Y é le le us ete See te ets ee Se ew LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN GIFT OF ALLEN AND RACHEL WELLER CENTRAL CIRCULATION AND BOOKSTACKS The person borrowing this material is re- sponsible for its renewal or return before the Latest Date stamped below. You may be charged a minimum fee of $75.00 for each non-returned or lost item. Theft, mutilation, or defacement of library materials can be causes for student disciplinary action. All materials owned by the University of Illinois Library are the property of the State of Illinois and are protected by Article 16B of Illinois Criminal Law and Procedure. TO RENEW, CALL (217) 333-8400. University of Hlinois Library at Urbana-Champaign When renewing by phone, write new due date below previous due date. L162 BOOKSTACKS LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN GIFT OF ALLEN AND RACHEL WELLER oo ene i nae. _ Booxsr, TACKS THE ART OF ETCHING The New Art Library ‘The admirable New Art Library.”—Connoisseur. New VOLUMES. The Art of Etching. By E. S. Lumspen. With about 200 Illustrations. 21S. nett. Also EpiTIoNn DE LUXE, with four original etchings by the author, Limited to 150 copies, Price 6 guineas nett, Landscape Painting. By ADRIAN STOKES, R.A. Lavishly Illustrated. I5s. nett. RECENTLY IsSUED. Perspective. As applied to pictures witha section dealing with architecture. 472 Illustrations, 18s. nett. By Rex Vicar COLE. ‘* Makes perspective quite fascinating.” Aberdeen Journal. ‘‘An indispensable book to the student of art.” Daily Graphic. Water Colour Painting. By ALFRED W. RicuH. €0 Illustrations. 10s. 6d. nett, ‘‘Mr. Rich’s work has placed him among the comparatively few water-colourists of to-day who count, and the work of his students proves that he can teach.”—Saturday Review. The Artistic Anatomy of Trees. By Rex Vicat Cote. Over 500 Illustrations, 15s. nett, ‘* Like all the volumes of the New Art Library, thorough in its teaching, eminently practical in its manner of presenting it, and spendidly illus- trated.”—Connoisseur. The Practice and Science of Drawing. By HaRo_Lp SpkExEp. 46 Illustrations. 10s. 6d. nett. ‘No work on Art has been published in recent ears which might be more advantageously placed in the hands of a young student. Every page shows robust common sense expressed in a clear style. ... We imagine that Mr. Speed is an admirable teacher, and cordially recommend his treatise.”"—Athenceum. The Practice of Oil Painting and Drawing. S. J. SoLomon, R.A. 80 Illustrations. 10s. 6d, nett. ‘If students were to follow his instructions, and still more, to heed his warnings, their painting would soon show a great increase in efficiency.” Manchester Guardian. Human Anatomy for Art Students. By Sir Atrrep Downinc Fripp, k.C.Vv.0. 159 Illustrations. rss. nett. ‘*Combines the best scientific and artistic infor- mation.""—Connoisseur. Modelling and Sculpture. By AvBeRT ToFT, A.R.C.A., M.S.B.S, With 119 Illustrations. 15s. nett. ‘* Will be found an invaluable aid to the student. ... Takes the student step by step through the various technical processes, the text being sup- plemented by over a hundred excellent illustra- tions.” —Studio. Sexxy, Servick & Co, Lrp. 196 Shaftesbury Av Digitized by the Internet Archive ~ in 2021 with funding from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign https://archive.org/details/artofetchingcomp00lums 5 § Es SOP ig. NT Pe eee Te ne Ct iS inom the St : _ JIMS OER MEDITATION. TuE AUTHOR. For A DESCRIPTION OF THE METHOD EMPLOYED SEE PAGE 367. THE» ART OF ETCHING A COMPLETE & FULLY ILLUSTRATED DESCRIPTION OF ETCHING, DRYPOINT, SOFT-GROUND ETCHING AQUATINT & THEIR ALLIED ARTS, TOGETHER WITH TECHNICAL NOTES UPON THEIR OWN WORK BY MANY OF THE LEADING ETCHERS OF THE PRESENT TIME BY KE. S. LUMSDEN Associate of the Royal Scottish Academy WITH 208 ILLUSTRATIONS PHILADELPHIA jbl PEPENe Or CO Min A NY? PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN TO MY MOTHER a FOREWORD WHEN, only a few months ago, I was asked whether I would contribute to this series a book upon Etching, I hardly treated the suggestion as practical. In the first place it seemed to me that everything there was to say upon the subject had already been said, and, in the second, the time which would necessarily be devoted to such a task appeared, in prospect, too great a sacrifice for one whose livelihood depends upon the practice of the craft. But, in the endeavour to set my ideas upon the matter in some sort of order, I soon became so intensely interested in finding out what I really did believe, both concerning the art and its exponents, that I could think of nothing else and, for good orill, the book had to be written. The digging up of the older authors upon the purely technical side, in order to discover the actual origin of many formule and recipes still in use, has also been extremely fascinating and the result should, I think, be of value—at least of interest—to the student. I have many to thank for help. First Mr. E. L. Allhusen for his in- valuable suggestions in the writing of the MS.; the loan of many books and catalogues, and, above all, for his generous encouragement. Amongst the officials of Public Museums I am indebted to Mr. Caw of the Scottish National Gallery for allowing me to search the folios not open to the public and to photograph the etching by Runciman; Mr. Campbell Dodgson, Keeper of the Prints at the British Museum, for the loan of several etchings from his private collection and for permission to reproduce many from the Museum itself; Mr. Martin Hardie for similar courtesy regarding prints in the Victoria and Albert Museum and for some important sug- gestions ; and to Mr. Binyon, Mr. A. M. Hind and their Assistants for the ungrudging help during the weeks I worked in the British Museum Print Room, when Mr. Hind made me free of his notes upon various problems the solution of which is dubious, was always ready to discuss a technical point and to give me the benefit of his advice. My most grateful thanks are also due to Dr. Alexander Scott, F.R.S., for being so kind as to revise my chapter dealing with his methods of research and for great assistance upon other problems of chemistry. Amongst private collectors I wish to thank Mr. R. K. Blair, Mr. E. R. Boase, Mr. E. L. Allhusen and Dr. J. D. Pollock for lending their prints for reproduction, and Mrs. Strang, Mme Zorn and Mr. L. L. Legros for permission to include examples of the work of the late William Strang, Anders Zorn and Alphonse Legros respectively. I deeply appreciate the courtesy of those artists who have not only given 8 FOREWORD 9 me permission to use their work, but have greatly added to the value of the book for the student of the future by giving their personal technical notes. Only two artists ignored my request and one refused to permit any reproduction, and these omissions I regret. I have also to thank Messrs. Lefévre and the Leicester Galleries, and the Fine Art Society for allowing me to reproduce plates by Messrs. Blampied and Strang respectively. A word also as to the selection of my own etchings. In every case my motive has been to find a plate which best illustrated the technical point in hand. To do this meant ruling out most of those which I consider my best, because I either cannot remember how they were done or their procedure was complicated by mixed methods which rendered them useless for the purpose. EK. §8. LUMSDEN. EDINBURGH, August, 1924. CHAPTER If. ITI. Lv. VI. VII. VIII. IX. XI. XII. XTII. XIV. XV. XVI. XVII. AVITI. XIX. XX. XXI. XXII. XXITI. XXIV. XXV. XXVI. XXVII. LIST OF CONTENTS PART I INTRODUCTORY . ESSENTIALS THE PLATE 4 , s : GROUNDS AND ‘ Cents ” THE PLATE . Points, SCRAPERS, BURNISHERS AND GRAVERS MorpDANTS List oF MATERIALS AND siete? PART II PLAN OF AN ETCHING Room METHODS OF BITING . PRINTING . 5 : ; ; : ADDITIONAL Wrath AND THEIR REMEDY TRANSFERRING Sort GRounpD, AQUATINT, AND THE itis Matnee DRYPOINT AND MEZZOTINT . PRINTING PAPERS . FLATTENING AND MOUNTING MILDEW AND RESTORING ; , : THE MrEpIumM IN RELATION TO THE ARTIST’S IDEA PART III A Brier SURVEY OF ETCHERS UP TO THE YEAR 1800. DURER AND LUCAS VAN LEYDEN REMBRANDT AND VAN Dyck GOYA : ; ? BRITISH Bras OF THE Sieetraosen CENTURY MERYON AND THE FRENCH REVIVAL HADEN AND WHISTLER THE MODERNS PART IV PERSONAL NoTes BY EMINENT ETCHERS ON THEIR METHODS INDEX * A : ‘ : : , ; , 10 PAGE 17 23 26 35 45 50 59 63 66 85 99 109 113 127 137 147 156 161 165 201 208 242 255 272 288 308 325 368 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS MepitTation. E.8S. Lumsden . 5 ; : Frontispiece PLATE PAGE 1. ComparRATIVE Morpants. E. 8. Lumsden : : . 68 2. THe Horsgs. peel cataat ep rene Bitten in the a) E.S. Lumsden . 71 3. JODHPUR FROM THE DESERT. Single Deane from Nee) E. 8. Lumsden . : ; : : nt 4. THe Surine. (Drawing by Stages. First State. E. 8. Lumsden . é : 3 . 74 5. THE SHRINE. (Drawing by Stages. Intermediate State. E. 8. Lumsden . ‘ : ; és ee 6. THE SHRINE. aes By Stages. Final State. E. S. Lumsden . cu! 7. A Nove or Ronpa. (Alternate Drawing and Biting ) E. g. Lumsden . : ; 79 8. ON AN INDIAN RIVER. (Drawing, in the Bath, E. g. Lumsden : : 81 9. ETCHING ILLUSTRATING SINGLE BITING. (ron perchloride.) E. 8S. Lumsden . : ; 83 10. THe ALCANTARA BRIDGE. (Mistakes and their Remedy.) E. 8. Lumsden . : 100 11. THe ALCANTARA BRIDGE. (Mistakes and their Remedy.) E.S. Lumsden . : 101 12. THe ALCANTARA BRIDGE. Mistakes and their Remedy.) E. 8. Lumsden . : 102 13. THe ALCANTARA BRIDGE (Mistakes af their Remedy.) E.8. Lumsden . : 103 14. THE ALCANTARA BRIDGE. (Final State. ) E.S. iawnaes . 104 15. NEGATIVE Etcuine. E. 8. Lumsden . : : ey 16. A CuHortTEeN. (Soft-ground Etching.) E. 8. Lumsden PaeLLD 17. Sort-GRouND EtcHine. (Re-working.) E. 8S. Lumsden RY 18. A KasHmir BripGE—NOCTURNE. Coe ren eel E. 8. Lumsden . : 121 19. A KasHmirR CANAL. eon sound Aquatint BE. s. Lumsden ; : , ee 25) it 12 PLATE 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. rigs 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34, 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44, 45. 46. 47. 48. 48A. 49, 50. 51. 52. 52. 53. 54, 55. 56. 57. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ETCHING ILLUSTRATING THE PEN-METHOD. E. 8. Lumsden . THE READER. (Drypoint direct from Life.) E. 8. Lumsden THE CENOTAPH. (Drypoint and Roughened Surface). E.S. Lumsden . - : : : , : A SPANISH Cart. (Drypoint.) E.S. Lumsden . ORIENTAL HorsEeMAN. The Master of the Hausbuch KONRAD VON DER Rosen. Daniel Hopfer WomAN BATHING HER FEET. Urs Graf CLEOPATRA. The Master of 1515 LANDSCAPE WITH LARCHES. Altdorfer LANDSCAPES. Hirschvogel THE ANNUNCIATION. Parmigiano A Becear. Callot . , : : : ‘‘Les MISERES DE LA GUERRE,”’ No. 4. Callot CATTLE RETURNING IN STORMY WEATHER. Claude Brey Duren. Hollar THE Doctor. Bega ; : CATTLE AND HERD-BOY. du Jardin , ; SHEEP AND SHEPHERD PLAYING A PIPE. Paul Potter THE LouUvRE, PARIS. Zeeman SEA-SCAPE WITH MEN-0O’-WaAR. Zeeman TRAVELLERS ReEstTine. A. van de Velde Lorp Lovat. Hogarth : ONE OF THE CARCERI SERIES. Piranesi THE FLIGHT INTO Eeypr. G. D. Tiepolo NETHER-Bow Port, EpinpurGH. J. Runciman DuRHAM. Clerk of Eldin . 2 BortTHWICK CASTLE. Clerk of Eldin . Hitut-HEAD, NEAR LASSWADE. Clerk of Eldin DALKEITH FROM THE NortH-WEsT. Clerk of Eldin DRIVEN CATTLE IN WOODED PASTURE. Gainsborough SAINT JEROME. Diirer A : THE AGONY IN THE GARDEN. Diirer SAINT CATHERINE. Lucas van Leyden THE ArRtTIsT’s MotHER. Rembrandt OLD MAN wiTtH A BEARD. Rembrandt SELF PORTRAIT AND OTHER Notes. Rembrandt THE RETURN OF THE PRODIGAL Son. Rembrandt THREE HEADS OF WOMEN, ONE ASLEEP. Rembrandt THE DEATH OF THE VIRGIN. Rembrandt MAN witH A DivipED Carp. Rembrandt . PAGE 125 129 130 131 166 167 169 170 171 173 174 175 177 178 180 181 182 183 184 185 187 189 190 191 193 194 195 198 199 200 203 204 206 209 209 210 211 212 214 215 PLATE 58. 59. 60. 61. 62. 63. 64. 65. 66. 67. 68. 69. 70. ml 104 73. 74. 75. ae tore TS: no. 80. ooh 82. 83. 84. 85. 86. 87. 88. 89. 90. 91. 92. 93. 94. 95. 96. 97. 98. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS AMSTERDAM. Rembrandt : CoTTAGE AND HAYBARN. Rembrandt YounGc Man at A Desk. Rembrandt THE Hoc. Rembrandt ; : CHRIST CARRIED TO THE Toms. Rembrandt JAN Six. Rembrandt SELF PORTRAIT AT A WINDOW. eearabcanlh Braaars. Rembrandt : CHRIST HEALING THE Sick. Rembrandt THE SHELL. Rembrandt : ‘ THE GOLDWEIGHERS’ FIELD. Rembrandt. CLEMENT DE JONGHE. Rembrandt . : THE ADORATION OF THE SHEPHERDS. Rembrandt THE THREE CROSSES. Rembrandt THE DESCENT FROM THE CROSS. Rembrandt THE ENTOMBMENT. First State. Rembrandt THE ENTOMBMENT. Final State. Rembrandt CHRIST AT Emmaus. Rembrandt : CHRIST PRESENTED TO THE PEOPLE. Rembrandt WoOMAN WITH AN ARROW. Rembrandt CHART OF ETCHERS JAN SNELLINX. Van Dyck GAROTTED. Goya LOvE AND DEATH. Goya SELF PortTrRAIT. Goya e TRISTES PRESENTIMIENTOS. Goya Las MuUGERES DAN VALOR. Goya AL CEMENTERIO, Goya ; DE QUE SIRVE UNA TazA? Goya THE DEATH OF THE ALCALDE. Goya SCENE IN THE CAMPAGNA. Turner CaLm. Turner : MovusEHOLD HEATH. Crome Stupy oF TREES. Cotman THE ArtistT’s MotHer. Geddes INFANTA ISABELLA. Geddes Dutt READING. Geddes. : ARCHIBALD SKIRVING, Esq. Geddes THE YounG ANGLER, Dyce 5 - AN AGITATED GROUP GAZING INTO Con Blake SWEEPING THE INTERPRETER’S PARLOUR. Blake 13 PAGE 216 217 219 220 221 222 223 224 226 227 228 229 230 231 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 241 243 244 245 247 248 250 251 253 256 257 258 260 261 262 264 265 267 268 269 14 PLATE 99. 100. 101. 102. 103. 104. 105. 106. 107. 108. 109. 110. hilt 112. 112. 113. 113. 114. 115. 116. 117. 118, 119. 120. 121. 122. 123. 124. 125. 126. 127. 128. 129, 130. 131. 132. 133. 134. 135. 136, LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS GIRL WITH A Book. Keene Le Petit Pont. Meryon ‘ : L’ARCHE Du Pont Notre Dame. Meryon LA GALERIE. Meryon La Morevur. Meryon L. J-Marie BizeEut. Meryon Le Movutin. Jacque : : Portrait OF MERYON. Bracquemond PortTRAIT OF Datovu. Legros . Le LonG DE LA Rive. Legros BREAKING-UP OF THE AGAMEMNON. Seymour Haden PURFLEET. Seymour Haden From CARDIGAN BRIDGE. Seymour Findon La MARCHANDE DE MoutarpDE. Whistler RECUREUSE. Jacque ANNIE, SEATED. Whistler Ma PETITE FILLE. Jacque LA MERE GERARD. Whistler La VIEILLE AUx LoqusEs. Whistler LIMEHOUSE. Whistler FINNETTE. Whistler THE Riatto. Whistler TuRKEYS. Whistler San GiorGio. Whistler SELF PortTrRaIT. Strang . PoRTRAIT OF LEGROS. cererre StockHotm. Muirhead Bone THE ENTRY OF A QUEEN. Bauer A SuutTan. Bauer . La Finte Mkre. Forain : : LE RETOUR DE L’ENFANT PRODIGUE. Forain PORTRAIT OF RENAN. Anders Zorn . Mecca Pinerims. Bauer Herons at Rest. Benson SUMMER YELLOW-LEGS. Benson DEMOLITION OF ST, JAMES’S Teta maron! Muirhead Bone : Ayr PRISON. Muriel Bone : Finiine Sacks. Clausen . : THE CHIMERA OF AMIENS. Cameron THERMAE OF CARACALLA. Cameron . PAGE 271 273 275 217 279 280 282 283 285 287 289 291 293 295 295 296 296 298 299 301 302 304 305 306 309 311 313 315 316 318 319 321 327 329 330 331 333 335 337 - 338 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 15 PLATE PAGE 137. CuRFEW, Rysg. Short : ; ; : 4 : ~ 341 138. Té&re FaroucHre. John . : : : : : . 343 139. CHARLES McEvoy. John : : : : : . 344 140. Tue Feast or Lazarus. Brangwyn : ’ ; . 3847 141. THe TORPEDOED Sussex. McBey . : : : . 9349 142. STRANGE Sienats. McBey ; : ‘ ; 5 . 350 143. LoapiInG SEAWEED. Blampied : ‘ : : . 351 144. Tur STRANGER. Blampied : : . : : . 353 145. DeratH AwepD. Percy Smith . : : : : . 355 146. DratH Marcues. Percy Smith : : : : . 356 147. THat CursED Woop. Nevinson : : : : . 357 148. In SusurRBIA. Nevinson : : : : : . 9359 149. SpanisH Dancer, No. 2, Laura Knight . : ‘ . 361 150. Bank Houripay. Laura Knight ‘ : : : . 362 151. A Grey DAY IN THE CHANNEL. Everett P : . 363 152. Luynes. Everett . : ; ‘ : ; : . 365 LIST OF TEXT ILLUSTRATIONS FIGURE l. Fiuine THE EDGE OF THE PLATE : : : ; : 28 2. SNAKESTONE . : : 5 : : : : : 30 3. CHARCOAL PLANING . , A : P ; : : 30 4, OIL-RUBBER FOR POLISHING : : ? : ; : 32 5. PLATE uPpoN ELEcTRIC HEATER. : : : : : 39 6. DABBER . 2 : : : ; : : ; : 39 7. ROLLER . : : 2 : : : : : : 40 8. CoaATING PLATE wiTH LIQUID GROUND 2 : : : 41 9. HAND-VICE ‘ ; : : ‘ 2 ; : : 43 10. NEEDLE IN Woop HANDLE : : . : : ‘ 45 11. Eouorre . , : c : . 45 12. ‘‘ WHISTLER’’ PoINT : : : ‘ : : : 45 13. PoInT COMBINED WITH BURNISHER . : 7 : : 45 14. Most sERVICEABLE TYPE OF NEEDLE. : ‘ : ; 45 15. BuuntTEep Point : ; ; : : ; : s 45 16. ENGINEER’s PoIntT witH SHEATH : : F ; ; 46 17. Drypornt on Ercuina NEEDLE , : . : : 46 18. ‘‘HapEN’”’ Drypornt ; : : : ‘ : : 46 19. Diamonp Pornt—REVERSIBLE . : : : : ‘ 47 20. ScrRAPER ae , ° 47 21. Fincer Grip In SCRAPING : : ‘ ; - is 48 16 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS FIGURE PAGE 22. BURNISHER : : : : : 5 48 23. ADVANTAGE OF BENT iusnre: IN A Bon ae : : 48 24. HOME-MADE BURIN . é : : : : P : 49 25. WELL-BALANCED BURIN . ? + : 2 : : 49 26. HYDROMETER . : ‘ : 4 ; ‘ 5 54 27. FRENCH BOTTLE FOR iene : ; é : ; . 55 28. Nitric AND ‘‘ DutcH’’ LINES IN SECTION . 5 ? : 56 29. MrtTHOD OF LOWERING PLATE INTO ACID . : 2 : 56 30. LOWERING PLATE BY MEANS OF A STRING. ; . ; 57 31. PLAN oF AN ETCHING ROOM : : : : : . 63 32. IRon HEATER (GAS) . : : ‘ 5 : : ; 64 33. PowpER COLOUR READY FOR MIXING ; ; ; ; 85 34. GRINDING THE INK . : : : : ; 86 35. INK READY TO BE TAKEN UP BY Ronee ; 4 : : 86 36. THe AuTHoR’s INKING ROLLER . : : s : 3 88 37. WHIPING THE PLATE . , 4 : : ; : ; 89 38. WHEEL AND SPINDLE PRESS 5 f , ‘ : - 98 39. CALLIPERS ; Woop AND METAL . : ; i : . 106 40. HAMMER FOR REPOUSSAGE : : : : ; AK y, 41. HAND-REST FOR SOFT GROUND . : : E : rep a We 42, DIAMOND AND STEEL LINES é , : : : welds 43. RELATIVE FREEDOM OF LINES . ; , ‘ : ee le2 44, Loss oF BURR DUE TO TOO ACUTE ANGLE : ; . 133 45. RoTrTeNn LINES DUE TO BLUNT POINT ‘ : : 7 ols 46. Goop Linrs—AcutTE POINT : : : é : a 1 47. Goop LINES—VERTICAL POINT . d / : : . 133 48. MEZzzOTINT ROCKERS. : , s A : . 1385 49, MeEzzoTINT SCRAPERS AND Or : : : aealsb 50. Simzina : : ; : ; : : ‘ : 22142 51. PRESS FOR FLATTENING PROOFS ; : : ; . 148 52. Mounts . : F : ; : : : ; . 150 53. Mounts . , : : : : : é : » 150 54. PROPORTIONS OF MARGINS . : ; ; : : -' Lb 55. Goop AND Bap PLacIna on Mounts : : . 152 THE ART OF ETCHING ey Lae CHAPTER I INTRODUCTORY As this book is written professedly for the beginner first and foremost (although I hope that those more advanced may also find something of value in its pages) I intend to assume absolute ignorance on the part of the reader and to endeavour to describe as clearly as possible even the Imost elementary tools, contrivances and processes. It is always better for the student to have an accurate knowledge of the ingredients composing the various compounds and solutions that he uses in any craft; yet few people would advocate the making of things at home in a country where they can be readily purchased ; for example: the grinding of colours for the practice of ojl-painting when one can buy them far better prepared by an experienced and reliable colour-maker. This applies largely to the materials used for the various processes of engraving metal plates, though there are many appliances which can be made just as well at home, and at far less cost. I well remember, when first trying my hand at this most fascinating art, how difficult I found it (living some distance from a great centre) to obtain any information as to where certain tools and materials might be bought. Consequently I had to fall back on the home-made articles in such matters as “‘ ground ”’ and printing-ink, until, eventually, I got into touch with a London firm. Definition of Etching.—In the first placeas to what constitutes anetching. Our English word is derived from the Dutch etzen to eat ; therefore, in order to make an etching at all one must employ an eating-away, or as it is technically called, a biting process. Any solid material which reacts to a mordant can yield an etching ; even glass, were it possible to print from it without danger of breaking. Metals.—The earliest material known to us as having been employed to any extent was iron; but nowadays there are but two metals com- monly used, copper and zinc. Brass has been tried, and so, very recently, have aluminium and pewter. Steel was principally employed by the line-engravers who supplemented their graver work by more or less etching, but the invention of a process by which, with the aid of electricity, copper may be protected from wearing B 7 18 INTRODUCTORY during printing by an extremely fine coating of iron,! deposited upon the surface after the engraving has been completed, allows the artist the freedom of working upon the more tractable metal and yet to have confi- dence that his plate will yield a large edition of proofs. In order to corrode these metal plates in certain places and, by so doing, to form a design, either by means of lines, as in etching proper; dots, as in aquatint; or whole, flat spaces, as in Blake’s ‘relief’? blocks, various acids are employed which will be dealt with in due course. It is the ampression which is printed from one of these plates on any suitable material such as paper, vellum, parchment or silk which is termed an “ etching,” not the etched metal itself. It follows that every impression or “ proof” is equally an original etching. I mention this because a gentleman who was in charge of a post-war International Exhibition informed me, at its close, that so many “ original etchings ”’ had been sold and a further number of “ copies ”’ ! Relief and Intaglio Plates——Both photogravure and “ zinco”’ (line) blocks are strictly etched, though the print from the line-block is not called an “ etching ”’ because the term is only technically applied to a proof from a plate the design of which (that is the part which holds the ink) is bitten-in, while in the case of a “ zinco”’ it is exactly the reverse ; i.e. the parts which are not required to print are corroded, and the proof is taken from the surface which remains standing, as in the case of a wood-block, or the above-mentioned relief-etchings of Blake. Definition of Drypoint.—It will be seen, further, that “ drypoint ” though often spoken of as etching, is, in reality, no such thing, as the lines on the plate are not eaten away by means of acid, but are cut by a sharp instrument ; steel point, diamond, ruby or the like. Although technically miscalled when spoken of as “etching,” the intention in so naming it is to mark the more important fact that drypoint belongs to the same method as etching inasmuch as they are both printed from intaglo plates ; and this it is which places all kinds of “ engraving ”’ (including drypoint and mezzotint) and of “ etching ” (including aquatint, soft-ground and photogravure) in one group, as distinct from all “ relief ”’ or cameo methods whether engraved on wood or metal. Printing.—No great pressure is required in printing from any relief- block as the ink lies entirely on the surface, and when a sheet of paper is placed upon this, even a moderate rubbing with the hand is sufficient to register the impression. But, in the case of an incised or intaglio plate hardly any result can be obtained by direct pressure from above, even in a powerful press ; and in order to drive the paper down into the lines, and so take what is literally a cast of even the slightest irregularity of the plate’s surface, a strong 1 The deposit is usually termed “steel,” but this is chemically incorrect; as. when steel is used in the bath to electrically deposit the one metal on the other, it loses its carbon and becomes a peculiarly hard iron. INTRODUCTORY 19 roller-press is necessary with some elastic substance (the blankets) between the paper on the plate and the upper roller. Damp paper which has been placed upon an entirely uninked plate and passed through a powerful roller-press will shew every scratch of the work in relief if examined in a side light; so that an impression 1s taken, whether there is ink in the lines to make it more visible, or not. Press.—It is the difficulty of providing a good press which probably prevents many from trying their hands at engraving plates by one method or another ; and the cost of a really first-rate article—even second-hand— is, to-day, prohibitive to the majority of students. The more fortunate may live near an Art school where such a machine may be used by permission, or, at worst, for the price of joining the class : those that do not may be able to obtain the use of a commercial copper- plate printer’s during off hours. Most towns boast at least one visiting- card printer whose press is serviceable enough, but in this case the etcher will be well advised to take along his own blankets. Such a printer usually works with one blanket, and that as hard as iron; and I speak from experience when I say that to remove a proof from a plate which has passed through such an ordeal means scraping it off in pieces ! Failing this, a lithographic press will yield a very fair proof from an etched plate if carefully adjusted. Where the beginner is quite unable to get access to a press of any kind, the best thing to do is to send the plate to the nearest reliable etching-printer and to be as patient as possible in the interim ; but, unfortunately, the less experience the etcher has, the more necessary for him to see a proof from the plate upon which he is at - work, in order to know exactly what his depth of line yields when printed ; while the old hand is able to judge pretty accurately how far he has succeeded by the look of the lines on the metal, especially if these are filled with some substance—ordinary plate-polish is.as good as anything— een allows them to show up strongly against the shining, polished suriace. | Substitutes for Press.—In Mr. Koehler’s notes at the end of his transla- tion of Lalanne’s treatise *‘ On Etching ’’ (1880) he suggests taking a cast in plaster of Paris. The lines are inked (see Chapter X) and the plaster mixed in a glass (one of water to two of plaster), and, when beginning to thicken, poured over the plate. In any case the result would be crude and only approximate. A much more serviceable idea was put forward in some work—I forget where—for obtaining a proof. This was the con- version of a good mangle into a temporary press, by the introduction of a drawing-board or other smooth plank between its rollers to serve as a travelling-bed. The principle of a mangle is that of an etching-press if the spring at the top (designed to prevent too great pressure when a button or other hard object passes through) be prevented from functioning ; and at least one well-known etcher has told us how he acted upon the hint in his early days. But to make a really workman-like machine which would 20 INTRODUCTORY give sufficiently accurate results ought not to be beyond the powers of a good ironworker. There is no delicate mechanism to adjust, all that is essential being that the rollers run true: and if by any chance a couple of iron cylinders could be procured, the rest should be comparatively easy. Failing iron, hard, wood rollers will serve. My own first press was obtained at an Kast- end auction room and was a most ancient affair. There was a travelling- bed several inches thick of iron-wood (lignum-vite) ; no regulating screws ; and, needless to say, no gearing. Nevertheless, though cumbersome, and by no means true compared with a modern all-iron machine, it answered my purpose well enough (all my early editions were pulled on it) till the day arrived that I could afford a better. This sort of difficulty will always be met and overcome by the really keen student, and he is the only type worth bothering about. The youth (of either sex) who cannot begin until the most up-to-date appliances are provided will not go far ! The beginner should bear in mind that etching, though undoubtedly one of the most fascinating of all the graphic arts, is, at the same time, one of the most exacting. It is comparable to the playing of a difficult instrument, such as the violin or piano, in that it demands constant practice. The first part of the process—the biting with acid—is a chemical ex- periment every time, and though this is one of the chief charms of the game, yet without practice one is hopelessly handicapped. The principle of working is not at all difficult to grasp ; but to control the application of it in actual handling is always hazardous, and the element of luck makes the game all the more intensely absorbing. This element of chance is always present to a certain extent, even if the etcher take all the scientific precautions now possible to utilize— thermometer, hydrometer and all the rest—without which Rembrandt got along somehow. The chief reason is the difficulty of seeing directly the result of the work, in the way that the draughtsman with pencil or brush can: watching the mark of his stroke, even as he makes it. Need for Practice and some Qualifications Want of practice (lack of mere sleight-of-hand as well as forgetfulness) makes itself felt immediately in the final process of printing, also ; and my own experience in 1919 (when I had not touched a printer’s rag for nearly four years) was that my hand had not only lost its cunning, but that I had forgotten how certain effects had been arrived at in the past, and had to experiment afresh. Ktching, therefore, is not a medium which can be taken up occasionally, at long intervals, without risk of finding that either one’s memory or one’s manual dexterity has gone. Another point that the student should remember is that, though he may take as long as is desired over the preparations for an etching, he must have the idea, finally, complete—either set down in another medium or in his head—before beginning upon the actual plate. The more clearly he is able to visualize the desired result in imagination, the more chance INTRODUCTORY 21 of the lines being put down with vigour and spontaneity : two of the most important qualities that a really fine plate should possess. No one, therefore, need start working in this medium who finds it impossible to make up his or her mind as to what has to be done before beginning to do it! This may sound absurd, but, after all, it is one of the most common failings. How many know what they really want to do? Now, in oil-painting one may fumble away for months on one canvas, and yet arrive at something, without necessarily showing the traces of one’s many tentative efforts. This at least is a common enough practice. But in attacking a copper plate one cannot go to work in that manner. If one finds the initial planning to be wrong, it is far better to throw the plate away and (with added experience) start a second; and (may be) after that, a third. But all this means that the mind is being made up on the copper when it might have been satisfied by working the matter out in another medium—a medium far less exasperating and decidedly more economical. Another quality is essential—and if the student is without it, it must be acquired—Patience. This may apply almost equally to every art, but is certainly a sine qua non in etching. One must be prepared to spoil plate after plate, not only as a tyro but always ; and, having spoiled one, not to give up in disgust (I know a very fine painter indeed who began etching, and gave up the whole thing after his first failure), but to begin again ; and to repeat this, when necessary, as long as one continues to etch ! One must never be afraid of making mistakes, but always of giving up because of them. The plates which do come off make it all well worth while. If the student thinks he has something definite to say in etching—having probably seen good work done by others in the medium, and feeling drawn towards it as sympathetic to the expression of what he himself sees—then by all means let him go ahead and try his hand. Only, let him go at it boldly, and, having made a mess of one plate, start making a mess of a second ! Although verbal advice from a master will probably save many blunders and disappointments at the outset, yet it is quite possible to learn what is essential from a textbook. I know this from personal experience ; and though it takes longer, what one teaches oneself (through one’s mistakes, largely) sticks, in a way that no knowledge can which has been gained from a teacher who prevents one making those same mistakes. The Art School.—One of the dangers of the modern Art school is that the students often have too much done for them ; and this is fatal when the course is over. I was once visiting one of the best-known schools, and asked one of the women students what strength of acid she was using. The astonishing answer was: “I don’t know; it’s what we have given us!” No doubt this was individual slackness on the part of the student, but if she had had to go out and buy, and afterwards mix, her acid, she could not have answered as she did, 22 INTRODUCTORY To repeat what I said first of all: it is good to know how one’s materials are made, and to be able to make them (at a pinch) ; but it is only waste of time for the student living within reach of a dealer to make up his own grounds, varnishes, etc., as the firms who manufacture such things can make them far better—being specialists, with the specialist’s equipment— than the amateur ; and, in most cases, as cheaply. This book, however, may fall into the hands of someone who lives out of reach of the dealer, and for that reason I have tried to combine in it my own experience with all the information I can gather from previous books on the subject and individual notes from several distinguished artists, together with the invaluable suggestions of two famous chemists. CHAPTER II ESSENTIALS THE essential materials for the making of an etching are really very few. They are :— . A metal plate. . An acid-resisting ground. . A point which will cut through the ground. . Acid. . Ink, paper and a press. CUR Go De To execute a drypoint, Numbers 2 and 4 are not required. These few materials and tools are the necessities, given which a per- fectly good etching or drypoint can be wrought (see Diirer’s prints, Chapter XX). In etching, the plate is covered very thinly and evenly with the ground, which the point serves merely to remove without scratch- ing the surface of the metal. When the drawing is completed the plate is submerged in a bath of acid, and this fixes the lines, their depth depending solely upon the length of time they are exposed to the action of the mordant. The ground is then cleaned off and the face of the plate covered with printing-ink, which is so wiped away that, though the surface is polished, the ink is retained in the bitten lines. The plate is now placed upon the bed of a press, damped paper laid upon it, blanketing over that, and the whole pulled between the rollers. Upon lifting the paper the ink from the lines will be found to have trans- ferred itself from plate to proof. In the case of a drypoint the instrument used for drawing must be strong enough and sufficiently sharp to cut into the metal, and besides this weapon two others are nearly always required, a ‘“‘scraper”’ and a smoothing tool called a “ burnisher,”’ which often fills the place that india- rubber occupies in pencil drawing. The scraper is used for removing the “ burr,”’ as the rough ridge is called which is thrown up at the edge of each line by the point, exactly as a furrow is flanked by its ridge after the passage of the plough. These three instruments are all that are necessary (except for the cor- rection of serious mistakes) in the whole working of a drypoint. In order to explain the principal differences between these two mediums, I will use an analogy from another art. I have always considered the difference between etching (including all bitten methods) and drypoint as essentially that between the organ and the piano, In organ playing, the sound is controlled solely by the stops, 23 24 ESSENTIALS and no matter how lightly or heavily the musician hits the keys—provided that he puts them down firmly enough to sound at all—the volume remains the same while any given stop is in use. In other words, the “ colour,”’ or “light and shade,” is obtained by the skilful control of a mechanical device. In piano playing, exactly the opposite is the case. Ignoring the addi- tional contrivance of the modern “‘ uni-corda ”’ pedal, the volume of sound is dependent entirely upon the action of the hand upon the keyboard, an increase of volume corresponding to the added force with which the notes are struck, and consequently the piano is personal in “ touch.” It will be seen that in etching, where a blunt instrument is employed to skate over the surface of the plate, removing the covering of the ground but not penetrating the metal below, there can be no emphasis from the action of the hand in drawing. Provided that the touch be firm enough to remove all the wax, so that the acid may reach the metal at all, the strength of line and “ colour ” is controlled entirely by the mordant, and contrast in depth depends upon the length of time that some parts are permitted to bite in relation to other parts. This is controlled as a rule by “stopping-out ” those parts which have been sufficiently bitten, by covering them with an acid-proof varnish ; then continuing the biting of the unprotected parts and so on to the last and heaviest bitings of all. In etching, therefore, there can be no “ touch.” On the other hand, in drypoint the strength of the line depends entirely upon the force with which the point is driven into the metal, so that the “touch ” is infinitely more variable than in any acid-controlled process. It is consequently more personal—more autographic—in every way except in the matter of direction. Although the student will eventually find it necessary to possess a number of tools and materials other than those above mentioned if he is to do anything but the most elementary work—I mean technically elementary, as artistically first-rate etchings can be, and have been, pro- duced with those only—yet the fewer with which he can manage the greater the control which he will gain over those few, and consequently the more expressive the work produced by their means. In oil painting, the man who keeps fifty colours in his outfit will always be more worried, when selecting any for a given passage, than the man who has only six and knows, from constant practice, the capabilities of those six. Not needing to think about the colours themselves, he can concentrate all his energies on expressing what he sees in terms of his limited range. So many tools have been invented by different practicians (and by firms catering for them) in recent years, that the beginner is very apt to be confused when confronted with the etching-dealer’s catalogue; and by far the wisest plan is to procure those which are indispensable ; make the best possible use of them, and gradually supplement this outfit as real need arises, ESSENTIALS 25 In the following chapters I intend to take these materials and their preparation and use individually, and though I may express a preference for one tool, or method, where several are given, it will only be after setting forth the reason for so doing as logically as possible; and the reader who is of a sceptical nature—and the best students usually are, I think—had better try them all and choose for himself. What suits one may not suit another, and the more cautious and methodical may prefer (for instance) a slow-biting but safer acid; while the student to whom patience only comes with effort will get on more happily with a mordant of rapid, though more dangerous, action. I shall try to set down those ways of working which have descended to us from an honoured past, as they may be preferred to my own by some (that is, in those instances where the two are at variance) ; but in general the art has altered very little in practice, in spite of modern ingenuity, since the time of Rembrandt. We use a steel press where he relied upon a wooden one, but the principle is the same and the one is merely a little truer than the other ; and nothing that has been produced since his day has been in any way technically superior to the work of that great Dutchman. CHAPTER III THE PLATE Or the two metals used most extensively to-day, copper and zinc, copper is the more expensive, but also the tougher and more capable of yielding both finer results and larger editions of good proofs. Old v. Modern.—In the old days—indeed, the practice is probably still carried on here and there—plates were hammered by hand until their texture became extremely dense and fine, and free from open seams. The cost of labour at the present time makes such a practice prohibitive, and most, if not all, modern etchers use machine-rolled copper, which, though much softer in texture, is generally very equal in consistency throughout. Chemists tell us, however, that the purer a metal is—the freer it is from impurities—the less is it attacked by an acid; and the old copper plates probably held a larger proportion of alloys, and in consequence may have been bitten more readily. But, after all, modern commercial copper is not so pure that it will cause any great anxiety on that account ! The plates are quite good if free from seams, which are, of course, readily detected if on the surface; but unfortunately they occasionally appear after work has been begun, when the original face of the copper is scraped in order to make an alteration. This means that the seam was closed at its edges by the pressure of the machine rollers, but not filled up under- neath. This need not worry the beginner as it is not of common occurrence, but it is well to scrutinize the surface carefully before buying. The most marked difference between these commercial plates and the old hand-beaten ones will be found in the use of drypoint. Though very much easier to cut into, the new plates (principally manufactured for photogravure and similar processes) will not stand nearly so large an edition in the printing. Some time ago a friend gave me a parcel of old engraved plates which I had resurfaced. Upon one of these I did a drypoint head, and not only was it far more laborious to cut into, but I found the steel tool very quickly blunted, and not wishing to keep on stopping in order to sharpen it, a good deal of the work was executed with too blunt an instrument. How to Buy.—The most economical way to buy plates is in whole sheets as they are sent out by the manufacturers, and to have these cut up into sizes most suitable for the purpose of the individual buyer ; always taking into consideration the outside measurements of the sheet in order to fit the aggregate length of the plates into the whole without wasting strips at the end, which, while too narrow to be of practical use, yet when 26 THE PLATE 27 running across the whole width may mean an appreciable weight of metal to be paid for. Thickness.—As copper and zinc are always sold by weight, it is well to avoid sheets of too great thickness. The most serviceable for medium- sized plates is 18 gauge. The sheets are standardized : the usual measure- ments about 25 x 20 inches. For small plates 19 gauge is quite thick enough, but not readily obtainable ; but very thin copper is sometimes a nuisance, as it is apt to curl up in the press, and though easily flattened by passing through longways or even upside down, this wastes time and puts one out. A curved plate is naturally difficult to wipe in printing. On the other hand, too thick a plate is liable to cause the paper to part (if at all brittle) at the plate-mark. I once had one of Andrew Geddes’s plates (a copy of a Rembrandt head) to print, which was so extraordinarily thick—obviously home-made, unlike others of his which I have handled—that there was the greatest difficulty in preventing any paper other than Japanese from bursting. There was no cutting : the edges of the plate, which only measured 3 x 24 inches, were quite round and smooth ; but the depth was so great that the down- ward drive of the blankets simply pulled the fibre apart at the plate-mark. Japanese paper, having a longer fibre than European, and more elasticity in consequence, did not suffer. This is quite exceptional, but worth noting. Edges.—There is no need to bother about the edges of a plate until the work has been bitten, or rather until the plate is ready to be proved for the first time ; because, while the acid is being used the edges are certain to be attacked more or less—even if protected by varnish to begin with, the manipulation of the copper is bound to remove it in places—and the filing will have to be done over again. The smoothing of edges is not merely for the sake of the appearance of the proof, but a matter of vital importance to the safety of both paper and blankets. A cut etching is at worst only one print spoiled ;- but a cut blanket is a much more serious matter, as it is impossible to mend. A sharp plate-edge, under heavy pressure, will go right through the whole set of blankets, which means the placing of the lot permanently out of action. Another reason for deferring the filing of the edges is that the plate may be spoiled in the drawing or biting, and not worth proving at all ! Some middlemen dealers sell carefully bevelled plates and charge an exorbitant price for the extra labour involved—I have known consider- ably more than double the market rate of copper asked—and to purchase these is sheer waste of money, as a good file about 8 inches in length will soon do all the bevelling and smoothing necessary after the work is com- pleted. It often happens that a plate is cut a little out of the square ; or, for the sake of composition, it may be better to remove } inch or so on one side or the other : in both cases the file, or possibly more than one —a coarser for cutting and a finer for smoothing—is essential, unless one is to trot round to the plate-cutter quite frequently. 28 THE PLATE For serious filing, such as the latter possibility entails, it is best to clamp the plate to a firm table—I use the iron travelling-bed of the press—for which purpose a small screw-vice is very handy. Care must be taken to pad the vice jaws to avoid scratching the surface, and an excellent pre- ventive is an old, useless plate placed over the one to be worked on, with a sheet of blotting-paper between them, and then screwed down as firmly as possible (Fig. 1). Before beginning rule a fairly deep line with a cutting point where the new edge is to be; otherwise it will be difficult to judge how far the work has gone, and whether it is being removed equally along the whole edge. If much is to be taken off, begin by filing at a very acute angle, i.e. making a very broad bevel; then turn the plate over, being careful to place a pad of soft paper beneath it, and work in the same way at the back. Push the file away from the body, using its edge almost as if it were a knife. This will shave off the thin bevel remarkably quickly and at the same time will prevent the edge curling downwards as it will if filed only on one side. In order to finish, the plate must be reversed once more, and this alternate bevelling, first on one side and then on the other, may be necessary more than once if the strip to be removed is broad. Cutting up Sheets.—But where a large portion is to be cut away, filing would be much too tedious a process. In up-to-date workshops a steel guillotine is now used for cutting up all plates. It is a most useful and time-saving instrument, but naturally far too costly for the average etcher to indulge in, as well as taking up a lot of space. To cut a plate in the absence of a guillotine by far the best plan is to make as deep a groove as possible with a steel point and ruler, and then to work up this line several times with the graver or burin. In order to prevent slipping, I find the method of clamping a second plate over the one to be cut, as above described, an excellent one. I place it about + inch from the line, so that the shoulder of the graver just touches its edge, which acts as a ruler. If there is a slip it also prevents damage to the new plate. There is no need to cut completely through the copper, as after working three or four times along the line a sharp jerk or two will snap what is still unsevered. A plate cut in this manner needs very little filing: far less than one cut in the more usual way with chisel and hammer, which leaves an extremely ragged edge. After filing or cutting a worked-on plate it is very necessary to make sure that no metal filings remain in the lines. It is easy to sweep them off the surface, but a brush may be required to free the lines, and for this Fig. 1. THE PLATE 29 purpose a stiff shaving brush—the cheapest kind is better because stiffer than a badger—answers admirably. On no account must they be allowed to get on to any of the rags in use for cleaning or printing, or horrible scratches will result and the work be ruined. Zine.—For open, free-line etchings and for aquatint, zinc is quite as good as copper. Some of Haden’s best plates were of zinc, as he excelled in simple, straightforward, vigorously-bitten effects—indeed he has left it on record that he thought zinc more suited to the needs of an artist— but the student will be well advised not to change from one to the other at the beginning, as the acid—nitric particularly—acts rather differently upon the two metals. Difference in Biting.—Supposing that two plates, one copper and the other zinc, were drawn upon in the same manner, the design including a closely worked passage of cross-hatching together with parts where the lines were widely separated from each other ; and that these plates were bitten in the same way (allowing a weaker acid for zinc) : would the results be identical ? Leaving aside the coarseness of grain belonging to the softer metal, one would be inclined to answer, Yes. But they would not, for the following reason : On the copper the tendency would be for the close-worked passages to become more strongly accentuated than the open lines ; while on the zine all the lines would be found to bite equally. This means that an etcher accustomed to the action of acid (I am referring principally to nitric throughout) on copper would take for granted that where a larger proportion of metal was exposed the attack would be correspondingly vigorous ; and, allowing for the same peculiarity in biting his zinc, would be disappointed at the flatness of the result. In other words, the acid emphasizes the light and shade of the drawing, biting more rapidly where the lines are massed more closely on the one metal; but, on the other, pays no attention to the amount of metal exposed, biting the lines literally as they are drawn. Consequently there is need for more careful stopping-out upon zinc if the relative light and shade is to be obtained. Drawbacks of Zinc.—For very fine, close work, zinc is certainly inferior, being softer and coarser in grain, and more liable to “ foul-bite,” 1.e. for the mordant to find its way through the protecting “ ground ”’ where no lines have been drawn. I fancy this is because the nature of the metal makes it more difficult for the wax to grip, there being a certain “ greasi- ness ’—absent from copper—which makes very thorough cleaning imperative. Naturally its softness inclines it to be less suitable than copper for dry- point, and in any process the metal will wear more rapidly during printing. Zinc is also far more easily attacked by anything it may come in contact with when put away ; either by impurities—such as chlorine—in the paper it may be wrapped in, or in the atmosphere ; and the only safeguard is to cover the surface with wax. A fine aquatint plate may be ruined in a 30 THE PLATE very short time if wrapped up in a chemically-bleached white paper, or left exposed to the air. ** Steeling.’’—Though copper can be “‘steeled,” it is generally under- stood that zinc cannot ; but it is quite possible to “copper” it. I have made sufficient enquiries to be certain that the process of steel-facing zinc is not commonly known in this country.1_ Probably there is no commercial advantage (and, therefore, no incentive) in the proposition. Be this as it may, on page 73 of Lalanne’s ‘‘ On Etching ”’ (1880) Mr. Koehler gives the following footnote : “ Zinc plates can be steel-faced, but the facing cannot be renewed, as it cannot be removed.2 The zinc plate on which Mr. Lansil’s little etching . . . is executed, was steel-faced. It is feasible also, the electrotypers tell me, to deposit a thin coating of copper on the zinc first, and then to superimpose a coating of steel. In that case the steel facing can be renewed as long as the copper facing under it remains intact.”’ Surfacing.—Although plates are sold ready polished, it is necessary to know how to do the necessary work for oneself, as in any case the process will be required by everyone for making partial alterations later on. ** Snakestone.’’—This is first of all employed to wear away the whole surface, and in order to do this evenly a sufficiently wide and heavy piece must be used; say about the size of the ordinary Washita oil-stone, or 14 inches in width, which is not too cumbersome for the hand. The best stone I know is called “‘ Water-of-Ayr” and can be bought ; in a number of gradated sizes from +} inch up- wards (Fig. 2). It is used with water, and care should be taken to push the stone with as steady a driving motion as possible, and to avoid jerks. To grind down an old plate which is covered with fairly deep lines takes a lot of energy and time, but sometimes, when one is in great need of a plate, and cannot get one except by writing (entailing several days’ wait), it may be worth doing. Charcoal.