A fine German Expressionist etching depicting the riot of masts that dominated a harbor back in the last days of the age of sail. The print is titled "Dreimaster" (Three Master) although it takes a bit of study to discover the three masted tall ship hidden amongst the forest of masts.

The work is rendered in etching and drypoint by the German/Jewish artist Max Pretzfelder (1888-1950) and is hand signed and titled in pencil by the artist, the plate measures 7 1/4 x 8 5/8 inches, sheet size is approx. 12 1/2 x 17 1/2 inches with two deckle edges. Printed in black ink on antique-white wove watermarked faux Japan paper. Aside from a couple spots in the margins and small flattened corner dogears, it is in excellent condition, with no mat burn - it does not appear to have ever been framed or matted.

 
Max Pretzfelder (1888-1950) was a German etcher, painter and costume designer.
The Nuremberg merchant's son enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich on October 27, 1906 and trained as a draftsman and painter. His early works include several etchings, which he published in 1912 in "Ost und West" (a Jewish arts periodical), among others. Further artistic stations were Karlsruhe, Berlin and Florence. When war broke out in 1914, Pretzfelder was interned by the French on the Île Longue as a so-called "enemy alien". It was there that Pretzfelder met the interned film director G. W. Pabst, who would later play an important role in his life. Pretzfelder also pursued artistic activities in the camp and illustrated, for example, a brochure on the school and education system called The Island Week.

On his return to Germany, Pabst gave him the small role of a jeweler in his film "The Joyless Street" in 1925. With the dawn of the sound film age, Pretzfelder designed the costumes for several Pabst productions, including the 1930 film adaptation of the "Threepenny Opera". Two years later, Pretzfelder followed Pabst back to France. As a Jew, the way back to Germany was cut off during the National Socialist era, so Pretzfelder moved to the United States in 1935. Based in Santa Monica, he found it difficult to get into the Hollywood film industry. Although he did do some film work with Fritz Lang and Douglas Sirk during World War II. Pretzfelder became a naturalized American citizen in 1941 and passed away in Los Angeles in 1950. A number of Pretzfelder etchings are included in the permanent collection of The Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

(bio translated from Pretzfelder's German wikipedia entry)