Windy Night, Stockholm

Sir Muirhead Bone was a Scottish printmaker and watercolor artist noted for his depictions of architectural subjects, city views, landscapes, and his work as a war artist in both the First and Second World Wars. Regarded among the best prints Bone made from his travels abroad, this dark night scene in Stockholm, Sweden, features the spotlit Royal Swedish Opera House (Kungliga Operan) at left and the windswept park trees on the Riksplan (a small island in the Lilla Värtan waterway). Bone's depiction of fishing boats with conical nets moored on the water along the park's walled edge adds to the picturesque composition. Bone was particularly skillful in making this drypoint with lots of burr (bits of metal along the incised lines), which retained the black ink to create the dark velvety effects in the cloudy sky, tree foliage, and waves on the water.