Dietricy’s etching, “Fluss Zwischen Felsenufern” (River between rocky banks), 1744

Christian Wilhelm Ernst Dietricy (aka Christian Wilhelm Ernst Dietrich) (1712–74)

“Fluss Zwischen Felsenufern” (River between rocky banks), 1744

Etching on laid paper with narrow margins

Size: (sheet) 16.2 x 21.2 cm; (plate) 14.6 x 20 cm ; (image borderline) 14.3 x 19.9 cm

Signed and dated in the plate at lower right; numbered “56” at upper right corner

State iii (of iv)

Linck 1846 242.148.III (JF Linck 1846, “Monographie der von C. W. E. Dietrich radierten, geschabten und in Holz geschnittenen malerischen Vorstellungen”, Berlin)

The British Museum offers the following description of this print:

“A river flowing through a lush landscape; large oak tree to left” (http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=1471353&partId=1&searchText=1744+Linck&people=127014&page=1)

Condition: faultless, richly inked impression with small margins. There is the remnant mark of mounting tape (verso), marginalia in pencil and a collector’s mark in red ink (verso); otherwise the sheet is in excellent condition.

I am selling the 1744 nature study executed in the style of Salvator Rosa for the total cost of [deleted] at the time of posting this listing) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world.

If you are interested in purchasing this remarkably strong etching of light catching on the surfaces of rocks, trees and water, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

This print has been sold

In my previous post, I discussed how Benigno Bossi was influenced by the etcher of this print: Christian Wilhelm Ernst Dietrich (more commonly known as “Dietericy”). In that discussion I focused on Dietericy’s influence on Bossi in terms his mimetic approach to rendering portrayed subjects (i.e. employing a wide range of different strokes to mimic the surface textures of portrayed subjects). I also lighted touched upon the sad fact that Dietericy is not fondly remembered by the gatekeepers of history. The reason for this clouded view of his reputation as a printmaker is not so much that he did not have amazing technical skill—I cannot imagine any academic who would propose that criticism. In fact, the "problem" is all about his high level of skills regarding his dexterity at being able to reproduce other artists’ styles (i.e. to appropriate them as his own). In this etching, for instance, the image smacks the eye with the style of Salvator Rosa in terms of his contouring of forms (e.g. in the curved marks rendering the tree limbs), his use of tiny breaks in the outlining of forms (e.g. the dotted outline of the tree limbs on the upper left) and his free handling of linework—almost calligraphic—where the speed that the marks are laid is reflected in the tiny return strokes at the ends of the lines (e.g. the “sketchy” strokes representing water reflections) … and a plethora of other stylistic traits.