Reflections

 

Edmond Casarella

  1920 - 1996 (biography)

1956  

mixed-technique collagraph 

18 5/8 x 27" image 

unsigned 

printing proof 

printing instructions in artist's hand in the left margin; annotations from artist's estate, verso: "Nikki Casarella for Edmond Casarella September 18, 2006" 

 

antique-white laid Japanese paper 

 

 

NC232 

$2,500.00 

A unique, working proof with signs of the artist's process, this print has elements of collagraphy and paper relief with off-set inks that border the sides - as if Casarella was blocking out portions of the matrix to finalize the size of the composition. The various shapes rendered in yellow and white are embossed, emerging from the surface like flotsam and jetsam. Casarella was known for building up the plate using whatever he had on hand, which, being a sculptor as well as a printmaker and painter, may have involved items of a more mechanical nature: round and square washers, twisting metal shavings, etc., placed carefully on the matrix to become a vibrant, organized chaos. In the margins are Casarella's notes on inks and partial fingerprints. A rare glimpse into the innerworkings of an American printmaker at the height of Abstract Expressionism.