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Updated 7-8-08
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Hans Sebald Beham (German, 1500-1550): Drawing and Prints

German 16th century prints:
Heinrich Aldegrever, Jost Amman, Hans Sebald Beham, Hans Brosamer, Hans Burgkmair, Lucas Cranach, Albrecht Durer, Albrecht Durer (After), Hans Holbein (After), Hopfer Brothers, Georg Pencz, Aegidius Sadeler, Hans Schäufelein, Virgil Solis, Wolfgang Stuber.

Images of Women in Renaissance Prints and Drawings

Hans Sebald Beham, one of the "Little Masters" or Kleinmeister (so called because of the diminutive size of the engravings they tended to make) studied under Albrecht Durer in Nuremberg, but about 1525, during a period of religious unrest, he and his brother Barthel (1502-1540) were expelled from the city for heresy. After a few attempts to return quietly, he left Nuremberg and worked in Ingolstadt, Munich, and Frankfurt until his death. In addition to making engravings, Beham and his studio produced drawings for glass painters and second-class window masters.

Bibliography: Robert A. Koch, ed. The Illustrated Bartsch 15: Early German Masters: Barthel Beham / Hans Sebald Beham (NY: Abaris Books), Christie, Manson & Woods, Ltd. Hans Sebald Beham: The collection of prints formed by Gordon Nowell-Usticke (London, 1978); Adolf Rosenberg, Sebald und Barthel Beham. Zwei Maler der deutschen Renaissance (Leipzig: E.A. Seemann, 1875); Herbert Zschelletzschky, Die "drei gottlosen Maler von Nürnberg". Sebald Beham, Barthel Beham u. Georg Pencz ; histor. Grundlagen u. ikonolog. Probleme ihrer Graphik zu Reformations- u. Bauernkriegszeit (Leipzig: E. A. Seemann Verlag, 1975).

Hans Sebald Beham (German, 1500-1550), and/or Studio. The three Marys discover that Christ has risen from his tomb. Pen and brown ink on tan laid paper, c. 1540. An exhibition held in 2000 at the Getty and the St. Louis Art Museum, Painting on Light: Drawings and Stained Glass in the Age of Durer and Holbein investigated the collaborations in the first half of the 16th century between artists and glassmakers that created a new efflorescence of stained glass windows painted by glass paints and designed by some of the greatest artists of the German Renaissance. This work was created either by the artist or by artists in his studio working under his supervision. Image size: c. 231mm in diameter. Price: SOLD.

Hans Sebald Beham (German, 1500-1550), Lot and his daughters (Bartsch 9, Pauli 10). Good impression on laid paper of the only state of this very rare print. Trimmed on or just inside the platemark. Laid down on old laid paper. Image size: 58mm in diameter. Price: $2800.

Hans Sebald Beham (German, 1500-1550), Judith and Her Servant Standing (Bartsch. 10, Pauli 11). Original engraving, c. 1531. A very good early 16th-century impression with inky plate edges and thread margins. Rare in this condition. Illustrated in Eva / Ave: Women in Renaissance and Baroque Prints (National Gallery of Art, 1990), plate 25. Image size: 108x69mm. Price: $3000.

Hans Sebald Beham (German, 1500-1550), Judith and Her Servant Walking to the left (Bartsch 11, Pauli 12,). Original engraving, c. 1531. A very good early impression of this scarce print on thin cream laid paper. Very rare. Small margins. Ex-collection Fürstlich Waldburg Wolfeggisches Kupferstichkabinett (Lugt 2542 verso). Illustrated in Eva/Ave: Images of Women in Renaissance Prints (National Gallery of Art, 1990), plate 26. Image size: 108x69mm. Price: $3000.

Hans Sebald Beham (German, 1500-1550), Lucretia Standing (Bartsch 18, Pauli 19 iia). Original engraving, c. 1541-45. A very good early impression on laid paper in excellent condition; trimmed on or just within the platemark. Ex-collection: "F. Lacoste 1799" written on verso, Illustrated in Eva / Ave: Women in Renaissance and Baroque Prints, plate 11. Image size: 74x46mm. Price: $3,500.

Hans Sebald Beham (German, 1500-1550), Lucretia Standing (Bartsch 18, Pauli 19 iia). Original engraving, c. 1541-45. A good early impression on laid paper with a bear watermark similar to Briquet 12327 manufactured in Geneva 1548-56. Illustrated in Eva / Ave: Women in Renaissance and Baroque Prints, plate 11. Image size: 74x46mm. Price: $2,500.

The print is better than it looks: this is an old photograph and needs to be replaced.

Hans Sebald Beham (German, 1500-1550), Iusticia / Justice (Bartsch 132, Pauli 134 ii/iv). Original engraving, 1539. A fine early impression on laid paper with margins originally published as part of a series on the Seven Virtues. Ex D'Arenberg Collection. Image size: 38x24mm. Price: SOLD.

Hans Sebald Beham (German, 1500-1550), Melencolia / Melancholy (Bartsch 144, Pauli 145 iii/vi ). Original engraving, 1539. A brilliant impression with small margins all around. From the collection of K. M. Bern with his collector's stamp lower left. Image size: 79x52mm. Price: SOLD.

Hans Sebald Beham (German, 1500-1550), Leda and the Swan (Bartsch 112, Pauli 114 iii). Original engraving, 1545. A very good impression with thread margins nearly all around. Signed and dated in the plate top left; titled bottom left. From the collections of Furst zu Furstenberg. Image size: 46x61mm. Price: $2500.

Hans Sebald Beham (German, 1500-1550), The Standard Bearer (Bartsch 200 i/ii, Pauli 203). Original engraving, 1526. A good impression with some abrasions showing signs of wear. Signed and dated in the plate lower left. Image size: 79x52mm. Price: $2000.

Hans Sebald Beham (German, 1500-1550), Hercules and the Trojans (Bartsch 101, Pauli 105). Engraving, 1545. Good impression with thread margins nearly all around; repaired paper loss top right corner with lost material drawn in by hand. This is one of a series on the Labors of Hercules. Image size: 50x78mm. Price: SOLD.

Hans Sebald Beham (German, 1500-1550), Hercules carrying the columns of Gaza (Bartsch 103, Pauli 101). Engraving, 1545. Good impression with thread margins nearly all around. This is one of a series on the Labors of Hercules. Image size: 49x71mm. Price: SOLD.

Hans Sebald Beham (German, 1500-1550), Hercules receiving the Shirt of Nessus from Lichas (Bartsch 98, Pauli 108). Engraving, 1546. Good impression with thread margins nearly all around. This is one of a series on the Labors of Hercules. Image size: 54x79mm. Price: SOLD.

Hercules on his funeral pyre (Bartsch 107, Pauli 99). Engraving, 1546. Good impression with thread margins nearly all around. This is one of a series on the Labors of Hercules. Image size: 49x71mm. Price: SOLD.

Triumphal Procession with Inscription (Bartsch 143, Pauli 244). Engraving, 1546. Good impression trimmed on or within the platemark. Signed and dated at the bottom. Maximilian I had a grand paper triumphal procession ad a grand triumphal woodcut arch, to which Durer contributed mightily. Evidently, the urge for self-aggrandizement could be mnimalized even further! Image size: 22x138mm. Price: $1800.

Coat of Arms with a Rampant Lion (Bartsch 225, Pauli 266). Engraving, 1544. very good impression of this rare printtrimmed on or within the platemark. Signed and dated at the bottom. Image size: 67mm hexagon. Price: $2800.

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