Robin Tanner Figurative Prints

Alington in Wiltshire (The First Swallow). 1927. Etching. Garton 2.iv. 6 3/4 x 8 7/8 (sheet 10 1/2 x 13 1/2). Final state published by in an editon of 12 by Garton & Cooke in 1982 (Nicolson published an edition of 40 in 1927). In states iii and iv, the swallow of the title was removed. In state iv, the sky was re-etched and the cross-hatching was slightly finer. Signed in pencil. Garton writes, page 11: "The design was based on the Anglican chapel-of-ease is the farmyard of Bulisge at Allinston near Chippenham....The print was originally entitled The First Swallow, but the swallow was burnished out before the 1927 edition....Fifty years later new work was effected in the worn-out areas of the sky and distance to produce prints which, in his opinion, were better than those of the original edition." Robin Tanner was an English artist, etcher, and printmaker. He followed the visionary tradition of Samuel Palmer and English neo-romanticism. His etchings began following night-school classes at Goldsmiths College, London. He had been inspired by the major Samuel Palmer retrospective exhibition organized by Martin Hardie...