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Flower Queen

Louise Nevelson

Artwork Details

Flower Queen
1953-1955
Louise Nevelson
etching and soft-ground etching with aquatint on paper
30 3/16 in x 22 1/16 in (76.68 cm x 56.04 cm);32 ⅛ in x 26 ⅛ in (81.6 cm x 66.36 cm)
Gift of the Marvin Felheim Collection
1983/1.202

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Description

Nevelson’s prints executed at Atelier 17 from 1953 to 1955 reveal her familiarity with Surrealist ideas such as the Jungian concept of the collective unconscious. Many of her images of ancestral goddesses, show the influence of her studies of Pre-Columbian art on archeological trips to Mexico; the present print, also known as Ancient Figure, is an example.
By stopping out areas with varnish, Nevelson created a white-on-black effect, which enhances the startling quality of this imposing image. Pieces of lace placed against the soft ground before acid bit the plate left collage-like, decorative imprints. While Nevelson etched the plate for the present print, the Museum’s impression was pulled later by a professional printer in the mid-1960s.
Label copy from exhibition "Dreamscapes: The Surrealist Impulse," August 22 - October 25, 1998

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