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Rayner, (Hewitt) Henry (1902-1957)

A self-portrait dated 1938

Drypoint | 28.1 x 19.1 cm (sheet of paper) | RCIN 812687

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  • A self-portrait print of Henry Rayner; almost half length, full face. He shows himself reflected as in a mirror, in the act of making this drypoint, his needle held in his right hand (reflected as his left) and the metal plate held on the board resting on his lap. He wears an open-collared shirt, and has a narrow moustache. Inscribed on the plate: HENRY RAYNER/ 1938; and in the lower margin: Self-portrait / Henry Rayner / British Museum 1939 / Lightly pulled.

    Australian by birth, Henry Rayner moved to England at the age of 21, studying at the Royal Academy Schools under Walter Sickert, who remained a friend. Against Sickert’s advice, Rayner was drawn to the printmaking technique of drypoint and over the next twenty years he produced more than 500 plates. Drypoint involves scratching a design directly into the surface of a metal plate; it is a rapid and spontaneous technique but, unlike the deep incision of the engraver’s burin or the chemical action of etching, it leaves only a shallow groove in the surface of the plate. The attractiveness of the printed line is primarily due to the rough metal burr thrown either side of the line by the needle, for the burr holds a lot of ink and prints richly, but it wears down rapidly in printing and so only a few good impressions are possible (the British Museum’s impression of this print is numbered 3/10).

    Text adapted from Portrait of the Artist, London, 2016
    Provenance

    Purchased in 1943

    As part of ongoing provenance research, this work has been identified as having uncertain or incomplete provenance for the years 1933–45. Royal Collection Trust welcomes information and assistance in the investigation and clarification of the provenance of all works during that era.

  • Medium and techniques

    Drypoint

    Measurements

    28.1 x 19.1 cm (sheet of paper)

    19.7 x 13.0 cm (platemark)

  • Category
    Object type(s)
  • Alternative title(s)

    Henry Rayner


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