James McBey

James McBey|Gerald Leslie Brockhurst

1931 · Etching; ninth state of nine · Drawings and Prints

In 1931 Brockhurst met McBey at a London dinner party and persuaded his fellow artist to sit for a portrait (Albert H. Wiggin Collection, Boston Public Library). The Scottish-born McBey had served as an Official War Artist in the Middle East during World War I then continued to achieve success as a painter and etcher. The year this portrait was made he married the American artist-photographer Marguerite Loeb and began traveling regularly between London, New York and Tangiers. The print establishes a strong tonal divide in the background and uses the edge of a brightly lit wall to enhance the figure's three-dimensionality–the light area at right was made by leaving a significant portion of the plate unetched. As a whole, the composition conveys McBey's strong personality.

Artist

James McBey|Gerald Leslie Brockhurst

Date

1931

Medium

Etching; ninth state of nine

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Gift of John J. Cunningham, 1967