Outside the walls, Ávila

item details

NameOutside the walls, Ávila

ProductionLionel Lindsay; artist

Classificationprints, etchings, works on paper

Materialsink, paper

Materials Summaryetching

Techniquesetching

Dimensionsplate: 317mm (width), 226mm (height)

Registration Number1971-0012-10

Credit lineGift of Sir John Ilott, 1971

Overview

Outside the Walls, Ávila is a 1926 drypoint print which depicts the common land outside the medieval walls of Ávila, Spain. Here it is not some medieval castle or church that takes centre stage, but the land itself. Ávila is built on the "flat summit of a rocky hill" (Wikipedia) and here we see the dramatic shape of the land formations and outcrops around that summit, captured with strong black and white contrasts. At the left of the print is a portion of the town's medieval walls, a suggestion of its rich architectural heritage. Not without reason is Ávila sometimes known as the ‘Town of Stones and Saints’. Cutting through the landscape is a rough track, down which travel a couple of herdsmen and their cattle.

The smudgy line Lindsay has employed perfectly captures the dusty, arid, high-altitude environment. He has carefully rendered both the city’s sturdy medieval walls, as well as the weary peasants/farmers who come to trade within them.

Lindsay adored the architectural heritage of Spain but he also loved the customs of the people, which seemed peculiarly exotic to him, especially coming from a small town in Victoria, Australia. In his reminiscences of Spain, he said; "I once followed up the fairs from Holy Week in Seville to Cordova and Granada, gathering a lot of data and enjoying the full spectacle of Spanish life. The fairs are held on the common ground outside the city walls and the folk sleep under their tilted waggons, tending by night and day the animals they have brought to market, from the humble donkey to the complaining pig". (Lindsay, p. 12 in Wright)

In Outside the Walls, Ávila he has depicted both in a timeless, romantic style characteristic of his Spanish prints.

Sources:

David Maskill (ed.), Before Addled Art – The Graphic Art of Lionel Lindsay (Wellington: Adam Art Gallery, 2003)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%81vila,_Spain

Harold J.L. Wright, Sir Lionel Lindsay – Etching and Drypoints (Sydney: T. & H. Jamieson, 1949)

Dr Mark Stocker Curator, Historical International Art August 2018