(Dredging)

Mabel Catherine Robinson Barnes

By all accounts, Mabel Catherine Robinson (later Barnes) was a prolific artist whose accomplishments in the field of art included her election to the Royal Academy of Painter-Etchers and Engravers in 1909, the RE’s very first female Associate. However, unlike many of her peers, such as Myra Kathleen Hughes, accounts of her life and full body of work are in relatively short supply.

Here, a simple but sure handed sketch of a dredging along a waterway encapsulates everyday life in the early 20th century. The landscape is low, the surface of the water glassy and reflecting a calm sky, and in the distance a fishing boat has unfurled its sail in the hopes of locating a good catch.

From the collection of the Danish writer, critic, and collector, Georg Frederik Brøchner (1847-1933). Brøchner wrote many articles for The Studio and The International Studio.