Edward Calvert (1829).
Wood engraving, 1 13/16" x 3 3/16"
Edward Calvert (1799-1883) was one of the followers of William Blake known as
"The Ancients". He is best known for a set of small but highly detailed
wood engravings produced in a few years after Blake's death in 1827.
The impression shown here is the rare first state, presumably printed by Calvert
himself.
(Note that the actual width is only a bit over 3 inches,
less than half the size shown here.)
The inscription at the lower left was removed later, and nearly all
impressions, such as those in the Memoir(2), lack it.
In later impressions the outer border line is gone, and the fine lines
on the Lady's gown have disappeared.
Calvert's later work did not have his earlier intensity. He traveled to Greece
1844, and in his later years he produced dreamy visions of an idealized past, which
do, nevertheless, achieve some rather refined harmonies.
Here is a small painting which is typical of his late work: "Iasius".
Another example is this study in oil for a painting:"A Shepherdess". (A monochrome reproduction of this study is illustrated on p. 14 of "A Memoir of Edward Calvert ..." by his son, Samuel Calvert.)
Here is another late Calvert painting: "A Muse in a landscape". (Provenance: Possibly Harold Thomas Hartley [1851-1943])
References: (1) Lister, Raymond, Edward Calvert, G Bell and Sons, London (1962).
(2) Calvert, Samuel A Memoir of Edward Calvert, Artist, by His Third Son, Sampson Low,
Marston and Company, | London (1893). This book, printed in only 350 copies, includes eight
authentic woodcuts and engravings by | Calvert. As a result, most copies have been
destroyed, cut up to remove the original prints.
There is a line of romantic, often pastoral or visionary, English etchers that runs from
William Blake through ``The Ancients'' (Calvert,
Samuel Palmer (1805-1881), etc.) to
Frederick Griggs (1876-1938),
then on to the early Graham Sutherland (1903-1980),
Robin Tanner (1904-1988),
Paul Drury (1903-1987), and in a sense ending with
Joseph Webb (1908-1962).
