Arran Peaks

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.

Arran is an island off the west Scottish coast. In this drypoint, Cameron provides a barren, desolate account of the isle. In prior states of the work, the landscape is less obscured by heavy shadow and a group of three cows in the centre left gave the landscape a touch of life. This later state has been darkened, some of the more flat plains are given texture and turned into the crevice seen on the lower right midground of the work. The cattle have disappeared. Like many of Cameron's landscapes there is a contrast between the vast sky and the dark landscape, the stark difference between the two adding to the overall austere tone.