Delicatessen Maker

 

John William Winkler

  1894 - 1979 (biography)

1922  

etching in brown black ink 

9 1/4 x 8 1/8" platemark 

pencil, lower center 

not stated, probably 25 or fewer 

 

Library of Congress 10 

antique-white wove paper 

early printing; large plate 

artist 

19533 

SOLD

"Delicatessen Maker" is possibly Winkler's best known image. Winkler did the 'Delicatessan Maker' in two sizes, first a small format in 1917 and later, in 1922, a larger format derived from this earlier image, thus the image is reversed in this print. The 'Delicatessen Maker' depicts San Francisco's Chinatown in the 1920s. In a nod to Whistler, Winkler watches a food vender preparing food on the street, a covering creates a shaded space that draws the viewer in, while the background is bathed in light. Winkler allows the foreground to be fluid, only partially defining the sides and adding more detail as the image recedes into the distance, working from an almost black to allowing the paper color to create the light.