Building the Harbour Bridge IV; The ant's progress, November 1929

Jessie Traill
Australia
29 July 1881 – 15 May 1967

Building the Harbour Bridge IV; The ant's progress, November 1929
from the series Building the Harbour Bridge
1929
etching, foul-biting, printed in brown ink with plate-tone on paper
Place made
Melbourne
Medium
etching, foul-biting, printed in brown ink with plate-tone on paper
Edition
9/25
State
published state
Dimensions
40.3 x 24.8 cm (plate)
45.5 x 29.1 cm (sheet)
66.3 x 53.8 x 3.0 cm (Frame)
Credit line
David Murray Bequest Fund 1932
Accession number
327G33
Signature and date
Signed and dated in margin l.r., pencil "JCA Traill 1929."
Media category
Print
Collection area
Australian prints
Copyright
© Estate of Jesie Traill/Copyright Agency

  • The building of the Sydney Harbour Bridge (1927–32) captured the attention of the entire country, its graceful form the subject of many works of art by painters, photographers and etchers. This work is from a series of eight etchings created by Jessie Traill from sketches executed on site. In this plate, made in the early stages of construction, she underscores the imposing scale of the bridge by depicting its workers as barely discernible forms – ants.

     

    Traill was introduced to working en plein air in the 1880s, when, as a teenager, she accompanied Tom Roberts on sketching trips to Port Phillip Bay. She studied at the National Gallery School, where etching became her preferred medium – perhaps because it was closely aligned with the act of drawing. Her desire to expand her knowledge of printmaking led her to continue the study of this medium under Frank Brangwyn at the London School of Art, between 1907 and 1908. Brangwyn’s methods and style had a lasting impact on Traill, including her interest in architecture and in the strong contrasts on light and shade in her compositions.

     

    Traill’s prints were exhibited alongside the work of other leading Australian artists during the celebrations of the bridge’s opening in March 1931. 

     

    Maria Zagala, Associate Curator, Prints, Drawings & Photographs

  • [Book] AGSA 500.