Lars Nyberg
, Swedish, b.1956
Title
St Stephen's GreenDate2019
MediumDrypoint on paper
Dimensions
Sheet: 38 × 28.5 cm
Plate: 20 × 12.5 cm
Signedcentre right: Lars Nyberg
Credit LinePresented, 2023
Object numberNGI.2023.60
DescriptionThese prints illustrate Lars Nyberg’s skill as a printmaker, sensitive approach to his subject matter and meticulous use of the drypoint technique. In his own words: ‘To feel and hear the steel needle travelling in the copperplate is meditative music for me. There is something unpredictable in working with This is one of 27 drypoints gifted to the collection by Swedish printmaker Lars Nyberg. The prints depict a variety of subjects: street scenes, winter trees and abstract architectural features. Each image is infused with silence, emptiness and a sense of calm. The Dublin prints were begun while Nyberg was working at Graphic Studio Dublin’s premises at Green Street East in the 1990s. They depict the Dublin docklands (mainly Grand Canal and Spencer Dock) before its redevelopment. Eleven record parts of inner city Dublin including buildings in Parnell Street, Gardiner Street and Mountjoy Square. Five of the prints depict wintry trees and paths in rural Mayo and were inspired by his residency at the Ballinglen Arts Foundation, Ballycastle in 2000. The date noted is the year the plate was finished, but often he began work on a plate many years earlier. He explained his method of working: ‘I made a lot of sketches and took a lot of photos so I could remember details. I never draw or scratch after photos, the idea, the ‘feeling’, will die in a way then. For me, making art involves waiting, I look upon a proof or a drawing, thinking and waiting for the idea, the feeling, to ‘develop’. Taking time for an idea to mature. I always print my copperplates myself and I use a simple steel needle for the drypoint works.’ The story behind the print, in the artist’s own words, was written in February 2024.
One December afternoon before Christmas 1989, I met this tree in the park. The grey sky, the damp, dark branches, the gesture of the tree reaching pleadingly into the sky made an immediate and strong impression. I made many drawings in the growing twilight. The gates on the St Stephen's Green East / Merrion Row side were locked but I managed to climb over. On my way home I also found the International Bar. Two catches in one evening. I've been looking for the tree recently but haven't found it. The first plate was made in 1994 and the second plate, which this print is an impression of, in 2019.
Inscriptioncentre right: Lars Nyberg
lower right: St. Stephens Green