Thermae of Caracalla

D.Y. Cameron was a successful painter and a very influential etcher. He studied at the Glasgow School of Art before joining life classes at the Royal Scottish Academy. His work was acclaimed in Edinburgh, London, Berlin and Munich. During the First World War, Cameron was appointed official war artist to the Canadian government and in 1933 was made the King's Painter in Scotland. Cameron was highly sought after by collectors until the Great Crash of 1929 brought a collapse in prices for prints in general. Despite his excellence as a printmaker, his work still remains underrated both in art historical and market terms.

Strong tonal contrasts characterise his prints and his stark and dramatic paintings, which are mainly landscapes and cityscapes. His prints often feature areas of great darkness, offset by highlights. Cameron’s etchings are notable for their use of drypoint, a skill that he had mastered over his years of production. This is particularly evident in his studies of church interiors and Scottish landscapes.

In 1919 Cameron was appointed a member of both the Faculty of Painting and the newly-formed Faculty of Engraving of the British School at Rome. This print dates from his trip to Rome in 1923, when he visited the School and its students. The Baths of Caracalla were the second largest such complex in ancient Rome, and were built in the 3rd Century AD by Marcus Aurelius Antonius, better known as Caracalla. The Baths or Thermae were an important part of Roman social life and this building must have been staggering in both its size and opulence. In this print (which is one of Cameron’s largest), he concentrates on the massive, gloomy architectural ruins. Critic Malcolm Salaman admired 'the imaginative mood that gave us this magnificent print, The Baths of Caracalla, the etcher having found inspiration for a masterpiece of impressive design, in the ruins of the famous Thermae, which pandered to all the extravagant luxuriousness of decadent Rome, ruins which Shelley found incomparable in their "sublime and lovely desolation", inherently decorative and charged with Time's stern significance.'

Sources:

Arthur M. Hind, The Etchings of D.Y. Cameron (London: Halton and Truscott Smith, 1924)

National Galleries Scotland, https://www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/artists/sir-david-young-cameron

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Young_Cameron

Dr Mark Stocker   Curator, Historical International Art   December 2017