The Angels of Boulogne

Chris Orr (1943 - )

Colour etching and aquatint

1972

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  • About the work
    Location
    Country: Switzerland
    City: Berne
    Place: British Embassy

    This etching is part of a set that was published as a book under the title 'Chris Orr's John Ruskin: History is a dead liberty', by Chris Orr and Robert Hewison in 1976. In this work Orr imaginatively recreates the life of John Ruskin (1819–1900), the art critic and artist, who was a patron of the Pre-Raphaelite artists Rossetti and Burne Jones and a champion of Turner. The etchings focus on Ruskin’s unhappy relationships with women. The first page of the set, however, contains a warning that these scenes have more to do with the artist than with Ruskin.

    Chris Orr’s lively and inventive etchings contain references to literary sources such as Proust’s 'Remembrance of Things Past'. The painters Magritte and Balthus are also cited as important influences on the work that derives much humour from satirising the unfortunate difficulties and frustrations that John Ruskin experienced in his domestic life.

  • About the artist
    Born in London, Chris Orr studied at Ravensbourne College of Art, Hornsey, and the Royal College of Art (RCA). He later taught at the RCA and at the Ruskin School of Art in Oxford. In 1971, he held his first solo exhibition at the Serpentine Gallery and has exhibited regularly at the Thumb Gallery, London. In 1998, Orr was appointed Professor of Printmaking at the RCA, a position he held for ten years. He was awarded an MBE in 2008 for services to printmaking.
  • Explore
    Places
    France
    Subjects
    fishing boat, rowing boat, steamship, crane, violin, musician, newspaper, hoop-rolling, reading (as Subject), topography, townscape/cityscape, seagull, man, woman, girl, cup, saucer, bow, arrow, angel, quay, harbour, lighthouse, terrace, balcony, chair, table (as Subject), sailboat
    Materials & Techniques
    etching, colour etching, aquatint
  • Details
    Artist
    Chris Orr (1943 - )
    Title
    The Angels of Boulogne
    Portfolio Title
    The Ruskin Portfolio
    Edition
    22/75
    Date
    1972
    Medium
    Colour etching and aquatint
    Dimensions
    height: 50.00 cm
    Acquisition
    Purchased from Thumb Gallery, October 1977
    Inscription
    below image: 22/75 / The Angels of Boulogne / Chris Orr 1972
    GAC number
    13484