Piccadilly Circus

Sir Muirhead Bone was a Scottish printmaker and watercolor artist particularly noted for his depictions of architectural views and city vistas, as well as for his work as a war artist in both the First and Second World Wars. After he settled in London in 1901, he soon established an international reputation through his remarkable prints, such as this spectacular example made during World War I. The artist created nearly 500 prints during his career and was knighted in 1937.

In this dramatic night view, Bone skillfully captured the bustling crowds and traffic moving about Piccadilly Circus, a circular road junction and major public space bordered by stately buildings in London's West End. At the far left, the artist depicted the dominant ediface of the County Fire Office (side view). Search lights illuminate the pitch black sky; Bone rendered the sky by drawing a dense network of lines to hold the ink. Street lamps (particularly the tall one at right) cast light beams downward, as their tops were shaded to be in accordance with war regulations. Visible in silhouette is the popular Shaftsbury Memorial Fountain, graced by the statue of Eros (or Anteros) by Sir Alfred Gilbert. When this print was first exhibited in 1915, it was sold in aid of the Belgian Relief Fund; now this print is regarded as one of Bone's masterpieces.