The following brief essay comes from Modern Etchers: Short Biographical Sketches of the Leading Etchers of the Present Day ("obtained from the subjects themselves"), and so focuses on Wilfrid Ball as an etcher. — Jacqueline Banerjee
ilfrid Ball was born in London, England, January 4, 1853.
He is a fellow of The Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and member of The Royal Anglo-Australian Society of Artists.
Mr. Ball, on leaving school, was for several years a clerk in a bank, spending his evenings and all his spare time at Heatherleigh’s school, in Newman street, which was the only art instruction that he has received, except from an amateur who bit the first plate Mr. Ball etched. This plate was bitten, as Mr. Ball remarks, "with a vengeance" and on having it proved and showing it to a friend, he was awarded with the following criticism: "Oh, I see you are working for the blind, as every line is in the highest relief, so that it may be felt as well as seen." After this Mr. Ball studied carefully Hamerton’s Hand-book for Etchers and it was his guide in all matters pertaining to the art.
He first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1876 a small etching called The Lone Field, and he has since then exhibited there every year with one exception. In 1889, for the first time, he exhibited in the Paris Salon his plate of Venice, for which he received an Honorable Mention and which is almost beyond doubt his finest plate.
Mr. Ball is a member and in the Council of The Royal Society of Painter-Etchers, a member of The Royal Anglo-Australian Society of Artists, and also one of the "Sets of Old Volumes," a small but very well-known artistic society of London.
The majority of Mr. Ball’s plates are small and are mostly English and Venetian views. St. Georgio, which is a companion piece to Venice, exhibitedin 1889, is a beautiful example of conscientious work, and in some of his plates there are beautiful passages of dry point, showing very charming effects of light and shade.
Bibliography
"Wilfrid Ball." Modern Etchers: Short Biographical Sketches of the Leading Etchers of the Present Day ("obtained from the subjects themselves"). Baltimore: David Bendann, 1891. 7-8. Google Books Free Ebook.
Created 9 September 2022