SPRUANCE, Benton

American (1904-1967)

The People Work :
Morning, Noon, Evening, Night, 1937

Fine & Looney 141 – 144. The rare complete set of four lithographs, printed on RIVES paper with full margins. With the colophon, inscribed in pencil by the artist: “to Walter and Bella Winger / Benton Spruance”.
Each print signed, dated, titled and inscribed Ed. 40 in pencil.
13 5/8 x 19 in.; 34.6 x 48.3 cm.

Please contact the gallery for the price.  (510) 654-7910

The signed colophon page, with a forward by Henri Marceau,  is in several museum collections but has never been seen on the market. This is a rare opportunity to acquire the rare full set of four prints in fine condition and the colophon.

The Minneapolis Institute of Arts wrote about Morning: “Benton Spruance’s imaginative interpretation of the morning rush hour highlights the intermingling of strangers from all walks of life in the urban ritual of riding public transit to work. The unusual cross-section view of the New York subway clogged with passengers suggests the nervous activities of a beehive or ant colony. Widely considered Spruance’s most successful prints, the other four lithographs from the series are “Morning,” “Noon,” “Evening,” and “Night,” completing the cycle of a full working day and night”.