[From the Community Collection, a public trust in Agincourt, Iowa]

FIGURA, Hans [1898–1978]

Woolworth Building, New York City

undated

aquatint and etching / 9 1/4 inches by 5 3/8 inches

Serbian-born and Austrian-educated Hans Figura, according to one source, “created over 850 etchings, mostly in color, of the historical tourist landscapes and cityscapes of Europe, using primarily aquatint, similar to his colleagues Luigi Kasimir and Josef Eidenberger”; they might well have included Bohemian etcher Tavík František Šimon. Figura’s American subject, the Woolworth Building, was briefly the tallest in the world. Here the view is across City Hall Park, framed by one of the arches of the Manhattan Municipal Building.

Mary Grace Tabor (Mrs Kurt Bernhard) lived in New York City for several years, when this was probably acquired.