Skip to main contentProvenanceThe artist
Margo Pollins Schab, Inc., New York, New York
Terra Foundation for the Arts Collection, Chicago, Illinois, 1996
Exhibition HistoryPublished References
John Taylor Arms
(American, 1887–1953)
Venetian Mirror
1935
Etching
Plate: 6 3/8 x 14 1/16 in. (16.2 x 35.7 cm)
Sheet: 10 3/16 x 18 1/8 in. (25.9 x 46.0 cm)
Mat: 18 x 24 in. (45.7 x 61.0 cm)
Sheet: 10 3/16 x 18 1/8 in. (25.9 x 46.0 cm)
Mat: 18 x 24 in. (45.7 x 61.0 cm)
Credit LineTerra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection
Object number1996.1
SignedIn graphite, lower right: John Taylor Arms
InterpretationJohn Taylor Arms's Venetian Mirror, a splendid etched view of Venice's majestic Grand Canal, the island city's major waterway, features three Renaissance palaces: the Ca' Rezzonico (the large building near center), the Ca' Foscari (towards left background), and, across the canal, the Palazzo Balbi (extreme left background). With remarkable accuracy, Arms crisply delineated the stone walls and windows of their elegant facades, which are reflected on the water's mirror-like surface. At left, near a cluster of moored boats, a gondola glides across the canal. To visually anchor the foreground at the lower left, Arms included steps leading to the water's edge; these were near the spot from which he observed and drew the actual scene. He then transferred it to the etching plate, but due to the nature of the printmaking process, the image was reversed when the etching was printed.
This print is an excellent example of the artist's mastery of architectural etching at mid-career. With an astonishing repertory of lines—some almost microscopic—Arms achieved an extraordinary verisimilitude of textures, details, and shimmering tonal nuances of light and shadow. Arms greatly admired the distinctive etchings of Venice made in the 1880s by the influential American expatriate artist James McNeill Whistler, but he developed a quite different graphic style. In contrast to Whistler's loose and sketchy etched lines that sparely depict typical Venetian scenes, as for example in his Upright Venice (TF 1992.161), in Venetian Mirror Arms tightly rendered one of Italy's most celebrated sights with almost photographic exactitude.
Centuries of artists (and countless camera-toting tourists) have recorded the Grand Canal. As noted in the inscription on the print, Venetian Mirror is the last of twenty-seven prints Arms executed for his "Italian Series," which he began in 1925 with views of Florence. In 1930, Arms and his wife traveled to Venice, which was the subject of several masterful etchings he made between 1930 and 1935.
This print is an excellent example of the artist's mastery of architectural etching at mid-career. With an astonishing repertory of lines—some almost microscopic—Arms achieved an extraordinary verisimilitude of textures, details, and shimmering tonal nuances of light and shadow. Arms greatly admired the distinctive etchings of Venice made in the 1880s by the influential American expatriate artist James McNeill Whistler, but he developed a quite different graphic style. In contrast to Whistler's loose and sketchy etched lines that sparely depict typical Venetian scenes, as for example in his Upright Venice (TF 1992.161), in Venetian Mirror Arms tightly rendered one of Italy's most celebrated sights with almost photographic exactitude.
Centuries of artists (and countless camera-toting tourists) have recorded the Grand Canal. As noted in the inscription on the print, Venetian Mirror is the last of twenty-seven prints Arms executed for his "Italian Series," which he began in 1925 with views of Florence. In 1930, Arms and his wife traveled to Venice, which was the subject of several masterful etchings he made between 1930 and 1935.
Margo Pollins Schab, Inc., New York, New York
Terra Foundation for the Arts Collection, Chicago, Illinois, 1996
Exhibition History
On Process: The American Print, Technique Examined, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, January 13–March 2, 2001.
Arms, Dorothy Noyes, Marie Probstfield, May Bradshaw Hayes. Descriptive Catalogue of the Work of John Taylor Arms, Manuscript, New York Public Library, no. 293.
Bassham, Ben L., ed. John Taylor Arms: American Etcher. (exh. cat., Elvehjem Art Center). Madison, Wisconsin: Elvehjem Art Center, 1975. No. 293, p. 68; fig. 55. [reprint of the Arms/NYPL catalogue]
Fletcher, William Dolan. John Taylor Arms: A Man for All Time; The Artist and his Work. New Haven, Connecticut: Eastern Press, 1982. No. 289, p. 187.
Bassham, Ben L., ed. John Taylor Arms: American Etcher. (exh. cat., Elvehjem Art Center). Madison, Wisconsin: Elvehjem Art Center, 1975. No. 293, p. 68; fig. 55. [reprint of the Arms/NYPL catalogue]
Fletcher, William Dolan. John Taylor Arms: A Man for All Time; The Artist and his Work. New Haven, Connecticut: Eastern Press, 1982. No. 289, p. 187.