Oiseaux III

Johnny Friedlaender

Friedlaender's early etchings explored the animal world; fish, birds, cats, dogs and horses. This aquatint and etching, done in black and brown inks, done in 1951, was an early venture by the printmaker into color and non-objective abstraction, both of which dominated in his later works.

This energetic etching of two birds uses a reddish-brown ground, textured by a mesh pressed into softground as a background to contain the image within a surround. Two little triangles of red and blue anchor the composition.

This impression is an artist's proof, printed aside from the published edition of 50, which was done for Editeur Le Source, Paris. This proof is annotated on the bottom margrin "Oiseau S/ Fond Rose" (pink background).

Friedlaender printed another intaglio in 1951 he also titled "Oiseaux III" (S-80) that was not published as an edition.