L'escalier (The Staircase) by Judith Rothchild

Lescalier (The Staircase) by Judith Rothchild

L'escalier (The Staircase)

Judith Rothchild

Please call us at 707-546-7352 or email artannex@aol.com to purchase this item.
Title

L'escalier (The Staircase)

 
Artist

Judith Rothchild

  1950 - PRESENT (biography)
Year
2005  
Technique
mezzotint 
Image Size
7 13/16 x 5 13/16" platemark 
Signature
pencil, lower right 
Edition Size
29 of 30  
Annotations
editioned 
Reference
illustrated on page 8 in Judith Rothchild: gravures en maniere noire/mezzotints 2004-2007 
Paper
ivory wove Hahnemuhle 
State
published 
Publisher
artist 
Inventory ID
18429 
Price
$400.00 
Description

Judith Rothchild presents the viewer with a kind of mystery - stairs and a doorway beyond which a staircase, built around a central column, appears to rise up to infinity, all surrounded by a dense black. The artist uses the values of Notan, the mezzotint qualities of black to grays to white to create a quality of light from an undefined source, reflecting off the surfaces and establishing the substance of the composition.

Rothchild commented about mezzotint, the medium she prefers: "Preparing the plate with the mezzotint rocker is long and meditative, but I have the satisfaction of knowing that the plate will have a rich velvety texture that will be an ideal surface for drawing. Once the plate is fully rocked, which can be up to fifteen hours for my largest works, it is very responsive to burnishing but has too much burr to print well.

The skill of the process is to bring up the image slowly, caressing the forms with the burnisher, occasionally printing proofs. At the same time, the surface of the plate evolves; the roughness becomes soft velvet and the plate is finally ready to return all the hours of drawing one has put in."

 

Please call us at 707-546-7352 or email artannex@aol.com to purchase this item.