University LibraryPrint Collection

Title:

Galleon's End exhibition label

Narrative 1

Narrative:

The work of Norman Lindsay was created from a deeply personal symbolic language of his own fantasy world. The subject matter of this print tells the story of a sunken pirate ship visited by playful water nymphs. This print demonstrates Lindsay’s skilful use of combining different intaglio printmaking techniques to great effect. To achieve the sense of dappled underwater light throughout the background Lindsay used aquatinting to create a textured and porous appearance to the inked copperplate surface. The source of light appears from the top of the image, above the surface of the water streaming down to the depths of the sea. This visual device helps to emphasize the mythical, dreamlike quality of this work. Printmaking is a multi-staged process and Norman worked in fruitful partnership with his wife Rose. Throughout his seventy-year career, Norman was freed to concentrate on creating his art, supported by Rose who wiped and hand printed all the copperplates to exacting standards, producing in excess of 11,000 prints.

Authors:

Fung, Viona

McKean, Monica

Type:

Student exhibition

Objects:

Galleon's End