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Overview
A virtuoso of portraits and scenes of the working class with a sharp eye for depicting the truth of his subjects, William Strang (1859-1921) was a revered draughtsman and painter. However, his most lucrative and productive mode of creation was printmaking, an integral part of his career throughout his lifetime. Critics such as Maurice Harold Grant noted Strang as a printmaker who was ‘keenly observant’ in all stages required of printmaking, particularly in his ability to transfer his immaculately drawn line into an equally impressive bitten plate.
Born in Dumbarton, Scotland in 1859 to working-class parents, Strang moved to London in 1875 at the age of 16. The following year he enrolled at the Slade School of Art, where he studied under the French Realist, Alphonse Legros. Strang excelled particularly in Legros’ recently introduced etching class, serving as Assistant Master in the class for two years after graduating. Strang’s style was heavily influenced by Legros; both artists having working-class backgrounds, leading to a strong undercurrent of social justice in many of Strang’s works. Early in his career Strang made many etchings of working class life in a realist manner, as well as works of allegory and delightfully macabre fantasy. An increase in requests for commissions in after the mid-1890s meant that Strang focused more on portraiture and painting. However, he still continued to work as a printmaker throughout his career – becoming President of the International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers in 1918. A month before his death in 1921, Strang was elected an Engraver Member of the Royal Academy.
Strang is perhaps best known for his etchings of famous artistic and literary sitters such as the art historian and curator Campbell Dodgson (Te Papa 1968-0001-43) and author Rudyard Kipling (Te Papa 1956-0001-17). While many of his portraits were commissioned, Strang’s artistic preoccupations did not lie with capturing the ‘beauty’ of the sitter. Instead he picks out the most human traits of the individual, highlighting their idiosyncracies and favouring honesty and psychological intensity over glamour and handsomeness.
This work is likely a commissioned portrait by Buckley, a merchant from Birmingham. Although this portrait is a drypoint, Strang’s treatment of line makes it appear much like an engraving. Hardly utilising the burr's ability to trap ink - only in a few lines of Buckley’s hair and suit collar can we see any evidence of burr - Strang instead crosshatches small precise lines. This treatment of line builds a solid likeness, rather than suggesting it in the ethereal way that often comes from drypoint portraits (a fine example of this is Muirhead Bone’s portrait of writer Joseph Conrad, Te Papa 1952-0003-1).Sources:
Laurence Binyon, William Strang; Catalogue of his Etched Work (Glasgow: James MacLehose and Sons, 1906), pp. vii-xvii.
Maurice Harold Grant, A Dictionary of British Etchers (London: Rockliff, 1953), pp. 196-197
National Galleries Scotland:
https://www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/artists/william-strangWikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_StrangDr Mark Stocker Curator, Historical International Art January 2018