Building A Babylon, Tudor City, NYC - - 1929, Drypoint.

McCarron 76. Edition 84. Signed and annotated proof on 'Shogun' paper in pencil. Signed in the plate, lower left.

Image size 13 x 7 7/8 inches (329 x 202 mm), sheet size 17 3/8 x 13 inches (441 x 330 mm).

A superb, richly inked proof impression, in green-black ink, with burr throughout, on Shogun paper; full margins (2 to 2 3/4 inches), in excellent condition. One of only several impressions in green-black ink, and one of only two impressions on Shogun paper.

"The stepped pyramidal form of the towering skyscraper at the top of the print reflects New York City's 1916 zoning laws that required buildings to be set back in specific increments for each increase in height; the resulting stepped buildings became known as 'wedding cake' architecture."– McCarron

Illustrated in L'Amérique de la Dépression: Artistes Engagés des Années 30, Musée-Gallerie de la Seita, Paris, 1996.

Collections: ACM, CMA, DIA, HJ, MFA, SJM, UG, WU, YU.

SOLD

Glow of the City- - 1929, Drypoint

McCarron 77. Edition 110, including 4 trial proofs. Signed in pencil. Annotated Trial Proof No 2 in pencil and numbered 2 at the bottom right sheet edge.Signed in the plate, lower right.

Image size 13 3/4 x 9 7/8 inches (350 x 251 mm); sheet size 17 5/8 x 12 7/8 inches (448 x 327 mm).

A superb, richly inked, luminious impression, in dark brown ink, on cream wove paper, with full margins (1 3/4 to 1 7/8 inches).

Lewis, here at the height of his technical virtuosity, has created a beautifully nuanced image, at once dramatic and intimate. Awarded the Print Club of Philadelphia’s Charles M. Lea Prize in 1930, many consider this to be the artist’s most important work.

"The dark steeple beyond the tenements rose from a church that once stood at the Manahattan entrance of the Queens-Midtown Tunnel. The Art Deco skyscraper in the distance with illuminated upper floors, is the 1929 Chanin Building, designed by Sloan and Robertson, which stands at the corner of Forty-second Street and Lexington Avenue...The Chanin building had a very dramatic impact on the New York City skyline because it did not yet compete with taller neighbors like the Chrysler Building, completed in 1930." –McCarron

Collections: ACM, AIC, AMP, BMNY, BPL, CAM, CU, DIA, LC, MAC, MMA, MOMA, NAM, NGA, NMAA, OC, PMA, SU, YU.

SOLD

Spring Night, Greenwich Village- - 1930, Drypoint and Sand Ground.

McCarron 85. Edition 92. Signed in pencil. Signed in the plate, lower right. Titled in pencil on the bottom left sheet edge.

Image size 9 7/8 x 12 3/8 inches (248 x 315 mm); sheet size 13 3/8 x 15 7/8 inches (340 x 403 mm).

An exceptionally fine, richly inked, atmospheric impression, in warm black ink, on cream laid paper; the full sheet with wide margins (1 3/4 to 1 7/8 inches), in excellent condition.

Ex-collection Patricia Lewis, the artist’s daughter-in-law, with her collection stamp in the bottom right sheet corner, verso..

The scene depicted is on Bedford Street, New York (now a landmark street in the West Village), near Lewis’ home at the time he created this evocative nocturne. The soft atmospheric light was achieved with drypoint over a finely textured ground created by pressing sandpaper on the copper plate matrix.

Lewis won the 1931 Charles M. Lea Prize from the Philadelphia Print Club for this work, the second year in a row he was the recipient of the prestigious award.

Collections: ACM, BM, BMNY, CU, DIA, FAMSF, MFA, NMAA, NYPL, PMA, TBG, WMAA, WMU.

$27,000.

Tree, Manhattan- - 1930, Drypoint.

McCarron 87. Edition 91 (including 10 trial proofs). Signed in pencil.

Image size 12 5/8 x 9 3/4 inches (321 x 301 mm), sheet size 16 1/4 x 13 1/4 inches (413 x 337 mm).

A superb, atmospheric impression in warm black ink, on cream laid paper, with full margins (1 3/4 to 1 7/8 inches), in excellent condition.

Collections: AMP, BMNY, CU, DIA, FAMSF, HU, LC, MFA, MMA, MOMA, NBM, NGA, RU, SLM, YU.

$16,000.

Shadow Dance - - 1930, Drypoint and Sand Ground.

McCarron 88. Edition 109 (including at least 7 trial proofs). Signed in pencil. Signed in the plate, lower right.

