Mezzo e Mezzo | Charles Hodge Mackie at the Fine Art Society

Harles Hodge Mackie RSA RSW, 1862-1920, Bassano Bridge, signed coloured woodblock, 19 x 20 inches, courtesy of the Fine Art Society

The Scottish artist Charles Hodge Mackie RSA RSW, the founding president of the Scottish Society of Artists, had a fruitful love affair with Venice, and made several extended visits to the ‘La Serenissima’ between 1908 and 1914, creating many works which significantly enhanced his reputation. He also ventured further afield in the Veneto region and this – his most successful woodcut, with copies acquired by the British Museum and the National Galleries of Scotland – features the famous Palladio-designed wooden bridge in Bassano del Grappa, 40 miles north-west of Venice.

It is based on an intricate watercolour he painted of the bridge in 1911, which he used as the basis for a series of woodcuts in c1915 (when this region was no longer accessible to tourists, as it was very near the WW1 Italian Front). The print is one of ten that Mackie crafted, using a painstaking experimental technique which involved tracing the outlines of the original watercolour onto celluloid, from which he created stencils, used for cutting fourteen separate woodblocks. Mackie counted Paul Gaugin among his friends and the Frenchman had taught him several innovative printmaking techniques which he had then adapted: this method resulted in significant variations between impressions.

The bridge at Bassano is one of the most famous in Italy (every Italian knows the folk song dedicated to it) and has been rebuilt on several occasions since Palladio’s time, due to fire (1748) flooding (1813) and partisan sabotage (1945): each rebuild has been faithful to the Vicentino architect’s design. The bridge was essential to the Italian war effort in WW1, used to convey troops, weapons and vehicles to the Italian Front in the Dolomites which overlook Bassano, from 1915 to 1918. The war prevented Mackie from making his annual visit to the region: by the time it was over, the painter was too ill to make the trip. He died in 1920.

You can admire the print at the Fine Art Society’s latest exhibition, titled Twentieth Century, at their London gallery (just off Carnaby Street) which opened this week, and continues until November 10. Other artists featured include James McBey, Graham Sutherland, Will McLean and Leonard Rosoman. The FAS have taken a stand on the Ground Floor of Saatchi Gallery at British Art Fair 2023, where they will be showing works by such artists as Eric Ravilious, Keith Vaughan, Sir John Lavery and Anne Redpath.

Having lived in Bassano for two years in the late 1980s, I would strongly recommend a visit to the historic town: a walk over Palladio’s famous bridge is rewarded not just by the stunning views of the river Brenta and the Dolomites, but by a visit to the historic bar (established 1779) run by the famous grappa distillery Nardini, in the building you can see on the right of the woodcut. I have little doubt that Charles Hodge Mackie would have visited said bar on completing his watercolour, to enjoy a Mezzo e Mezzo aperitif.