THOMAS MAITLAND CLELAND (1880-1964) "Home-Coming."
Tracing for the lithograph based on Cleland's same-titled painting of 1951, reproduced as a decorative graphic and for calendars. Graphite on tracing paper with looser, fine red pencil tracing on verso matching the image on recto. 440x660 mm; 17 1/4x26 inches, sheet. Unsigned. Accompanied by a copy of the offset lithograph created from the finished painting by the Harris Offset Press, 1951. Tipped to window matte.
Provenance: Private collection, Connecticut.
Cleland's practice was to re-draw his work directly onto the lithographic plates from tracing paper, which would then be printed onto a sheet-fed Harris offset press. Though a painstaking task, he felt it necessary to achieve the accuracy he desired. His early mentor was D. B. Updike of Merrymount Press, who provided both commissions and criticism, leaving Cleland chronically unsatisfied with anything less than perfection. Comparing the pencil drawing to the four-color lithograph, one can see subtle differences in the shading, linework, and composition, and the result is extraordinary.
