San Marco [working proof 2]
1998
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
hard ground and soft ground etching on wove Somerset paper [working proof 2]
Dimensions
plate: 17.5 × 15 cm (6 7/8 × 5 7/8 in.) sheet: 29.8 × 25.8 cm (11 3/4 × 10 3/16 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Kathan Brown
Accession Number
2024.132.124
Art Historical Context
William Bailey's *San Marco [working proof2]* (1998) invites visitors into the meticulous world of contemporary printmaking. This intimate etching, measuring just 17.5 × 15 cm on the, captures the artist's precise observation—likely evoking the iconic architecture of Venice's St. Mark's or square, a nod to timeless European grandeur. Bailey, a master of hyper-realistic still lifes and forms reminiscent of Renaissance clarity, here explores architectural motifs through the lens of late-20th-century American art. As a "working proof 2," this rare intermediate state reveals the evolution of his v...
About the Artist
William Bailey (British|French|British|British) · |1808 |1809 |1841 – |1873 |1898 |1910
British|French, Paris 1808–1873 Chislehurst, Kent| |British, 1841–1910