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Overview
The British artist Stanley Anderson (1884-1966) was responsible for reviving line engraving as a mode of original graphic expression, when it had become all but obsolete. He learned the process as an apprentice to a heraldic engraver, but initially achieved fame as an etcher and drypointist in the renaissance of British etching during and after World War I. In 1929 he turned his skills to engraving on a copper plate, and he will chiefly be remembered for his engravings of English rural crafts dating from 1932, for which he was made CBE in 1951. These are well represented in Te Papa's collection. His subjects also included drypoints of continental architecture often featuring markets (as here, note the street traders), etchings of down and outs in 1920s London, and views of urban construction and demolition sites. In 1938 Anderson represented Great Britain at the Venice Biennale.
This is a view of the Church of St Nicholas (Kostel svateho Mikulase), Prague, one of the greatest of the very many Baroque churches in the Czech Republic (Czechoslovakia in Anderson's time). It is located in the Mala Strana ('Lesser Quarter') section of the city, across from the city of Prague proper on the west bank of the Vltava River; and was completed in 1755 by Christoph and Kilian Dientzenhofer, a father and son team of architects. Anderson caught this building in the midst of what appears to be a roof repair. His precise description of the scaffolding is matched only by the remarkable detailing of the dome and supporting drum. The clean lines reveal Anderson's prowess as an engraver - he was taught to treat each line as a distinct graphic event, not to be confused with any other. Engravings were more literal, and documentary, matters of public record than etchings and this is no exception.
Te Papa has two impressions of this print. See also 1968-0001-1.
See:
http://portfolios.artinstitutes.edu/gallery/7932721/St-Nicholas-Prague
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Anderson_(artist)
Dr Mark Stocker Curator, Historical International Art February 2018