DOI issue:
No. 159 (June, 1906)
DOI article:Strange, Edward F.: The Mezzotint and etched work of Frank Short, A. R. A.
DOI Page / Citation link: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.20715#0075
Frank Short, A.R.A., R.E.
realises the craftsman’s joy in mastery of the
tools and material of his calling. The exquisite
lights and mysteries of copper, the subtle and often
wayward working of the acid, the delicacy of the
part played by the needle, the sharp conflict of
steel with the burr of a mezzotint—these are, to
him, definite and ever-recurring pleasures well
worth living for. All Short’s work is founded
upon a thoroughness and perfection of technique
such as few men of our generation have had either
patience enough or sympathy enough to aim at.
And this foundation is sure. He has explored to
the uttermost the secrets of the copper-plate: not
even neglecting—lest some hint of value should
lie therein—the banalities of photogravure. The
cloak of clever printing, with which the imperfectly-
equipped etcher so gladly covers his deficiencies,
is, in Short’s hands, but one of all the ingredients
of success; and no living etcher is less subservient
to it. He is, and always will be, a student in
these things. But the sum of his knowledge
already gained makes him a master; and those
who love thoroughness and honesty in the
labour of men’s hands will find in Frank Short’s
etchings and engravings a full measure of its
fruits.
In the composition of his etchings, perhaps his
most striking characteristic is his insistence on the
value of line. He never confuses etching with
painting; nor tries to express the values of one
method in terms of the other. Every single line
must have a story to tell : a purpose plain and
unmistakable upon the face of it. He does not
fall into the error of calling upon his medium for
more than it is able to give. His use of the possi-
bilities of printing is sometimes almost niggardly,
so evident being his reliance on the unaided
powers of the needle. But by way of compensa-
tion he gives us work of infinite delicacy. Those
long, low-lying distances in the Rye and Mersey
prints, would be lost in the brutality of loosely-
handled printers’ ink. The colour is there to be
seen; but only as a hint—almost, one might say,
with a fine flattery of the senses of the beholder,
rather than with any undue insistence on the
opinion of the artist.
His choice of subjects is also characteristic.
His landscapes are such as lend themselves admir-
iWsWCil1
ft—4k-
“ in tort, voi.enbam”
FROM THE ETCHING BY FRANK SHORT
54
/
realises the craftsman’s joy in mastery of the
tools and material of his calling. The exquisite
lights and mysteries of copper, the subtle and often
wayward working of the acid, the delicacy of the
part played by the needle, the sharp conflict of
steel with the burr of a mezzotint—these are, to
him, definite and ever-recurring pleasures well
worth living for. All Short’s work is founded
upon a thoroughness and perfection of technique
such as few men of our generation have had either
patience enough or sympathy enough to aim at.
And this foundation is sure. He has explored to
the uttermost the secrets of the copper-plate: not
even neglecting—lest some hint of value should
lie therein—the banalities of photogravure. The
cloak of clever printing, with which the imperfectly-
equipped etcher so gladly covers his deficiencies,
is, in Short’s hands, but one of all the ingredients
of success; and no living etcher is less subservient
to it. He is, and always will be, a student in
these things. But the sum of his knowledge
already gained makes him a master; and those
who love thoroughness and honesty in the
labour of men’s hands will find in Frank Short’s
etchings and engravings a full measure of its
fruits.
In the composition of his etchings, perhaps his
most striking characteristic is his insistence on the
value of line. He never confuses etching with
painting; nor tries to express the values of one
method in terms of the other. Every single line
must have a story to tell : a purpose plain and
unmistakable upon the face of it. He does not
fall into the error of calling upon his medium for
more than it is able to give. His use of the possi-
bilities of printing is sometimes almost niggardly,
so evident being his reliance on the unaided
powers of the needle. But by way of compensa-
tion he gives us work of infinite delicacy. Those
long, low-lying distances in the Rye and Mersey
prints, would be lost in the brutality of loosely-
handled printers’ ink. The colour is there to be
seen; but only as a hint—almost, one might say,
with a fine flattery of the senses of the beholder,
rather than with any undue insistence on the
opinion of the artist.
His choice of subjects is also characteristic.
His landscapes are such as lend themselves admir-
iWsWCil1
ft—4k-
“ in tort, voi.enbam”
FROM THE ETCHING BY FRANK SHORT
54
/