The Boojah of Ghat by Ian Hugo

The Boojah of Ghat by Ian Hugo

The Boojah of Ghat

Ian Hugo

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Title

The Boojah of Ghat

 
Artist

Ian Hugo

  1898 - 1985 (biography)
Year
1942  
Technique
engraving 
Image Size
10 x 7 7/8" platemark 
Signature
pencil, lower right 
Edition Size
at least 29 impressions 
Annotations
pencil titled and dated; signed and dated in the plate (backwards), lower right 
Reference
Baltimore Museum of Art 2013.65 
Paper
antique-white wove 
State
proof 
Publisher
artist 
Inventory ID
19496 
Price
$500.00 
Description

A fictionalized portrait of Ian Hugo, whose given name was Hugh Parker Guiler and his wife, author Anais Nin appears in Philip Kaufman's 1990 film "Henry & June." Hugo was one the the early printmakers to help establish the Atelier 17 in New York with Hayter, who Hugo and Nin had known in Paris.

Hugo wanted to learn engraving so he could illustrate Anais Nin's books. She was having a difficult time finding publishers and they decided to publish her works by themselves. He learned at Atelier 17 in New York, starting in 1940. This image was done in 1942.

The titling for this work remains a mystery, with both words appearing to have roots in Sanskrit but not having a direct correlation to one another. "Boojah" may be the Americanized spelling of "bhuja," which in Buddhism and Hinduism can refer to a many-armed deity. "Ghat" is an Indian subcontinental word for a broad flight of steps situated on a riverbank, providing access to the water especially for bathing, and is a site where cremations occur. It may also refer to Ghat, Libya. Ian Hugo us left no clues.

In this image, a surreal creature embraces a large, sharp-toothed fish, while a suggestion of both waves and a large bird spreading its wings stretches through the upper quarter of the sheet. Hugo engraved this image directly on the copper plate and the ink stands up from the surface of the paper.

 

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