Biographies

Hedley Fitton (1859-1929) He was born in Manchester and worked for , specializing in etchings of architectural subjects. He lived and worked in Runcorn, Cheshire until 1890, and after that in Haslemere, Surrey. His etchings include street scenes and prominent cathedrals of such cities as London, Florence, Edinburgh, and Paris. There is an obvious influence of the etchings of Charles Meryon. In 1907, Fitton’s works won him the Gold Medal awarded by the Société des Artistes Français, and in 1908 he was elected an associate member of the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers. The Daily Chronicle In for February 10, 1910, Huntly Carter said this about him (perhaps unfairly): The New Age Hedley Fitton, whose drawings and etchings are to be seen at Messrs. Dunthorpe’s, has also gauged the market for cheap and scrappy things. His work is direct and well-drawn, but lacking in charm and individuality. The subjects are topographical, portraits of streets and buildings, and appear, most of them, to have been copied from photos rather than sketched from the things themselves. Mr. Fitton would be wise to spend more care and skill in finishing his work, and not leave so many inches of surface uncovered. (NA 6.15:356)