Porto a Venezia Venice Italy Alonzo C Webb 51/100 Etching 1920/30s

Measurements: Sheet: 18 1/8 in x 13 in; 46 cm x 33 cm; Plate: 12 7/8 in x 8 3/4 in; 31.7 cm x 21.1 cm. Frame: 20 3/4 x 15 3/4 in.

A fine impression, on cream wove paper, in excellent condition.

Framed etching, signed in pencil, A C Webb, in the plate to the lower left and is titled and numbered, '51/100', by the artist along the lower plate-mark. It is a fine, original example of the famous etched art created by the American artist, Alonzo Webb.

Alonzo C. "A. C." Webb (April 1, 1888 – 1975) was an American etcher, architect, painter and illustrator. About 1920, he started etching and his work began appearing frequently in the French weekly L’Illustration. During the 1920s and 1930s, Webb lived and worked in both France and the United States. He etched many architectural images of France and Italian cities and American centers such as New York, Chicago, and Pittsburgh. Many of Webb's European views were published and exhibited by the Marcel Guiot Gallery, Paris. Alonzo C. Webb was a full member of the American Art Association of Paris and the Beaux Arts Architects. Today his original etchings are included in the collections of the Government of France, the City of Paris, the Bibliotheque Nacionale, Paris, the Chicago Art Institute and the New York Public Library. In the late 1930s he moved to London, where he died in 1975.

About The Medium: Etching The printing process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. In traditional pure etching, a metal (usually copper, zinc or steel) plate is covered with a waxy ground which is resistant to acid. The artist then scratches off the ground with a pointed etching needle where they want a line to appear in the finished piece, exposing the bare metal. The plate is then put through a high-pressure printing press together with a sheet of paper (often moistened to soften it). The paper picks up the ink from the etched lines, making a print.