Maathaus Merian's Copperplate Engravings

          Matthaus Merian was born in Basel around 1593. As a young boy he was taught the craft of glass-painting but soon switched over to copper-plate engraving. This is the trade that he is known for today. During the years of his apprenticeship he moved to Zurich and traveled through many places in Germany, Switzerland, and France.

          In 1616, Merian began working at a publishing house in Frankfurt under Johann Theodor de Bry. One year later, Merian married de Bry's daughter and had 3 children. Both sons went into the publishing business and his daughter became an acclaimed naturalist and illustrator. Following the death of Johann, Merian was given control over the publishing company and thus became a citizen of Frankfurt.This is where he spent most of his time.

Although he spent most of his life as a Publisher, Merian is best know for his copperplate engravings.To make a copperplate engraving, Merian would start with a sheet of copper and coat it with a waxy substance. He then used a hardened steel point to cut a design into the waxy surface and onto the copper. All metal shavings and wax were removed and the plate was heated. Ink as poured over the hot copper sheet until all of the ridges were filled with ink. Now the plate could be wiped clean and placed in a printing press to be printed onto a damp piece of parchment. Copperplate engraving was a very time-consuming and meticulous practice.

Topographia Germaniae is a 21 volume produced and published by Merian. These volumes included views of towns and cities along with maps of major cities of the world. Collectively, the volumes include over 2,000 copperplate engravings completed by himself. The dedication he had to his craft helped him slowly become the most recognized copper plate engravers in Europe at the time and today.

Blueprints of a Landmark

The Golden Gate Bridge is one of the most recognizable symbols of the city of San Francisco and arguably one of the most beautiful bridges in the world. The vermillion color was chosen to complement its natural surroundings and stand out to sailors in the distance. The long, gradual cords lend an elegant look to the bridge and illumination from the base highlights the length. It marks the separation of the San Francisco Bay from the Pacific Ocean and connects the northern tip of the peninsula to Marin county.

In the mid 1920's, Joseph Strauss had a plan to make travel from the Northern counties to the peninsula more efficient than the previous ferry systems had. He had fought for support for over a decade before receiving over 30 million dollars worth of bonds to begin construction. Many designs were considered before the final blueprints were decided on. Strauss remained the chief engineer to the project but relied heavily on three main contributors. Leon Moisseiff, designer of New York's Manhattan Bridge, came up with the cable suspension design. Architect Irving Morrow decided the bridge towers, lighting, decoration, and eventually was convinced by San Francisco residents to paint the bridge the vibrant orange it is today. Charles Alton Ellis deserves credit for most of the engineering decisions. In 1937, the bridge was completed. It set the record for largest main bridge span in the world.

The Golden Gate Bridge was, and is, a beautiful piece of architecture and of the Bay Area. Strauss, Moisseiff, Morrow, and Ellis along with hundreds of other men were responsible for turning this vision into reality. These visions can be viewed through the blueprints they created. Here, you can see the raw architectural plans that make up the bridge.

Here at Arader, we have several blueprints of various structures of the bridge. If you have further inquiries about the Golden Gate Bridge Blueprints, please feel free to contact Arader Galleries for more information.

Hillsborough Antique Show

Arader Galleries is pleased to be representing a selection of our merchandise at the upcoming Hillsborough Antique Show in San Mateo from Friday, November 2 through Sunday, November 4.

The show will be exhibited at the San Mateo County Event Center
1346 Saratoga Drive, San Mateo CA 94403 from:
Friday 11 am - 8 pm
Saturday 11 am - 7 pm
Sunday 11 am - 5 pm

For only $8 (with this coupon from the Hillsborough Antique Show) you can gain entry to this fantastic event which features 506 booths of Antiques, Decorative Arts & Fine Arts, including Arader Galleries.

Exciting Opportunity for Collectors - December 5

Historic Maps, Rare Books, Natural History Watercolors & Color Plate Books, New York-centric Art and American and European Oil Paintings all to be featured in Guernsey's December 5th Auction.

On December 5th, Guernsey's is honored to be conducting the sale of hundreds of treasures acquired over the last four decades by noted gallerist Graham Arader. Recognized internationally for his extraordinary collections, Mr. Arader is generously supporting several fine universities by turning auction proceeds into meaningful donations. Prospective buyers should note that the majority of auction lots will be sold either without minimum reserve or with reserves well below the amounts Mr. Arader purchased the items for over the years. Following a nearly week long preview (Nov. 30 - Dec. 4), the auction will be held live at Arader's beautiful Beaux Arts flagship gallery on New York City's Madison Avenue at 78th Street. Naturally, Guernsey's will be accommodating those unable to attend by making absentee bidding available via the Internet (liveauctioneers.com) and telephone. A massive, handsome auction catalogue (available from Guernsey's or Arader) thoroughly depicts and documents the extraordinary offerings.

Featured categories include eighty two of John James Audubon's stunning copper engravings of Birds and Quadrupeds. Many of the most sought after drawings, virtually all in uncut, pristine condition will be sold. Arguably the finest selection of historic maps and rare globes ever to come to auction will include the extremely rare hand-colored woodcut map of the Atlantic Ocean by Martin Waldseemüller, centerpiece of his groundbreaking 1513 atlas. The Natural History Section of the auction will contain sixty six lots of beautiful watercolors and color plate books including a magnificent collection of the books of John Gould, without question the most prolific ornithological artist of the 19th century. Fifty nine lots will be devoted to handsome watercolors and maps depicting early scenes of New York City. Auction lots include a 19th century landscape of Manhattan as seen from Hoboken, a wonderful Great Gatsby-era birds-eye view of Long Island's then-developing Gold Coast, and an extremely rare secret plan of the City created by a British officer on the eve of the Revolution. Additionally, there will be a fine offering of American and European paintings by such noted artists as Thomas Hill and George Henry Durrie.

