Mortimer Menpes Art
Australian, 1855-1938
Mortimer Luddington Menpes was born in Port Adelaide, South Australia on February 22, 1855, the second son of property developer James Menpes, who with his wife, Ann, had settled in Australia in 1839.Educated at Adelaide Educational Institution, he attended classes at the Adelaide School of Design, and did some excellent work as a photo-colourist, but his formal art training began at the School of Art in London in 1878, after his family had moved back to England in 1875. Edward Poynter was a fellow student at the school. Menpes first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1880, and, over the following 20 years, 35 of his paintings and etchings were shown at the Academy.
Menpes set off on a sketching tour of Brittany in 1880, during which he met James McNeill Whistler. He became Whistler's pupil, and at one stage shared a flat with him at Cheyne Walk on the Chelsea Embankment in London. He was taught etching by Whistler, whose influence, together with that of Japanese design, is evident in his later work. Menpes became a major figure in the etching revival , producing more than seven hundred different etchings and drypoints , which he usually printed himself. As early as 1880, a selection of ten of his drypoint portraits, donated to the British Museum by Charles A. Howell, brought him critical acclaim.
In 1875, Menpes married fellow Australian Rosa Mary Grosse (d. 23 Aug 1936) in London. They had a son, Mortimer James (b. 1879) and two daughters, Rose Maud Goodwin and Dorothy Whistler.
A visit to Japan in 1887 led to his first one-man exhibition at Dowdeswell's Gallery in London. Menpes moved into a property at 25 Cadogan Gardens, Sloane Square, designed for him by A. H. Mackmurdo in 1888 and decorated it in the Japanese style. Whistler and Menpes quarreled in 1888 over the interior design of the house, which Whistler felt was a brazen copying of his own ideas. The house was sold in 1900, and Menpes moved to Kent.
In 1900, after the outbreak of the Boer War, Menpes was sent to South Africa as a war artist for the weekly illustrated magazine Black and White. After the end of the war in 1902, he travelled widely, visiting Burma, Egypt, France, India, Italy, Japan, Kashmir, Mexico, Morocco, and Spain. Many of his illustrations were published in travel books by A & C Black. His book on the Delhi Durbar was an illustrated record of the commemoration in Delhi of the coronation of King Edward VII.
Menpes became a member of the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers (RE) in 1881, Royal Society of British Artists (RBA) in 1885, Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours (RI) in 1897, and Royal Institute of Oil Painters (ROI) in 1899. In 1904 he published the memoir of his time with Whistler, Whistler as I Knew Him. Mortimer Menpes died in Pangebourne on April 1, 1938.to
1
3
Overall Width
to
Overall Height
to
1
2
1
2
1
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
2
1
3
10,138
2,779
1,375
1,369
2
Artist: Mortimer Menpes
Mexican on a donkey, Mexico, Mortimer Menpes etching with drypoint, 1914
By Mortimer Menpes
Located in Melbourne, Victoria
Signed in pencil below the image. Signed and dated in the plate. The number '327' inscribed in pencil in lower margin.
Mortimer Menpes was an artist and engraver, author, printmake...
Category
Early 20th Century Naturalistic Mortimer Menpes Art
Materials
Engraving
"A Breton Beggar" original etching
By Mortimer Menpes
Located in Henderson, NV
Medium: original etching. This impression is printed on watermarked Arches MBM laid paper. Size: 8 1/2 x 5 1/2 inches (plate) with good margins. Signed in the plate (not by hand).
Category
Late 19th Century Mortimer Menpes Art
Materials
Etching
Bassin d'Apollon, Versailles (Fountain of Appollo, Versailles).
By Mortimer Menpes
Located in Storrs, CT
Bassin d'Apollon, Versailles (Fountain of Appollo, Versailles). Drypoint. Menpes 364. 7 1/8 x 9 1/8 (sheet 8 13/16 x 10 7/8). A very rich impression with drypoint burr and plate tone...
