SPORTING ETCHINGS.
By A. LassellRipley. Commentary by Dana S. Lamb’21. Introduction by Guido Per era. Barre(Mass): Barre Publishers, 1970. 40 illustrations. 96 pp. Regular edition $17.50Signed, numbered, limited edition withorigial etching $35.
One has learned that it is a rarity to discover distinguished artistic merit within the general subject of sports. Perhaps the lure of the sport itself, for the artist as well as his audience of sportsmen, demands too great an allegiance to illustrative authenticity for the emergence of a notable art form. A happy union of the two is recalled in the superb hunting and fishing subjects of Winslow Homer, as well as the lithographs of George Bellows and Robert Riggs of the prize ring. Degas chose the turf for many of his subjects, as did Vaughn Flannery of our own generation, and the paintings and etchings of Frank Benson are able examples in the area of fishing and wildfowl shooting. The examples are distinguished but not numerous.
Among the forty etchings by A. Lassell Ripley comprising this attractively published volume are many which will please the art lover—and the entire collection will delight the sportsman. “Cock Pheasant” and “Covey of Quail” have the light and airy delicacy of a Japanese print. “Duck Blind,” one of the best etchings included, shows a fine mastery of an exacting medium. It is a handsomely organized composition of a theme dear to the heart of every waterfowl gunner—a squadron of ducks pitching into the decoys.
Dana Lamb, himself an ardent wildfowler, has written briefly and expressively in counterpoint to each of the works repro- duced. These paragraphs have the qualities of tender reveries upon the ambience of the experience of the hunter rather than the bag he brings home. In this he shares the philosophy of Mr. Ripley. Each has a deep and affectionate regard for the satisfaction and tranquillity felt when one is in the field or blind with a dog and a gun.
Mr. Perera makes this quite clear in his introduction, a sincere and eloquent tribute to his friend the artist and a hunting and fishing companion for many years. Indeed, I suspect that he had much to do in persuading the artist to assemble these worthy examples of his art for publication in a volume which I am certain will find a place on the shelves of many sportsmen.
The paintings of Mr. Sample, EmeritusArtist-in-Residence, Dartmouth College, maybe found throughout the country on thewalls of private homes and public artgalleries.
