Lot 611
PROFESSOR SIR FRANK JOB SHORT, RA, PRE (1857-1945)
A GROUP OF TEN PRINTS
comprising nine mezzotints, viz; `Nithsdale` (1891), 19.5 x 31cm; `Road near Oxford` (1898) after Peter de Wint, 14.5 x 22cm; `A Yorkshire Road, Wensleydale` (1898), 10.5 x 28.5cm; `A Slant of Light in Polperro Harbour, No.2` (1901), 19 x 25.5cm.; `The Lifting Cloud` (1902), 14 x 22cm; `Madame de Lamballe` (1902) after Antoine Vestier, 40 x 32.5cm.; `George Huddesford and John C Bampfylde` (1905) after Sir Joshua Reynolds, 43 x 35cm.; `Cottage and Harvesters` (1907) after Peter de Wint, 15 x 26cm.; and `Evening on the Thames` (1912), 21.5 x 29.5cm; and an etching, King's Lynn, 19.5 x 27cm; each signed in pencil (10)
* This lot offers a fine overview of Short's impressive work as an innovator and as an interpreter in the print medium. He was a technically rigorous printmaker and ran the first engraving school at the Royal College of Art. Almost singlehandedly, Short revived the mezzotint after its heyday in the 18th Century and he used the medium's velvety tones and subtle sfumato to impart grandeur and atmosphere into both landscapes and portraits.
