Sir Francis Short. The Angry Cloud. 1930. $950.00

"The Angry Cloud"

Born Francis Job Short, Sir Frank Short, R.A., P.R.E (1857-1945) was an artist and a teacher of printmaking. His passion for art, particularly for the landscapes and seascapes of JMW Turner, and his early business career intersected beautifully. He became an assistant in a Parliamentary Inquiry into the pollution of the Thames River and in 1883 he was elected an associate member of the Institution of Civil Engineers. However, he abandoned his engineering career for art and was widely recognized for his skill as an etcher and engraver receiving many awards, including a knighthood. One of his famous accomplishments was the completion of Turner’s series “Liber Studiorum”, by completing Turner’s unfinished plates. He revived the difficult and then unpopular techniques of mezzotint and aquatint.  He loved and knew a great deal about rivers and seascapes which became one of his favorite subjects. He worked directly from nature. "The Angry Cloud" is considered to be one of the most powerful and dramatic of these. It shows large waves breaking on the beach at Seaford, Sussex. The cliff, breakwater and lighthouse of Newhaven are depicted in the distant background illuminated by the last rays of the setting sun. From 1910 to 1930 he was the president of the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and is often regarded as being responsible for the resurgence of the excellence of British engraving in the first decades of the 20th century.

Excellent proof impression with rich mezzotint burr.
Pencil signed in lower left.
Light mat burn 1/4 inch outside plate mark.
9 ¼ x 11 5/8 inches, sheet.
Ref: Hardie 130