Nathaniel Sparks, R.E. 1880-1956.
The Broken Column. 1915. Etching and drypoint. Barclay 153. 10 7/16 x 8 (sheet 17 1/16 x 10 3/4). Exhibited at the Royal Academy and the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers. A rich impression with plate tone on cream laid paper with full margins. Signed in pencil. Housed in a 19 x 16-inch archival mat. $1,000.
The Impercipient. 1923. Etching and drypoint. Barclay 155. 9 1/2 x 9 1/2 (sheet 15 7/8 x 12 3/4). Exhibited at the Royal Academy and the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers. Illustrated: Guichard, British Etchers: 1850-1940. A rich impression with plate tone on cream laid paper with full margins. Signed in pencil. $1,250. Housed in a 12 1/2 x 16-inch archival mat. This is the artist's magnum opus.
The second son of Nathaniel Sparks Snr, violin restorer, Nat, aged 10, won a scholarship to The Bristol College of Art and Science coming under the tutelage of R Bush, ARE (Associate of the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers & Engravers1). In 1900, at the age of 20, a further scholarship brought him to the RCA (Royal College of Art) in London where Frank Short, President of the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers & Engravers, was Head of the Engraving School.
He was commissioned to print Whistler's etchings of Venice. He exhibited with the Royal Institute of Painter-Etchers and Engravers from 1905 and was elected a member in 1910. He also exhibited at the Royal Academy, 1909-37 and at the Chenil Gallery; Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool; at the Paris Salon and in Venice. Queen Mary purchased his view of Westminster Abbey and his etchings of Bristol were published in 'City Impressions: Bristol Etchers 1910-1935'.
During World War I, he made gauges for the munitions factories, working a punishing 100 hours per week, engraving the fine calibration required for accurate machining. After his etching press was destroyed at the beginning of World War II, he left London, retiring to the west country and died in Somerton, Somerset in 1956. A centenary exhibition was held at the Dorset County Museum, Dorchester, in 1980 and the Guilford Library displayed his cityscapes in 2001.
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