Anders Zorn, “Lavards Anders”, 1919

Anders Zorn (also known as Anders Leonard Zorn) (1860–1920)

“Lavards Anders” (also known as “Dalecarlian Peasant [Lavards Anders])”— portrait of a peasant from Dalecarlia, Zorn's native provincial region in Sweden, 1919

Commentary on the Subject:

The Museum of New Zealand (Te Papa Tongarewa) offers a compelling insight into this portrait: “This small but powerful etching is both a portrait and a 'type': meet Lavards Anders, a peasant of Delacarlia, the provincial region of Sweden where Anders Zorn grew up - in poverty - and returned to - in triumph and fame. The peasant is elderly; we sense that he has seen much and has suffered not a little. In another guise or mood, his splendid mutton-chop whiskers and fur hat would look endearing, even comical. Not so here: he stares balefully straight at Zorn - and at us. Zorn is depicting death. Within a year, he himself would die prematurely, overweight, and allegedly alcoholic and syphilitic. The considerably older peasant will outlive him, and he knows it. There is no room for symbolist ethereality, charm or beauty in this etching, which shows no diminution in Zorn's powers” (https://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/object/36798).

Technical Details & Condition:

An etching printed on fine buff-coloured laid paper, signed in pencil by the artist at the lower right. The impression is strong, crisp, and evenly printed. Aside from minor toning around the image, the sheet remains in excellent condition—free of tears, holes, abrasions, or significant stains.

Dimensions:

• Sheet: 37.5 x 26.2 cm
• Platemark: 15.4 x 11.4 cm

In-Plate Lettering:

• Upper-left: “LAV[A]RDS ANDERS”
• Lower-left: [Artist’s monogram] “Zorn”

References:

• Asplund 283; Hjert & Hjert 168; Lidbeck ZG 283
• Museum of New Zealand (Te Papa Tongarewa): Registration Number 1952-0003-182
• Art Institute of Chicago: Reference Number 1971.908 (https://www.artic.edu/artworks/37857/dalecarlian-peasant-lavards-anders)

Price & Shipping:

AU$662 (approx. US$459.05 / €402.45 / £343.03), including worldwide express shipping. Import duties and taxes (if applicable) are the buyer’s responsibility.

To acquire this rare pencil-signed etching, please contact oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com. I am happy to provide a secure PayPal invoice for a seamless and protected transaction.

This print has been sold

Anders Zorn, “Rosita Mauri”, 1889

Anders Zorn (aka Anders Leonard Zorn) (1860–1920)

“Rosita Mauri”, 1889, after Zorn’s painting of the same composition (1889), published in the “Gazette des Beaux-Arts” (1891) in an edition of 1,525 impressions, printed by L Eudes (fl.1876-88).

Etching with plate tone and retroussage(?)—a technique of dragging ink from the etched lines of the freshly inked printing plate with a soft cloth prior to printing—on cream wove paper with margins as published.

Size: (sheet) 27.5 x 18.8; (plate) 23.6 x 15.8 cm; (image borderline) 22 x 14.4 cm.

Inscribed within the image: (lower right) “Zorn ‘89”

Lettered below the image borderline: (lower left) “Zorn del. & sc.”; (lower centre) “ROSITA MAURI”; (lower right) “Gazette des Beaux-Arts. / Imp. Eudes”

State iv (of v)

Delteil 34 IV(V); Asplund 34; Hjert 27

The Metropolitan Museum of Art offers a description of this print (in its third state):

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/384548

See also the description offered by AffordableArt101:

https://www.affordableart101.com/Anders-Zorn-original-etching-Rosita-Mauri-p/700.htm

Condition: crisp and well-printed impression with full margins (as published), in excellent/near pristine condition—there is slight unevenness in the colour of the paper—backed with a support sheet of archival (millennium quality) washi paper.

Note: This is the second copy of “Rosita Mauri” that I have posted (the previous copy has been sold).

I am selling this iconic etching by Zorn for a total cost of AU$405 (currently US$283.75/EUR252.57/GBP218.13 at the time of this listing) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world.

If you are interested in purchasing this very important print epitomising the Belle Époque in Paris, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

This print has been sold

This is one of Zorn’s most famous etchings. The subject is the prima ballerina, Rosita Mauri (aka Roseta Mauri y Segura; María Isabel Amada Antonia Rosa Mauri Segura) (1850–1923). Rosita is not only famous for her reputation as dancer of international standing, but also as a model for many artists—notably Degas—during the golden age of Parisian life: La Belle Époque (1871–1914).

What I find interesting about this print, beyond the stylish virtuosity of the angled strokes, is Zorn’s use of what may be described as faux white Chinese calligraphy to suggest the fabric pattern on Rosita’s dress. Not only do these white/“negative” strokes reveal Zorn’s resourcefulness in merging Oriental aesthetics with Occidental tastes, but the marks also exhibit the sensitivity of his approach to drawing in that they visually “slow down” the slippery course of the angled hatched lines.

Zorn makes drawing seem so easy but behind his technical ease is deep knowledge about the craft—note for example his skill in suggesting the silhouette edges of forms without drawing outlines and his ability to suggest colour through the juxtaposition of different qualities of line.

