H.C. Spruit, a colleague and friend of Dutch graphic artist Jan Boon was a teacher at drawing in The Hague who invented and perfected, in the years of the Great Depression, a new graphic technique: linoleum etching. It resulted in “soft” etchings and because of the wear of the material not very resistant to the pressing process resulting in small editions. Over the years a nice collection of his work, pré-owned and loved by earlier generations, was built, roaming car boots, charity shops and local on-line selling platforms. 

Some are small sized while some are large, monumentally even, but all are highly decorative prints. A fascinating man and fascinating body of work. 

A catalogue raisonnée was never undertaken, and my archive learns there may be many more floating around. No. 1 was acquired with the friendly help of pre-owned art dealer Robert (Jipart), december 2023 !