Naturally, the items above represent only the smallest sampling from this extraordinary event. Interested collectors and those who appreciate amongst the rarest and most beautiful works ever created on paper are urged to contact Guernsey's for complete information.

You can download a complete catalog of all featured lots and estimates for this auction here: 

Download Arader Galleries/Guernsey Catalog (PDF, 6.62MB)

10 Facts from Betty Goerke's Choris Lecture

If you were unable to join us last night at the Betty Goerke lecture Louis Choris: Views of Native Life at Mission Dolores and San Francisco Presidio in 1816 then you missed out, so we would like to share 10 fun facts from the lecture:

1. Choris is one of three people to have documented the native people of the Bay Area. Not only did he produce the most images of native life, but they are also the most accurate.
2. Clam shell necklaces were the original Mission Dolores"bling". Wearing one indicated status and wealth.
3. How one wore their hair communicated to others many things, including gender (men wore top knots, ponytails at the crown of the head) or marital status (widows and widowers cut their hair short and wore it down).
4. Poison oak was used in many native traditions. One of which involved a young woman's grandmother carving a pattern into her face and rubbing poison oak into the wounds, tattooing her. This signaled to others that she had achieved marriageable age.
5. How did the natives deal with poison oak? Possibly by rubbing either dirt or banana slug mucus on the irritated area. Maybe both (dirt to absorb the oil of the poison oak and the slug slime to act as an anesthetic.)
6. Choris was not only a talented artist, but a musician as well. Thanks to his documentation, songs which were described as "melancholy" still survive today.
7. While Choris was very talented, when he tried his hand at lithography he just wasn't very good at it. The Didot printing firm produced Voyage Pittoresque Autour du Monde, Choris supervised the process.
8. Betty Goerke makes a strong case that Marin county is named after Chief Marin.
9. Betty has met "Ötzi the Iceman" and explained that his tattoos were in locations where he likely suffered from arthritis. 
10. Betty Goerke was this year's Milley award recipient for literary arts.

Louis Choris: Views of Native Life at Mission Dolores and San Francisco Presidio in 1816

Louis Choris (1795 - 1828)
From Voyage Pittoresque Autour du Monde...
Danse des habitans de Californie a la Mission de St. Francisco
Paris: 1822
Hand-colored Lithograph

Arader Galleries & Betty Goerke
 Louis Choris: Views of Native Life at Mission Dolores and San Francisco Presidio in 1816

Please join Arader Galleries & Betty Goerke for a very special lecture at Arader Galleries on Louis Choris: Views of Native Life at Mission Dolores and San Francisco Presidio in 1816

Thursday, October 25, 2012

from 6 - 9 pm

434 Jackson Street

There will be a book signing by Goerke following the lecture of her book: Chief Marin: Leader, Rebel, and Legend.

Betty Goerke has been teaching anthropology and archaeology at the College of Marin for over thirty years. She has conducted archaeological fieldwork in California, Colorado, Greece, Holland, Kenya, and India. She has authored books and articles and has produced several videotapes, including Archaeology: Questioning the Past.

Arader Galleries currently has on exhibition over 40 genuine prints from Voyage Pittoresque Autour du Monde, illustrated by Louis Choris. The lectures will take place at our beautiful building at 434 Jackson Street surrounded by these prints, all of which can be purchased at the gallery.

This lecture is free to attend. Please RSVP by calling the gallery at (415) 788-5115, availability is limited!

We will look forward to seeing you!

The Arader Galleries Team

Coronelli's Celestial Maps

 Vincenzo Coronelli, a Franciscan monk born in 1650, is synonymous with 17^th century cartography. He was a renowned theologian, geographer, cartogropher, and cosmographer throughout his life and still today. Over his lifetime, Coronelli contributed 140 separate works of cartography and cosmography. Coronelli completed his first map at the age of sixteen. In 1678, Coronelli was commissioned to construct a set of terrestrial and celestial globes for the Duke of Parma. The Duke was so pleased with his five feet wide globes that he appointed Coronelli as his theologian. Three years later he was commissioned to create a set of globes for King Louis XIV. These are some of his most impressive works. The massive globes weighed about 2 tons each and represented the most up-to-date French knowledge of exploration based on accounts from Rene-Robert Cavelier and Sieur de La Salle. His reputation continued to grow over the years and in 1699, he was appointed Father General of the Franciscan Order. In 1705 he returned to his hometown of Venice where he published Atlante Veneto and founded the first geographical society called Accedemia Cosmografica degli Argonauti.

This map displays the most complete knowledge of the celestial world in the late 17th century.This hand-colored copper engraving was completed in Venice circa 1690.It represents the major celestial and astrological theories circulating at the end of the century. Taking center stage is a large celestial planisphere displaying the rotations of the planets and signs of the zodiac calendar. This is surrounded by five illustrated wind heads and five planetary diagrams. This composition is bordered by 28 smaller diagrams including solar and lunar eclipses, terrestrial maps, and astrological maps.If you would like to learn more about this piece, please contact Arader Galleries.