Sigismond Kolos-Vari

Nets – Mid-Century Modernism, Atelier 17

1952

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...

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...

Stanley William Hayter, 'Green Shade', color etching and scraper, 1963, edition 50, (only 39 printed), B&M 278. Signed, titled, dated, and numbered '1/50' in pencil. A superb, richly-inked, luminous impression, with fresh, vivid colors, on Barcham Green textured cream wove paper; the full sheet with margins (2 3/16 to 3 1/4 inches), in excellent condition. Printed: intaglio black-green, contact lumogen yellow, soft roller phthalo green. Scarce. Image size 15 7/16 x 11 5/8 inches (392 x 295 mm); sheet size 21 1/8 x 16 inches (537 x 406 mm). Matted to museum standards (unframed). Collection: The British Museum 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...

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

'Quintet', etching and aquatint, edition 20, c. 1948. Signed, titled, and numbered '12/20' in pencil. A superb, richly-inked impression, on off-white wove paper, with full margins (1...

Ralston Crawford, 'Los Penitentes #3', etching, 1976, edition 20. Signed and numbered '6/20' in pencil; titled and annotated 'specially selected for Marcelle and Dan' in the bottom s...

James Rosenquist (1933-2017) "Rouge Pad" One color etching, aquatint and embossing with hand-coloring on wove paper, 2nd state, 1978 Sheet size: 22-3/4 x 40 inches (57.8 x 101...

Pablo Picasso 1881–1973 "Peintre et modèle avec un noeud dans les cheveux" 1964 etching and aquatint on BFK Rives image: 10¾ h × 15 w in (27 × 38 cm)...

1987 Etching, aquatint and drypoint in colors, on wove paper Sheet: 15 3/4 x 18 3/4 in. Edition of 71 Signed, dated and numbered in pencil, lower margin

Artist: Robert Motherwell (American, 1915-1991) Title: "Signs on Copper" *Signed and numbered by Motherwell in pencil lower right Year: 1981 Medium: Original Lift-Ground Etching with Aquatint on German Etching paper Limited edition: 45/53, (there were also 10 artist's proofs) Printer: Catherine Mosley in the artist's studio, Greenwich, CT Publisher: The artist Motherwell himself, Greenwich, CT Reference: "Catalogue Raisonné 1943-1990 - The Prints of Robert Motherwell" - Belknap No. 252, page 249; Engberg No. 286 Framing: Not framed, but matted with a custom hand-wrapped 8 ply linen mat Matted size: 28.25" x 33.75" Sheet size: 27" x 31.75" Image size: 17.75" x 23.5" Condition: Light mat stain in margins and a light water stain to lower right corner in margin. It is otherwise a strong impression in very good condition with rich colors; the printed image is pristine Very rare Notes: Provenance: private collection - Palm Beach, FL. Released by Petersburg Press, London, UK and New York, NY. Artist's chop mark/blind stamp lower right. Printed in 2 colors in 3 runs from 2 zinc plates and 1 copper plate: 1. burnt sienna - zinc plate (aquatint); 2. burnt sienna - copper plate (aquatint); 3. black - zinc plate (lift-ground etching and aquatint). Biography: Robert Motherwell was born January 24, 1915, in Aberdeen, Washington. He was awarded a fellowship to the Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles at age 11, and in 1932 studied painting briefly at the California School of Fine Arts in San Francisco. Motherwell received a B.A. from Stanford University in 1937 and enrolled for graduate work later that year in the Department of Philosophy at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts. He traveled to Europe in 1938 for a year of study abroad. His first solo show was presented at the Raymond Duncan...

Printed by Universal Limited Art Editions. Edition 65 of 100

Superb color work by American Abstract Expressionist master Richard Diebenkorn, from a limited edition of 60. Signed by Diebenkorn and numbered in pencil. Published by Crown Point ...