Etching; Second State of Two Old Masters, Allegory
We offer two of the four prints of the seasons by Wenceslas Hollar (1607-1677) first published in 1641 in London. The seasons are represented by female figures dressed in elegant clothes. He published three series with these motifs in England from 1641 to 1644. They seem to serve as a basis for his cycles of famed still life compositions with muffs, most of which he did later in Antwerp, where he had fled in 1642 from the civil war in England. When he returned to London in 1652, it was a changed situation in many respects – the Puritans had taken control of the government, his patron, the Earl of Arundel, had died and two major catastrophes befell London: the plague in 1665 and the great fire a year later.
At that time, there probably was no longer client demand for works featuring elegantly dressed ladies. Hollar moved in a different direction never returning to this theme again. The Four Seasons graphic cycles represent the zenith of his work.
SPRING: A three-quarter length figure of a fashionable dressed woman standing next to a table covered with a cloth, on which there is a vase holding a display of flowers. A garden behind at right.
AUTUM: Young woman standing three-quarter length, her head slightly turned to left, wearing black scarf fastened under her chin over white pointed collar with lace borders covering her shoulders; right hand resting on plate with fruit, left hand holding apple.
*These prints are later restrikes from the eighteenth century as these prints were very popular over a long period of time.
Item Date: 18th Century [Restrike] Signed in the plate and dated 1641
Measurement: Frame: 11" x 13.75"; View: 8" x 10.75", 9.75" x 7", plate mark
Material: Print on paper with period coloring
Item Condition: Excellent condition. Print has been deacidified.
Price: $1,200
SKU 843-487
For More Information, Please Contact David Hillier at 978-597-8084 or email drh@aaawt.com.
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