Lot 179: Alfred Hutty Etching, Phoebe Passes My Gate, 1931

Alfred Heber Hutty (Charleston, South Carolina, 1877-1954) etching and drypoint titled “Phoebe Passes My Gate.” An African American woman wears a large basket filled with flowers on her head as she walks past an iron gate. A black cat arches its back at lower left. Signed “Alfred Hutty” in pencil along with snail cypher, lower right. Titled and inscribed “Ed. 75” and “12” in pencil to lower margin. Ref.: Sara C. Arnold and Stephen G. Hoffius, editors, The Life and Art of Alfred Hutty: Woodstock to Charleston, The University of South Carolina, 2012, p. 144, No. 115. Housed in a window mat. Sight: 8 5/8 in. H x 7 15/16 in. W. Sheet: 12 1/2 in. H x 10 3/4 in. W. Mat: 20 in. H x 16 1/16 in. W. 1931. Ref.: Listed and illustrated in Arnold, Sara C. and Stephen G. Hoffius, eds. The Life and Art of Alfred Hutty: Woodstock to Charleston. Columbia, SC: The University of South Carolina Press, 2012, p. 41, no. 115. Biographical Note: “One of the principal artists of the Charleston Renaissance, Alfred Heber Hutty was a native of Grand Haven, Michigan. He spent most of his youth in Kansas City. He was employed as a glazier and that led to his pursuit of stained-glass design, initially in Kansas City, later in St. Louis, and finally in New York City, where he was employed by the Tiffany Studios. He studied with Birge Harrison at the Art Students League and at the nascent art colony in Woodstock, New York, where he was among the first artists to settle full time…He began dividing his time seasonally between homes and studios in Woodstock and Charleston and soon became a fixture in Charleston’s art circles. From 1920 to 1924 he was the director of the Carolina Art Association (now the Gibbes Museum of Art), and in 1921 he was a founding member of the Charleston Etchers’ Club. His principal subject, the local scene, naturally led to an interest in historic preservation. The Society for the Preservation of Old Dwellings, among other groups, provided opportunities for artists–among them, Hutty, Alice Ravenel Huger Smith, and Elizabeth O’Neill Verner–to create work that was deeply rooted in Charleston’s past.” (Source: Morris Museum of Art, “Alfred Hutty: Painter, Printmaker, Preservationist”)

PROVENANCE: Private Southern Collection.

CONDITION: Overall very good condition, with rich drypoint throughout, especially to darkest areas that include the cat, flowers, and gate. Sheet is hinge-mounted with archival tape affixed to upper edge en verso. Sheet with minor mat burn to perimeter of sight area. Negligible, scattered accretions to lower margin, outside of sight area. Mat with areas of soiling, especially to lower right.