DOI issue:
No. 362 (May 1923)
DOI article:Salaman, Malcolm C.: Miss Eileen Soper's etchings of childhood
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.21397#0284
MISS EILEEN SOPER'S ETCHINGS
drawing. Thus, in the delightful series of
twenty-two plates which date from those
two Royal Academy exhibits of 1921,
connoisseurs of etching have found their
collecting interest stirred by a distinctively
personal vision and expression which
introduced a fresh sweet note into the
etched copperplates' range of song. And
because this note is the happy spontaneous
lyricism of childhood, Miss Soper's etch-
ings are welcomed warmly not only in the
portfolios of the print-collectors, but—in
America at least—also on the nursery walls
of the collector's children. While the
connoisseur appreciates the pictorial charm
of line and composition and the etcher's
infallible placing of her subject upon the
plate, the children respond imaginatively
to the enchantment of her little pictures,
so that they can enjoy vicariously the
swinging, the leaping, the skipping, the
scooting, the see-sawing of their pictorial
prototypes in the prints. 000
And those children in her prints*
with what a delicious actuality they live,
intensely and joyously, the moments re-
corded by her needle's magic! Look at
that small girl in Leap Frog ; is she not
truly flying through the air with the impetus
of her spring from the little boy's bent
back i A jolly “ back " he gave her, as
those other eager girls seem prompt to
recognise. See, too, how those children
give all of themselves to the exhilarating
adventures of that running jump in
Playtime, the swift locomotion of The
Scooters, and the bumping See-Saw.
Quieter moods, yet no less absorbing. Miss
Soper has interpreted with equal pictorial
charm and sympathy. The whole spirit
of childhood, in fact, responds joyously
to the graphic touch of Eileen Soper's
dainty and vivacious needle, which makes
us realise how much significance of mood
is in the movement of children's legs. 0
(The etchings reproduced with this article
are published by Mr. H. C. Dickins.) 0
264
“ THE SEE-SAW.” BY
EILEEN A. SOPER
drawing. Thus, in the delightful series of
twenty-two plates which date from those
two Royal Academy exhibits of 1921,
connoisseurs of etching have found their
collecting interest stirred by a distinctively
personal vision and expression which
introduced a fresh sweet note into the
etched copperplates' range of song. And
because this note is the happy spontaneous
lyricism of childhood, Miss Soper's etch-
ings are welcomed warmly not only in the
portfolios of the print-collectors, but—in
America at least—also on the nursery walls
of the collector's children. While the
connoisseur appreciates the pictorial charm
of line and composition and the etcher's
infallible placing of her subject upon the
plate, the children respond imaginatively
to the enchantment of her little pictures,
so that they can enjoy vicariously the
swinging, the leaping, the skipping, the
scooting, the see-sawing of their pictorial
prototypes in the prints. 000
And those children in her prints*
with what a delicious actuality they live,
intensely and joyously, the moments re-
corded by her needle's magic! Look at
that small girl in Leap Frog ; is she not
truly flying through the air with the impetus
of her spring from the little boy's bent
back i A jolly “ back " he gave her, as
those other eager girls seem prompt to
recognise. See, too, how those children
give all of themselves to the exhilarating
adventures of that running jump in
Playtime, the swift locomotion of The
Scooters, and the bumping See-Saw.
Quieter moods, yet no less absorbing. Miss
Soper has interpreted with equal pictorial
charm and sympathy. The whole spirit
of childhood, in fact, responds joyously
to the graphic touch of Eileen Soper's
dainty and vivacious needle, which makes
us realise how much significance of mood
is in the movement of children's legs. 0
(The etchings reproduced with this article
are published by Mr. H. C. Dickins.) 0
264
“ THE SEE-SAW.” BY
EILEEN A. SOPER