XXXV, from Fifty Etchings

Fifty Etchings was Christopher Le Brun’s first attempt at etching since his years as a student at Slade School of Fine Art in London in the 1970s. Approaching the medium as a realm of technical experiment, sequential revision, and personal graphic expression, he attempted to reconcile the contemporary concerns with gesture and the artist’s hand with the principles and ideals of the grand tradition of etching. He produced the series over the course of a year at Hope Sufferance Studios in London. Some of the works are more figurative and, in at least one case, very nearly reproduce a painting. Most, like these, are highly abstract, with barely recognizable figures emerging from the densely worked surfaces. Simultaneous with his development of these etching’s motifs, he explored the range of effects that could be achieved with the medium, from images that read as simple line drawings to effects generated by complex techniques such as spitbite, openbite, and creeping bite etching, with layered applications of stopping-out varnish and repeated biting. The series is a technical tour de force, consistent with his reputation as Britain’s leading contemporary figurative artist.