This is a fine self-portrait by the celebrated artist, Edgar Holloway.
It is from a small limited edition of only 50 impressions issued and this one is No. 8 - so all the lines are nice and crisps - with little signs of wear to the plate.
It is signed in pencil and edition number by the artist.
Holloway must have thought quite a lot of this print - as you can see from the label on the back - that he submitted it himself to the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition in 1985 for inclusion. Interestingly - the submission label on the reverse of the frame shows that he has sent it from Woodbarton at Ditchling Common - which was previously the home of his friend and mentor, Eric Gill.
This print was later sold through the Open Eye Gallery in Edinburgh.
This sensitive and penetrating self-portrait is made using etching and aquatint - impressions of it are now quite hard to source. Another impression is in the collection of the National Galleries of Scotland.
HISTORY: Holloway died in 2008 of 94 - and was the last survivor of the Etching Revival of the 1920s and 1930s. He was a legend in the history of British printmaking.
He was born at Mexborough, near Doncaster, on May 6 1914,
By the age of 20, Holloway had gained the favour of some of the key figures of the "etching boom", among them Campbell Dodgson, then keeper of the department of prints and drawings at the British Museum, where his work was exhibited. His one-man exhibitions in London met with critical acclaim, and he also featured at the Victoria and Albert Museum and other major national institutions.
He had gained the respect of established printmakers, including John Copley, Muirhead Bone and Joseph Webb, and became a close friend of the artist, William Wilson.
A retrospective was held at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford in 1991 and in the same year he was elected a member of the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers. His work is in the collections at the British Museum, the Victorian and Albert Museum, in London, the National Museum of Wales, Harvard University and the New York Public Library.
Although Edgar Holloway made many highly accomplished topographical prints and fine portraits, he is best known today for the many penetrating and superbly handled self-portrait etchings through which he revealed his own intriguing persona (such as this one).
Given that such fine impressions of this print are now hard to source - my asking price for a work by this major British printmaker is certainly a fair one. It is in good condition with no issues - it is sold framed in its original frame as presented to the RA by Holloway - but it could possibly do with a new mount etc - but have left in its frame which has all the provenance details all written in the artist's own hand on the back.
It will be sent with Royal Mail Next Day Special Delivery - fully insured and tracked in transit. This will cost about £10 and be applied at checkout.