The Turkish Fort, Cairo

D.Y. Cameron was a successful painter and a very influential etcher. He studied at the Glasgow School of Art before joining life classes at the Royal Scottish Academy. His work was acclaimed in Edinburgh, London, Berlin and Munich. During the First World War, Cameron was appointed official war artist to the Canadian government and in 1933 was made the King's Painter in Scotland. Cameron was highly sought after by collectors until the Great Crash of 1929 brought a collapse in prices for prints in general. Despite his excellence as a printmaker, his work still remains underrated both in art historical and market terms.

Strong tonal contrasts characterise his prints and his stark and dramatic paintings, which are mainly landscapes and cityscapes. His prints often feature areas of great darkness, offset by highlights. Cameron’s etchings are notable for their use of drypoint, a skill that he had mastered over his years of production. This is particularly evident in his studies of church interiors and Scottish landscapes.

This etching touched with drypoint shows a fort on the Mokattam Hills, near Cairo. Cameron and his wife wintered in Egypt in 1908–09, visiting historical sites in and around Cairo. They also travelled to Luxor to see the vast ruins of the ancient Egyptian capital of Thebes. Drawing studies made for this etching show the differences and choices that Cameron made for the final print. This includes the piercing of the centre wall by a gate and the addition of rocks along the ground to break up the horizontal lines. The austere lines of the fort architecture clearly appealed to Cameron's sense of pictorial structure.

Sources:

Arthur M. Hind, The Etchings of D.Y. Cameron (London; Halton and Truscott Smith, 1924), pl. 70, p.18

The Metropolitan Museum of Art:

National Galleries Scotland,

Wikipedia:

Dr Mark Stocker    Curator, Historical International Art    December 2017