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Detail from 'The Second Nun's Tale',1972, etching with aquatint
Elisabeth Frink is best known as a sculptor but she was also one of the greatest printmakers of the past century. She treated printmaking in a similar way to her sculptures - the surfaces of the etching plate were cut, scored, carved and bitten by the acid in such a tactile way that Frink’s etchings are somewhere between a carved sculpture and a drawing.
Frink’s Canterbury Tales series is a collection of interpretive rather than directly illustrative images; her simply drawn figures and animals seem monumental like her famous Goggle Head sculptures, and like Chaucer's own characters they are both satirical and sublime. Often the main characters are left as white negative spaces and the background: the sky, landscapes, sea, and drapes or interiors, are treated with a huge array of complex and experimental printmaking techniques to create fascinating textures.
Frink worked with Nigel Oxley on these etchings and together they explored a variety of different printmaking methods from aquatint, open bite, burnishing, scraping and different ways of wiping the plates.In the Wiseman catalogue raisonné of Frink's work Oxley wrote: "Lis was always prepared to accept etching as a living organic process and quickly realised its potential for exploitation, and understood the generosity of a medium allowed its freedom."
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We are thrilled to have the complete series of these iconic etchings for sale - prices start at £1,950 for the signed works. You can see the full series online below or come and see them in person at the Studio.
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Elisabeth FrinkThe Prologue, 1972£1,950.00
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Elisabeth FrinkThe Knight's Tale, 1972£1,950.00
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Elisabeth FrinkThe Miller's Tale I, 1972£1,950.00
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Elisabeth FrinkThe Miller's Tale II, 1972£1,950.00
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Elisabeth FrinkThe Reeve's Tale, 1972£1,950.00
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Elisabeth FrinkThe Shipman's Tale, 1972£1,950.00
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Elisabeth FrinkThe Prioress's Tale, 1972£1,950.00
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Elisabeth FrinkChaucer's Tale of Sir Topaz, 1972£1,950.00
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Elisabeth FrinkThe Nun's Priest's Tale, 1972£1,950.00
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Elisabeth Frink
The Physician's Tale, 1972 -
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Elisabeth FrinkThe Pardoner's Tale, 1972£1,950.00
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Elisabeth FrinkThe Wife of Bath's Tale, 1972Sold
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Elisabeth FrinkThe Summoner's Prologue, 1972Sold
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Elisabeth FrinkThe Clerk's Tale, 1972£1,950.00
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Elisabeth FrinkThe Merchant's Tale, 1972£1,950.00
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Elisabeth FrinkThe Squire's Tale, 1972£1,950.00
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Elisabeth FrinkThe Franklin's Tale, 1972£1,950.00
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Elisabeth FrinkThe Second Nun's Tale, 1972Sold
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Elisabeth FrinkThe Manciple's Tale, 1972£1,950.00
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Elisabeth Frink | The Canterbury Tales: Studio Promotion
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