$385
A Greyhound's Head
EARLOM, Richard
Mezzotint on laid paper. Published by John Boydell, London. With letters, as published. Seemingly scarce. This mezzotint was created after a desig...
View full detailsRichard EARLOM
Born in London in 1743, Richard Earlom was one of the foremost British mezzotint engravers of the eighteenth century. Trained as a draftsman under Giovanni Battista Cipriani, Earlom worked extensively with the influential London publisher John Boydell.
His most celebrated achievement was the Liber Veritatis, an ambitious series after drawings by Claude Lorrain. Published by Boydell beginning in the 1770s, the series became a landmark of British reproductive printmaking and helped extend mezzotint beyond portraiture into landscape and the interpretation of works on paper.
Earlom’s subjects ranged from portraits, animals, and flower pieces to historical compositions and landscapes. His prints were admired for preserving both the texture and emotional character of the original works. His refined control of light and shadow is especially evident in his animal subjects, where fur, bone structure, and alert expression emerge through carefully modulated tone.
He died in London in 1822.