Numbered in pencil, blind stamp lower right Drypoint, printed posthumously by the Executor of the Artist's Estate in an edition of 60 3 3/4 x 5 in. (8.6 x 12.7 cm) plate size (Paper size 25cm x 32cm)
Tags: Evelyn Gibbs
Provenance: Pauline Lucas
Literature: Pauline Lucas, Evelyn Gibbs Artist & Traveller, Five Leaves, 2001, pp 21-31 This self portrait was made whilst Gibbs was at the Royal College of Art, a year before she applied for and won the coveted Rome Scholarship in Engraving. Compositionally it has much in common with, and might have been inspired by, Henry Fuseli's, Self-portrait of 1770.
Drypoint is a more immediate method of printmaking than
etching, which requires acid to deepen the lines made on the surface
of the metal plate. In drypoint a drawing is made on the plate with an
drypoint needle, scratching the surface in such a way that a soft burr
is produced, giving a characteristic velvety appearance. Generally
only a few prints are made from the plate.
We are grateful to Pauline Lucas and Todd Longstaffe-Gowan for assistance.
