Drypoint, 1933. 225x372 mm; 8 7/8x14 5/8 inches, full margins. Edition of approximately 51. Signed in pencil, lower right. A brilliant, luminous impression of this scarce print.
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 commercial success. Though short, 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.
According to McCarron, "The locale depicted is the highway between Newtown and Sandy Hook, Connecticut (Lewis and his family had moved from New York to Connecticut, on the advice of friend and fellow artist Armin Landeck, during the Depression years)." McCarron 104.
