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Overview
This particular street was of interest to Lindsay because it was full of picturesque architectural detail. The curve of the archway is mirrored in the smaller arches and plaster decorations which surround the windows on the upper storeys of the house. These contrast with the straight lines of the roofs and window grates. The luscious flowering plants offer an organic complement to the clarity of the architecture. These details are illuminated through a careful combination of the methods of drypoint and etching.
Lindsay loved the traditions and exoticism of the Spanish provinces, and Granada was especially appealing to him, since its architecture is a combination of Spanish Moorish and Baroque styles which were especially enticing to an artist from monocultural early 20th-century Australia.
There are two impressions of this print in Te Papa's collection; this one was presented by the widow of Ilott's good friend, London art dealer Harold Wright, and the other came from his good friend Sir John Ilott, Wellington collector and philanthropist (1956-0001-11).
Sources:
David Maskill (ed.), Before Addled Art – The Graphic Art of Lionel Lindsay (Wellington: Adam Art Gallery, 2003).
Dr Mark Stocker Curator, Historical International Art July 2018