And Five were Foolish 1923 |
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Original etching.
Signed and inscribed in pencil.
S 200 x 182 mm; P & I 75 x 75 mm
£120
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Original Alfred Hugh Fisher etching.
Especially fine presentation proof impression of the small version of this subject. Inscribed in pencil by the artist “And Five were Foolish. To Elizabeth Lowndes from A. Hugh Fisher”.
In the 50 years from 1887 onwards, Alfred Hugh Fisher exhibited over 100 of his original etched works at the Royal Academy and at the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers. The composition of And Five were Foolish is the most elaborate of his group figure studies. In this small, early version of the work, the suggestion of a townscape has been included in the background of the image. This townscape was not included in Hugh Fisher's larger etched version of this subject, entitled Five were Foolish, which was published in 1931.
The title is taken from the parable of the wise and foolish virgins in which the five foolish virgins failed to bring oil for their lamps and, as a result, missed the ceremony, the door to the marriage having already been shut. The image shows the foolish virgins “slumbering”, just prior to the arrival of the bridegroom.
On cream laid paper with full margins. Excellent original condition. |
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