Sydney
LONG
Australia
1871
–
London
1955
England, Europe 1910-21; Australia 1921- 22; England 1922-25; Australia 1925-52; England from 1952
37.6 (h) x 27.3 (w) cm
undesignated impression , 1st state of 2; before the plate was trimmed at bottom , 1st state edition unknown; 2nd state edition of 30 , watermark upper left 'MBM [inverted]', lower left, '(FRANCE), lower right, 'INGRES D'ARCHES'
Signed lower right below plate-mark in black pencil, 'Sydney Long'. Not dated. Inscribed with edition details lower left below plate-mark in black pencil, '1st State'. Inscribed with edition details lower left corner of sheet in black pencil, '1st State'.
Reference: Mendelssohn (1979), 37; Paul (1928), 52 National Gallery of Australia, Canberra NGA 1977.9.42 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.
Although Long did not specify which forest he depicted in The camp in the forest, it is likely that it was Epping Forest where he spent some time during 1911. ‘I have been staying at Chingford Epping Forest and doing a grand lot of work’, he wrote (Long, 25 August 1911).
The English poet John Clare also spent time in Epping Forest and, in 1865, evoked his response to it: ‘I love the Forest and its airy bounds … I hear the cows go home with tinkling bell,/ And see the woodman in the forest dwell,/ Whose dog runs eager where the rabbit’s gone;/ He eats the grass, then kicks and hurries on.’
Such events might well be envisioned in the scene depicted by Long in The camp in the forest. In this virtuoso piece, the artist used the qualities of softground etching to create an image rich in subtle variations in tones and textures. And, through this, he conveyed the quiet repose of an English rural scene, a cabin at the edge of a forest pool. ‘Strong and freely treated is “The Camp in the Forest”, with its striking drawing and well-managed richness of tone’, observed the critic for the Adelaide Register on 23 June 1927.
The subject is a British one and the print was etched while Long was living abroad, yet it
also recalls the Australian bush subjects of
Tom Roberts and his colleagues, such as Roberts's The artists’ camp 1886 (NGV), and their shared interest in communing with nature.
A copy of The camp in the forest was first exhibited in 1923 at the ‘Third annual exhibition of the Australian Painter–Etchers’ Society’, Sydney, 3–21 July (4). The plate was reprinted in an edition of 50 for members of the Print Collectors’ Club, Sydney, in 1925.
Copies of the second state are held by the Art Gallery of New South Wales and the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, and a copy of the first state, in brown ink on wove paper, was given by Long to the British Museum, London, in 1924.
Although Long did not specify which forest he depicted in The camp in the forest, it is likely that it was Epping Forest where he spent some time during 1911. ‘I have been staying at Chingford Epping Forest and doing a grand lot of work’, he wrote (Long, 25 August 1911).
The English poet John Clare also spent time in Epping Forest and, in 1865, evoked his response to it: ‘I love the Forest and its airy bounds … I hear the cows go home with tinkling bell,/ And see the woodman in the forest dwell,/ Whose dog runs eager where the rabbit’s gone;/ He eats the grass, then kicks and hurries on.’
Such events might well be envisioned in the scene depicted by Long in The camp in the forest. In this virtuoso piece, the artist used the qualities of softground etching to create an image rich in subtle variations in tones and textures. And, through this, he conveyed the quiet repose of an English rural scene, a cabin at the edge of a forest pool. ‘Strong and freely treated is “The Camp in the Forest”, with its striking drawing and well-managed richness of tone’, observed the critic for the Adelaide Register on 23 June 1927.
The subject is a British one and the print was etched while Long was living abroad, yet it
also recalls the Australian bush subjects of
Tom Roberts and his colleagues, such as Roberts's The artists’ camp 1886 (NGV), and their shared interest in communing with nature.
A copy of The camp in the forest was first exhibited in 1923 at the ‘Third annual exhibition of the Australian Painter–Etchers’ Society’, Sydney, 3–21 July (4). The plate was reprinted in an edition of 50 for members of the Print Collectors’ Club, Sydney, in 1925.
Copies of the second state are held by the Art Gallery of New South Wales and the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, and a copy of the first state, in brown ink on wove paper, was given by Long to the British Museum, London, in 1924.
Although Long did not specify which forest he depicted in The camp in the forest, it is likely that it was Epping Forest where he spent some time during 1911. ‘I have been staying at Chingford Epping Forest and doing a grand lot of work’, he wrote (Long, 25 August 1911).
The English poet John Clare also spent time in Epping Forest and, in 1865, evoked his response to it: ‘I love the Forest and its airy bounds … I hear the cows go home with tinkling bell,/ And see the woodman in the forest dwell,/ Whose dog runs eager where the rabbit’s gone;/ He eats the grass, then kicks and hurries on.’
Such events might well be envisioned in the scene depicted by Long in The camp in the forest. In this virtuoso piece, the artist used the qualities of softground etching to create an image rich in subtle variations in tones and textures. And, through this, he conveyed the quiet repose of an English rural scene, a cabin at the edge of a forest pool. ‘Strong and freely treated is “The Camp in the Forest”, with its striking drawing and well-managed richness of tone’, observed the critic for the Adelaide Register on 23 June 1927.
The subject is a British one and the print was etched while Long was living abroad, yet it
also recalls the Australian bush subjects of
Tom Roberts and his colleagues, such as Roberts's The artists’ camp 1886 (NGV), and their shared interest in communing with nature.
A copy of The camp in the forest was first exhibited in 1923 at the ‘Third annual exhibition of the Australian Painter–Etchers’ Society’, Sydney, 3–21 July (4). The plate was reprinted in an edition of 50 for members of the Print Collectors’ Club, Sydney, in 1925.
Copies of the second state are held by the Art Gallery of New South Wales and the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, and a copy of the first state, in brown ink on wove paper, was given by Long to the British Museum, London, in 1924.
