?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 6,000 - $ 9,000
MARTIN LEWIS Shadows on the Ramp.
Drypoint and sand ground on cream laid paper, 1927. 228x266 mm; 9x10 1/2 inches, full margins. Edition of 75. Signed in pencil, lower right. A superb impression with sharp contrasts and richly-inked burr.
Despite having been born in Australia, in 1881, there is hardly an artist whose graphic work is more closely associated with the urban rythyms of 1920s and 1930s New York than Martin Lewis. Largely self taught, Lewis suffused scenes of New York City sunsets, evenings, skyscrapers, streets and denizens, with an unmatched moody elegance through a technical mastery of intaglio printmaking; etching, drypoint and aquatint.
Lewis settled in New York in 1900 and found work as a commercial artist, his first job was painting stage decorations and backdrops for William McKinley's presidential campaign. Lewis later spent time in Japan, learning watercolor and oil painting techniques, but returned to New York in 1925 and began concentrating on etching. His most important works were created between 1925 and 1940. This was also his most prolific period; he produced two thirds of his 148 known prints during this stretch.
In 1929, Lewis had his first New York solo exhibition. It was successful enough that he was able to give up commercial work for good. During the coming years, he enjoyed so much success that as the Great Depression approached he opted to work independently and declined participation in the Federal Art Project. Eventually, as a result of the economy, he was forced to leave New York for a short time. Before returning to Manhattan in 1939, Lewis spent 4 years living and working in Connecticut. When he returned, he taught at The Art Students League from 1944 to 1951. He died in New York City in 1961, leaving behind a masterful ouvre of prints regarded as some of the most important American graphics of the 20th century. McCarron 64.