—After the surface has been planed quite free from lines and scratches, charcoal is used to remove the roughness left by the stone (Fig. 3). Here again a broad piece is necessary | for work upon a large area, and the sticks are sold in all sizes and of several degrees of tough- ness and cutting power. In the “History and Art of Engraving,” 4th edition (1770), page 53, the unknown writer * Mr. W. C. Kimber tells me that he undertakes to “ steel ” zinc. , * ie. presumably an acid which will attack steel more quickly than zinc is not nown. PR ERE Fic. 2. Fic. 3.—Charcoal planing. THE PLATE 31 advises the following treatment of charcoal for finishing-work after the use of, first, a piece of grinding-stone and water ; second, pumice- stone and water; and third, a smooth hone! and water: ‘*‘ Then choose out a smooth charcoal, without any knots, or rough Grain, and put it in a well kindled fire: let it be there till you perceive it red-hot; then take it out and quench it in water . . . pare off the outermost Rind and rub your plate with it and Water till all the small strokes of the hone are rubbed out.”’ The author hints, later, that charcoal, so treated, cuts better; but I have never tried it, nor have I heard of anyone else doing so. Willow is the most commonly used wood, and it is best to keep a coarse- grained piece for beginning, and a finer grained piece for finishing. Some use oil with the charcoal in final polishing. If this is done, the stick so used must be reserved for use with oil, as it will refuse to work with water afterwards. Oil kills the bite of the coal very largely, and personally I rarely use them together. Oils.—The best oils for this work are olive and sperm, but ordinary machine-oil is quite satisfactory. It is not absolutely necessary to use any lubricant with charcoal, and when dry it tends to cut less and polish more, One should be careful to remove any pieces of rough bark before using, as this is extremely hard and will scratch the surface badly, making matters worse instead of better. The angles of the end should then be rounded with a knife, or by rubbing against a rough surface, and felt with the hand to see that no sharp points remain jutting out. The stick should be cut to a bevel as in Fig. 3, and should be pushed with the heel of the hand in the same way as the snakestone; always carrying the stroke through as in planing wood, and removing the pressure before stopping and drawing back. Charcoal is not usually sufficiently fine to put a really good surface on the metal. If after the use of snakestone the plate were inked and cleaned off, the resultant proof would have a fairly heavy scratchy tone, held by the roughness of the surface. This tone after the action of charcoal on the plate would appear considerably lessened, but stilltoo heavy and unequal, unequal, so that something smoother must be employed to finish the work. Powder Polishes.—There are many polishing powders which can be used for this purpose, together with water or oil, and the choice may be left to personal preference with as much likelihood of each etcher selecting the best, as in the matter of choosing a tooth-paste. Amongst these are pumice, crocus, putty, emery, slate and rotten-stone powders ; rouge, Tripoli or a paste made by crushing charcoal and mixing it with oil or vaseline. Oil-rubber.—All are applied, in the time-honoured fashion, by means of what is termed an “ oil-rubber ” (Fig. 4). This is easily made by tightly rolling a piece of blanket, felt or “fronting ”’ (the finest printing blanket) 1 It is not clear what kind of hone he refers to. 32 THE PLATE and binding round and round with twine. The surplus material is then cut off, smoothly, just above the place where the string stops, and the tool (having been saturated with oil) held vertically—i.e. at right angles to the plate—and the flat end employed to rub with. It may, of course, be made of any diameter required. Solid felt pads attached to wooden handles are also sold by the etcher’s dealer, but are only serviceable for polishing a large area ; neither has the flat felt the grip possessed by the coiled material. In using either pad or oil-rubber the surface should be carefully examined in order to detect any grit which may be clinging to it, and which would play havoc with g the plate. Fic. 4.—Oil-rubber Plate Polishes.—Although, when I began to practise for polishing. etching, I fashioned one of these implements, I soon abandoned it, and all the dry powders, for the modern plate-polish which is easily obtainable wherever one happens to be, is already ground and mixed, and has several other advantages which will be mentioned later on. Probably the best of these was pre-war “‘ Globe Polish,” which was a paste put up in round tins of convenient size ; but this went the way of many good things during the war, being, I believe, of German manu- facture. “‘ Brasso’”’ is my present polish; but there are many probably equally good spirit polishes based on some such powder as pumice. By folding up a piece of soft rag into a pad an excellent surface can be procured with the polish and a little elbow-grease. The student should experiment with various polishes and choose that which he finds answers his requirements ; but discretion 1s needed, because some liquids sold have too drastic an action (containing possibly a per- centage of some free acid) and are too dangerous for use upon an etched plate. It is of the least importance how a surface polish is obtained, so long as it can be obtained at will and is suitable for printing from. Burnishing.—Some etchers advocate burnishing the plate all over with the steel tool (described later) before the final polishing. This is a difficult proceeding if the usual small burnisher is used, as the work is apt to be irregular ; but it tends to harden the surface and get rid of fine scratches left by the charcoal. It is not ordinarily necessary. After these three processes—(a) ‘‘ Water of Ayr” stone, (b) willow charcoal, with either water or water followed by oil, (c) oil-rubber and powder or plate-polish—the plate should show a perfectly equal shining surface, and should act as a perfect mirror. If one’s reflection is distorted, it means that the grinding has been done unequally and the surface 1S Wavy. Re-surfacing.— This waviness occurs in plates which have been ground down inexpertly on a buffing-machine. This machine is employed in ordinary metal-workers’ shops for making name-plates and in similar THE PLATE 33 commercial jobs, and these firms will sometimes undertake to re-surface old plates. I had an experience of such a firm soon after the war which may serve as a warning to the unwary. I was informed that this firm used to do such work at a moderate charge, and taking a batch of old plates I asked the man in the shop what it would cost to have the backs replaned, as they were in fair condition and would entail less labour than the removing of etched lines. He could give no figure, but estimated that it would not be very expensive ; so I left them with the proviso that the work should not be undertaken if it were likely to cost as much as new copper. Imagine my feelings when the plates were returned with such wavy surfaces (to say nothing of pits) that they were practically useless, plus a bill for about thrice the value of new ones ! When I went to complain, the man who had taken my order had left, and no one in the workshop had any record of my instructions. The original surfaces had been planed—not the backs—and the British work- man’s time had amounted to my modest bill ! With the present cost of labour, therefore, it is not usually worth while having plates re-surfaced in Great Britain, as it used to be before the war —at any rate, by the non-expert. Selling Old Plates.—Old plates which are not wanted can be sold as “old copper ”’ to any metal dealer, and the price, though relatively small, is better than nothing (about 6d. per Ib.). Cleaning.—Having either bought or prepared a plate for himself, the student next has to clean it thoroughly if it is to be etched upon. This is by no means the religious rite which several textbooks tend to make of it. In fact, one might say that most treatises are enough to put any but the most determined students out of conceit with the idea of beginning at all, by over-emphasizing the need for spotless purity in the etcher’s abode—that a speck of dust or a touch from a greasy finger means ruin to the work—and so on! It is all nonsense; and no artist who ever etched could live up to it. Anything which will remove grease from the plate’s surface without otherwise injuring it will do to clean with. My usual practice is to rub it first with a clean rag and turpentine ; and while the rag is moist to pass it over a large lump of whitening and rub the plate with the resulting paste. In a few moments this will become darkened and slightly greenish from its passage over the metal. The pad is then turned to present a clean dry face ; again rubbed on the whitening and then on the plate. I turn the rag as many times as is necessary until the plate is dry and free from the powder. One should remember to dust the edges, which being rough are inclined to hold the whitening, and also the back, as it is important to prevent any powder jumping up on to the surface again while the ground is being laid. Methylated spirits, alcohol, benzoline, benzine, petrol or any other volatile liquid of that nature will answer, and 34 THE PLATE are all less greasy than turpentine, but for use with whitening tend to evaporate rather too quickly. A very good cleaning mixture which I found in use by the students at the Royal College, under Sir Frank Short, is whitening mixed with ammonia. This was kept in saucers, and after the plate had been rubbed with the mixture it was washed under the tap at the sink. It could be dried by means of a clean rag, blotting-paper or heating. But this use of water is a disadvantage, as it needs careful and rapid drying to avoid tarnish. The surface once clean should not be fingered before the ground is laid. Tarnish.—A polished plate which has been left exposed or has been wrapped in a chemically bleached paper will often be very badly tarnished. This can easily be removed with plate-polish ; but ifa bitten plate becomes darkened it is easier, and much safer, to remove the stains with the aid of a little household salt (sodium chloride) in acetic acid, or, failing that, vinegar. These are mixed just before use or even upon the plate (see Chapter VI). This removes any tarnish immediately, but should not be allowed to remain longer on a worked plate than necessary. This stain remover is particularly valuable in the case of a drypoint which must not be rubbed. Wash under the tap before drying. CHAPTER IV GROUNDS AND “ GROUNDING’”’ THE PLATE THERE are many grounds in use, but most of them rely upon the same ingredients in varying proportions. A good ground must have the follow- ing properties :— (a) It must be impervious to acid. (0) It must be sufficiently hard to allow of being freely handled and to prevent adhesion to the needle as the drawing proceeds. When removed by the point it should be possible to blow it away in the form of dust. (c) It must be elastic enough to permit the needle to move freely in any direction without chipping or “ flying,” especially where the lines are drawn closely together and cross-hatched. In very cold weather the best ground is liable to become brittle, unless specially prepared for such conditions. A combination of wax, pitch or mastic and asphaltum meets all the above requirements. The following are some of the recipes which have come down to us: Seventeenth Century.—The following is from the 8rd edition of Abraham Bosse’s ‘“‘ De la Maniére de Graver a |’eau forte,’”’ which contains much added by Cochin of great interest to the student. Bosse’s 1st edition was issued in Paris in 1645 and was probably the first book on the subject, as he claims. He had evidently known, or been in touch with, Callot, who had been dead ten years. Callot’s hard ground : Equal parts of huile grasse, made from the best linseed oil, and mastic, heated until mixed and melted. This was used with the mordant which will be given later (see Chapter VI). Both ground and mordant have been completely superseded by the soft grounds and stronger acids. The soft ground is our ordinary ground and must not be confused with ground mixed with tallow for “ soft-ground etching,” the Vernis mou of modern etching. There is also a soft ground given as “ from a Callot manuscript ”’ which is an unnecessarily complicated mixture containing seven ingredients ! This indicates, however, that Callot also worked with the stronger mordant. The hard ground is of interest because it shows that the men who employed it thought of etching merely as a quicker means of imitating the strokes of the burin. 1 See Chapter XIX, p. 172. The 2nd edition was edited by Le Clerc in 1701 and the 3rd enlarged in 1745. 35 36 GROUNDS AND ‘“ GROUNDING” THE PLATE The soft grounds in this book are numerous :— (1) Virginwax . : : é , . 14 ozs. Mastic (in drops) : : : woe hye Asphaltum . $02. (2) Virgin wax ; ee leOZe Asphaltum, or Greek pitch 5 AYA, Black pitch. ; . $02. Burgundy pitch - 4 02. (3) Virginwax . ; . 25 028. Asphaltum : : . - 2 028. Resin. . : , . $02. Burgundy pitch ; : : 3 ozs. Turpentine. : “un sol”’ _(halfpenny worth ?) (4) Virginwax . 2 OZs. Asphaltum . 2 ozs. Black pitch. ; . 02. Burgundy pitch . $02. Perhaps the most interesting of allis the ground given as “‘ Rimbrant’s,” which is almost identical with that left on record in England by Hollar, including the white lead and gum-water.t “In this manner Rimbrant varnished his plates ’’ :— Virgin wax ; . : eLEO?: Mastic . : er OZ. Asphaltum, or amber ; , . $02. Pound the mastic and asphaltum in a mortar separately (from the wax). Melt the wax in a pot over the fire and pour in the others little by little, stirring until well mixed. Then pour the whole into water. In laying this ground do not heat the plate too much and do not smoke it. Spread over it when cool extremely finely ground white lead diluted with ‘“ eau gommé.” I do not know what sort of vehicle this last was precisely,? but many gums would answer. I have never seen it stated in any textbook that Rembrandt used this whitened ground, but it was the tradition in those days in France. Hamerton in the 1868 edition of “‘ Etching and Etchers,” mentions this ground, but does not finish the translation by adding the white lead and gum. Yet he calls it a “ white’ ground, which, if it contains asphaltum, it can hardly be, by itself ! 1“ A Description of the Works of Wenceslaus Hollar,”’ by George Vertue, 1759 (2nd ed.), p. 133. Hollar employed a duck’s wing feather for spreading on the ground and squirrel’s tail brush for the white. * For a similar recipe see Note by Frank Brangwyn, p. 345. GROUNDS AND “GROUNDING” THE PLATE 37 A true white ground is given in the “Ars Pictoria,’’ by Alex. Browne, 1669. This is :— Wax : . : ; AN Sy Resin j } : ‘ 2 O78" Venice Cerus E ; : me LOZ: The first two are melted together and the finely ground Cerus added after. Kighteenth Century.—From the “ History and Art of Engraving,” (2) edition (1747); 4th edition (1770). This anonymous book is practi- cally a translation stolen almost word for word from the foregoing without acknowledgment :— Hard ground. Greek pitch or Burgundy pitch . M5 0z8: Rosin of Tyre or Ordinary rosin . . 5 02s. Melt together in a glazed pot over a gentle fire, and when thoroughly mixed add :— Nut oil. : . . 402s. (the original says “ or linseed oil”’). Mix and boil well for half an hour until it will “rope” (when touched with a stick) like thick syrup. After laying, the plate must be heated to harden the ground. From the same :— Soft ground.t Virginwax . : 5 2 O28. Burgundy pitch . $02. Common pitch . $02. Asphaltum : . 2028. The asphaltum is added last as in most recipes, stirring all the time over a fire. Care should be taken not to allow the mixture to boil over, as it may set the house on fire. When mixed thoroughly, pour into water and form into balls with the fingers. Warm water is advisable, as cold changes the temperature too suddenly. Nineteenth Century.—Koehler gives the following in his introduction (p. xv) to Lalanne’s treatise. Peter Moran’s ground. Best natural asphaltum (Egyptian) 2 ozs. Best white virgin wax . . ldozs. Burgundy pitch . , ee LLO7Z. He adds: ‘“‘ Nearly all recipes order the wax to be melted first, but as the asphaltum requires greater heat to reduce it to a fluid condition, it is best to commence with the least tractable substance.”’ Therefore the asphaltum is first melted, the wax added stirring all the time, and then 1 This is Sir Frank Short’s ground, an extra 4 oz. of wax being added (as the book suggests for cold weather), j , | 38 GROUNDS AND ‘“ GROUNDING” THE PLATE the pitch. The mixture should be allowed to boil up two or three times (with care) and then poured into tepid water. Transparent Ground.—From the same book as last (p. 63). This is identical with Hamerton’s! “ white ” ground (see “‘ Etching and Etchers ”’). White wax . : . 5 parts by weight. Gum mastic . 4 Le ee is The procedure is as before : the wax first melted, and then the powdered mastic stirred in gradually. Drawing through a transparent ground is always unsatisfying to an artist because so little result is apparent after the line has been put down ; and cross-hatching where regular strokes have to be laid parallel, and very close to, each other, is particularly irritating. Free work is impossible when one cannot see properly. Not only is it more difficult to see the new lines, but also the old (already bitten) ones, as the light-coloured wax does not cause them to show up nearly so well as does ordinary dark ground, thinly laid. I always use ordinary ground myself for all purposes. When working in the bath, however, the lines show up at once on a trans- parent ground as they begin to bite instantaneously. All vessels employed for mixing and heating should be scrupulously clean ; and for stirring, a glass rod is preferable, but this should be covered at the handle as it soon becomes very hot. IJ have found a damaged clinical thermometer very handy. It is advisable, in order to avoid burning, or cracking the vessel, to use a double saucepan, or to stand the pot in an old tin of water. The great difficulty in making grounds is to obtain the right sort of asphaltum. The best is the true Dead Sea asphaltum, which may be bought from specialist dealers or perhaps from a good chemist. But there is a great number of varieties with different properties, obtained from varlous countries. In two of the recipes are mentioned specifically “Syrian” and “ Egyptian’ asphaltums, and by these probably the Dead Sea variety is meant. Twentieth Century.—The best ground I know of personally is Rhind’s (see Chapter VII), and I can testify to its durability. I once drew on a plate in Benares which I considered of no account, and consequently left knocking about my etching room upon returning to Edinburgh for seven years. At the end of that time I bit it. And though (as was inevitable) there were several bad scratches—it had never been wrapped up for pro- tection—the lines bit perfectly without giving way anywhere. Mr. Joseph Pennell? gives his verdict in favour of an American maker, Weber and Co. (see Chapter VII), but of course the constituents of both these grounds are secrets of the trade. I have made ground in the old days and tried several others, but I have not found any so satisfactory 1 See also McBey’s note (p. 348). 2 « Ktchers and Etching,” p. 205. GROUNDS AND ‘“ GROUNDING” THE PLATE 39 as Rhind’s, though I have no doubt there are others just as good, and probably identical in recipe. White Grounds.—Several white grounds have been invented in the past, and Mr. Hamerton described his method of working on white wax over a silvered plate. Mr. Kimber has advertised a white ground since the war ; but none of these attempts at making etching more positive in process are any great help to an etcher when once he has become accustomed to seeing his lines upon a copper, instead of a white, surface. Laying the Ground.—The old method of grounding a plate, which is still as good! as any, is to heat the copper until the ball of ground will Uy _ esse "MU iM wna "I | UTNE i . rr -————" SS Vie Fic. 5.—Plate upon electric heater: negative plug withdrawn. melt upon being rubbed gently on the margin (Fig. 5). In order to spread it equally over the entire surface as thinly and evenly as possible a ““ dabber ”’ is necessary, which is made as follows: The “ Dabber.’’—A disc of cardboard rather less than 2 inches in dia- meter is cut ;! a bunch of horsehair placed on this, and over all a wad of cotton-wool. A piece of soft kid—a white kid-glove is admirable—being placed over the wadding, the bunched ends are held firmly in the left hand and whipped with string, beginning next the fingers and working towards the card. This gradually strains the leather tighter and tighter over the cotton-wool (which must be worked into shape) so that no folds are left over the front surface of the pad (see Fig. 6). The whole operation should not take more than five minutes, and the result be like a lady’s a powder-puff or a fair-sized mushroom. Fra. 6.—Dabber. Action of Dabbing.—With this the melted wax upon the plate is spread as quickly as possible over the whole surface by a rocking motion and the film gradually equalized by a very staccato, rapid, dabbing action from the wrist. A very little practice will enable the beginner to lay a perfectly work- manlike ground in a few minutes. The usual fault at first is to lay the wax too thickly, which prevents free needlework. 1 See notes by Bauer and several others, Chap. XX VII, 40 GROUNDS AND ‘ GROUNDING” THE PLATE Care must be taken to prevent the plate from becoming too hot. If the ground begins to bubble, the plate must be removed instantly from the heater, and it is easier, in any case, to obtain an even, textureless film as the plate cools. If the wax becomes too “tacky ”’ to be moved easily before the surface is equalized the plate is re-heated. This may be done as often as required, provided the ground is never scorched. After finishing with the dabber the cooling surface will have become dead-looking, and a final heating will still further smooth the ground by re-melting. It should be allowed to remain until the whole surface is shining brilliantly, but no longer, for fear of burning. Scorching.—If scorched—there is no risk of this with ordinary care— the ground will turn dull and will be brittle under the needle. It will Fic. 7.—Roller in special box to prevent contact with leather surface. also be permeable to the acid, and must be cleaned off and the work re-done. Dust.—Too much is generally made of the dangers of dust, but it is hardly necessary to say that the operation should be performed where there is as little as possible. When the skin of the dabber becomes worn, or too hard from the wax penetrating to the wool beneath, it should be removed, a little fresh wadding added (as some will stick to the kid) and a new covering put on. A pair of lady’s discarded long-sleeved gloves will provide sufficient kid for an etcher’s lifetime. The Roller.—A more modern implement for grounding is the roller. Its surface is covered with either leather or rubber ; but rubber is liable to tarnish copper if used on the heated metal and, further, cannot be used with paste-ground, as it is affected by the oil-of-lavender. Paste Ground.—Paste is made by dissolving ordinary ground in spike oil—oil-of-lavender—in the proportion of 1 of ground to 2 of oil. The GROUNDS AND “ GROUNDING” THE PLATE Al paste is first spread upon a second clean plate (or a sheet of glass) and taken up by the roller from this, in order to equalize the paste over its whole surface, and then rolled upon the plate to be grounded. This is done with cold plates, and the oil may be driven off by heating after- wards or left to evaporate—a slow business. I have never had any use for this method personally. Ordinary Ground Rolled.—The roller can be used with ordinary ground —merely taking the place of the dabber—and this is as good a way of grounding as any, provided that the plate is flat ; but when small passages have to be re-grounded for working over old lines, and particularly where the surface has been lowered by scraping, it is useless. Naturally the roller cannot drive the ground into and thoroughly fill the old lines as the dabber can; and I always prefer to use the implement which is equally suitable for all purposes. Those who have given up the dabber as old-fashioned say it is a slow process, but this only means that they are not accustomed to its use. Fig. 7 shows a leather-covered roller in a box contrived to prevent the grounding surface from touching anything when not in use. The cross- bar (a) in the lid clamps down over (6) the socket (into which the handle fits) when the box is shut, and keeps all rigid. Liquid Ground.—Still another method of grounding is by means of the same (ordinary ground) ingredients dissolved in chloroform or ether. This though a little more difficult to lay satisfactorily, makes by far the best ground to work upon. Rhind’s is, again, the best I have tried; but it is expensive, and so volatile that a good deal may be wasted if one is not very quick in its manipulation. The best way is to place the plate—the back must be clean also in this case—in a porcelain tray (such as one requires for the acid bath) resting against the bottom and left side (Fig. 8). Place a second bottle ready with a funnel in its neck, and in this a tuft of cotton-wool to act as a Wl Std b Bag ae D ee Drag Fic, 8.—Coating plate with liquid ground. 42 GROUNDS AND “ GROUNDING” THE PLATE strainer for dust. Then remove the stopper from the ground-bottle ; tilt the tray up with the left hand and pour over the plate sufficient ground to cover the whole surface, always pouring from the top edge and with such force as will ensure the practically simultaneous flooding of the whole area. Immediately pour off the surplus liquid into the second bottle and replace the stopper of the first. The plate should remain tilted until the ground is almost dry in order to drain as much as possible to its edge, and also to prevent dust settling upon it while tacky. Dust is a greater bugbear in laying this ground than in any of the previous methods, as a speck will sometimes divert the stream of liquid down the plate, and as the drying is so rapid there is no remedy. It is for this reason (apart from loss by evaporation) that the ground requires to be flooded over the plate with some force. The great disadvantage of liquids is that they are useless for re-grounding over bitten lines, as these are never properly filled in the sluicing of the surface. There is (or was) a rather slower-drying ground made by Roberson and Co. which could be applied by means of a soft brush, and such a liquid is particularly valuable for making alterations in drawing on a plate. Mr. Pennell told me that he used it out of doors considerably. For many years J have used only the one solid ground and dabber for all purposes, but every etcher will choose for himself, and there can be no one way only for doing any of these things. For making liquid ground Hamerton advises dissolving in ether, letting the solution stand for three weeks, and then decanting the clear upper portion for use. Smoking.—The usual procedure when the plate is grounded and before it becomes quite cold (except in the last case, where no heat is required) is to smoke the surface in order to see the more clearly (when the needle lays bare the copper) against a blacker background. It may tend to strengthen! the ground to a small extent also, but, apart from this, I never could understand why such a troublesome, filthy business should be gone through. Personally I never smoke a plate for my own use, as Rhind’s ground is quite dark enough in itself to enable one to see perfectly. But if the beginner wishes to do it, a bunch of wax tapers should be twisted up together—from three to six—and the plate being held upside-down the lighted torch is passed backwards and forwards with the tip of the flame just touching the ground. It must never remain stationary in any spot, or scorching will result. When I had a class many years ago, in Paris, we used an ordinary oil lamp with the chimney removed. This, theoretically, gives too greasy a smoke, but we found it answer very well; and it is much quicker and cheaper than using tapers. In this case one naturally passes the plate across the flame of the lamp. The students used a lamp also in my class at Edinburgh College of Art. If the surface remains dull after smoking, * Carbon is not attacked by acid, but if the ground is good it should be already perfectly impervious ! GROUNDS AND “ GROUNDING” THE PLATE A3 the plate must be heated (from the back) until the wax absorbs the soot ; but this often occurs during the smoking when a hot lamp is used. The carbon will rub off when the plate is cold if it has not been thoroughly incorporated with the ground, and a shining surface regained. Most etchers employ a hand-vice for holding the plate (Fig. 9), but it is not MTT ara SSAA SNES ( = = A, , oe ermal, Fic. 9.—Hand-vice. necessary if the hand be protected by an old glove or even a rag. I have never owned a vice yet, and never feel the need for one, though I have provided them for students. If one is used, the jaws must be padded with card or paper, otherwise they will leave an ugly mark on the plate, which will print. One can see such marks on some of Whistler’s later etchings—a bad one at the foot of the “‘ Fruit Stall’ of the second Venice set ; but then Whistler, in spite of all that has been written to the contrary, was an extra- ordinarily careless craftsman in his later period, great artist notwithstanding. While cooling, the plate should be stood against a wall or box, face wards, to prevent any dust that may be in the air from settling upon it. Stopping-out Varnishes.—For protecting the back of the plate, before placing it in the acid bath, and also for painting over lines which have been sufficiently bitten, a liquid ground of some sort must be used with a brush, and as the etching ground is far too costly for such a purpose, some other varnish must be found. By far the best I know, and the cheapest, is a straw-hat polish called ‘‘ Tower-brand,” which is made by Messrs. Hall and Dunbar, of Leith; but I have no doubt that there are other makes practically identical, and the bottles are cheap enough to buy for the sake of experiment. It dries almost instantaneously ; is thick enough not to spread up a line by capillary attraction (the danger of too thin a liquid), and is imper- vious to acid. Brunswick black has been suggested and various similar compounds ; but the worst thing I know is the usual stopping-out varnish sold by dealers. It takes too long to dry, and is generally too thick and unmanageable. Transparent Varnish.—For a transparent varnish, white resin dissolved in alcohol is good, but it is very difficult to see what one has stopped out. Shellac and Pigment.—A stopping-out varnish recipe used by the “ half tone”’ process etchers is as follows! :— Shellac : ; : . Aozs. Methylated spirit . : . 8ozs. Methyl-violet dye . d . 2drachms. 1 The “Tower brand” is probably much the same. Shellac, methylated spirit and a black pigment. AA GROUNDS AND “ GROUNDING” THE PLATE (To this is added, if required, linseed oil $ oz. to every pint of varnish. Also, for still slower drying, a little oil of lavender, in addition.) Bitumen.—A more expensive varnish, used by photogravure process etchers, 1s :— Bitumen (asphaltum) . . 1 part. Benzol* ~*. . 5 parts. Shellac.—For backing plates the “ half tone ” etchers use :— Methylated spirit and shellac . . equal parts. These last varnishes are generally used for resisting perchloride of iron. A similar commercial recipe is as follows :— Mastic . 2 parts. Shellac : : LO ae Turpentine . : ; ; ys ae Spirits of wine. OUR An Early Recipe.—From the previously mentioned “‘ History and Art of Engraving,” one finds out what the old etchers had to use :— Tallow . $b. Olive oil . 1 wineglass. Lamp-black . : . 1 spoonful. Stir together over a fire until well incorporated with each other. Boil ten or twelve minutes. I should not advise this ! But if one can buy a bottle of hat-polish, which answers perfectly, there is no need to bother about such mixtures, and I doubt whether this last would resist a strong nitric bath, probably being used with the much milder mordants in vogue at that time. Hamerton’s.—In “‘ Etching and Etchers,’’ Hamerton suggests the fol- lowing as the “ most perfect stopping-out varnish yet invented ”’ (1876) :-— A saturated solution of white-wax in ether. When the clear liquid remaining after the wax has settled has been decanted, one-sixth of its volume of Japan varnish is added, and well mixed. This sounds very good, but then we are not told the constituents of the Japan varnish or its consistency ; and this varnish varies considerably. CHAPTER V POINTS, SCRAPERS, BURNISHERS AND GRAVERS THE kind of needle a student should use is entirely a matter of his own choice. If he wishes to etch huge plates like Piranesi or Brangwyn, he will naturally select a somewhat larger instrument than were he endeavour- ing to copy an early head by Rembrandt ! There can be no law laid down on the subject : what suits one master is anathema to another. Probably the oldest form of point, and one frequently used by several great moderns, is made by taking an unbending steel needle and jamming it into a wood holder—the handle of a pen or small brush—leaving 4 inch to 2 inch projecting. Sealing-wax is then melted over the end of the holder and formed by the fingers into a smooth cone half-way up the Fic. 10.—Needle in wood handle. Fie. 11.—Kchoppe. needle (Fig. 10). The earliest etchers largely used the échoppe (Fig. 11), the shape of the point (cut at a bevel) enabling them to make a line which swelled and tapered, thus imitating that of the burin. Another form is the all-steel point preferred—possibly invented—by Whistler, which can _ be -— bought nowadays at any SSL al mee r wae dealer (Fig. 12). Ele Tete Re Fig. 13 is a similar tool with a rectangular hand-grip, and one end rounded in order to act as a small burnisher. A more serviceable weapon than either (to my mind) is Fig. 14, which watchmakers and jewellers use. The great advantage of such a point is that it can be readily sharp- ened, as the shank is of equal dia- meter along its entire length ; whereas Figs. 12 and 13 soon lose their acute angle when sharpened (unless the . grindstone is used to wear away the whole es hohe tle shank) and become like Fig. 15. This Fa. 15.—Blunted point. happens still more rapidly when the draw- ing is done in the acid, which soon bites away the steel ; and a very obtuse- angled needle means a very broad line, unless the point is kept too sharp 45 Si =~ me NN NN SNUNEVAR ASTIN SANG Bay CY Fic. 13.—Point combined with burnisher. type for etching. 46 POINTS, SCRAPERS, BURNISHERS AND GRAVERS for perfect freedom. With a tool shaped such as Fig. 14, this broadening, as the point is pushed back, cannot take place at all. Fig. 16 is another easily obtained tool used by en- gineers, and is sold with a Fia. 16. sheath. The form of point which I prefer personally, especially for carrying in the pocket, is another engineers’ tool made by the L. 8. Starrett Co., Athol, Mass., U.S.A. The same kind of instrument is annie made by various other firms in many - ; countries (Fig. 17). It consists ri i i of a screw holder and loose steel Fia. 17. —A ean? Fite or cara point which is reversible when needle. not in use. As sold, the point is too long for drawing, but I succeeded in inducing Mr. Kimber to have shorter ones made, which he sells separately. The grip is excellent for drypoint. Several etchers utilize gramophone needles.? Whether broad or fine, an etching needle should be blunt and perfectly round, so that the hand may move in any direction without the point catching in the metal. After sharpening to the required size on a stone, the best way to ensure a smooth, rounded point is to take hold of the needle some way up the shank and describe circles with it upon some rough surface such as the slightly corrugated iron travelling-bed of the press, making the circum- ferences of the circles as wide as possible at first and gradually lessening them (by raising the hand) until the needle is nearly vertical and the circles very small. This wears off the irregular facets of the sharpened steel, and any degree of bluntness can be obtained without angularity. Drypoints.—There is no need to keep a special type of tool for drypoint, as Hig. 17 is quite a perfect weapon for this purpose and various points may be fitted to the same holder. Several heavier and (I think) clumsier instruments are sold by dealers, however, such as the so-called “‘ Haden ” drypoint (Fig. 18), which, as _ usually made, has no grip and is terrible to sharpen because of its enormous thickness. It can, of course, be whipped with twine to afford better hold for the fingers; but why waste time supplying deficiencies which would not exist if the maker had exercised care ¢ The “ Whistler’ needle makes an excellent drypoint. The dry- point must be whetted to a cutting point, either round or flat ; but with the latter great care must be taken to hold the needle so that the edge is in line with the direction of the desired stroke, otherwise it will slide off at another angle, or else plough a broad shallow furrow. The late William Strang invented a hooked point which he pulled 1 See notes by McBey and Percy Smith, pp. 348 and 354. Fic. 18.—So-called “‘ Haden.” A clumsy type Phair POINTS, SCRAPERS, BURNISHERS AND GRAVERS 47 instead of pushing like the graver, but the preference for such a weapon is very much a personal matter. Jewel Points.—A very useful tool is the diamond or ruby point. Although the jewels are but small they are naturally expensive, but with care will last a lifetime. They are sold let into steel sockets which can be mounted as the buyer wishes, either in wooden or metal handles. I use a modification of the tool (Fig. 17), which cannot be bought (so far as I know), but is . 4 . easily made (Fig. 19). A ) i) ey | es a= J, f = z, ANI NAM OTM beer, as Fic. 38.—‘‘ Wheel and spindle”’ Press. 18-inch roller. CHAPTER XI ADDITIONAL WORK—MISTAKES AND THEIR REMEDY I am now going to ask the student to refer once more to trial proofs of my own from a definite plate, and to follow their evolution from the first state to that of the published etching, some five prints in all. This plate, like all the preceding, was of copper, and the work executed from a pen drawing upon a dabbed ground, bitten in with the usual half- and-half nitric bath, and, though representing a well-known piece of architecture, was not reversed. There is not a stroke of drypoint, except in the first three proofs, and then only the accidental marks where an alteration was made before biting (Plate 10). These are a few vertical lines at the top of the main buttress to the right (to left of the heavier patch of bitten ones). In the originals these lines appear much warmer in colour than the surrounding etched work, as they are very shallow, being drawn with a blunt point (see close of last chapter). The absence of these strokes in Plates 13 and 14 is quite visible in the reproductions. The little ink held by these strokes is largely due to the “ burr,’ which would wear off in the course of a few proofs ; but the treatment for such unwanted lines is burnishing. If this is not sufficient the passage must be scraped and then burnished, or charcoaled if there is no danger of greying surrounding parts by unavoidable overlapping. A few such marks will always need removal unless the draughtsman never makes a mistake ! Irregular Pressure in Drawing.—A really bad blunder which had to be repaired was the weakness of biting in the line of trees in the distance. When the plate was in the bath for the first time, it was noticeable that this passage had not been drawn firmly enough, or had become clogged by sweat from the hand (probably the former, as acetic was used), and in consequence was only beginning to be attacked long after the rest and very irregularly at that. The only thing to do was to remove the plate and stop-out the whole of that part, leaving till the next grounding its re-drawing and biting. Another passage which failed badly was the water. To the left, the reflections (Plate 10) are too jumpy and “ all-overish,” while the vertical lines of that of the tree under the bridge are taking away from the effect of flatness which the water should possess. Re-grounding.—The plate was therefore re-grounded with the dabber (Chapter IV), but in cleaning the surface no whitening was used because it would be likely to remain in the lines and so cause foul-biting. In this case only that part which included the arch and distance was covered, i.e. from an inch or so to the left of the arch to the right edge (of the proof). 99 ‘SONVESIG NGLLIA-UTANA FHL ATUVINOILUVA ALON ‘AOOUd ISULA AHL SMOHS SIH, "AGUWAU UHL Y SHMVISIN ONILVULSOTIL OT 248d ‘10UInY WL “AVG VUVINVOTY AHI, “el xX es “bueyoy he ees Osi pale 100 “EELXES “buryouyT ‘CHNAGIM HOUV FHL 40 AGIs (MOGVHS) -4HQNN DHL -— ‘NALA NMVUC-Ta NEGA BAVH “ACUNAY WAHL Y SHMVISIN ONILVULSATII TT 481d SAUL INVLISIGd FUa_ “oyNY oC ‘aNaIug VUVINVOTY 4HL 101 E $8LXis Buryorg ‘NMVUC-94 GD NAO GHNVId AIGUILNG NAGA MON SVH UALVA FHI, AGUWAU WIGHL 9 SHUMVLSIN ONILVYLSA TILT oT 94*%Id ‘I0YNY OL “ANGIUg VUVENVOTY AL Beet Sa ae 2 ‘bis tis pate cement econ 102 ‘CHAOWHA GNAOUNTUOA FHL NI ANOL GHL OSTy { SHMOULS 1907700 HIM NMVUC SNOILOGMGY G NMOG GANVId NAGE NIVOV TAVH UALVM HHL NI SANTI AHL, “AGCHUNAY WIAHL Y SHMVISIN ONILVULSOATII ST 94%Id *SeLXig -suryory ‘IOyNY MYL “ANdlug VUVINVOTY FHL © 103 ‘HLVId HHL AO Luvd UAddA AHL NI AWIL ANV LV AGVW GDAUAM SNOILVUALIV *XUOLOVASILVSNO DNIVA SNOILOWIAAU TVOILUAA AHL ‘GANNVHO AIALAIGKOO NEAT ‘AWIL GUIHL AHL UOd ‘SVH UALVAM AHL ALVIS IVNIA SIHL NT ‘ACUWNAY WAHL Y SHMVISIN ONILVULSO TIT bT 24%Id ON : SLON ‘IOYNYV 8, “Avyidugd VAVINVOLTY FHT EST Xy °6u2yory = igor iittala EAN AAALAC LL OSSIAN AAD 104 MISTAKES AND THEIR REMEDY 105 Except in the case of a small isolated spot in the centre of a plate where a few drops of acid are sufficient to bite—these can be absorbed by blotting- paper—some portion of the edge of the plate should always be included in re-grounding. This is to allow the acid to be poured off without passing over an unprotected area. The plate is placed upon the heater and some ground melted on that part where the deepest lines are (in this instance running the ball up and down the arch), and in order to make sure that these are filled I rock the dabber vigorously sideways before equalizing by dabbing. I generally hasten the cooling by placing the copper upon the iron bed of the press, and when practically cold it can be drawn upon. Even the most delicate lines of previous biting can be seen through the black ground if laid on thinly. Having re-drawn the trees in the distance, I added lines to widen the arch on the inside, cross-hatching in order to join the new edge to the old work. These additions were now bitten by pouring on the nitric. The reflections of the distant trees having been sufficiently bitten, the mordant was allowed to flow off those lines. A little later, the trees themselves having become strong enough, the plate was again tilted to cause the liquid to collect only round the arch and large tree, the wall beneath which was also re-worked. When these were ready the ground was removed and the proof (Plate 11) pulled, showing the alterations so far carried out. These being satisfactory, the next thing to do was to cut out completely the whole passage of the river: drastic but necessary. Planing-out.—A broad piece of ‘‘ Water-of-Ayr ”’ stone accomplished this with some labour, and the surface regained by the aid of charcoal and polish (Chapter III). After that the ground was laid over the lower half of the plate only, and the reflections re-drawn and bitten in the same way as before ; some new work being added to the bank in the foreground and some foul-biting helped and encouraged a little to left of the signature. The result of the last was a tone over the foreground which did not har- monize with the existing lines (Plate 12), and, although I thought at first that the water was more satisfactory, after a while I determined to try the effect of vertical lines for the reflections. Re-planing.—Once more the surface had to be planed away. This was accordingly done, and the reflections drawn and bitten in the same way as before. When the proof was seen it was disappointing and at once condemned (Plate 13). The only improvement was the passage of foreground which was simpler and better, having a few strong lines instead of many weak ones. Once more an interim of snakestone, charcoal and polishes—and by now I was rather tired of grinding—and the river was again blank. This time there was no need to remove the lines of the bank, as those had been “ passed.” At last the reflections were more happily drawn and bitten and appeared as in the final state (Plate 14). Between this and Plate 13 there were, however, two intermediate states, but the additions were too slight to be 106 MISTAKES AND THEIR REMEDY noticeable in a reproduction, and in any case would add nothing to the points already made. It is worth noting that during the progress of the plate—seven states in all—the bridge itself (excepting the underneath of the arch) and the rock to its left remained exactly as first bitten. It is important to think well before making changes—even slight ones may, and often do, ruin a plate—which may be found afterwards to have been greater mistakes than those they were designed to obviate. It is so easy to lose the original freshness and clean precision of a direct biting. Even in the case of the most successful additional work, where the old lines are crossed by new, there is invariably a loss of spontaneity— extremely slight, it may be, but none the less a loss—in spite of the fact that the work may gain as a whole. This is one of the reasons for selecting the plate illustrated, as, if the last three states are compared, it will be seen how closely the first and third approach each other and how entirely off the track was the inter- mediate state.t In many instances when one makes a blunder there is no going back : a new plate must be begun. The ‘‘ Crevé.’>— We will now suppose that a very deeply bitten passage covering only a very small area had to be removed and re-drawn (e.g. the small arch to left of the bridge in the last illustration). The cutting-out would proceed as before: first scraper, then stone, and finally charcoal. But the hollow thus formed would hold a certain amount of ink and remain untouched by the hand in wiping the plate, the result in the proof being a dirty tone less polished than the surrounding surface. ‘** Repoussage.’’—The remedy for this is what is termed in French tech- ae ST Repoussage, or hammering-up from the back. A smooth steel anvil or suitable sub- stitute is necessary to hammer on; a pair of curved compasses or callipers (Fig. 39) for marking the spot, and the small polished hammer itself (Fig. 40). It is useful to have a piece of chalk in ——E that arm of the callipers which is placed Fic. 39.—Callipers : upper of metal ; to the back of the plate. The upper lowenotmoed: arm is placed on the spot to be hammered, the callipers closed so that the chalk marks the corresponding position on the back; the plate turned face down on the anvil (care being taken to avoid scratching the surface) and the marked spot tapped smartly with the small end of 1 As an astonishing example of the same return to a previous state see Whistler’s « Bridge,’ K 204, where there is only the slightest difference between the first and last (8th) states. Even the butterfly was removed and finally replaced almost in the exact spot, but less cleanly drawn. I saw a last state of this plate wrongly described as a Ist state some years ago in Glasgow MISTAKES AND THEIR REMEDY 107 the hammer. Examine the front between the strokes, and if by too much force the face is over-hammered it must be very gently tapped down again with the broad face of the hammer. When level the charcoal will be required to equalize the surface, and this done, it can be worked over again or not, as desired. Fic. 40.—Hammer for Repoussage. Faking a Proof.—It is often possible to avoid hammering-up by using a little extra care in printing such a crevé, cleaning it out with the finger before finally wiping the surrounding surface. But it is far better to have the whole plate level, and to avoid “ faking ”’ in printing ; and this becomes doubly necessary if the plate is to be given out to a professional printer. If the planing of a large area (as was necessary in the foregoing etching) is left out of count, the whole of the re-grounding and biting does not take long. There is no need to “ allow the ground to stand 24 hours ”’ or any- thing of that kind. If there were, one would lose all interest in the work before the third state ! I often work on the new ground while it is still warm if a small patch ; but the acid must always be carefully watched and some blotting-paper be ready to stop the action immediately if anything goes wrong. Re-biting Original Lines.— Besides adding new lines over old, it is often required to re-bite the original furrows, and to lay a ground for this purpose one may use either the dabber or the roller. If the dabber is preferred, some ground must be melted on an adjacent part of the plate (or a second plate), and the amount upon the dabber having been reduced and equalized by striking it upon a clean area between the source of supply and the lines to be grounded until only a very thin film is left by it, the plate is allowed to cool a little to avoid possibility of the ground running down the edges of the lines and these cautiously dabbed over very deli- cately, borrowing ground as required from the supply. If it becomes too cool to move, the plate must be warmed again just enough to soften the wax. It is easier to burn a ground so thinly laid, and besides the fine lines will be filled by the melting. It is advisable to allow some time for the ground to harden before biting, but, in any case, it is very liable to give way, being thinner than is safe. Heavier lines can, of course, be more easily re-grounded and with a thicker coating, but at all times the junctions of the lines (where crossing) will be rounded off and a certain crispness lost, and it is not a process to recommend when there is any alternative. It is safer to use nitric (weaker than usual) for this purpose, as one can 108 MISTAKES AND THEIR REMEDY see exactly what is taking place by the bubbles, and although the “‘ Dutch”’ bath would appear to be less trying to the ground, it is much more insidious. If foul-biting begins, one must be able to detect it immediately to stop the action, but the slower mordant eats into the smallest hole and gives no warning till the damage is done. Re-grounding Roller.—Re-grounding with the roller is more reliable than with the dabber in most hands, but I once knew an old-school engraver who was said to be able to dab a re-biting ground perfectly with absolute certainty. The plate must be flat if the roller is to be used. Itis employed exactly as when grounding in the first place, the necessary thinness of film being obtained by rolling on a second plate, or, if the paste is used, upon glass (see Chapter IV). The plate in this case must not be rolled up more than once or twice for fear of filling the lines, and the work must be done very delicately, and left unsmoked. As for oil of lavender paste I cannot speak from experience, as (beyond once making some) I have never found the slightest use for anything of the sort. It is horribly slow drying, and cannot be heated to drive off the oil in this case for fear of the ground running into the lines. Using ordinary black ground (or transparent, if preferred) is perfectly feasible, but the plate to be grounded should be almost cold, for the same reason as that given in the case of dabbed ground. CHAPTER XII TRANSFERRING FROM ONE PLATE TO ANOTHER—‘ NEGATIVE’? AND ‘* RELIEF’ ETCHING SUPPOSING all the expedients for saving a badly drawn or bitten plate to have failed, as they very nearly did in the case of the Toledo etching described in the last chapter, there remains the possibility of doing better on a fresh copper. But in nearly every case there will be some passage on the original plate which one is loath to abandon. It is as right in draw- ing and biting as it can well be, and one feels that the probability is that in re-drawing this will be lost. In order to save this drawing as much as possible there is a method of transferring the design from the old to a new plate, and it is a very useful one. It was practised by Whistler at least once, and then with great success ; the known instance (as described by an American! who was working with him in Venice) being that of the two “ Traghetto ”’ plates. First of all ordinary flake-white (as used for painting) is rubbed into the lines and the plate cleaned off in the usual manner, the finishing being done with the hand in order to leave as little as possible upon the surface. The second plate, which has been grounded long enough to have become quite hard, is placed ready near the press, and the first proved on any thin paper one happens to have. ‘Tissue-paper or soft brown paper is suitable, and it must be damped as usual (see Chapter XVI). Full pressure is required for this, but before lifting the proof the press must be slackened. I do this simply by removing half my blotting-paper pad, or one of the blankets, which is much quicker than monkeying with the screws. When the press is ready put the new plate upon the bed (ground side up) and remove the proof from the first plate, placing this face down upon the grounded surface, great care being taken to adjust the corners, especially if the second plate is exactly the size of the first. My experience is that, as the paper is already drying at the margins, it does not easily cling to the second surface and is inclined to jump for- ward a fraction of an inch when the pressure takes it. To avoid this it should be held in position until the blanket is placed over it and gripped by the roller. Otherwise the whole design will be found a fraction low (or high) upon the new ground and necessitate the work being done over again. There is no danger of hurting the ground any more than in the process of transferring a lead-pencil drawing as already described. The plate’s surface should not be rubbed after lifting the paper from it, as, though the most delicate lines will be found to have transferred per- 1 | think Otto Bacher, but it is many years since I read the article. 