Corrugated Fence
- Artist: Prunella Clough
- Date: 1955
- Medium: Etching on paper
- Dimensions: image: 87 x 123 mm
- Museum: Tate Britain
- Collection record: Tate Britain website
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About this artwork
This is the “Corrugated Fence” by Prunella Clough. Created in 1955, it’s an etching on paper, 87 × 123 mm, printed directly by the artist. The work shows a simple, linear fence stretched across a distant townscape, its rails rendered with the crisp, hard‑ground technique that gives the line a subtle texture—almost like the physical corrugation of a real fence.
Clough was teaching at the Chelsea School of Art when she explored this medium, turning to straightforward, almost schematic images that diverge from the more figurative subjects she painted later. The etching is un‑editioned; she printed it herself, a testament to her control over the process and the intimacy of the final image.
What makes this piece engaging is the way it frames an ordinary element—an everyday fence—into a quiet architectural study. The lines cut through the paper with an almost architectural precision, inviting viewers to pause and notice the rhythm of the planks and the subtle horizon behind them. It’s a moment of calm observation, a snapshot of the mundane made visible through the precise, tactile language of etching.
See it in person
Corrugated Fence is in the collection of Tate Britain on Millbank, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
