William Miller

The Last Ray of The Sun

William Miller's original engraving, "The Last Ray of The Sun" depicts Sir John Franklin's final attempt to discover the Northwest Passage in the Arctic. In his painting, Francis Danby created a riveting image of a rolling ocean, majestic clouds and mountain peaks. The wreckage floating beside the raft indicates that the artist chose to depict Franklin's ships sinking in a storm in the open seas. An exhausted handful of survivors occupy the makeshift raft which floats towards the setting sun. In this expanse of majestic but lethal and uninhabited sea we know they will not survive to see the sun again. "The Last Ray of the Sun" is both a historical and artistic monument to the fine abilities of Francis Danby and William Miller.

The Last Ray of The Sun

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Title:	The Last Ray of The Sun
Engraver:	Miller, William (Edinburgh, 1796 - 1882)
Designer:	Danby, Francis (Wexford, Ireland, 1793 - Exmouth, 1861)
Date:	1849
Medium:	Original Engraving
Publisher:	J. Hogarth, London
Edition:	Proof impression before letters.
Note:	William Miller (Edinburgh, 1796 - 1882): Very few scholars would argue William Miller's place as one of the great masters of the steel engraving. While nineteenth century publishers had relegated the steel engraving mainly to picturesque and topographical views, William Miller was one of the few who recognized the artistic potential of the medium and the strong tonal qualities that could be achieved through its closely connected lines. This, William Miller used to its greatest advantage in his landscape depictions, particularly those after Turner and other British artists of the period. Turner, in fact, considered him his finest engraver and together the two artists collaborated to create some of the finest steel engraved views and illustrated books of the nineteenth century.
	Born in Edinburgh, William Miller was sent to London to study engraving under George Cooke. He returned to his native city shortly after completing his apprenticeship and resided there for most of his life. Besides his large and individual plates (such as "The Last Ray of the Sun"), William Miller also illustrated Rogers's, "Poems", Scott's poetical and prose works and many of J. M. W. Turner's landscape views. He was a full member of the Royal Scottish Academy and frequently exhibited there.
	Francis Danby (Wexford, Ireland, 1793 -Exmouth, 1861): Francis Danby exhibited his first painting in Dublin in 1812. In the following year he set off for London to make his career, however, his funds were exhausted by the time he reached Bristol and Danby supported himself in that city by giving lessons as an instructor. In 1825 he sent a painting to the royal Academy which resulted in his move to London and an Associateship in the Academy. Despite public and personal scandals (particularly in the matrimonial field) Francis Danby rose to become one of Britain's most famous landscape painters.
	Like his contemporary, John Martin, Francis Danby was a painter of the fantastic. His landscapes were often non-Realist and packed with Romantic imagery. Nature was all powerful, and mankind, in opposition to it, was as helpless as the smallest of insects. This is clearly the case with, "The Last Ray of the Sun".
	An Important Historical Note: In 1845 the great Arctic explorer, Sir John Franklin (1786-1847) began his third and final attempt to discover the Northwest Passage in the Arctic. He had become famous for his earlier expeditions of 1819-1822 and 1825-1827 and was knighted for his efforts. The third attempt, however, was to have fatal consequences. In 1846, Franklin's ships, the Erebus and Terror, were caught in the ice of King William Island in Canada's High Arctic. During the following months the entire party, including Franklin, eventually succumbed to cold and starvation on the island.
	In the era of early Arctic exploration news of an expedition's progress and whereabouts was of course, impossible. As the months passed in silence, worry gave way to grief. The actual remains of the Franklin expedition were not, in fact, found until 1854, despite the attempts of numerous rescue parties. Thus for a period of almost ten years rumours and speculations concerning the actual fate of Franklin and his men abounded.
	These events fired the imagination and laid the framework for one of Francis Danby's most fantastic works of art, "The Last Ray of the Sun". Inspired in part by Gericault's, "The Raft of the Medusa", Danby created a riveting image of a rolling ocean, majestic clouds and mountain peaks. The wreckage floating beside the raft indicates that the artist chose to depict Franklin's ships sinking in a storm in the open seas. An exhausted handful of survivors occupy the makeshift raft which floats towards the setting sun. In this expanse of majestic but lethal and uninhabited sea we know they will not survive to see the sun again.
Size:	14 X 18 3/4 (Sizes in inches are approximate, height preceding width of plate-mark or image.)
	Matted with 100% Archival Materials
Condition:	Printed on fine china paper which has been pressed onto a larger sheet of wove paper and with large, full margins as published by Hogarth in London in 1849. The absence of the title in the lower margin indicates that this is a proof before letters, meaning one of the first impressions printed from the plate. thus this is a fine, early impression and in excellent condition throughout. One will likely never see a more accomplished steel engraving than this original impression of "The Last Ray of the Sun". It is both a historical and artistic monument to the fine abilities of Francis Danby and William Miller.
Subject:	William Miller, Francis Danby, The Last Ray of the Sun, Arctic explorer, Sir John Franklin, Franklin expedition, J. M. W. Turner.
Price:	Sold - The price is no longer available.
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