Benicasim
James McBey (1883-1959), Benicasim, etching, 1911, signed in ink and numbered lower left margin [with initials, title and date in the plate]. Reference: Hardie 96, only state, edition of 40. In very good condition, with wide margins (cut irregularly at bottom, tiny loss upper right corner), 5 5/16 x 8 3/8, the sheet 9 x 11 1/2 inches, archival matting.
A fine, delicately printed impression, printed in black ink on cream laid paper.
Benicasim is a small Spanish town a few miles north of Valencia. In McBey’s etching it appears beautiful, isolated and remote; today it is built up, the site of a famous pop music festival.
McBey was of course a student of Rembrandt, and compositionally Benicasim may be referencing Rembrandt’s Three Trees.