Sydney
LONG
Australia
1871
–
London
1955
England, Europe 1910-21; Australia 1921- 22; England 1922-25; Australia 1925-52; England from 1952
17.7 (h) x 35.4 (w) cm
1/50 , published state , edition of 50 , no manufacturer's mark
Signed lower right below image in black pencil, 'Sydney Long ['Long' underlined]'. Not titled. Inscribed with edition details lower left below plate-mark in black pencil, '1/50'. Inscribed lower left of sheet in black pencil, 'aquatint ['at' underlined] on Copper 1918 Victoria + Albert Museum from rebitten plate'.
Reference: Mendelssohn (1979), 27; Paul (1928), 16 National Gallery of Australia, Canberra NGA 1977.9.22 The Stephen Collection, purchased 1976. Reproduced with the kind permission of the Ophthalmic Research Institute of Australia
- J.W.F. Stephen, who formed a definitive collection of the etched work of Sydney Long. J.A.C. Stephen, the artist’s son, by descent. Purchased by the Australian National Gallery, from J.A.C. Stephen, Sydney, 1977.
Soon after he began printmaking, Long resolved to make etchings of his more famous Art Nouveau images. In the middle of 1918 he wrote to Adolph Albers: ‘I have good reproductions of the Spirit of the Plains, Pan & all the Gallery pictures & intend to produce fair sized plates of them in soft ground etching & aquatint. In the meantime I am doing some slighter things of landscapes of course. I won’t be able to send many until I get a print press of my own but I will be able to send you proofs very shortly & perhaps you could book orders of them.’
It is believed Long only printed about 10 proofs from the original plate he created in May/June 1919, as the plate wore rapidly owing to the softness of the copper. He shipped the first proofs of the print to Australia on 12 June 1919.
The etching and aquatint Long made of The Spirit of the plains in 1919 is much closer in design to the second version of the painting than to the first (cats 9, 47). Long did, however, reinstate the leading brolga into the print, which he had omitted from his second version of the painting. He sensitively transposed the composition of the painting into the print, using etched lines to define the birds’ flowing movement.
There are interesting changes between the various states of the plate. Long avoided the over-insistent line of the horizon by using a more finely judged distribution of tones, clearly depicting the forms of the birds through subtle contrasts of tones. He gave the head of the piping sprite a much darker silhouette against the moon and, in that way, gave the figure a climactic significance missing in the earlier state of the print. Long also made the foreground less distracting, and so directed attention to the movement of the birds.
A copy of this print was first exhibited in 1921 in The water-colours and etchings of Sydney Long, ARE, Decoration Galleries, Melbourne, 15–26 August (10).
Soon after he began printmaking, Long resolved to make etchings of his more famous Art Nouveau images. In the middle of 1918 he wrote to Adolph Albers: ‘I have good reproductions of the Spirit of the Plains, Pan & all the Gallery pictures & intend to produce fair sized plates of them in soft ground etching & aquatint. In the meantime I am doing some slighter things of landscapes of course. I won’t be able to send many until I get a print press of my own but I will be able to send you proofs very shortly & perhaps you could book orders of them.’
It is believed Long only printed about 10 proofs from the original plate he created in May/June 1919, as the plate wore rapidly owing to the softness of the copper. He shipped the first proofs of the print to Australia on 12 June 1919.
The etching and aquatint Long made of The Spirit of the plains in 1919 is much closer in design to the second version of the painting than to the first (cats 9, 47). Long did, however, reinstate the leading brolga into the print, which he had omitted from his second version of the painting. He sensitively transposed the composition of the painting into the print, using etched lines to define the birds’ flowing movement.
There are interesting changes between the various states of the plate. Long avoided the over-insistent line of the horizon by using a more finely judged distribution of tones, clearly depicting the forms of the birds through subtle contrasts of tones. He gave the head of the piping sprite a much darker silhouette against the moon and, in that way, gave the figure a climactic significance missing in the earlier state of the print. Long also made the foreground less distracting, and so directed attention to the movement of the birds.
A copy of this print was first exhibited in 1921 in The water-colours and etchings of Sydney Long, ARE, Decoration Galleries, Melbourne, 15–26 August (10).
Soon after he began printmaking, Long resolved to make etchings of his more famous Art Nouveau images. In the middle of 1918 he wrote to Adolph Albers: ‘I have good reproductions of the Spirit of the Plains, Pan & all the Gallery pictures & intend to produce fair sized plates of them in soft ground etching & aquatint. In the meantime I am doing some slighter things of landscapes of course. I won’t be able to send many until I get a print press of my own but I will be able to send you proofs very shortly & perhaps you could book orders of them.’
It is believed Long only printed about 10 proofs from the original plate he created in May/June 1919, as the plate wore rapidly owing to the softness of the copper. He shipped the first proofs of the print to Australia on 12 June 1919.
The etching and aquatint Long made of The Spirit of the plains in 1919 is much closer in design to the second version of the painting than to the first (cats 9, 47). Long did, however, reinstate the leading brolga into the print, which he had omitted from his second version of the painting. He sensitively transposed the composition of the painting into the print, using etched lines to define the birds’ flowing movement.
There are interesting changes between the various states of the plate. Long avoided the over-insistent line of the horizon by using a more finely judged distribution of tones, clearly depicting the forms of the birds through subtle contrasts of tones. He gave the head of the piping sprite a much darker silhouette against the moon and, in that way, gave the figure a climactic significance missing in the earlier state of the print. Long also made the foreground less distracting, and so directed attention to the movement of the birds.
A copy of this print was first exhibited in 1921 in The water-colours and etchings of Sydney Long, ARE, Decoration Galleries, Melbourne, 15–26 August (10).