109 110 TRANSFERRING fectly in greyish white upon the dark ground, yet the lead takes some time to dry and is easily smudged. If a piece of paper is used to protect the surface, little harm will be done by moving the hand over this. The etcher now has the whole of his previously bitten work to guide him in re-drawing, and he can follow the old lines precisely, or disregard them in those parts where his first work went wrong. Whistler’s object in doing this in the case of his “ Traghetto ” was to return to his earlier state. That is, he had gone on working upon the first plate until the simplicity of its first state had been lost ; and in drawing the second time he wished to pick out the vital lines which were still there, but to disregard the later additions which destroyed the meaning of those lines. Needless to say, he ended by making an entirely different etching, but that was how he began. Any passages or single lines which it is desired to remove (either after drawing through them or before) can be got rid of at once by a brush or feather dipped in acetic acid ; and when the plate is placed in the nitric bath all the lead remaining on the plate will disappear instantly, so that one cannot rely upon the tracing while the biting is in progress. This process of transferring, which I have used for many years with the greatest benefit, caused me to experiment still further in the use of flake- white as an ink, in what I have termed (faute de mieux) “ Negative ”’ etching. I give it here for what interest it may have, and because the hint may be found of some use to someone for a particular purpose. The idea is to print white lines on dark paper (Plate 15), and to do this it is necessary to etch lines on the plate which will interpret the lights in the proof instead of the darks. In certain subjects, such as a sunset behind a dark object, this might well lend itself to simple treat- ment with good results, but I have had no time to experiment very far. As several people have remarked with regard to the etching here re- produced, its effect approximates to that more easily obtained on wood, and this may well be: otherwise I have little doubt the method would have been exploited long ago by others more inventive than I. The paper which I found print most happily with lead-white was of a soft surface ; dark grey (nearly black) in colour, and was probably sold for pastel work. One must, of course, rely entirely upon the bitten line without any tone left upon the surface or other tricks of printing, just as in visiting-card wiping ; otherwise the dark of the paper will be spoiled by a film of grey. I have often thought this method might be used with success for the purpose of reproducing white-line drawings or diagrams in a sufliciently expensive publication where original work was needed. Probably Baryta white would be more permanent than lead-white, as ? 1 Since writing the above I have found a print in white by Hercules Seghers, but in this case the lines were not drawn in the first place with this in view. Seghers did not etch his lights; merely printed his dark lines in white. Mr. Brangwyn has also told me that he made similar experiments, but cannot lay hands upon an example. TRANSFERRING 111 it is not discoloured by the presence of any impurities in the atmosphere ; neither does it become translucent with age. It would also be more easily wiped off the surface, if only it has sufficient grip to stay in the lines. For transfer purposes it would also have the advantage of remaining visible during biting, as it is insoluble in nitric and hydrochloric acids. This would enable one to bite a plate partially without losing the white design on the parts not yet drawn. Not having tried it, I cannot say whether it has sufficient binding power to stay in very fine lines when printing. Of the etchers who have experimented on somewhat similar lines by far Exact Size. Plate 15 ILLUSTRATING NEGATIVE ETCHING. HERE THOSE LINES WHICH ARE DESIRED TO PRINT WHITE ARE DRAWN ¢Y ETCHED; THEN PRINTED IN WHITE ON BLACK PAPER. THE HALF TONE PROCESS CAN HARDLY SHOW THE CLEANNESS OF THE LINE. the most interesting is William Blake. Judging by the proofs rather than by what has come down to us in writing, Blake must have used two rather similar but distinct methods to produce what have been termed “‘ white- line etchings.” The first is illustrated by the magnificent plate the germ of which was in a drawing by his brother Robert (Plate 97). In this case Blake apparently drew black lines in some stopping-out varnish on the bare plate and then bit away the metal between them, 1 “ Chemistry of Paints and Painting,” by Prof. A. H. Church (1901), p. 136, 112 TRANSFERRING afterwards printing in relief from the black lines which remained standing. In the second example (Plate 98) he seems to have used an ordinary ground and removed this with the point in those parts and lines which he did not wish to print, afterwards biting this away, as in a zinco. In both methods the result is similar, and the proof is from the relief or cameo block, not like that of the etching proper as we understand the word. Like all Blake’s work, they are most interesting and artistically fine. CHAPTER | XIII SOFT GROUND AND AQUATINT AND THE PEN METHOD WE now come to three processes of etching, two of which are not so much used nowadays as they were a hundred years ago, while the third is but an amusement. Soft-ground (vernis mou) is nearly allied to etching proper and really stands half-way between it and aquatint. Therefore, and because it is more often employed as a preliminary guide to the last named, I will take soft-ground etching first. The principle of working is a simple one in theory—more difficult in practice—and consists in laying a ground which has the property of stick- ing to whatever touches it, and can be readily removed from the plate by this means ; leaving the metal exposed to the action of a mordant in those places, but nowhere else. The drawing is actually done upon a sheet of paper laid over the ground. The pressure of the point, heavy or light, upon this covering causes the wax to adhere more or less to its under surface. When the drawing is finished the paper is peeled off, and, wherever the point touched, the ground comes away with it. Soft-ground Recipe.—To make a suitable ground, an equal quantity— in hot weather as little as one-third—of tallow is melted with ordinary etching-ground in a clean glazed pot, in the manner described (see Chap. IV) in making all grounds. The orthodox procedure is to wrap the balls so made in silk, but there is no need to do this nowadays if the mixture is free from impurities as good makers send it out. The wrapper is merely a safeguard against scratching the plate by these impurities. Grounding.—The plate must be very thoroughly cleaned—ammonia and whitening is safer to use in this case—as there can be no removal of surface dirt or grease by a point as in etching proper. The same dabber must not be employed for the two grounds, and as there is no visible difference between them it is advisable to mark them distinctly. If hard-ground is adulterated with tallow it will naturally pick up when least desired to do so; and if soft-ground has been laid with a dabber containing too large a proportion of wax it will refuse to come away where it should. Very little heat is required, as tallow melts very easily, and the ground must not be laid too thickly. One is inclined to put as much on the plate as in laying ordinary ground, and this is not necessary and is apt to pre- vent the lines being laid open right down to the metal. There being less grip in the tallow than in the all-wax ground, the former is merely dis- turbed, when the plate is too hot, instead of being equalized, by the H 113 114 SOFT GROUND AND AQUATINT dabber. But when laid as smoothly as possible a final heating will help the distribution by re-melting. Smoking.—Textbooks advise smoking lightly before use: why, I do not know. The ground should be already quite impervious to acid, and one cannot see the surface when drawing. As for the darker colour enabling one to judge the lines better when biting, the contrary is the case, as the picked-up lines always appear dark from the beginning and grow still darker as bitten. Therefore they are far more easily seen upon a light ground. In this respect, as in others where I suggest a method opposed to tradition, the student will of course decide for himself. The grounded surface must not be handled after cooling, or it will stick to the fingers, but there is no harm done by laying the plate face down- wards upon a sheet of paper in order to bring the edges over the back and fasten them with gum or stamp-paper. It is best to damp the paper so that in drying it will contract over the face and remain in close contact with the wax, but no local pressure must be applied anywhere. Papers.—The paper may be of various grains according to the result desired in the proof, but it must have some texture. A very smooth surface will not work properly. A very thin laid paper gives a most satisfactory result, and instead of being fastened at the back of the plate may be pinned over it as it rests on a board or table. The flatter the paper lies the better, as otherwise it will bulge when drawn upon and the continuity of contact be lost. Hand-rest.— Unless the etcher can work firmly without resting his hand upon something, a support of some kind must be rigged up over the plate. If much work is to be done in the medium it is worth while to make this specially with a board under which a cross-support has been glued at either end (Fig. 41). In the case of a narrow plate (up to 3 or 4 inches high) no rest is required, as the pencil will y } reach all over the surface quite easily. nici Drawing on the Plate——The drawing Fic. 41.—Hand-rest for soft ground. 18 executed with an ordinary lead-pencil, or any other point which enables the artist to see what he is doing. If it were not for seeing his work, a steel point would answer just as well. Biting.—The plate is now bitten in the usual way with certain fairly obvious precautions, such as not pressing too hardly on the blotting-paper in drying the surface and not applying too much force in brushing off bubbles with the feather, if nitric acid is used. Stopping-out.—This may be employed if required, though in theory the width of line gives sufficiently marked distinctions of value when all are bitten to the one depth. This is accentuated by the fact previously noted that the more metal exposed the more rapid the attack. “IOV OIULIN NI SHLANIW FAIA XOA NALIIG SVM BLVIa aH HHL OL SHUYMHCVY HOIKM ONIHOLA GNOAOW “ONILIA YOX ACVAU SANIT AHL ONIAVAT ‘AHLAII NAHM LAaHS LOS ONILVULSO TTI 9T 2%Id -azug povxg “Toy NY 9h ‘QNOQOUD AHL YXAO GHOVId UAAVd NO AAVYW ST DNIMVUC FHT, “AAISHHGV LI SHYVW HOIHM ‘MOTIVE HLIM GaXIW SI GNOOUD AUYVNIGUO ‘NHLYOHO VW i 115 116 SOFT GROUND AND AQUATINT The etching here illustrated (Plate 16) was executed in the following manner :— Metal: Copper. Rhind’s ground, thinly laid and unsmoked. The paper: thin “laid”; an old fly-leaf which was too “ foxed ”’ to be useful for printing upon. This was merely held over the plate by the left hand. Acid : Half-and-half nitric ; the biting—one only—taking five minutes. The plate was steel-faced (for the édition de luxe) and printed on Stacey- Wise paper of 1880—a blue “ laid.” The whole process from grounding to proving did not take half an hour. Re-working.—If additional working is necessary it is quite possible to re- ground and add lines, but a very transparent paper will be required to see the old lines. Tissue is serviceable if one is careful not to press too hardly or suddenly and not to sharpen the pencil too finely. By this means even a single line, or dot, can be added easily, and acid dropped on from the feather. Plate 17 shows two states of the same plate. The process was identical to that just described, tissue-paper being used for the second drawing. The result is not good, but serves as an illustration of the method. Although with varying pressure in the use of the point stopping-out should not be required, it often happens that irregularity of touch will cause unequal biting, and in that case stopping-out is used in the ordinary way. The biting without stopping-out where the lines vary principally in width and not in depth is comparable to the use of several needles of different size in etching proper and then biting to one depth. Itis advisable to press rather too firmly in drawing than the reverse, as a line which will bite cleanly can always be controlled by stopping-out ; but a too delicately drawn one may not bite at all. The line bitten by this method is a granulated or broken one resembling that of a chalk-drawing on a grained surface, and its quality lends itself extremely well to a combination between soft-ground and aquatint. That is why it was utilized more largely for the initial drawing upon a plate destined to be treated with aquatint tone than the ordinary clean, hard- ground line, which by its nature has no affinity with the granulation of the resin-process. The quality obtained by the broken line is extremely pleasing and par- ticularly suitable for the note or sketch, but lacks the decision of the needle-drawn method. It is naturally adapted for expressing texture in masses—variously grained papers may be used even upon the same plate by slipping them under an immovable upper paper upon which the draw- ing is made—and, in general, chalk or pencil studies which have been treated with a broad point (which would be unsuitable for expressing as etchings except in very free translations) lend themselves perfectly to interpretation through the medium of soft-ground. Probably the greatest master of the method was J. 8. Cotman, and he used it more than any other method. His work will be spoken of again a Plate 17 ILLUSTRATING SOFT-GROUND ETCHING. RE-WORKING. THESE TWO STATES SHOW THE POSSIBILITY OF RE-WORKING OVER UNDER-BITTEN PASSAGES. A THIN TRANSPARENT PAPER MUST BE USED SO THAT THE OLD LINES MAY BE SEEN CLEARLY. IN THE SECOND STATE, ONLY THE BARGES WERE RE-WORKED. RE-BITING THE OLD LINES IS ALSO POSSIBLE. he 118 SOFT GROUND AND AQUATINT in Chapter XXIII. Still earlier were the few incomparable plates by Gainsborough. Aquatint In aquatint we have a method for biting tones instead of lines, and in skilful hands it is capable of amazing depth and, at the same time, trans- parent delicacy. It differs from all methods so far touched upon in one important particular: that the ground laid does not entirely protect the metal from acid. If the grounded plate were placed in the bath, the mordant would immediately attack the metal in a series of minute irregular dots which would form a tone of equal strength over the whole surface. This would be the result were the plate entirely untouched by stopping-out varnish. Grounds.—Resin is the material most commonly employed for forming this equally porous ground. Asphaltum is also used, but I cannot speak of it from personal experience. There are two ways of getting the resin on to the plate: floating it by means of a solvent (spirits of wine) and dusting it on in its powdered, dry state. The more certain method is the dust process, but still more delicacy can be obtained with the spirit preparation. Judging by the work of the old aquatinters of a hundred years ago the spirit grounds yielded extra- ordinarily delicate and perfect results, and they appear to have been able to control it with certainty. I have found it very treacherous in the little experience I have had, but I find most of the artists who have used it express the same verdict. The method usually adopted for dusting a plate is to disturb the powdered resin in a confined space, allowing the particles to settle upon the surface of the metal. | The Dust-box.—There are several up-to-date ‘“ dust-boxes”’ sold by dealers for this purpose. Those which contain a revolving fan worked from without by a lever, and the clumsier contrivance which allows the whole box to rotate on an axis. When I was working at this medium I could not afford to buy such a thing, even had I known where to procure one, and my own box was made from a small sugar packing-case. A sliding tray was let in at one side near the bottom and a hole made to allow the insertion of the nozzle of an old-fashioned pair of fire-bellows. The powdered resin being placed on the floor and the tray—a grid—withdrawn, the bellows were brought into action until the inside of the box was filled with floating dust. The plate, which had been thoroughly cleaned previously, was placed on the grid face up and the tray slid into the box. If a very coarse ground is wanted, this should be done immediately after stopping the bellows, as the larger (heavier) particles of resin fall to the bottom first ; but for a finer ground sufficient time must be allowed for these to settle before pushing the tray into position. Experience in timing may easily be obtained, as the plate may be tested any number of times SOFT GROUND AND AQUATINT 119 before finally fixing the resin by heating. The plate must be very care- fully removed to the heater. A breath will disturb the dust upon the cold plate, so it must be lifted very gently. If the plate has not been heavily enough coated it may be returned (after blowing up the dust again) for a second deposit before heating. The principle in all dust-boxes remains the same, however the dust may be agitated in the first place, and perfect results have been obtained recently by John Everett and (Mrs.) Laura Knight by simply dusting resin through muslin without a box at all. The final heating slightly melts the resin and fixes it to the metal. It must not be given too much heat, however, or it will run together: just enough to cause the grains to yellow and darken. Spirit-ground.—Mr. Robins! gives the following directions for preparing the spirit-ground :— “Five ounces of finely-ground resin is dissolved in a pint of spirit of wine. The bottle is shaken several times during the day and then left for another twenty-four hours to allow the impurities to settle. The solution prepared will be much too strong, and a fresh bottle is used, and a mixture of one-third of the solution to two-thirds of the spirit of wine mixed together. If a very fine ground is wanted the second solution is again diluted ; for the stronger the solution of resin the larger will be the granulation and the coarser the ground.” Stapart’s Ground.—Mr. A. M. Hind? gives the following :— ‘“* Another method of obtaining a perforated ground was invented and described by Stapart (Paris, 1773), but it has been little used. He sifted sea-salt on to a thin coating of ordinary etching-ground, which was kept fluid by heat. The grains of salt sink on to the surface of the plate, and when the ground is hardened, these may be dissolved by application of water, leaving a porous ground ready for etching.” This method is in principle much the same as the “ pen-process ”’ of etching described later (see Plate 20). Sand-grain Ground.—There is a commonly employed substitute aquatint ground which is prepared as follows :— An ordinary etching-ground is laid and allowed to harden: the plate is placed upon the press bed, and over it a sheet of sand or emery paper. The pressure must be very slight when the plate is pulled through, otherwise the hard grains of the paper will be crushed right into the metal, but properly done the wax is merely cut through and the ground becomes porous. The position of the paper is changed or a new piece substituted several times, until the surface has been broken up into an intricate net- work of fine holes and equally permeable by acid all over. Any degree of coarseness or fineness may be obtained by the use of different sand or emery papers and by the number of times the plate is passed through the press. 1 “ Etching Craft,’ 1922, p. 194. 2 “ A Short History of Engraving and Etching,” 1908, p. 12. 120 SOFT GROUND AND AQUATINT The underlying principle of all these grounds is identical, and the stopping-out and biting is the same for all. Joseph Pennell used this last method with very great success: notably in his fine “‘ Courtland Street Ferry,” showing the lit-up windows of the tall sky-scrapers of New York. Plate 18 is an example of this method. ‘“‘A Kashmir Bridge—Nocturne”’ (sand-grain aquatint). Plate : Copper. Ground: Rhind’s, dabbed thinly, passed six times through press with coarse sand-paper (a fresh piece each time). Acid: Nitric, half-and-half. Stopping-out varnish : “ Tower-brand”’ straw-hat polish. Before biting: Light on right (stopped). Timing: 14 mins. Sky and distant water (stopped). 2 Upper water between bridge reflections (stopped). ee Distant shore on far bank (stopped). lv Buildings on right (stopped). Dims Bridge (stopped). Sa: This completed the boat on right. 10 mins. Whole re-grounded with dabber, leaving the dots open on undermen- tioned parts. 4min. Additional biting on distance to left (stopped). 1, _ 2 reflections of bridge (stopped). lower - f bridge and boat. 2 mins. Total: 12 mins. on deepest darks. The plate was steel-faced by Mr. W. C. Kimber, as were “ A Chorten ” and “‘A Note of Ronda.” Printed on 1821 greenish paper, clean hand- wiped without retroussage, with Frankfurt and French-black and burnt umber, thin and a little medium oil. There is no preparatory line-work in this plate. It relies entirely upon the stopping-out brush-drawing. It is not easy to obtain sharp definition with sand-grain, as the pressure of the sand- or emery-paper raises a slight burr which breaks up the varnish when applied with the brush and softens each stroke. This is an advantage in treating such a subject as the present. This roughness must be removed after biting, with charcoal. Etched Line as Guide.— Pure aquatint has no line-work at all, e.g. Goya’s Por que fue sensible ; but most etchers find it advisable to draw and etch —either in soft-ground or in the ordinary manner—an indication of the design on the plate preparatory to grounding it for the tone process. a2 povL ( raddog) LNILVAOV NIVUD-ANVS 8ST Id ON ILVaLso TIL “IoqNY MLL ‘aNUNLOON—aDGIUg ZINHSVY VY 121 122 SOFT GROUND AND AQUATINT If this is done the bitten lines show sufficiently distinctly through the resin and serve as a guide to the stopping-out brush-work which follows. As already suggested, it is better to employ soft-ground if these lines are intended to show as an integral part of the composition. Example of Usual Method.—We have seen that if the porous-grounded plate were placed in the bath, with no stopping-out, the biting would take place equally all over and its depth depend upon the duration of the action. It follows that if a pure white is required in the proof the varnish must be applied before the first immersion. In Plate 19 I have chosen a subject which could only be suitably etched by means of aquatint, depending, as it does, entirely upon fone for its effect. It will be seen that there are two pure white notes: the figures crossing the bridge. These were stopped-out before any biting, and, in order to be sure of the exact places, I had already etched a very faint outline of the main points in the composition. This can hardly be detected even in the original, because the aquatint tones were much stronger than the first guiding lines. The plate was of zinc and the acid fairly strong nitric; the ground resin dust. We can follow the successive baths easily, as this proof is the first pulled from the plate. I cannot give exact duration of bitings as the plate was etched many years ago. When the varnish was dry on the figures the plate was submerged and removed almost at once, washed and dried. The resin being hard and firmly attached to the plate, there is no danger of moving it with blotting- paper, as in soft-ground. The lower part of the sky, its reflection in the water and the roofs to the left were then painted out, leaving crisp brush- marks, care being taken in going round the outlines of the jutting timbers against the sky, and the plate once more covered with acid. After another very short biting the process was repeated: this time the upper clouds in the sky and the top of the boat to the right (also a few other details) were stopped. The next bath was shorter still, probably a few seconds. This was sufficient to differentiate between the tone of the clouds and upper sky ; the horizontal lines on the boat below and the rest of its cover in light ; the reflections of the same in the water, and so on, which were now painted out. Another half-minute or so and the main half-tone of the plate was strong enough, and this was treated in the same way. The area to be bitten had now narrowed down to the smaller darks, and about three or four more immersions, working down to the deepest darks of all under the bridge, eaves of the houses, etc., finished the plate, which by this time was a mass of overlapping, black varnish-marks. The tones of this first state were satisfactory excepting that of the recess to the right, immediately above the cover of the barge. This was too light, and in correcting it I made the blunder of which the beginner should take special note, as it probably happens to most users of the medium, A Kasumir Cana, The Author. . 87%; X 548. Plate 19 ILLUSTRATING AQUATINT, RESIN GROUND. (Zinc.) THE WORK WAs EXECUTED UPON AN ORDINARY RESIN DUST-GROUND & BITTEN WITH NITRIC ACID. THIS IS A FIRST PROOF AFTER THE FIRST GROUND WAS REMOVED. A TRACE OF THE ETCHED GUIDING LINES MAY BE SEEN IN THE LIGHTEST REFLECTION AT THE FOOT OF THE PLATE. 123 124 SOFT GROUND AND AQUATINT Re-biting and its Dangers.— Upon re-grounding this portion, the particles of resin were too fine, and, instead of allowing the acid to eat a deeper series of dots, it permitted the already upstanding points of metal to be levelled : thus forming a wide shallow depression of roughened metal having no fine specks of the original surface left to give luminosity and no dots lower than the general plane to hold the ink. The result in the second state was, therefore, a light muddy half-tone. The remedy for this is the burnisher (or scraper and burnisher, if necessary), thereby forming a new, polished surface upon which a sufficiently coarse ground can be laid and an entirely new tone bitten. In re-grounding, therefore, the particles of resin should always be larger than those of the previous ground, otherwise this biting-away will take place. The best way would be to lay an ordinary etching re-biting ground with dabber or roller, leaving the original holes open as in Plate 8. The differences in these three states are not sufficiently noticeable to make it worth while reproducing them, as in half-tone what little dis- tinction there is would disappear. This plate was drawn from an original by Fred. Parker, an artist who died in Kashmir, where the drawings (body-colour on toned paper) were executed ; and it was one of a set of three. I was first asked to etch them, but as this medium would have been entirely foreign to their nature, I finally chose aquatint ; and they are rather translations of colour than close reproductions. Colour of Ink.—In printing this plate—which was handled in precisely the same way as a line-etching—I found that raw umber yielded a more beautiful colour with Frankfurt-black than burnt umber. The dark masses appeared too hot when warmed with the redder earth; while the raw umber has a peculiar greenish quality singularly pleasing in tone subjects. Interesting experiments have recently been made by John Everett, whose notes appear on pages 364 and 366. Besides using flake-white and colours with resin as a stopping-out medium—painting on the plate as if on a panel—after removing as much surplus oil as possible, he has latterly been biting through colours alone without resin and has found that every colour has its own granulation and resisting properties. I have suggested that Baryta white would probably answer better than lead-white, which is of course attacked by nitric acid, and consequently must be loaded considerably in the high-lights. His records of exact timing will be found very instructive. The Pen Method A process which is somewhat akin to soft-ground is illustrated by Plate 20. I have never seen an actual etching produced in this way by anyone else, but it is described in Lalanne’s treatise and elsewhere. A pen-drawing is first executed upon the cleaned copper with ordinary ink—I imagine copying ink would be even better—and when dry a thin ordinary ground is laid over the ink lines. *THOULS Nd HHL AO ALTIVND AHL ATLOVXG AAOW SNIVLAN BONVISIC NGLLIG ATLHOTI AHJ, AVA TVOSO FHL NI NALLId BH NHL NvO SANIT HHT, “AHAOWHA II SHAOAY GNOOUD AHL <> GANASOOT SI UNI FHL ‘UALVA NI GHOUAWEOS ONIGH ALVId AHJT, “IVI SI GNOOUD V ‘AUG NEHM “AAddOO Tuva HL NO HNI GS Nad HIIM AZNOC SI ONIMVUC FAY, ‘dOHLAW Nad FHL ONILVULSOATIIT 06 3¥%Id “10qNV OWL azeg DLT 125 126 SOFT GROUND AND AQUATINT The plate is then submerged in water for half an hour or so, and by that time the ink will have become loosened—how the water penetrates the wax I don’t know !—and can be gently rubbed away, the ground, naturally, being removed with it. The open lines can then be bitten in the usual manner, but they are so broad that they become almost crevés in places. It will be noticed that the character of the pen disappears in the heavier biting: the lightly bitten lines reproducing the exact quality of the original drawing. It is naturally a very unsympathetic surface to work upon—copper— as the ink sometimes refuses and sometimes blots, and probably a form of gum would answer better in this respect.} Plate 20 was bitten in nitric half-and-half strength, and the distance stopped-out after five minutes in the bath; the remainder being re- immersed for another ten minutes. No additions were made in any way after the first grounding, but it is easy to see that re-working would be perfectly simple. 1 Since writing the above I have seen Mr. Everett’s experiments in this medium. Instead of ink he uses a mixture of Gamboge and best turpentine. See also p. 197, Gainsborough’s method. CHAPTER XIV DRYPOINT AND MEZZOTINT FINALLY, we come to the processes which do not depend upon an auxiliary in the form of a mordant to do the actual spade-work. I have already introduced the tools necessary for working in drypoint ; and, in the opening chapter, defined it as “engraving” rather than etching.” The peculiar beauty of the medium is dependent upon its power of yielding a wonderful velvety richness in the proof. This is due, not to the groove which is cut below the surface, but to the “‘ burr ”’ or ridge thrown up by the passage of the tool under the lee of which the ink shelters from the rag, or hand, during the action of wiping the plate. If the burr is removed with the scraper (see Fig. 21, page 48) or becomes worn off in the printing, the line below holds comparatively little ink, and the distinctive quality of the medium disappears. If this is done consistently throughout the work, the result is practically that of a very delicate engraving. It is generally found to be expedient to retain the burr in heavy passages while removing it wholly or partially in delicate ones. This it is which gives drypoint its tremendous range in strength of line, far exceeding anything produced by etching. In such plates as Muirhead Bone’s “Demolition of St. James’s Hall—Interior”’ (Plate 132) this contrast of values obtained by leaving and scraping off the burr is seen to perfection ; while in Strang’s ‘‘ Legros ” we have an example of pure line with practi- cally no burr worth mentioning (Plate 122). One great advantage over all etching methods possessed by our present medium is that plates can be worked directly from nature and the result seen as the drawing progresses. Further, there is no need to carry a chemist’s shop about with one, nor is there any risk of spoiling unbitten plates by damaging the ground. , All that one requires is a bare plate, a point, scraper (and oil-stone), burnisher and a small tin of some greasy substance to rub into the lines as one works. I myself use a little ink (or dry black) mixed with vaseline. The vaseline prevents the ink drying; can be moved about easily, and — left in the lines for a long time without fear of setting hard. But every artist will have his own preference in this matter, and anything will serve which enables one to see the work clearly in black against the shining copper. A further advantage in an oily substance is that it prevents the metal glittering too much and allows one to see better, especially in artificial light. Examples of Working.—I have often worked from the life by electric 127 128 DRYPOINT AND MEZZOTINT or gas light without a screen, as, for instance, in the case of the head illustrated (Plate 21). This was drawn on the copper as it appears here except for a few minor additional strokes added as the edition was printed. A steel point was used throughout and very little burr removed. The plate lasted for about thirty impressions without retouching, and ten more after a little strengthening. The second illustration shows the burr utilized to its utmost capacity for yielding solid blacks such as one might expect from mezzotint (Plate 22). In this case the back of an old plate which had plenty of foul-biting (acid having penetrated the varnish owing to friction while in the bath) was selected in order to hold a strong tone in printing. The snow on the wreaths was then burnished (after the drawing was made) to destroy locally this tone-holding roughness of surface. In order to throw up as much burr as possible in the darks the steel (diamond would not answer so well) must be really sharp and held at rather an acute angle. Ifthe point is nearly perpendicular very little burr will be raised, while, down to a certain angle, the more it is slanted the heavier the ridge thrown up on the opposite edge, and the more easily this wears off. Beyond this very acute angle, the point, especially if at all blunt, will cut a portion of metal right out of the line instead of pushing it up on one side as burr (see Fig. 44). In printing a richly burred plate some of the looser particles invariably come away in the first proof and, generally, there is more difference between this and the immediately subsequent impressions than is notice- able between any two of the next twenty or more when the plate has “settled down.” After this the ridges themselves, though not worn off, become polished on their crests, and as the hand cleans these there appear lighter centres in each originally solid-black line. This is when the proofs begin to look “ tired,” although the plate is by no means yet worn out, and in printing lines that have reached this condition a little retroussage may bring the ink over the crests of the ridges, thus hiding the worn appearance. But no dodges in printing can regain the velvety richness of an early impression. Diamond-point.—As I have already stated in Chapter V, the diamond (or ruby) point has the advantage of steel in that it can move freely in any direction and at any angle. There is a danger of a finely pointed diamond flaking off if it is used too roughly over heavy lines, but on the virgin surface there is no need to fear. In the third drypoint illustrated (Plate 23) the sky was entirely worked with a diamond cut to rather a blunt (round) point, and the free lines would hardly have been possible if steel had been used. The heavy crossed shadows in the foreground were steel worked : such straight strong lines being cut far better with the sharp metal point. Unfortunately, this fine diamond work (where the little burr thrown up is retained) wears most rapidly ; and obviously no re-working is possible, short of removing the whole passage and re-drawing. A certain amount of strengthening is *daso SVM LINIOd THHLS FAHY, GuadhM AINO SHHONOL Mad VW ONILNIYd JO ASAA00 AHL NI Gadady “HAT T WOU LOHMId LNIOdGAUd ONIL T6 948d Bs, ere ees ae “ONINGHLONGULS UALAV SAOOUd IVNOILIGGVY NAL

‘LUVO GHL ‘AGNOWVId AHL 40 SNVAW Ad GHNIVISO Ad AVW HOIHA GANIT AAA AHL SMOHS ANS BHL aqua ‘dWOWVIG HLIM LNIOdGAUd DNILVULSATII SG 48d “I0yINY WL “LUvVO HSINVaG VW 131 132 DRYPOINT AND MEZZOTINT possible, if necessary, in such an isolated dark as the interior of the cart, or the figures in the previous illustration. This present plate only yielded thirty-one impressions. All three drypoints were executed upon commercial copper. Printing.—A drypoint is nearly always finished to advantage with the palm of the hand or fingers, and as there are no deep lines there is no need to cover the whole surface thickly in inking-up. In avoiding this some- times the plate may be “ nursed,” as it follows that the less put on the less friction there will be in removing it again. A very little ink is enough to catch in the burr, and a wipe over the unworked portions with a soft rag will make sure that a tone will be left over the whole surface. A proportion of ink must always be rubbed over the whole of a plate —however thin a film—between every proving: otherwise, if any area is left uninked, a white spot will show up in the print. Any device which tends to nurse a drypoint is worth trying, and the inking roller 7 good condition is one of these. The rocking motion of the old dabber, still so largely in use amongst professionals, must, in the nature of such an implement, help to rock off the burr. thin’), The first of these papers—possibly all, but I have been told that other fibres are used—is made from the bast-fibres of the Paper Mulberry, and is often called “‘ Mulberry paper.” The first and last groups have very distinct wire marks running across the sheets at intervals of about 1} inches. In the cheaper qualities of the Hosho these are often far too pronounced ; and, besides, these modern papers are often heavily adulterated with “ filling ”—easily detected if the sheet be torn when it falls out in a shower of white dust—and this fact, in papers intended for the Western market, speaks for itself as to the durability of the fibre, and should be sufficient to warn etchers against its use. When of good quality this paper is probably as durable—certainly as strong—as any in the world, and its long silky fibre yields proofs of unrivalled quality for many types of etching. 1 Makers of the “Head” papers. 142 PRINTING PAPERS None of these papers are sized, and though perfectly suitable for printing upon in that state, are extremely easily rubbed on the surface when carelessly handled, especially where there is little ink upon it. The ink in heavily etched passages helps to bind the fibre down, thus protecting it. Being absorbent (though less so than unsized rag-paper), a proof from an identically wiped plate would be a little less brilliant than that printed upon.a really soft rag-paper which had been sized. On the other hand, so yielding is the fibre, and so clinging, that it picks up more ink from both surface and line than any paper, with the possible exception of very old and good quality Kuropean makes, which are almost impossible to find. It is far easier to obtain “‘all there is” from a plate with Japanese paper than with any ordinary rag-paper. The colour-printers always size this paper (as do the Japanese) before using it, and so treated it will stand far rougher handling without the fibre lifting. The following is the method for doing this :— Sizing Japanese Paper.—Five sheets of ordinary cooking gelatine (Cox’s leaf-gelatine is reliable) are dissolved with as much alum as will lie on a sixpence, in one pint and a half of water, using the double saucepan, or pot in an out- side tin of boiling water, as suggested in Chapter IV. The paper is then placed upon a board (Fig. 50) which slopes down to a vessel at its foot in which the superfluous liquid is collected, and, using as broad a brush as procurable —say 5 inch—the size (while hot) is brushed on from left to right, beginning at the top of the sheet and working downwards. The paper should be raised (with the left hand) at its foot while the brush passes across its upper portion and only lowered on to the board as the brush is about to pass over that particular section ; otherwise the air will get under the semi-wet parts—the board will be wet after the first sheet—and cause creasing when the brush arrives at the bubbles. It is the general practice to avoid wetting the two upper corners, so that when the sheet is pinned up on a line to dry the fibre at those spots will not give way, as sometimes happens when a pin is fastening the wet paper. The alum, besides hardening the gelatine when dry and acting as a preservative, causes its better liquefaction in the sizing, ce Fic. 50.—Sizing. PRINTING PAPERS 143 but it is dangerous to have more in the paper than is absolutely needful.! I have used this method with English water-leaf paper which I par- ticularly wanted to print upon because it was of a peculiar colour (un- obtainable otherwise), and quite successfully. The second class of papers, being of so much firmer texture, have not the same need of a binding substance to prevent surface displacement. The hard “ vellums”’ have a shiny, smooth finish which makes them unsuitable for printing upon, besides a mottled appearance of texture which is anything but pleasing. They are extensively employed, however, for large plates, especially by the printers of Bauer’s etchings, which is undoubtedly one of the reasons why his wonderful prints have been less popular than they merit in this country, where our better class of collector does at least know what good printing means. But the best Torinoko paper has the strength of the “ vellum ”’ without its objectionable gloss and texture. Unlike the Hosho papers, this has no wire mark of any kind, being of close, even texture throughout and of much deeper colour. The darker shades—rich golden yellow—have great beauty, but have been said to bleach when exposed for some time to strong light, e.g. that of a shop window. I have never noticed this in an ordinary room where prints on this paper have hung for years. It is relatively very much more expensive than the two other classes of paper—all ‘“‘ vellums ” are—and at the time of writing (1924) at an almost prohibitive price when obtainable at all. Kven before the terrible earthquake these papers were sold at a ridiculous figure, and no doubt it is true that stocks in the hands of middlemen were lost in Tokio, though, so far as I know, it is not manufactured to any extent in that district. The only firm I know of who used to import this really good paper is that of Messrs. Crompton, of Queenhithe, Upper Thames Street, London ; but they had, I believe, practically given up supplying it before the disaster referred to above. There can be no doubt whatever about the durability of this paper when not adulterated, and this particular make was said to be in use by the Japanese Government for important documents, though this may not have been the case. It was specially recommended to me by the late Mr. Littlejohn, of the British Museum Mounting Department, who employed it for backing valuable old work which had to be lined, etc. It has one peculiarity which is shared partially, but not completely, by several similar but inferior makes. That is its capability of being split into equal halves. All these papers are composed of more or less separate layers, but no other that I have tested will part as two complete sheets. In this case the two 1 In the first issue (June, 1924) of the “Original Colour-Print Magazine,” Mr. Urushibara describes his method and gives the following recipe: For Hosho Leaf- gelatin 4 0z., alum } oz., water 35 ozs. For Jorinoko, the gelatin and alum are cut down by half. According to Prof. Church this seems a dangerously large propor- tion of alum (see p. 14 of his book). 144 PRINTING PAPERS layers are readily separated. I have often done this when a plate was better suited by thin paper, as both sides can be used equally well. More : I have many times stripped the back half from a spoiled print and used this a second time, as the ink rarely penetrates to the under sheet ! One need not size this paper for printing etchings. The third class, Mino, is very easily printed on, as its surface is much smoother than either of the preceding groups (excepting the “ vellums ”’) and yet is silky and pliable. It is very thin, shiny and of a deeper yellow- brown colour, but appears less so when laid upon a white mount owing to its transparency. It is probably no more durable than the cheaper Mulberry papers and is usually full of flaws, bits of bark and dark fibre, showing that it has been carelessly made from unpicked material. For certain low-toned effects it lends an air of mystery and unity which the same etching on white paper would lack. It has no need of size, and can be handled without as much risk as either of the softer surfaced makes. There is, of course, a great variety of all kinds of Japanese papers from very thick to tissue, but the chief distinction between all good qualities and European makes is in the length of fibre, which allows them a much greater strength while unsized (and therefore soft) than belongs to any of our own modern papers. Rembrandt’s Use of Japanese.—There has been so much outcry from collectors, dealers and artists in recent years against the use of all Japanese papers that the etcher and collector should bear in mind that all imported makes were not rubbish, and if treated with reasonable care—and unless a collector intends to do this he has no business to collect fine works. at all—a proof on Japanese will last at least as long as one upon any other sort of paper: probably a good deal longer than on most. That Rembrandt used it when he could get it, and that his proofs exist,} is sufficient evidence both that he considered the quality which it yielded him valuable—seeing that the paper he could obtain from the local mills was probably the finest and most sympathetic printing paper that Europe has produced—and of its durability. Two men who have used Japanese papers most extensively in recent times are Muirhead Bone, who printed for a long time almost ex- clusively upon the Hosho Mulberry papers, and D. Y. Cameron, who employed the thin yellow Mino last mentioned. I have a proof by the former artist printed in 1906 upon Hosho which certainly is in as perfect condition now as ever it was—after many years (Plate 132), Of genuine (skin) vellum and parchment there is no need to speak, as they have almost entirely gone out of use; and though Rembrandt occasionally used vellum with effect, it is usually an unpleasant sootiness and heaviness that the printer obtains, and its contracting and wrinkling peculiarities make it a nuisance to the collector. No Japanese paper needs to be backed if the method of using blotting-paper described in Chapter X be followed, and there is never any necessity to damp the blotting-paper. 1 There are many—especially of the large plates—in the British Museum. PRINTING PAPERS 145 Indeed, its chief function is to preserve the blankets from becoming wet and therefore hard. Damping.—Papers take moisture very differently according to their composition and hardness of surface. In preparing them, therefore, for printing they must be treated accordingly. A firm-surfaced paper, old or modern, can be sponged as vigorously as possible without any danger of the fibre lifting ; but a soft paper, and particularly Japanese, cannot be touched directly with anything damp without being spoiled. The aim in every case is the same: to make the paper as pliable as possible without excess moisture remaining on the surface. To do this it is best to damp down overnight. Longer is hardly necessary unless the paper is so hard that it is really unsuitable for intaglio printing, and to keep paper damp for longer than is essential is to encourage the develop- ment of mildew germs. I use a couple of sheets of plate-glass, and usually sponge first one side of the paper and then the other ; finally turning once more, sponge it out flat on the glass. The reason for this is that most tough papers take some time to swell, and the second sponging is not usually enough. It is necessary to get out all the air bubbles and creases, because when other sheets are piled on the first the size of the swelling goes on increasing in ratio to the number added. Therefore I begin with the back, then the face, and finally swodge it down by rubbing the back where there is no harm done if the fibre begins to come up. With the very non-absorbent papers it will be better to sponge both sides and lay in a loose pile till all are done ; then turn the pile over and begin again, laying them face down on the glass, this time making sure that each is quite flat before super- imposing the next. When the last is finished, place the second sheet of glass over all and weight down heavily with anything handy. I use a batch of old plates. By next day the whole mass should be equally permeated with moisture and stuck tightly together, perfectly flat. An easy way to get a crease in printing is to have the paper buckled when laying it over the plate. Many people use zinc for this purpose instead of glass, but personally I prefer to see the flatness or otherwise of the paper through the glass. For Japanese paper, the following 1s based upon the native method of preparing the pile of sheets for colour-printing :— First count the number of sheets to be damped. Then, if a thick non- Mulberry paper is to be treated, take half that number of pieces of blotting- paper and one more. Divide this again and put the half (leaving aside the odd sheet) under the tap until entirely saturated throughout. This is now interleaved with the remaining dry blotting-papers and put under the glass and strong pressure. I use the same press—a copying press—that I employ for flattening proofs later on. After this has stood, to become equalized all through—an hour or two is best—it is ready to receive the printing sheets. These are placed in K 146 PRINTING PAPERS pairs between the moist damping-sheets, and the whole again put under pressure for the night. The Japanese use the coarse outer wrappers which are used to protect the outside sheets of every ream, but blotting-paper is, I think, more suitable still. For the thin papers—especially if unsized—less moisture is required, and therefore four or six printing sheets may be alternated with every damping sheet. The moisture naturally settles to the bottom of the pile to a certain extent, so it is as well to turn the whole pile upside down in the morning before beginning work; but this is not necessary. It is a good thing to print a large number at a time, if possible, because one sometimes—often—only gets into the trick of a plate’s special require- ments after a large batch has been pulled ; and when one is just “set ”’ (to use a cricketing term) it is very annoying if one must stop work for the lack of paper or ink in just the right condition. Therefore it is better to damp a full number of sheets, always inspecting them carefully before- hand for flaws, and remembering that some are almost certain to be spoilt in the printing. If the etcher needs thirty, he is wise in allowing thirty- five sheets at least, and if he is exceptionally lucky the remainder can be kept damp for the next day or dried and re-damped another time. There are days when the experienced printer does not spoil a single proof, but they are red-letter days and are offset by the periods when nothing will go right. But to have the paper in good order is at least the first step in making sure of a successful printing day on the morrow ; and the same with ink and blankets. If the paper shows moisture on the surface, it is too wet for printing with thin oil, and it is almost impossible to damp Japanese papers just before printing without leaving it too saturated. If this is done it can be dried by holding over the heater ; but it means uncertainty. CHAPTER XVI FLATTENING AND MOUNTING Flattening.