DOI Heft:
Nr. 191 (February 1909)
DOI Artikel:Some etchings by Lester G. Hornby
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.20966#0039
The Etchings of Lester G. Hornby
S
OME ETCHINGS BY LESTER G.
HORNBY.
The six etchings reproduced on this and
the following pages are the work of a young American
artist whose achievements with the pen and pencil
have been illustrated in these pages on more than
one occasion during the past three years. It is just
over three years since Mr. Lester Hornby left the
school in Boston, Mass., where he received his
preliminary training, and, following a custom ob-
served by so many American artists, made his way
to Europe to gain further experience and inspira-
tion in the world’s chief art centres. After a tour
in Britain and on the Continent, which he turned
to the best advantage, he took up his quarters in
Paris. It was in Paris, whose odd nooks and
corners and old buildings have inspired a whole
school of etchers with Meryon at their head, that
Mr. Hornby’s first essays in etching were accom-
plished, and what success has attended his efforts
will be seen in the examples now illustrated on
these pages. The technique of etching seems to
have presented little difficulty to him, for within a
very brief period he had so far familiarized himself
with its intricacies as to be able to produce a series
of plates which the Societe des Artistes Frangais
found sufficiently meritorious to include in their
annual Salon. In the same year (1907) the Salon
d’Automne paid the same compliment to his
skill, and last year the old Salon again saw
another budget of proofs from his hand. In
Germany, too, his etchings met with appreciation
when shown at Dresden last year.
Mr. Hornby executes his etchings direct from
nature; at least, those which represent scenes in
Paris and other French towns have been done in
this way, the artist often finding himself surrounded
by little groups of curious onlookers, whose curi-
osity, however, did not seem to be gratified by the
sight of a black plate with scarcely visible lines. He
prefers to use the needle only, eschewing the dry-
point and aquatinting, and his plates are but little
larger than the full-page reproductions now given.
17
S
OME ETCHINGS BY LESTER G.
HORNBY.
The six etchings reproduced on this and
the following pages are the work of a young American
artist whose achievements with the pen and pencil
have been illustrated in these pages on more than
one occasion during the past three years. It is just
over three years since Mr. Lester Hornby left the
school in Boston, Mass., where he received his
preliminary training, and, following a custom ob-
served by so many American artists, made his way
to Europe to gain further experience and inspira-
tion in the world’s chief art centres. After a tour
in Britain and on the Continent, which he turned
to the best advantage, he took up his quarters in
Paris. It was in Paris, whose odd nooks and
corners and old buildings have inspired a whole
school of etchers with Meryon at their head, that
Mr. Hornby’s first essays in etching were accom-
plished, and what success has attended his efforts
will be seen in the examples now illustrated on
these pages. The technique of etching seems to
have presented little difficulty to him, for within a
very brief period he had so far familiarized himself
with its intricacies as to be able to produce a series
of plates which the Societe des Artistes Frangais
found sufficiently meritorious to include in their
annual Salon. In the same year (1907) the Salon
d’Automne paid the same compliment to his
skill, and last year the old Salon again saw
another budget of proofs from his hand. In
Germany, too, his etchings met with appreciation
when shown at Dresden last year.
Mr. Hornby executes his etchings direct from
nature; at least, those which represent scenes in
Paris and other French towns have been done in
this way, the artist often finding himself surrounded
by little groups of curious onlookers, whose curi-
osity, however, did not seem to be gratified by the
sight of a black plate with scarcely visible lines. He
prefers to use the needle only, eschewing the dry-
point and aquatinting, and his plates are but little
larger than the full-page reproductions now given.
17