Torso

John Buckland Wright

The image of this Surrealistic 'Venus' intaglio was created by the artist at Atelier 17, using the side of his thumb. pressed into the soft ground. Cut out pieces of fabric and string were also impressed into the softgoround to create elements of the composition. Small areas of the composition are created by a darker, engraved line. Wright pressed the string into the softground twice and created a "shadow."

This state has the symbol of Venus at the lower center of the image. Buckland-Wright only printed 18 impressions of the proposed edition of 30. He then removed the Venus symbol, trimmed the plate and printed it as 'Torso No II.'

This is an example of the experimentation that was encouraged at Atelier 17, the use of different techniques and materials to achieve the final result. There was no right or wrong or good or bad, you just worked the plate until you felt it was finished.

John Buckland-Wright's work was represented in the important 1944 exhibition at The Museum of Modern Art in New York titled 'Hayter and Studio 17' which included 60 prints by 32 artists from 12 nations. This impression was in the collection of fellow Atelier 17 artist, Cathan O'Toole.

For more information on the artist, see our biography.