Portrait of Luman Reed (after A.B. Durand)

 

James David Smillie

  1833 - 1909 (biography)

1894  

etching 

5 3/4 x 4" platemark 

unsigned 

proof 

pencil inscribedl in lower right: "First Imp - Ap. 13th '94"; incised into the plate: "A B Druand" and "J D Smillie" 

Witthoff 79; Smillie 79; NYPL 76 

cream wove 

state i/ii, first impression from state 

comissioned by John Durand for "Life and Times of A. B. Durand" but not used 

BC178 

SOLD

Proof, for a portrait of the noted art patron Luman Reed done after the oil painting by Asher B. Durand. Intended for publication in Life & Times of A.B. Durand, it was rejected by Durand himself as "the plate did not please him" (see notes below). Despite his opinion, the image is a stunning example of Smillie's expertise with the etching tools in capturing the mood of a person and scene. Smillie traced the image on gelatine on February 13, 1894, and the plate was bitten with nitric acid - his first use of the method - on April 2.

Lower left sheet corner by Smillie's hand: "1 in Ex. / Portrait of Luman Reed / Etching for John Durand / for Life & Times of A.B. Durand. / The plate did not please him / and it was not used. This is the only pf. I have and I do not know of any others." Luman Reed was a successful New York merchant and great patron of the arts, who was indicted into the New York Sketch Club as an honorary member.