Feu Sous l'eau
Stanley William Hayter British
Publisher La Jeune Gravure Contemporaine, Paris French
Not on view
In 1950 Hayter returned to Paris and reopened Atelier 17. Works such as Fire under the Water reveal new influences, such as that of the Ardèche, an area of southern France he visited frequently after acquiring a house there in 1951. Hayter took great interest in the flowing Escoutay River, an experience that parallels the artist and co-director of Atelier 17 Krishna Reddy’s interest in the depiction of water. While some forms in this print evoke the natural world, the palette of contrasting tones of purple, yellow, black, and white reflects Hayter’s belief that color should be used intuitively to express an emotion or evoke certain feelings. The sharp white relief lines from the paper and the textural effects realized through soft-ground etching operate in tandem with the sweeping curves and bold colors to give the composition a sense of vitality and dynamism.
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