Sale 2487 - African-American Fine Art, October 4, 2018

6 c AARON DOUGLAS (1899 - 1972) Emperor Jones . Set of 4 woodcuts on cream Japan paper, 1926. Each 205x140 mm; 8x5 1 / 2 inches, full margins. A later edition (of 3), printed in 1972. Each signed, titled, inscribed “1972 ed.” and numbered 19/20 in pencil, lower margin. Titles include: Bravado * Defiance * Flight * Surrender . Each superb, dark impressions of these scarce prints. It is estimated that the artist printed approximately 100 impressions - a small edition of prints at the time of the publication, then three later editions of 15, 15, and 20 each and occasional printings outside the edition. Douglas was originally commissioned by Theatre Arts Monthly to design a series of woodblock illustrations for the Eugene O’Neill play Emperor Jones in 1926. These later editions were made with printmaker Stephanie Pogue who helped Douglas reprint this series and his etchings The Junkman and The Window Shopper . [20,000/30,000]