item details
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 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.
Joseph Chamberlain (1836-1914) was a prominent British politician and industrialist who split both major British parties in the course of his long career. Upon his death just before World War One, Prime Minister H.H. Asquith (Chamberlain’s previous adversary in parliament) said of him in tribute: 'in that striking personality, vivid, masterful, resolute, tenacious, there were no blurred or nebulous outlines, there were no relaxed fibres, there were no moods of doubt and hesitation, there were no pauses of lethargy or fear'.
Strang reflects this reputation in Chamberlain’s resolute and determined appearance. There is certain kind of tenaciousness in the setting of his jaw. With his monocle and orchid buttonhole, Chamberlain was a gift to cartoonists. While there is no orchid in this portrait - it is subsumed in the deliberately unfinished clothing - the monocle is retained.
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-strang
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Strang
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Chamberlain
Dr Mark Stocker Curator, Historical International Art January 2018