FISHER, A. Hugh [1867-1945]
“Langdale Pikes from Blea Tarn”
circa 1920
etching / 6 inches by 9 inches / unknown edition
Glacier, British Columbia, Canada
circa 1930
etching / 6 inches by 9 inches / unknown edition
This signed etching by Alfred Hugh Fisher entitled “Langdale Pikes from Blea Tarn” depicts a rural English landscape with lake (tarn = a small mountain lake, from Middle English and Old Norse), usually formed by glacial moraines. A popular hiking destination in the renowned English Lake District, the Pikes themselves are what Americans might call a hogback or ridge, seen here in silhouette from the tarn. The untitled view of a Canadian glacier is likewise an etching, but presents a much lighter feeling, a celebration of line rather than plane.
Alfred Hugh Fisher received his formal art education at the National Art Training School (now the Royal College of Art) and the Académie Julian in Paris. He began producing etchings in the 1890s and was elected to membership in the Royal Society of Painters and Etchers in 1898. A. Hugh Fisher was a member of the Royal Engravers and the Chicago Society of Etchers. His art is in the collections of the British Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
A sticker on the frame suggests one of these was acquired from the Thurber Art Gallery in Chicago’s Fine Arts Building — operated by W. Scott Thurber in space remodeled by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1909.