Summer Storm

Robert Swain Gifford, like James Abbott McNeill Whistler, was one of America’s most influential etchers of the late 1800s. Largely self taught, he first experimented with etching as a teenager. Summer Storm shows Gifford’s strengths and technique. He was renowned for his dexterity and strong yet simple use of line. To the extent that he employed special effects such as plate tone (the selective wiping of a plate that allows a thin layer of ink to create gradations in tone during printing), this effect was always secondary to the effects of line. His subtle use of plate tone plays a supporting role to the lines that evoke billowing clouds and driving rain.