—We will now assume that a good series of proofs has been pulled and consider their subsequent treatment. In the first place they must be flattened to allow them to be seen to the very best advantage and because, otherwise, they will be creased and the surface broken in supporting the weight of other prints or mounts in their buckled condition. The ideal way to flatten would be to have a framework which clamped down upon the margin all round while the proof was still damp and held the edges during contraction (as in stretching with the edges pasted), but this is not practicable for large editions, and stretching with paste means the probable sacrifice of the deckle-edges by having to cut them away when the proof is removed. This loss is of no real importance, especially when the proof is covered by a mount, but for some reason one likes to preserve the irregular deckle where possible. In any case, it takes too long for the etcher himself to undertake the stretching of a large edition. So, after all, the only practical method is to employ pressure. If the proofs still remain upon the blotting-paper they are peeled off very care- fully, or the surface will be cracked. Unless the blankets in the press were very damp-hardened and had less elasticity than they should have possessed, most papers come apart without any effort, but in exceptional cases it is best to place the whole in a bath of water and sponge the blotting-paper away or rub it off with the finger-tips. This must be done when a make has been used in which the size is very soluble in cold water and the printing paper, being ex- tremely sticky when printed upon, has stuck to the blotting-paper backing. Of course, if one knows of this peculiarity in time, the best thing is to remove the one from the other immediately after printing before the size has dried. Some modern etching-papers are very bad in this respect, particularly one called by the name of a living etcher, though I believe this was pro- duced by the same English mill that has turned out some very excellent printing-papers. As these have no makers’ names it is not easy to find out by whom any given article was manufactured. The proofs once free from the backing are well sponged from behind— no harm in gently damping the front as well—and the flatter they can be made,to lie the less risk of creasing under pressure. In the case of Japanese paper they can be either sprayed with a fixing-spray or passed through the bath, when they instantly become fully saturated. 147 148 FLATTENING AND MOUNTING I interleave these wet sheets with old used blotting-paper which takes up the surface moisture, and when all are done I re-interleave them with new sheets instead, taking care to have at least three extra blotting- papers at either end of the pile. This is now placed between boards— three-ply is excellent—and the whole screwed down in a copying-press (Fig. 51), not too heavily for the first time, in case any prints crease. Now follows the tedious process of changing the drying-sheets. The more quickly this can be got through the safer for the SST proofs, so far as mildew | growth is concerned, and in no case should prints le more than a day without i i being changed. I usually Dr ua finish the whole drying in * oe fil lh little more than twenty-four 5 =e hours, sometimes in less than twelve. Blotting - paper rapidly SARA Ge SANNA 83 WAWSAVWS PRS ime, q i : zs absorbs moisture from the a =f proofs, and there is no point Fic. 51.—Press for flattening proofs. in leaving them together for a moment after equaliza- tion has taken place. At the first drying this takes place within a minute or two ; the time after it takes longer, but at no time very long. The important point to remember is that blotting-paper is never much, if any, drier than the atmosphere; and that, in this country, is rarely very dry! Therefore when the prints are, apparently, as dry as normal blotting-paper they will still contain enough moisture to cause them to buckle slightly on the surface when removed and exposed to drier air or air in motion. Buckling is fatal to any delicate etching, and, to guard against this, I always heat the blotting-paper before a gas fire till steam no longer issues from it previous to the final drying. This ensures the absolute dryness of the proof when removed and guarantees its remaining flat unless re-moistened. This is where the professional mounter often fails. More: the pro- fessional cannot see the reason for it because he is not capable of seeing the slight change which takes place after a print is left, as he calls it, “dry.” Nearly all these men, moreover, use hard “drying boards ”’ instead of soft blotting-paper, and consequently crush the lines of the etching flat, so that the finger in passing across the face of the print can no longer feel the ridges. As these are not solid ink, but largely caused by embossing from the back of the paper, very little is needed to press the raised parts back into FLATTENING AND MOUNTING 149 position, and even blotting-paper under heavy pressure must do this to some extent. But plate-papers are far too hard for this purpose, and “ drying-boards ”’ (such as are expressly sold by dealers for the purpose) are damnation to the etched line. If the etcher will try drying his blotting-paper before the last pressing, he will find that the proofs will remain dead flat in however short a time the work is done. I was told recently that a whole night was not long enough for my informant—a professional mounter—to guarantee Japanese Mulberry- fibre proofs remaining flat ! This paper, being unsized, as already described, lies flatter of its own accord than any European paper except blotting- papers. More often than not it needs no flattening at all, because it is not firm enough in surface to retain the impress of the plate for very long. I know something of these papers, as I have printed (and flattened) well over five thousand proofs on them alone, and I say unhesitatingly that the soft-fibre Hosho is the easiest paper to print on and to flatten that I have ever used: only, it is so easily rubbed in the cabinet ; and heaven help the proof which goes—unprotected even by tissue-paper—to the auction room, there to be handled, without regard for the damage in- flicted, by anyone who cares to walk in before the sale and turn over the rough brown-paper folios! Such paper can be guaranteed to remain flat after half an hour. It is very important that the blotting-paper used for this purpose shall be free of watermark, as if there is one it will be liable to impress itself upon the surface of the etching while the latter is still soft from damping. Most makers will supply unmarked paper, especially if a large quantity is ordered, and there is no economy in stinting oneself in the use of good blotting-paper in any of the processes which together go to the making of a print. Numbering.— When proofs have been flattened the etcher’s own work is usually finished except for signing and numbering. With regard to numbering, I should like to suggest that the Continental method of record- ing the edition number as well as that of the individual print is by far the most satisfactory, and rarely carried out in this country. Without an edition figure the number of the proof tells one nothing and is useless except for the fostering of a spirit of rivalry amongst the credulous who fondly imagine that because they own impressions marked No. 1 they therefore own the first proofs pulled! How can the artist number the work as he goes along, and why should he if he could ? The actual practice is something like this: the etcher prints so many more than he needs for his edition—at least, I do—and throws out the worst weeks afterwards when all are flattened. Very often some of the remainder are still below standard, and more have to be printed and selected from. This may easily happen after the numbering has been done; and in this case, supposing that No. 5 was 150 FLATTENING AND MOUNTING found not good enough, after all: out it would come and a substitute pulled and numbered 5 when it might well be the 105th impression ! They all get mixed up in flattening, anyhow, and are numbered just as they happen. What the collector wants to know in looking at the number is that from a certain plate, in a certain state, so many were printed and that the one in his hand is one of these—no more. Itis of no importance to him whether his proof were pulled first or last, so long as the artist has passed all as good. The early proofs are by no manner of means always the best. On the contrary, I once printed 150 impressions from a plate, and the edition issued to the public was the last 50—numbered, naturally, 1-50. If the rest were destroyed, what else could it have been numbered ? It is also just as well to point out that no numbering is any guarantee that only the stated issue was printed. Even where both artist and dealer have genuinely believed no more proofs to exist I have known definite cases where, when a plate has been printed by someone other than the artist, other proofs have been pulled by the printer for his own benefit ; or again where someone has been told to destroy certain proofs and has not done so. 1 Neither does the destroyed plate aid the guarantee in any way except by proving that no more will be printed. Where the artist prints himself and is honest, there is no further guarantee possible or necessary. There- fore what is of most interest is the edition, not the individual, number recorded on each proof as information, not as a guarantee of probity;to those fools who will not buy anything unless it is rare. A Mounting.—There are two ways of cutting : a board (Figs. 52 and 53). If it be normally thin for the cabinet, a fairly wide space should be allowed between the mount A and the plate- ° mark of the print C. This space (Fig. 52 B) acts as a buffer between mount and proof, and for normal sized work should be about } inch wide at top and sides, and 3 inch at the foot. If, on the other hand, a very thick mount (Fig. 53 A) is used, it should be bevelled at an angle of at least 45° (B), allowing the bottom of the bevel to practically touch the plate-mark (C). In this case the wide bevel acts as the buffer ; as the space left does with a thin mount. The difficulty of mounting in this style is in not being able to show the signature in modern prints, unless the mount is cut away specially, as is done by some etchers. Surely the principle is logical enough, and yet so often (even in our greatest Museum) are the two methods mixed and misapplied. Nothing looks worse than a thick mount cut away back FLATTENING AND MOUNTING 151 from the plate-mark, except a thin mount cut close up to the edge of the print ! Another important point is that the mount should be at least as cold in colour as the tint of the proof. If a little colder it will be ideal; but on no account should it be warmer or darker than the prevailing colour and tone of the print. It is quite common—not in good-class firms—to see an etching which is printed upon a white paper mounted upon a cream board. The effect is abominable. The mount takes the life out of the etching, as the eye is always unconsciously attracted by colour and cannot disregard the mount as it should be able to do. The etching should be positive ; the surrounding blank space negative. Again: to place dark mounts upon luminous warm-toned prints, as some people persist in doing, makes the warm paper appear cold and “ chalky ”’ and cheapens the whole effect. These people imagine that a dark mount will make the luminosity of a sky, for instance, tell more—“show up” is the expression—but it doesn’t ; it has precisely the opposite result. Most wise collectors nowadays keep their prints in stock-sized mounts of two or three dimensions. A very usual and useful size is 22 x16 inches, and many good firms keep to this size when possible. This prevents the solander cases or cabinet from containing any mounts that are loose, and allows a few frames to be utilized for the whole collection, which can thus be changed at will on the walls whenever the owner requires a new stimulus. I know one collector who re-hangs his drawing-room in this way every month or two and so really enjoys his whole collection. If the back- Fic. 54. board (in one piece) is fastened only by catches—either wood or brass— which fit into corresponding slots of the frame sides, this will greatly facilitate the hanging of a new exhibition at a moment’s notice. It is not even necessary to unhang the frame if a picture-rail is used. Another matter of importance to consider is the proportion of the mount’s margin to be cut for a given etching. Any print placed exactly in the centre between top and bottom will look as if the top margin were deeper than the bottom (see Fig. 54 A, 152 FLATTENING AND MOUNTING and Fig. 55 E). This illusion has to be counteracted by pushing the print up a little even if the effect of equality is desired. But it is better to make it appear to have more at the base, which means a still more liberal allowance (B and C in Fig. 54, and G in Fig. 55). With a vertical subject on a 2216 inch mount 14 inches will not be too great a difference between top and bottom ; while horizontally ? inch may be allowed on an average. This naturally depends largely upon the proportions of the actual print and where the dark masses, within it, lie. It is best to keep the top and sides as equal as the whole proportions of proof to mount permit, especially in the case of an upright. What differ- ence there may be should always be in favour of the top in vertical and the sides in horizontal—as they are termed “landscape ’’—subjects. Nothing looks worse than a tall print framed with less margin above than , Ces mR Fie. 55.—Good and bad placing of proofs on mounts. on each side (Fig. 54 D), or a long, narrow one with less at the sides than at the top (Fig. 55 H). The only exception to this last is when, for the sake of uniformity on the wall or in the cabinet, the collector prefers to mount all prints on vertical boards (Fig. 551). In that case, all the works will not look equally well; but neither will they, even if mounted in both ways, so long as a uniform size of mount is used. That is to say, in whichever way it is done the individual proof must be sacrificed for the sake of uniformity, and, generally speaking, it is better to do this than to cut all the mounts to different sizes. In Fig. 54, A, B and C show the same sized prints and mounts in different relations to each other. A is the print placed with equal margins top and bottom. Whichever way it is turned, the margin looks deeper at the top. Bis an example of high mounting when the weight of tone (or interest) is entirely at the base of the design. FLATTENING AND MOUNTING 153 C is good proportion when the weight is at the top. It is set lower than B. D is the print placed upon a board too short for it. The sides are wider than the top and even than the bottom. Even if the sides were cut down, though it would be better, too small a margin in relation to the print would still cramp the latter badly. In Fig. 55 I there is an example of a horizontal print mounted upon a vertical board as described above. It is obviously the extreme limit of the mount’s capacity, and this particular proof would look better mounted as at G. E is again equally spaced top and bottom, but this is counter- balanced a little—not sufficiently—by being weighted at the top of the design. F is mounted very high (like B, Fig. 54), in order to keep the weight at the base of the plate well up. G is good normal proportion : a little more at the foot than the top. H has less side margin than top, which looks very bad. Stretching.—In all these diagrams the plate is as nearly the same size as possible. A large etching being usually printed upon tough paper—even if it is upon soft—is very liable to buckle, and for this reason I strongly advocate stretching all such proofs : small ones also when they require it. A creased and wavy surface is most unfair to the artist who made the print. Buckling immediately destroys the illusion of any atmospheric reality the work may possess. No one knows this—no one can know it— better than the maker. He sees a proof in the first place, fresh from the press—absolutely flat—in its perfection. He strips it from its backing, and as it dries the illusion is dissipated. He still knows that the proof is a good one because he saw it before it became wrinkled, but even so he has the greatest difficulty in believing his memory trustworthy ! This same proof is flattened a week or two later, and once more it appears as a beautiful impression. The proof is sent out ; left in a damp atmosphere—say a London fog; is then framed and hung near a fire or over hot pipes, and once more creases spring up as if by magic: once again it looks its worst. If the paper were stretched this could not occur : the print would remain looking its best. I once saw one of the most sought-after modern etchings—worth, at the moment, the price of a good motor-car—the surface of which, as it hung in a collector’s study, was a mass of radiating lines. It was hardly possible to recognize the plate. So heavy were these creases that they had become flattened, on the top of each, against the glass, and, as I warned the owner, would cause grey marks on the ink (the plate is a mass of black ink) which would be permanent and completely ruin the work. And yet this was a typical case where the collector preferred to have the work in this state rather than have it stretched ! It is just “‘fashion.’’ There is not the slightest danger in stretching 154 FLATTENING AND MOUNTING if it be done properly—it should be done by an expert—and the paper not pulled so tightly that when dry it will be as taut as a drum. This, of course, may mean giving way at the plate-mark or bursting. The advantage lies in the fact that, though a stretched proof will slacken in a very moist atmosphere, it will recover its flatness when dried again instead of being permanently buckled. The edges are merely very slightly pasted to the mounting-board (which must be a firm one) and a sharp mounting-knife slipped underneath will easily part the proof from the mount if desired to unstretch it at any time. I have heard many people who ought to know better say that they can make allowance for the look of a wavy surface, but they can’t. No one can : even the man who knows them best—their maker—and if he cannot it is surely presumptuous for others to imagine they can ? I admit that the practised and cultured critic may at times—indeed, not seldom—be the better judge of a work of art than the artist. Whistler’s dictum on this matter was as wrong as many of his dogmatic utterances. A man may feel things to be right or wrong without having the power of expressing them—otherwise the artist would be a being apart from humanity instead of very much part of it indeed—and the artist is generally thinking along one groove only, to the momentary exclusion of all else. On the other hand, in technical matters of this kind the knowledge of the critic is ntl in comparison with that of the creator of the work, and in such a case, when the artist says he is unable to judge, the critic is mistaken when he affirms that heis quite able todoso. In Bernard Shaw’s words, “‘ He thinks he can, but he can’t.”’ Therefore let me once more put forward a plea for keeping prints abso- lutely flat if their full meaning is to be appreciated—whether it be managed by stretching or by other means I care not—and I feel sure that once the necessity for this were fully realized, the foolish superstition that an etching should never be stretched would die a natural death. Laying Down.—To lay a print down solidly by pasting the whole back is a very different thing, and not to be tolerated under any circumstances. Air.—Prints kept in solander cases, etc., should be examined periodically and azred, if only for a short time. Airing is the greatest safeguard in warding off the incubation of mildew. If any decay is noticed, the patient should be at once segregated to prevent the spread of the germs to others. Frames.—The collector should be guided by the tone (and colour) of his wall. My own belief is that a frame should be half-way (in tone) between the mount and the wall, supposing that there is any great differ- ence between them. A black frame on a grey wall is, however, very beautiful, provided that the frames are few and far between. In this case the wall is the half tone, and though the black frame lies perfectly upon the wall, the weak point is the too sudden contrast between frame and mount. This is apt to attract the eye at the expense of the print unless the latter is exceptionally strong. FLATTENING AND MOUNTING 155 Black, grey, gold and white mouldings are all beautiful if well hung, but they should have one point in common: their width. A frame for a 22X16 inch mount, for instance, should not exceed 4 inch. For larger works—etchings or mezzotints—? inch should be fully wide enough. Certainly no more than 1 inch for the largest and strongest plates, such as those of Bauer or Brangwyn. There is in these exceptionally large frames the weight of the glass supported by the mortices to be taken into consideration. A frame of which I am personally very fond is 4-inch oak, gilt directly upon the grain of the wood which shows through and keeps the surface matt. It has the advantage of suiting almost any coloured wall. But these things are very personal matters, and I have no wish to seem dogmatic on the subject. Nevertheless I am convinced that a large proportion of the collecting public and of the artists never really consider the framing of their works at all seriously—often, indeed, leaving the choice of proportion and design to their frame-maker, who works on rule of thumb tradition. As to the hanging of exhibitions of prints, so many of which are held everywhere, I should like to draw the attention of those concerned with the lighting and arranging of galleries, to the excellent chapter on the subject at the end of Mr. Pennell’s ‘‘ Etchers and Etching,” quoted from several times in the course of this book. I have been informed on the best authority that this chapter was written many years before the book was published, and in it the author gives us the full benefit of a long and wide experience of the hanging of black-and-white. Those who remember the splendid results of Mr. Pennell’s hanging in the old days of the New Gallery “ International” Exhibitions will agree that the artist knew his job. One of the most important features of such hanging was the use of the Velarium introduced by Whistler, and now unfortunately rarely seen. Another matter of great importance was the hanging from a line at the top instead of from the bottom, as oils are hung, and the breaking of the line of prints into groups. In 1920 I hung the Whistler Exhibition held by the Scottish Print Club in this manner, and it was generally admitted that the prints looked unusually well. Yet it is hardly ever practised nowadays, and as an example of how monotonous exhibitions of etchings can be made to appear, one can think of those held by the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers in London, and yet several of the older members knew Whistler and many of them must remember Mr. Pennell’s hanging of the New Gallery. CHAPTER XVII MILDEW AND RESTORING PRINTS It is but quite recently that any scientific research has been made into the question of mildew and its prevention and destruction with due safety to the print. Dr. Alexander Scott, F.R.S., is still working at these and kindred sub- jects at the British Museum Laboratory, and his reports have been issued as pamphlets at intervals under the title of “ The Cleaning and Restoration of Museum Exhibits,” published by His Majesty’s Stationery Office: the first being in 1921, Bulletin 5, price 2s., and the second in February, 1923, at the same price. I should advise any collector who has a print of importance that shows signs of “‘ foxing ” or mildew spots to obtain and study these booklets, or to take his print to the Museum itself and ask for advice, always very courteously given. But whatever he decides to do, he will be well advised not to take his print to the usual cleaner and restorer, who is supposed to be at the beck and call of any print-seller. I have seen enough ruin caused by unscientific professionals to know that even the best and most well-meaning firms cannot always rely upon the services of an expert who really knows his job. This can hardly be wondered at when an expert chemist of Dr. Scott’s repute has put it on record that research along these lines is only in its infancy. Mildew spores are presumably always present in paper, either from the time of manufacture or having been picked up from some infected object (not necessarily a print) which may have been in the same room at any time subsequently. Conditions to Avoid.—But these spores will not germinate unless the conditions are favourable. One of these is moisture : particularly a warm, damp atmosphere such as one finds to perfection in southern sea-ports such as Calcutta and Singapore. Anyone taking prints to the Kast should be specially careful to give them air and light. A dark—especially an underground—warehouse, where the atmosphere is never disturbed, is an unusually likely mildew-breeding domicile. In such a place as Calcutta I have known mildew spring up on one’s boots in a single night during the rains; but fortunately in Europe we have not those conditions to fight. There is, naturally, less danger in treating etchings (the ink of which is composed of carbon in some form held in place by a linseed-oil varnish) than in cleaning coloured drawings or pictures ; nevertheless it is not at all difficult to ruin an etching, and in the great majority of cases the operator has no appreciation of the surface qualities of a 156 MILDEW AND RESTORING PRINTS 157 fine impression, and is therefore incapable of seeing when he has destroyed them. I was shown a print, not long ago, where the incompetent to whom it was entrusted had actually ironed the back in order to flatten it out after “restoring,” the result of the whole process being a surface like a newly polished piano-lid, combined with a friability of texture only equalled by an oat-cake ! Needless to say, that print no longer exists. Chloride of lime is probably the most common bleaching agent used by restorers, and the great danger is that the chlorine will not be entirely washed out of the paper after use. It requires hours of soaking in con- stantly changed water to ensure that none remains. Another chemical commonly employed for removing “foxing”’ is chloride of mercury—corrosive sublimate—a very dangerous poison and (Dr. Scott says) quite inadmissable for use upon works containing delicate colours (Bulletin 5, p. 5). I once had a foxed print sprayed! with a solution of this salt, but though the mildew was probably killed, the spots “came up” after a time and are there still. Dr. Scott’s Treatments.—The treatment for bleaching mildew stains advised in the above pamphlet is as follows :— Two baths of bleaching powder and hydrochloric acid respectively are used alternately. The solution should always be very weak. (1) 1 fluid oz. of concentrated hydrochloric acid in 1 quart of water. (2) From } to 4 oz. of good bleaching powder in the same quantity (1 quart) of water (Bulletin 5, p. 4). The mixture of bleaching powder and water need not be filtered. The print is first immersed in the acid bath for from ten to twenty minutes. Then, without being washed, placed in the second bath for an equal length of time. After this it is once more transferred to the acid bath. If this is not sufficient, the process can be repeated until no further improvement is noticeable. The print must then be washed thoroughly for some hours in water. To guard against any free chlorine remaining in the paper a small quantity of sodium sulphite may be added before the last washing. In the second pamphlet (1923), p. 2, Dr. Scott mentions sodium hydro- sulphite, or ‘‘ Hydros,’”’ as an agent for removing stains of an organic nature (in his case probably dyes contained in red ink), which resisted for many hours the treatment just described. “‘ The stains were at once removed by applying a solution of sodium hydrosulphite, or by rubbing a little of the powder on the stain, then washing thoroughly and giving a single treatment of the bleaching agents followed by a thorough final washing.” I have tried this with success. “Instead of bleaching powder,” Dr. Scott says in the first pamphlet, “ the so-called solution of chlorinated soda may be used. This is sometimes too alkaline, and, if so, may render the paper dangerously soft and tender from the solution of the size in the paper.” 1 Spraying is not sufficient as small particles may easily escape saturation, 158 MILDEW AND RESTORING PRINTS Danger of Bleaching.—In my experience this is the usual result of the chloride of lime treatment as commonly employed. The mildew feeds chiefly on the size in the paper—generally gelatine or animal sizes, but starch and vegetable sizes are also liable to attack— and by the time the discoloration produced by the dead fungus has been removed the size has practically disappeared too, leaving the paper, to all intents and purposes, as soft and absorbent as blotting-paper. A really good, strong-fibred paper will stand this; and I can see no reason why it should not be re-sized, but a poor fibre relying upon the size for its strength would naturally go to pieces at once. It follows, also, that papers so treated, being now easily affected (like blotting-paper) by the amount of moisture in the atmosphere, may become a danger to other papers or mounts with which they remain long in contact’; and though the absence of size in itself may make such papers less liable to the growth of mildew, the moisture they will contain will aid its germination. It is not uncommon for a collector to notice mildew (recently started) upon taking a print from close confinement, either from the cabinet or a sealed-up frame,” and to be reassured upon finding that the marks have disappeared when the print has been exposed to dry air for a short time. Sunlight and even the dryness of an ordinary living-room will often check the continuance of growth, but the mildew zs not dead. It is still in the paper, and will renew its activities at once if favourable conditions are restored. Formalin.—To kill the spores, therefore, chemical treatment 1s essential. Even paper upon which there are as yet no signs of active mildew is better treated if there is reason to suspect contamination. For this purpose, upon the advice of another distinguished chemist, I have used for some years a solution of formalin in spirits of wine or good methylated spirit : 5 per cent of formalin would probably be amply strong ; 10 per cent is certain to be. Dr. Scott (lst pamphlet, p. 5) says: ‘‘ Formaldehyde (formalin) would no doubt act, but, from its constitution and chemical activity, can hardly come under the category of undoubtedly ‘ safe ’ reagents for this purpose until it has been very carefully tested. From the purely chemical point of view it may easily pass to formic acid, the presence of which may prove dangerous to many colours.” But this need not worry the black-and- white collector. “‘ Thymol,” he adds, “and similar substances, aided by a gentle rise in temperature, seem to promise good results.’ There is no need to place the print in the formalin bath. A sponge or large brush applied to the back is all that is necessary. Formalin is, I 1 Dr. Scott has queried this without actually contradicting it—on the ground that having absorbed the moisture from the atmosphere, the paper would retain it and not pass it on to another with which it was in contact. 2 It is far wiser to leave frames unpapered at the backs, in order to permit air to penetrate. 8 Dr. Scott tells me that his opinion of thymol has been since confirmed. MILDEW AND RESTORING PRINTS 159 believe, inclined to harden the size in the paper, acting as a “ tanning ”’ agent, but this should be rather to the advantage of a print than otherwise. Hydrogen Peroxide Method.—For the removal of “ foxing,” undoubtedly the safest method, but one entailing rather more trouble and care, is that which Dr. Scott has invented and advises in his first booklet, p. 5. He casts a block of stucco (plaster of Paris) in an ordinary mould, larger than the size of the paper to be treated, and distributes over its surface (when dry) a small quantity of a concentrated solution of hydrogen peroxide, as uniformly as possible. By so doing an active surface is obtained, and the hydrogen peroxide is given off in the form of vapour and free from impurities. He then places the print face downwards } inch above the surface and allows it to remain until the marks have disappeared. It will apparently require some hours to remove mildew stains in this way. Pyridine.—To remove stains caused by oils and varnishes which have darkened with age, Dr. Scott advises the use of pyridine. It is applied by means of a soft glass-fibre brush, and the liquid removed with pure white blotting-paper. Several applications may be necessary. The pyridine, he says, evaporates very rapidly and leaves the paper undamaged in toughness. Referring in the second pamphlet to the hydrogen peroxide method, he adds: “Some papers have become brittle and fragile under prolonged treatment, owing apparently to the size used in manufacture of the paper having been oxidized and destroyed. Most papers, but by no means all, seem to withstand the action of the hydrogen peroxide very well indeed.” He then goes on to say that in some cases writing inks (where the basis was an iron salt) have been bleached a faint yellow by this treatment. I presume, therefore, that where an ink signature or other work—such as retouches or dedication—is affixed to an etching care will have to be exercised and the written part, or added touches, protected if possible. It is possible, as Dr. Scott informs us, to restore the colour of ink so bleached by the use of certain salts, but in any case it would be unwise for the inexpert to try these delicate reactions which only the highly trained chemist would undertake. In cases where it was inadvisable to submit the whole print to the moisture of the peroxide vapour (by reason of the unequal expansion of certain papers) a solution of this in ether was applied by means of a camel- hair brush to the parts requiring it. Grease Spots.—For the removal of grease from prints, petrol may be used and the stain (if there is any) afterwards got rid of by the bleaching method. Fresh grease may be largely removed by placing blotting-paper on the spot and heating by passing a not too hot iron or other metal object over the blotting-paper very gently. Printing-Folds.—For removing printing creases there is only one safe method of working. The print should be damped and stretched by an expert as tightly as may be without running the risk of bursting the paper. This will pull out the fold automatically, leaving the fine uninked line 160 MILDEW AND RESTORING PRINTS telling as a white against the tone of the surface. The only remedy for this is to fill in very delicately with a fine brush. If the crease is across a passage of pale surface tone—and this is Just where they happen most frequently, because there the paper is not gripped so well as in the heavily inked parts—it can best be filled in with water-colour mixed to the required tint and made as stiff as possible by admixture of a little gum of some kind. This will prevent the colour spreading beyond the line. If the crease crosses a heavily bitten passage it can be more easily filled by means of a needle dipped in the same printing-ink as was used for the etching in the first place. In the case of Japanese paper, water-colour will be certain to spread unless the paper has been sized. No flattening can ever hope to eradicate a printing-fold successfully, but it is the method almost invariably attempted. If the fold 7s worked out by this means it will only be at the expense of the surrounding surface, and moreover the tension of that part will be left unequal and the proof likely to buckle in consequence. By straining the fibre is pulled equally from the edges, and when de-stretched remains of more equal tension throughout. The great pressure required to flatten a crease will also destroy every vestige of an embossed line, whereas in stretching nothing of the kind happens. CHAPTER XVIII THE MEDIUM IN RELATION TO THE ARTIST’S IDEA THE engraver in any medium is very strictly limited by the nature of that medium. In painting with oil or water-colours the artist is practi- cally unlimited in his choice of subject. He can suggest the most delicate or the strongest differences of both tone and colour without ever straining the resources of his craft. Leaving aside colour altogether, as we cannot here deal with relief methods which are alone suitable for colour-printing, the processes ex- amined one by one in the previous chapters show that each is peculiarly adapted for yielding a certain quality of line or tone, which, in its turn, is most capable of being the medium of interpretation for certain modes of thought and their expression in black and white. Etching can best express the thought of the artist when he is thinking in terms of definite form ; in other words: line. Aquatint yields him of its best when he thinks in vaguer terms of tonal masses, which are yet definitely separated, each from each. When he dreams of infinitely subtle and illusive gradations mezzotint is his medium ; and so it goes on, down to the less obviously distinctive qualities of soft-ground and drypoint. It would be foolish (though not absolutely impossible) to endeavour to interpret a subtle nocturne with the needle, when the resources of mezzo- tint are available. Still more foolish, because impossible, to attempt to record in a few, swift, definite strokes the motion of an animal, in mezzo- tint ; though it might be done with the brush in aquatint. The rough breadth of soft-ground lends itself to the rapid jotting down of a semi-tonal effect where true etching would fail; while for broad, simple, flat washes of tone obviously aquatint is indicated. These mediums are often combined, it is true ; and sometimes, though comparatively rarely, with success. Turner did it in the splendid Lzber Studiorum, using combinations of at least four mediums (etching and soft- ground etching for his structure: aquatint and mezzotint for his tone), though probably rarely more than two of these upon any one plate. Goya did it, also, in his amazing series of semi-etched, semi-aquatinted plates. That great experimenter Geddes often combined his mediums, and so subtly that it is extremely baffling to distinguish them (see Chap. XXIII). But for the student it is far better to master one medium at a time: to learn the strength of each and its limitations. If the student, for instance, could gain such technical mastery as that achieved by the late W. Hole in his astonishing translations of Velasquez, Millet and others, he would be able to express himself in etching proper L 161 162 MEDIUM IN RELATION TO THE ARTIST’S IDEA with the greatest ease, supposing that he had anything in him worth expressing. A student who is learning the resources of a medium is much more likely to be thinking firstly of his method of working, and only secondly of what he wishes to express by its means. This is as it should be ; but the result is that he will sally forth to find a subject only after he has made up his mind to produce an etching. By so doing he will, consciously or other- wise, reject every subject he meets with which is unsuitable for expression on line. The converse of this is when the rarer, and usually older, artist is so enthralled by a subject that he casts about for a suitable medium in which to express it. There are many artists, even of the first rank, who are temperamentally more interested in mediums than in expressing their manner of seeing Life ; although they have their moments when Life grips them so hard that they forget about the importance of the means for its own sake: otherwise they would never be classed as highly as they are. As an example of a very great artist of whom this may be said I cite Whistler ; of the opposite type, Rembrandt, and I hope no one will mis- interpret my meaning in contrasting these types, as no artist can have a more genuine appreciation of the work of the modern master than I. If the student will take an illustrated catalogue of Whistler’s etched work he will find that in hardly an instance did the artist attempt a subject that necessitated anything beyond premier coup methods, or that pre- supposed deliberate thinking out beforehand of the composition in order to express an idea—I mean a universal idea—beyond what he actually saw at the moment. His composition was perfect within the limits of his art ; but this came from reducing what he actually saw to the essentials requisite to the making of an etching. His amazing power of rapid selection in drawing on the spot—a power more certain even than Rembrandt’s—allowed him to avoid subjects, or the parts of a subject, which were unsuitable for expression in the medium. In this Whistler was the supreme master ; and if art meant nothing more than the perfect handling of a medium, he would hold the place claimed for him by his extreme admirers. If we now turn to a Rembrandt catalogue we shall see that the attitude of the Dutchman was very different. Some of his plates are perfection technically, but in others the technique went by the board because the greatest of all etchers was less interested in preserving its purity than in expressing the idea he had in mind. That the medium, as such, interested him intensely, no one can doubt who has studied his work ; but that the expression of Life interested him still more is undeniable. We know that, with few exceptions, the whole of Whistler’s work was executed red-hot from nature, and this has certain obvious advantages. MEDIUM IN RELATION TO THE ARTIST’S IDEA 1638 The seizing of an action or an accidental arrangement of light and shade is more likely to be spontaneously and vigorously set down in this way, and, for individual figures or simple landscape, this advantage probably outweighs those which pertain to the studio. But for an elaborately designed plate such as the “‘ Christ Healing the Sick,” or one of Bauer’s many-figured, carefully-balanced compositions, working in any way other than from deliberately planned drawings—or from one’s memory if that be sufficiently accurate—is unthinkable. The great majority of modern etchers who have done work worthy of mention most certainly prefer to work finally upon the plate after having made studies, more or less elaborate, in another medium. The notable exceptions were Whistler and Haden. That Meryon did preliminary work—we are told that he did work directly from nature,? working from a mirror—we have ample evidence in his pencil drawings. That the finest etching by far (in my opinion) produced by Zorn—the ‘‘ Renan ’’—was done also in this way we again have the evidence of the original drawing, line for line almost identical with the plate. Cameron once told me that there was no doubt that nearly all the best men worked from drawings. Bone, we know, often, if not invariably, follows the same method. McBey told me years ago that he found working from nature directly on the plate much more con- fusing than helpful; while Blampied said the same in almost identical words. Needless to say, such plates as Percy Smith’s “ Dance of Death ”’ could hardly have been done in any way “ on the spot,” and of the living foreigners, Benson and Forain, the same may be said with certainty. Of many other masters I have definite opinions on the same subject, but the student is as able to form his own as to read mine. I began my own work by making drypoints from nature and generally etched them in reverse—i.e. from the print of the first plate—in the studio. After that I did most of the etching from pencil drawings, though some were drawn on the spot. I gradually worked more and more from nature, following Whistler’s maxim, until the war. And yet, curiously enough, some of the best plates of those years were executed from draw- ings, though by no means all. Nearly all the first and second Indian sets were drawn on the plate from nature and bitten months afterwards in Scotland. After the long break of the war I began gradually to feel that this method was no longer possible to me; while in the last five years only portraits and a few small jottings have been done on the copper from nature, and, of these heads, all were drypoint. I feel more and more convinced that for work other than the “ note ” or “sketch,” planning out in another medium before touching the plate is by far the sounder policy ; and what is sacrificed by not being in definite (4 1 Since writing the above I have had Mr. Bauer’s letter confirming this (see note, p.. 326). 2 See Hamerton’s “ Etching and Etchers.”’ 164 MEDIUM IN RELATION TO THE ARTIST’S IDEA contact with nature at the moment is more than made up for by the opportunity for weighing the relative values of one composition against another, and in being unhurried in actual execution. Great art can only be produced by analysing ; considering balance and rhythm, volume and line; as well as by recapturing the heat of the emotion felt at a particular moment through the vehicle of one or other of the senses. And this intellectual part of the work can be done far better in the calm of the studio, if one can only hold fast the memory of the past emotion. PART III CHAPTER XIX A BRIEF SURVEY OF ETCHERS UP TO THE YEAR 1800 For a large part of the information contained in the earlier part of this chapter I am indebted to two books in particular: Mr. 8. R. Koehler’s “ Etching ” (1885) and Mr. A. M. Hind’s “ A Short History of Engraving and Etching ” (1908) (revised edition 1923), and the student who desires fuller details and the many intermediate names of those who fill the occasionally considerable gaps between men of outstanding merit who alone can have place here, will find those works invaluable for reference purposes. The first names we have to mention are not those of etchers, but of a few obscure artists whose work was principally executed with the drypoint. The Master of the Hausbuch (c. 1480).—The first of these (Plate 24) is the anonymous master, the largest collection of whose work is in the Amsterdam Cabinet. He flourished towards the close of the fifteenth century and was presumably a German of the middle Rhine. Mr. Hind finds an occasional influence of the great engraver Schongauer in his plates, which are of great originality. Mr. Koehler mentions three Italians about whose work so little has been authenticated that it seems unnecessary for the student to be concerned with it. No one seems yet to have discovered precisely when the process of etching designs upon metal objects—purely for ornament’s sake—began first to be practised, but in all probability it was used by the armourers and jewellers long before the fifteenth century, when first we find any definite record of the art. Jehan le Begue, to whom I have already referred in Chapter VI, left definite recipes for making two mordants for the practice of etching iron —presumably for decorative purposes only, but we cannot be sure of that —so far back as 1431; but nothing is authenticated in etching as we understand the term until the opening of the sixteenth century. Daniel Hopfer (14931-15386) is cited by Mr. Hind as having probably produced a portrait as early as 1503 or 1504, and Mr. Koehler’s reasoning on the evidence seems very sound when he says: “ There is other proof, however, to convince us that Daniel Hopfer was the earliest etcher so far known to have worked in Germany. In the year 1500 his name is found entered in the register of one of the guilds of Augsburg, and his profession is given in the same entry as that of ‘ Kupferstecher,’ that is to say, an engraver on copper. . . . Hence we are perfectly justified in accepting 1 This date would appear more than doubtful. 165 Drypoint. Plate 24 ORIENTAL HORSEMAN. ‘THE MASTER OF THE HAUSBUCH. THIS IS ONE OF THE EARLIEST DRYPOINTS KNOWN & THE ARTIST’S NAME HAS BEEN LOST. From a proof in the British Museum. 166 64 x4h Cut. Etching. 11§ x8} Plate 25 KONRAD VON DER ROSEN. DANIEL HOPFER. HOPFER, WHO ETCHED ON IRON, IS PROBABLY THE EARLIEST WORKER IN THE MEDIUM WHOSE PRINTS HAVE SURVIVED HE WAS ALREADY A KNOWN CRAFTSMAN IN 1500. From a proof in the British Museum, 167 168 BRIEF SURVEY OF ETCHERS UP TO YEAR 1800 it as a proven fact that Daniel Hopfer, named as an engraver in 1500, and all of whose plates were executed by biting with a mordant, was engaged in producing printable plates by etching as far back as the date named.” He points out that these plates (Plate 25) were etched on iron, not on copper; but that does not in any way upset his argument. Urs Graf (c. 1485-1529).—1518 is the year of the first known print from a dated bitten plate. Urs Graf—probably a Swiss—was the author of it : the subject a woman bathing her feet (Plate 26), and only a single impres- sion has been discovered. Master of 1515.—At the same time, in Italy, was working another un- identified master, thought by reason of the character of his Gothic draughts- manship to have been of northern origin also (Plate 27). He has been long recognized as one of the earliest artists to use the drypoint, but I am quite satisfied that his preliminary, structural contours were bitten and not graved. My reasons are: (1) distinct traces of foul-biting in some plates ; (2) the equality and continuity of the line; (3) that it would seem much more logical for an artist to complete his shading with the drypoint, after having employed a single strong etching, than to change deliberately from the pushed burin to the down-stroke of the drypoint. If the latter were the method one might expect intermediate passages where both tools had been used (which is not the case) ; while if the con- tour were first bitten, there would be no going back after the wax was finally removed, all the subsequent shading being done in a different medium. We have no data, so far, to indicate whether 1515 which appears upon one of the plates was early or late in the artist’s life, but there is little doubt that he was etching in Italy almost, if not quite, as early as any of the known Germans in the north. As his work was certainly executed upon copper he would also be the first known etcher of that metal. That etching or even engraving was derived from the Florentine goldsmiths’ Niello? is now doubted, and our historians are inclined to place the birth of line-engraving as well as the bitten process in Germany. Durer (1471-1528).—The first great master who produced a few bitten and drypoint plates amongst his numerous engravings was Albrecht Diirer. His earliest attributed drypoint (1510) is disputed as a later forgery. Of the three authentic drypoints, two are dated 1512. His six bitten (iron) plates were executed between 1515-1518 (see Chapter XX). Lucas v. Leyden (1494-1533).—Next comes the great Dutchman, Lucas, who was etching—probably inspired by Diirer—after 1520. Mr. Hind cites him as the first man of note to use copper, but, as I have just shown, the Master of 1515 has, almost certainly, a prior claim. I pass over these two men for the present because I shall return to them later on. 1 Some of these iron plates are to be seen in the British Museum, where the student can see the pointed lines drawn with the échoppe. 2 Niello (Lat., Nigellum) is the art of filling the engraved lines with a black (or coloured) composition in order to throw up the design strongly, as is done in so many forms of Eastern metal work, e.g. Kashmiri, Bidri, Muradabad. Plate 26 WOMAN BATHING HER FEET. Urs GRAF, THIS ETCHING UPON IRON IS THE FIRST KNOWN TO CARRY A DATE, THOUGH THOSE OF Hoprer & THE MASTER OF 1515 ARE ALMOST CERTAINLY EARLIER. 169 “INIOdGAUG AUV ONICVHS ~ ANNOUNHOVA AAT, ‘uNnasnyy ysineg oy, ur fooud w wos ‘NVWYAN V ATdvd0Oud ! ATVII NI NMONH ANTI NALLIA FHL aSN OL LSILYV LSArIuva HY, “CTST 40 UAISVA FHL “VULVdOWIO 46 9481 *quriodéig <> Surqoz 170 “HAILVUOORd AUDA AUV SALVId FAHY, e * A Pe + \ ‘mmasnyy ysinsg ay2 ur food » wooly ‘ONILIA LVI4 ‘HIONIS V GH8N ‘YHHOLH AdVOSAGNVI Budd ISUld AHL WaAMUOGLTY “SHHOUVT HLIM Ad VOSANVT 86 4°%Id ‘aqIuOaLTy ‘amaod axry *80Tq040, 171 172 BRIEF SURVEY OF ETCHERS UP TO YEAR 1800 Altdorfer (c. 1480-1588).—Albrecht Altdorfer (Plate 28) was a most interesting etcher of landscape and the founder of the “ Regensburg school.” His drawing of the drooping larch branches is very personal, though his plates have none of the incisive strength and definition of Diirer’s, whose landscape drawing (e.g. ‘“‘ The Cannon ’’) is magnificcnt. Hirschyogel (1503-1553).—Another native of Nuremberg who made some very charming landscape plates (Plate 29) after the manner of Altdorfer was Aug. Hirschvogel. The “articulation ”’ of the planes and the relationship of objects atmospherically are much more definitely felt, while the line is very economically used. Here we have the beginnings of true landscape etching. His great importance lies in the fact that he was perhaps the first to gain atmospheric perspective by varied strength of line: possibly by employing more than one needle rather than by stopping-out. Parmigiano (c. 1508-1540).—To return to Italy: Francesco Mazzuoli, Lucas’s contemporary, was etching after 1520 with an extraordinarily free and etcher-like line. It is so modern in feeling that one is reminded of the work of our Victorian woodcut school (Plate 30). Meldolla (c. 1522-1582). Andrea Schiavone was probably Parmigiano’s pupil, and his work shows the influence of the master. It must be remembered that we are here forced to disregard many greater men than the last named, merely because, though engravers, they did not employ acid or the drypoint. Seghers (1590-1645).—One Dutchman who deserves passing notice, principally because his rather wild landscapes were of interest to Rem- brandt, is Hercules Seghers. He experimented considerably with printing in colour. We must now pass over a considerable period till we come to the first men who began to use etching for the sake of its own inherent qualities, though this might perhaps be claimed for the last four men I have spoken of, to a certain extent. Callot (1592-1635).