Sea Serpent

 

Stanley William Hayter

  1901 - 1988 (biography)

1976  

engraving, etching, soft-ground etching, printed in color 

16 3/16 x 21" platemark 

pencil, lower right 

43 of 75  

pencil titled, dated, and editioned 

B&M 386 

white wove Rives BFK 

iii/iii 

artist 

KaAn101 

$1,800.00 

Stanley William Hayter continued to examine and experiment with different materials and methods, as with "Sea Serpent", done in 1976 at age 75. As Hayter aged his colors got brighter and more electric, even fluorescent, and moved in crisscrossing, rhythmic movements. He utilized all the simultaneous printing methods that the printmakers at Atelier 17 had developed in the previous 30 years. "Sea Serpent" is an impression from the third state of 3. The plate was printed in an edition of 75 by Hayter and Master Printer Hector Saunier. Hayter did color trial proofs and 5 artist's proofs for this edition. For the first state Hayter engraved a copper plate and printed 2 proofs. The second state was engraved further, covered with a plastic sheet from which shapes were cut and the plate was deep bitten, 2 proofs were pulled. The third state was again covered with plastic and soft-ground was added with textures impressed into the ground. The plate was then bitten and proved, 1 proof was pulled. The edition of 75 was begun by Hayter and his studio assistant, Hector Saunier, who printed numbers 1 through 31. In 1979 the remainder of the edition was printed, numbers 32 through 75.