Evening on the Thames c. 19th century

Frank Short created this image, “Evening on the Thames”, using etching and aquatint, techniques particularly well-suited to atmospheric effects. The Thames, as London’s great river, has long been a focus for both industry and leisure. Short's artistic milieu would have likely been attuned to the competing claims of labor and recreation, as Britain was still the foremost industrial power in the world. But this image is largely devoid of evidence of labor and the economic activity surrounding it. Instead, the visual codes point to a world of middle-class leisure, a couple enjoying a row on the river. Even the soft tonal range and indistinct forms contribute to this romantic vision. To fully understand this image, one might look into the institutions surrounding the etching revival, such as the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers, of which Short was president. Such societies promoted printmaking as a fine art and helped shape the public's appreciation of it. The meaning of art is always contingent on the social and institutional contexts in which it is made and viewed.