Narrow Street by Armin Landeck

This is an engraving and drypoint by iconic American artist Armin Landeck. The subject is very typical for Landeck in that it is set in the city and focuses on a very limited view rather than a broad cityscape or skyline. The focus, as with most of his work is the illumination. The viewer stands at the end of a darkened street or alley completely in shadow. At the end of the street a building appears in the light and becomes the centerpiece of the image. This is enhanced by the vanishing point of the perspective also ending in the lit building. Landeck is a master of this and it is a feature of his work dating back to the 30s and 40s. The image is created by engraving and drypoint, where the instruments are used to carve directly into the metal plate. This results in a harsh, sharp line that is well suited to this study. The flattened perspective combined with the geometric shapes of the buildings is reminiscent of Cubism. Very few curved lines are present in the image. This print was produced in 1949 in an edition of 100 and is K. 102 in his catalogue raissone. The plate size is 10 x 16 inches. The piece is unframed and the sheet is untrimmed 14 x 19 inches in size. The print is in perfect condition. It is deeply struck and richly inked. There are full margins and no issues with the paper. It is signed and dated Landeck 1949 in pencil lower right and the edition 100 is in pencil lower left. There are at least two states of this print as one example at the Art Institute of Chicago does not have Men Working on the sign, and the distribution of light is much more extensive than in this example.

Armin Landeck (1905-1984) Born in Wisconsin, Armin Landeck studied at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and Columbia University. During his student days in New York, he took classes at the Arts Students League and explored the museums and galleries of New York. It was during this time that he began experimenting with printmaking, producing his first print The Armenian. Thus, began a lengthy artistic career. Best known for his haunting views of Manhattan and architectural interiors, Landeck also recorded still-life arrangements and landscape settings in Connecticut.
In the 1930s, Landeck joined forces with Martin Lewis to open the School of Printmakers in the 14th Street Studio of George Miller in New York. Together, the artists offered classes on lithography, etching, drypoint, mezzotint, and wood engraving. Sadly, the Depression forced them to close their school only after a year. But Landeck continued to emerge as a towering force in New York artistic circles as he experimented with different media such as copper engraving. A member of the Society of American Etchers (known today as the Society of American Graphic Artists), he was also elected to the prestigious National Academy of Design, the Institute of the American Academy, and the Institute of Arts and Letters. A recipient of the Guggenheim Fellowship, he won several other acclaimed awards.
At a time when the Manhattan skyline was transformed dramatically in the first few decades of the 20th century, his prints revealed the dense majesty of the cityscape dotted with architectural masterpieces like the Woolworth and Chrysler buildings. His prints also reveal a preoccupation with shadows, an element that featured heavily in early black-and-white cinema, particularly in film noir. The unusual angles, lonely streets, and nocturnal settings in his images can be related to the poignant loneliness of urban life depicted by contemporaries like Edward Hopper, John Sloan, and Martin Lewis. (Courtesy of Georgia Museum of Art).