An Etching by Gustave A. Hoffman
from a warm plate. It can easily be seen that the
oil with which the pigments are mixed would, if it
was absorbed by the paper, make very unpleasant
smudges, as one may see in a paper bag in which
greasy things have been carried. Water being
antipathetic to oil, the latter remains on the cop-
per, while only the pure colour is transferred to
the paper.
Colour etching is only a phase of this artist’s
work. In pure black-and-white line etching he
has achieved some very effective plates, while as a
dry-point artist he sounds a very distinctive note.
Take, for example, the plate Winter and its com-
panion, Winter Oaks. One sees here a really mas-
terful interpretation of the genius of winter. The
spare trees are covered with a thick veil of snow,
and the contrapuntal effect (to employ another
term from music) between the dark trunks,
branches and sparse vegetation on the one hand,
and the massed brilliance of the virgin snow on the
other, is very beautiful. One goes up to these
plates again and again, as one reads and re-reads
a subtle poem.
In etching proper, Mr. Burr ranks favourably
among his contemporaries. He understands the
evasive and suggestive qualities of the line, and is
able to make it perform many beautiful and effec-
tive things. The Warwick Castle plate is an un-
usual plate; the entire composition is scaled down
to a dark, almost impenetrable black, through
which one feels rather than sees the outlines of the
great structure, whose upper portions are bathed
a rich white. Outre, if you will, but an excellent
example of what an etching is capable of.
High Street, Oxford, and The Street in San Remo,
both recent plates, are distinguished by a solidity
of composition and a better control of the light-
and-shade qualities of line. The former plate im-
parts the effect of rain in a manner reminiscent of
some of Felix Buhot’s work.
Taken by and large, and remembering the isola-
tion in which he has worked, Mr. Burr is a worthy
representative of the modern school of etchers in
this country. Aside from his pioneer work as an
etcher in colours, he will be deservedly remem-
bered for a few dry-points of exquisite charm, and
as a sympathetic and efficient interpreter of
nature.
A charter member of the California and Chi-
cago Society of Etchers, he is constantly exhib-
iting in various parts of the country, while both
the Public Library of New York and the Congres-
sional Library of Washington have recognized his
artistic worth by purchasing sets of his plates.
THE ROCKVILLE HILLS, CONNECTICUT ETCHING BY GUSTAVE A. HOFFMAN
XIV
from a warm plate. It can easily be seen that the
oil with which the pigments are mixed would, if it
was absorbed by the paper, make very unpleasant
smudges, as one may see in a paper bag in which
greasy things have been carried. Water being
antipathetic to oil, the latter remains on the cop-
per, while only the pure colour is transferred to
the paper.
Colour etching is only a phase of this artist’s
work. In pure black-and-white line etching he
has achieved some very effective plates, while as a
dry-point artist he sounds a very distinctive note.
Take, for example, the plate Winter and its com-
panion, Winter Oaks. One sees here a really mas-
terful interpretation of the genius of winter. The
spare trees are covered with a thick veil of snow,
and the contrapuntal effect (to employ another
term from music) between the dark trunks,
branches and sparse vegetation on the one hand,
and the massed brilliance of the virgin snow on the
other, is very beautiful. One goes up to these
plates again and again, as one reads and re-reads
a subtle poem.
In etching proper, Mr. Burr ranks favourably
among his contemporaries. He understands the
evasive and suggestive qualities of the line, and is
able to make it perform many beautiful and effec-
tive things. The Warwick Castle plate is an un-
usual plate; the entire composition is scaled down
to a dark, almost impenetrable black, through
which one feels rather than sees the outlines of the
great structure, whose upper portions are bathed
a rich white. Outre, if you will, but an excellent
example of what an etching is capable of.
High Street, Oxford, and The Street in San Remo,
both recent plates, are distinguished by a solidity
of composition and a better control of the light-
and-shade qualities of line. The former plate im-
parts the effect of rain in a manner reminiscent of
some of Felix Buhot’s work.
Taken by and large, and remembering the isola-
tion in which he has worked, Mr. Burr is a worthy
representative of the modern school of etchers in
this country. Aside from his pioneer work as an
etcher in colours, he will be deservedly remem-
bered for a few dry-points of exquisite charm, and
as a sympathetic and efficient interpreter of
nature.
A charter member of the California and Chi-
cago Society of Etchers, he is constantly exhib-
iting in various parts of the country, while both
the Public Library of New York and the Congres-
sional Library of Washington have recognized his
artistic worth by purchasing sets of his plates.
THE ROCKVILLE HILLS, CONNECTICUT ETCHING BY GUSTAVE A. HOFFMAN
XIV