Portrait of Luman Reed (After A.B. Durand) by James David Smillie

Portrait of Luman Reed  (After A.B. Durand) by James David Smillie

Portrait of Luman Reed (After A.B. Durand)

James David Smillie

Please call us at 707-546-7352 or email artannex@aol.com to purchase this item.
Title

Portrait of Luman Reed (After A.B. Durand)

 
Artist
Year
1894  
Technique
etching 
Image Size
5 3/4 x 4" platemark 
Signature
pencil, lower right 
Edition Size
trial proof 
Annotations
"A.B. Durand" etched in lower elft (after the painting); penciled annotations by artist (see below) 
Reference
NYPL 76; Witthoft 79; ex-collection artist 
Paper
very fine ivory wove 
State
i/ii 
Publisher
unpublished (see notes, below) 
Inventory ID
4045 
Price
$900.00 
Description

Working proof from Smillie's private collection, for a portrait of the noted art patron Luman Reed done after the oil painting by Asher B. Durand. Intended for publication in Life & Times of A.B. Durand, it was rejected by Durand himself as "the plate did not please him" (see full annotation below). Despite his opinion, the image is a stunning example of Smillie's expertise with the etching tools in capturing the mood of a person and scene. Smillie traced the image on gelatine on February 13, 1894, and the plate was bitten with nitric acid - his first use of the method - on April 2.

Lower left sheet corner by Smillie's hand: "1 in Ex. / Portrait of Luman Reed / Etching for John Durand / for Life & Times of A.B. Durand. / The plate did not please him / and it was not used. This is the only pf. I have and I do not know of any others." Luman Reed was a successful New York merchant and great patron of the arts, who was inducted into the New York Sketch Club as an honorary member.

 
Please call us at 707-546-7352 or email artannex@aol.com to purchase this item.