Man with a Crucifix

Robert Austin studied under Frank Short at the Royal College of Art, where he later taught for almost a decade before becoming, also like Short, the president of the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers. Whereas much etching in the 1920s was characterized by the spontaneous use of line, Austin’s style remained more rigid and precise, recalling Dürer and the sensibilities of an earlier gothic era. Many of his etchings, such as Man with a Crucifix, indeed resemble engravings, a medium at which Austin also excelled. This print was probably made in Italy, where Austin had a scholarship to the British School at Rome, and where he made several prints on local subjects such as beggars and village fairs.