Study above: Bruges, Santa Maria della Salute, Venice (0.916), 1905, 57×82.5 cm, drawing with pencil, crayon, charcoal, watercolour on paper, inscribed b.r. in red crayon: ‘FB Venice 1905’, Brangwyn gift. Lit: Marechal, 1987, p 161. Ill: Newbolt, 1908 (plate 43). Die Graphischen Künste, Weixlgartner Arpad, ‘Frank Brangwyn als Graphiker’, Vienna, XXXII, 1909, p86. Zwanzig Graphische Arbeiten (16). Marechal, 1987, p161. Film: Mapleston/Horner, 2006
Finished etching above
c1905 (FAS, 1912 dates it 1908 but it was exhibited in 1906).
Zinc, 54×80.5cm
Edition: Newbolt states 70 proofs taken. Alford implies that the plate was printed by Welch except for the final 10 proofs which were printed in Paris.
According to a letter from Mr Charbonneaux to FAS, Brangwyn printed some copies before the general run. Two prints were made near the end of the edition which had a lined sky. The sky was then removed. The original plate was in a private Scottish collection before being purchased by the Goldmark Gallery. In conversation with the author, Jan Wilkinson noted that ‘You can see the lines behind the rigging and other places where it would have proved difficult to burnish them out’. In 1933 one copy was printed on sycamore by F Goulding Ltd and installed in a private house (A4801). Published by The Fine Art Society. Also printed in black and sepia (see Exh below).
Owners: Amsterdam (RP-P-1927-849). Bewdley (1933-31/25(K)) Brangwyn gift, 1933. Brighton (FA207152) Brangwyn gift, 1935. Bruges (0.1123), signed in full in pencil b.r. and inscribed in pencil b.l. ‘Santa Maria della Salute-Venise’, Brangwyn gift. Brussels (S.II 126687 and S.III 65704). Budapest. Coventry (VA.1955.0197). Detroit (1999.40) printed in brown on wove, gift of Richard J Bilaitis in memory of Rose Butkus Bilaitis. Dundee (Br-82-1939). Glasgow (PR.1944.3.bl) inscribed in margin ‘T S Frank Brangwyn’, Brangwyn gift, 1944. Helsinki (CIBI 94:1) H F Antell bequest. Johannesburg (P83). Liverpool (WAG 3475) signed in full in pencil b.r., framed by Stiles, Brangwyn gift, 1936. London BM (1943,1211.151 and 1943,1211.150) both signed in pencil and latter stamped with artist’s clover leaf logo. London WMG (BrP107), signed in full in pencil b.r. Moscow. New Haven (B1992.22.15) Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Fund. Northampton (1947-8.57) donated by E W Alfrey. Scarborough (SCAAG:455). Stockholm (NMG 21/1910) gift from Kungl. Academy of the Free Arts. Tokyo (DEP.G 1985-41).
Possibly Aberdeen, Barcelona, Buenos Aries, Dresden, Uffizi, Massachusetts, Milan, Orange, Rome Gallery of Modern Art, Venice Gallery of Modern Art, Vienna, Worcester.
