Passage Across the Sun

Susan Schwalb American
Publisher Susan Schwalb American
2008
Not on view
Schwalb is renowned for abstract compositions made with silverpoint, an ancient drawing technique that requires an extraordinary degree of precision and produces a delicate, shimmering line. In Passage across the Sun, she masterfully creates similar effects through techniques specific to printmaking, namely hard-ground and soft-ground etching and aquatint, which are either used alone or with color additions. Each etching is dominated by a single color, which works in concert with the white paper and the meticulously rendered patterns of horizontal lines to connote the nature of both time and perception, the effects of light, and various landscapes and vistas. While the linear repetition recalls the ideas of Minimalism, Schwalb rejects standardization to embrace subtle tonal variations and irregularities that connect the work with the artist’s hand.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Passage Across the Sun
  • Artist: Susan Schwalb (American, born New York City, 1944)
  • Printer: Jennifer Melby
  • Publisher: Susan Schwalb (American, born New York City, 1944)
  • Date: 2008
  • Medium: Etching and aquatint
  • Dimensions: Plate: 9 7/8 x 10 in. (25.1 x 25.4 cm)
    Sheet: 14 1/2 x 14 in. (36.8 x 35.6 cm)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: Gift of the artist, in memory of Judge Morris and Evelyn Schwalb, 2012
  • Object Number: 2012.155.1
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

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