From:Williamson Art Gallery and Museum
Name/TitleSt. Matthew
About this objectRaymond Hawthorn (1917-1997) was a British wood engraver and printmaker. Born in Dorset in 1917, he studied art at the Coventry School of Art from 1935-9 and Hornsey School of Art from 1939-40. He was local to the Wirral, being a member of the Wirral Society of Arts and a teacher at the Laird School of Art. Throughout his career, he created collections of engravings to be used as illustrations in books, for example, Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, trans. Richard Aldington, 1962), The Life of Alexander the Great (trans. Aubrey de Sélincourt, 1970) and, The Rise and Fall of Athens (Ian Scott-Kilvert, 1967). His artistic process involved engraving woodblocks for prints as well as watercolour paintings. His work is complex, detailed and uses a monochrome palette. This design comes from a collection made for a Pelican Edition of Commentaries on the New Testament published in the late 20th century.
This watercolour depicts the events of the Gospel of St. Matthew, which presents Jesus as a Messiah who lived a righteous life and draws comparisons to the life of Moses. A woodblock and a print of this design are also in the gallery's collection.
MakerHawthorn, Raymond (1917-1997)
Maker Roleengraver
Period20th century
Medium and Materialswatercolour on paper
Style and Iconographyreligious
Inscription and Marks"Illustrates 2 (1923) and J.C. Fenton's comment on page 50 of the Pelican edition of "St. Matthew":
"...Notice the contrast between the Old Testament and the New: in Exodus, the King of Egypt is the enemy of Israel; here, a King of Jerusalem is the enemy. In Exodus, Moses flees for safety out of Egypt and then returns; here Jesus is taken into Egypt for safety and then returns. In the Old Testament, Egypt and Pharoh art the symbols for unbelief and the hardness of heart; in the New Testament, Jerusalem and Herod fulfil this role".
Techniquewatercolour
Measurementswatercolour height: 9cm
watercolour width: 11cm
mount height: 24cm
mount width 17cm.
Subject and Association KeywordsChristianity
Subject and Association Keywordsst Matthew
Subject and Association KeywordsAncient Egypt
Subject and Association Keywordspyramid
Subject and Association KeywordsCross
Subject and Association Keywordsangel
Credit LinePresented by Mark R. Hammer, 2026
Object Typewatercolour
Object numberBIKGM.9376
Copyright LicenceAll rights reserved