?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 10,000 - $ 15,000
MARTIN LEWIS Fifth Avenue Bridge.
Drypoint, 1928. 256x298 mm; 9 5/8x11 3/4 inches, full margins. Edition of 108. Signed and inscribed "imp." in pencil, lower right. A brilliant, luminous, richly-inked impression.
Lewis (1881-1962) produced 32 prints between 1915 and 1920 before leaving for Japan that year. His stay was cut short in 1922 after experiencing difficulty learning the language and achieving little commercial success. Though brief, this sojourn to Japan proved indispensable to his artistic development. His exposure to the Japanese sensibility influenced his printmaking following his return to America (he produced no prints in Japan, only watercolors and oils), as he honed his ability to imbue the mundane with the extraordinary--to take the simple moments he witnessed around New York City, as well as his country home in nearby Connecticut, and capture their profundity and beauty in etchings and drypoints.
Among Lewis's most masterful prints are those depicting scenes of New York City life. These prints have historical interest, as the imagery captures the architecture and styles of the time, while simultaneously incorporating ephemeral moments. The time of day, the weather, the lighting, the street-level views— each aspect was important and added to the atmosphere of the scene. Lewis's use of shadows and light to create mood, life and movement is most powerful in his New York prints. Fifth Avenue Bridge is among these architypal works, incorporating all of the aspects that make his prints such cherished glimpses into New York's bustling yester-year, while simultaneously capturing the timelessness of city life. McCarron 72.
