Songs: "Far removed from Noise & Smoke..."
Medium
Soft-ground etching
Dimensions
Image: 7 7/8 × 10 1/16 in. (20 × 25.5 cm) Sheet: 10 13/16 × 15 3/16 in. (27.5 × 38.5 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Wilbur Macey Stone, 1921
Accession Number
21.94.2(18)
Tags
Art Historical Context
Henry Thomas Alken, a prolific British artist celebrated for his witty depictions of sporting life and social satire, created *Songs: "Far removed Noise & Smoke..."* 1822. Published by Thomas McLean, noted London printmaker, this soft-ground etching captures the Regency era's fondness for escapist revelry. The title evokes a joyful retreat from the clamor and pollution of industrializing cities like London, where "noise & smoke" symbolized rapid urbanization, into a rustic world of song and dance. Rendered in-ground etching—a technique Alken mastered for its subtle tonal gradations and textur...
About the Artist
Henry Thomas Alken|Thomas McLean (British|British) · 1785 |1788 –1851 |1875
British, London 1785–1851 London|British, 1788–1875