Walter Richard Sickert, British, 1860-1942
Title: Noctes Ambrosianae
Date: 1906
Medium: Etching and aquatint
Dimensions:
Sheet: 29.8 x 39.2 cm
Plate: 22.2 x 25.3 cm
Credit Line: Presented, The Sickert Trust, 1947
Object Number: NGI.11438
DescriptionSickert's activity as a printmaker spanned almost fifty years, during which time he produced some 230 etchings. He became known for his depictions of so-called low-brow entertainement, such as this view of the gallery of the Middlesex Music Hall in London. Sickert's unorthodox technical experiments with printmaking were guided by his interest in the depiction of light. The use of aquatint in Noctes Ambrosianae transforms the music hall scene into a semi-abstract pattern of light and dark. This print is one of sixteen impressions printed posthumously by David Strang for the Sickert Trust between 1945 and 1947.