TitleRainy Night
Artist
Otto H. Bacher
(American, 1856 - 1909)
Datec. 1880 - 1882
MediumEtching and drypoint on cream chine collé on white wove paper
DimensionsSheet size: 13 11/16 × 18 15/16 in.
Plate size: 4 15/16 × 12 3/8 in.
Mat size: 16 × 20 in.
SignedSigned in graphite at lower left below platemark: "Otto H. Bacher".
Credit LineNational Academy of Design, New York, NY
Object number1982.2285
Label TextThis richly evocative scene of the heart of Venice portrays the artist's interest in the atmospheric effects of the storm and his admiration for the art of James McNeill Whistler, with whom he was closely associated at the time. Bacher's toned plate-leaving some ink on the surface of the copper, rather than only in the recesses-and deeply etched lines reinforce a sense of the combined obscurity of night and rain. The rows of short strokes in the sky suggest sheets of falling rain and the tight, radiating lines surrounding the shorefront lights convey piercing radiance.Rainy Night is a striking example of how American etchers were especially interested in depicting the weather. Bacher used repeated vertical lines to indicate pounding rain in Venice, while horizontal lines evoke the agitation and flow of water. The rich darkness of the image is the result of the deeply bitten lines. Areas of blurring that convey the atmosphere of the wet night result from the partial wiping of the plate. Bacher used Chine Colle, which consists of a thin paper lightly brushed with paste which adheres to a heavier backing paper under pressure at the time of printing. Here the warm tone of the paper enhances the glow of the lamplight along the water's edge.
In 1885, following two years of working in Cleveland mostly as an art teacher, Bacher followed duveneck's advice and traveled to Paris to further his academic skills. He spent a year and a half studying in the atelier of Carolus-Duran and at the Academie Julian under Jules Joseph Lefebvre and Gustave Boulanger. After a brief trip to Germany, he spent late 1886 and early 1887 in Venice sharing a studio with Robert Frederick Blum and Charles Ulrich. Upon Blum's advice he settled in New York City in the spring of 1887. Nine years later he moved to nearby Bronxville, New York, and became an important fixture in the art life of this thriving turn-of-the-century community. In New York, Bacher found regular employment as a magazine illustrator for The Century and Harpers Weekly. He continued to etch and paint and was active as a watercolorist and pastelist. In the 1890s he adopted an Impressionist aesthetic and his later efforts include paintings of his Bronxville flower garden, female nudes posed in an outdoor setting, and vibrant winter landscapes. Over the course of his career, Bacher was a member of the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers, London, the New York etching Club, the society of Illustrators and the society of American Artists. In 906 he was voted an associate member of the national academy of Design.
