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Sir Muirhead Bone (1876-1953) was a Scottish artist known for his piquant drypoint etchings, draughtsmanship and watercolours. Bone originally trained as an architect at the Glasgow School of Art. After initially taking night classes, he turned to printmaking in 1898. Self-taught, his early works likely took the style of those he studied, chiefly Charles Meryron and James Whistler. In 1901 Bone moved to London, quickly gaining a reputation, moving in the same circles as art collector Campbell Dodgson and D.Y. Cameron, a contemporary of Bone in etching and a fellow Scotsman. In 1916, Bone successfully campaigned for the role of the first official British War Artist, filling the position in both World War One and World War Two. Between the World Wars, Bone continued to build up a considerable reputation, exhibiting frequently in both London and New York. A mentor of many young artists, he served as a trustee of the Tate Gallery, the National Gallery and Imperial War Museum. He was knighted in 1937.
Bone's watercolours and lustrous drawings are evidence of his incredible skill in depicting often grim wartime landscapes and human activity. However, it is in his drypoints that we can see his true mastery over architectural detail. His strengths are in rendering line and balance to create dynamic cityscapes, concerned primarily with the existence of buildings in all their states, including the comings and goings of their construction. Bone's architectural training is a fetchingly persistent ‘backbone’ in these works.
Like his contemporary Lionel Lindsay, loved Spain and its pristine and unspoilt architecture. Located on the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostella (see Te Papa 1952-0003-3) is the small town of Sahagún, which contains some of the earliest and finest Mudejar (post-Moorish) architecture in Spain. A fine example is the focal point of Bone's print, the church of San Lorenzo, a 13th century structure built entirely in brick, which incorporates Romanesque, Gothic and Muslim elements. Bone's brilliantly architectural eye would have been keenly appreciative.
Acting as a dramatic foil to the tower of San Lorenzo is the foreground of charmingly picturesque, tumbledown and low-slung housing and the crude street itself, which is not even cobbled. This reinforces the 'primitivism' of the scene; Bone almost certainly knew in 1929 that its days were numbered and that modern improvements would change Sahagún's character forever. The hot, bright, dry afternoon - echoed in the title - is also convincingly conveyed.
Te Papa has two impressions of this drypoint, both donated to the National Art Gallery by Wellington advertising magnate, collector nad benefactor Sir John Ilott (see Te Papa 1965-0001-10).
Sources:
British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/search_the_collection_database/term_details.aspx?bioId=131762
David Cohen, ‘Bone, Muirhead’, Grove Art Online, Oxford Art Online, Oxford University Press, accessed 6 December 2017
Harold J. Wright, ‘Sir Muirhead Bone; Catalogue of prints from 1908 to 1939 being a continuation of Campbell Dodgson’s Catalogue of etchings and drypoints from 1898-1907’, Photocopied by the British Museum from the typescript in the possession of Messrs P & D Colnaghi, August, 1981, pl. 345, pp. 101-102
National Galleries Scotland,
https://www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/artists/sir-muirhead-boneWikipedia, 'Muirhead Bone',
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muirhead_BoneDr Mark Stocker Curator, Historical International Art August 2018