Jules André Smith. 1880-1959.
The Molo,Venice. 1914. Drypoint. 6 3/4 x 8 3/8 (image and sheet). Illustrated: Print Collector's Quarterly 4 (1914): 181. A rich impression printed on cream laid paper. Annotated on the original mat, possibly in the artist's hand, 'Edition exhausted before 1920' and 'Note: Margins of this proof cut at plate mark because it tore in printing. Otherwise very fine impression and should have brought $75.' $275.
J. Nilsen Laurvik writes of the artist in the Print Collector's Quarterly, page 178, He has not been afraid, as have so many blind followers of Whistler, to carry out the composition from side to side of his plate. He has not developed the fetish of the bare plate left bare for its own sake; on the other hand he has a most discerning eye for the beauty of empty spaces which, however, never have the appearance of emptiness; they always suggest light or atmosphere and serve to enhance the color and delicacy of the design.
Thus the sunlight expanse of The Molo, its pavement suggested by a few adroitly place lines, eveokes the impression of blazing light that obliterates the shadows and gives the figures the appearance of moving filaments of color floating in a golden haze; and is Venice as surely as anything done by Turner or Whistler. It has all the fairy-like aspect of the Pearl of the Adriatic without losing aught of its every-day actuality. This constitutes the chief charm of his work done up to the presoent time and this would seem to be the direction in which it will develop in the future.
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