ART LOAN EXHIBITION

Evening Star, Issue 21721, 16 May 1934, Page 14

ART LOAN EXHIBITION

MR CHARLTON EDGAR REVIEWS THE ETCHINGS An instructive talk on the etchings in the art loan exhibition was given by Mr A. 1). Charlton Edgar last evening. Mr Edgar said that in Britain at the present time line prints were having a great vogue, chiefly because of the excellence of the production. These prints took many forms, and to enable them to be appreciated the student should distinguish readily one from the other and understand the finer points arising directly from the proper use of the medium selected, whether etching, drypoint, mezzotint, line engraving, aquatinting, lithography, or wood block printing. There were four distinct processes in etching—grounding, drawing, biting, and printing—and any work in order to be carried to a successful conclusion required skilful handling and a good measure of patience, in addition to a considerable knowledge of the various processes. Delicate handling, precision, vitality, and beauty of drawing were the qualities an etching should possess. No two men etched the same. The range that lay open to the etcher became apparent when one compared M‘Bey and Brockhurst. M‘Bey was as impulsive as Brockhurst was restrained; M‘Bey was as dramatic as the other was dignified ; ‘ Mersea : Sunset ’ and ‘ Quai Gambetta, Boulogne,’ were masterly examples of the tree handling of the fine line. Drypoint lines were shallow compared with the etched line. While the' etched line was very fine and wiry, in drypoint the line was drawn directly on the plate. Heavy drypoint needed pressure, giving strength. Good examples of the work were to be seen in Muirhead Bono’s pictures. “No one, not even Rembrandt, has handled the burr and the medium, with its capacity of yielding both extreme richness and delicacv, with more power and certainty,” said Lumsden. An example of the artist’s work was > Stockholm.’ In mezzotints the whole plate was drypointed by means ol 11 rocker, the lighter rubbed out to tell against the dark background. Examples were found in Sir Frank Short’s works. Line engraving was a formal line executed with an engraver. In this respect Robert Auswork, ‘ A Woman Braying,’ was specially commendable. It was a work with great dignity and tenseness—every line seemed .to indicate that the woman was praying. Wood blocks gave a decorative quality, as in the works of Eric Gill, John Copley, and Ethel Cabam. Mr Edgar proceeded to point out those qualities that made the prints as works of art subject to certain laws which produced other qualities, such as design, a feeling of humanity, etc. Mr Edgar was warmly applauded for his address. . , r u To-morrow afternoon, at JmU, air ±l. V. Miller will lecture on ‘ The Essential Honesty of Modern Art.