A Flood in the Fens
1922
Medium
drypoint
Dimensions
sheet (irreg.): 26.8 × 40.3 cm (10 9/16 × 15 7/8 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Rosenwald Collection
Accession Number
1943.3.6030
Art Historical Context
James McBey's *A Flood in the F* (1922) captures a dramatic moment in England's low-lying Fenlands, a region notorious for its vast marshes and recurring floods. The Scottish artist, renowned for his masterful prints, traveled extensively to depict atmospheric landscapes with a keen eye for light and texture. Created just after World War I, work reflects McBey's post-war focus on the natural world's quiet power, contrasting human vulnerability with expansive waterways and sodden fields. Rendered in drypoint—a direct intaglio technique where a sharp tool scratches into a metal plate, raising a...
About the Artist
James McBey
James McBey (1883–1959) was a Scottish artist renowned for his etchings and paintings, emerging from humble beginnings in Newburgh, Aberdeenshire, as the illegitimate son of a blacksmith's daughter. Largely self-taught, he left school at fifteen to work as a bank clerk in Aberdeen, where he devoured art books from the public library and attended evening classes at Gray's School of Art to hone his ...