A plein-air etcher: Philip Gilbert Hamerton

Philip Gilbert Hamerton was born in the hamlet of Laneside near Oldham, Lancashire, in 1834. Initially intending to be a painter, he turned to art criticism. His works include Etching and Etchers, Contemporary French Painters, and Painting in France after the Decline of Classicism. In 1870 Hamerton founded the magazine The Portfolio, which he edited until his death in 1894. While he is still remembered as the encourager and promoter of other etchers, the fact that Philip Gilbert Hamerton was himself an etcher of real accomplishment has been almost forgotten. The 37 etchings of scenes on the river Arroux that he selected for his book The Unknown River in 1871 have the particular Impressionistic charm of etchings made in the open air, during the course of a canoeing holiday. Hamerton meticulously prepared 60 etching plates for this trip, fixing them to drawing boards which were then placed in a series of grooved boxes that were then sent ahead to inns along the river, so that Hamerton's stock of prepared plates was constantly replenished.

Philip Gilbert Hamerton, Pre Charmoy

Etching, 1871

Philip Gilbert Hamerton, Voudenay-le-Château

Etching, 1871

Philip Gilbert Hamerton, Near Voudenay

Etching, 1871

Philip Gilbert Hamerton, Cathedral and Bishop's Palace, Autun

Etching, 1871

Philip Gilbert Hamerton, Genetoie

Etching, 1871

Philip Gilbert Hamerton, Near Ornay

Etching, 1871

Philip Gilbert Hamerton, Recuange I

Etching, 1871

Philip Gilbert Hamerton, Gueugnon

Etching, 1871

Hamerton was influenced in his artistic thinking by the French plein-air artists of the Barbizon School, the forerunners of Impressionism; like the Impressionists, he was perfectly at ease adding industrial chimneys to a rural view, as in the etching of Gueugnon. At the end of The Unknown River, he writes, "No art is more agreeable for direct work from nature than etching is. The rapidity of it, and its freedom, are greatly in its favour, and so is its remarkable independence of damp and wet. Many of the plates in this series were immersed in the river, after being etched, when the artist was upset; others were executed in bad weather, with the rain literally pouring over the copper in a manner which would have rendered any other kind of drawing quite impossible." Some of Hamerton's amusing self-portraits make the most of the various trials and tribulations suffered in the course of his "etcher's voyage of self-discovery."

Philip Gilbert Hamerton, Danger Ahead

Etching, 1871

Philip Gilbert Hamerton, A Difficult Place

Etching, 1871

Philip Gilbert Hamerton, Crossing a Field

Etching, 1871

Philip Gilbert Hamerton, Seeking Shelter

Etching, 1871

Philip Gilbert Hamerton, A Night in the Canoe

Etching, 1871

Philip Gilbert Hamerton, Portrait of Tom

Etching, 1871

Hamerton's 1876 work The Sylvan Year has etchings by various artists, including Auguste André Lançon, Léopold Massard, and Edmond Hédouin, alongside plates by Hamerton himself. My copy of this handsome work appears to have been a presentation gift from Queen Victoria, something I only noticed when preparing this post.

Philip Gilbert Hamerton, Ancient Chestnuts

Etching, 1876

Philip Gilbert Hamerton, Rivulet in a Forest

Etching, 1876

Philip Gilbert Hamerton, Cottages in a Valley

Etching, 1876

Philip Gilbert Hamerton, Shepherd and Sheep

Etching, 1876

Philip Gilbert Hamerton, In a Wood at Moonrise

Etching, 1876

It is no doubt just that Philip Gilbert Hamerton, like his great contemporary John Ruskin, is remembered primarily as a critic rather than as an artist - but I would not like his delicate and unpretentious art to be completely forgotten. Having lived most of his adult life in France (his wife was French), Philip Gilbert Hamerton died in Boulogne-sur-Mer in 1894.