item details
Overview
D.Y. Cameron was a successful painter and a very influential etcher. He studied at the Glasgow School of Art before joining life classes at the Royal Scottish Academy. His work was acclaimed in Edinburgh, London, Berlin and Munich. During the First World War, Cameron was appointed official war artist to the Canadian government and in 1933 was made the King's Painter in Scotland. Cameron was highly sought after by collectors until the Great Crash of 1929 brought a collapse in prices for prints in general. Despite his excellence as a printmaker, his work still remains underrated both in art historical and market terms.
Strong tonal contrasts characterise his prints and his stark and dramatic paintings, which are mainly landscapes and cityscapes. His prints often feature areas of great darkness, offset by highlights. Cameron’s etchings are notable for their use of drypoint, a skill that he had mastered over his years of production. This is particularly evident in his studies of church interiors and Scottish landscapes.
This etching is a study of a bronze figure of the vulture symbol for the Egyptian Goddess Maut, in the Cairo Museum. While Cameron has made etchings of other bronze objects such as Aquamanile (1913), also in Te Papa's collection (1964-0001-12), they are not a common subject for him. Furthermore it is a pure etching, which deviates from Cameron’s usual combination of etching touched with drypoint. The etching looks unfinished in appearance - this was surely deliberate. There is limited use of crosshatching, mainly used in the shading around the face and the interior of the right wing with a very small amount in the shadow of the wing overlapping the backside. Cameron’s initials are inscribed at the top left of the page, while the words ‘The Vulture Symbol of Maut Goddess of Maternity’ are at the bottom of the sheet.
Sources:
Arthur M. Hind, The Etchings of D.Y. Cameron (London; Halton and Truscott Smith, 1924)
Gerrish Fine Art:
https://www.gerrishfineart.com/cameron-d-y-maut-etching~774National Galleries Scotland,
https://www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/artists/sir-david-young-cameronWikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Young_Cameron
Dr Mark Stocker Curator, Historical International Art December 2017