5128 Signed Broadway NYC Aquatints by Raoul Varin
$5,000.00
Late 19th or early 20th C. Signed nicely framed Aquatints of Broadway street from the corner of Canal st. and from the Bowling Greens.
The first aquatints date from the late 18th C. Aquatint method of printing is similar to etching a method of printing that produces tonal areas rather than lines. The method derives its name from the similarity of aquatints to watercolor washes. To produce an aquatint the artist dusts a copper plate with resin powder and heats the plate to bond the resin to the metal. The areas to remain white are protected with a varnish and the plate is put in an acid bath the acid eats around the resin grains producing a granulated effect on the plates surface. The artist repeats this process until the desired gradations of tone are achieved. The engraving of aquatints is one of the most laborous of all etching processes.
Raoul Varin (1865-1943) is famous for his engravings of early Chicago which were published by A. Akerman Paris France and are now in the collection of the Chicago Historical Society. Varin was later commissioned to do the engravings of Old New York which are seen here. Art critics are enthusiastic in their praise of Varin's artistic ability to produce in an aquatint much finer more ecstatic and more beautiful engravings in all respects. These aquatints are signed in pencil and in excellent condition.
