SMALL WONDERS AT A NEW YORK FINE ART PRINT FAIR

I spent last week in New York at a wonderful, but little known art fair and I decided to share a little with you. It's called the “International Fine Print Dealers Association’s Fine Art Print Fair”, aka IFPDA.

The name of the fair doesn't really sound very catchy, even for a self-confessed print-nerd like me, and to be honest, walking through the aisles casually you do not see many lively, vibrant and sexy installations that are so much in demand at the big international art fairs. You mostly see small frames with glass in the booths. The large audience is conspicuously lacking the usual celebrities and billionaires of the art world.

All in all, it doesn't look that exiting. That is, until you look at the art. There are wonderful works by some of the greatest artist that ever lived and by some still living. I decided to take a walk with my phone camera on the last day of the fair, to share some of the small wonders I had found. The quality of the photos isn't great, but the works photographed fully make up for that.

Albrecht Dürer’s woodcut Rhinocerus from 1515 I still think is one of the most amazing works of art ever made, and it was shown in the booth of Kunsthandlung Helmut H. Rumbler. Wow.

Albrecht Dürer’s woodcut Rhinocerus from 1515.

Hans Baldung Grien’s St. Sebastian bound to a tree from 1514 hung next to it. It is not the perfect, cool drama of Dürer’s woodcut lines, but intense in a more human, emotional way.

Hans Baldung Grien’s St. Sebastian from 1514.

The third highlight in the booth was Melchior Lorch’s The Crucified Man (after Michelangelo) from 1550. Lorch uses the engraved lines to obtain stunning perspectives and sculptural volumes. A delightful tour de force.  

Melchior Lorch’s The Crucified Man (after Michelangelo) from 1550.

A little further down the aisle Stanza del Borgo showed Hendrik Göltzius’ Dragon Devouring the Companions of Cadmus from 1588. Hendrik Göltzius takes the extravagance even further than Lorch, clearly taking great pleasure in detailing the horror and gore of the scene.

Hendrik Göltzius’ Dragon Devouring the Companions of Cadmus from 1588.

Hans Sebald Beham’s engraving Death and the Sleeping Woman from 1548 is a great example of sexploitation by an old master.

Hans Sebald Beham’s engraving Death and the Sleeping Woman from 1548

Hans Baldung Grien’s The Fall of Man from 1518 is another fine example.

Hans Baldung Grien’s woodcut The Fall of Man from 1518.

Picasso’s etching Ecce Homo and Giorgio de Chirico’s lithograph Gli Archaeologi IV are just a couple of really good prints where the artists show an effortless mastery of the techniques they are using. Look how easy it is.

Picasso’s etching Ecce Homo from 1970.

Giorgio de Chirico’s lithograph Gli Archaeologi IV from 1929.

I could go on forever about the Goyas.

Goya Mucho hay que chupar, 1799, etching and burnished aquatint.

Goya Mucho hay que chupar, 1799, etching and burnished aquatint.

Giovanni Battista Piranesi The Giant Wheel, from Carceri d'invenzioni (Imaginary Prisons), 1701, etching and engraving.

Giovanni Battista Piranesi The Giant Wheel, from Carceri d'invenzioni (Imaginary Prisons), 1701.

And more Dürer. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, 1498, woodcut.

Albrecht Dürer The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, 1498.

Or the Munchs, the Raushenbergs, the Rembrandts and all the other greats, but I finish with this. Albrecht Dürer's engraving Der grosse Pferd, 1505.

Albrecht Dürer Der grosse Pferd, 1505.

Probably the most memorable image of a horse’s ass ever made.