Drawing from Life, from "Illustrated London News"

After Joseph Henderson British, Scottish

March 26, 1870

Not on view

In a humble Scottish interior, a boy just arrived home from school, has thrown off his coat and sketches a sleeping cat on his slate. The image suggests that his early passion may one day drive a mature artist and echoes incidents from the early lives of famous artists—Vasari for example recorded that the Florentine painter Cimabue discovered Giotto as a shepherd boy sketching his flock on a rock, then took him on as an apprentice. Published in the "Illustrated London News" in 1870, this wood engraving was designed by Henderson who lived and worked in Scotland, became president of the Glasgow Arts Club and exhibited at the Royal Scottish Academy and Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts. The engraver Hollidge first worked for London periodicals, then went to Paris in 1871 and engraved for "L'Univers Illustré."

Artwork Details

Object Information

Overview

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Provenance

References

Title: Drawing from Life, from "Illustrated London News"
Series/Portfolio: Illustrated London News
Engraver: William Hollidge (British, active 1869–95)
Artist: After Joseph Henderson (British, Stanley, Perthshire, Scotland 1832–1908 Ballantrae, Ayrshire)
Date: March 26, 1870
Medium: Wood engraving
Dimensions: Image: 8 3/4 × 13 1/4 in. (22.2 × 33.7 cm)
Sheet: 10 13/16 × 15 11/16 in. (27.4 × 39.8 cm)
Classification: Prints
Credit Line: Gift of Donato Esposito, 2015
Object Number: 2015.653.19
Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

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