Artist: John Marin (American, 1870 - 1953).
Title: "Downtown, the El".
Medium: Etching with drypoint.
Date: Composed 1921. Printed 1921.
Dimensions: Overall size: 11 x 14 in. (279 x 356 mm). Image size: 6 7/8 x 8 3/4 in. (175 x 222 mm).
Lot Note(s): Signed in pencil, lower left; signed and dated in the plate, lower right. Edition of 275. Cream wove unwatermarked (possibly Whatman) paper. Full margins, deckle edges four sides; margins measure from 2 to 2 1/2 inches. Superb, bold, crisp, and richly inked impression with plate tone. Condition: image in fine condition, sheet in very good condition; slight light staining and overall mild toning; remains of hinging tape, verso; left, right, and bottom margins folded back for framing; staining verso (probably from backing paper when framed) does not telegraph through to recto; three repaired 1/8” marginal tears in the margins, nowhere near the image; marginal pencil notations; any imperfections would be masked by framing. Literature/catalogue raisonne: Zigrosser 134. Comment(s): According to ‘Gordon’s Art Reference’ another example of this print sold at $8,750 at Swann Auction Galleries, New York, September 20, 2018, lot #322. Compositionally, ‘Downtown, The El’ expresses the energy of the city through bold diagonal lines that cut across the composition. Remarking on this etching, Marin noted: “I see great forces at work – great movements – the large buildings and the small buildings – the warring of the great and the small -- influences of one mass on another.” Image copyright © Artists Rights Society, New York. [29278-3-2400]

Condition: image in fine condition, sheet in very good condition; slight light staining and overall mild toning; remains of hinging tape, verso; left, right, and bottom margins folded back for framing; staining verso (probably from backing paper when framed) does not telegraph through to recto; three repaired 1/8” marginal tears in the margins, nowhere near the image; marginal pencil notations; any imperfections would be masked by framing.