A homemade etching

This is the first - and so far as I can tell, the last - etching by the Boston-based marine painter Walter Franklin Lansil. We know exactly how it was executed, from a description by Sylvester Rosa Koehler, the first curator of prints at the Museum of Fine Art, Boston. Koehler writes: "It is eminently 'home-made.' The ground was prepared according to the recipe given; the points used were a sewing-needle and a knitting-needle; the tray in which it was etched was made of paper covered with stopping-out varnish; even the plate (a zink plate, by the way) did not come from the plate-maker, but was ground and polished at home."

Walter Franklin Lansil, Ships in Boston Harbor
Etching, 1879

Walter Franklin Lansil was born in Bangor, Maine, in 1846. He studied originally under J. P. Hardy in Bangor, alongside his younger brother Wilbur. In 1872 the brothers moved to Boston, which remained their base. However in 1888 they headed for Paris, to study at the Acad�mie Julian. Walter F. Lansil was profoundly influenced not by the Impressionists but by their precursors, the plein-air artists of the Barbizon School, and also by the Barbizon painter of Venice, F�lix Ziem. Although the bulk of Walter Lansil's work reflects his home territory on the coast of New England, he continued to visit and paint Venice for the rest of his life. Ships in Boston Harbor (also known as Vessels in Boston Harbor) was made in 1879, before his time in Paris, but already shows the Barbizon influence. Walter Franklin Lansil died in 1925.

Popular posts from this blog

A Vision of the End: Simon Segal's Apocalypse

Image
The Book of Revelation (L'Apocalypse selon Saint Jean) is almost too rich in imagery for artistic interpretation, which hasn't stopped artists from trying! One very satisfying version is that published in 1969 by Simon S�gal. This project about the end of the world was undertaken at the end of S�gal's life. He was born into a Jewish family in Bialystok, Poland (then part of the Russian Empire, so it is a moot point whether S�gal should be regarded as having Polish or Russian origin) in 1898. After WWI, S�gal emigrated to Berlin, moving to France in 1926 and becoming a naturalized French citizen in 1949. L'Apocalypse: The Lamb The expressionist art of Simon S�gal was influenced by that of Chaim Soutine, Georges Rouault, and Marc Chagall, and echoes of all three can be seen in S�gal's lithographs for L'Apocalypse. I very much admire these vibrantly colourful works, with their vivid depictions of St John's phantasmagorical vision of the end of the world. L'
Read more

Fantastic vision of the Machine Age

Image
T he painter, printmaker, sculptor and ceramicist Gio Colucci (sometimes known in France as G�o Colucci) was born in Florence (one source says Cairo) in 1892, and died in Paris in 1974. He studied architecture at the �cole des Beaux-Arts, Paris, after which he went to Egypt to practice as an architect in Cairo. It was in Cairo that he gradually moved over from architecture to fine art. His older brother was the writer and publisher Guido Colucci, born in Naples; Guido and Gio collaborated on a number of books to which Guido furnished the texts and Gio the illustrations. Gio Colucci, Bonheur du monde I Etching, 1929 From copy 74/105 Printed by Paul Haasen on Arches wove paper As a printmaker, Gio Colucci produced both etchings and wood engravings. From 1921 he showed his etchings at the Salon de la Soci�t� Nationale des Beaux-Arts, and also showed work at the Salon d'Automne and the Salon des Surind�pendants alongside Gleizes, Herbin, Delaunay, and others.  Gio Colucci, Bonheur du
Read more

Rodin's last mistress? Jeanne Bardey

Image
A comment from Emeline on my last post, about the profound unacknowledged contribution of his pupil, assistant, and mistress Camille Claudel to Rodin's work, reminded me that I have a number of etchings and drypoints by another of Rodin's pupils and mistresses, Jeanne Bardey. Like most of the women in Rodin's life - his longterm partner Rose Beuret, Camille Claudel, Gwen John - Jeanne Bardey got a raw deal from her relationship with him. She was born in Lyon 1869. She was therefore 5 years younger than Camille Claudel, and seven years older than Gwen John [N.B. This information appears to be wrong; her correct dates are 1872-1954; see the next post]. Rodin made a will in her favour, which was anulled when, after his fourth stroke, and when it has been argued he was incapable of informed assent, he was persuaded to sign a deed of gift willing all his estate to the French State. There's a whole book about this controversy, which I haven't seen, Jeanne Bardey et Rodin:
Read more