Lot 958: Alfred Hutty Etching, Little Italy, 1925

Alfred Heber Hutty (Charleston, South Carolina, 1877-1954), etching and drypoint titled “Little Italy.” Two children walk down a hilly street and towards a woman who faces away from the viewer. A man on a porch leans against a post at right while laundry hangs on a line and blows in the breeze at upper left. Signed “Alfred Hutty” in pencil along with snail cypher, lower right. Housed under glass in a rusticated gilt and painted wood frame with white mat. With W.K. Stewart Art Galleries/Printsellers, Louisville, KY label affixed to backing. From the edition of 75. 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. 131, No. 40. Sight: 7 1/2 in. H x 9 3/4 in. W. Framed: 15 5/8 in. H x 18 5/8 in. W. 1925. 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, which led him to pursue stained-glass design, initially in Kansas City, later in St. Louis, and finally in New York City, where he was employed by 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: W.K. Stewart Art Galleries (W.K. Stewart Bookstore), Louisville, Kentucky. 

CONDITION: Overall very good condition, with strong contrasts and plate tone throughout, plus inky plate edges. Not examined out of frame.