| Method | Mezzotint |
| Artist | Frank Short after J.M.W Turner |
| Published | c.1900 |
| Dimensions | Image 256 x 365 mm, Plate 281 x 389 mm, Sheet 309 x 408 mm |
| Notes |
Engraver's proof before all letters. Impression on laid paper. Sir Frank Short (1857-1945) was an English printmaker from Stourbridge, Worcestershire. He was instrumental in the revival of mezzotint and aquatint practise and was elected as the head for the department of engraving at the Royal College of Art in 1933. An ardent student of the works of J.M.W Turner; Short's reproductions of the Liber Studiorum delineate his exacting skill as well as a sympathetic study of the originals. Upon completion of Turner's most famous series, Short turned to his more esoteric material and published subjects of which the artist and his assitants had left incomplete years before. Several fine plates resulted from this study. In addition to his plaudits as a Royal Academician, Short twice won the gold medal for engraving at the Paris International Exhibition and was later knighted. Surrounded by large rocks, and at the foot of steep banks, the focus of this image is on a pool. Behind the boulders and the shallows, a cave occupies the central plane of the composition. In the secluded dell of Turner's view, the artist does not employ human staffage. Instead, a heron emerges from the hollow between the banks and flies towards the water. In conformity with the original watercolour, Short's mezzotint is indiscriminate and impressionistic. He contorts the technique of the medium in order to produce a hazy impression suited to the representation of Turner's briars and lagoons. Hardie 85 (S.264) Condition: Signed to lower right side of plate mark by 'Frank Short'. The message 'To Mrs. John Edward Taylor' also appears on the inscription space. The Taylors owned the original watercolour by Turner and it is now in Leeds Museums and Galleries. |
| Framing | unmounted |
| Price | £200.00 |
| Stock ID | 27611 |