Anders Zorn’s etching, “Girl with a Cigarette”

Anders Zorn (aka Anders Leonard Zorn) (1860–1920)

“Girl with a Cigarette”, (Cigarrettrökerska II), 1891

(See the painting relating to this subject at Christie’s auction, Sale 2885, “19th Century European Art”, 27 October 2014, New York, Rockefeller Center: http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/Lot/anders-zorn-swedish-1860-1920-the-cigarette-girl-5834661-details.aspx)

Etching with drypoint and plate tone, printed in bistre coloured ink on wove paper, trimmed with thread margins and laid upon a support sheet of heavy wove white paper with generous margins.

Size: (support sheet) 42 2 x 36; (plate) 15.7 x 11.7 cm; (image borderline) 15 x 11.2 cm

Printed immediately below (but outside) the platemark (i.e. this text is not inscribed on the plate): “Original-Radirung von Anders Leonard Zorn (f. Seite 168)”

The curator of the British Museum offers the following information about this print in the BM collection: 

“Text from Frances Carey, 'Modern Scandinavian Prints', BM 1997, cat.14: This impression is one of 425 unsigned copies published by the F.f.G.K. in 1893; the first plate, which was identical in size, was abandoned by Zorn after pulling only three proofs. The subject is an American girl in Paris, whose smoking habit marks her out as one of a new generation of more liberated women.” (http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=1452848&partId=1&searchText=zorn+cigarette&page=1)

Delteil 62 (Loys Delteil 1902, “Le Peintre-Graveur Illustré [XIXe et XXe siècles]”, 31 vols, Paris); Asplund 1920 62.II (Karl Asplund1920, “Zorn's Engraved Work. A Descriptive Catalogue”, Stockholm, Bukowski)

Condition: well-printed impression, trimmed to the platemark and laid on heavy wove white paper with large margins. There is a small restored tear on the lower edge and a nick in the upper left margin (both defects are difficult to see).

I am selling this iconic etching by Zorn for a total cost of AU$275 (currently US$208.20/EUR193.76/GBP167.50 at the time of this listing) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world.

If you are interested in purchasing very important print epitomising the Belle Époque in Paris, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

This print has been sold

This print expresses what must have been a liberating time in Paris towards the close of the nineteenth century. Certainly the spirit of change is easy to see in the works of artists living in Monmartre like Toulouse-Lautrec. To better understand the spirit of liberation captured in this print, Catherine Sawinski, Assistant Curator of Earlier European Art at the Milwaukee Art Museum, explains its essence perfectly: “This young lady is a ‘modern girl,’ one who smokes in public and doesn’t care what others think! In a way, Zorn presents her as a symbol of the cultural changes of the late nineteenth century. He wrote that his model for this image was an American who had moved to Paris in order to take advantage of the excitement that the city had to offer.” (https://blog.mam.org/2016/06/21/from-the-collection-anders-zorn-captures-modern-life/) 

Anders Zorn’s etching, “Rosita Mauri”

Anders Zorn (aka Anders Leonard Zorn) (1860–1920)

“Rosita Mauri”, 1889, published in the “Gazette des Beaux-Arts”, printed by L Eudes (fl. 1876-88).

Etching printed in bistre coloured ink on light brown wove paper with margins as published.

Size: (sheet) 26.8 x 18.1; (plate) 23.6 x 15.8 cm; (image borderline) 21.8 x 14.3 cm

Inscribed within the image: (lower right) “Zorn ‘89”

Lettered below the image borderline: (lower left) “Zorn del. & sc.”; (lower centre) “ROSITA MAURI”; (lower right) “Gazette des Beaux-Arts. / Imp. Eudes”

State iv (of v)

Sanchez & Seydoux 1891-5; Delteil no.34 (IV/V); Asplund 34; Hjert & Hjert 27

Condition: crisp and well-printed impression with margins, as published, in near pristine condition. There is a light fold on the lower corner (visible verso).

I am selling this iconic etching by Zorn for a total cost of AU$375 (currently US$314.71/EUR301.18/GBP256.78 at the time of this listing) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world.

If you are interested in purchasing this very important print epitomising the Belle Époque in Paris, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

This print has been sold

This is arguably the most famous of Zorn’s etchings. The subject is the prima ballerina, Rosita Mauri (aka Roseta Mauri y Segura; María Isabel Amada Antonia Rosa Mauri Segura) (1850–1923). Rosita is not only famous for her reputation as dancer of international standing, but also as a model for many artists—notably Degas—during the golden age of Parisian life: La Belle Époque (1871–1914).

What I find interesting about this print, beyond the stylish virtuosity of the angled strokes, is Zorn’s use of what may be described as faux white Chinese calligraphy to suggest the fabric pattern on Rosita’s dress. Not only do these white—or more correctly, “negative”—strokes reveal Zorn’s resourcefulness in merging Oriental aesthetics with Occidental tastes but the marks also exhibit the sensitivity of his approach to drawing in that they visually “slow down” the slippery course of the angled hatched lines.

Sometimes I find myself having to defend the consummate skills of Zorn as he makes drawing seem so easy. This is a shame as his sublime skill in suggesting the silhouette edges of forms without literally drawing outlines and to suggest colour through the juxtaposition of different qualities of line is a magical gift.