—The first of these—one who still had strong lean- ings towards the quality of the graver’s line—was Jacques Callot (Plates 31, 32). His is a most important figure in the history of etching because his influence descended side by side with that of his greater contemporary, Rembrandt, until our own day, as I think, has not been fully recognized. In the seventeenth century his example (technically) was followed in France, Italy, Holland (where I am sure he influenced Rembrandt) and England. His great vogue, especially in the late seventeenth and eight- eenth centuries, was probably largely due to two things apart from the excellence of much of the work. Firstly, his huge output ; and, secondly, that he was known to, and held up as worthy of imitation by, the first known writer on technical etching, Abraham Bosse,! through the 1 In Bosse’s foreword occurs the following, which shows that he at least knew of no previous work: ‘“‘ dont personne que je sache n’a traité par écrit public jusqu’a cette heure.”’ eo a rie Tg kak S ; odes fee % ; a $0. Heth, Sere’ aes — bas : e B.TK 183.82, Pitching et — . 24x 5B. Plate 29 LANDSCAPES. HIRSCHVOGEL. THESE LANDSCAPES, PROBABLY ETCHED ON IRON, ARE VERY IMPORTANT AS SHOWING THE FIRST USE OF MORE THAN ONE STRENGTH OF LINE IN THE SAME DESIGN. THIS MAY HAVE BEEN DUE TO STOPPING-OUT OR MERELY TO THE EMPLOY- MENT OF DIFFERENT SIZED POINTS. From a proof in the British Museum. 173 Spree oo ee ee oor Plate 30 THE ANNUNCIATION. PARMIGIANO. SHOWING THE FREEDOM & EMANCIPATION FROM THE BURIN INFLUENCE ALREADY ATTAINED IN EARLY SIXTEENTH CENTURY ITALY. From a proof in the British Museum. 174 3 54 x3}. Etching, Plate 31 A BEGGAR. CALLOT. NoTE THE POINTED ENDS OF MANY LINES SHOWING STILL THE BURIN INFLUENCE. A MAGNIFICENT EXAMPLE OF WORKING WITH THE ECHOPPE. From a proof in the British Muscum. 175 176 BRIEF SURVEY OF ETCHERS UP TO YEAR 1800 translation of whose book by Faithorne and the anonymous author of the treatise quoted from in the early chapters of this book, his fame and methods spread through Britain. Upon the title-page of Faithorne’s “ The Art of Graveing and Etching ” (1662) he is described as “ that famous Callot.” It was obviously his influence—in part through Claude and Zeeman— which caused the first notable plates to be produced in Scotland (as I shall endeavour to show later), and his influence which descended through Zeeman to Meryon and the moderns. Callot was born at Nancy. He spent most of his earlier life in Italy—largely at Rome—but returned to his native town some fourteen years before his death. Mr. Hind! makes a curious and ambiguous statement which I must confess I am quite unable to accept under any interpretation. “In the history of etching his work is a notable landmark, as it is among the earliest in which the practice of a second (or further repeated) biting was used to any extent. The varied tone of line achieved by this method opens possibilities of treating atmosphere and distance which few even of the greatest etchers have fully realized.” Whether Mr. Hind means by “second biting” the reopening of the orzginal lines and their re-biting, a continued biting after some passages have been stopped-out, or the adding of further lines crossing the old by means of re-grounding with the old lines filled up, is uncertain; but, in any case, what follows seems to imply that few even of the greatest etchers have fully realized how to exploit those processes ! Rembrandt himself was noted for his skill in the use of those operations, and it would be difficult to find a single man of importance since that time who has not fully understood and utilized either one or all of the same methods. I feel sure that Rembrandt must have been influenced very early by Callot, but I have no evidence other than that of his prints—the beggars— themselves. And with the fame that Callot appears to have won it seems highly probable that some of his prints would have found their way to Amsterdam, where the art was appreciated.? The other influence, which I do not remember having seen suggested, but which—direct or indirect—seems to me quite patent, is that of Callot’s figures upon the art of Meryon. Compare, for instance, Meryon’s treat- ment of his figures in “‘ La Morgue ” with any of the small groups in a typical Callot, and I think the resemblance can hardly fail to strike the student. It may be that the influence was only indirect—through Zeeman—but it is worth while to draw attention to the probability of the French tradition having definitely descended from the first great etcher to the still greater etcher of two hundred years later. Claude Gellée (1600-1682).—The next great artist, who was only inci- 1 “A Short History, etc.,”’ p. 159 (1st ed.). 2 A very close copy of his “‘ Miséres de la Guerre ’’ was published in Amsterdam in Rembrandt’s lifetime. ‘unasnyy ysinig ay ur food M WoL ‘NOLUBW G ‘NVWIONOY ‘HUNTO ‘NVNUHZY ‘AGAVIO ONIGONIONI ‘SUTHOLH SSHILNOOO JO NOILVUIMSNI 40 AOUNOS AHL MOHS ITIM SHUNDNI LII-AIVH AHL AO AGALS Y ‘LUV S,LOTIVO dO AGIs ZNO ‘“LOTIVO ‘PV ‘ON .“AUWMHNYD V T dd GS 481d “-apous nz gee txopnof v fa] ua pe oe tebe States Ak ed ackod au gre co f romegyaa fa 2 soadxd quojaadoe 577 $ fs epounugsaefuneuaty at ATie}IOp Weg Tp il ae : ‘f0iA pp signee sere sanen nen, an SHUUSIA SAT,, Nout pee rseepeee se ath penne ie irene enna amnneaentgnieh Sinica 40 TYOIGAL 8I aLvVId SIH], L77 *‘WIH OL HOOW GHMO ‘HUMID ‘UMHOLA AdVOSGNVI HSILLOOG INVIUOMWI LSuld wnQ GQHATI GH AYAHM ATIVIT NI ATIVIORISA ‘HONHOAIANI AGIM GVH SVH ‘SALVId MAA GHONGOUd AH HYNOHL ‘AaaviO ‘NIVUNOT AGAVID “UHALVAM AWYOLS NI ONINGOLAY WILLVO SE 481d ‘aopfung peyog _%8 Xx t9 178 BRIEF SURVEY OF ETCHERS UP TO YEAR 1800 179 dentally a great etcher, was also a Frenchman, and, like Callot, he absorbed the tradition in Rome. Claude outlived Callot by forty-seven years, though only some eight years his junior; but while the older man pro- duced at least one thousand plates at a modest estimate, Claude’s whole output does not reach half a hundred! His etched work occupied but a small part of his long life, but his plates are by no means bitten “ en- gravings ”’ like those of nearly all his predecessors. He employed a free, delicate, irregular line which unmistakably “‘ belongs’ to the medium, and that same feeling for luminosity which he imparted to his wonderful paintings also permeates the finest of his plates. I cannot agree with Sir Frederick Wedmore? in this instance when he ranks Le bouvier as the finest of these. It is a laboured plate containing some very poor draughts- manship. Far finer, in my opinion, and showing an amazing sense of the peculiar qualities of etching, are such plates as the magnificent ‘‘ Flock in stormy weather ”’ (Plate 38), La fuite en Egypte, L’apparition, La danse au bord de l’eau and Berger et Bergére. “‘ The dance by the water-side ”’ is as true to nature as any of the contemporary Dutch landscapes except those of Rembrandt; while Claude etched with greater force and con- trasts of biting than even Rembrandt in the latter’s outdoor work. This can easily be explained by the mere contrast of lighting found in their respective countries, Holland and Italy. Although Claude does not approach the Dutchman in delicacy and pro- fundity of draughtsmanship, yet he had absorbed from Italy a certain sense of bigness of design which is very satisfying and totally unlike the art of the North. In any case, Claude, like Rembrandt, was a pioneer, and a very great one ; a man who prepared the way for the great land- scape etchers of England. Van Dyck (1599-1641) and Rembrandt (1606—1669).—- Born a little later, but both outlived by Claude, were the two men who were to change the whole development of etching: Van Dyck and Rembrandt. These men, both from the Low Countries—the Fleming who travelled extensively and left his mark directly upon our own artists, and the Dutchman who never left his own land, but whose work soon became still more sought atter abroad—these two set a standard for portrait, figure and landscape etching which has remained generation after generation until the present day. There is hardly a man who has come after Rembrandt but has been, directly or indirectly, influenced by his all-embracing genius. No great artist of Rembrandt’s calibre has time in the space of a work- ing life to explore all the possibilities of even one medium, and though he may feel that in certain directions things might be accomplished, he can only hint at them and pass on along the main track which he has selected, or that circumstances have forced upon him. These hints of what were but side-tracks on the road of the master are often followed up and carried further by his many followers, each working along a gradually diverging path, until, at the end, it is sometimes difficult 1 “ Ktchings,”’ 1911. AVIOOWL FHL ALON ‘unasnyy ysineg 2y2 us fooid pv wor ‘NIGTG JO HUTID AM GHSN SCUVMUALAV SHAUL INVISIG dO INAWEVAUL *AOVWILNI DNIMOVI HONOHL ‘AdVOSANVI dO AIT AHL UOA ONIIGAA ANIONGD §,UVTIOW ONIMONS ‘avTIOH “NHYNd AWA PE Id See 180 wee 4 4 4 3 Etching. 85x 633. Plate 35 THE DOCTOR. BeEa@a. FIRST STATE. BEGA, WHO FOLLOWED REMBRANDT, HAD YET SOMETHING DEFINITE TO SAY FOR HIMSELF. From a proof in the British Museum. 18] Etching. | 14x64. Plate 36 CATTLE & HERD-BOY. pu JArpIn. ONE OF THE FINEST PLATES OF THIS FIRST G PROBABLY GREATEST OF ANIMAL ETCHERS. NOTE THE INTIMATE CHARACTERIZATION <> THE ECONOMY OF MEANS. From a proof in the British Museum. 182 “ulnasnyT Yysinag 247 ur food v~woLg “I8SHa SIH LV Niduve oa IHUVY AO ALIOTIAWIS HHL ONTHOVI HOOOHL ‘NVYWSLHOOVUC IVKINY LYauD ARHLONY 40 M4YOM FHL 40_S1dWvxa TOAILAVACLAUAA Vv “aaLLOog “HadId V ONIAVId GUAHdaHS 9 daWHS 4S 248d 183 UNISNTT YsSineg ayy ur food v woLg SLONVUENAY AM GHHOLA SVM LIVULYOd ASOHM ‘HHONOf Ad INAWAID SVM UHASIIANd FHL LVHL ALON ‘NOAUBT JO LNIOd ONILUVES AHL 4) LOTIVQ dO BONHNIANI GHHUVN AHL SMOHS ‘NVWdEZ “STUVd ‘AUANOT AHL 88 981d . : shag. 40} 4ofeoT epuae yoyf 1daua ayafiounpry- ocr HLVId stay 184 ‘unasnyy ysintg ayz ur foold vp wos “NOAUART NOUN UALv1 ~> NIGIQ AO HUAIDM NOMA AONWOATANI aNO0Od0Ud V GVH HZAVH ISOW SHUYOM UAVIIWIS UO SIHT, SAUNOIA AHL NI LOVIVO WOUd NOLLVAINAAC AHL SMOHS ALVId SIH, “NVNGEZ “ONIGAO AHL NI 2VM-.O-NEW HLIM WHdVOS-VAS 6E %4°%Id ipxtL "Surqo7a — oleae eres amoarceeuneoncommen: samemant come teat eee 185 186 BRIEF SURVEY OF ETCHERS UP TO YEAR 1800 to trace them back to the common source and the inspiration of their setting out. Before dealing with these followers, however, we must note the one contemporary who remained uninfluenced by either Rembrandt or Callot. Hollar (1607-1677).— Artistically, Wenzel Hollar need not interest the student to any great extent, though some of his small landscapes are very beautiful, and he had a great command over his medium, as, considering that his output numbered nearly three thousand plates, is not surprising. He was born in Prague and came to England with the Karl of Arundel, where he remained most of his life, and where he died. His etchings embrace a great variety of subject from landscape (Plate 34) to figure and still-life, drawn mostly in a hard, formal manner, which occasionally becomes very charming; but his outlook was essentially that of an engraver. At one time he was employed by Faithorne at a wage of four- pence per hour ! van Ostade (1610-1685) and Bega (1620-1664).—One of Rembrandt’s side-tracks which was immediately exploited was genre ; but van Ostade never, and his pupil Bega only rarely, approached their great prototype. I thoroughly agree with Sir Frederick Wedmore when he says that Bega has not yet had his day. His work (Plate 35) has a breadth of vision which far surpasses that of his master, and lacks Ostade’s cloying “‘ prettyness.”’ Bold, simple (both in design and execution) and dramatic, it deserves the careful study of every serious student. Nor, in portraiture, could Bol, Lievens and the rest in Holland, nor Castiglione in Italy, come within measurable distance of Rembrandt at his best, though I am convinced that many of the still accepted ‘“‘ Rem- brandt ”’ heads are by these and similar etchers. du Jardin (1622-1678).—The eldest and perhaps the best of all the group who carried on the tradition by specializing almost exclusively in the drawing of animals was Karel du Jardin (Plate 36). There is a tre- mendous solidity and intimacy in his plates of cattle. Hamerton tells us that he was greatly admired by Haden, and I do not wonder at this. Paul Potter (1625-1654) also did some powerful plates along similar lines (Plate 37). Zeeman (1623-1663).—Reynier Nooms (his real name) did some fine sea- scapes which, as we shall see later, made a great impression upon Meryon (Plate 38). Callot’s influence—possibly through Claude—is very marked in his figures, especially the silhouettes against an expanse of sea (Plate 89). Naiwynx (1624-1654). | Although a few years senior to Jacob Ruysdael, Ruysdael (c. 1628-1682).) H. Naiwynx is said to have been a follower of the better-known etcher. I think some of his etchings are quite as fine as, if not finer than, his master’s. All these men followed up lavish hints thrown out by Rembrandt, with great success, each in his own groove. Ruysdael’s landscapes foreshadowed those of our own [A. v. de Velde (1635-1672).] Norwich masters, while some of Adriaen van de Velde’s cattle (Plate 40) are hardly surpassed in the whole history ‘EOL X8 iio bee “unasnyy ysinag ayz ur fooud vp wosy “LHOTINOS HHL dO ALISONINAT AHL G dIHSNVMSLHDAVUA ALVAILNI FHL ALON SVG BY, —— & “adIdA GC NVA V ‘ONILSHU SUATIPAAVUL OF 81d 187 188 BRIEF SURVEY OF ETCHERS UP TO YEAR 1800 of etching. They are wonderful in their truth and observation of accidental lighting. G. B. Tiepolo (1696-1770).—Returning once more to Italy, we find, in the next century, real etchings being produced by G. B. Tiepolo, but the art has become weakened and prettyfied. Technically perfect and full of grace and charm, the prints do not move one in the least, accomplished though they are. Canaletto (1697-1768).—Real feeling is expressed in the somewhat austere plates of that master painter, G. A. Canale, whose strong, simple line-work gives one intense pleasure, and may well have been the parent of much subsequent etching where brilliant effects of sunlight upon build- ings has been the motv/. Hogarth (1697-1764).—In England the only etcher who merits any attention at this period is William Hogarth. He was one—the greatest— of a group of satirists and cartoonists who used etching amongst other mediums to express their comments on the life of their time. Hogarth, however, being a great portrait painter, produced a few plates of import- ance artistically, notably the “‘ Lord Lovat’”’ (Plate 41), but even here the work suggests the outlook of the engraver more than a little. Piranesi (1720-1778).—Another Italian whose work has considerably influenced modern etchers is G. B. Piranesi. His actual architectural output as a whole is dull and lacking the insight of Canaletto; but his outstanding performance with the needle is the imaginary series of prison torture-chambers known as the Carceri (Plate 42). Etched with extra- ordinary vigour and freedom, it is as much by their composition as by the treatment of line that the work of several moderns has been anticipated, e.g. Muirhead Bone’s “ Demolition of St. James’s Hall ”’ (interior). G. D. Tiepolo (1727-1804).—The last of the Italians whose influence was, I think, probably very important is Domenico Tiepolo, the son of Giovanni Battista. He was born in Venice! and travelled considerably with his father and brother, producing his ‘“‘ Flight into Egypt” plates in 1753 in Wiirzburg. He arrived in Spain in 1761 with his father and brother Lorenzo, leaving for Venice again soon after the death of the older man. His work resembles that of his father in many ways, but is, in my opinion, far more powerful in its massing, and simpler in design. The blacks are bitten with great force, and though the delicacy of draughtsmanship is lacking, so is the prettyness or effeminacy which characterizes nearly all the father’s work. I think it extremely probable that it was Domenico’s work which influenced the young Goya so largely rather than that of the elder Tiepolo, as is usually supposed. His series of the “ Flight into Egypt” (Plate 43) shows marked affinity to Goya’s first known plate of the same subject, especially in the strong massing of the blacks. It is this plate which M. Loys Delteil says shows pre-Tiepolo characteristics. Pre-Battista, certainly ; butit has the very quality of a plate by Domenico. 1 Mr. Hind says 1726 in Madrid, which could hardly be the case, as his father did not go to Spain till 1761 or 1762, and Madrid till 4th July, 1762. : CSAS : : ‘ ae : eamiae tess! tetet sx : : Si E Eid te : m 3 « i TN . : peeertasatsl e3 . ‘ Sreacresere *% « ~ ~. ek Pe vp Sara) we te Re #2. were nds Wi he > oS %, of ae j Oe ¢ li. é fa ey 8%, tte Peal € i, nbd dh ace / Ch AI ¢ oa y 4 put lhe uff tsi 7 te % a & 3 13x82 Etched Surface. Etching. Plate 41 LORD LOVAT HoGArRtTH ALTHOUGH ETCHED IN THE MANNER OF AN ENGRAVING THIS PLATE IS VERY EXPRESSIVE OF CHARACTER, ish Museum, rit From a proof in the B 189 “ELS X 491 “SNUZGOW FHL AO HUOM ‘unasnyy ysineg ayy ur food v wos HHL NOUN FONAATANI WIAVUAGISNOO GVH SVH SUAAWVHO AUALUOL <>) SNOSIUd AUVNIOVWI JO LHS SIH, ISNVUld “SHUIYAS IMHOUVO AHL JO ANO Gb 481d Ga 190 unosnyy ysieg ayn ur foord r wmoLz *VAOX) ONNOA AHL NOMN BONANATANI Ivaua AHL AIHVAOUd SVM ~J ALIIVIIA AHLVAUD GHMOHS ‘UHHLVA SIH NVHL NMONH SSAT HONOHL ‘OOINSKOG ‘oTodaI, “A 9 “IdADH OLNI LHOITH FHL SP 481d “Bulqoya 2 eet eed 191 192 BRIEF SURVEY OF ETCHERS UP TO YEAR 1800 M. Delteil seems to forget that Goya might well have been in actual con- tact with the Tiepolos before he left for Italy, so that, even if his supposi- tion that Goya’s first plate was executed before his journey be correct (as is probable), it still does not affect the argument as to possible influence. Goya went to Madrid first in 1763 or 1764, i.e. about two years after the Italians’ arrival! (See Chapter XXII.) The Runcimans: Alexander (1786-1785), John (1744-1768). And now we come to the beginnings of etching in Great Britain, where Hollar had left a definite technical tradition which, however, seems to have been merged into the art of the gravers once more. At any rate, the school which, I hold, began with the men I am about to mention, had little in common, either technically or artistically, with Hollar. In Edinburgh were two brothers, Alexander and John Runciman, and one of these produced (presumably in 1764) the notable ‘‘ Nether-bow port’ (Plate 44). I have found two proofs of this plate in the Scottish National Gallery, both touched—the one with pen and the other with wash—which bear no engraved signature ; but upon the former appear what seem to be the initials A.R. upon the coat of arms over the gate- way, in pen and ink; while in the lower margin “J. Runciman” was written in pencil, the J being subsequently altered to A. In Bryan’s “ Dictionary of Painters” this plate is also attributed to Alexander, of whom we know more than of his brother. He was the son of an Edinburgh builder and architect, and was apprenticed to a painter, John Norrie, at the age of fourteen. In 1766 both brothers went to Italy, being sent by Sir James Clerk, of Penicuik, where in 1768, in Naples, John died ; Alexander returning three years later. Now there is a second etched plate done by a hack engraver (A. Cameron) after the original under which is inscribed “drawn by John Runciman,” and upon this it also states that the gate was demolished! in 1764, 1.e. two years before the Runcimans left for Italy. I have seen a number of Alexander’s etchings—all undated—which are of no artistic interest what- ever, being carelessly drawn pseudo-classical scribbles, evidently inspired by his Italian study. They have a certain vitality and freedom, but are totally unlike the very deliberate and beautifully drawn figures in the ““ Nether-bow Port.” There is very definite Callot influence in these figures; and not only this: the resemblance to Meryon’s figures in the Saint Etienne du Mont and L’arche du Pont Notre Dame is quite evident, showing, I can only think, a common ancestry. It is quite easy to imagine that the Runcimans may have had access to Callot prints. We know that many foreign etchings were in Scotland at that date (see below), and as Callot was at the time one of the known masters it is probable that his prints were amongst them. Scotland was in very close touch with France—far closer just then than England—and we have seen that Faithorne’s book (probably the earliest on the subject 1 In the etching it is shown in process of demolition. Wee 8h x 64 Plate 44 NETHER-BOW PORT, EDINBURGH, 1764. J. RUNCIMAN. NoTE THE CALLOT FIGURES IN THIS EARLIEST OF SCOTS ETCHINGS OF REAL IMPORTANCE From a touched proof in the National Gallery of Scotland. 193 40 DNIMVUC FAISSHUdWI “40YIND 3yR [0 U0L7022}00 ay2 UL foold wD wWioL *“INACGIAG SI GONAOATANI HVTIOW “Pp AGAVID “ANNAIOALIHOUV HHL NI ANOG “> NOAUHA HLOd GHLVdIOILNY HUWID MOH SMOHS ALVId LNAOIWINYVW SIH, “HLVLS LSal *"NIGIQ JO HUATIO “"WVHWAd CP 481d *SU1G0}4 194 ‘NMO "SIH 40 *“4OYMD ay} [0 W02790]109 ay) Ut food D WOL WIALS V AHAOTHAAA SVH ITSILUV AHL Lid ‘DNOULS ITILS SI AON “NIGIY 4O HAGTIO “HLLISVO MOIMHLYOd 9P 481d ATANI AGAVIO FAHY, (‘guiodAig sulog) Jum 195 196 BRIEF SURVEY OF ETCHERS UP TO YEAR 1800 in this country) exalted Callot as worthy of all etchers’ emulation. What more probable than that Runciman should model himself upon one of the | best-known etchers at that time ? Taking the known work of Alexander into account, together with the presumably contemporary attribution on the engraving, I am convinced that this fine plate was by his brother John, who would have been twenty at the time. Ifso, Scotland lost a great etcher prematurely. There must be other equally good plates extant by John Runciman, as the certainty of technique makes it clear that he must have had considerable previous practice. In any case, I think that this plate, on its own merits, estab- lishes a claim for Runciman as the first Scottish etcher (yet discovered) of any importance, and, in its scaffolding motif, anticipates both Meryon and the living Scotsmen. Clerk of Eldin (1728-1812).—Another interesting Scot of this time was John Clerk, of Eldin, seventh son of Sir John (2nd Bart.) of Penicuik. He was brother to Alexander Runciman’s patron, Sir James, and so may have known the Runcimans. Under some of his copies are written the names of Rembrandt, Weirotter and Claude ; men from three different countries. His original work proceeds from extreme amateurish bungling to very fine work indeed. There is a notably beautiful plate, which is probably one of the last executed by the artist, ““ Dalkeith from the North- West ” (Plate 48), splendidly designed and etched. It might well pass for a first state of Turner’s Liber Studiorum. Another large and very personal plate, in spite of the strong Claude influence, is “‘ Hill-head, near Lasswade”’ (Plate 47). One sees Claude in the silhouette figures, but the arrangement and beautiful tree massing Clerk derived from his study of nature. It is not an Italianized scene. It is purely Scottish, and more than this, typically Lothian. Paul Sandby (1725-1809) is said to have taught Clerk the technique of etching, and the influence of Hollar is plainly seen in such plates as the magnificent ‘‘ Durham ”’ (Plate 45) : not in the design, but the mannerism of describing distant tree-forms on a hillside (compare Plate 34). This is still more marked in many small plates in which Hollar’s trick of inscribing the title in the sky is also imitated. In his many seascapes Zeeman was obviously the model, and here again we have the silhouette figures derived (as in the case of Claude) from Callot. The first issue of Clerk’s plates took place in 1825 to the members of the Bannatyne Club and consisted of only twenty-eight subjects. Later many of the smaller coppers were discovered by his son, Lord Eldin (whose mother was a younger sister of the famous Adam brothers), and a second book was issued by the Club in 1855 containing some eighty plates. They 1 Since the above was written I have found a quite emphatic statement corrobora- ting my view. This is in the ‘‘ History of Art in Scotland,” by R. Brydall, 1889, p. 165. The author here says that this plate was one of the few etched by John Runciman from his own pictures. The painting belonged to the Duke of Sutherland, Brydall deplores the loss to art in Runciman’s early death, BRIEF SURVEY OF ETCHERS UP TO YEAR 1800 197 are very crudely printed and give one no idea of the quality obtained from _ them by the artist. The “ Durham,”’ for instance, suffered greatly. ®:, Clerk experimented with tone-biting and soft-ground ; but he did not understand the resin ground, apparently, and the attempt at aquatint was always a failure. He was also too fond of re-working both in etching and drypoint. His period of activity was extremely short—from 1770 to 1782— but in that time he executed at least 104 plates. Many of these are quite small, but none the less beautiful and technically perfect. Like Seymour Haden, he did not begin to etch till past his fortieth year ; he was an amateur, and he confined his work to subjects of the country he loved: and though hardly of the first rank—he was not a trained draughtsman—he showed the promise of what was coming in the next century, and his best plates are extraordinarily fine.} Gainsborough (1727-1788).—The fame of Thomas Gainsborough as a painter has entirely overshadowed his very important work as an etcher. He is said to have executed only some twenty plates, the most vital of which are in soft-ground and aquatint. In their freedom, bold massing and subordination of detail they are totally unlike anything hitherto produced. The actual dates of these plates is not known, but in all probability they were fairly mature works. We are told that he learnt his technique in London in his late teens—and no doubt the ordinary line etchings, which have no great merit, were produced early—but I should be surprised if the loosely handled aquatints were executed before the sixties. It seems probable that such a plate as the one reproduced (Plate 48A) was etched by means of a process now—I believe—no longer used. It is strictly analogous to the “‘ pen method ” (see Chapter XIII). When the ground has been laid the darks are painted with some mixture which is soluble in water. A coat of varnish is then spread over all and the plate immersed in water, which causes the parts so painted to come away, leaving the ground exposed for biting. In normal aquatint the lighter parts bear evidence of brushwork. In Gainsborough’s case one can see that the darks show direct brushmarks. However they were done, these few works are extremely beautiful and place the artist as the pioneer of the true British landscape school. 1 He had a curiously parallel etching career to that of Lord Aylesford, whose brilliant work in England has been described by Mr. Oppé in the “ Print Collec- tor’s Quarterly ’ (October, 1924). Though born later (1751) the Earl began to etch in the same year as the Scot, and died in the same year. His plates are very beautiful. “SNVIHLOT AHL AO IVIIMAL SI LT “Loynn ayz [0 U0r2901}09 ay, Ur fooud D woLy ‘GaLdGOXA SHANOL AHL—AACAVIN OL WILITI SAMO NOILISOaKOO “NIGTY 40 HUAIO “HAVMSSV'I UVAN ‘GVHH-TIIH Ab 48d INdILAVAG SIH, 198 ‘aonfung peyng FIL Xt¢ *LoynDd ayn [6 U027921}09 ay? ur fooud D wo SHHUL JO ONIMVUC (YANYOT-Aud) CUAdOS AHL ALON ‘“SONIHOLA §$,HUHID AO ISHLVI ATadvaoud | ‘NIGTQ, 40 MURIO “LSHM-HLYUON AHL WOU HLIGAWIVa 8h 3% d GSaNI4d FHL AO ANOS 1S 18) *mnamnyy ysijrag ay? ur fooid p WoL T ‘HUOM ANTI OL LONAraVY ANOL V SV LI GASA NVHL UAALVA LI HIM MUG WH IAG ,{VLNILVAOV,, MAN AHL FSO OL LSuli AHL AO ANO SVM ‘GNNOUD LAOS <> ,, SSHAOOUd NAd,, AHL GHAOTANA OHM ‘HONOUOUSNIVY) “SUMLNIVA NOZIduVg AHL 40 ANO AM AM TIHA LHOIN Il ‘AOlWAd SLI AO GVHAV SUVAX GAUGNOH V ATUVAN ‘HIALS NI ‘SI ALVId GWIGNVH ATASOOT ‘AIO SIH “HONOUOMSNIV{) “ALVIS GNOOHS “HUOLSVd GCHCOOM NI WLLLVYO NHATHYd V8P 938Id -aovfing payaiq ECT X fOT ‘quyenby punoiy yog 200 CHAPTER XX DURER AND LUCAS VAN LEYDEN BEFORE continuing our survey into the nineteenth century we must return to look a little more fully into the work of a few of the supreme draughts- men who happen to have expressed themselves with the bitten and drypoint line. Their work was only glanced at in the preceding chapter. Firstly that of Albrecht Diirer. Whoever actually znvented etching, or working with the point on the bare metal, Diirer was an undoubted pioneer in both arts; and to him will always belong the honour of being the first to produce really great works in both mediums. Diirer was one of the men of “ universal’ genius concerning whose life (as in the cases of such as Rembrandt, Leonardo or Shakespeare) the smallest incidents have been the subject of controversy without end. I have no intention of trying my ’prentice hand at this game. It is an easy, a very dangerous and a most unprofitable one for the artist. Diirer was one of the few men of his rank who have left authentic biographical details, and with them one cannot go far wrong. He was born in Nuremburg in 1471, the son of a Hungarian goldsmith immigrant who was for some years with the artists of the Netherlands before settling in Germany. His father therefore was obviously a man of wide knowledge in artistic matters, and the son had the advantage of learning his craft— the handling of the burin—while quite young. Later, Albrecht became apprenticed for three years to one Wolgemut. The great engraver Schéngauer was never Diirer’s master, but he cer- tainly must have influenced him considerably. Jacopo de’ Barbari was also a great influence on the young artist, and from him Diirer got the first hints for his ‘‘ canon of proportion for the human figure,” founded presumably upon the works of the great Greek sculptors. (As a model of what proportion in lettering should be, and for its grouping upon the page, could anything be more beautiful than the book of 1534 issued by his widow ?) Without concerning ourselves with the disputed first journey to Venice, it is interesting to know that the artist did a considerable amount of travelling in his life, though always returning to Nuremburg. At least four years—from April, 1490, to May, 1494—-were spent travelling: later he made a visit to Venice, and still later to the Low Countries, as well as working in other towns in Germany. No matter to whom the honour of teaching him belongs, he was a born 201 202 DURER AND LUCAS VAN LEYDEN draughtsman, and the extraordinary fidelity of his early self-portrait! when only thirteen years of age is truly astounding. Being what he was, the greatest master of the burin (in my opinion) that the world has ever seen, it is quite natural that his few essays in the less known mediums of etching and drypoint should be strongly tinged with the spirit of that austere art. Freedom of line, as we understand it, was not Diirer’s affaire, and whether or no he realized the possibilities of etching in that direction, he shows no sign of having done so. He laid his lines singly, firmly and deliberately, as was his manner in handling the graver, and as he employed no stopping-out, and presumably but one thickness of point, the comparatively flat effects this method obtained probably convinced him that etching as a medium was inferior to en- graving either upon copper or upon wood. The small number of his bitten plates would seem to imply, at least, that this was the case. Fine as the etchings and drypoints are, it goes against the instincts of an artist to separate them entirely from the whole of Diirer’s noble series of engraved plates. Until I was asked to prepare this book I never thought of them in separate terms. Whether they are the work of the burin or the acid, or, as I sometimes suspect, of the two combined, does not seem important compared with the enjoyment and instruction obtainable by study of their composition—the splendid dignity of arrangement, balance, light and dark masses—and the intense feeling expressed in almost every one of them. As split up they must be (since engraved plates do not come within our present scope), we find that both drypoints and etchings were looked upon by Diirer as requiring no very different treatment from engraving proper. This is less true of the three (or four) known drypoints, as the artist certainly made use of the burr, the distinctive characteristic of the medium, in that extraordinarily beautiful plate “St. Jerome ”’ (Plate 49), wrought when its author was forty-one years of age. All six of the bitten plates were of iron, and whether Diirer preferred this metal or simply used it because it was the tradition from the armourers to employ iron for working upon with acid, he produced magnificent results. The first alleged drypoint (1510) is the ‘‘ Saint Veronica with the Suda- rium,” of which only two proofs are known. After this come the ‘“ Man of Sorrows’ and “St. Jerome” (1512), followed a little later by the “Holy Family.”” In 1515 were etched the second ‘‘ Man of Sorrows ”’ and ‘‘ Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane ” (Plate 50), and in the next year the “ Angel with the Sudarium” and “ Pluto and Proserpine.” Undated is the so-called ‘“‘ Man in Despair,” and last—his largest plate— “The Field-Serpent of Nuremburg,” generally known as the Cannon, in 1518. The most interesting thing to note in these etchings, from the technical point of view, is that, in them, Diirer shows what can be done by the simplest of all methods: the one drawing and biting-in without recourse 1 T refer to a drawing—not a plate. Plate 49 SAINT JEROME. Durer. UPON THE RARE OCCASIONS WHEN DURER WORKED IN DRYPOINT HE UTILIZED ITS DISTINCTIVE QUALITY—THE BURR—WITH MAGNIFICENT EFFECT. From a proof in the British Museum. 203 i ; ; 82x 6}. & Etc Plate 50 THE AGONY IN THE GARDEN URER ETCHED UPON IRON & URER. D THIS, THOUGH YIELDING A CERTAIN BIT ALL HIS LINES TO THE SAME DEPTH. DOES NOT DETRACT FROM THE WONDERFUL DESIGN & D DRAUGHTSMANSHIP. NESS OF EFFECT, FLAT From a proof in the British Museum. 204 DURER AND LUCAS VAN LEYDEN 205 to stopping-out. Ifthe reader will refer to Chapter II, he will realize that Diirer’s work is the most remarkable illustration of what was meant when I wrote that great works of art could be produced with nothing more than the essentials : plate, ground, needle and acid. This apparently was the extent of his outfit; and yet how many better-equipped etchers have made finer plates ? The acids known in Diirer’s time certainly included sulphuric and nitric, and for the actual mordant probably employed the student may refer to Chapter VI: Le Begue’s MS. The greatest engraver after Diirer who also used the bitten line at times was Lucas van Leyden. Unfortunately for our present purpose there is very little to be said of it, and still less seems to be known concerning himself. Many of his engravings are more or less etched, and I cannot help suspecting (by certain qualities of line) that Diirer himself used the acid upon his copper engravings. Those who have the leisure to study whatever trial proofs there may be in existence are in a better position to pronounce upon this point. We are on safer ground in affirming that Lucas was the first man of importance, in the North at least, to etch upon copper with no ulterior motive of engraving the bitten work. And this in itself forms a landmark in the survey of early etching, and shows Van Leyden as a pioneer in the art. His sympathy with humanity and insight into human emotions are, I feel, as great as Diirer’s own ; and his art is, in a way, a little less con- scious. One can compare his magnificent “‘ Adoration of the Magi ”’ with Diirer’s equally marvellous “‘ Great Fortune” or “ Melancholia,” and wonder wherein lies the difference. They are all so intensely moving, and yet the work of the two men is so different ! But these are not etchings, and I have nothing to do with them here, except that, after all, both these men influenced countless etchers (including Rembrandt)! by work which was not etched ; and it is impossible to ignore their engraved plates merely because they were executed with a tool technically known as a graver instead of by means of a tool which equally graves the lines but which we choose to call a drypovnt. Of Lucas’s etched plates the best known are “‘ The Fool and the Girl,” “St. Catherine ” (Plate 51) and “‘ David in Prayer.” There is graver work in all, and it is extremely hazardous to offer a definite opinion on many passages. These early men drew with the échoppe (see Chapter V), and the result is a line which swells and tapers exactly like an engraved line even after it has been bitten-in. On the other hand, there is a certain flatness in the whole effect of some plates which immediately suggests the acid without stopping-out ; while there are passages of tone upon the unworked parts of ‘‘ The Fool and the Girl” which look very like foul-biting. Again, certain lines are hooked at their extremities, which is not a characteristic of the burin 1 It is on record that Rembrandt strained his resources to the limit in order to procure a set of Lucas’s prints. Ae REEL ASS : ee gon ty ees ae ae eee RRR MNES 44X 3. & Graver. Etching Plate 51 NE AS VAN LEYDEN. Luc SAINT CATHERI CH ON COPPER, BUT HIS LINE WAS STILL ER TO ET TIONAL G NORTHERN THE ADDI 8 PROBARKLY THE FIRST LUCAS WA COMBINE PERFECTLY ER LINES, THEREFORE, ED WORK. RAV cr the Bri WORKER, THAT OF THE BURIN- WITH THE ET hk Museum is t um From a proof 206 DURER AND LUCAS VAN LEYDEN 207 stroke, but is almost inevitable in drawing upon wax freely with a point. I am inclined to think that the greater part of the Maximilian portrait —one of the finest plates—is etched ; parts being strengthened with the burin, and parts, such as the modelling of the cheek-bone, being directly graved. Here again many an individual line under the magnifying glass suggests engraving because of its pre-biting character, i.e. Lucas pressed much more heavily in the middle of the stroke and lifted his point with a flick upwards as if he were still employing his cutting tool. It is this habit—common to practically all the etchers till Rembrandt’s time, and still advocated in the English eighteenth-century textbooks—which is so deceptive, especially when judging a proof which has been mishandled or one from a worn plate. From the nature of the échoppe it was easy, by turning it in the fingers during the stroke, to lay a line which began or ended (or both) in a fine point, but swelled out in the centre, thus counter- feiting that of the burin. CHAPTER XXI REMBRANDT AND VAN DYCK From the death of Diirer, the greatest engraver, to the birth of Rem- brandt, the greatest etcher the world has yet seen, we pass over nearly eighty years—from the sixteenth to the seventeenth century. Van Dyck, it is true, was born a few years in advance of his greater contemporary, yet his art is so limited in comparison, that the Dutchman must come first. Rembrandt (1606—1669).—Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn was born at Leyden on July 15th, 1606, his father being a miller of that town. There is no need to go into details of his life, as the books on the subject are legion, and we are here only concerned with his work upon the copper. Like most of the greatest figures in the world’s history, Rembrandt, except in his art, was apparently a perfectly normal individual. He was typical of his time and of his country: he was no recluse, no saint, no star-gazer, no self-satisfied egoist, no madman. He loved his work in particular, but he loved art in general and collected it in all forms, when- ever possible. He loved the things of this world and painted them with a gusto which has never been excelled ; but he understood also the things of the spirit, and expressed them in such plates as “ Christ Healing the Sick’? in a manner which few have ever equalled. I have already written (in Chapter XVIII) on the subject of his intense interest in life in all forms, and in humanity in particular. If to this is added an amazing executive skill and a prodigious aptitude for hard work, all the requisites for producing the greatest art are combined in his person. The emotions that he felt from whatever life brought to him—and they were deep—joy and sorrow, exultation and dejection, this great man ex- pressed in a continuous stream of noble paintings, drawings and etchings. At the very outset he was successful with the public, but the more deeply he saw into character, and the more truly he expressed what he saw, the less was he appreciated ; so that, at the end, he died deeply in debt—an indebtedness partly brought about, it is true, by his extravagant collecting of pictures and oljets d’art—largely because he was too great for his time. ; So much has been written in praise of Rembrandt by so many far abler writers than I, that there is no need for me to say more than that I fully endorse all but that extravagant praise which endeavours to make of one of the most human—and consequently most lovable—personalities the world has produced in historical times, a god whom no man may love, but only worship. I remember when I was once criticizing one of Rembrandt’s bad plates 208 “UNasnTy Yysinsg ay) ur sfoord woLg “BHILNAML ATUVHA SIH NI GHIOTHAUC GVH JGNVUANAY AIGHAN AHL HLIM TITHS TYDINHOAL sS dIHSNVWSLHOOVUa ONIHSINOLSV LVHM MOHS ‘TE9T > 8ZOT AHLVa ‘Salvia HSH, “LONVUGNEY “GUVAA V HLIM NVW CIO “LONVUSNEY “UAHHLOW S.LSILaV AHL GG 348d 212 x 8G "Sh HH “Surqoyg 87 x 8% ‘L‘H ‘3umq095 San Oa Lee i 7 5 5 t | 209 Plate 53 SELF PORTRAIT & OTHER NOTES. RempBranpt. SHOWING HIS CONTINUAL STUDY OF CHARACTER. From a proof in the British Museum, 210 SS Reo Bat Pres alle Res Seis STs £3 ce - a ee are ae Bs Plate 54 THE RETURN OF THE PRODIGAL SON. REMBRANDT. ONE OF THE MOST PERFECT COMPOSITIONS EXECUTED WITH THE PURE BITTEN LINE. From a proof in the British Museum. 211 AO TI IT Te Etching. H. 152. ay ae | 54x33. Plate 55 THREE HEADS OF WOMEN, ONE ASLEEP. REMBRANDT, Novtk HOW THE TREATMENT OF THE SLEEPING WOMAN SUGGESTS THAT OF THE YOUNG WHISTLER, From a proof in the British Museum, 212 REMBRANDT AND VAN DYCK 213 (if it is indeed by him) in the company of one of our official experts, how, with stern reproof, he remarked, “It is sufficient for us to know that Rembrandt did a thing, and therefore had good reason for doing it.” Such an attitude—and we have seen so much of it in Whistler’s case— can only do harm by making the object of worship appear ridiculous. It is surely common knowledge that the supremacy attained by a man at his best does not make it impossible for him to produce bad work when at his worst. And Rembrandt was a man; not a god. The critics have laid it down that the etched work may be roughly divided into three periods. First: pure etching; second: etching and drypoint ; third: pure drypoint. Like most arbitrary classifications, this is anything but accurate, but there is just sufficient truth in it to make it appear plausible. The verdict that the work became finer and finer till the end is still more questionable. That his art in general—his painting and drawing— went on expanding till his death I unhesitatingly admit: the latest work in oils is unquestionably the greatest ; but not so in etching. In all probability this was very largely a matter of eyesight, but partly due to the fact that few old men can take much delight in processes and the over- coming of their peculiar difficulties. Therefore Rembrandt was often inclined to take up the drypoint when the etching-needle would have probably served his purpose better. That the man’s breadth of outlook continued to increase we are sure, and in certain plates—notably the ‘‘ Three Crosses ’’—this almost over- balances the scale weighed down on its technical side by clumsy draughts- manship and handling. It may be said to equalize matters, perhaps ; though I think no plate which is faulty in drawing and indifferent in execution can claim a supreme place upon the merits of its composition and nobility of intention alone. The loftiness of conception reached in the fourth state of this plate (Plate 71) is quite awe-inspiring, yet how far short the execution falls in comparison with that of the “ Christ Healing the Sick ” (Plate 66). That this Crucifixion and the magnificent “‘ Christ presented to the People ” (Plate 76) have been so hostilely criticized by the followers of Whistler only shows how amazingly narrow the vision of men working along one groove may become. To return to Rembrandt’s early work: the first plate in the Hind Catalogue—the little head supposed to be of his mother—is one of the most perfect expressions of character in the whole wuwvre (see Plate 52), and in this its author—then only twenty-two—showed a marvellous sure- ness and freedom of line in one, not only very young, but who had had no access to work of similar vitality (in the medium), bequeathed to him by his forerunners. In the two later portraits—‘‘ La mére au voile noir” (H_ 52), and par- ticularly in the profile figure (H 51)—this deliberate, careful, yet free modelling was carried further on a larger scale, and they remain for ever Etchiag & Drypoint. H. 161. 16} x12} Plate 56 THE DEATH OF THE VIRGIN. RrEmsBRAnpT. THE BEGINNING OF THE USE OF DRYPOINT AS AN ADJUNCT. From a proof in the British Museum. 214 Etching. H. 170. 518 x 5%. Plate 57 MAN WITH A DIVIDED CAP. REMBRANDT. ONE OF THE MOST INTIMATE, G AT THE SAME TIME, PERFECTLY BITTEN OF ALL THE PORTRAITS. From a proof in the British Museum. 215 "mNnasnyy ysinig ay} ur fooid vp WoL ‘SHAVOSGNVI NALLIG AHL JO TNdILAVAd ISON -} LISHIdWIS AHL AO ANO “LONVUENEY “NVOUULSAV 8S 48d Lg x Oly ‘OLL “H “8UTq090 te: é £ i : : 216 ‘unasnyy Ysineg ay2 ur food p wo1g “HONIS UAAT GHAMOTIOI NGA SVH HOIHWA WIdNVXd NV JOS NVWHOLOG LVTUO BAL SALVId UVIINIS ‘LAONVUHAY “NUVAAVH Y AOVLLOO 6S 48d LLI ‘H ‘Surqgoyg 17 2 218 REMBRANDT AND VAN DYCK masterpieces of portraiture, in spite of the fact that H 52 was marred in arrangement by the unfortunate addition of the table. Five years later (1636) comes that eloquent rendering of the Return of the Prodigal Son—perfect in composition and exquisite in line (Plate 54). The year after produced the “‘ Three Heads’ (H 152), a plate which in its first state—the single head of Saskia leaning on her hand—fore- shadows so much modern work ; and then, after a further two years, came the supreme work of this period, “The Death of the Virgin,” in which we find the beginning of Rembrandt’s reliance upon drypoint as an adjunct to his bitten line. It is one of the great masterworks (Plate 56). After 1640 we find landscape taking a much more important place in Rembrandt’s work: the wonderful pure line of the “Amsterdam ”’ (Plate 58) and “‘ Windmill,’ followed soon by the “ Three Trees,” and then by a little plate which, in spite of all that has been written in its dispraise, is most notable for its placing, “‘ Six’s Bridge.” At the same time as the “Amsterdam,” was wrought that most exquisite piece of draughtsmanship and intimate portrait “ The Man with Divided Cap ” (Plate 57), than which I can imagine no purer example of bitten line, and a few years later were etched “ The Raising of Lazarus ” and “ Christ Carried to the Tomb ”’ (Plate 62), in the same clean, simple line. In my own estimation such plates as these are quite unsurpassed by anything Rembrandt did later (or by any other artist since), and so far as [remember there is not a stroke of drypoint in any one of them. In 1643 the master threw off one of his “ suggestions ”’ to the artists of the future (see Chapter XVIII), none the less notable because a “ side- track.” This was “ The Hog ” (Plate 61), an extraordinary piece of search- ing realism, which has influenced countless animal draughtsmen from van Ostade to Blampied. Then, in 1647, we have the first astonishing example of delicate close- etching and drypoint carried to its utmost limit—so far that it well-nigh becomes mezzotint—in “Jan Six” standing reading at the window (Plate 63). This is an amazing piece of craftsmanship, but as a work of art it is (to me) infinitely lower in the scale than the immediately preceding pure etchings. Then comes the portrait of himself drawing at a window (1648), a wonderfully searching character study, but technically uninter- esting. It suggests hesitation between the manner of the “ Jan Six’ and a return to simpler methods (Plate 64). 1650 was a noted year among years which were all notable. In it Rembrandt achieved two works—one a very small “ side-track,” and the other the greatest (I think) of his black-and-white career—which have formed models for emulation ever since: the “Shell” (Plate 67) and “Christ Healing the Sick” (Plate 66). This last is surely a culmination of the master’s technical development, a masterpiece of masterpieces, and in it he employs all the methods of etching, from the strong, simple outline of the group to the left of Christ, to the most subtle gradations of tone in the shadows suggested by the closest of cross-hatching. Hiatt, ey oe Ba ts A Siessusea cecenits: Etching. H. 189, 6y, x4 Plate 60 YOUNG MAN AT A DESK. Rempranpt. THIS IS ONE OF THE PLATES IN WHICH THE MASTER’S POWER OF OHARACTERIZATION IS SHOWN AT ITS HIGHEST, BUT IN WHICH THE TECHNIQUE IS BY NO MEANS PERFECT, ESPECIALLY IN THE LOWER HALF. From @ proof in the British Museum, 219 *LVAUD ‘SI & *@lgx 8g ‘NAM SVH BDONAATANI SIT “wmnasnyy ysipsg ay? ur foord 9 WoL «@SHOVUL AGIS,, §LANVYANAY AO ANO SV AAdIuOSAd HAVH [ LVHM JO AIdWVXA NV “LONVUINAY “NOH AHL T9 948d "F0G “H “Suryoyor 220 1x43 3 X4y%. 5 H. 215. Etching. Plate 62 CHRIST CARRIED TO THE TOMB. REMBRANDT. DAY MOST EASILY IN THE WORK OF BAUER & ForaIn, ERFECT PLATE IS SEEN TO THE INFLUENCE OF THIS P From a proof in the British Museum. 221 t : E £ E i § t f : i } mrs ee So ee Plate 63 JAN SIX. REMBRANDT. THE CLOSE DRYPOINT WORK OVER ETCHING, HERE, ALMOST PRODUCES THE QUALITY OF MEZZOTINT ; IT HAS HAD MANY IMITATORS, BUT IS HARDLY ONE OF THE ARTIST’S GREAT PLATES, From a proof in the British Museum, 222 Etching & Drypoint. H. 229. | ott x 5 ts. Plate 64 SELF PORTRAIT AT A WINDOW. Rempranpr. THIS TYPE OF PLATE HAS ALSO INFLUENCED MANY. IT HAS EXTRAORDINARY FIDELITY WITHOUT BEING i TECHNICALLY NOTABLE, From a proof in the British Museum. 223 % Le é& : mbrandh. 690, 2 Be SS SESE X Bye. 6y5 H 233. Etching. Plate 65 BEGGARS THIS, NOT A GREAT PLATE, IS SHOWN FOR THE SAKE OF ITS REMBRANDT ORK OF SEVERAL LATER MEN, & STrRana. INFLUENCE ON THE W MILLET, From a proof in the Brit , Norasly BEGA ish Museum, 224 REMBRANDT AND VAN DYCK 225 In the year following there was once more a return to the pure, open, bitten line in the plate which even Whistler praised to the point of exag- geration, “‘ Clement de Jonghe ”’ (Plate 69), and immediately after we find Rembrandt working out his most important “ side-track ” in the drypoint landscapes which have been the prototypes for countless moderns ; the “Landscape with Trees, Farm-buildings and Tower ”’ (“‘ Landscape with ruined Tower,’ Wedmore describes it) being one of the finest. The “‘ Gold- weighers’ Field ” (Plate 68) is perhaps the best known of all these. Then in the one year (1654) come the simply etched ‘Christ at Emmaus ” (Plate 75) : a very perfect plate ; the “ Entombment ”’ (Plates 73 and 74) and “ Descent from the Cross ”’ (Plate 72), in both of which the artist carries further his experiments in leaving ink upon the surface in printing instead of carrying out the work in line (a method disastrous in its effect upon modern printers), by which he obtained some very beautiful and mysterious results. The same may be said of the ‘Adoration of the Shepherds,”’ where the lantern alone approaches the colour of the paper (Plate 70). Only two years later, however, Rembrandt returned to the close, careful, searching work of the “ Lutma” and “ Tholinx ”’ portraits, the latter being one of his most perfect examples of fully realized drypoint over etching. The use of free, slashing drypoint had culminated the previous year (as we noted at the beginning) in the great plates “The Three Crosses ” (Plate 71) and “ Christ presented to the People,’ 1655 (Plate 76), and after these and the portraits just mentioned there are few plates of importance. As far as we know Rembrandt did no etchings during the last eight years of his life. Quite probably he found the medium too severe a tax upon his eyesight. The last known plate (and one of his best nudes) is “The Woman with an Arrow,” 1661 (Plate 77). Influence on Successors.