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William E.C. Morgan

  1903 - 1979
 
Click on a picture for more details
 
The Water Carriers sold

The Water Carriers   1928

Original line engraving.

Outstanding impression from the only edition of 60 signed and numbered proofs.

SOLD



The Source sold

The Source   1927

Original line engraving.

Excellent impression with clear, crisp line; from the only edition of 50 signed and numbered proofs.

SOLD



The Brook sold

The Brook   1930

Original line engraving.

Brilliant impression with strong, clear line. From the only edition of 50 signed and numbered proofs.

SOLD



Anticoli sold

Anticoli   1927

Original etching and line engraving.

Very good impression from the only edition of 50 signed and numbered proofs.

SOLD



The Bells of Alba sold

The Bells of Alba   1927

Original line engraving.

Very fine impression, from the only edition of 50 signed and numbered proofs.

SOLD



Orvieto Roofs sold

Orvieto Roofs   1926

Original line engraving.

Excellent impression from the only edition of 50 signed and numbered proofs.

SOLD



Antonio sold

Antonio   1927

Original line engraving with drypoint.

Superb, rich impression from the only edition of 50 signed and numbered proofs.

SOLD



[Fisherfolk – a gathering beside the sea] sold

[Fisherfolk – a gathering beside the sea]   c.1923

Original wood engraving.

Very good, signed proof impression of this previously unrecorded wood engraving by William E.C. Morgan.

SOLD



The Forge, Achranich sold

The Forge, Achranich   1932

Original line engraving and drypoint.

Superb, rich impression, with fresh drypoint burr. From the only edition of 30 signed proof impressions.

SOLD

 

William E.C. Morgan was a highly skilled wood engraver who was to become one of the principal protagionists of the re-introduction of original line engraving to England during the 1920's. Having been awarded the Prix de Rome for wood engraving in 1924, W.E.C.Morgan spent three years in Italy and it was there that he began line engraving on copper. He went on to produce some of the finest and most elaborate line engravings of the period. Fifty-one titles of his printed works have now been traced; however, examples of some of these works have yet come to light. Almost all of his fine line engravings date from the short period 1926 to 1932. Following the almost total collapse of the market for original prints, he turned away from printmaking save for one isolated work in 1938. In later life William E.C. Morgan retired to Switzerland.

As a printmaker William E.C. Morgan did not comply with contemporary developments in the art of line engraving and harboured a healthy dislike of what he considered to be the scratchy freedom of modern etching style. Instead, he preferred to nurture the old skills of fine line engraving, turning to the more serious outlook and the perfection of technique found during the Renaissance, his principal source of inspiration being the work of Albrecht Durer.

W.E.C.Morgan was a close friend of fellow Rome scholars Barbara Hepworth and John Skeaping, with whom he exhibited in shows dedicated exclusively to the work of these three artists. [more]