GIORGIONE AT ASOLO 1914 Charles Holroyd ANTIQUE ETCHING

Original circa 1914 12 1/8 inch x 9 1/2 inch Etching titled GIORGIONE AT ASOLO

Three characters in Renaissance garb in a pastoral setting: a man stands holding a book, with the other hand raised as if conducting, a woman, seen from behind, plays the lute and a man, facing front but looking right, sits and plays the lute.

Drawn and Etched by Sir Charles Holroyd (1861 - 1917). A highly regarded turn-of the-century English painter and etcher, Sir Charles Holroyd studied under Alphonse Legros at the Slade. At this time he became the long time friend of William Strang, and the work of these two artists has often been compared. Between 1880 and 1916, Holroyd created nearly three hundred original etchings, most dealing with either English or Italian subject matter. "Georgione at Asolo" is considered to be one of his finest etchings.

Giorgione (1476/8 - 1510). Almost nothing is known of this Venetian painter’s life and only a handful of paintings can be confidently attributed to him, but he holds a momentous place in the history of art. He had achieved legendary status soon after his early death and through succeeding centuries he has continued to excite the imagination in a way that few other painters can match. The extraordinary discrepancy between his enormous fame and the tiny scale of his oeuvre is explained by the fact that he initiated a new conception of painting. He was one of the earliest artists to specialize in cabinet pictures for private collectors rather than works for public or ecclesiastical patrons, and he was the first painter who subordinated subject-matter to the evocation of mood - it is clear that his contemporaries sometimes did not know what was represented in his pictures. Vasari ranked him alongside Leonardo da Vinci as one of the founders of modern painting.

From “Modern Etching and Engraving: With Examples by Leading Artists” by Basil Hansard published as part works by Virtue & Co., 7 City Garden Row, City Road, London circa 1914

Image size 8 3/8 inch x 6 7/8 inch

The etching, on thick wove paper, is in very good condition. Reverse side blank.