’Original est au Cabinet de Mons^r. Walraven à Amsterdam.”

References:
• Dimier 947–956 (Louis Dimier, Les Peintres Français du XVIIIe Siècle: Histoire des Vies et Catalogue des Oeuvres, 1928, Paris, Les Éditions G. Van Oest, nos. 947–956)
• British Museum: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1861-1109-801

Price & Shipping:
AU$236 (approximately US$165.65 / €140.14 / £121.68), including worldwide express shipping. Import duties and taxes are the buyer’s responsibility.

If you are interested in acquiring this exceptional etching of a male nude—based on Picart’s own drawing—please contact me at oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com. I am happy to provide a secure PayPal invoice for a seamless purchase.

William Hogarth, “Time Smoking a Picture”, 1761

William Hogarth (1697–1764)
“Time Smoking a Picture,” 1761

Technical Details & Condition:
Etching, engraving and mezzotint on wove paper with full margins as issued. Published in the esteemed 1822 Heath Edition of Hogarth's works—the final edition printed from Hogarth's original engraved plates.

The Art Gallery of NSW (Australia) provides insightful commentary on this print:
“This is Hogarth's most consciously learned image, using quotations from classical texts to support his challenge to the gentlemanly taste for old and darkened Italian paintings. From the 1730s onwards, he railed against the taste for dubious old master paintings authenticated by dealers and 'dark masters'. Time's scythe pierces the canvas, making the point that time is not a beautifier but a destroyer.” (https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/collection/works/8658/#about)

This is a superb, nearly faultless impression—richly inked and crisply printed. The sheet, with its generously wide margins, is in pristine condition considering its large size and age—free of tears, holes, folds, abrasions, stains, or signs of handling.

Dimensions:
• Sheet: 65.8 x 50.5 cm
• Platemark: 24.5 x 18.6 cm
• Outer image borderline: 22 x 17.4 cm

Lettering on Plate:
• On the edge of the framed painting: “Crates_ [Greek inscription in two lines translated: ‘Time is not a clever craftsman, for he makes everything more obscure’] See Spectator/ Vol: II, Page 83.”
• Lower right: “As Statues moulder into Worth. P: W:” — initials of Paul Whitehead, the satirical poet and Hogarth’s contemporary.
• Lower centre: “To Nature and your Self appeal, / Nor learn of others what to feel_. Anon:”

References:
• Paulson 208 III/III (Ronald Paulson, Hogarth's Graphic Works, 1965, Yale University Press, pp. 173–74, cat. no. 208)
• British Museum (first state impression): https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1857-0509-15
• Art Gallery of NSW (preliminary drawing): https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/collection/works/7624/

Price & Shipping:
AU$318 (approximately US$223.20 / €188.83 / £163.99), including worldwide express shipping. Import duties and taxes are the buyer’s responsibility.

If you are interested in acquiring this powerful allegorical warning against valuing artworks based solely on the effects of time—featuring the personification of Time as a winged figure blowing smoke onto a painting to simulate patina, with his scythe “distressing” the surface while seated upon a broken sculpture (possibly a fake Greek kouros)—please contact me at oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com. I am happy to provide a secure PayPal invoice for a seamless purchase.

Enea Vico, (right fragment) “Statues of Minerva and a Woman”, 1541

Enea Vico (1523–1567)
(Right fragment) “Statues of Minerva and a Woman,” 1541

Technical Details & Condition:
Engraving on laid paper, trimmed around the right figure of a larger composition (see https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_V-8-52), depicting two archaic sculptures—the left figure representing the goddess Minerva—and backed with a support sheet.

The artist’s name is inscribed within the plate, featuring his initials “E.V” on the tablet at right, along with the publisher’s initials “A. S.” for Antonio Salamanca (1478–1562), and the date of publication, “1541,” lettered along the lower edge of the sheet.

The impression is strong and well-printed. The sheet, as a fragment of a larger composition, shows some restored losses along the edges and minor stains, consistent with its age and fragmentary nature.

Dimensions:
• Sheet: 23.5 x 90 cm

References:
• TIB 30.44 (John Spike [ed.], The Illustrated Bartsch: Italian Masters of the Sixteenth Century: Enea Vico, vol. 30, 1985, New York, Abaris Books, p. 61, cat. no. 44)
• The British Museum: Same fragment of the larger composition — https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_Ii-5-76

Price & Shipping:
AU$288 (approximately US$200.01 / €169.59 / £147.61), including worldwide express shipping. Import duties and taxes are the buyer’s responsibility.

If you are interested in acquiring this rare 1541 engraving of an ancient sculpture—possibly representing Urania, the muse of Astronomy, though her defining attributes of a celestial globe and compass are now lost—please contact me at oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com. I am happy to provide a secure PayPal invoice for a seamless purchase.

This print has been sold 

Pieter van der Heyden, “Autumn”, 1566

Pieter van der Heyden (also known as Pietro Martini, Petrus Merecinus, Petrus á Merica, and Peter Mericenys) (c. 1530–1584)

“Autumn”, 1566

Technical Details & Condition:

Engraving on laid paper, trimmed around the image border and backed with a support sheet. This is a lifetime impression—evidenced by the quality of line and the absence of any wear to the printing plate—from the series “The Four Seasons” (also known as “Compartimentorum quod vocant multiplex genus lepidissimis historumque fabellis ornatum”), published in Antwerp by Hieronymus Cock (c. 1517/18–1570). The Rijksmuseum describes this series as: “Depictions of the four seasons: autumn (Bacchus). One sheet from a series consisting of a title page and 15 of the 16 sheets with cartouches depicting biblical and mythological scenes in a frame of scrollwork and grotesques” (inv. no. RP-P-1952-428). It follows the design by Frans Floris (also known as Frans Floris de Vriendt, 1519/20–1570).

The impression is strong, well-printed, and nearly faultless. The sheet is in pristine condition, free of tears, holes, folds, or stains.

Dimensions:
• Sheet: 6.5 x 9.9 cm

References:
• The Rijksmuseum: https://id.rijksmuseum.nl/200455012
• Hollstein 120–136 (Dutch and Flemish etchings, engravings, and woodcuts c. 1450–1700)
• Riggs 101 (Hieronymus Cock, Printmaker and Publisher)
• Title page of the series held by the British Museum: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1950-0520-398

Price & Shipping:
AU$316 (approximately US$220.45 / €186.95 / £162.24), including worldwide express shipping. Import duties and taxes are the buyer’s responsibility.

If you are interested in acquiring this small, rare, and jewel-like engraving—a superb example of Northern Renaissance grotesque and strapwork ornamentation—please contact me at oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com. I am happy to provide a secure PayPal invoice for a seamless purchase.

This print has been sold