This is a really sweet drypoint etching showing four little children flying through the air on swings. It dates to 1924.
The artist captures all the excitement and sense of movement as the swings hurl past. It is signed by the artist in pencil, lower right. I love all the little doodles Soper has made of people lightly sketched in drypoint all the bottom margin.
The etching is by Eileen Soper (1905 - 1990) - who was famed for these delicate etchings showing scenes from childhood. She was an etcher and illustrator of children's and wildlife books.
She first exhibited two of her etchings at the Royal Academy in London at the age of 15 after she showed three prints at an exhibition organised by the International Society of Printmakers in California. She continued to produce around 180 etchings, mostly of children at play, into the early 1930s.
Soper also illustrated books for other writers, most notably for Enid Blyton on the Famous Five Books. Some of her illustrations of children and animals were used in a china series for children by Paragon China in the 1930s.
Her father was the celebrated printmaker George Soper - please see my other works by him in my Iconic Edinburgh online store.
This fine print by Eileen Soper is signed in the lower margin in pencil, as photographed. It dates to the 1920s.
It is one of a small selection of etchings by Eileen Soper in my online store. This is one of a wee set of four etchings which are all framed in a simple black frame. The frames are all the same size. with matching moulding.
The image measures: 18.5 x 27.5 cm. The frame size is 33 x 40 cm
This antique print is in nice clean condition and has a new frame and fresh acid-free cream-coloured window mount It is all ready to hang straight on your wall. Each etching has no condition problems - the woven paper sheets they have been printed on - are loose and have not been glued down onto an old backing board in the past.
A fair asking price for this harder-to-find work by this popular artist - Flying Swings is one of her most popular works and this is reflected in my pricing as well as it being so beautifully presented for sale.
There is an impression of this drypoint in the collection of the Art Institute Chicago.. my one is better! It is also interesting to note that Queen Mary bought two of Soper's etchings, among them was a copy of Flying Swings in 1924.
Postage in the UK Only - Postage will be £10 for tracked postage with either Royal Mail or Parcelforce24. It will be applied to your order at the checkout.