"Diamond Merchant" by Marian Lerer, Amer., (1928-2017) Aquatint from the portfolio Paris Capital

from the portfolio Paris Capital

There are two thin strips of masking tape at the ample top margin edge

is best known as the inventor of Solar Plate Etching

before the monogrammed signature in the plate upper right

Gouache on thick watercolor paper

"Diamond Merchant" by Marian Lerer, Amer., (1928-2017) Aquatint from the portfolio Paris CapitalLithograph, Ca. 1950's, Ed. unknown, 12 3 16 x 8 3 16, unsigned, on cream wove paper. As with her print "Treegob's Variety", Marian Lerer here explores the "stage and actors" on which the wheels of local commerce turn, and this diamond merchant may have been a local neighborhood fixture in Philadelphia observed by Lerer while growing up. Regardless, it is a striking image, devoid of comedic elements, with it's formidible, stoic subject, fixing us with