Ernest David Roth (1879-1964) American, Framed Etching Print. Signed bottom left as well as bottom middle. Depicts Florence. Ponte Vecchio.

Frame: 16 x 18 3/4 in.

Sight: 10 x 12 1/2 in.

#2571 . 

Ernest David Roth was born on January 17th, 1879 in Stuttgart, Germany, and at the age of five his parents immigrated to the United States. As a boy he worked in a print shop in New York City, which sparked an early interest in art. He studied painting at the National Academy of Design and the New York School of Art, achieving American citizenship in 1905. From then until 1907 he traveled abroad, particularly spending time making paintings and etching in Venice, Italy. Over the next ten years he divided his time between the United States, France, and Italy, inexorably drawn back to the canals and ancient structures along the waterways in Venice. After his first solo show in 1914 in New York, his etchings found their way into the Uffizi in Florence as well as the Panama Pacific International Exhibition, where he won the silver medal. After World War I he traveled to Spain, France, and Italy, capturing the rapidly changing styles in Western architecture and city design with his etchings. His work is still seen in permanent collections at Carnegie Museum, the Library of Congress, and in countless museums in Europe Following World War II, he stayed in Manhattan until health issues caused him to seek quieter refuge in West Redding, Connecticut. He died on August 20th, 1964 while visiting friends in Cambridge, New York.