Category
Early 20th Century Modern Mortimer Menpes Art
Materials
Drypoint, Etching
$400 Sale Price
20% Off
Related Items
Engraving of a British Fox Hunting Scene "The Pink Of Condition"
By George Wright
Located in Alamo, CA
The engraving "The Pink Of Condition" by George Wright was published in London in 1909. It depicts the beginning of a British fox hunting scene. The ...
Category
Early 1900s Naturalistic Mortimer Menpes Art
Materials
Engraving
$860 Sale Price
20% Off
H 23.63 in W 28.75 in D 0.88 in
Fil du Temps
By Etel Adnan
Located in London, GB
Etel Adnan "Fil du Temps" 2021. Etching on wove paper. Edition of 100.
A critical work by Adnan, the final etching in this series. Etel was unable to put pencil to paper due to her ...
Category
2010s Abstract Impressionist Mortimer Menpes Art
Materials
Etching
Icart, Sans titre, Le Sopha (after)
By Louis Icart
Located in Southampton, NY
La pointe sèche etching on vélin de Rives filigrané à notre nom paper. Paper size: 9.5 x 7.5 inches; image size: 6.5 x 4.5 inches. Inscription: unsigned and unnumbered, as issued. No...
Category
1930s Modern Mortimer Menpes Art
Materials
Drypoint, Etching
"February Bouquet" from 'The Twelve Months of Flowers' series by Robert Furber
By Robert Furber
Located in Alamo, CA
This framed hand-colored engraving entitled "February Bouquet" is from 'The Twelve Months of Flowers' by Henry Furber, published in London in 1730 by Robert Sayer and John King. Each of the twelve hand-colored engravings in the book were produced from paintings by Pieter Casteels (1684-1749) and engraved by Henry Fletcher (1710-1753). The book featured twelve detailed engravings of seasonal plants in bloom in the form of a bouquet. More than 400 different species of flowering plants were included with each plant numbered and accompanied by a list of the corresponding species names. Thirty-five species of flowers are depicted in this engraving in a bouquet sitting in an ornate attractive bowl. A few of the flowers lie loose on a table. The flower species are listed in a table in the lower portion of the plate, along with the month that these flowers are in bloom.
This colorful print is presented in a gold-colored wood frame with a cream-colored double mat with a heather green inner mat. The frame measures 23.5" High, 19" wide and 1.63" deep. There are a few small frame abrasions, but the print is in very good condition.
Robert Furber...
Category
Mid-18th Century Naturalistic Mortimer Menpes Art
Materials
Engraving
$1,775
H 23.5 in W 19 in D 1.63 in
Views of London: A Pair of Framed 19th Century Engravings by Havell and Allom
Located in Alamo, CA
This is a pair of framed hand-colored prints, both utilizing engraving and etching techniques, depicting two London architectural landmarks: "The National Gallery, Charing Cross" and "Covent Garden Market" from the Stationers' Almanac, published in London by J. Robins & Sons in the early 19th century. Both of these prints show vibrant London street scenes with markets, carriages, common people as well as the wealthy in the foreground of "Covent Garden Market" and wealthy well dressed people, carriages, a begger, street merchants, as well as uniformed military on horseback in the foreground of "The National Gallery". "The National Gallery, Charing Cross" was created by James Sands from a painting by Thomas Allom (1804-1872), published in 1836. "Covent Garden Market" was created by Frederick James Havell (1801–1840/41) after a painting by William Havell...
Category
Mid-19th Century Naturalistic Mortimer Menpes Art
Materials
Engraving, Etching
$1,160 Sale Price
20% Off
H 15.57 in W 23.07 in D 0.5 in
Pompelmus (Grapefruit): An Early 18th C. Hand-colored Engraving by Volckamer
By Johann Christoph Volkhamer
Located in Alamo, CA
This is an early 18th century hand-colored copperplate engraving of the anatomy of grapefruit by Johann Christoph Volkhamer, entitled "Pompelmus (Grapefruit), Der Herra Sitz und Burg...
