Title: |
Rembrandt's Mother |
Artist: |
Macardell, James (Dublin, 1729 - London, 1765) |
Date: |
c. 1755 |
Medium: |
Original Mezzotint Engraving |
Note: |
James MacArdell: "MacArdell's prints are remarkable
for their brilliancy, for the rich darks and finally graduated half-tones,
as well as the rare and skillfully used lights. ... If James MacArdell had not
died at an unfortunately early age, he would have been in all probability
our greatest mezzotint engraver." * (Cyril Davenport, Mezzotints, Methuen
and Company, London, 1904, pp. 129 & 130). |
|
Born in Dublin, James MacArdell was apprenticed to the Irish
engraver, John Brooks. In 1747 he moved with his master to London. As
early as 1750, MacArdell was acknowledged to be in the first rank of British
mezzotint engravers. One early admirer of James MacArdell's art was the great
English painter, Sir Joshua Reynolds, who commissioned MacArdell to engrave
designs after some of his paintings. Reynolds, in fact, claimed that his
art was "immortalized" by MacArdell's skills. |
|
Despite his short life, MacArdell produced masterful mezzotint
engravings after such contemporary painters as Hudson, Knapton, Pond and
Zoffany, and after old masters such as Vandyck, Rubens, Murillo and Rembrandt.
All his mezzotint engravings were published in London between 1750 and
1765. |
|
G. C. Williamson lists Rembrandt's Mother as one
of James MacArdell's greatest works of art. ** It surely contains those subtle
qualities one associates with the eighteenth century golden age of the
mezzotint engraving. The workings of light and shade brought forth by
a master of this demanding, tonal medium are here seen to their best advantage.
(G. C. Williamson, Bryan's Dictionary of Painters and Engravers,
Bell & Sons, London, 1927, Vol. 3, p. 262). |
Size: |
14 1/8 X 10 1/8 (Sizes in inches are approximate,
height preceding width of plate-mark or image.) |
|
Matted with 100% Archival Materials |
Condition: |
Printed upon mid 18th century hand-made, laid paper and
with margins cropped almost to the plate-mark by a previous collector.
The paper contains slight time or light staining, else a rich, vibrant,
early impression and in excellent condition throughout. This original
18th century mezzotint engraving stands as a prime example of the art
of James MacArdell, one of Britain's greatest masters. |
Price: |
Sold - The price is no longer available. |
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