32. Gerald Brockhurst
(1890-1978)

Phemie (Marguerite)

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Brockhurst, Phemie (Marguerite)

Phemie (Marguerite)

Etching, 1924, 99 x 74 mm., Fletcher 42. Fine impression on white laid paper with full margins, signed in pencil. Brockhurst’s artistic career focused on the portrayal of attractive women and a few handsome men, but it was a career that led him from poverty to renown and financial success. His paintings are not taken too seriously any more, but the etchings have still a fascination, especially for the technique displayed. That Brockhurst could draw was never in question, but it was the incredibly fine and subtle etching style that he developed, which somehow gave the feeling of Renaissance portraiture to images of contemporary people, that set his work apart from that of virtually every other print maker. Phemie (his artsy names can get irritating) is a small, minor work, but it exhibits the same technical brilliance as the more famous images. And he does it all in pure etching.