Art Institute of Chicago

Fishermen

John Hamilton Mortimer

Date

1774

Medium

Pen and black ink on off-white laid paper

Culture

England

Department

Prints and Drawings

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

One of many works produced late in John Mortimer’s career as designs for prints executed by his apprentice, Robert Blyth, this drawing reflects Mortimer’s interest in picturesque scenes of bandits, pirates, and smugglers. Blyth’s etching faithfully includes the vague or unfinished elements in the periphery of the this drawing, including the house at the right margin and the seemingly allegorical female figure on the left. As a natural outcome of translating a drawn invention onto a printing matrix, the etching reverses the direction of this drawing.

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