—I append a list of some typical plates showing how vast a field was covered by this great man, and how even his “ side- tracks ”’ have suggested fields for exploitation to almost every etcher who came after. I do not pretend, of course, that this includes nearly all the best prints ; neither do I suggest, for a moment, that the men whose names I have coupled with individual etchings plagiarized those works. In many cases I have no doubt they never evensawthem. But their tradition was passed on and picked up here and there—no more than a hint sufficing, perhaps— where the genius of the successor was ready to receive and exploit it. It should be understood that in selecting so small a proportion of Rembrandt’s work it is only possible to suggest general influences, and the numbers being taken from a total of thirty-one, the words “ or similar work ”’ are implied in every case. The chart which follows is divided into half-century periods from the first known print to the present day ; and in it there is no attempt to compile either a complete list of even the important etchers, or to indicate P ‘mnasnyy Ysiptg oy, ur food yp wos “IVAIN ON SVH JI Dounosay TVOINHOGL “~) NOILVZIMHLOVUYVHO ‘NOILISOdWOO NJ “GEVId LSALVAED S,UALSVW AHL AAUACISNOO ‘NOSvau “LONVUENAY “MOIS HHL ONITVHH LSIYHo 99 4%I1d HIM ‘NHIGO SI SIBy, 198% ‘H ‘“yulodéiq O Suryqoqyg SD 3 i 1 226 “CHUNGHUVd SYM GNOOUVMOVA AHL YALWT “ig x EE “UNISNTY YSIN«AT 34) U2 fooud Dp wo1g “GUSSVduOS NAA LON SVH HOIHM dO DHS SVM AUII-IIILS YOd GCUVANVLS V ULVId SIHL NT “ALVLS LSU “LONVUENAY “ITHHS WH 49 24%Id ‘LOFGZ CHE “utodAIq & 3uIqo1y a PES wae i, : : Ua 7 evs Gude | ez 2 S | 4 | 227 ‘4OLXEP ‘wunasnyy ysinag ay, ur foold D woLg ‘NOG | SOUDH] OL SAGaGH KOU LIGA NWA SVH HOIHM JO BON@AIANI GML ‘AdVOSGNVI dO INANLVYGUL INAUAAAIC ATIVLOL 4) UMHLONY GAVH AM AYaH “LONVUdNaY “CTAIE SUMHOINMAION AHL 89 481d "6hG “H qurodAIg. 228 SR Etching. H. 251i. : Plate 69 CLEMENT DE JONGHE. REMBRANDT. THIS PORTRAIT HAS BEEN UNIVERSALLY ADMIRED, NOTABLY BY WHISTLER. From a proof in the British Museum. 229 ‘unasnyy Ysinstg ay, up foord D WoL ‘UWTILSIH A WIH HYAOUHL < ‘AndOvVEG ‘AHANOII NUYUAGOW AHL GAONTATANI ATLVAUD AAVH LSAW IL “SOAINAY §,LSILUV AML AO ABVHd UMHLONV TLS SLNASHUdAY SINT, “LGNVUGWNAY “SGUHHdHHS HHL AO NOILVHOCV AHL 04 24%Id “foxie “AL GG] "H *SUTqOIA SE RR IE aE SSS Sr Fert pe ee ee ss = esata) ia a ca 230 “mnaIsn]T ysimeg ay2 ur foold w woLg “SHONVUELIN AWAYTAS SIH 40 HNO SNIVAAU II TVLIGd 40 SLTIOVA SLI TIV HIM ING ‘NOIWdHONOO LVYAUO SIH SSAUIXA OL SNVAW AOA ONTHOUVAS TILLS SVM LONVUENEY “LNIOGAUC HHL AO SNVHW AG AAZINOILAIOARU SHWIL IVAHANS ALVId V JO ALVIS IVNIA SIHL NI “LONVUENAY “SHSSOUO AHUHL AHL Td 948d “ELLX FCT "AT OLZ “H ‘quiodéiq: -@ Suryoyg 231 232 REMBRANDT AND VAN DYCK more than a few of the more obvious cross-influences. The names are placed in the positions corresponding to the period of the individual’s important work, or rather its beginning, not corresponding to the date of birth, which in a few cases reverses the order, e.g. the relative positions of Bauer and Forain. Although Forain was born before Bauer, his sig- nificant plates only appeared in the present century. TABLE SHOWING REMBRANDT’S GREAT RANGE, AND HIS INFLUENCE ON SUCCEEDING ETCHERS. (Nearly all the Rembrandts are here illustrated.) 1. Portrait of his Mother H 1 1628 | Bauer, 9, 15, 19, 27, 29 2. Old Man with a Beard H 48 1631 | Bega, 2, 4, 8, 16, 17, 18 3. Mother in Profile H 51 1631 | Blampied, 1, 2, 6, 7, 13, 14 4. Self-portrait H 90 1632 | Bone, 10, 11, 16, 17, 20, 22 5. Prodigal Son H147 1636 | Bracquemond, 13, 21 6. Three Heads H152 1637 | Brangwyn, 5, 18, 25, 26, 29 7. Death of the Virgn H161 1639 8. Man with Divided Cap H170 1640 | Gameton: 10, M1, 20, 22 , - glione, <, 4, 0, 9. Triumph of Mordecai H 172 c. 1640 Crome, 11, 20.. Also ‘‘ The Three Trees ” 10. Amsterdam H176 = 1640 (through Ruysdael) 11. Landscape with Cottage ; and Haybarn H177 Forain, 15,.19, 25, 27, 29 12. Man at Desk wearing Geddes, 1, 2, 3, 4, 11, 16.20, 22 E mene 3 a ae Goya, through the Tiepolos : e Ho Also ae Sleeping Dog H 174 c. 1640 pls AUS Nb Leb is ue oe 14, Six’s Bridge H 209 1645 | Jacque, 1, 2, 6, 13, 20, 24 15. Christ Carried to the Jacquemart, 21 Tomb H215 1645 | du Jardin, 13, 20 16. Jan Six H 228 1647 John, iG 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 12 17. Rembrandt Drawing H229 1648 | Jongkind, 14 19. Ghect Healing the Sick il 536 1649 p00, RL AD a oh eae alae 20. Landscape with Trees McBey, 10, 11, 14, 15, 20 and Farm-buildings H 244 1650 | van Ostade, 13, 16, 17, 18 21. The Shell H 248 1650 22. The Goldweighers’ a SS Field H 249 165] | Strang, 4, 5, 11, 15, 17, 18, 19, 22, 28, 30 23. Clement de Jonghe H 251 1651 | Tiepolo, G. B. and G. D., 2, 13, 18 24. Adoration of : Shepherds H255 1652 | Vande Velde (Adriaen), 13 25. The Three Crosses H 270 1653 Whistler, 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 13, 14, 21, 26. Descent from Cross H 280 1654 23 27. The Entombment H 281 1654 | Zorn, 23, 30 28. Christ at Emmaus H 282 1654 29. Christ presented to the People H291 1655 30. Woman with an Arrow H 303 =-:1661 H refers to Mr. A. M. Hind’s catalogue. The numbers after the names in the right-hand column refer to the Rembrandts (1-30). These figures are merely approximate, and with a larger selection of Rembrandts the student can easily find still closer affinities. I refer always to the treatment rather than to the subject. Ci ae is Etching. H. 280. 81x 6). Plate 72 THE DESCENT FROM THE CROSS. REMBRANDT. ONE OF THE MOST WONDERFULLY ARRANGED ¢Y DRAWN OF ALL ETCHINGS. NOTE THE BALANCE OBTAINED BY THE EMPTY BIER WITHOUT DETRACTION OF INTEREST FROM THE DRAMA ABOVE. From a proof in the British Museum. 233 é & ‘ Sens oe SS SScmeper etsy eo Ee BEAR ACCORIT ae ES. S i ae Ys X6}3. 8 H. 281 i. Etching Plate 73 THE ENTOMBMENT REMBRANDT. FIRST STATE ALTHOUGH THERE IS CONSIDERABLE ADDITIONAL LINE WORK, THE GREAT DIFFERENCE From proofs in the 234 eererrorsesssnnese Etching. H. 281. Plate 74 THE ENTOMBMENT. REMBRANDT. FINAL STATE. BETWEEN THESE TWO PROOFS WAS OBTAINED BY LEAVING INK ON THE SURFACE IN PRINTING. British Museum. 235 mn on, ANE WN Va Etching. H. 282i. 83 x 63. Plate 75 CHRIST AT EMMAUS. REMBRANDT. SHOWING HOW REMBRANDT RETURNED TO CLEAN BITTEN LINE FOR SOME OF HIS FINEST LATER PLATES, From a proof in the British Museum. 236 mnasnyy Yysinig ay ur foosd Dp wot (‘SALVLIS HLOA NI ONILSHUALNI ‘SSHITHLYUAAUN) “ALIOFIAKIS ONINIVO HONOHL “IVOINLAWWAS OOL HHVORY NOILISOAKOO FHL ‘GaSVuad BVA dOOUD GNOOUDAUOA AHL ‘AALVI ‘NGHAA “CANVH-HUOdHA LOO GHHYOM AILNAIOLIAOS LON SVM HOIHM NOISAC AUPHLONY “LONVUGNAY “ATdOUd AHL OL GALNASHUd LSTWHO 94 948d “ELL XFIT W113 H “ylodsiq -> Sugg 237 Re errrenterstt ia perce, e is ; 5 oak , oe ERS il oie ta St Etching & Drypoint. H. 303 Plate 77 WOMAN WITH AN ARROW. REMBRANDT. THERE IS BREADTH OF VISION DERE, BUT TECHNICAL DETERIORATION ; POSSIBLY A MATTER OF EYESIGHT, It 18 THE LAST KNOWN PLATE. From a proof in the British Museum. 238 CHART GERMAN AND ITALIAN LINE-ENGRAVERS 1500 MASTER oF ISIS (Possibly German) PARMIGIANO MELDOLLA 1550 1600 CALLOT- CLAUDE 2 VAN DYCK LIEVENS CASTIGLIONE BOL 1650 (portrait) "700 G.B.NEPOLO CANALETTO 1950 PIRANES! | MASTER oF THE HAUSBUCH (Adrypanl) 7 1500 D HOPFER —— URS GRAF DU RER LUCAS van LEYDEN ninscuvoarr — }(andscape) $40 SEGHERS (landscape) 600 __ REMBRANDT HOLLAR Zeer MAN KQUJARDIN VAW OSTADE ; A.van EVER DE mci 1650 (landscape) (animals) — lf genre¥ still-life) dott CAINSBOROUGH 17]20 RUNCIMAN G,DTIEROLO \ HOGARTH ae CLERK of ELBIN GOYA 1800 fee TURNER _ CROME WILKIE COTMAN SAGQUE | 1if0 MERYON a RACQUEMONID JACQUEMART /£50 “LEGROS WHISTLER HADEN KEEN STEINLEN | STRANG SHORT 1900 CAMERON ‘ BAUER PENNELL CLAUSEN rly y ZORN FORAIN r JOHN BRANGWYN BOWE BENSON GRIGGS PERCY SMITH M* BEY RLAMPIED LAURA KNIGHT Plate 78 THIS CIART SERVES A DUAL PURPOSE. IMPORTANT ETCHERS, It SHOWS HOW WIDESPREAD IS THE INFLUENCE OF REMBRANDT. It ENABLES THE STUDENT TO FIND AT ONCE THE PERIODS OF MOST OF THE VERY FEW CROSS-INFLUENCES ARE INDICATED. 239 240 REMBRANDT AND VAN DYCK Van Dyck (1599-1641).—Of Sir Anthony van Dyck there is much less to be written. He was essentially a man who said one thing only, but that wonderfully well. He etched little more than a score of portraits, and most of these were afterwards worked over with the burin in part or altogether. Mr. Hind says that probably all, or nearly all, were pro- duced during the six years between his return from Italy to his native city—Antwerp—and his settling in England as court painter, 1.e. between 1626 and 1632. When the student has seen one head by the master there is no great need, as in Rembrandt’s case, to go on looking at the rest. Some may prefer one particular portrait, but it is much more likely to be the subject which appeals than any great difference of treatment. To study the prints as Van Dyck left them, it is necessary to obtain them in the first, or at least an early state, before the hack engraver filled in the accessories and ruined everything. Until the nineteenth century these splendid, simply stated, magnificently drawn plates were not con- sidered of any importance, but since that time they have exercised a profound influence upon the modern portraitists. There is little of subtlety in the expression of the deeper character of his sitters—men of importance all—but it is entirely probable that his patrons were far more pleased with the portraits as likenesses than were the majority of Rembrandt’s. Van Dyck’s nature was utterly unlike that of the Dutchman—indeed, the two typify their countries—and he was incapable of searching into and comprehending the hidden depths of a personality to the extent that was not only possible to, but characteristic of, his great contemporary. The Fleming was essentially a courtier and carried this into his art ; while the Leyden miller’s son was bourgeois in everything except his art, and even there his taste was sometimes execrable ; but he was a seeker after truth, and what he sought he found. Therein lay his greatness, which will endure. te pte * £ PRR EE aOR R OMT Te Mero ON SOD HOBART PURE CRIME MOOS RAR NOND SS Etching. pwed ate JAN SNELLINX. Van Dyck. FIRST STATE. A TYPICAL EXAMPLE OF THE ARYIST’S STRAIGHTFORWARD, CLEAN LINE-WORK. From a proof in the British Museum. Q 241 App saansctuipntiohanghansnannmminnete transac enti —S S SS =I MM) CHAEFTER XXII Goya, 1746-1828 One hundred and forty years after Rembrandt’s birth, and, curiously enough, in a country which had so far failed to produce any etcher of importance, appeared one of the greatest etchers the world has yet seen : Francisco Jose de Goya y Lucientes, who was born at Fuendetodos in the province of Saragossa in 1746. When scarcely twelve years old Goya was sent to study under J. L. Martinez at Saragossa, where he remained five or six years. From there the artist first visited Madrid for a short time, but, as the result of a quarrel, he was obliged to fly to Italy to avoid arrest by the Inquisition. This incident was in a way typical of his after career. Upon returning to Madrid, in 1775, he married. Early Plates.—M. Loys Delteil (to whose catalogue raisonné, 1922, I am indebted for most of the details which are here given) states, as his opinion, that the first plate known, La fuite en Egypte (L.D. 1), belongs to a period (c. 1770) prior to Goya’s Italian visit. It is certainly a very telling composition, showing no apparent trace of the influence of the elder Tiepolo, but, as I have pointed out in Chapter XIX, it does show possible influence of the Italian’s son Domenico. As the Tiepolo family were already settled in Madrid when Goya arrived, it seems to me certain that it was a direct influence, probably of both father and son, but principally of the son, upon the young Spaniard. It often happens that the earliest efforts of an original artist show his personality more than those of an intermediate period when he is tempo- rarily led away by enthusiasm for some particular quality in the works of others less great than himself. In this way the earliest often anticipates the mature later work, and in this instance the impetuous spirit of Goya was more in sympathy with Domenico Tiepolo’s work than with the more accomplished but less interesting etchings of the father. However this may be, some of the earliest plates after Goya’s return show a certain technical timidity in his attempts to translate the canvases of Velasquez into black-and-white, quite unlike the bold massing of the Fuite. Then follow1—undated—some of the most interesting of the whole cuvre, in my opinion. The wonderful draughtsmanship and conception of Le Garrotté (L.D. 21) is as fine as anything Goya did (Plate 80). A most original composition in aquatint is the “* Waterfall ” (L.D. 23), and equally so the set of “‘ Prisoner ”’ plates (L.D. 31-34), three of a man and one of 1T do not know whether M. Delteil considers all these works chronologically placed, as several previous cataloguers have put them at the end instead of the beginning. 242 Seine entices aitnnaiararemcintinmeminns Poteet nseoncenaten acter een nen Plate 80 m : GAROTTED. Goya. THE TREATMENT OF THE BACKGROUND PARTICULARLY SHOWS TIEPOLO INFLUENCE, BUT HOW MUCH GREATER IS THE DRAUGHTSMANSHIP &> IMAGINATION } From a proof in the British Museum, 243 CZ / LIAS Vk Lde PILED 07 i ite MELEE Oe Mab a hs Etching < Aquatint. 74x 5}. Plate 81 LOVE & DEATH. Goya. THERE IS HERE CONSIDERABLE LINE WORK UNDER THE SIMPLE, FLAT MASSES OF TONE. NOTE THE ABSENCE OF UNESSENTIALS. é From a proof in the British Museum. 244 Sst Etching & Aquatint. Plate 74X543. 53x47, Etched Surface. Plate 82 SELF PORTRAIT. Goya. A MAGNIFICENT EXAMPLE OF INCISIVE DRAUGHTSMANSHIP, from a proof in the British Museum, 245 246 GOYA, 1746-1828 a woman. Last is the powerful “ Colossus ” (L.D. 35), one of the most successful of all his plates, and in it Goya used scraped aquatint. The majority of critics seem to have passed over these works as of little importance, but I cannot at all agree with them. Next comes the amazing series of biting satires upon the social decadence of the Spanish life of his time : Los Caprichos. Los Caprichos.—Goya had become official Court-painter by this time— they were produced between 1793 and 1798—and so had ample oppor- tunity for observation. These prints—some in pure line, a few in pure aquatint ; but most in a combination of the two—are of great significance in the history of the bitten plate. It is impossible to name even the majority of fine plates of this series, but a few of the very best are El amor y la muerte, L.D. 47 (Love and Death) (Plate 81) ; A caza de dientes, L.D. 49 (On the hunt for teeth) ; Por que fue sensible, L.D. 69 (Because she was frail, or Because she was sensitive; the meaning is very ambiguous) ; and Mala Noche, L.D.73 (A dirty night). The original drawing repro- duced by M. Delteil for Por que fue sensible seems finer and far more subtle—in fact, sensible in its literal sense—than the plate. In this work there is no line-work at all. The combination of tone with etching was not new—it had been experimented with as far back as Claude—but a satisfactory ground had only recently been invented,! and Goya’s whole outlook, as well as his treatment, was absolutely his own, and has had some—will, I think, have far more—influence upon the art of succeeding schools. Self Portrait.—One of the most important plates of all is the frontis- piece of the Caprichos : the portrait of the artist himself in a tall hat (Plate 82). It is a most memorable work, and I am not sure that it is not the finest individual plate of the whole eighty. Perhaps not, but it is a relief to come upon an actual fact imaginatively rendered—a portrait— though the basic ideas behind the others are (unfortunately) just as factual. Los Desastres de la Guerra.—Next—begun in 1810 or thereabouts— comes that truly terrible series illustrative of the most disgusting episodes of war-time: “ The Disasters of War.’’ They are, in my estimation, the high-water mark of Goya’s dramatic draughtsmanship, especially when seen—as, alas ! few of us will be able to see them—in their early states, as reproduced in the catalogue. So far as I know, nothing approaching them in sheer, undiluted horror has ever been done on copper. And, in spite of this, the compositions are artistically vital. Some of these plates make one almost physically sick, so intensely are they visualized: quite unlike the broad generalizations of the previous set. The first plate of all—a kind of frontispiece—is one of the very finest : Tristes Presentimientos, etc. (L.D. 120). The title may be very freely translated as “ The shadow of coming events.” So tragic is the expres- 1 By Le Prince in the latter half of the eighteenth century. This is, I believe, disputed, “IXILVIOV ON SNIVINOO suNAsSNnTy Yysipagq oyz uy foord i wos > ‘SHLVId OILVAVUG LSOW S,VAOY) AO AXNO BI “ ‘SVM JO SUOUUOH , AHI OL ‘VAOD “UHOHLNOOV AG VH 400 OT Ad SOLNHIWNILNASHUd 8 948d HOdIdSILNOUWA SHLSTU.L WAL ‘STH “BUT VA, 17 or G “UNISNL YSij4g ayz ur food p woLyz ‘ONIZHDII JO SLSVULNOD AGAUO AHL AW GAMISNALNI SI VAVUA JO ASNUS AHL ‘VAOD “UOTVA NVA SHAUADOW SVT $8 %4%Id AOH ALON ‘qayenby D Zuo, 248 GOYA, 1746-1828 249 sion of the solitary kneeling figure that it might well be called the ‘““Agony in the Garden ”’ (Plate 88). To mention a few others of the best in a series where nearly all are good ; none uninteresting: Las Mugeres dan Valor, L.D.123 (Plate 84) (The women encourage . . .); Duro es el Paso, L.D. 133 (Hard is the Way) ; Y no hav Remedio, L.D. 134 (And there is no help, or There is no more to be done); Enterrar y Callar, L.D. 187 (Bury them and be silent) ; Al Cementerio and De que sirve una Taza (Of what use one cup 2) (Plates 85 and 86). What amazing compositions of tumbled bodies in poses of agony, despair, fear and death ! Nothing that the last war has caused to be produced has come within measurable distance of these things, with the possible exception of Percy Smith’s “ Dance of Death,” and even these lack the wonderful draughts- manship of Goya. The sixty-five plates were created while the Peninsular War was still fresh in the artist’s memory, and they remain—probably will continue to do so—the most trenchant commentary on the bestiality and hideousness of warfare, when lust and cruelty are released from the restraint imposed in normal times. The remaining seventeen of the eighty-two plates are, as M. Delteil points out, a return to the style of the Caprichos. Los Disparates.—The eighteen “‘Absurdities ’’ which follow are not of any great merit. They have been generally and wrongly entitled “Proverbs,” and, according to Mr. Hind, Goya called them Suenos (dreams), but he gives us no text. Suggestions as to the date of this series, by different cataloguers, have covered a period of nine years, 1810-1819 ; but nothing is certainly known on the subject. Only one of the set approaches the quality of dramatic draughtsmanship sustained so well in the “ Disasters.’’ This is the sixth : Disparate Furvoso (L.D. 207), which in its first (pure line) state illustrated in the catalogue, shows Goya at his very best. It might indeed have be- longed to the previous series, as there is none of that fantastic exaggeration characteristic of the “Absurdities.”’ Tauromaquia.—Goya’s last set of aquatints is the Tauromaquia (* Bull fighting ’’), which was executed—at least, several plates are so dated—in 1815 and at first comprised thirty-three plates. It is quite possible that the Disparates were contemporary with, or even later than, this series ; but, in any case, there is a very great falling off in power, both of observa- tion and draughtsmanship, in some of these dramatic incidents in the “sport ”’ of his country. The drawing of both horses and bulls in many of the plates is positively feeble—No. 13 (L.D. 236) being unrecognizable as Goya in this respect— while it is significant that the original drawings are (in all cases illustrated) incomparably finer. I imagine that the drawings had been done, in many cases, earlier. This is particularly noticeable in No. 32 (L.D. 255), where the drawing shows the artist at his very best in composition, perspective “mnasnyy Ysipeg ay? ur food bp wosg ‘04 ‘HHINIA GALAIT AGL NI CHOI AO ASNUS AHL + dIHSNVAKSLZHOAVUC LNAOIMINOVIK SHEL AO ALNIVLUDO 4 ALIOIIAWIS AHL ALON ‘VAOY) “OIUHLINAMHO 'TV G8 981d “#L x Sle *SuIqoyy OI AIUIULAD i : tee 3 250 ro i Ye UALVM TO d n 19 HNO FAHD NOan “UNISNIT YSintg 2y2 Wy food D moss ONIHLAMAAD AO NOILVYYLNGONOO FHL OSTV “NOIWISOdKOO IVYGINVUAM AHL JO ALQVAA FHL aLON ‘VAOD €VZVL VNO GZAUMIS AND aa 98 281d “quiyenby D Suryo4 cf Yew) 252 GOYA, 1746-1828 and sense of action. The shock of bull and horse and the movement of the men is amazing. No. 21 (L.D. 244) reaches supreme rank, and it is noteworthy because in this splendid plate the scene represented is outside the actual arena (Plate 87). It-is called the “‘ Death of the Alcalde,” and has the reality of life apart from the unnatural conditions of a theatre. In it the bull has apparently leapt the barrier, and the callous spectators have for once the knowledge of how death appears at close quarters. The drawing of the bull here is that of a real, savage animal which might have broken loose from an English meadow ; not that of the semi-heraldic beast prancing in the ring, represented in too many of the plates. The last two of the series, Nos. 39 and 40 (L.D. 262, 263), and No. 26 (L.D. 249) are amongst the really fine plates : very notable for their beautiful arrange- ment of light and shade, and perhaps No. 39 is the greatest of all. It is peculiarly beautiful in the way in which the lighting is concentrated on the drama in the centre of the plate. Retirement.—Late in life, having held his Court post (at the expense of his loyalty) through the abolition and restoration of the Hapsburg mon- archy, Goya received permission to retire to Bordeaux, where he produced his last important work—no longer in our present medium—the litho- graphs. I feel I cannot do better than quote Wedmore again here, and the following passage is taken from his graphic picture of Goya’s life in “ Etchings ” (p. 121) :— ‘“‘ Painter of church frescoes, which were fuller than even the religious pictures of the Venetians . . . of secular appeal; painter of portraits in which something of the grace of Gainsborough seems not incompatible with something of the relentless insight of Balzac, the imagination of Goya and his unfailing observation, his sense of terror and of comedy, come, all together, to the front in his performances upon the copper—in his several hundred prints.” I have allotted Goya a special chapter because he is, in a way, unique and stands outside the main line of the evolution of etching. This is partly because his personal ensemble was of the rarest, and few feel impelled to express similar ideas in any medium ; and partly because he chose, as a means for expressing his intensely passionate denunciations of what he felt to be rotten and decadent, a medium which few find sympathetic— aquatint. More: his actual technique is in itself not at all remarkable. It was not of superlative excellence, like that of Rembrandt, which caused crafts- men who had nothing to say to emulate it, purely as craftsmanship, so keeping it before the artistic world until the next great creator came along to use it. He did not leave a tail of little Goyas petering-out down the century, as is generally the case with a technical comet of the first magnitude. There is another reason for his failure to win a wider approval from artists and so from the collecting public. It is one of the tragedies of the unasnyg ysineg ay. ur foord pd wmosg “dMOUO ONIATA GOL HLIM LSVYLNOD NI AGOG aAvaad <> TIOd OILVIS ATIUVINGWOW AHL AO DNIMVUC LINAOIMINOVN FHL aLON : ‘ALV.LS LSA ‘VAOD “HCATVOTV HHL JO HLIVAd AHL 28 248d *SUIqo4yA 253 i : ee ee pte nent ooaieamgeonneotinni Tieden ect etennnncth ahmed dnaieineteenfinin nunc Ses agitator ete oie cprtcesttienc te esbe ee Ft ee ain OE nny ee et ea Nan ante toe non sine 254 GOYA, 1746-1828 history of etching that these powerful and original plates should have been so mishandled by successive printers ; and, when quite ruined, still printed from in such numbers that only exceedingly rarely is a fine impression found. It has given the average connoisseur a totally wrong conception of the quality of the work, and, with the best will in the world, no one can have a great affection for an utterly inadequate rendering of an originally fine creation. Even the modern textbooks reproduce worn-out examples of his fine works in which the values have totally changed, and since beginning this chapter I have heard that a number of the presumably undestroyed plates from Madrid have just been dispersed by their last owner. This means that we have not yet seen the final printing from these coppers. For all these reasons, Goya has had comparatively little influence upon the actual making of bitten plates, though his own art is of such tremen- dous importance, and has told in many other ways. There has been a notable exception, quite recently, to the general avoidance of his special use of the medium (by etchers) in the person of Mrs. Laura Knight, whose aquatints, mostly based upon a line foundation, are extremely interesting and technically and artistically beautiful. It may well be that others will follow her example. To see Goya’s work in other mediums one must go to Madrid, and more especially to see the studies and drawings without which his etched euvre would not have been possible. But one may find many rare proofs in the Continental galleries, and, in England, fairly early impressions of the published sets in the British Museum, together with some of the drawings. The average later state, however, gives one no conception of the rich aquatint tonality of the early impressions ; still less of the pure line of the trial proofs. 1 See page 360 for Mrs. Knight’s methods. PHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF ART THE MAP, dry point by Mary Cassatt (American School, 1845-1926). Size, 61% x 834 inches. g of compensations—of the parts. They were 5 every gain something is lost. Now this farmer’s son has $20,000 or more f Grandma invested in machinery orld of free . whose lifetime is not likely p deep sense .e] © © Oo © to be more than five years endent, au- : before it is turned in for Who loves his country can- cee themselves : greatly below the original not hate mankind. . themselves price. families to nptohit ssa ALLE The machinery con- ily need. cach : sumes gas and oil, which which they © © © © © the farmer cannot grow mes, farms but must buy. It produces # were their own, and what inadequate natural fertilizer for his need for was sufficient for themselves, high field production. This compels him to others, and to trade for the purchase commercial fertilizers, a recurrent needed. They were almost annual expenditure which, for a 200-acre jorced from a money economy _ farm, will easily cost him $1000. He drives the land and is, in turn, driven by it, and there are , Where I have lived for four champions of organic farming who believe pear for nearly a generation, | the land is already taking its revenge. molder men and women, who He is controlled by inspectors, who can, pr part of their lives just that at any moment, bar his milk from the mar- ket: if the cooler is not more than an exact m are living on the farms to number of feet from the milk barn, or if the nt as brides or grooms thirty _ electricity goes off in the cooler; if the manure go. But they are not the same _ is allowed to accumulate more than a certain fe they surrounded by other length of time—and what does one do old neighbors. One of them if it is impossible, because of weather, to led that when she married spread it on the fields? The milk will not ars ago, the farming commu- _ be accepted in any case if the bacteria count bad-connected hills where her fails to meet requirements, so he wonde CHAPTER XXIII BRITISH ETCHERS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY I HAVE already spoken of the beginnings of etching in England and Scotland in the eighteenth century ; and though the great work in both countries was not produced till the beginning of the nineteenth, nearly all the men whom we now have to consider were born in the preceding century. In both countries the artists who made their mark in the medium were better known as painters. Geddes, Dyce and Wilkie as portrait and genre painters ; and the three great Englishmen as landscapists. Turner (1775-1851).—The first of these is J. M. W. Turner, who was already working upon the copper in 1807. Most of his etchings were in more or less severe outline intended as the basis of full-tone plates carried further with either aquatint or mezzotint ; but it is in these rare early states, showing the line only (Plate 88), that one can study his extra- ordinary mastery over form and composition. In a few cases Turner completed the tonal work with his own hand (Plate 89), but in the majority of the series—the wonderful Liber Studiorum —the work was delegated to one of the expert engravers of his time. Of the hundred subjects originally designed by him to form the set, only seventy were issued in his lifetime ; some twenty more being com- pleted wholly or in part; while some (if not all) of the remainder were engraved—in one or two cases the work was actually drawn upon the ground by Turner, though unbitten—by Sir Frank Short, several genera- tions later. Crome (1768-1821).—John Crome, of Norwich, was the first Englishman of note—excepting Gainsborough—to take up etching (both ordinary and soft-ground) for its own sake. His plates in both mediums—there are not many altogether—show him to have had a real understanding of their peculiar qualities, and very considerable technical grasp. Many of the coppers were entirely ruined by some hack re-working his delicate, free lines with mechanical “‘improvements,”’ after the death of the artist, and, as they were reissued in that state, the student should be careful to study the early impressions left by Crome himself. Unfortunately these are scarce. ““Mousehold Heath,” which, in my opinion, is by far the finest of his pure etchings, is a typical case. In its second state (as completed by Crome) it is magnificent (Plate 90); in its last (fourth) state it is worth- less. The whole sky was changed and machine-ruled ! In its fine state this plate shows the spirit of true landscape-etching in a way that none of the Dutchmen could equal, with the exception of Rembrandt, 255 Pore Oe a err a ee ee ee “HINGNIANI AGAVIN AHL OSTV ‘NvISad JO DONVIVA < WHOA dO LINAWALVIS AIINWIS HHL ALON ‘“CAHLINILOZZEW SCUVMUALAV SVM ‘AHNUAT AM AIBPUILNG ‘ALVIS LSuld sIuy, “dGNYOT “VNOVdWVO HHL NI ANOS 88 ¥Id | ee | ine LT ee ee io ease es os RRO © er res haa Kat * ef On ee ORT es ie ig, RG a he mss ah 4 i SLE eas és oR Wipe pas EET pat 256 wnaesny ysinsg ay) ur foold p wo1g *NOISIAWHdOS §,LSILUV HAL YAANO LNILOZZAW NI GHHYOM-AU ATALAI(WOO UALVI SVM Ll “YHNYDAT AT GHLAOAXH ATHULLNA SVM ALVIS sin, “HHNYOT “WIVO 68 98d ‘sopping payor FEX L . JuyvabyY | Sugoi puno1iZ-zog 257 “4oyjnD 2Y7 fO UOI}29)}09 ay? 12 food D Wot “NOISUC AUAdOS — TIVLUM HIIA GANIHWOO NOISIA JO HLGVAUA LYAYD SVH FTL “AGNVH UAHLONV AY GUV SANO IVNId GHY ‘“ALWId HHL dual LSILuv GHD Sy ‘ALVLS LSUM AHL SI SIH, ‘ELYLS GNOOUS “aNOU)D “HLVAH ATOHUSNOW 06 %}%Id ‘aopfing payor kIT Xs “Baroy 5 258 BRITISH ETCHERS OF NINETEENTH CENTURY 259 Crome used soft-ground considerably, and with some success, in his studies of trees, etc., and his plates, numbering less than fifty, were executed between 1809 and 1813; that is to say, towards the end of his life. For this reason I have placed him after Turner, whose early work preceded his by two years. Cotman (1782-1842).—John Sell Cotman, whose magnificent pictures in oil and water-colour have hardly yet received their full recognition at the hands of the public, confined his work on the copper very largely to soft- ground etching (Plate 91). He was by far the most prolific of the earlier men. The prints are a pure delight in their sure draughtsmanship, and are perfectly controlled technically, as was to be expected from an artist of such genius who practised so extensively in the medium. The bulk of these beautiful plates were published in book form under the title of Inber Studiorum, a volume of which may be picked up occasionally for quite a moderate sum, and should be well worth buying for the sake of study. It is hardly to be wondered at that Cotman’s prints, so seldom seen, should be still unknown to the majority, seeing that it is only recently that he has received anything approaching his due in the appreciation of his pictures. Geddes (1783-1844).— We now come to a man, little known until recent times outside Scotland! (and not even yet known to the public), whose few plates showed a remarkable understanding of all the mediums except soft-ground; an altogether extraordinary command of drypoint in particular, and an appreciation of its peculiar qualities second to no one save Rembrandt, upon whom he founded his technique—Andrew Geddes. He was completely master of the technique of etching, also, though rarely using it entirely alone. Geddes in his own time was overshadowed by the extreme virtuosity of Raeburn, but in the opinion of many most competent to judge he was a painter of far deeper insight into character than the popular man of the day, and with a less showy but more subtle power of modelling. This same quality shows throughout his plates. The methods he employed varied with almost every one: he was ever experimenting and copying prints or pictures of the masters, including Rembrandt and Van Dyck. The most important of his plates—I think all will agree—is that of his mother, after the painting in the Scottish National Gallery (Plate 92). It is a wonderful study, full of intimate draughtsmanship and appreciation of character, in which respects one may say that Geddes stood in relation to Raeburn in precisely the position occupied by Rembrandt relative to Van Dyck. The technical procedure in this plate was as follows: begun in drypoint ; continued in mezzotint ; and completed with etching, the graver and more drypoint. It is certainly by no means a pure drypoint. There is evidence of foul-biting all over the plate, and the background is obviously more than half bitten-line, as well as much of the dress. 1 Although he lived a great deal in London, ‘wnIsnyy ysinag oy) ur foord pv woLg ‘NOISHC NI SSUNOIA -—D ONINUOM 4O WOGAAUA S,NVWLOD JO ‘IVOIMAL SI ALVId WILLIT SIHJ, ‘NYNLOD “SHHUL JO ACOLS T6 981d “EP XE “SuIqoyy punoi3-zyoOg 260 Drypoint & Mezzo, rocker. 64x4} Etched Surface. (Final St.) Plate 92 THE ARTIST’S MOTHER. GEDDES. SECOND STATE. IN THIS EARLY PROOF THE MARGIN IS MASKED. DRESS Gy HAND AFTERWARDS ADDED G COMPLETED WITH DRYPOINT, ETCHING & GRAVER. THE ROCKER WORK IS PLAINLY SEEN IN THE VEIL. From @ proof in the collection of R. K. Blair, Esq. 261 jevbot estate Etching, Drypoint G Graver-work. BEB X5hR. Plate 93 INFANTA ISABELLA. GEDDEs. AFTER VAN DYCK. THE METHODS EMPLOYED IN THIS BEAUTIFUL HEAD ARE VERY HARD TO IDENTIFY (SEE TEXT). From a proof printed by the author & in his“own collection. 262 BRITISH ETCHERS OF NINETEENTH CENTURY 263 Ihave examined carefully (and printed from) some half-dozen of Geddes’s plates (including the “‘ Mother’’), and it is extremely difficult, even with the aid of a low-power microscope, to determine with which medium many of the lines were wrought. The plate—again after one of his own paintings —of a youth named Henry Broadwood in fancy dress is one of the few pure drypoints. It is a most delicate and expressive piece of drawing.! The head entitled “‘ Infanta Isabella,” after Van Dyck (Plate 98), is an extraordinary technical performance, and how executed I cannot deter- mine precisely. I am of the opinion that it was first drawn very slightly in drypoint: the plate then covered with a very thin and broken ground, and either this allowed Geddes to use foul-biting on purpose for medelling the face, or the acid broke through by accident and was then controlled by painting out the lights with varnish. Whichever it was, it is pretty evident that he first went over a large part of the face with the point of the needle and bit-in this stippled work. It is quite likely that foul-biting began while he was etching this dot-work, and the artist recognized that it would combine effectively with the latter. That it was not entirely intentional, as in aquatint proper, is also obvious from the fact that the bitten tone extends beyond the head on to the unworked background. The deeper strokes suggest the burin. It is, in any case, a most interest- ing, subtle and beautiful piece of modelling.? To the student another equally interesting plate is “ Dull Reading ”’ (Plate 94), which anticipates Whistler’s “‘ Music Room.” It is practically pure etching, but the surface has been roughened in some way in order to throw up the lights on the woman’s face and collar of the man. I used to think this was a matter of printing, as in the Whistler, but, after com- paring different impressions, I am sure that a definite tone was bitten on the copper. It is probably spirit-ground aquatint, as one can see but little granulation. However executed, the contrasts were shockingly over- done ; but it is none the less instructive to see Geddes trying these tricks of reinforcement of the etched line. ‘ Peckham Rye ” is one of his simple and quite beautiful drypoint land- scapes, but even in this case the love of experiment shows itself to the detriment of the later states, where an entirely foreign medium—aquatint —is introduced in the sky. The early proofs before this was added are far finer. There is a state (unknown to Mr. Dodgson) in which this aquatint was lightly etched, and this is particularly beautiful. The “ Halliford on Thames’! is a completely successful etching antici- pating Haden; while the “‘ View on the Thames,” of which I have only seen the reproduction in Laing’s publication (No. 38)—presumably the plate was destroyed or lost—is a very fine drypoint, done under the Rembrandt influence.2 The little still-life of a bronze boy holding up a 1 The plate is in my possession. 2 Mr. Dodgson tells me that this plate is almost certainly not by Geddes but by Burnett (1784-1868), as a proof has recently been discovered in a collection of the Jatter’s work. BULVIIOIENY ATSOOIUND “tox #¢ aLvtd aH, “4oymnn ayg [0 U02I9}}00 ay, Ur foold D WOLT “CHHSINUaAy *saadaay ,¢WOOU OISDW., § NGHL SLHOII AHL AATISIH MA 4) ONIHOLE HHL wa “ONIGVAA TIAG b6 248d AO NALIIA NGUd AAVH OL SWARS ANOL VY “quIzenby > SuTyoyy 264 Kitching & Drypoint. Plate 8ix6}. Etched Surface 64x5}. Plate 95 ARCHIBALD SKIRVING, ESQ. GEDDEs. ONE OF THE ARTIST’S MOST BEAUTIFUL PORTRAITS. THE DELICACY OF MODELLING IN THE FACE HAS SUFFERED IN REPRODUCTION, BUT THE BRILLIANT LIGHTING REMAINS. THERE IS DRYPOINT IN THE RICH BLACKS OF THE COAT. From a proof in the collection of the author. 266 BRITISH ETCHERS OF NINETEENTH CENTURY watch is a curious mixture of very deep etching and drypoint. The chain and seals hanging from the watch are purely bitten and very heavily ; while the modelling of the figure is close drypoint. In the present state of the plate the burr has disappeared from this, and the contrast is very marked. One of his very finest plates—etching with a little added drypoint—is the “ Archibald Skirving ” (Plate 95). Geddes was emphatically a pioneer—though not one of the first in Scot- land, as I have shown in Chapter XI X—and a great experimenter. Just as his (and Dyce’s) portraits anticipated Whistler, his landscapes anticipate Legros and Haden, and in the use of drypoint he is the artistic progenitor of Bone. Wilkie (1785-1841).—Of Sir David Wilkie there is much less to be said. He used (with some skill) both etching and drypoint, but his fame rests principally upon one plate: the “ Receipt” or “ Man at a Bureau ”—it has various titles—which is, I believe, pure drypoint. I once found that one of his little etchings was executed upon the back of his own visiting- card plate. Wilkie is not one of the interesting etchers. Dyce (1806-1864).— William Dyce, on the other hand, was a real artist of the copper, and so far I have never seen his name mentioned in a textbook. He did a number of illustrations for books or magazines in the medium, and very good they are. I think Sir George Reid must have founded his style of pen illustration upon these. In the Scottish National Gallery hang two of his works (other than illustration) which are extremely fine. One—a girl seated at a window holding a flower—is pure etching, and might be mistaken for a Chas. Keene or even a Whistler. The other is pure drypoint of even finer quality. It is called “The Young Angler ” (Plate 96), and is a most charming piece of drawing, with rich burr on the free line-work and is dated 1834, i.e. the year of Whistler’s birth ! Another plate, of which I have only seen a very poor proof, is a “‘ Holy Family.” The drawing of the nude Infant, over whom the mother is stooping, 1s superb ; and the relations of woman, child and father in the background are perfect. A fourth plate is a portrait (on a bigger scale than the others) of an old woman, reminding one a little of the Rembrandt oil of the London National Gallery. Only the face and the gnarled hands below are com- pleted, rather tentatively, in the proof I have seen ; but it is quite possible that later states exist.1 Altogether Dyce’s etchings are much more inter- esting than the one or two paintings known to me. He was a genuine etcher: far more so than the better-known Wilkie, and deserves wider recognition. Girtin (1775-1802) and Bonington (1801-1828).—There are two other Englishmen who might have left more important etched work: Girtin, 1 [ have since seen what I believe is a later state (still unfinished) in the British Museum, printed by Muirhead Bone. “To Xx ae MUNASN IE ‘KAIGHN GHL «0 ASN YS ayy up (Qu0g pHeyenyy Kg pazursd) footd D WOT LHDIN AHL GOOLSUGANA ISMUY AWE IAM MOM SMOHS SLVId SIA, ‘MOAG “UMTONV ONOOA WHOL 96 Id yarod Aad 267 11} x 8}. Relief Etching. Plate 97 AZING INTO SPACE WILLIAM BLAKE. . AN AGITATED GROUP G Blake. by Robert ing After the draw IN THIS PLATE THE BLACKS ARE IROBABLY DRAWN ON THE BARE METAL IN VY ARNISH ¢> THE LIGHTS AWAY. the Br 268 THEN BITTEN -Musewn, ish. in it From a proof “eng 1onpy AILOVXd SI TIASHa AAT, ‘unasnyy ysineg yy ur fooid D woLgz ‘HOOTA SSAOOUd ,, OO “XVAV NALA @ (ANQOUD AUVNIGHO ‘HHVIG NVITUM “HYOAOTHVd § ‘ NIz,, NUHGOW V JO IVHL NV HOQOUHL) NAVUC ATISNOIAGO AYAM SALIHM FHL UALAAUdUALINI AHL ONICHAMS 86 %4*%Id GLVId SIHL XJ . surg Pre | 4 269 270 BRITISH ETCHERS OF NINETEENTH CENTURY who used soft-ground for the same purpose! as Turner etched; and Bonington, whose one plate, reproduced in Mr. Salaman’s “‘ The Graphic Arts of Great Britain ’’ (1917), is pure line etching, and hardly finished at the premature death of the gifted artist. Bonington also used soft-ground occasionally. Of all these pioneers, however, I think Geddes alone can take permanent rank among the greatest etchers (and that in spite of his very limited output) by virtue of the great sympathy with, and understanding of, humanity which he was able to express in his few plates. I would not dispute that several hold a still higher place on the strength of their work in other mediums, but here we are dealing only with that on the copper. A word must be said of two men, both interesting, but neither true etchers in the accepted sense of the term. Blake (1757-1827).—The first of these is William Blake, who used the acid to form his relief blocks (see Chapter XII), but preferred the graver for executing his wonderful line plates (Plates 97 and 98). Palmer (1805-1881).—Th2 second is Samuel Palmer, who lived entirely in the world of the past and yet chose the freer method to create what, to me, are essentially fine original engravings. Keene (1823-1891).— Neither must one forget that magnificent draughts- man, Charles Keene. His prints are very few compared with his drawings, but both in figure-subjects and in landscape he showed a genuine feeling for the capabilities of the medium. His print of the boats drawn upon a beach is exquisite in its line ; and the study of a girl holding a book, in the small hat and widely billowing skirt of the period, is a masterpiece (Plate 99). Itis also interesting to us technically because Keene—evidently for his future guidance—noted the durations of his bitings on the margin of the plate: “Ist bite 20 mins.; 2nd bite 15.” His acid cannot have been as strong as half-and-half nitric. The rich blacks, the luminosity and the poise of the delicate head are beyond praise. 1 ** Picturesque Views of Paris and its Environs,” 1802. Plate 99 GIRL WITH A BOOK. KEENE, THIS BRILLIANT PLATH, WHICH HOLDS ITX OWN IN ANY COMPANY, MAKES ONE WISH THAT THE GREAT DRAUGHTSMAN HAD LEFT US MORE ETCHINGS, From a proof in the collection of the author. 271 CHAPTER XXIV MERYON AND THE FRENCH REVIVAL Meryon (1821-1868).—At the very time that Geddes was producing his few but splendid plates, the year of Crome’s death, when Turner still had thirty years of work ahead of him and—how extraordinary it seems !— Seymour Haden was already three years old, there was born in a private hospital at the Batignolles in Paris the greatest etcher after Rembrandt the world had seen. I am not at all sure that it has yet seen a greater. Charles Meryon probably stands alone in the history of etching more than any other man, with the exception of Goya. Artistic Descent.—He made so few tentative efforts before reaching his mature style that it is difficult at first to see into what the roots of his art were struck; but when the early plates are examined they yield at least the secret of his technique, being copies and translations of the works of various later Dutchmen—Karel du Jardin, Loutherbourg and particu- larly Zeeman, whose etchings of old Paris must have appealed to such a lover of the city. I have already suggested the influence—possibly through the medium of Zeeman—of Callot. I note these points because with Meryon’s great plates only before us it appears as if he sprang fully armed from the head of Zeus. I need not go into full details of his unhappy life. The greater and more widely known the artist, the easier it is for the curious student to obtain a biography ; and much has been written concerning Meryon of late. It is strange that this man, who we are told felt the stigma of illegitimacy very keenly, should have yet taken his English father’s name —the accent over the “e”’ was a posthumous addition—but so he did upon entering the French navy. Influences of Birth.—Sir Frederick Wedmore—to whom Meryon owes much for the recognition of his genius—thought that from his mother, a Parisian danseuse, the artist received his passionate nature, while his romanticism descended from his father, but this is pure supposition, though interesting. Probably the tendency towards madness which ended his own life so disastrously was inherited from his French parent, who herself died insane. But it must be insisted upon that the dozen or so plates upon which Meryon’s fame rests were executed when their author was as sane as Bracquemond or any other of his friends. Madness cannot produce great art ; though the temperament which is capable of producing it may tend, unless carefully held in check, to the production of madness also. The few cases in which this has actually occurred have been so dwelt 272 Etching. 10} x 74. Plate 100 LE PETIT PONT. MeERyown. ONE OF THE MOST SATISFYINGLY COMPLETE & MONUMENTAL PLATES EVER PRODUCED. IT WAS THE FIRST OF MERYON’S GREAT SERIES. From a proof in the Victoria & Albcri Museum, s 273 274 MERYON AND THE FRENCH REVIVAL upon by writers, that the public commonly holds, nowadays, that to be really great an artist must also be mad. There is no greater fallacy. Schumann’s case is a very close parallel to that of Meryon. But were Beethoven, Bach, Brahms or Wagner even approaching madness ? Were Shakespeare, Milton or Goethe ; Rembrandt, Diirer or Goya ? The very fact that so little concerning our greatest dramatist has come down to us is proof of his normality—in other words, of his “ sanity ”— because it caused no remark amongst his contemporaries. Let us believe that Meryon therefore did his great work in spite of, not because of, his madness. Naval Career.—About the time his mother died he entered the Naval College at Brest, going to sea two years later (in 1839). After several voyages, including a visit to the South Sea Islands, he abandoned the Navy in 1846 in order to become an artist. Upon realizing that he was colour- blind—this does not imply any lack of ability to distinguish the most subtle relations of tone; rather the reverse—Meryon was forced back upon black-and-white, and began to study and copy the men referred to above. He was for six months a pupil of Eugéne Bleéry. First Etching.—Mr. Dodgson, in “The Etchings of Charles Meryon ” (1921), says that the first etching was a head of Christ founded upon a miniature of P. de Champagne, but only one impression is known. In 1850 his first masterpiece was produced, Le Petit Pont (Plate 100), and with the possible exception of Za Morgue and La Galerie, nothing he did later, in my opinion, surpassed it. His Methods.—There is a certain amount of conflicting evidence con- cerning Meryon’s actual methods of working. Mr. Hamerton, who, if he did not know the man himself, must have gathered information from Meryon’s friends who watched him, says, definitely, that he worked from nature with a mirror, “laying ”’ his lines with astonishing certainty. Mr. Pennell, in his attempts to belittle Meryon because Whistler did not care for his work, scoffs at this for some reason known only to himself. But it is not at all an unlikely story. He also affirms that Meryon was no artist because he did not make a sufficient number of mistakes ! “And in this plate (Za Morgue) there are no mistakes, erasures, foul- biting, none of those qualities found in all spontaneous, vital etching— Meryon is perfunctory, perfect, pathetic.’ Compare this with Meryon’s own letter to Jules Andrieu: “‘ For often I must patch my plate so much that I am more Tinker than Etcher.’’? It shows Meryon’s amazing mastery over his medium that he could produce a plate which appears as if there had been no mistakes to Mr. Pennell, in spite of his patching. In fact, he did to perfection that which Whistler proclaimed all through his life to be the greatest technical achievement possible: he concealed the art which produced Art. Against the theory that Meryon worked directly upon the plate we have 1 “ Ktchers and Etching,” p. 40. 2 “ Ktchings,”’ by Sir Fred. Wedmore, p. 44. BuvdNoy -aonfangy paysig 89x St ‘uNnasnyy 7490)F SD 1r40z004 242 ur foold D woLg ‘\($pP ‘Id) ALVId S,NVWIONAY NI LVHE HLIM AZUAOIA ONIONVH AHL XI AILOW FHL AON SUVAddV LI NVHL NHL IVNIOIMO AIONIUVG HUOW HOAW SVM HOIHA 'NODISAC ThdILAVad LSOW V *NOAUTL "eLxX9 AWVG AULON LNOd Od AHOUV.T TOT 94%Id 275 276 MERYON AND THE FRENCH REVIVAL the evidence of the original drawings. In all probability he made use of both methods, the drawings being supplemented by additional final work from nature. Or both methods may have been employed, but on different plates : why not ? To quote from Mr. Dodgson, who, unfortunately, gives us no authority : . . . Meryon seldom made a complete drawing on the spot. He would go every day at the same hour and make minutely finished studies of details on small bits of paper, which he either stuck together or made another drawing from them.’’4 Mr. Dodgson also adds that Meryon began his drawings of both archi- tecture and figures at the grownd and worked upwards. This, though a mere personal fad, was logical enough, and, I believe, the same was said of Blake, who had much of Meryon’s abnormality. Le Petit Pont (Plate 100) was a compilation from two different points of view, and is interesting in that respect as showing that Meryon fully realized that art was not a mere copying of nature. Among moderns who have both achieved fine results from similar “liberties ”? with topography one may cite Bone’s ‘“‘ South Coast, No. 2,” and McBey’s “Lion Brewery.” I believe Whistler did the same thing in the “‘ Long Venice,”’ but I do not personally know that city. The brilliance, strength and dignity of Meryon’s first great plate— doubly wonderful when one remembers that he was the pioneer in treating architecture in such a manner: a manner which suggests the very soul of a building—have rarely, if ever, been equalled even by the splendid draughtsmen who have founded themselves upon their great forerunner. Following this noble plate came, in quick succession, Le Tour del’ Horloge, equally brilliant but less finely composed, and La Pompe Notre Dame, in which Meryon, using his first scaffolding motif, showed the way to Bone and the rest of us who have, and will continue to, come after. Last, but by far the finest of this year (1852), was the exquisite Saint Etienne du Mont, the church near which the artist must have lived. In 1853 appeared Le Stryge, a subject which has also been plagiarized ad nauseam, but in one instance forgivably: that of Cameron’s “ Chimera of Amiens,” a plate which is, I think, more perfect than its prototype, though lacking the mystery of the latter. In the same year were also Le Pont Neuf, a very beautiful study of light falling athwart the old piers of the bridge, and L’ Arche du Pont Notre Dame (Plate 101), one of the most perfect plates when seen in an early state. But this reservation applies to most “‘ Meryons.” Finally, the plate which no one can see, surely, without a thrill of pure joy, La Galerie Notre Dame (Plate 102). This, we hear, was Victor Hugo’s favourite, and I do not wonder at it. The next year—only four from his beginning !—brought Meryon to his climax. 'In it came La Rue des Mauvais Garcons : again a prototype for countless etchings ; L’ Abside de Notre Dame, a wonderful presentment of 1 “ The Etchings of Charles Meryon,” 1921], p. 6. ce Plate 102 LA GALERIE. MeEryon. ONE OF THE MOST PERFECT ACHIEVEMENTS IN ETCHING From a proof in the Victoria & Albert Museum, 278 MERYON AND THE FRENCH REVIVAL the great cathedral, but marred by the sky; and La Morgue, which epitomizes the whole outlook of the artist’s life (Plate 108). It is a work which, in my judgment, approaches as nearly to perfection as is possible. LD’ Abside was, I believe, the later plate, and both Sir Frederick! and Mr. Dodgson? acclaim it as the finest of all the “‘ Meryons.”’ Mr. Dodgson has even departed from his custom of ignoring the com- mercial side of collecting, and by doing so somewhat weakens the value of his praise: “‘ Then follows L’ Abside, the justly famous masterpiece for which higher sums are paid to-day than for any other etching except some of Rembrandt’s.”” We all know how little current prices may have to do with merit. Personally I find that the band of clouds which passes across the whole length of the sky are not only badly drawn and bitten, but ruin the whole arrangement of the plate by carrying the eye along the top of the com- position instead of allowing it to sweep down from the towers of the cathedral to the bridge below and the distant buildings beyond it. How- ever fine the rest of the etching, if this criticism be admitted, one cannot call the plate a perfect work. Whether there is a trial proof without the clouds, as I strongly suspect—these being an obviously right attempt to break the unfortunate contour of the houses beyond the bridge—I have not discovered ; but it should be very wonderful. Another reason for my special preference for La Morgue is that it seems most typical of Meryon’s personality. It sums up what was begun in Le Petit Pont and continued in La Galerie. It is indeed one of the most perfect pieces of self-expression in the world of Art. There are three more plates which I wish to mention, not because they are in any way equal to the greatest, but because they are interesting to the student. First: the apparently strong Italian influence shown in a plate of the very same year as those last discussed, 1854: L’ Entrée du Couvent des Capucins a Athénes, but which must have been etched from an early drawing. Second: the particularly beautiful Tourelle de la rue de l’ Ecole-de-M édecine, the sky of which, in the early states, shows how delicately Meryon could etch clouds. His Power of Portraiture.—Last of all: the great power of expressing individual human character demonstrated by the portrait of 1861—the date also of La Tourelle—L. J-Marie Bizeul being the sitter’s name (Plate 104). It may not be an original work, but is none the less fine. Death.—Both these plates show how far from mad the artist was during the period between his two confinements in the asylum, i.e. between 1859- 1866. There—at Charenton—he died. His Printing and Legacy to Whistler——Meryon was one of the first— perhaps the first—to make use of variously tinted papers to aid the impression he wished to convey in any particular plate ; and his practice has been followed by most of the moderns. His printing (or Delatre’s, who must have been kept in check by 1 « Ktchings,” p. 42, where the dates vary from Mr. Dodgson’s. 2 “The Etchings of Charles Meryon,”’ p. 18. Plate 103 LA MORGUE. MeEryon. IN MOST WAYS THE ARTISI’S SUPREME EXPRESSION OF HIS ATTITUDE TOWARDS LIFE. NOTE THE CALLOTESQUE FIGURES DERIVED THROUGH ZEEMAN GY THE ASTONISHING SOLIDITY “> DIGNITY OF THE BUILDINGS. From a proof in the Victoria & Albert Museum. 279 Baers (weeeemes Etching @& Graver. ima an - 64x45. Etched Surface 4th x4gee Plate 104 L. J-MARIE BIZEUL. Meryon. THIS PLATE, 80 SEARCHING > MATTER-OF-FACT “> SHOWING SUCH A GRASP OF CHARACTER, WAS EXECUTED BETWEEN THE ARTIST'S FIRST FINAL CONFINEMENTS IN THE ASYLUM. 'THERE IS CONSIDERABLE BURIN WORK IN THE COAT, From a proof in the British Muscum. 280 MERYON AND THE FRENCH REVIVAL 281 him)! was very simple and fairly clean in wiping, though quite a heavy tone is left on the surface very frequently. This was probably the result of using a very thin (perhaps unburnt) oil. Such an oil, we know, was employed by Delatre, long after, when printing with Whistler. Hence we find that Whistler owed the delicacy of his printing directly to Meryon, whom he affected to despise ! Of Meryon’s three great contemporaries—Jacque, Bracquemond and Legros—who all contributed to the French revival, Legros, I think, stands easily first, though Jacque was the pioneer and, in that sense, equally important in history. Jacque (1813-1894).—Charles Jacque did some remarkably fine work and, though never attaining to the heights reached by Legros, must have the honour of being the first Frenchman of importance (who lived and worked in France) to take up etching and drypoint seriously. Many of the most beautiful plates of bis large output are scarce and seldom seen, having been printed in very small editions, and justice has hardly been done him; perhaps for that reason. Many of the plates are common enough, but they are mostly late and not usually good ones. He was a magnificent draughtsman of animals, and apparently much influenced by Rembrandt’s night pieces. His own are full of feeling and observation, and the forerunners of Clausen’s similar plates. A very beautiful example of this manner is Le moulin, with its tenderly luminous sky (Plate 105). This sky is largely “ printing ’* and, of course, impressions may vary enormously ; but a proof to which one may refer is in the Scottish National Gallery, though the impression here illustrated is far richer. The early states of some of the drypoints are very much simpler and better than the later, but much rarer. One of his most perfect interior studies of sheep in a barn is the Intérieur de Bergerie (1st state, B 447). How big and luminous also is La Vachere. Both are drypoints. It is interesting to find Jacque deliberately lifting the composition of one of his cattle pieces from Claude. Hence we have the Rembrandt and Claude schools united in him. We must remember that Jacque’s original plates began at least a decade before Meryon’s Petit Pont, and one of the best I know—a little etching—is dated 1840. Jacque undoubtedly influenced the young Whistler enormously, to say nothing of J. F. Millet, Legros and others. Bracquemond (1833-1919).—The most memorable plate of Félix Brac- quemond’s is, I think, his portrait of Meryon (1853) (Plate 106). It is modelled rather upon the lines of Van Dyck than of Rembrandt, but with a more intimate understanding of the character of his sitter. There is in the face an almost furtive expression as if Meryon were upon the point of rushing away like a suspicious savage who had first met a white man. Very expressive is the drawing of the hands—without which no portrait 1 Hamerton informs us (“‘ Etching and Etchers,” Ist ed.) that Delatre could hardly print simply if he tried ! 2 There is a considerable amount of mezzotint in many of these dark plates. Drypoint & Mezzotint. 4y's X3}3. Plate 105 LE MOULIN. Jacque. THE TYPE OF PLATE IN WHICH JACQUE, FOLLOWING REMBRANDT, SAID SOMETHING NEW. NOTE THE EXTREME BEAUTY OF DESIGN From a proof in the collection of E. R. Boase, Esq 282 Plate 106 PORTRAIT OF MERYON. BRAcCQUEMOND. APART FROM ITS VALUE AS A RECORD, THIS PILATE IS NOTEWORTHY FOR ITS FIRM ¢& DIRECT USE OF THE NEEDLE. From a proof in the collection of Campbell Dodgson, Esq., C.B.E. 283 284 MERYON AND THE FRENCH REVIVAL is really complete—though their tranquillity contradicts the tenseness of the face. Bracquemond’s portrait of his other great contemporary is almost as fine. Here is Legros the visionary ; but again the quality of shyness is so noticeable that one wonders whether his sitters shared it equally, or whether it emanated from the etcher himself. His studies of birds are technically perfect, but such plates as Le haut d’un battant de porte —beloved of Wedmore—leave me entirely cold. On the other hand, Le vieux cog (of the later manner) is a creation, and has been both father and mother of countless modern works. Legros (1880-1911).—Alphonse Legros began etching in his teens—at least as early as 1855—just when Meryon had finished the series of plates upon which his fame rests. There is nothing more interesting and curious than the manner in which the art, having taken a fresh lease of life in Scotland, suddenly came to perfect maturity in France through the medium of a man who was half English and half French, and then returned to this country, reintroduced by a Frenchman, Legros, and an American of Anglo-Scottish descent, Whistler. Although Legros worked and lived in London, never for a moment was he anything but French. In actual technique he was extraordinarily limited, considering the huge extent of his output—about 700 plates, I believe—and yet he expressed himself with that simple, mannered, diagonal shading (suggesting the earliest Italian engraving) in a wide range of subjects and with deep humanity. In the course of his long life he naturally produced very many indifferent plates, and many of these, instead of being destroyed, were published in huge editions and poorly printed. It is such impressions—seen in every print-seller’s and auction room— which have been responsible for the low estimation in which their author has been held by the average collector and artist. They are bad plates, often printed long after what burr there may have been had disappeared, and it is a thousand pities that Legros or his publishers issued them to damage the reputation of one of the noblest etchers of the century. Legros’s temperament, like his technique, restricted him to the pro- duction of a certain class of work, and that only. He could never unbend and express the sheer joy of living as could Rembrandt. His outlook was often sombre ; always dignified and quiet ; never gay. In such portraits as that of the ‘‘ Sculptor Dalou ” (Plate 107) he rose to a height of serene perfection ; not in such as the “ Watts,” which is feeble in every way. Again, in the studies of pollard-trees lining the banks of a river (Plate 108) his one method of drawing on the copper—the short diagonal stroke—suited his subjects perfectly and they are most masterly in design and luminosity ; while in what Wedmore describes as Legros’s “leaning towards the theme of the human derelict’ the artist was expressing himself with full conviction, e.g. “‘ Death and the Woodcutter.”’ Legros, whose manner of expression was so personal, and never varied Etching. THis IS ONE OF THE MOST MONUME WITH BREADTH OF MODELLING. ’ = 8} ie) Etched Surkice Plate 107 PORTRAIT OF DALOU. LEGROS. NTAL OF THE ARTIST’S PORTRAITS. Iv COMBINES SEARCHING CHARACTERIZATION Note THE TYPICAL RAG-WIPED QUALITY OF THE PRINTING (GOULDING’S). From a proof in the collection of the author. 285 286 MERYON AND THE FRENCH REVIVAL in accordance with the requirements of his subject, as that of the greatest masters has always done—Rembrandt, Meryon, Hokusai, Turner, for instance—had the usual effect that such men have upon their pupils. Hither these broke away altogether, or slavishly followed his mannerisms and failed. To make my meaning clearer I will analyse that much-illustrated plate Le mur du Presbytére. The composition is simple and very dignified in its big masses of tower and trees against the blank sky ; the suggestion of resting horses perfect as far as it goes. Yet the wide, coarse, diagonal shading upon the wall behind the horses is so obvious—so unlike tone, yet equally ignoring the texture of the surface, whether stone or brick one cannot tell—that the eye is inevitably drawn to these drypoint strokes at the expense of the animals in front. Its result is to make the nearer horse’s head appear part of the wall. It is transparent and has no reality or solidity. Again: even if we grant that it is not of vital importance whether the trees look like any particular species, we still have to ask whether this same diagonal shading does not prevent them appearing like trees at all. We know that they must be trees because they could not be anything else, but not because there is any intimate piece of draughtsmanship to tell us so. They are like the trees of a scenic background where the instruc- tions indicate “‘ Trees here.”’ I am by no means denouncing this method in works requiring such treatment, but I do not feel this to .be one of them. Legros rightly ignored all matters which seemed irrelevant. But he carried this too far when the fact that his horses were not solid and his trees not drawn; that his wall could not be seen for the lines com- posing it, failed to worry him, so long as his shape was fine, and something of the emotion called forth by the spirit of the place was captured. And in those things—big things both—he succeeded. On the other hand, it so often degenerated into a mere mannerism when this same treatment was used to express things which do not lend themselves to such a means of expression. In studying Legros, therefore, it is necessary to select most rigorously, first the plate, and afterwards the impression from that plate. Corot (1796-1875) : Millet (1814-1875).—I do not propose to say any- thing of the etched work of either Corot or Millet. Etching was not their business, and nothing either of them did on the copper in any way added new commentary to the truths they expressed in their proper medium. Rops (1833-1898).—Although a Belgian, Félicien Rops did much of his work in Paris, and his outlook was largely French. He used etching, dry- point and soft-ground with equal facility, and his draughtsmanship was magnificent. The indecent character of much of his work has banned it from this country, but some of his less gross plates are superb. Particu- larly fine is the study of a youthful couple embracing in a ploughed field, entitled “‘ The End of the Furrow.” It recalls Millet, but without Millet’s heaviness of handling and sentimentality. "Eg xX i9 ‘ago “bsg ‘uoshpog yeqdung fo worj0a}09 ayy us foo1d D WOLT *“LOarados SIH AO SGHHN AHL OL GHLINS ATLOVXH SI DNITGNVH dO WSINANNVW 8,LSILYV HHL HOIHM NI ANO SI ALVId TOHILAVAd SIXT, soupagyT “HATH VI Hd ONOT WT 80T 94%Id 287 CHAPTER XXV HADEN AND WHISTLER AND now we come to the two men—brothers in-law, and, at the end, totally estranged—who did more than any man, or any group of men, towards creating the revival of etching in nineteenth-century Britain which is in full force at the present time. Haden (1818-1910).—Sir Francis Seymour Haden’s first etchings—six Italian subjects executed in 1843—ante-date the Paris-trained American’s by more than a decade, but his great work was produced largely under the stimulus of the younger man’s example. By this I am not implying that Haden in any way imitated either the manner or the subjects of his wife’s half-brother: merely that, after the long interval of fifteen years he was once more fired by the enthusiasm of the recently arrived American to etch ; and in the first year (1858), Hamerton says, he produced nineteen plates. Between that year and 1875 practically the whole of his significant output was executed. His Unique Record.—Haden’s is one of the most curious records of history. He was born in 1818. He became a successful surgeon and—his tentative early plates apart—did not etch until forty years of age! In sixteen or seventeen years he had practically finished his great work, and yet he lived almost as long after ceasing as before beginning to work on the metal. A man who was born before Meryon and easily outlived Whistler ! It has been the custom to contrast these men, and, of late, to decry Haden’s work as second-rate. I certainly have no intention of following that fashion. Both were very great artists, and, of the two, the American was infinitely the more versatile ; but to say that therefore the work of the one was superior to that of the other is only a futility. Both have had vast influence and will continue to have ; but they were utterly unlike in the finest work of each; and each had les défauts de ses qualités. In the few plates in which the older man deliberately competed with the younger, he failed; as for instance in Haden’s version of the subject —evidently they worked nearly side by side—which Whistler called ““ Reading by Lamplight,” where the one rendering is expressive, and the other merely matter-of-fact and dull. But Haden had no need to com- pete with any one. What he had to say was new, and he said it clearly and emphatically. His art was essentially that of suggestion—of the sketch—except in one or two of his very finest plates, such as “Shere Mill Pond” and the “‘ Agamemnon ”’ (Plate 109), and this last is, in my opinion, one of the greatest masterpieces of all etching. 288 “FOL XFL *4oyjnb ay. fO u017991}09 ay? ur food D WOLT “ONIDOLA JO SHUOM UAISVA HHL 40 ANO ) ar) HOGIdUALSVW § NGGVH AICHE NOadNDA SI SIA, ‘NGdVH HAOWAGTS “NONWHWVOV HZHL FO dO-ONINVEAUE 6 OT 948d *(quiodAiq 2uI0g) SuIqo}YL j 290 HADEN AND WHISTLER The ‘‘ Agamemnon.’’—Here I should like to digress a moment in order to warn both the student and the collector against the foolish practice of prizing early states, as such. In this case, the last or ‘‘ second published ” state is finer than the first published state. The plate was strengthened and improved by Haden after a large edition had been issued, yet, merely because it is the later issue, it fetches about one-quarter the price, at auction, of the first published state. (These two have nothing to do with the preliminary trials of which there are several “states.”’) It is just as foolish to pay larger sums for proofs which happen to have been signed by the artist ; especially prints which date from a time—such as these— when the marginal signature was a novelty and not, as it 1s now, con- sidered an essential part of the issue. This magnificent plate has an inter- esting history and many absurd statements have been made concerning it. Not the least absurd is Mr. Pennell’s, where he makes the author of the plate tell an obviously ridiculous story! : ‘““ Apropos, I remember one story he told me in his own house. How he went down to Greenwich, one day, to a whitebait dinner . . . and he saw the subject, and just went and sat on a pile, and pulled the plate out of his dress coat-tail pocket, and etched the ship and forgot the dinner, and then came back next day at sunset and put in the background.” Then follows the obvious gibe as to the size of the pocket in relation to the plate (it measures more than 16 by 74 inches). It is sufficiently clear that either Haden had quite forgotten the real facts of the case, as an old man will, or, more probably, he was getting a little of his own back from one who himself can hardly expect us to take his statements too literally. In the same book (p. 4) we find, ““. . . Great Britain has never produced a supreme etcher, and I do not believe ever will; it is not in the nature or temperament of the people ”’ ; while on p. 150, “ F. Seymour Haden: ‘Sunset in Ireland’: The most poetical drypoint landscape that exists’; and p. 149, “far better than any by Rembrandt, far better than any of Whistler’s.’’ Again, in speak- ing of the “Agamemnon ”’ (p. 154), “‘. . . the hull is the finest thing in line that has ever been done in etching ”’ | Without subscribing to any of these rather dogmatic utterances, I think that there is little doubt that Haden will go down to posterity as a “supreme etcher.”’ The real facts concerning the making of Haden’s masterpiece are suffi- ciently interesting and instructive to quote. Mr. Hamerton, in an article on Haden in “‘ Scribner’s Monthly ”’ (1879, p- 582), quotes a letter from the etcher, verbatim, in which the latter says that in that year (1870), believing himself to have lost the power of work- ing upon the copper in the open air, he made, or tried to make, a free- handed drawing of the ““Agamemnon,”’ then breaking up opposite Deptford. He offers this plate to Hamerton for the “ Portfolio.” After speaking of the difficulties he had experienced in the work, he goes on to say that he + “ Etchers and Etching,” 1920, p. 149, “OLXL *4OYIND 2Y] JO UOQI01]09 ayn Ut foodd D WoOLg ‘SHMVHL UWAMOT AHL AO SCUYOORH LNVITIING LSOM 8 ,L8SILYV AHL AO ANO BSI ALV1d ONIZ SIH, “ALVLS GGHSIIGOd LSUld “NECGVA, WOOWARS “LAAT Od OTT °4¥Id “SUIyO pL 291 292 HADEN AND WHISTLER had thought of making the sun set behind the old hulk and distant Green- wich, as typical of the departing glories of both; and that he would try to do this if Hamerton would return the plate after using it. He finishes by saying that, as for himself, he is old, blind and unhandy! The man who had half etched the masterpiece of his life: unhandy! And he still had forty years to live. In the same article Mr. Hamerton expresses my view exactly in writing of the “ Sunset in Ireland”: “.. . rich in tone but not very luminous, so that the idea of sunset does not occur to us before we read the title. The same subject was afterwards etched in the bath . . . and the etching was more luminous than the drypoint.”’ I saw this second plate at Dr. Harrington’s house some years ago for the first time, and felt it to possess just what is so lacking in the drypoint. As an example of Haden’s amazing promptitude in gripping the essen- tials of a subject there is a note in the Drake catalogue of the artist’s work to the effect that the five Welsh plates (two of them, at least, are masterpleces—‘ Kilgaren Castle’’ and ‘“‘ From the Bridge at Cardigan,” Plate 111) were all executed, out of doors, upon the same day, 17th August, 1864 ! Another interesting note (this time by the editor of the magazine previously quoted) says that upon the first publication of Haden’s Etudes a Veau forte in France—his first issued set-—Meryon wrote to the editor of the “ Gazette des Beaux Arts” cautioning him against being taken in by these plates, which, he declared, were “not done by Mr. Haden and moreover not in this century ”’ ! This throws a double light upon both Meryon as a man, and the very unusual quality of Haden’s work for the period in which they were pro- duced, i.e. in 1865. According to Mr. Hamerton, Haden has left it on record that he much preferred zinc to copper, and certainly the style of work in which he excelled was thoroughly suited to the character of line yielded by that metal. His mordants I have already given in Chapter VI. As a translator of masses of foliage ; moving water and cloud effects ; vessels silhouetted against luminous skies, etc., into free, vigorously-bitten, definite line, Haden has few, if any, compeers. His printing was always simple and clean, and the work stands upon the merit of the sheer, black line alone. Whistler (1834-1903).—James Abbott (McNeill?) Whistler has received more abuse and, since his recognition, more praise than probably any etcher before or after him. At the time of writing the pendulum of public opinion has ceased to swing up—I fancy is already well started upon its return journey—his finest prints bringing actually less at auction than 1 The plate was not used, the “‘ Brig at Anchor” being issued instead, but it would be very interestingjif a proof of this early state could be found. Dr. Harrington told me that he did not know of such a proof. _ .* McNeill was his mother’s name, added by Whistler after coming to England. “souinn ayn fo U022291}09 ay2 ur food D WoL T “HLVG HHL NI SNIMVUa —dOHLAW MAN V GALINFANI NaGVH HOIHM 4O NOILOAGOUa ABD NI S@LVId LNVITIMA ‘agLaoaxa ATCdvVu ‘NGdVH YAOWATS “AOGIUA NVOIACUVO NOW TIT 948g “OX EF GHL 40 ANQ COE 293 294 HADEN AND WHISTLER those extremely popular ones of Cameron which are enjoying their fullest appreciation in the artist’s lifetime. In this respect we are all reaping where Whistler sowed—where Whistler and Haden sowed would be more just—for these two men placed etching, by their actual creative work as well as by their speech and writings, in a position never before occupied in the estimation of the public. It is by no means easy to appreciate the finest qualities in a Whistler print. It is easier in the case of Haden: far easier in that of Cameron. That is why the majority of those who will “ collect ’’ Whistler will do so because he is an established master ; the minority because it really loves and understands his work. Early Life.—There is scarce need for me to recapitulate the well-known facts of Whistler’s career. He was the son of an American engineer hold- ing the rank of Major in the U.S. Army, and while quite a small boy went with his family to Russia, where the Major was engaged in building a great railway. Upon his.return to America he entered West Point Military Academy (though how his eyesight was passed is a mystery: no one has mentioned it) ; learnt a certain amount of topographical drawing ; found he was unfitted for a soldier’s life ; was engaged for a short time in the Coast Survey Office, where he learnt his etching-craft, and utilized his knowledge of drawing ; and, finally, threw that up also and left America —practically for good—when he was nearly twenty-two, to settle in Paris as an art student. It was soon after this that he must have come under the influence of Jacque. The extraordinary resemblance both in style of technique and in subject between the two Jacque etchings here repro- duced and the Whistlers was first pointed out to me by Mr. Martin Hardie, and, I think, is quite conclusive (Plates 112 and 118). And now comes the astonishing fact that, in less than three years, Whistler had completed the first issued set of his etchings, Douze eaux- fortes daprés Nature, printed by Delatre at the end of 1858; and that amongst these plates are some of the finest (in my opinion) that he ever executed. It is rarely that a young man’s work is taken seriously unless he happen to die young (as in Schubert’s case), so that one must either accept him young or not at all! And Whistler himself disparaged his early plates late in life. His Early Maturity—Whistler belonged to the type which develops early and wears itself out rapidly. His zenith was reached in oil-painting before he was forty—the portrait of his mother was begun in 1871 at latest, i.e. when the artist was between thirty-six and thirty-seven years old—and even the Venice etchings (if one accepts them as the culmination of his etcher’s career) were produced in 1880. An Analysis.—Personally, I doubt very much whether posterity will accept the present verdict that the Venice sets are greater than the earliest sets of all. They are more obviously original, just as Chopin is more obviously “ original”’ than Beethoven. But is this quality so important as it seems ? No one who knows one note of music from another can “HOVG NI ‘duno Pld 2104 M Fox Q T tq “a aAdvoOVe AHL WOU SAAIMAA ATSAOIAGO SV IsaAr LI LA ‘luv dO MUOM UANIA AHL YUVA AM SI YUATISIHA ANY, IV4INDO AHL WOUA LUVdV ‘AIT TIALS <> LHOIT “wUNnasnypy 14991P D> 11407004 942 Ur foosd D WoL “AINO JIVH LHOIY "aadOVE Chsvatc R: 8eY@\C RI “NVd “NYHOM-HOIUY ‘UALSWId HAL dO LNAWLVAUL AHL ALON ‘“SHLVId OML ASHHL AYVINOO OL ONILSHUALINI SI LT GIT 94d *LOYIND ay? JO U02200]100 ay? Ur fooLd D woLg “ALVLS CHIH “NaTLSTIEM “HOUUVLOOW Ad HANVHOUVA VI “Eex 89 “BUTE 295 MHL 40 NOILVONOIOUd AHL NGAT ALON “wnasnjy 14991V > 01407904 ayy ut foodd D wosy “OS8T ‘aodove ‘“ATIA ALILGd VW ‘OD ‘SHUNLVNOIS HHL 10 SUALLAT TVNIA ; 4 ‘HOOOVEG OL SVA. UAILSINAA CHLAAGNI AILVAUD MOH ATHAISNIONOO HAOUd AINOHS SLIVULAOd AS 4oynn ay, [0 U02j99}}00 ay, ur fooid D wos *6-898T : “UMTLSIBM “CHLVAS “AINNV SIT 948%Id pene 296 HADEN AND WHISTLER 297 mistake Chopin for anyone else, but it is perfectly easy for the uninstructed to confuse much of Beethoven with several of his predecessors. Why is this ? Why is the man who is not so obviously individual acknowledged as the greater artist in spite of this ?. There is the same peculiarly individual flavour about the work of many minor—some very minor—artists. To take the first name one thinks of—Beardsley ; and so we are driven to the conclusion that there is something which matters more than this : that the greatest artist must combine this—and, by so doing, hide it to some extent—with some quality which is greater; something outside himself, universal. In other words, the greater the artist, the less he thinks about himself and the more he is interested in, absorbs and expresses life outside himself. It is just this, it seems to me, which allows the greatest artist—the Rembrandt, Michel Angelo, Leonardo—to be appreciated so easily by people in all classes—with little or much education—in all countries. It is because, instead of being exclusively preoccupied by himself, he is in sympathy with, studies, understands and is therefore able to express (through the medium of himself) universal attributes of humanity. People say of such a man, “ Why, that’s.exactly what I feel, only I never just put it into words’; or, ““ How easy it looks! I feel as if I could have done that myself.” Quite so; everyone feels those things, but only the very few can express them. On the other hand, none of these remarks are ever made concerning the lesser, ‘‘ obviously original’ artist. Of him people say, ‘‘ How won- derful ! how brilliant ! how clever!” Last of all, ““ How original !”’ These remarks have many a time been called forth by the later Whistler prints, but rarely, I imagine, by Haden’s “Agamemnon.” It is a work containing that universal ‘something’ which everyone feels but none can explain. There is not even a figure in the whole composition, and yet humanity is in it by inference: much more real humanity than in many of Whistler’s later figure-subjects. But not more than is expressed by the young Whistler. Early Etchings Compared with Late.—In the early portraits, particu- larly, where the artist was obviously deeply interested in expressing the character of his sitters rather than in more consciously expressing his own ego, one feels this universal quality. “‘ They are not typical Whistlers,” says the critic. No, but is the typical Whistler a greater work of art ? Could the early portraits and Thames etchings be attributed to anyone else 2 Of course they could not. Why, then, is one set up as typical at the expense of the other? I am equally justified in saying that the later prints are not typical of the young Whistler! No, they are both typical, but of different phases of development ; and my own opinion (which I offer with great diffidence for what it may be worth) is that Whistler developed along the wrong lines. The Venice etchings are exquisite—the last word in that quality—but they are conscious of dexterity; sophisticated. They were produced by Etching. 45x34 Plate 114 LA MERE GERARD. WaISTLER. THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST COMPLETE & BEAUTIFUL OF THE EARLY ETCHINGS—INDEED OF ANY PERIOD HERE WHISTLER CHALLENGED REMBRANDT’S SIMILAR WORK. From a proof in the collection of the author. 298 Plate 115 LA VIEILLE AUX LOQUES. WuistTLER. THERE IS SOMETHING EXTRAORDINARILY SATISFYING IN THIS WONDERFUL EARLY PLATE. NOTE THE INTIMACY OF THE DRAWING. From a proof in the collection of the author. 299 84 x 5%. 300 HADEN AND WHISTLER the man who liked to be looked up to as “‘ the Master ”’ by his followers ; by the man who was small enough to act as 1f he believed everyone should give way to him, in every particular and upon every occasion. That the average individual was (and ever is) ready to allow a man like Whistler to walk over him roughshod is not only pitiable: it is the greatest curse to the individual who does the walking. It is only an artist who is arrivé who tries this, and when he does, it means that his art is on the wane. One cannot imagine the greatest artist taking this attitude, for this reason: that he is far too sympathetic towards, and interested in, humanity to treat them as if they were of no account. He can lose his temper with everyone, like Beethoven, but, equally like Beethoven, he will be the first to admit that he was wrong to do so. Surely the reason is that, being as great as he is, he sees more clearly than anyone that he is not a god, although fully conscious of his power. I can imagine Rembrandt full of admiration for plates like La mére Gérard (Plate 114), La vieille aux Loques (Plate 115), ‘“‘Annie, seated ”’ (Plate 118), La marchande de moutarde (Plate 112), En plein soleil, the various studies of children, and the old pensioner of Chelsea, to say nothing of the wonderful Thames plates (Plate 116), so searching, so full of love for the old ships, the older water-way and the men of the dock and sea. Turning to the Rialto (Plate 118), the Traghetto, “‘ Turkeys ”’ (Plate 119), ‘The Bridge ” and San Grorgio (Plate 120), I cannot find that absorption of the ego in the desire to express something which it feels to be part of, and yet greater than, itself. In these plates I find a conscious art— very individual; unmistakable—and yet an art which never fcr cne moment loses sight of the artist. Nature, now, has to be not only expressed through, but improved by, the greatest of all her creations—the artist himself. I believe that had Whistler developed along the lines first laid down for himself, he would never have made the name he did make in the Art world of his time: he would not have cared very much whether he did or no; but he might have been one of the “‘ universal ”’ artists, and in time his work would have been recognized ; just as, in time, I believe the early plates will take rank with the Rembrandts, and only second to the mature and loftiest ccnceptions of Rembrandt and perhaps of Meryon : the Rembrandt of the Hundred Guilder print and the Meryon of La Morgue. I am fully aware that the majority will scoff at these convictions, but they are genuine convictions, and I am not ashamed to admit that I have been through all the stages of Whistler worship; and though I have always loved the earlier prints, I believed the later work to be far greater. But I no longer believe it: and I have tried to state my reasons, not, I fear, as clearly as one might who had practised with the pen, but as clearly as I can. His Printing. The Tradition Received and Left.—In printing, Whistler mare onan *soyynn ay? fo u0r,99]109 ay, ut fooid p woLy “HLIVd AHL NI NYLLIG AINIVLIYAO SI LJ] “LAS SANVH], AHL AO GHSOdWOO 4? NMVUC ATTIONAILAVAR LSOK “UPILSIHM “ASOOHUWITT “OTT 981d HHL 40 INO *SUrqo7 aL 301 Drypoint. 113 x7} Plate 117. FINETTE. WHISTLER. STLER’S RLY UNDERSTANDIN THE PECT R QUALITY DRYPOI? om SHOWING WHI "3 EA ERSTA G@ OF ILIA Y OF POINT BURR, & THE RICH VELVETY BLACK OBTAINED FROM IT. From a proof in the British Museum. 302 HADEN AND WHISTLER 303 set an example which has been the ruin of several of his followers and those who came after. The early plates he and Delatre (with the Meryon tradition) printed perfectly. In the later rag-wiping and painting upon the plate—suggested by Rembrandt— Whistler allowed himself to lose his hold upon tradition, and began what was to lead to a decadence in the work of his followers. I said, earlier, that Whistler was technically a bad printer, and, in spite of his often wonderful results, that is, I think, a perfectly true statement. I speak only of his later period, of course, and at that time he worked too empirically : with too little reasoning. He obtained his results—at times—but only at the expense of far more failures than were necessary. His best proofs were often marred by “folds ’ and also by those marks (referred to in Chapter X) which appear when the paper is too wet. In his attempts to condemn Meryon for being too faultless in technique, Mr. Pennell implies that this carelessness shows Whistler to have been the greater artist. It shows nothing of the sort. It shows that in that par- ticular Whistler was an artist who had not sufficient control. Mr. Pennell used to possess an otherwise beautiful T'raghetto, and to him —so he used to say—these creases made no difference. But to me they make this difference: they prove that the man who did the work was either a “‘ bad printer’ because he could not regulate his press, or that he was too lazy to pull another proof and then destroy the spoiled one. We know that Whistler was not lazy, therefore the alternative supposition must stand. As the editions of most of these plates were so small, the consequence of this empirical printing is that proofs that are both fine in quality—a quality which at the tome only Whistler knew how to obtain— and that are not blemished, are very scarce. There is a trial set of the second Venice etchings (of which I possess half) which was printed by M. Salmon in Paris for Messrs. Dowdeswell ; and it has an extraordinary interest for the student, because, being quite simply hand-wiped, the proofs show the quality of Whistler’s clean, delicate line in a way lost altogether by the artist himself in his desire to obtain atmospheric surface-effects by rag-wiping. In doing this, much of the ink was dragged from the lines, which became “thin.” His result was a subtle gradation of tone in such plates, e.g. ““ The Long Lagoon,” “La Salute— Dawn,” obtained at a sacrifice of the line itself: the line, in my own impressions, being of a remarkable strength and precision with no less delicacy, but with little or no gradation of surface tone to help it. Obviously such a plate as “‘ Nocturne—Palaces ” would not exist at all if printed in the same manner—the simplicity of the early Whistlers— but when a plate so perfect in its line as ‘‘ Turkeys ”’ is proved in this fashion, I, for one, infinitely prefer it to an impression of Whistler’s own handling. Later still, Whistler gave up this rather over-elaborate printing to a large | Etching. | | fa 114x742. Plate 118 THE RIALTO. WHISTLER. A TYPICAL EXAMPLE OF THE ARTIST’S EXQUISITE LATER MANNER, NOTE THE “ VIGNETTING ” BOTH IN DRAWING “& IN BITING. From=a proof in the collection of the author 304 Etching. 84 x 5h. Plate 119 TURKEYS. WHISTLER. FIRST STATE. ONE OF THE DAINTIEST & MOST EXQUISITE OF THE VENICE PLATES, BUT LACKING THE SOLIDITY “> INTIMACY OF THE EARLY WORK. From a proof in the collection of the author. U 305 4oyinD 2y2 [0 U01})91}09 242 ur foosd » wodg ‘SESVW JO ANIT AHL 40 AONVIVE OINHLAHY AHL YOA 4) NOISAC SLI AOA AIAVLON ATUVINOILUVd SI ALVId SIH, ‘ALVLS HLP—-aug “HHTLSIHM “OIDYOID NVS OST 4%[d “Suloy 306 HADEN AND WHISTLER 307 extent, but in his line-work he grew more and more sketchy; less and less intimate. I hope that, because I am following what I feel to be the truth instead of the fashion, no one will imagine that I am endeavouring to belittle Whistler’s later etchings. I do not think anyone can have a keener appreciation of their beauty than I. But although beauty may be one of the qualities of a work of art, it is not the whole of Art. In the narrower sense of the word it is not even a necessity, although a really great work is always technically beautiful. To repeat: I am convinced that the young Whistler, both unsoured and unspoilt, was nearer in spirit—in humanity—to Diirer, Rembrandt and Meryon than the Whistler of the later etchings, though these may be more “ beautiful.”” And does not Humanity count for more than all other qualities put together ? CHAPTER XXVI THE MODERNS: AND THE REVIVAL OF THE GRAPHIC ARTS IN ENGLAND It is difficult for any artist to stand outside his own art as a critic may, and particularly so when called upon to review the work of his contem- poraries. Although practically a truism to say that every artist is biased in favour of his own manner of treating a subject, it is not true of an individual all the time. Contrary to the general belief, it 2s possible for an artist to judge dispassionately, and—it may necessitate conscious effort—to appre- ciate, fully, another’s standpoint, even though diametrically opposed to his own. I have always loved other people’s prints and collected them even when I could not afford it, and I possess examples of nearly every modern etcher since the eighteenth century mentioned in these pages. Adverse criticism of one’s contemporaries—especially of those who are most popular at the moment—is ever looked upon as being the result of professional jealousy. As a matter of fact, I believe it is generally per- fectly sincere though often mistaken. Jealousy in art is to me as ridiculous as mock-modesty or conceit, and any one of them implies that the artist is thinking more of himself than his art. It should be, surely, a joy to him to discover great art, whether he himself or another was its creator ? Jealousy also implies the inferiority of him who is jealous in his own estumation, though he will not admit it even to himself. The only way to do good work is to believe that, sooner or later, you yourself will do the very best work; and he who so believes can never be jealous of anyone. That there is an amazing revival of fine draughtsmanship in Britain at the present time (1924) should be patent to anyone who has eyes to see. It began before the war with etching and lithography, and since the war has included black-and-white woodcut. In England, after Whistler and Haden had produced their best work a great number of etchers grew up who followed too closely in the foot- steps of one or the other, sometimes both. These men—I was one of them—believed that everything had to be sacrificed to the inspiration of the moment—the sketch was what it amounted to in most cases—and though much of the output on these lines was vital it was not based on solid foundations, and consequently could not be built upon without sooner or later toppling over. Following Whistler’s later and weaker manner everyone tended to 308 Plate 121 SELF PORTRAIT. StTRAna. ONE OF THE MOST SEARCHINGLY DRAWN G INDIVIDUAL OF THE ARTIST'S PLATES, From a proof in the collection of the author. 309 310 THE MODERNS vignette ; toindicate ; suggest ; “feel ” for form in a vague indeterminate way ; to fear all positive statement, and the carrying through of a drawing upon the copper to the bitter end. It was easy and “artistic,” but led to chaos and oblivion as the easy road must. The inevitable revolt came, as it was bound to come, and a return to individual study of nature and the fundamental laws governing art, rather than nature-study through the medium of Whistler. In other words, men began to look for themselves, as Whistler and Haden had done. This caused a revival of the study of the older masters, and, in etching, Rembrandt again became the master, just as in some other mediums the young men reacted to Italian Primitivism, throwing over the Impres- sionism of Velasquez, who was the master of Whistler and his school. Men saw also that Impressionism carried to its logical extreme became an absurdity: that a slice cut from Nature was not necessarily art. They cast about for the secret of the bigness of Design shown in the work of the great masters even when their drawing was unrealistic or distorted, and for the moment this distortion in one or two of the masters who showed great power of design—e.g. E] Greco—was mistaken for a neces- sary, integral part of that design. There is no need to go into the eventual development of this theory of distortion until all idea of making shapes represent anything objective was abandoned and we had the full tornado of Cubism upon us, as etching itself was only very slightly affected by the movement: not in the least in its main evolution. None of the biggest men went off the track, and it was only natural that some of the beginners should be temporarily upset ; but most artists who wished to express themselves in modern terms took up the wood instead of the metal. To indicate how “ modern ”’ these terms were I should note that some years ago I found in the Tibetan monasteries of Ladak wall decorations showing precisely similar influences ! The only difference between them and the modern Kuropean works being that those of Tibet are far more beautiful ! I take it that the reason why so few etchers were included in this move- ment was that to be a great etcher a man must be peculiarly sane and yet sensitive and alive ; and at the time the great etchers in this country were also the majority of its greatest draughtsmen. Eliminate such names as Bone, John, Brangwyn, Clausen, Cameron, Blampied and McBey, and abroad Bauer, Forain and, in his own line, Benson from modern draughtsmen, and it is a very serious matter indeed. None of these men showed the faintest trace of the modern movement, and every one of them has been—more or less directly—influenced by Rembrandt. The spirit of unrest had, of course, manifested itself in France (and among the continental peoples generally) before it showed itself in Great Britain, and not by any means only in the Graphic Arts. Whistler’s impressionism was but part of a big movement in Paris imported thence “4oymnn aus fo U02392]}00 ay, Ut? foord D wos “ANIT_INIOGAUG NAO 40 AIMWVKA LNATTAOXH NY SI SIH], ‘ONVALS “SOUDAT AO LIVULYOd GOT 948d “TLXL : Rad PRES Oe ea SE ae Pus eh Seas Ayame eee 311 312 THE MODERNS by him into London ; and the revolt against the fag-end of Impressionism abroad was the outcome of the same logical impulse as that against the Whistlerian in this country. Every phase of artistic manifestation must have its impetuous uprush in infancy ; its vigorous, controlled maturity, and its decadence; and when the last sets in it is time for the new generation to revolt. It is then only natural that the youthful enthusiasm of the revolutionaries should blind them to anything fine that there may have been in the maturity of the last phase, their eyes being fixed upon the immediately preceding decadence. But to return : while the majority of English etchers were endeavouring to carry on the later Whistler tradition—Frank Brangwyn was the notable exception—several Scotsmen were coming to the front, who, though tech- nically influenced by the American, eventually checked the decay. These were Strang—at the time largely under the spell of Legros—Cameron, who founded himself upon Meryon, and Muirhead Bone. Bone is undoubtedly the supreme master of drypoint, and one of the great etchers in the history of the art.. Such plates as the “‘ Demolition of St. James’s Hall—Interior ” (Plate 182), “Ayr Prison” (Plate 188), “San Frediano, Florence,’ “‘ South Coast, No. 2,” “‘ Leeds Warehouses,” “The Shot Tower,” to name a few from memory, are masterpieces, and one can say no more of any work. His drawings—many of them—are equally great, but are not yet “ collected,”’ as drawings are not in fashion. No one—not even Rembrandt—has handled the burr of the medium, with its capability of yielding both extreme richness and delicacy, with more power and certainty.? To my mind, Strang did a great deal of spade-work of which others will reap the benefit, but he was rarely himself, though often very nearly so. Some of his portraits of men, however, are very fine indeed, and genuinely personal expressions ; but often his work commands one’s respect while it fails to move. Cameron has probably done more than any man to popularize etching, and some of his architectural plates are very notable. I have already referred to the “‘ Chimera of Amiens ” (Plate 185), which, in my opinion, is the best of all his etchings. In it, moreover, one may see most clearly both the strength and the weakness of Cameron’s art. Technically it is superb: far finer than its prototype Le Stryge: it is beautifully etched and finely spaced. It is also as personal as the Meryon, but it lacks what all Cameron’s plates lack—humanity. One feels that the etcher was interested in Etching: not in expressing Life through the medium of etching. His chief appeal lies in his black-and-white pattern (see Plate 186) which tells richly when hung in a quiet-toned drawing-room. In this one feels the greatest difference between his prints and those of his predecessor, 1 See next chapter for plates and personal notes, *78234D ay] fo uorssassod ayy us fooud vp woLy “ONIddIHS HHL NI ONIMVUC JO ALAVAR —G AUYALSVW IVOINHOUL ALWIAWOO SLI AOA AHLUOMALON SI SIH, “GNOY GVaHUINW “WIOHMOOLS SGT 948d *yuiodAiqg 3 4 } 4 i iment ih ape gtE 20 gegen a aS: 313 314 THE MODERNS Whistler. The average Whistler does not—nor was it intended to— decorate a wall. At a little distance the delicate expressive lines vanish, while the black masses of the Cameron—especially the later Cameron dry- point—tell better than when looked into too closely.! One of the greatest masters of etching—certainly of to-day and, I think, of all time—is Marius Bauer. In this country only the few appreciate him so far. He is extraordinarily versatile in the treatment of his plates and can vary his scale with equal facility. For instance, his “ Siege of Con- stantinople ” is only 4 inches in length and 8 inch in depth, and yet, in its few delicate lines, suggests the bigness of a mural decoration ; while his “ Porch of a Mosque,” a wonderful, rich interior, broadly and freely etched, is nearly 24 feet in height and 2 feet broad. It is, in my opinion, one of the greatest prints since Rembrandt, and a direct descendant of the “ Three Crosses.” Between these extremes of scale there is a wonderful series of plates, some mere suggestions, like the delicate drypoint “‘Stamboul Bridge,” done in a few strokes, of which the subject is not a bridge, but the tired wayfarers ; others, like the “Amiens Cathedral,” having an intricate lace- like pattern covering the entire surface of the copper. Every one of them is full of intense human feeling and deep emotion. I think no one living can approach Bauer in the luminosity and pattern of broad shadows seen in such monumental plates as ‘‘ The Entrance to a Mosque,” “‘ The Entry of a Queen ” (Plate 124) and “‘A Sultan ”’ (Plate 125). “‘ The Entry ” has surely never been surpassed even by Rembrandt.? Another very great foreign etcher, now a veteran, is Forain. His later prints are so different from his earlier that it is like looking at the work of another man. In his case it is only the late work which is significant, and some of it is of the very first rank. He, like Bauer, follows Rembrandt very closely, yet he also resembles the modern Dutchman in being intensely himself. He has influenced the younger men in this country very much in recent years, though one of those who succumbed to his domination was of the older generation—Strang. His actual style—even more so than that of Legros—is a dangerous one for another to build upon. The follower is apt to take hold of the mannerism rather than the truth of draughtsman- ship which lies beneath. In his plates of the law-courts, Forain is deeply indebted to his greater predecessor in France, Honoré Daumier, whose lithographs contained even more dramatic force than the etchings of the living artist (Plate 126). Forain came entirely into his own, however, in his series of motdfs taken from the Life of Christ, and, in them and his remarkable Lourdes set, carried the art of elimination of unessentials to an extreme. Le Retour de Venfant Prodigue (4th plate) is one of the simplest and 1 See next chapter for plates and personal note. 2 For notes by the artist and further plate see next chapter. aw “bsq ‘y20neg °C “ff u0r99709 ay, up foord D wWOsT SAOGNAGALS SI TIVLAG JO NOILVZIIVAU 4) NVISHG SLI GD SLINIUd NUAGOW AO WIAVAUVNAY LSOW AHL AO ANO SI SIH], ‘ugavd “¢ “VW ‘N€a00 V dO AULNA AHL POT 23%ld Surqoya 4 315 Plate 125 A SULTAN. M. A. J. BAuER. NoTE THE ORIGINAL USE OF THE GREAT SHADOW IN BUILDING UP THIS IMPRESSIVE DESIGN. From a proof in the collection of J. D. Pollock, Esq., M.D. 316 163% 15. THE MODERNS 317 most moving of etchings, and yet in it Forain shows his indebtedness to Rembrandt most clearly (Plate 127). The quality in which he is pre-eminent—I think nowadays without rival —is his sense of the dramatic in human affairs. I well remember when Mr. Dodgson showed me a number of Forain prints some seventeen years ago that they seemed to me just sketchy Rembrandts. Probably I said as much, and, if so, Mr. Dodgson wisely said nothing. Yet in one—the least important—sense, that was a true criticism. Asa student, I was unable to see (as I see now) that one master may obviously found himself upon the work of a greater and yet keep his own individuality and be able to say something for himself. The youth who is trying to learn how to do things is more interested in the manner than the matter. But to the man who has mastered his own technique, the technique of others ceases to be of primary importance. He can pay more attention to the matter. He then realizes that there are other points of view besides his own, all equally right. ““In my Father’s house are many mansions.’ One can forgive a hot- headed student for being dogmatic, and intolerant of work which is expressed in a form unlike that which he is trying to master. But an intolerant, dogmatic old man is very different. He is not only intolerant but intolerable. There have been many other very good etchers in modern France, but none that, in any work which I have seen, can be ranked with Forain. One can hardly help thinking of Steinlen because his work came so near to being first-rate. He may have done an exceptional plate now and then which really lifted him into the first rank, but I have never seen one. The same applies to that most prolific worker Lepere. Twenty years ago his work stood out from the average mediocre production, but now he has been easily surpassed by several late comers. Twenty years ago Forain had hardly begun to find himself although already in his sixth decade; none of the younger British etchers had produced his great work, and Bauer was hardly more than beginning to be known. Forain’s name is not even mentioned in the Ist edition (1908) of Mr. Hind’s “ History,”’ while Bauer has but a meagre five lines. Reputations have changed since then ! Another foreign etcher—a native of Sweden—who has had considerable influence upon all the modern schools is Zorn. Few men create more than a small number of master-works, but in Zorn’s case the gap which separates his “‘ Renan” (Plate 128) and the relatively small number of really fine works from his average production is to me far greater than in the case of most artists. I have studied Zorn’s etchings for fully twenty years, and I cannot yet feel that many of them are in any way great works of art. To me the majority are intensely clever but entirely superficial. Zorn etched con- siderably from his paintings, and he thought in terms of brush-marks rather than in line. He skilfully avoided the searching draughtsmanship Fr t 3 i 61 X $91 AO UYAMOd 8, LSILUV "ATO “bsg ‘uoshpog jjaqdung fo uo0ysaz}00"0y3 ut food » woLy “SHHOULS ADA V NI GHSSAUCXA NOILVZIVALOVUVHO GHL dO HIdWVXH IVOIdAL V 81 ‘AHINNVG AO BZONGAIANI DAHL SMOHS HOIHM ‘ALVId SIH, “ALVId LSUls “NIVAOT “HUAN WTA VI OGL 48d *Ssulyoy” 318 ‘ray Cbsz ‘uosbpog ypqdung fo uo0p{091109 ay, up foosd D wos T “IVAGIAIGNI AUHA SI LHX ~P ATONOULS LSOW LONVURWHY 40 BONANIANI AHL SMOHS HHOM ONIAOW SINE "ALVLS GNZ “ALVId HLP ‘NIVUOT ‘HADIGOUd ENVANG.T Ad ANOLAA AT LET 948Id “suroy | 319 320 THE MODERNS which is necessary in order to render form with the point, and though he had great vitality, his outlook was usually commonplace. Having said all this, let me hasten to give him full credit for an un- doubted masterpiece—“ Renan.” It is a work which holds its own by the master-works of any time. In this tour de force Zorn must have been moved to an utterance far beyond his normal capability—at least, that is the only explanation I can find—for rarely does he approach this level : hardly even in L’Irlandaise and “‘ Mona.” An exceptionally fine study of an old man is Djos Mats. In such a popular plate as “ King Oscar II,” Zorn sinks to the level of the snapshot. On the other hand, from a purely technical point of view his plates are very equal, which is also significant. Brangwyn! has already been mentioned as the outstanding Englishman to break away from the Whistler thrall. His huge plates were anathema to the followers of that school, and though I admit I have no great love for the majority of them, it is not on account of their size but because of the way in which they are printed. Almost clean-wiped, I cannot but think they would be very much finer. So printed, without the over- elaborate painting upon the surface, some of these great plates would rank amongst the masterpieces of etching (see Plate 140). The splendid arrangement is always visible, but the superb draughtsmanship is, more often than not, obscured. It is the more strange, to me, that this giant among moderns should have failed to realize the value of the unfaked “state of the plate,’ because he shows how perfectly he understands the quality of the simple line in his magnificent woodcuts. Clausen! is an artist of an older generation who has shown his great individuality upon the copper as well as in paint. The few plates that I have seen are extremely beautiful, showing his deep sympathy with the worker on the land, and are examples of. how even a comparatively elementary technique can express the ideas of a man who knows exactly what he wants to say. One of the finest is reproduced in the next chapter (Plate 134). Of the younger men who showed no trace of the Whistler influence, but on the contrary went directly to Rembrandt, is Augustus John.! His self-portrait, Téte farouche (Plate 138), Jacob Epstein, C. McEvoy (Plate 189) and several others are amongst the finest of modern prints and have curiously escaped the booming which many inferior productions have undergone. They are drawn with a delicate, sensitive, Rembrandt- esque line and are very personal ; very beautiful. Much as I disagree with the dogmatic and partisan utterances of Joseph Pennell in print, | admire many of his sayings on copper. Though founded on Whistler, they are yet personal and sometimes very fine indeed. To his work in aquatint I have already drawn attention in the chapter on that method. Pennell’s plates must be seen in series to obtain the best from them—his attitude is always that of the pictorial journalist—and that is why most individual plates are a little disappointing. Nevertheless 1 These artists’ personal notes, with the plates, will be found in the next chapter. GHL PSNOWNV AUOM “aT “by ‘uosbpog yaqduvyg fo uo0rj992,09 ay, ur fooud D wmoLy “AUNLIVULYOd AO SHOUIAUAISVA HHL §SHOVId YUALOVUVHO AO NOISSHUCXA AHL LAd ‘HYOM 8,NUOZ TIV dO IVOIdGAL SI ‘NUOZ SUAGNY “NVNHU AO LIVALYOd 8cT 93%Id % oeteger AAYINHOAL THY, Suryoyd 321 322 THE MODERNS he has done a great work, and a few of his later plates, notably those dealing with Pittsburg with its smoke and dirt, are masterpieces. Amongst the men who are still actively producing is McBey.! He early came under the influence of Rembrandt, then of Seymour Haden and Whistler, and finally of Forain, but in all these phases he retained his own individuality!; now more, now less. The war acted upon him as a great stimulus, as upon many others, and during that period he produced some very fine plates: notably the “Sussex ”’ (Plate 141). The motif—sunset behind the vessel—reminds one inevitably of Haden’s masterpiece, but the treatment is his own, and it is a work to live with. There are many prints of almost equal quality of this time ; but not until the artist was sent with the Australian Camel Corps to the desert did he find inspiration for plates fully entitled to rank with the “ Torpedoed Sussex.” Such were “ Strange Signals ” and ‘“ Dawn,” and in many ways I think they are a more personal expression than anything McBey has given us. “ Strange Signals ” (Plate 142) is a very original design and contains the very essence of the desert, as none knows better than I. It contains also the chief characteristics of the artist: his impulsiveness, his sense of the dramatic, his strength combined with delicacy of handling. Another man who drew amazing inspiration from the war, and whose sense of the dramatic is second to none, is Percy Smith.! The present-day public is incapable of judging his “‘ Dance of Death ” (Plates 145 and 146) purely from the esthetic point of view. It does not wish to be re- minded of the all too recent bitterness of loss, but in time to come these plates will, I feel sure, be looked upon as the most searching commentary on the horrors of the Great War produced in this country: perhaps in any. Two men who in collaboration produced some very fine plates in the manner of engraving were the brothers Detmold. More recently the sur- viving brother has etched a variety of subjects and in several different styles. By far the finest are those in which the artist is working from actual facts and in the manner adopted originally by the pair. Such is the splendid Diirer-like study of a chained eagle, ‘‘ The Captive.”’ From his oriental plates, however, it is quite impossible to believe that the etcher knows anything at first hand of the East, though it is presumably hardly from ignorance that he endows the Indian cattle with buffalo horns, makes his elephants thirty feet high and plants banana trees in the desert !_ Not- withstanding these “ artistic licences,” some of these plates have a great deal of feeling and atmosphere. I have already referred to the very important work in aquatint of John Everett (Plates 151 and 152) and his pupil (in the medium) Mrs. Laura Knight! (see Chapters XIII and XXII). In his studies of sailing ships, Everett has struck a new note, and his technical control is extraordinary. Mrs. Knight’s figure-subjects, based on the Goya tradition, show tremen- dous power in design and draughtsmanship and are technically faultless. 1 These artists’ personal notes, with the plates, will be found in the next chapter. THE MODERNS 323 They will probably wait some time for recognition, as their subjects are not likely to appeal to the average collector (Plates 149 and 150). Blampied 1—a native of Jersey—is one of the most individual draughts- men now living, and his plates (148 and 144)—more especially his etchings than his drypoints—are almost as fine as his pen drawings. He is largely a specialist, and his study has been horses. Probably no draughtsman knows the horse so intimately as he, and he has the power of expressing that knowledge. But Blampied has also a most intimate understanding of the peasant of his native country-side, and it is his great humanity which appeals so directly and so rightly to the public. His drawing of the “ Sick-mother ” is one of my most valued possessions, and I only hope he may use the motif for interpretation on the copper. A man whose work is the antithesis of the Whistler tradition, whose technique is superb, and who has something to say with it, is Griggs. There is a peculiarly satisfying quality about his best prints—engraver-like though they are—which means that, however much he has elaborated his careful and deliberate work, he has successfully retained his idea from start to finish, and this is surely a hall-mark of great work—if the idea is of value in the first place. Nevinson! has done some most interesting work in several mediums and should do still more vital work if he becomes sufficiently absorbed in any one branch of human activity. Some of his plates of the French front during the war showed what he could do when moved. ‘“ That Cursed Wood ”’ (Plate 147) is a drypoint of distinct personality, and contains something more than a merely objective representation of the battle area. His little etching “ In Suburbia ”’ (Plate 148) is also full of genuine obser- vation of life. Among the younger Englishmen, Wheatley, Rushbury, Brockhurst and Nixon have all done plates which are notable, but all still have their work ahead of them. Particularly fine is Wheatley’s bold, drypoint profile “ Old Rogers.” Brockhurst is very personal in his etchings of women, though he is still more convincing, to me, in his delightful pencil drawings. Rushbury’s “Les Baux, Provence,” is a drypoint of great power and points to good things in the future ; while much may be expected from the young artist of the “‘ Italian Fiesta,’’ Job Nixon. Noteworthy plates have also been produced in recent years by Malcolm Osborne, J. W. Nicolson, Westley Manning, George Marples, W. P. Robins, Herbert Whydale and William Larkins, whose “ Underwood St., White- chapel,” is a fascinating little work. In France, Auguste Brouet must be mentioned as the etcher of a number of interesting plates; while, judging by the few I have seen, still higher rank must be accorded to the works of the Spanish-born Pablo Picasso. It is difficult for us on this side of the Atlantic to have much knowledge of the American and Canadian etchers: I mean of those men who stay 1 These artists’ personal notes, with the plates, will be found in the next chapter 32 t THE MODERNS in their own land. We know of those who come to Europe: of Pennell and Maclaughlan, but there must be men of outstanding merit who are at present unheard of in this country. But one at least is well known here, and very justly: Frank Benson. His studies of wild-fowl and other birds are wonderful (see Plates 180 and 181),! and mark him as a man apart: holding a place in the collector’s heart which will, Iam sure, be permanent. In his best work, both etched and drypoint, Benson is among the great etchers. His feeling for move- ment is at times astonishing. A younger American who has done a few remarkably beautiful, pure line plates is Louis Rosenberg. His “ Isola Tiberina ”’ is an exquisite little etching, somewhat on Whistler lines, yet quite personal. I don’t know anything more distasteful than the making of more or less invidious distinctions between the works of my own contemporaries. One can never pre-judge any artist’s life work. Some “ find themselves ”’ at the beginning: others not till the end of their lives. I may have over- estimated the work of some: underestimated that of others. Without the time at the disposal of the professed critic one can see but a small proportion of any one man’s work, and, the chances are, happen upon the least representative side of it. Although restricted here to the discussion of etchers only, I should be very sorry to give the impression that the extraordinary revival of Black- and- White in London, of late, has been confined to workers in that medium. Perhaps the most vital movement of all has been that of the woodcut group. Then there has been splendid work done in lithography, and besides, we have magnificent draughtsmen who have taken up no repro- ductive medium. I must not mention even a few of the great names connected with these various activities ; but it is a period in which we may well be proud to take some part, though I doubt if many realize how high the general standard of draughtsmanship has been pushed, and how much more severe the appraisement nowadays before a man’s work is accepted as of out- standing merit. I salute all genuine etchers: past, present and to come. 1 See next chapter for plates and personal notes. PART IV CHAPTER XXVII PERSONAL NOTES BY EMINENT ETCHERS ON THEIR METHODS THE following personal notes upon their technical practice have been very kindly contributed by the artists expressly for this book. On such a subject a definite assertion by the etcher himself must necessarily be of far more value than suppositions by any one else. The student will see, at a glance, in comparing the methods of these eminent craftsmen, that there is no “royal road” in etching. One man produces great work by means of methods abhorrent to others of equal authority. It is for the beginner to discover the technique best suited to his own temperament : to what he wishes to express. In the earlier chapters I tried to show authentic examples of the tech- nical processes reviewed, and therefore relied exclusively upon my own plates, even where this entailed the employment of a method hitherto unfamiliar, e.g. the perchloride-of-iron bath. Here I have selected some of the best from the e@uvre of each modern specialist whose technical preferences are given—more or less fully—in the individual’s own words. 325 Notes spy M. A. J. BAUER Plates.—The big plates are mostly copper, but many of the little earlier ones are of zinc, e.g. “Mecca Pilgrims,” ‘Street in Constantinople,” “A Fountain ; Stamboul,” “ Horsemen under a Gate,” “ Market Day,”’ ‘Wall of the Harem,”’ are all zinc. Ground.—I never use the roller. Acid.—I always buy salt-petre1 acid at the chemist’s, and generally take one-half water and one-half salt-petre, but not exactly. Sometimes (the acid) nearly without water; it depends on the etching. I have no regular proportion and strength. I do my biting rather quickly, and prefer to spoil the plate than to do it systematically. It is always a question of feeling. Method.—I never made any etching from drawings, but make the com- position directly on the plate. Usually I begin with one figure and the composition grows little by little, though I have the whole in mind. No, I never etched out of doors (from nature). 1 Nitric. See Chapter VI. 326 « . ‘TW “bsg ‘yoonod *@ *f $0 w0y9]09 ay2 Up foond D woLg ‘ONTZ SVM NGVIA GH “NDISHA AHL JO NHLAHY GHL ALON ‘LSG4 SLI LY ANIT IVIIA ‘HAISSHUMSA ‘WIMWIS JO GSO AHL NI YAMOd S,LSILUY BAHL SMOHS BALVII TOdILAVaA SID, ‘ “agOoVe “fF “VW “SWIYNTId VOOUN 66T 9¥I[d ; aovfing pay SL Xt “kel Xis “Sutyoyg Notes By FRANK BENSON Plates.—I use zinc rarely ; copper usually. Ground.—Sand’s! ground. Acid.—I have only used Dutch mordant twice, and find it does not suit my manner of working. I have long given up the bath. I flow the mor- dant on the plate where I want it with a feather or brush, and, because of the thicker consistency of perchloride, I find I use this generally, though it shows the progress of the work less well than nitric. Sometimes I brighten all the lines with the latter to see where I stand, and finish the heavier parts with this mordant. [Mr. Benson adds, in the course of his very interesting letter, the follow- ing passage, which should be instructive to the genuine student and also to the collector :]-: Birds were the passion of my youth, and I drew them until I was middle-aged with no thought that they might prove interesting to others than my sportsmen friends. You will realize that a subject of this nature will hardly ever pose for one, and my pictures of wild-fowl are entirely the result of things seen in nature and drawn from memory. I try to make them part of the landscape in which they occur, rather than to describe them as specimens. The thing that I most enjoy about them is their wildness. Once or twice I have drawn captive geese or a tame pelican, but the best results I get on shooting expeditions where I watch for the things that I want and afterwards fix them (or fail to fix them) in drawings. 1 This is a good old English make of ordinary ball ground. It is used consider- ably by process etchers. 328 soiner ee el AE a : hae one ane. Plate 130 HERONS AT REST. FRANK W. BENSON. A NOTEABLE EXAMPLE OF THE ART WHICH BENSON HAS MADE EMPHATICALLY HIS OWN, From a proof in the collection of the author, 329 Drypoint. a Ls Sen fooaiatta ss ae 5X 33 Plate 181 SUMMER YELLOW-LEGS. FRANK W. BENSON. THIS EXQUISITE PLATE IS NOTABLE BOTH FOR DESIGN & OBSERVATION. From a proof in the collection of the author. 330 Drypoint. 15}X 114 Plate 132 DEMOLITION OF ST. JAMES’S HALL—INTERIOR. MuvrryuEAD BONE TRIAL STATE. THIJS PLATE SHOWS THE EXTRAORDINARY DEITH & LUMINOSITY WHICH CAN BE OBYAINED FROM THE BURR OF DRYPOINT IN THE HANDS OF A SUPREME MASTER. From a proof in the collection of the author. 33] Notes By Murrueap Bone I have not examined the matter carefully, but I suppose about half my plates have been done straight from nature, and the other half in my studio from drawings. “Ayr Prison” was done in the studio with the help of a slight jotting, but really from memory. The ‘‘ Shot Tower ”’ was done leaning on the Thames Embankment wall opposite (and very hard work it was !). Both the plates of St. James’s Hall (Plate 132) are compositions made from sketches ; but most of my country plates have been done direct on the copper from nature, as one works there under comfortable conditions, and the important thing to preserve is the feeling and freshness. 5) ‘Orvieto’ was done on the spot and finished in the studio; “San Frediano,”’ “‘ Rainy Night in Rome ” and ‘“‘ The Dogana ” from drawings. “The Fish Market, Venice, No. 1,’ was done out of doors; also the ‘“* Somerset House,”’ which is one of the largest plates I have ever done on the spot. One certainly gets a freshness and vivacity in plates done direct, but it precludes the possibility of carefully digested composition, and it is exceedingly difficult, out of doors, to return to work day after day as one does, say, in the case of an oil-painting. Often, too, one gets a simpler, better statement of the particular sentiment or “theme” of a scene by doing it from memory or a very rough sketch ; and in that case elaborate drawings made from Nature are more often a hindrance than a help. “Ayr Prison ” (Plate 133) was worked entirely with a diamond. I have split many diamonds, and one is particularly liable to do this on the edge of the plate. “The Demolition of St. James’s Hall” (interior) was done, I think, altogether with steel. “St. Peter’s from the Pincio”’ was one of the comparatively few zinc plates. It only gave about three impressions. The others mentioned were copper. Messrs. Brooker and Co. kindly make up my ink for me, and I thin it when necessary. In inking-up I use the dabber, but it certainly isn’t very satisfactory and I must try the roller. 332 LXG “bs ‘asvog “ay “iq {0 u02}29]109 ayy ur food v WOLT HOIGAM AHL NI GALNOAXA YAAT SHLVId LOWAUAd LSOW AHL AO ANO ATAVNOIESHAONA “aNOG AVAHUINA “NOSIYd WAV SET 481d SI SIH, jurodéiq 333 Notes BY GEORGE CLAUSEN, R.A. Plates.—I work both on copper and on zinc. Ground.—lI ground the plate with the dabber in the old-fashioned way, and stop-out, etc., in the orthodox manner. Acid.—A 50 per cent solution of nitric acid for copper, and a weaker one (I am not very exact about these things, I’m afraid) for zinc. Method.—I always make a drawing and work from that. I like to print as clean as possible. I think the visiting card is the ideal of printing, 1.e. that the plate should give you what you want when wiped clean ; though I generally “ drag ” the ink a little here and there. I am so much of an amateur in this work that I’ve no claim on technical grounds. What I try to do is to get the thing expressive with as few lines, and in as simple a way, as possible. This plate, ‘ Filling Sacks ” (Plate 134), was an old hammered copper. 334 Etching. Plate 134 FILLING SACKS. GErorGE CLAUSEN, R.A. IN THIS BEAUTIFUL G INDIVIDUAL TLATE WE SEE THE INFLUENCE OF JACQUE STILL VIRILF, From a@ proof in the collection of the author. 335 11? x 9 uv J 1 6 Notes By Sir D. Y. Cameron, R.A. Plates.—I always use copper. Acid.—The strength of my acid (nitric) is of little interest to me. I always judge of lines by taking the plates out and examining them. I have no science whatsoever and no data of any importance for students. I never use a feather with acid now, and only in my early days did I do so.1 1 This presumably refers to the method of playing the acid on the plate as noted in Whistler’s later manner: not to removing bubbles from the lines. 336 9§ X 72. Etching & Drypoint. Plate 135 THE CHIMERA OF AMIENS. Sim D. Y. Cameron, R.A. TRIAL STATE. IN SPITE OF ITS OBVIOUS DERKT TO MERYON, THIS PLATE IS VERY PERSONAL & TECHNICALLY SUPERIOR TO ITS PROTOTYPE. From a proof in the collection of R. K. Blair, Esq. Y 337 *40YIRD JY2 JO U02090]}09 ay? UL foodd D WOLT SSVA Ail NDISHG SUAHOLA AHL 40 DIdWVXH GOOD AUHA V SI SIH, “HLVLS TVIUL ‘Wd “NOUAKVO “A Cag “WITVOV4UVO JO HVNUAHL 9ST 948d ‘qujodsiq @ suo” | 4 338 Notes By Sir Frank Snort, R.A. “A Span of Old Battersea Bridge.” Aquatint. Plate.—Copper. Ground.—That of the distance through the span was a spirit-ground to give an air of transparency as opposed to the dust-ground for the bridge, which is more sodden in sympathy with the old timbers. The bridge part was got on the plate, in the first instance, by biting through bichromated gelatin, using for the transfer by light a chalk-and- wash drawing on thin paper made transparent by varnish. This was afterwards strengthened by soft-ground and by re-biting with other aquatint grounds—possibly two or three. The distance was done last by ordinary stopping-out. Acid.—Perchloride of iron and nitric were the baths used. (Continued on the next page) 339 “Curfew: Rye.” Plate.—Copper. First or Line State—This was drawn from nature, and sand-paper was used a little to cause fouling, in order to suggest the broken quality of the old timbers. Acid.—+ nitric to % water. Second or Aquatint State.—A fine resin spirit-ground was laid, and bitten in five gradations with the same acid: one bubbling being sufficient for the first, and the time increased for each successive biting. A gradation was obtained in the water by dipping the plate in edgeways. I think the ‘‘ Whitby Scaur ”’ might be interesting to students. There were two spirit-grounds, that of the mid-distance and foreground being laid with the direction of the grain horizontal; while that of the sky around the glare of the rising sun was laid with a radiating grain obtained by whirling the plate (in this case upside down) during the process of formation! of the ground. This was done to help the radiation of the light from the sun. This plate was also bitten with nitric acid. I have also used the Dutch bath of the usual strength. 1 ie. the drying.—E.S.L. 340 : 3 RS Ss § ‘ Aquatint. 6X 7f. Plate 137 CURFEW, RYE. Sim Frank SHort, R.A. THESE TWO STATES SHOW THE ORDINARY PROCEDURE OF USING THE ETCHED LINE AS A GUIDE TO THE TONE PROCESS THERE IS SAND-GRAIN FOULING UPON THE TIMBERS IN THE FIRST STATE, From proofs in the Victoria & Altert Museum. 4 ; Notes spy Avucustus E. Joun, A.R.A. Plates.—Copper. Ground.—Rhind’s. Acid.—Nitric and Rhind’s “ English Mordant.”’ Nearly all the plates were drawn direct from Life or imagination. In biting, the plates were mostly submerged. Printing.—I have printed a great many myself, but have had editions done by a professional printer. Nearly all my plates suffer from hasty and inaccurate biting. ‘‘ Téte Farouche ”’ is too coarsely, and “‘ McEvoy ” equally under, bitten.! I have rarely used drypoint, and then only by way of reinforcing the etching, and with only doubtful success. 1 I cannot endorse the artist’s opinion of the biting of these two plates.—E.S.L. 342 81% X 6}. Plate 138 TETE FAROUCHE. Avaustus E. Jonny, A.R.A. THIS EARLY SELF-PORTRAIT IS CERTAINLY ONE OF THE MOST INTERESTING—PERHAPS THE FINEST—OF THE ARTIST’S PLATES. THE VIGNETTING IS A MATTER OF PRINTING ONLY, From a proof in the collection of the author, 343 Etching Plate 139 CHARLES McEVOY. ‘NOISUC JO SSHNDIA “aadhVvIg ‘T ‘CHHMVAS DNIAGVOT SPT %4%Id AL 301 Notes By EpMuND BLAMPIED “Loading Seaweed.” Plate.—Zince. Ground.—The plate was prepared for me with a white ground which was not at all reliable. One could only rely on, say, two out of five. Acid.—Nitric, something like 75 per cent strength, if [remember rightly. There was only one very short biting. I had only just started and knew nothing about the technique of etching. Since the war I have used the ordinary dabbed dark ground, and the acid about half-and-half. . I prefer zinc for etching, but all my drypoints are on copper. I never work on a plate direct from nature. Drypoint.—I generally choose from amongst my various drawings one which would tend to produce a successful plate. I do not trace on to the copper, but copy the few important lines of the drawing on to the bare metal with litho-chalk. I then sketch over this with an ordinary sewing-needle and rub in a little black oil-colour. After this I generally put away the drawing and try to create a fresh interest, as I do not believe in copying, as, in my case, it invariably leads to failure. From the first my efforts are to improve on the sketch until I consider the plate finished. Directly I think this is the case I remove the ink. In very few cases do I touch a plate after the first proof, so the majority have but one state. If I am dissatisfied with either the composition or details, I prefer to start afresh upon another plate rather than to make radical alterations. My conception of drypoint is that it should appear spontaneous, fresh, crisp and without any sign of effort. “The Stranger” is pure drypoint, but was purposely done upon the back of an old plate.! 1 This refers to the broken heavy tone obtained in printing from such a surface. For another similar example see my own “Cenotaph,” Pl. 22, and I believe ‘‘ The Pianist’ by McBey. 352 "LUy N dH TOW OL NOIL “4oyInD ayy fO U01299]}09 ay? ur fooal D wmoLT OGI4INOO TVLIA V SI HOIHM SL “daIdWVTG “OW NVYSVdd AGSUDL AO SHIGOALS 4O “HHONVULS AHL DPT 32d SaIYaS AHL AO HNO SI SIH, yurodAéAiq Yen) Notes py Percy Siri Plates.—Copper. Ground.—Rhind’s solid, dabbed and smoked. Acid.—Nitric, a little weaker than half-and-half. Needles.—I use gramophone needles fixed into a wooden holder with sealing-wax. These points seem ideal: smooth and yet sharp. ““ Dance of Death ” set : I made small sketches first (1 inch or so), and then full-sized drawings in pen-and-ink or wash. ‘* Death Marches ” was transferred to the plate, as I particularly desired to obtain a certain precision and regularity to help the subject. A clear drawing helped me to express slow and regular movement. The main lines of the other six were first indicated upon the ground with Chinese white, but the point-work was done quite freely with the studies near me, together with notes of detail made in France. The pen- and-ink drawings were not always followed. ‘“ Death Awed ” was etched almost entirely at one sitting. They were all bitten in the ordinary way in the bath. Some line-work was invariably added while the biting was going on, 1.e. in the bath itself. 304 “46 X8 “sadoludd T “40yind ay? fo U01700}}09 ay? Ur foold D WOLy Iv dO LOW ‘GOlMdd ANO ON dO AAISSHUAXH SI LI ‘UVAL JO VOWXOH WIOHM ANL dA SWAY ONIHOLA LVANO SIA, “BLIWNS AOUGT “GHMV HIVAd SPT 4°%Id “BUM ya 355 “4OoyIND 242 [oO U0L}001109 ay2 Ur food D WoL T “HIOHM GHL NI GOUOA JO NOISSHUUKH AHL LOW ‘SIVAGIAIGNI JO AGOIS LV IdKUILVY ON WAH SI FAAHY, “W104 JO NOILILAUAY LOVXE LSOWI1VY AHL AY CHYALdVOaU SI NAW JO AGO ONIAOW V AO NOILVSNGS ONIUAMOAUAAO AHL MOH ALON “HLINS AOWAT “SHHOUVW HLIVAG OPT 48d 86 “BUTYoyA 356 “ot X fOr “soymnd 947 [0 U0r3991}00 ay; ur foord Dv woLg “INATTHS AUHA SI SAUNVId, HHI AO DNIMVUC -— ONIOVId ZH “CUOOHA AVA WIAVLON V SI SIH, “NOSNIAGN “M “HU 'O “GOOM CAHSHNO0 LVL AbT 948d “quriodAiq 357 Notes spy C. R. W. NEvInson Drypoint.—My drypoints are invariably traced on to the surface of a smoked liquid ground: cut through with a ruby point and then the ground cleaned off. After that the ordinary working of drypoint : a well- polished plate and a dirty finger of oil and charcoal to study the lines. Etching.—I invariably use a thermometer and pese-acide.t I then draw a chart with all the various densities and lengths of biting that the density and temperature of acid have produced in other cases. I find this absolutely essential in aquatint. I rely upon the temperature of the room as much as possible (generally 60° Fahr. in summer), taking note of a higher temperature and allowing for it. In winter, if necessary, I heat the bath. Through using this method I never remove the ground in order to see the result. Afterwards I prefer to strengthen and patch by working with trans- parent liquid ground. I have sometimes laid twenty of these, and find it much more certain than stopping-out and working in the dark, so to speak. Acid.—Nitric acid always. I like the bubbles as a guide: also the widening line. I never work on the spot. I can’t compose out of doors. Really my etching is dependent upon my peése-acide and thermometer. They rid me of all chance biting. The French copper-plate workers always use them in the shops. 1 Hydrometer. See Chapter VI. and foot of p. 366. 308 IN THIS LITTLE 7X5. Plate 148 IN SUBURBIA. C. R. W. NEVINSON. PLATE THERE IS AN INTIMATE REALISM (IN ITS BEST SENSE) WHICH MAKES IT ONE OF THE ARTIST’S MOST SUCCESSFUL. From a proof in the collection of the author. 359 Notes By Mrs. Laura KNIGHT Plates.—Copper. Ground.—Rhind’s etching ball. I prefer the dabbed ground to the liquid. For line-etching I use the Dutch mordant, finishing sometimes with nitric; but for aquatint generally nitric alone at rather less than half- and-half strength, but I am rather careless in these matters. “The Spanish Dancer, No. 2”’ (Plate 149). The line-work was first bitten with nitric on a liquid ground. After this the plate was prepared for aquatint with a resin dust-ground sprinkled through several thicknesses of muslin stretched across a common sugar- box which had had the top and one side knocked out. This is my ordinary method. It was bitten with nitric acid at 20° on the French pése-acide,1 in three tones. First biting about 25 seconds. Second _,, 2D) 2 Last me ,, 590 or 60 seconds in warmish weather. I have not been doing this work very long, but all the plates have been done from drawings or jottings on the spot. This particular one was made from a note, but I had a pretty clear idea of what I wanted to do. There was a little burnishing on the trousers of the dancer ; otherwise the plate was untouched. 1 For this hydrometer see Note by John Everett, p. 366. 360 Etching & Aquatint. 1075 X 8%. Plate 149 SPANISH DANCER. No. 2. Laura KNIGHT. IN THEIR DIRECTNESS ¢> SIMPLICITY—THE RIGHT UNDERSTANDING OF THE MEDIUM—THESE AQUATINTS ARE AMONGST THE FINEST EVER PRODUCED. From a proof in the collection of the author. 361 Etching & Aquatint. 10} X 8y%5. Plate 150 BANK HOLIDAY. LAuRA KNIGHT. THOUGH FOUNDED UPON THE WORK OF GOYA, THESE REMARKABLE PLATES HAVE THEIR OWN PERSONALITY From a proof in the collection of the author. 362 tl X Ed WOIGHM L010 2) NX “4oynn ay. [O U02799}}00 ay? Ur fooud D WOLT “uno OIA 4? HLUVAUA LYAUD SVH LT IddOLS SV NISUU <> UNOTOI-'TIO DNISN JO GOHLHW NAO S,C8SILUV FHL AA AALNOUXA SYM “LLAMA AW NHO ‘ “THNNVHO WHEL NI AVG AWYO V TST 948d LVTd SIH, yuryEnby 363 Nores BY JOHN EVERETT “ Luynes ” (Plate 152). Plate.—Zinc. Acid.—Nitric, 10° (French hydrometer). Ground.—Resin dust, hand laid through six muslins. Fine grain show- ing more resin than metal. Room temperature, 65° Fahr. Acid, 18° Cent. Stopped-out with Rhind’s varnish and benzol, vernis mou, litho-chalk and litho-ink. First : high-lights stopped. 3 secs. 3 3 29 99 Next highest lights—sky and roofs. 99 29 sky and bits of distance. All sky except darks feathered with brush and half- and-half nitric. Shadow on distance: parts of roofs. All distance: parts of roofs, etc. Parts of middle distance. 99 29 73) 99 99 99 All castle. Bits of foreground. Strongest darks. 8 mins. 29 secs. and castle. be) (Continued on page 366) 364 V,HOAS SI OHM ANO Ad W 4oymMnd ay, JO U01902)}09 ayy ur fooud D WoL “UMLEVA IVOINUOGL NAIGUW AHL WOU GANIVIAO Ad NVO WO ‘LLAUAAY NAO NVITTIUA “> H “SUNANT GST 8d idad LYVHM SMOHS GLV1d OILVNVUG SInZ, quryenby 365 ‘A Grey Day in the Channel” (Plate 151). Plate.—Zinc. Acid.—Nitric 12°,1 at temperature of 18° Cent. Ground.—Resin dust, hand laid through three muslins. A very open grain showing more zinc than resin. With regard to temperature of the bath, I use a French Centigrade ther- mometer, but latterly I judge by the temperature of the room. 65° Fahr. gives about 18° Cent. in the bath ; 70°=20° in the bath. The pése-acide1 I use is also French. Bitings :-— 24 secs. The whole plate.2 The sun and high-lights on sea were stopped-out with half-and-half flake-white and resin, laid on with an ordinary hog-hair brush. This method was used throughout. Dee The light round the sun. Dales Next highest lights. loa Rays and highest lights on sea. 10a All middle hight of sky and foam of mid-distance. PAY Most of lower sky except on right. 20a All lower sky. 20 See All sky. 30 ae Distant sea. 3 mins. Distant sea (bits). Onn All distant sea except on right. one Strongest darks. 11 mins. 24 secs. 1 Hydrometer. I buy these from Catinels, 150 Blvd. Montparnasse, Paris. Price fr. 2.75. 2 This plate was bitten to be printed in colour, but the reproduction was not made from a colour proof. The use of oil colour as stopping out medium is Everett’s own invention.—E.S.L. 366 “‘ Meditation ” (Frontispiece) Etching. By the Author. Plate.—Copper. Ground.—Rhind’s, dabbed. Acids.—Dutch and nitric. With exception of a very little additional work to the modelling of the face and one or two of the branches above, the whole was executed in one biting. Time :— In Smillie’s Dutch bath (cold),5 mins. Parts of face stopped. ,, hitric (half-and-half) bath 3 sh 5, drapery stopped. oe eee Ps - 24 4, Rest of figure, etc., stopped. Pk ee 5p A 24 ,, ‘Tree trunk stopped. ore rhe 2? 2) fi tN) Total : . 5 mins. Dutch and 15 mins. nitric. The last and heaviest biting completed the darks of the begging-bow], necklace and upper part of tree. The proofs are printed with Frankfurt with a little French-black and burnt umber, thin and a little medium oil, clean hand-wiped with retrous- sage. The plate was not steeled, and the most delicate modelling in the face unfortunately deteriorated before the end of the edition. 367 INDEX The principal reference to some of the artists referred to in the following Index are printed first and in black letter. A Acid— Acetic, 54 Chloric, 52 Formic, 158 Hydrochloric (muriatic), 52, 56, 68, 78 Hydrochloric (for mildew), 157 Nitric and Nitrous, 53, 56, 68 Perchloride of Iron, 54, 56, 68 Sulphuric (oil of vitriol), 50, 51 Acid-fumes, 57 on clothes, 57 use of, 23 Airing Prints, 154 Altdorfer, A., Germ. etcher (1480-1538), 72, Vil, 239 Alum, 50, 51, 142 Aluminium, 17 Amber, 36 Ammonia, 34, 57 Ammonium Chloride, 50, 51 Amsterdam Cabinet, Master See Hausbuch Aquatint, 18, 118 invention of, 246 sand-grain, 119 *“ Art of Graveing and Etching,” 1662 (Faithorne), 176 Art-School, 19. See also College es a danger of, 21 Asphaltum (bitumen), 35-8, 44, 118 Aylesford, Earl of, etcher (1751-1812), 197 of the. B Bacher, Otto, 19th cent., Amer. etcher, 109 Baryta white, 110, 124 Bauer, M. A. J., Dutch etcher (1867-), 314, 143, 163, 221, 232, 239, 310, 315-16, 317, 326-7 Bega, C., Dutch etcher (1620-1664), 186, 181, 224, 232, 239 Begue, J. le, 15th cent., writer, 50, 165, 205 2A Benson, F., Amer. etcher (1862- ), 324, 163, 239, 310, 328-30 Biting— difference between copper and zinc, 29 foul-, 29, 53 methods of, 66 Bitumen, 44. See also Asphaltum, 44 Black, Frankfurt, 61, 85 » French (Bouju), 61, 85 Blake, Robert, 111 » W., Eng. etcher (1757-1827), 270, 18, 96, 111, 268-9, 276 Blampied, E., Eng. (Jersey) etcher 1886— ), 323, 53, 163, 218, 232, 310, 351-3 Blankets, printing, 19, 92 Bleaching, danger of, 158 aA -powder (chloride of lime), 137, 157 Bléry, E. (Meryon’s teacher), 274 Bol, F., Dutch etcher (1616-80), 186, 239 Bone, Muirhead, Scots etcher (1876- ), 312, 127, 144, 168, 188, 288, 232, 239, 266, 276, 310, 313, 331-3 Bonington, R. P., Eng. etcher (1801- 1828), 226 Bordering-wax, 66 Bosse, A., 17th cent., French writer and etcher, 35, 51, 172, Bottles (acid), 55 Bracquemond, F., Fr. etcher (1833-1919), 281, 232, 239, 283 Brangwyn, F., R.A., Eng. etcher (1867-), 320, 36, 45, 110, 232-9, 310, 312, 345-7 Brass, 17 Brockhurst, G. L., 20th cent., Eng. etcher, 323 Brouet, A., 20th cent., Fr. etcher, 323 Browne, Alex., 17th cent., writer, 37 Brydall, R., 19th cent., writer, 196 Buffing machine, 32 Burin (graver), 35, 45, 48 Burnett, J., 19th cent., Scots engraver, 263 Burnisher, 23, 48 369 370 Burnt-oil. See Oils. Burr, definition of, 23 », lines showing, 133 C Callipers, 106 Callot, J., Fr. etcher (1592-1635), 172-7, 35, 51, 186, 192, 239, 272 Cameron, Sir D. Y., R.A., Scots etcher (1865— ), 312, 144, 163, 232, 239, 276, 294, 310, 336-8 Canaletto (G. A. Canale), It. etcher (1697-1768), 188, 239 Canvas, printing, 89 Carbon, 42 Castiglione, Ital. etcher (1616-70), 186, 2o2 7200 Caustic soda, 97 Cerus (ceruse, white lead), 36 » Venice, 37 Charcoal, 239 Chart of etchers, 239 China clay in paper, 140 Chinese paper, 141 » white, 82 Chloric acid, 52 Chloride of lime, 157 ¢ of mercury, 157 Chlorine, 29, 52, 58, 137, 157 Chlorinated soda, 157 Church, Prof. A. H., chemist, 111, 139, 143 Claude Gellée (de Lorain), (1600-82), Fr. etcher, 176, 178, 196, 239, 246, 281 Clausen, G., R.A., Eng. etcher (1852-_), 320, 239, 281, 310, 334-5 “Cleaning and Restoration of Museum Exhibits, The ’’ (Scott), 156 Cleaning the plate, 33 Clerk of Eldin, Scots etcher (1728-1812), 196, 194-5, 198-9, 239 Cochin, 18th cent., Fr. writer, 35, 51 College of Art, Edinburgh, 42, 64 ny » Royal, 34 Colour-etchings, 96 Colour of ink, 95, 140 Copper, 17 facing, 30 plates, 26 | selling old, 33 Cornelissen and Sons, 61 Corot, J. B. C., Fr. painter (1796-1875), 286 Cotman, J. 8., Eng. etcher (1782-1842), 259, 239, 260 INDEX Counter-proofs, 97 Creases in printing, 93 », removal of, 159 Crevé, 106 Crocus powder, 31, 59 Crome, J. (Old), Eng. etcher (1768-1821), 255, 232, 239, 258 Crompton, Messrs, 143 Cubism, 310 Cutting plates, 28 D Dabber, grounding, 39 » inking, 88 Damping paper, 145 Daumier, Honoré, 314 ‘“* De la maniére de graver a l’eau forte ”’ (Bosse), 35, 51 Delatre, 19th cent., Fr. printer, 87, 278, 281, 294, 303 Delteil, Loys, 20th cent., Fr. critic, 188, 242 et seq. Detmold, The brothers (M, 1883-1908), (E. 1883-— ), Eng. etchers, 322 Diamond-points, 18 Dishes (acid, etc.), 56 Dodgson, C., C.B.E., 19th-20th cent., Eng. critic. Keeper of the Prints, British Museum, 263, 274, 276, 278, 317 Drawing on the plate, 23, 80 Drypoint, 127 comparison between etching and, 23 definition of, 18 lines magnified, 132 tools for, 23, 46 du Jardin, K. See Jardin. Diirer, A., Germ. etcher (1471-1528), 201, 23, 50, 76, 168, 239 Dust-box, aquatint, 118 Dutch mordant, 52, 68 » invention of, 52, 53 Dyce, W. Scots etcher (1806-1864), 266, 239, 255, 267 E East, Sir A., R.A., 20th cent., Eng. etcher, 96 Eau de départ, 51 »» forte. See Acid. Echoppe (point), 45, 175, 205, 207 Engravers, Line, 17 INDEX Essentials for Etching, 23 ‘‘Etchers and Etching’ (Pennell), 38, 155, 274, 290 Etchers’ own notes, 325 ** Etching and Etchers ’’ (Hamerton), 36, 44, 163, 274, 281 Etching, comparison between drypoint and, 23 definition of, 17 -room, plan of, 63 ** Etchings ’’ (Koehler), 165 ** Etchings,” 1911 (Wedmore), 179, 252, 272, 274, 278 ““Etchings of Charles Meryon, The,” 1921 (Dodgson), 274, 276, 278 Etchings, Colour-, 96 Ether, 42, 44 Everett, J., 20th cent., Eng. etcher, 322, 119, 124, 126, 363-6 F Faithorne, W., 17th cent., Eng. writer, 176, 186, 192 Feather, use of the, 52 Felt pads, 32 File, 27 Filing edges, 28 Flake (lead) white, 109, 124 Flattening proofs, 147 Folds, printing, 93 » removal of, 159 Forain, J. L., Fr. etcher (1852-), 314, 163, 221, 232, 239, 310, 317, 318- 19, 322. Formalin, 158 Foul-biting, 29, 53 Frames, danger of sealed, 158 Framing prints, 154 Fronting, 31 Fumes (acid), antidotes, 58 G Gainsborough, T., Eng. etcher (1727- 1788), 197, 200, 239 Gamboge (as a gum), 126 Geddes, A., A.R.A., Scots etcher (1783- 1844), 259, 136, 161, 228, 232, 239, 255, 261-5 Gelatine (Size), 142 Gellée. See Claude. Giles, W., 20th cent., Eng. relief-etcher, 96 Girtin, T., early 19th cent., Eng. etcher, 266 371 Goulding, F., 19th cent., Eng. printer, 92 Goya, F. de., Span. etcher (1746-1828), 242-54, 120, 161, 188, 232, 239 Graf, Urs, Swiss etcher (c. 1485-1529), 168, 169, 239 Graver. See Burin. Grease on proofs (removal of), 159 Green, Messrs. (paper makers), 141 Griggs, F., A.R.A., Eng. etcher (1876-), 141, 323, 239 Ground, laying the, 39 re-grounding, 99 smoking the, 42 soft (vernis mou), 113 use of, 23 Grounds, Aquatint— Dust (resin, etc.), 118 Sand-grain, 119 Spirit, 119 Stapart’s, 119 Ground, Etching— Callot’s, 35 Hamerton’s, 42 liquid, 41 McBey’s, Moran’s, 37 Paste, 40 Rembrandt’s and Hollar’s, 36 Rhind’s, 38 Roberson’s, 42 Sand’s, 328 Transparent, 38 Weber’s, 38 White, 37, 39 Grounding-roller, 40 Guillotine, 28 H “Haden, Sir F. Seymour, Eng. etcher (1818-1910), 288-98, 29, 53, 69, 78, 82, 96, 163, 197, 232, 239, 266, 297, 322 Hall and Dunbar, Messrs., 43, 60 Hamerton, P. G., 19th cent., Eng. writer and critic, 36, 38, 39, 53, 163, 274, 281, 288, 290, 292 Hamerton’s liquid ground, 42 Hamerton’s stopping-out varnish, 44 Hammer, 107 Hammering-up (repoussage), 106 Hand-made papers, 138 Hand-rest, 114 Hanging prints, 155 Hardie, Martin, 20th cent., Scots etcher and critic. Keeper of the Prints, Victoria and Albert Museum, 294 372 Harrington, Dr. H. Nazeby (author of Haden Catalogue, etc.), 292 Hausbuch, Master of the, Germ. dry- point engraver (c. 1480), 165, 166, 239 Heater, electric, 39, 64 gas, 64 Hind, Prof. A. M., 119, 165, 168, 176, 188, 232, 240, 249, 317 Hirschvogel, A., Germ. etcher (1503-— 1553), 172, 173, 239 ‘“‘ History and Art of Engraving,” 18th cent., 30, 37, 51 ‘“* History of Art in Scotland ”’ (Brydall), 196 “History of Engraving and Etching, A short” (Hind), 119, 165, 176, 188, 249, 317 Hogarth, W., Eng. etcher (1697-1764), 188, 189, 239 Hole, W., R.S.A., 19th—20th cent., Scots etcher, 161 Hollar, W., Bohemian etcher (1607-77), 186, 36, 52, 180, 196, 239 Hollar’s ground, 36 Hopfer Daniel, Germ. etcher (14 ?-1536), 165, 167, 239 Hosho paper, 78, 141, 149 Hughes and Kimber, Messrs., 61 Hydrochloric acid, 50 Hydrochloric acid (Dutch mordant), 52, 56, 68, 78 Hydrochloric acid, for mildew, 157 Hydrogen peroxide, 159 Hydrometer (pése-acide), 54 Hydros (sod. hydrosulphite), 157 India paper, 141 Ink (copper plate), 85 burnt-oils for, 61, 87 colour of, 95 dry colours, 61, 85 grinding, 86 in tubes, 85 removing dried, 97 roller, 64, 88 slab, 64 use of, 23 Intaglio, 18 Tron, 17, 18 egg Mordant for, 50 perchloride, 54, 56, 68, 84 ; sulphate, 50 INDEX J Jacque, Ch., Fr. etcher (1813-94), 281, 136, 230, 9232 2o0 pe cS2 ees. 295-6 Jacquemart, J., Fr. etcher (1837-80), 232, 239 Japan varnish, 44 Japanese papers— damping, 145 flattening, 149 Hosho, 78, 141, 149 Mino, Torinoko, 141-4 Rembrandt’s use of, 144 Sizing, 142 Jardin, K. du, Dutch etcher (1622-78), 186, 182, 232, 239, 272 John, A. E., A.R.A., Eng. etcher (1879-), 820, 232, 239, 310, 342-4 Jongkind, Dutch etcher (1819-91), 232 K Keene, Chas., Eng. etcher (1823-91), 270, 239, 271 Kimber, W. C., 30, 39, 46, 60 Knight Laura (Mrs.), 20th cent., Eng. etcher, 822, 119, 239, 254, 360-2 Koehler, S. R., 19th cent., Amer. writer, 19, 30, 165 L La Fleche, fils, 61 Laid and wove papers, 138 Lalanne, M., 19th cent., Fr. writer, 19, 30, 37, 124 Larkins, W., 20th cent., Eng. etcher, 323 Laying down prints, 154 Lead, white (flake), 109, 124 as » (ceerus), 36 Le Begue, J., 15th cent., writer, 50, 165, 205 Le Clerc, 17th—l8th cent., writer, 35, 66 Legros, A., Fr. etcher (1830-1911), 284, 228,232,230, 206,201, ole Lepére, A., Fr. etcher (1849-1918), 317 Le Prince, J. B., 18th cent., inventor of aquatint (?), 246 Leyden van. See Lucas. Lievens, J., Dutch etcher (1607-74), 186, 239 Light-sereen, 63 Lighting, 64 - artificial, 65 etcher and INDEX Lime chloride (bleaching-powder), 157-8 Lines, magnified drypoint, 132 », Nitric and Dutch in section, 56 Linseed oil. See Oils. List of materials, 59 Lithographic press, 19, 96 Lorain de. See Claude Lucas van Leyden, Dutch etcher (1494— 1533), 205, 168, 239 Lupton, T., early 19th cent., engraver, 135 M Maclaughlan, D.S8., 20th cent., Canadian- born etcher, 324 Madness in art, 274 Mangle, 19 Manning, W., 20th cent., Eng. etcher, 323 Marples, G., Eng. etcher (1869-_), 323 Mastic (gum), 35-38, 44 Master of 1515, Germ. (?) etcher in Italy, 170, 239 Master of the Hausbuch, or Master of the Amsterdam Cabinet (c. 1480), 165, 166, 239 Materials, where to obtain, 59 Mazzuoli, F. See Parmigiano. McBey, J., Scots etcher (1883-), 322, 67, 69, 163, 232, 239, 276, 310, 348-50 Meldolla, 16th cent., Ital. etcher, 172, 239 Menpes, M., 19th—20th cent., Australian etcher, 52 Merrifield (Mrs.), 19th cent., writer, 50 Meryon, Chas., Fr. etcher (1821-68), 272-81, 87, 140, 163, 176, 186, 196, 239, 292, 300, 308, 312 Metals, 17 Mezzotint, 18, 134 a tools, 135 Mildew, 156 Millet, J. F., Fr. etcher (1814-75), 286, 224, 281 Mino paper, 141 Mistakes, remedies for, 21, 99 Moran’s ground, 37 Mordants. See also Acid. 50 sp comparative action of, 68 Mounting, 150 Mounts, proportions of, 151-3 Mulberry paper, 141 Muller (for ink), 64 Muriatic acid. See Hydrochloric. Muslins, 89 373 N Naiwynx, H., Dutch etcher (1624-54), Nene Ses Points. Negative etching, 110 Nevinson, C. R. W. Eng. etcher(1889-— ), 3238, 357-9 Nicolson, J. W., 20th cent., Eng. etcher, 323 Niello, 168 Nitric, Nitrous acids, 53, 56, 68, '70 Nixon, J., 20th cent. Eng. etcher, 323 Nooms, R. See Zeeman. Numbering editions, 149 Nutro 7 O Oil of Vitriol (Sulphuric acid), 50, 51 Oil rubber, 32 Oils, burnt, 61, 85, 87 linseed, 37, 44 nut, 37 olive, sperm, 31 spike (lavender), 40 ‘* Originality ” in art, 297 Osborne, M., A.R.A., Eng. etcher (1880- ), 323 Ostade. See Van Ostade. Overalls, 57 P Painter-Etchers, Royal Society of 155 Palmer, 8., Eng. etcher (1805-81), 270 Paper, blotting and plate, 94, 145 colour of, 140 damping, 145 dampness of, 95 fibre of, 137 hand and machine made, 138 old, reason for use of, 139 Oriental, 27, 141 Rembrandt and Japanese, 144 sizing, 142 tinting, 140 water-leaf and soft-sized, 139 water-marks in, 138, 140 wove and laid, 138 Parmigiano (Mazzuoli), Ital. etcher (1503— 1540), 172, 174, 239 Pencil work on the plate, 80 Pen method of etching, 124 Pennell, J., Amer. etcher and writer (1860-— ), 820, 38, 42, 67, 88, 120, 136, 155, 239, 274, 290, 303 374 Penrose, Messrs., 60 Perchloride of Iron. See Acid. Peter, R. C., 20th cent., Eng. mezzo- tinter, 136 Photogravure, 18 Picasso, Pablo, 20th cent., etcher, 323 Piranesi, G., Ital. etcher (1720-78), 188, 45, 190, 239 Pitch, black, Burgundy, common, Greek, Planing-out, 30, 105 Plaster-of-Paris, 19 Plates, cleaning, 33 copper, 26 cutting, 28 iron, 17 pewter and other metals, 17 polishing, 30 steel-facing, 18, 30 zinc, 29 Points, diamond and ruby, 18, 47 échoppe, 45 etching, 45 steel drypoints, 18, 46 use of, 23 Polish, plate, 32 Polishes, powder, 31 Polishing plates, 30 ** Portfolio’ magazine, ed., Hamerton, 290 Potassium chlorate, 52, 53 Potter, P., Dutch etcher (1625-54), 186, 183, 232, 239 Powder colours (inks), 61, 85 Practice, need for, 20 Press, copper-plate (roller), 19, 25, 91, 97 copying (for flattening), 145, 148 lithographic, 19, 96 use of, 23 Pressure in drawing, 99 in flattening, 148 regulation of, in printing, 93 Printing, 18, 85 canvas, 89 folds, 159 inks. See ‘* Ink.” muslins, 89 oils. See ‘* Oils, burnt.”’ papers. See “* Paper.” wiping the plate, 89 Proofs, counter, 97 cut, 95 pulling, 94 Pumice-powder, 31 Putty, 31 Pyridine, 159 Span.-Fr. INDEX Q Qualifications for etching, 20 R Raeburn, Sir H., R.A., Scots painter, 259 Re-biting old lines, 107 Re-grounding with dabber, 99 - » roller, 108 Relief plates, 18, 96, 111 Rembrandt van Rijn, Dutch etcher (1606-69), 208-39, 20, 25, 36, 45, 144, 162, 172, 176, 179, 186, 196, 201, 205, 252, 259, 278, 281, 300, 303, 314, 322 chart showing influence of, 239 table showing influence of, 232 Repoussage, 106 Resin (rosin of Tyre), 36, 37 Restoring prints, 156 Re-surfacing plates, 32 Retroussage (dragging), 90 Reversing designs, 80 Rhind, W. Y., chemist, 60 Rhind’s grounds, 38, 41 Rocker (mezzo), 135 Roberson’s liquid ground, 42 Robins, W. P., Eng. etcher and writer (1882— ), 323, 119 Roller grounding, 40 » inking, 64, 88 Rops, F., Belgian etcher (1833-98), 286 Rosenburg, L., 20th cent., Amer. etcher, 324 Rotten-stone, 31 Rouge, 31 Roulettes, 49, 135 Rubber gloves, 57 Ruby point. See “* Points.” Runciman, A., Scots etcher (1736-85), 192 Runciman, John, Scots etcher (1744—- 1768), 192, 193, 239 Rushbury, H., Eng. etcher (1889- ), 323 Ruysdael, J., Dutch etcher (c. 1628-— 1682), 186, 232, 239 S Salaman, M. C., 19th—20th cent., critic, 270 Salmon, 19th cent., Fr. printer, 303 Salt and Ammonium chloride, 51 »» 5, Sulphuric acid, 50 INDEX Salt and Vinegar (acteic acid), 34, 51, 55 Saltpetre (nitre, pot. nitrate), 50, 51 oF -acid (nitric), 51, 326 Sandby, P., 18th cent., Eng. etcher, 196 Sand-grain aquatint, 119 Schiavone, A, 172. See Meldolla Schéngauer, 15th-16th cent., Swiss en- graver, 165, 201 Schools of Art, 19. See also College Pi danger of, 21 Seott, Dr. Alex., F.R.S., 156-9 Scraper, 23, 47 how to use, 48 Mezzo-, 135 Screen (light), 63 Seghers, H., Dutch etcher (1590-1645), 172, 239 Sheet copper and zinc, 26 Shellac varnishes, 43, 44 “Short History of Engraving and Etch- ing, A,’’ 1908 (Hind), 119, 165, 176, 187 Short, Sir F., R.A., Eng. etcher (1857— ), 134, 34, 37, 239, 255, 339-41 Size in paper, 138 Sizing paper, 142 Smillie’s (Dutch) bath, 52 Smith, Percy, 20th cent., Eng. etcher, 322, 163, 239, 249, 354-6 Smoking the ground, 42 Snakestone (Water of Ayr), 30 Soda chlorinated, 157 Sodium carbonate, 58 chloride (salt), 34, 50, 51, 55 hydrosulphite, 157 Soft-ground (making), 113 .F etching, 18, 35, 113 Soft-sized paper, 139 Spike oil of lavender, 40 Spirit ground (aquatint), 119 Spirit solvents— benzol, benzoline, 33, 44 chloroform, 41 ether, 41, 42, 44 methylated, 33, 43, 44 petrol, 33 turpentine, 33, 44 Stapart’s ground, 119 Starch (wheat), 139 Starrett Co. (points), 46, 61 Steel, 17 facing, 18, 30 points. See “ Points.” Steinlen, A., Fr. etcher (1859-1923), 239, 317 Stopping-out varnishes, 43 Stout, for tinting paper, 140 375 Strang, W., R.A., Scots etcher (1859- 1921), 312, 46, 127, 224, 232, 239, 309, 311 Stretching proofs, 153 Sulphuric acid, 50, 51 db Tallow, 44 Tapers (fcr smoking), 42 Tarnish, removal of, 34 Thymol, 158 Tiepolo, G. B., Ital. etcher (1696-1770), 188, 232, 239, 242 Tiepolo, G. D., Ital. etcher (1727-1804), 188, 191, 232, 239, 242 Tools, list of, 59 Torinoko paper, 141 “Touch ”’ in etching and drypoint, 24 ** Tower-brand ”’ varnish, 43 Tracing, 80 es -paper screen, 63 ‘““Traicté des manicres de (Bosse), 51 Transferring, 109 Trays for acid, etc., 56 Turner, J. W. M., R.A., Eng. etcher (1775-1851), 255, 134, 161, 239, 256-7 graver ”’ U Umber, powder colour for ink, 61, 85, 124 Urs Graf, Swiss etcher (c. 1485-1529), 168, 169, 239 Urushibara, Y., 20th cent., Jap. wood engraver, 143 V Van de Velde. See Velde. Van dyck, Sir A., Flemish etcher (1599- 1641), 240, 179, 208, 239, 259, 281 Van Ostade, Dutch etcher (1610-85), 186, 218, 232, 239 Varnishes, stopping-out, 43 Velarium for picture galleries, 1553 Velde, A. van de, Dutch etcher (1635- 1672), 186, 187, 232, 239 Vellum, Japanese (paper), 143 » skin, 144 Verdigris, 51 Vernis mou (soft-ground), 35, 113 Vice, hand, 43 » screw (for table), 28 Vinegar (acetic acid), 34, 51, 55 Vitriol, oil of (sulphuric acid), 50, 51 376 Ww Water-leaf papers, 139 Water-marks, 138, 140 ‘** Water of Ayr’”’ stone, 30 Wax, bordering, 66 », White, 35, 36, 37, 38, 44 Weber and Co., 60 Weber's ground, 38 Wedmore, Sir F., 19th-20th cent., critic and writer, 179, 186, 225, 252, 272, 274, 278, 284 Wheatley, J., Eng. etcher (1892- ), 323 Whistler, J. A. McNeill, Amer. etcher (1834-1903), 292-807, 43, 45, 52, 67, 76, 82, 87, 91, 106, 109, 110, 140, 155, 162, 163, 213, 230, 232, 239, 266, 274, 276, 278, 281, 284, 288, 308, 310, 314, 320, 322 White baryta, 110, 124 The Mayflower Press, Plymouth. 1925 INDEX White Chinese, 82 flake, 109, 124 Whitening, 33, 140 Whaydale, H., 20th cent., Eng. etcher, 323 Wilkie, Sir D., Scots etcher (1785-1841), 266, 239, 255 Winston and Sons, 61 Wiping the plate, 89 Z Zeeman (R. Nooms), Dutch etcher (1623- 1663), 186, 176, 184, 185, 196, 239, 272 Zine, 17 9» plates, 29 Zinco, 18 Zorn, A., Swedish etcher (1860-1921), 317, 163, 232, 239, 321 William Brendon & Son, Ltd. ity ‘ ‘a gi i = ti) pis i il ori e wH TES fs hy: balk Lua MM Sate Sone eer atane: i r i! tf peee sees UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS-URBANA ts 1SPS2 States Roe rreabreswsts prs era Sree Sastre EH ieastatats eer Ste eee tee cr weeresewperrs: ote sts DOCS oa: ators a pi eeteot eles Pierre ees peer uree yr Sees, Srereea seseres neste aes Setenaes gosh nese es ess om oer pe = v3 Slee esgpeeyeaet . SS oapars estpnsctad tates tee pt ate. asepateceies Stes Beare EF ate pend 3 Besayeyes. parcel Seer} ts. S. S a ae raat et ste Sete. Soe * Sera ites ti Pepe oe Sorreretese te} SSS ce epee eereren atria te at Sree s tates cores pes si pitate ss izes paetetes Sabe Fern prety sta ries snes eres. nate es ey Sato ta te: wd. 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