The experiences of Scottish men and women printmakers during the Etching Revival, 1850 - 1940

During the mid-nineteenth to early twentieth centuries, Scottish artists made a significant contribution to the Etching Revival, and by the early 1900s prints by Scottish artists such as David Young Cameron, James McBey and Muirhead Bone were the most sought after and expensive prints in the world. Women artists such as Jessie M King, Susan Crawford and Katherine Cameron also experimented with the medium, producing works for illustrative purposes and as works of art in their own right.

This study intends to examine the experiences of Scottish printmakers, looking at the men and women who produced etchings and how their experiences differed. For instance, both David Young Cameron and his sister Katherine received their initial training from the Glasgow School of Art in the early 1880s. However, by 1885 David was furthering his training in etching at Edinburgh School of Art, whilst Katherine relocated to Paris to study at the Académie Colarossi.

This study will take the form of a social history approach, looking at the artistic and technical training available for printmakers in Scotland and examine the conflating experiences between men and women on a professional and amateur level. Examples of artworks (auction records, National Galleries of Scotland) and contemporary exhibition reviews will be utilised to examine the genres, techniques and styles produced by Scottish printmakers and to what extent their gender affected how they were received by collectors, dealers, patrons and the public.

Additionally, this study will look at how the artists were marketed and how women interacted with the artistic community through exhibitions, etching clubs, local art clubs, and who collected their work. The role of the dealer, patronage and etching clubs in fuelling public interest will also be examined, as well as the impact of exhibition culture in Britain in shaping the status of the art and the artists who created the work.