Barcarolle

Bernard Childs

By the early 1950s Childs had been working for two decades in oil painting, dabbling on occasion in metalsmithing, and he had developed an abstract picture language in which he worked with archetypical signs and symbols. This encompassed surrealistic automatism, which he applied to printed graphics when he began working at Atelier 17 in France in 1954.

Combining his interest in metal and knowledge of industrial tools, Childs focused on experimental intaglio prints using power tools to incise the plates, which lent a vivid, skilful line direction to his prints. These he would call "power dry point".

"Barcarolle" (originally called "The Message") was printed by the artist with his own press at his studio at 4 rue de l'Université in Paris in 1958. He printed a variant edition of 10 proofs using emerald green, raw sienna, brick red and Prussian blue. Each impression is uniquely printed. Other impressions of "Barcarolle" can be found in the Bibliotheque Nationale de France, in Paris and the Cincinnati Art Museum.