The condition is typical for a picture of this age, including some discolouration and foxing. The inscription to the lower right has been partially cut off.
18.5 x 25cm (7.3" x 9.8")Sheet: 26 x 33cm (10.2" x 13.0")
Norman Hirst was an artist born in Liverpool, known for his engraved and mezzotint prints. He joined the Herkomer Art School, Bushey in 1885. Having arrived in Bushey, he obtained a two-year scholarship at the School and then remained in the village until 1895. His first exhibited work was an engraving, shown in 1890 at both the Royal Academy and at the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool. His reputation is first and foremost as a mezzotint engraver due to his insightful reproductions of works by Gainsborough, Lawrence, Romney, Watteau and others. During his long life, he showed at the Royal Academy, Dowdeswells, Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers, and Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours. Hirst was elected an Associate member of the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers in 1931. He was involved in a renowned court case of 1917 when he was called as an expert witness on the work of George Romney, the famous 18th-century English portrait artist. An American collector had purchased a portrait allegedly by Romney and showing Mrs Siddons and her sister Miss Fanny Kemble. He paid £20,000 (now well in excess of £1 million) for it to a New Bond Street dealership and later had qualms as to its authenticity. So he took the firm to court demanding his money back. The case was defended and the experts were divided, but Norman Hirst was one of the experts who correctly said that the work was not by Romney. Hirst, with his intimate familiarity of Romney's works, gained by his skilful copying in mezzotint, was well placed to be an authority in this dispute. In the event, the case was spectacularly concluded with the discovery of clear documentary evidence and artistic proof that the painting was, in fact, a portrait of the Waldegrave Sisters by Ozias Humphrey.
| SKU | rp225 |
|---|---|
| Artist | Norman Hirst (1862-1955) |
| Date | Early 20th Century |
| Dimensions | 18.5 x 25.0cm |
| Medium | Mezzotint |
| Style | Realism |
| Subject | Landscape |
| Item Returns | This item can be returned |
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