|
The technique of etching almost certainly
originated in northern Europe and developed from the skills of the
armourer and the goldsmith. In fact a number of the first German
etchers were so employed. The earliest print, a portrait by the
German armourer Daniel Hopfer
(1493-1536), can probably be ascribed to the year 1504.
The first dated etching, however was done in 1513 by the Swiss goldsmith
Urs Graf (c. 1485-1529) (Pic 1). Within a matter
of years, the technique had caught on; Albrecht
Altorfer (c. 1480-1538) (Pic 2) and members of
the Danubian School used it for landscapes. The Dutchman Lucas
van Leyden (1494-1533)
probably picked up the art from Durer about 1520 and within a year
had produced the first etching on copper of the Emperor Maximilian.
On the whole the 16th century produced
few great eassys in the medium, despite the charm of the elder Marcus
Gheereart's illustration to Aesop's Fables and his achievements
in being the first man to issue etchinsg in England. Suddenly, in
the first half of the 17th century, the art bloomed. The family
of Van
de Velde made delightfully simple etchings of
the Dutch countryside. Hercules
Seghers (1590-1645) tried his hand at colouring his etchings,
and a little later the Czech Wenceslaus
Hollar (1607-1677) put all later topographers and historians
in his debt with his panoramic views of London before, during and
after the Great Fire of 1666. The outstanding etchers of the century,
however were Anthony Vandyke
(1599-1641) and Rembrandt
van Rijn (1606-1669) (Pic 3). The former etched some
100 plates with the portraits of the famous in his Iconography,
in a masterly fashion leaving the rest to be carried out by subordinates.
Rembrandt used the medium in a way that has never been surpassed
for power and expressiveness. From 1628 until his death in 1669,
he produced between 140 and 300 etchings (the figure varies with
the different scholars), from the early head of his mother, through
the full tonal range of dry-point in Christ
Healing the Sick (1649) to the magnificent Ecce
Homo of 1653, and including some small, direct and delightful
landscapes. Many art historians consider Rembrandt's The
Three Crosses, his finest etching with its contrast of
thin nervous lines and powerful shadowy areas. The dramatic lighting
on the central figures is enhanced bt the crescent figures in the
foreground. Among the other Dutch practitioners, Paul
Potter (1625-1654), specialised in animals and Adriaen
van Ostade (1610-1685) achieved remarkable depth and
tonal range in his genre scenes.
Though the Italian knew of the technique
early in the 16th century, the first to make use of the medium was
the Venetian Andrea Schiavone
(c. 1522-1582), while the 17th century followers of the Carracci
and Caravaggio, either
strove for the light, clear, and sentimental effects of the former
or the murky effects and dramatic lighting of the latter. With the
18th century a breakthrough was made in the etchings by Canaletto
(1697-1768), Gianbattista Piranesi
(1720-1778) (Pic 4) and Gianbattista
Tiepolo (1696-1770). Piranesi exploited his superb draghtsmanship
to make etchings of Rome and its environs. Then, between 1745 and
1761, he etched a series of plates known as the Carceri
d'Invenzione, in which fantasy and architecture combined
to create a world of vast and labyrinthine prisons, which had a
powerful influence on 18th century theatrical design.
Apart from the notable work of
Jacques Callot
(1592-1635) and Claude Lorrain
(1606-1682), France produced few notable etchings in the 17th century,
since the rigid hand of academic classicism seemed to view the techniques
as too loose or too uncontrolled. On the other hand the following
century saw outstanding etchings from Jean
Honore Fragonard (1732-1806) and Francois
Boucher (1703-1770). Stradding the 18th and 19th
centuries came the hard hitting subjects of Francisco
de Goya (1740-1828); the Caprichos
and the Desastras, in
which it is clear that, the technique at least, he owed much to
Rembrandt.
In England the 19th century saw a golden
age in etching, from the landscapes and architectural scenes of
J M W Turner (1775-1851),
through George Cruikesshank's
(1792-1878) illustrations to Charles Dickens, and to the
indoor and outdoor London scenes of Walter
R Sickert (1860-1942) and James
A Mcneil Whistler (1834-1903). Fro the sheer elegance
of his line and the absolute control of every technical aspect of
the art, Whistler has a high claim to being the most perfect etcher
so far. In France the work of Jean
Baptist Corot (1796-1875), several of the Fontainbleau
School, and Jean Francois Millet's
(1814-1875) studies of French peasants, gave the art a new impetus.
One of the most meticulous etchers of the period was Charles
Meryon (1821-1868) (Pic 5), whose detailed Parisian scenes
of the quias and buildings created an effect of immense structural
and almost abstract power.
The opening years of the 20th century
saw a boom in the market of etchings, and thena a sudden collapse
in the 1920's. Notable among the later artists in the filed where
Frank Brangwyn (1867-1956)
with his huge and dramatically presented subjects, and the architectural
scenes of the Scottish Muirhead
Bone. Although the popularity of the art is not
what it was, Henry Rushbury,
Anthony Gross and
Henry Moore have continue
the tradition in work of high quality. In Italy the art of etching
has remained popular through the work of such artist as Giorgio
Morandi.Th
|
|
