Study above: Bruges, Old Hammersmith (0.907), 1908 (De Bijser), 55×70.5cm, red crayon and ink on paper, signature and monogram b.r., Brangwyn gift. The study may have been based on a squared up photograph with the same dredging equipment. Lit and Ill: Marechal, 1987, p160. Ill: Newbolt, 1908 (plate 50). Zwanzig Graphische Arbeiten (13)
1908
Zinc, 55.8×70.8cm
Edition: 1st (trial) state: 2 impressions. 2nd (published) state: A few lines removed to strengthen contrast. Newbolt says 30 proofs, FAS and Gaunt state 80 proofs printed. FAS, 1912 states wrongly that the plate was destroyed. According to RSPEE, 1909 exhibition, the edition was 50. Publishers The Fine Art Society.
Owners: Amsterdam (RP-P-1927-799). Bruges (0.2/190, 2nd state), signed in full in pencil b.r., Brangwyn gift. Brussels (S.III 65698). Budapest. Chicago (RX20769/1382, 2nd state). Detroit (20.101), City of Detroit Purchase. London BM (1943,1211.158, artist’s proof printed in brown ink) signed in pencil. London Guildhall Library (310961-1001). Melbourne (710/2) signed b.r., presented by J H Connell, 1914. Scarborough (SCAAG:426, 2nd (published) state). Southend-on-Sea (S44) presented by Mr F W Wate. Vienna
Possibly Newcastle, Rome, Venice
Related works: Hammersmith, Thames wharfside (E892) (pE162) is cut from r.h.s. of this plate and Hammersmith, Thames-side (E4240) (pE257) is taken from the l.h.s. of this plate. Barge-Builders, Hammersmith (E687) (pE33). Hammersmith Hard (D1413), undated, 55.9×76.2cm, mixed media, pwu. Ill: Bunt, 1958, plate 11. Old Hammersmith (D4445), c1940, size unknown, mixed media, private collection. These works all show the same scene.
Lit: Newbolt, 1908 (132). Huneker James, Promenades of an Impressionist, New York: C Scribner’s Sons, 1910, p200. Scribner’s Magazine, Shaw Sparrow Walter, ‘Frank Brangwyn and his Etchings’, Vol XLIX, No 5, May 1911, p589. FAS, 1912 (128). Shaw Sparrow, 1915, p200. Shaw Sparrow, 1919, p131. Gaunt, 1926 (128). Salaman Malcolm C, Modern Masters of Etching: Frank Brangwyn RA (2nd volume), London: The Studio, 1932, p5. Horner, 2006, p116. Horner, 2023, pE100-101
Ill: Vienna catalogue, 1909, p47. Die Graphischen Künste, Weixlgartner Arpad, ‘Frank Brangwyn als Graphiker’, Vienna, XXXII, 1909, p93. Studio The, ‘The Royal Society of Painter-Etchers’, Vol 46, No 194, May 1909, p287. Rome, 1911, Souvenir of British Section (708). Scribner’s Magazine, Shaw Sparrow Walter, ‘Frank Brangwyn and his Etchings’, Vol XLIX, No 5, May 1911, p585. FAS, 1912 (128, 2nd state). Gazette des Beaux-Arts, Marx Roger, ‘L’oeuvre Gravé de Frank Brangwyn’, Vol VII, 1 January 1912, p39. Shaw Sparrow, 1915, facing p200. Builder The, ‘The Art of Frank Brangwyn ARA’, 4 May 1917, p284. Gaunt, 1926 (128, 2nd state). Salaman Malcolm C, Modern Masters of Etching: Frank Brangwyn RA (2nd volume), London: The Studio, 1932, plate 2. Campbell Fine Art, British Prints 18th – 20th Centuries, 1993 (235). Horner, 2023, pE100-101.
Exh: Melbourne, 1909 (11) £22 10s, 1st state. RSPEE, 1909 (128) 15 guineas. Vienna, 1909. New York, 1910. Rome, 1911 (708). Chicago, 1912 (23). Manchester, 1912 (17). Paris, 1912. Paris, 1915 (41) 2nd state. Queen’s Gate, 1924 (83). FAS, London, 1937 (107) 30 guineas. London, 1984 (37) £250. Melle, 1988 (43). Scarborough, 1994 (25). Bruges, 2003. Leeds, Bruges, Swansea, 2006-2007. Scarborough, 2016
Based on a drawing and a photograph showing Queen’s Wharf at the end of Queen Street, Hammersmith. Figures and barges foreground, with the recognizable tree and round ended building at Queen’s Wharf background. Shows observation of humanity, also attention to detail in the buildings.
Shaw Sparrow (1915) considered it a ‘romantic etching’. The scene is of Queen’s Wharf, at the end of the road on which Brangwyn lived. Rosser & Russell, an engineering leased the land in 1874, later purchasing the freehold, and in 1879 bought the adjoining Round House, an early 19th century building with the distinctive round tower and cupola roof.
In May 1919 FAS offered a ‘fine impression’ of this etching, described as ‘one of his rarest plates’ at a special price of £31 10s.
Print Prices Current – sold for £7 7s 8/5/19; £25 4s 10/12/20