David Brown Milne 1882 - 1953

Mira Godard Gallery, Toronto

Private Collection, Toronto

This is an exceptionally fine impression of a colour drypoint that Milne made early in 1929, just a short time before he left the United States and returned to Canada permanently. At this stage in his development of this unusual and original art form, Milne had a pretty firm grip on the possibilities and techniques of the medium. His scratching of the different plates was under firmer control, and he knew too how much or how little inking was necessary to achieve the expression he wanted.

Still, it was always an uncertain enterprise at the outset, even when he was confident about handling some of basic steps. The passage from concept to final print was like walking a tight-rope: one error and you fell. To get, finally, to the end successfully, as Milne has done here, was always something of a minor miracle.