Rome Scholars
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SOLDRobert Austin (1895-1973):
Self-portrait and Jackdaw, 1949
Unmounted (ref: 11232)
Signed
Etching
8 x 6.8 in. (20.3 x 17.3 cm)See all works by Robert Austin etching interiors men 1.PORTRAIT OF AN ARTIST
Provenance: The Artist's Studio
Literature: Llewellyn, Sacha, and Paul Liss. Portrait of an Artist. Liss Llewellyn, 2021, p.265.
During the Second World War Austin worked as a war artist recording the efforts of women in the Royal Air Force and in the nursing services for the War Artists' Advisory Committee. This enigmatic fish-eye lens self portrait, dated 1944, shows Robert Austin working in an attic studio with a Jackdaw on his left shoulder. Jackdaws were considered variously both omens of death and a symbol of renewal - adding a further layer of mystery to the composition.
Self and Jackdaw is Post Campbell Dodgson 133; it was first printed in 1942. Austin continued to alter the plate over the next seven years.
We are grateful to Michael Campbell and Rob Watson for assistance.
