DOI Heft:
No. 299 (February 1918)
DOI Artikel:Gibson, Frank: The etchings of Fred Richards
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.21356#0023
The Etchings of Fred Richards
though Mr. Richards in his impressions of Venice
has given the characteristic side of such places
as the Rialto Bridge, the Church of Santa Maria
della Salute, the Piazza San Marco, and the
Bridge of Sighs, there is more of nature and
less of art in them. But it is otherwise in a
plate like The Antique Shop, Venice. Here he
gives with skill and evident pleasure the spirit
of a fascinating subject; the sparkle of bright
sunshine on white walls, bric-a-brac, and rugs
is contrasted with the transparent gloom of the
doorway and the silhouetted forms of the two
women. All these details combine to make up
an etching that has a rich tonality. The two
Florentine subjects here illustrated possess the
same good qualities. In the first plate, At
Fiesole, Mr. Richards does give with much truth
the indescribable charm of an old Italian hill-side
town. And what observant visitor to Florence
who has suddenly come upon it for the first,
or even the second, time can fail to be struck
with the view from the Lungarno across the
river to that cluster of tightly packed houses,
and to see how well the artist has expressed
their melancholy charm in his plate, Old Houses
on the Arno ? The Bridge, Siena, is another
example showing how Mr. Richards has captured
the spirit of sombreness and melancholy of an
historic Italian town. This plate, too, has the
virtues of breadth and style.
With English towns as material he is not less
happy, as the etching Peascod Street, Windsor,
will show. The subject is good and simple,
and the figures are well placed, helping the
design as the artist usually contrives they shall
when he introduces them. The Quay, Bristol, is
a plate that displays Mr. Richards's best quali-
ties, and one of his weaknesses, namely, the
treatment of reflected objects in calm water.
Mr. Richards was born thirty-nine years ago at
Newport in Monmouthshire. He has studied
and worked hard at art from an early age. He
has experimented in many mediums. He has
travelled much, and the results of this, judging
by his etchings, are more than good.
Frank Gibson.
"THE ANTIQUE SHOP, VENICE'
BY FRED RICHARDS
though Mr. Richards in his impressions of Venice
has given the characteristic side of such places
as the Rialto Bridge, the Church of Santa Maria
della Salute, the Piazza San Marco, and the
Bridge of Sighs, there is more of nature and
less of art in them. But it is otherwise in a
plate like The Antique Shop, Venice. Here he
gives with skill and evident pleasure the spirit
of a fascinating subject; the sparkle of bright
sunshine on white walls, bric-a-brac, and rugs
is contrasted with the transparent gloom of the
doorway and the silhouetted forms of the two
women. All these details combine to make up
an etching that has a rich tonality. The two
Florentine subjects here illustrated possess the
same good qualities. In the first plate, At
Fiesole, Mr. Richards does give with much truth
the indescribable charm of an old Italian hill-side
town. And what observant visitor to Florence
who has suddenly come upon it for the first,
or even the second, time can fail to be struck
with the view from the Lungarno across the
river to that cluster of tightly packed houses,
and to see how well the artist has expressed
their melancholy charm in his plate, Old Houses
on the Arno ? The Bridge, Siena, is another
example showing how Mr. Richards has captured
the spirit of sombreness and melancholy of an
historic Italian town. This plate, too, has the
virtues of breadth and style.
With English towns as material he is not less
happy, as the etching Peascod Street, Windsor,
will show. The subject is good and simple,
and the figures are well placed, helping the
design as the artist usually contrives they shall
when he introduces them. The Quay, Bristol, is
a plate that displays Mr. Richards's best quali-
ties, and one of his weaknesses, namely, the
treatment of reflected objects in calm water.
Mr. Richards was born thirty-nine years ago at
Newport in Monmouthshire. He has studied
and worked hard at art from an early age. He
has experimented in many mediums. He has
travelled much, and the results of this, judging
by his etchings, are more than good.
Frank Gibson.
"THE ANTIQUE SHOP, VENICE'
BY FRED RICHARDS