Vanity

Dorsey Potter Tyson

Despite the clear inspiration he drew from Elyse Ashe Lord, Dorey Tyson's technique did not employ color woodcut, and was more closely linked to the Detmold twins' technique in printing the works of British printmaker William Giles. Quoted from the excellent Eastern Impressions blog:

"[Tyson's] standard technique for producing such colored etchings was rather unusual. They were not handcolored, as Charles W. Bartlett's etchings were. Their colors were also not applied by woodcut, the method often employed by Elyse Lord. Nor were these prints mezzotints or aquatints. The English print dealer Michael Campbell of Campbell Fine Art has made a detailed analysis of Tyson's prints and determined that they 'are in fact, the result of skillful colour printing alone, using a technique which effectively combines the printing of a normal etching simultaneously with that of printing a monotype.'"

After the black outline was inked and printed, the plate was cleaned and "'Thick, coloured printer's inks are then painted onto the surface of the plate using a brush as though painting a plate for a monotype; the proof is then printed at one pull through the press.' This is a time-consuming alternative to applying color 'a la poupee.'"

Printmaker, illustrator, sculptor, and painter Dorsey Potter Tyson, known to his friends as "Petey," was born in Frederick, Maryland, on January 17, 1891. He was raised in Baltimore by his parents, Caleb Dorsey and Lillian Potter Tyson, where it appears he would spend the majority of his life. Despite a prolific and varied artistic career, there is no catalogue raisonne for his work and there seems to be very little documentation of his work. He graduated from Baltimore City College in 1911 with a degree in law while working for the Title Guarantee and Trust Co. During World War I he was stationed in Camp Upton, New York and in Hoboken, New Jersey, serving as a field clerk from 1917 to 1919. Following the war, he and his wife Caroline "Kitty" Polk moved to the Upper West Side, New York, and divided their time between there are Baltimore for a couple of years. They would eventually settle in Baltimore and Tyson would work for the Investment Registry of America, Inc.

Early works by Tyson date to the mid 1920s, which include urban architectural etchings and Ex Libris's. By the late 1920s he had begun developing the style he would be most recognized for, the color etchings of Asian - predominantly Chinese - figures, verging on the fantastical. He was no doubt inspired by Elyse Ashe Lord, who had earlier begun to develop the techniques that resembled watercolors in their delicacy and intricate design. By 1930, census listed Tyson as an engraver. His fine art works continued through the late 1930s, but from World War II onward his career is spotty. An avid Airedale Terrier dog breed enthusaiast, he was involved with show dog events and he would illustrate various articles for Poodle Showcase magazine in the 1960s.

Dorsey Potter Tyson died in Baltimore City, Maryland, on October 1, 1969.