Image size 9 7/16 x 10 7/8 inches (240 x 276 mm); sheet size 13 x 14 3/4 inches (330 x 375 mm).

A superb, atmospheric impression, on cream wove paper, with full margins (1 3/4 to 2 inches), in excellent condition.

Collections: BCMA, MNA, BMNY, CU, DIA, EC, IU, NAM, NGA, NYPL, PA, PMA, RU, UCS, WU, YU.

SOLD

Snow on the "El"- - 1931, Drypoint and Sand Ground

McCarron 95. Edition 49 (including 5 trial proofs). Signed in pencil. Signed in the plate, lower left.

Image size 14 x 9 inches (356 x 229 mm); sheet size 17 11/16 x 12 9/16 inches (449 x 319 mm).

An exceptionally fine, richly inked impression, with velvetly burr throughout, on cream laid paper, with full margins (1 3/4 to 2 inches), in excellent condition.

The location depicted is Twenty-third Street and Sixth Avenue, New York City.

Collections: Addison Gallery of American Art, British Museum, Brooklyn Museum, Colby College Museum of Art, Detroit Institute of Arts, Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art (Cornell University).

SOLD

Rainy Day, Queens - - 1931, Drypoint.

McCarron 94. Edition 70 (including 6 trial proofs). Signed in pencil. Signed in the plate, lower right.

Image size 10 5/8 x 11 7/8 inches (270 x 302 mm), sheet size 13 1/2 x 15 7/8 inches (343 x 403 mm).

A superb, luminous impression, in warm black ink, on cream laid paper, with full margins (1 3/8 to 2 inches), in excellent condition.

Exhibited: New York, New York! The Prints & Drawings of Martin Lewis & Armin Landeck at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, September 14 - October 14, 1984.

Collections: Addison Gallery of American Art (Phillips Academy), Brooklyn Museum, Cincinnati Art Museum, Butler Institute of American Art, Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art (Cornell), Detroit Institute of Arts, Mead Art Museum (Amherst), Philadelphia Museum of Art, Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum (Rutgers), University of Wyoming Art Museum, Yale University Art Gallery.

$40,000.

Veterans- - 1935, Crayon Lithograph with Tushe.

McCarron 113. Edition 8. Signed in pencil. Initialed in the stone, lower right. Inscribed For Elizabeth, in the bottom left margin.

Image size 9 13/16 x 13 7/16 inches (249 x 341 mm); sheet size 13 3/4 x 17 1/2 inches (349 x 445 mm).

A fine impression, on cream wove paper, with wide margins (1 7/8 to 2 1/4 inches), in excellent condition. Scarce.

Collections: CU, DIA, NYPL.

SOLD

Arc Welders - - 1937, Drypoint and Sand Ground.

McCarron 124. Edition 33 (including 5 trial proofs). Signed in pencil. With the stamp Lucile Deming Lewis Collection in the bottom left corner, verso.

Image size 10 x 7 15/16 inches (254 x 202 mm); sheet size 14 3/8 x 10 5/8 inches (365 x 270 mm).

A superb, rich impression, on cream wove paper, with full margins (1 3/8 to 2 3/8 inches); original hinge remains on the left sheet edge, recto, well away from the image, in excellent condition.

Reproduced: L’Amérique de la Dépression: Artistes Engagés des Années 30, Musée-Gallerie de la Seita, Paris, 1996. Exhibited: L’Amérique de la Dépression: Artistes Engagés des Années 30, Musée-Galerie de la Seita, Paris, 1996-97.

Collections: BPL, CU, DIA, FU, YU.

SOLD

Chance Meeting - - 1941, Drypoint.

McCarron 131. Edition 105. Signed in pencil.

Image size 10 3/8 x 7 3/8 inches (264 x 187 mm); sheet size 14 3/8 x 9 3/4 inches (365 x 248 mm).

A superb, atmospheric impression, with all the details in the shadows printing clearly, on cream laid paper, with full margins (1 1/8 to 2 inches), in excellent condition.

Commissioned by the Society of American Etchers, Brooklyn.

Collections: AD, ASU, BMNY, BPL, BSU, CAM, CGA, CHM, CM, CWAM, DIA, DMA, EC, FAM, FAMSF, FWM, HU, LC, MAM, MAMW, MCNY, MFAH, MMA, MOMA, NBM, NGA, NYPL, PMA, RC, SAG, UC, UCSB, UNC, WAMM, WMAA, WU, YU.

SOLD