Picturing Places and Spaces

In this monochromatic print the artist has taken a minimalist approach, almost to the point of abstraction. The title of the print, Rackwick Valley IV, informs the viewer the scene is a valley in Scotland. The shape of the hill on the right mirrors the one on the left, but light falling from the left subtly reveals the surface of its slope through ink gradation. The landforms on the left are enveloped in darkness save for light hitting the top of a hillock in the foreground. Sharp edges define the slopes of the hills and create a striking contrast with the white sky that looks like an inverted triangle.

Norman Ackroyd is best known for his etchings based on sites in the United Kingdom. Ackroyd attended Leeds College of Art from 1956 to 1961 and the Royal College of Art in London from 1961 to 1964. He was elected a Royal Academician at the Royal College of Art in 1991. Ackroyd currently is based in London and continues to create prints. In a documentary series produced by the BBC, What do Artists Do All Day?, Ackroyd demonstrated how he creates a print of a landscape. He uses drawings made while visiting the site and notes he is trying to capture "a particular piece of geology." Yet he concluded: "Ultimately everything I do has got an abstract basis."