Frank Short’s etching and mezzotint, “Macon”, 1896, after J.M.W. Turner

Frank Short (aka Sir Frank Short) (1857–1945)

“Macon” (aka “View of a River from a Terrace”), 1896, after a sepia drawing by Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851), originally in the possession (as inscribed in plate) of Henry Vaughan (1809–1899), later bequeathed with his collection to the V&A, Tate and the National Galleries of Scotland and Ireland.

Etching and mezzotint printed in sepia ink on wove paper, hand-signed in pencil by the artist.

Size: (sheet) 30.3 x 37.1 cm; (plate) 20.8 x 28.6 cm; (image borderline) 19.1 x 27.4 cm.

Lettered in plate below the image borderline: (left) “Drawn by J.M.W.Turner R.A.”; (centre) “MACON/ From an Unpublished Drawing for the Liber Studiorum, in the Possession of Henry Vaughn Esq.”; (right) “Etched & Engraved by F. Short 1896.”

Signed by the artist in pencil below the image borderline: “Frank Short”.

State ii (of ii), published state.

Hardie 37 (Martin Hardie 1978 [1938–40], “Liber Studiorum Mezzotints of Sir Frank Short”, London, The Print Collectors’ Club, cat. no. 37, p. 70); Hardie (1938–40) 17.II; Strange (1908) 17.II.

The British Museum offers the following description of this print: “A view of a river and a bridge with four arches from a terrace; to right, a clump of trees, with arches and pillars in front; in the distance, wooded country; after J.M.W.Turner. 1896 Etching and mezzotint (https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1901-0424-8).

Condition: a richly inked and near faultless impression, signed in pencil, with wide margins in a near pristine condition with no tears, holes, folds, abrasions, significant stains or foxing.

I am selling this superb impression of Short’s magnificent mezzotint singled out by Marin Hardie (1978) (along with the mezzotints, “Lucerne” and “Derwentwater”) as expressing “… the essence of Turner […] executed with a fullness of skill, ripeness of knowledge and interpretative power far beyond that of the engravers who relied upon Turner as their guide” (pp. 34–5), for the total cost of AU$416 (currently US$278.05/EUR251.58/GBP221.46 at the time of this listing) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world, but not (of course) any import duties/taxes imposed by some countries.

If you are interested in purchasing this very beautiful pencil-signed mezzotint, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.