Category
Early 18th Century Naturalistic Mortimer Menpes Art
Materials
Engraving
$1,100 Sale Price
20% Off
H 13.88 in W 8.88 in
Mary Cassatt "By the Pond"
By Mary Cassatt
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Mary Cassatt 1844 - 1926
"By the Pond" (Breeskin 161; Matthews & Shapiro 21)
Drypoint and aquatint printed in colors, circa 1896, on laid paper, framed
Fourth state of four.
Plate:...
Category
1890s Mortimer Menpes Art
Materials
Drypoint, Aquatint
Irving Guyer, Christmas Trees on Second Street (NYC)
By Irving Guyer
Located in New York, NY
Philadelphia-born Irving Guyer attended the Art Students League and worked in New York City before moving to California. This print is signed and titled i...
Category
1930s American Modern Mortimer Menpes Art
Materials
Drypoint, Etching
A Pair of Woodpeckers: An 18th Century Hand-colored Bird Engraving by Martinet
By François Nicolas Martinet
Located in Alamo, CA
This is an original 18th century hand-colored copperplate engraving of male and female woodpecker birds entitled "1. Pie Male de la Encenada, 2. Petit Pic des Moluques (Woodpeckers)"...
Category
1760s Naturalistic Mortimer Menpes Art
Materials
Engraving
$460 Sale Price
20% Off
H 12.38 in W 9.25 in
Colorful Parrot: An 18th Century Hand-colored Bird Engraving by Martinet
By François Nicolas Martinet
Located in Alamo, CA
This is a hand-colored engraving of a parrot bird entitled "La Perruche-Ara, de Cayenne (Parrot)" by Francois Nicolas Martinet, plate 864 from 'Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux' in ass...
Category
1760s Naturalistic Mortimer Menpes Art
Materials
Engraving
$540 Sale Price
20% Off
H 12.38 in W 9.38 in
View of Venice - Etching by Alcione Gubellini - mid-20th Century
By Alcione Gubellini
Located in Roma, IT
Etching and drypoint realized by Alcione Gubellini in the mid-20th Century.
Edition of 16.
Hand signed and numbered in pencil.
Excellent condition.
Category
1930s Modern Mortimer Menpes Art
Materials
Drypoint, Etching
$360
H 13.59 in W 9.06 in D 0.04 in
Composition (Reinz 208-222), Voyages Fantastiques, Bernard Buffet
By Bernard Buffet
Located in Southampton, NY
Drypoint etching on papier de Rives B.F.K. pur fil paper. Unsigned and unnumbered, as issued. Good condition. Notes: From the folio, Voyages fantastiques aux États et empires de la l...
Category
1950s Modern Mortimer Menpes Art
Materials
Drypoint, Etching
$3,036 Sale Price
20% Off
H 16.125 in W 12.875 in
Previously Available Items
Portrait of Mrs. Monkton Hill
By Mortimer Menpes
Located in New Orleans, LA
A beautiful haunting portrait of Mrs Monkton Hill
Born in Adelaide, South Australia, Mortimer Menpes came to England in 1875. By the time of his momentous meeting with Whistler in 1...
Category
Late 19th Century English School Mortimer Menpes Art
Materials
Drypoint
Portrait of Whistler with the White Lock, Wearing a Monocle.
By Mortimer Menpes
Located in Storrs, CT
Mortimer Luddington Menpes, N.E.A.C., R.B.A., R.E., R.I., R.O.I.
c. 1880. Drypoint. Menpes 22. 6 1/2 x 5 3/4 (sheet 11 x 8 7/8). A fine impression printed on '[ing]res FRANCE' coun...
Category
Late 19th Century Impressionist Mortimer Menpes Art
Materials
Drypoint
H 20 in W 16 in D 2 in
Mortimer Menpes art for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a wide variety of authentic Mortimer Menpes art available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by Mortimer Menpes in engraving, drypoint, etching and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 20th century and is mostly associated with the modern style. Not every interior allows for large Mortimer Menpes art, so small editions measuring 6 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Harry Rogers, Ohara Koson, and Max Pollak. Mortimer Menpes art prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $150 and tops out at $3,500, while the average work can sell for $490.