Related work: Brangwyn produced three similar oil paintings of the church in 1906, all named Santa Maria della Salute: Hull (147) (O1374), Manchester (1920.9) (O240) and Wellington (1936-12-29) (O241)
Lit: Pica Vittorio, L’Arte Mondiale alla VII Espozizione di Venezia, Bergamo: Istituto Italiano D’Arti Grafiche, 1907, p195. Pica, 1907, p17. Newbolt, 1908 (88) & p12. Marcel Henri, ‘Frank Brangwyn. An Appreciation’, in Newbolt, 1908, p18. FAS, 1912 (118), pv. Shaw Sparrow, 1919, p119. Salaman Malcolm C, Modern Masters of Etching: Frank Brangwyn RA, London: The Studio, 1924, p6. Gaunt, 1926 (118) & p8, 9. Rutter Frank, Modern Masterpieces, London: George Newnes Ltd, 1940, p142. Gillow, 1974, p63. Marechal, 1987, p48, 210. Alford/Horner, 2004, p42-43. Boswell David, ‘Frank Brangwyn and his Patrons’ in Horner/Naylor, 2006, p166. Horner, 2006, p115. Miller Corinne, ‘Swiftness, vigour and exuberance. Frank Brangwyn and the artist print’ in Horner/Naylor, 2006, p103 114-115. Print Quarterly, Hopkinson Martin, ‘Notes’, ‘Frank Brangwyn’, Vol XXIII, 2006, 4, p437. Horner, Brangwyn – Man of the People, Scarborough Museums Trust, 2016, p33. Llewellyn Sacha & Liss Paul (Eds), Art, Faith & Modernity, Liss Llewellyn, 2019, p178. Horner, 2023, pE52-53
Ill: Studio The, ‘The Royal Academy Exhibition. Second Notice’, Vol 38, No 159, June 1906, p2. Pica, 1907, between p16/17. Pica Vittorio, L’Arte Mondiale alla VII Espozizione di Venezia, Bergamo: Istituto Italiano D’Arti Grafiche, 1907, p224. Newbolt, 1908 (plate 44). Die Graphischen Künste, Weixlgartner Arpad, ‘Frank Brangwyn als Graphiker’, Vienna, XXXII, 1909, p87. FAS, 1912 (118). Shaw Sparrow, 1915, facing p204. Shaw Sparrow, 1919, p119. Salaman Malcolm C, Modern Masters of Etching: Frank Brangwyn RA, London: The Studio, 1924, plate 5. Gaunt, 1926 (118). Catalogus van de schilderijen, waterverfschilderijen, teekeeningen en etsen van Frank Brangwyn, Brangwyn Museum, Brugge, 1936. Lazareva, 1978, plate 55. Marechal, 1987, p210. Drawings, prints and designs from the permanent collection of Scarborough Art Gallery, touring exhibition, 1994 (22). Horner/Naylor, 2006, p116. Country Life, Skipwith Peyton, ‘A cornucopia of talent’, 21 September 2016, p112. Horner, Brangwyn – Man of the People, Scarborough Museums Trust, 2016, p33. Antique Collecting, Liss Paul, ‘Being Frank’, February 2017, p7. Llewellyn Sacha & Liss Paul (Eds), Art, Faith & Modernity, Liss Llewellyn, 2019, p178. Horner, 2023, pE52-53
Film: Mapleston/Horner, 2006
Exh: Milan International Exhibition, 1906, Grand Prix. Venice International Exhibition, 1907, Gold medal. London, 1907 (16) 15 guineas. Melbourne, 1909 (24) £27 10s, described as 1st state and rare proof. Dresden-Breslau, 1912 (23) 640 M. Paris, 1912. Paris, 1915 (38). Tokyo, 1918. Queen’s Gate, 1924 (81). Whitechapel Art Gallery, 1925 (35). Northampton, 1926 (35). Brighton, 1935 (12). Brussels, 1939 (5). Lincoln, 1954 (83). Moscow, 1967 (15). SGA, 1971 (172). Brighton, London, Sheffield, 1980 (61) lent by Brighton Museum & Art Gallery. London, 1983 (36) and (87) both £300. London, 1984 (64) £300, printed in black and sepia. Melle, 1988 (39). Scarborough, 1994 (22). Chipping Campden, 2016, lent by London WMG. Scarborough, 2016
Based on a drawing taken from the Guidecca. Whereas any other artist, especially those with architectural backgrounds, would have concentrated on the church itself, Brangwyn places the domes of it background left, seen through the bow sprits and rat-lines of boats moored on dolphins. A huge fisherman’s anchor lends weight at the right hand side of the etching. A small group of figures on the quay, foreground, one playing guitar. Hardly the way Ruskin would have viewed Venice, not that he would have sketched this church anyway. Brangwyn’s love of humanity is again evident.