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 35.2 (w) cm
undesignated impression , 2nd state , watermark lower left, 'WSH & Co / 1922', lower right, '[pictorial motif] / WSH & Co'
Signed lower right below plate-mark in black pencil, 'Sydney Long'. Not dated. Titled lower centre below plate-mark in black pencil, 'The Spirit of the Plains'. Inscribed with edition details lower left below plate-mark in black pencil, '2nd state'.
Reference: Mendelssohn (1979), 27; Paul (1928), 16 National Gallery of Australia, Canberra NGA 1973.783 Purchased 1973 Reproduced with the kind permission of the Ophthalmic Research Institute of Australia
- Purchased by the Acquisitions Committee (Australian National Gallery), from James Lawson Auctioneers, Sydney, 1973.
Long created a new plate of The Spirit of the plains in October 1919, from which he produced many more proofs. He told Adolph Albers: ‘I had to do a fresh plate … as the other had got worn out after about ten proofs. The copper we are getting now is so soft that it very often shows signs of wear before the working proofs are pulled … I can’t get more than thirty proofs off any copper plate unless it is steel faced. I sent you all the first proofs of Spirit of the Plains as I did not want to pull too many before having it steel faced’ (Long, 29 October 1919). And again, on 28 November 1919, he wrote ‘The Spirit of the Plains is a new plate which I have had steel faced so we may get about 70 proofs from it.’
This print was dated 1918 by Dorothy Ellsmore Paul, but this date is now known to be incorrect as Long’s correspondence indicates that he sent the first of these prints to Australia in June 1919. Evidence suggests that this plate was re-worked and possibly re-steel-faced up until 1932.
Joanna Mendelssohn has suggested that this was always the most popular of Long’s prints, and the most successful of his decorative prints (Mendelssohn 1979, p 110). Copies of this print are held by the Art Gallery of New South Wales, the Art Gallery of South Australia, the Art Gallery of Western Australia, the National Gallery of Victoria, the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery and the Art Gallery of Ballarat. A copy was presented to the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, in 1921 by William P. Robins. A copy titled 'Australian fantasy' was given by Long to the British Museum in 1924.
Long created a new plate of The Spirit of the plains in October 1919, from which he produced many more proofs. He told Adolph Albers: ‘I had to do a fresh plate … as the other had got worn out after about ten proofs. The copper we are getting now is so soft that it very often shows signs of wear before the working proofs are pulled … I can’t get more than thirty proofs off any copper plate unless it is steel faced. I sent you all the first proofs of Spirit of the Plains as I did not want to pull too many before having it steel faced’ (Long, 29 October 1919). And again, on 28 November 1919, he wrote ‘The Spirit of the Plains is a new plate which I have had steel faced so we may get about 70 proofs from it.’
This print was dated 1918 by Dorothy Ellsmore Paul, but this date is now known to be incorrect as Long’s correspondence indicates that he sent the first of these prints to Australia in June 1919. Evidence suggests that this plate was re-worked and possibly re-steel-faced up until 1932.
Joanna Mendelssohn has suggested that this was always the most popular of Long’s prints, and the most successful of his decorative prints (Mendelssohn 1979, p 110). Copies of this print are held by the Art Gallery of New South Wales, the Art Gallery of South Australia, the Art Gallery of Western Australia, the National Gallery of Victoria, the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery and the Art Gallery of Ballarat. A copy was presented to the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, in 1921 by William P. Robins. A copy titled 'Australian fantasy' was given by Long to the British Museum in 1924.
Long created a new plate of The Spirit of the plains in October 1919, from which he produced many more proofs. He told Adolph Albers: ‘I had to do a fresh plate … as the other had got worn out after about ten proofs. The copper we are getting now is so soft that it very often shows signs of wear before the working proofs are pulled … I can’t get more than thirty proofs off any copper plate unless it is steel faced. I sent you all the first proofs of Spirit of the Plains as I did not want to pull too many before having it steel faced’ (Long, 29 October 1919). And again, on 28 November 1919, he wrote ‘The Spirit of the Plains is a new plate which I have had steel faced so we may get about 70 proofs from it.’
This print was dated 1918 by Dorothy Ellsmore Paul, but this date is now known to be incorrect as Long’s correspondence indicates that he sent the first of these prints to Australia in June 1919. Evidence suggests that this plate was re-worked and possibly re-steel-faced up until 1932.
Joanna Mendelssohn has suggested that this was always the most popular of Long’s prints, and the most successful of his decorative prints (Mendelssohn 1979, p 110). Copies of this print are held by the Art Gallery of New South Wales, the Art Gallery of South Australia, the Art Gallery of Western Australia, the National Gallery of Victoria, the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery and the Art Gallery of Ballarat. A copy was presented to the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, in 1921 by William P. Robins. A copy titled 'Australian fantasy' was given by Long to the British Museum in 1924.
