The first half of the 19th century saw an extraordinary hub of the visual arts develop in Norfolk: particularly in Norwich, but also in Great Yarmouth, with world-class artists such as John Crome and John Sell Cotman supported by (and supporting) many other professional and gifted amateur artists. Although Crome and Cotman are best known for their oil paintings and watercolours, both also produced many etchings, and so did many of the other artists of the Norwich School. The result is an extraordinary corpus of works which is of international significance in the history of print-making. The etchings both shed light on the careers of these eminent artists, and illuminate the social and architectural history of Norfolk, which provided much (although not all) of the
subject matter.
Geoffrey Searle reviews the background to the development of these works, and sets them in their historical, national and international context. Separate sections discuss the work of 14 artists, with extended coverage of Sell, Cotman and other highly regarded figures such as E. T. Daniell and Joseph Stannard, and there is also a review of minor figures.
Etchings are sometimes dismissed as a medium primarily for copyists. Many of these artists did reproduce their own and
others' work in this medium, and Searle considers how this impacts on the reception of their work, and to what extent the result can be considered an independent work of art.
The etchings provide an affordable way for many to collect Norwich School works, and particular attention is paid to the
quality and availability of different editions.
The 60 illustrations (many of them full-page) are drawn from the author's personal collection, Norwich Castle Museum, and the University of East Anglia collection.