Cathédrale Naturelle (Suffolk, England)

Gerald Kenneth Geerlings, artist

1897–1998

Cathédrale Naturelle (Suffolk, England), 1929

Where object was made: England, United Kingdom

Material/technique: drypoint; wove paper

Dimensions:
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 137 x 252 mm
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 5 3/8 x 9 15/16 in
Sheet/Paper Dimensions (Height x Width): 383 x 260 mm
Sheet/Paper Dimensions (Height x Width): 15 1/16 x 10 1/4 in
Mat Dimensions (Height x Width): 14 x 19 in

Credit line: Gift of Hal M. Davison, Class of 1949

Accession number: 1998.0354

Not on display

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Label texts

Exhibition Label:
"American Etchers Abroad, 1880-1939," Apr-2004, Reed Anderson
Gerald Geerlings was a meticulous etcher; his favorite motif was the American city in transition, in particular the cities of Chicago and New York, where the skylines were forever being altered by the new commercial architecture of the skyscraper.
"Cathédrale Naturelle (Suffolk, England)" is one of Geerlings’s rare landscapes, depicting a foreign subject. Utilizing the soft lines of the drypoint needle, Geerlings created a print that is exceptionally rich in chromatic range, and suggests that the artist knew Rembrandt’s landscapes. The shimmering light of daybreak that washes over the silent countryside softens some forms, such as the Gothic cathedral in the distance, which becomes almost translucent. More pronounced elements are the shade trees in the foreground, which cast long dark shadows. Geerlings’s resplendent light invests the entire landscape with a palpable atmosphere that suggests a cool summer morning heavy with dew. In this print, nature’s diverse elements are endowed with spiritual associations.