Portrait of Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-92)

William Strang (1859-1921)

1897

Etching on zinc

Source: Newbolt, Plate XXXI

This etching "is obviously done in a coarser medium," and might be contrasted unfavourably with the others," admits Frank Newbolt, explaining that it was on a zinc plate, as "part of a novel experiment." [Commentary continues below.]

Tennyson sitemap

Image capture and text by Jacqueline Banerjee.

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Newbolt continues, "It was to be printed in line on the top of an impression in colours from another zinc plate; but the experiment was not a success, and Mr. Strang now thinks colour inappropriate for metal plates" (11). Nevertheless, this is an impressively robust portrait of the poet, against a vigorously rendered background such as we see in many of Strang's later paintings. Strang has set Tennyson against the the cliffs and trees of the Isle of Wight, where the poet lived at Farringford from 1853 until his death in 1892.

Reference

Newbolt, Frank. Etchings of William Strang, A.R.A.. London: G. Newnes / New York: Scribner's, [1907]. Internet Archive. Contributed by the University of California Libraries. Web. 10 March 2015.

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Created 10 March 2015