Rock Shadow by Roi Partridge

This is an etching titled Rock Shadow. It was created in 1926 by noted American etcher Roi Partridge. Information on the back of the piece indicates the location was near the Acoma Pueblo in New Mexico. The image shows a small adobe house dwarfed by surrounding rock cliffs. The house is in the sun, while the foreground is in shadow. The background is mostly sunlight cliffs with one shadow near the center of the image. The sky contains a few cumulus clouds just above the background cliffs, but is otherwise featureless. Partridge effectively uses the light and shadow combined with the tall narrow perspective that compresses the image from both sides creating a very dramatic scene. It has a photographic quality to it which is interesting in that Partridge was married to photographer Imogen Cunningham at the time this etching was published. It would fit within the Regionalist, WPA style although Partridge was never employed by the WPA. This is an excellent example of his work from this period. The piece is framed and has not been examined out of the frame. The frame size is 15 1/4 x 18 1/4 inches. The impression is 7 7/8 x 8 3/4 inches. It appears to be in excellent condition. It is a crisp, well-inked impression. There are no condition issues including no fading, toning, staining, foxing, tears, or paper loss. The mat appears to be archival although the backing is not. Information is provided on the back of the piece including the title and edition size, 36. It is signed in pencil lower center Roi Partridge. A great piece by this noted etcher and teacher.

Roi Partridge (1888-1984) Roi Partridge is one of the most accomplished American etchers of the 20th century. He was born in Centralia in what was then the territory of Washington. His family moved to Kansas City for a couple of years and Partridge was enrolled in the Fine Art Institute. A seminal moment in his career occurred after the family move back to Seattle. The Seattle Public Library held an exhibition of graphic art that included works by noted etchers including Whistler, Pennell, and Haden among others. In Seattle, he was also associated with other artists including painter John Butler and miniaturist Clare Shepard Shisle (who along with Partridge were known as “The Triad”). Also associated with the group was influential photographer Imogen Cunningham whom Partridge married, although they later divorced. Wanting to learn the art of etching, he moved cross-country to New York City to study at the National Academy of Design. As with many American artists he then traveled to Europe spending a year in Germany studying etching with Brockhoff then to Paris where for financial reasons he worked as a printmaker. Unable to afford formal academy training he was mostly self-taught. Although details of his artistic work while in Paris are fragmentary, he did know and received advice from Bertha Jaques. This provided his first opportunity to exhibit with the Chicago Society of Etchers. At the outset of World War I he returned to Seattle. He was already becoming a prolific etcher as within a year of his return, he exhibited over 40 etchings at the 1915 Panama Pacific International Exhibition. This may have generated the visibility that allowed him to secure a teaching position at Mills College in Oakland, CA. Within a couple of years, he also added the job of the school’s gallery director. He held both positions until his retirement in 1954, although it appears he was on a leave of absence from 1946 to 1952. He lived another 30 years but was not actively making prints in his later years as far as is known. He belonged to many printmaking associations including the Chicago, California, and the Brooklyn Society of Etchers, and the Northwest Printmakers. His work is widely held including examples in the collections of the British Museum, the Brooklyn Museum, the Arti Institute of Chicago, the New York Public Library, the Oakland Museum, the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, the Seattle Art Museum, the National Gallery of Art, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum which also holds his collected papers.