Studio Mirror by Emil Ganso
This is the most recognized piece by American artist Emil Ganso. It is a masterwork of wood engraving. While the subject is straightforward (a nude woman gazing into a full length mirror) close inspection reveals the incredible detail used to create the image. The cross-hatching to render the skin is extremely fine and would have taken a meticulous hand to create. This attention to detail is found throughout the image, including two additional pieces of art in the scene, one a landscape and the other a seated nude without clothes except for heeled shoes remarkably similar to those worn by the model. This suggests this could be another image of the same model, perhaps by Ganso as well. An outstanding example of the work of this artist.
The image itself is in excellent condition with no fading, loss, discoloration, or foxing. There is slight toning of the paper edges well away from the image, and this is minor. It is unmounted. It is signed Ganzo 63 in the plate, but this is another visual pun, in that the s and 36 are mirror images. The edition was issued without a pencil signature.
Emil Ganso (1895-1941)
An accomplished painter, wood engraver, lithographer and etcher, Emil Ganso was a master of both landscapes and nudes. Born in Germany, Ganso was forced to earn his living from early childhood. He thus became a baker and continued that trade when he arrived in the United States in 1912. Struggling to survive, Ganso was mainly self-taught in art with the exception of a three week night course at the National Academy. A large turning point in his career came during the First World War when he met and was befriended by the famous Bulgarian/French artist, Jules Pascin (1885-1930). Escaping persecution from the War, Pascin lived in New York until 1920. During his spare hours, Ganso often worked in the studio of Pascin, painting and drawing his models.
Ganso continued to work in a New York bakery until 1924, when he marched into the influential gallery of Erhard Weyhe with a portfolio of his drawings and proclaimed, I am a baker. And my name is Emil Ganso. Weyhe was impressed with what he saw and signed Ganso to a contract with a monthly allowance. (Peyton Boswell, Modern American Painting, New York, Dodd, Mead & Company, 1940, p. 122).
During the following years Ganso created many brilliant works of art in all graphic media. In 1933 he won the prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship which allowed him to travel and work in Europe for a period of one year. Upon his return he joined the well known Woodstock community of artists in New York State. Today, his original prints and drawings are included in most major American collections, such as, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Woodstock Artists Association, the Butler Institute of American Art, the Los Angeles County Museum and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.
Price: $300
Size: 18 x 13 inches
Plate Size: 14.5 inches x 9.5 inches
Condition: Excellent
Medium: Wood Engraving
Subject: Nudes
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