William Walcot
British, born Russia, 1874 - 1943New York, n.d.
Not on view
Etching on paper
Dimensions10 1/4 × 12 in. (26 × 30.5 cm)
Image: 5 11/16 × 5 3/4 in. (14.4 × 14.6 cm)
Museum purchase in memory of Stacey DeCamp, 1977.1
Of all the so-called “minor” English printmakers who are being rediscovered, the etchings, dry-points and aquatints of Russian-born William Walcot have created extraordinary attention in the last few years. Perhaps it is because after the 1920’s and the 1930’s he sank into deeper obscurity than most of the others, but even a first glance of his work reveals a consummate master of the needle. His primary interest was in architecture, but his prints are more than merely architectural, they are endowed by a vivid imagination into highly personal, often hauntingly mysterious images, which remind many of Piranesi and Whistler.
