Ely Yard 1909

Muirhead Bone made this etching, Ely Yard, and you can see the image come into being, shifting and emerging through trial, error, and intuition. I sympathize with Muirhead, standing there, acid on the plate, imagining what it must have been like to create this artwork. The etching has a soft texture and it is easy to see how the surface shapes our experience of the building and adds to the emotional resonance of the work. Just look at the ladder leaning against the side of the building – the linear marks communicate direction, intention, and meaning. Bone's etching relates to his wider artistic practice of detailed architectural studies, and the work of other etchers. Artists are in an ongoing conversation and exchange of ideas across time, inspiring one another’s creativity. Painting is a form of expression which embraces ambiguity and uncertainty, allowing for multiple interpretations and meaning over fixed or definitive readings.