Robert Blackburn

Abstraction I — African American artist

c. 1950

Stanley William Hayter, 'Feu sous L'eau (Fire Under Water)', color engraving, soft-ground etching and scorper with yellow silkscreen, 1955, edition 50 plus 10 artist proofs, Black & Moorhead 221. Signed, titled 'Fire Under Water', dated and annotated 'Essai' in pencil. Dedicated in the artist’s hand 'for Adja & Dove WH Bill 17–5–55' in the top margin. A superb, richly inked impression with fresh colors, on heavy, cream wove paper; wide margins (2 1/2 to 3 7/8 inches), in excellent condition. One of 10 artist’s proofs. Image size 10 3/16 x 7 inches; sheet size 18 1/8 x 12 1/4 inches. Matted to museum standards, unframed. ABOUT THIS WORK In 1950 Hayter returned to Paris and reopened Atelier 17. Works such as 'Fire Under Water' reveal newfound influences, such as that of the Ardèche area of southern France, where he acquired a house in 1951 and frequently visited. 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 depicting 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 in using color intuitively to express emotions and evoke 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. —edited from the Metropolitan Museum of Art Published by 'La Jeune Gravure Contemporaine', Paris. Impressions of this work are in the following collections: British Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, National Gallery of Art. ABOUT THE ARTIST Stanley William Hayter (1901-1988) was a British painter and printmaker associated in the 1930s with Surrealism and from 1940 onward with Abstract Expressionism. Regarded as one of the most significant printmakers of the 20th century, Hayter founded the legendary Atelier 17 studio in Paris, now known as Atelier Contrepoint. Among the artists he is credited with influencing are Pablo Picasso, Alberto Giacometti, Joan Miró, Alexander Calder, and Marc Chagall. The hallmark of the workshop was its egalitarian structure, breaking sharply with the traditional French engraving studios by insisting on a cooperative approach to labor and technical discoveries. In 1929 Hayter was introduced to Surrealism by Yves Tanguy and André Masson, who, with other Surrealists, worked with Hayter at Atelier 17. The often violent imagery of Hayter’s Surrealist period was stimulated in part by his passionate response to the Spanish Civil War and the rise of Fascism. He organized portfolios of graphic works to raise funds for the Spanish cause, including Solidarité (Paris, 1938), a portfolio of seven prints, one of them by Picasso. Hayter frequently exhibited with the Surrealists during the 1930s but left the movement when Paul Eluard was expelled. Eluard’s poem Facile Proie (1939) was written in response to a set of Hayter’s engravings. Other writers with whom Hayter collaborated included Samuel Beckett and Georges Hugnet. Hayter joined the exile of the Parisian avant-garde in 1939, moving with his second wife, the American sculptor Helen Phillips...

Minna Citron, 'Flight to Tomorrow', aquatint and engraving, edition unknown but small, 1948. Signed, titled, dated, and annotated 'engr & aqua' in pencil. A superb, richly-inked impression with selectively wiped plate tone, on heavy cream wove paper, the full sheet with margins (1 3/4 to 3 1/2 inches), in excellent condition. Image size 6 7/8 x 8 7/16 inches (175 x 214 mm); sheet size 11 1/8 x 14 7/8 inches (283 x 378 mm). Matted to museum standards, unframed. Literature: The Women of Atelier 17, Modernist Printmaking in MidCentury New York, Christina Weyl, Yale University Press, 2019, p. 186. Collections: Davis Museum (Wellesley), Five Colleges and Historic Deerfield Museum Consortium, Harvard Art Museums, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Palmer Museum of Art (Penn State...

Sigismond Kolos-Vari, 'Nets', color etching with soft-ground and aquatint, edition 200 (1 of 60 artist's proofs), 1952. Signed and dated in pencil. Numbered L/LX in pencil. A superb, richly-inked impression, on heavy, off-white, Arches wove paper; the full sheet with margins (1 3/8 to 3 1/2 inches), in excellent condition. Published by the Guide de la Gravure, Switzerland, with their blindstamp in the bottom left sheet corner. Matted to museum standards, unframed. Image size 11 3/4 x 15 5/8 inches (298 x 397 mm); sheet size 15 x 22 1/4 inches (381 x 565 mm). ABOUT THE ARTIST Sigismund Kolos-Vari was born in Hungary and attended the School of Applied Arts in Budapest from 1915 to 1918 and then the School of Decorative Arts until 1925. The artist settled in Paris, and his first one-person show in 1928 at Galerie Miromesnil, which was highly successful, led to numerous subsequent exhibitions, including with the prestigious Galerie Bonaparte in 1929 and Galerie Povolosky in 1930. Kolos-Vari’s early success was abruptly interrupted by the outbreak of WWII when he was arrested by the Gestapo and imprisoned in the Gurs internment camp. During this period, he created a sketchbook for a little girl, which is now preserved at the Centre de Documentation Juive Contemporaine at the Mémorial de la Shoah in Paris. He managed to escape after two years, crossing the border into Switzerland. After the war, he returned to Paris with a renewed dedication to his painting, producing increasingly powerful compositions. His work was highly acclaimed when shown at an important 1946 exhibition at the Musée National d’Art Moderne de Paris, organized by Jean Cassou. The artist was then approached by the eminent art dealer Jean Bucher, who gave Kolos-Vary a major one-person show at his gallery in 1948. During this post-war period, Kolos-Vary participated in the radical Salon de Mai, 1949-1958, the Salon des Réalités Nouvelles, 1956-1961, and the Salon des Comparaisons, 1960-1962. Supported by his association with Stanley William Hayter and the landmark printmaking workshop Atelier 17...

Leonard Edmondson, 'Winter Garden', color etching, edition 50, 1957. Signed, titled, dated, and numbered '50/50' in pencil. A superb, richly-inked impre...