Tarantelle

Description

Hayter is considered by some to be one of the most influential British artists of the twentieth century. Trained originally in chemistry, Hayter went to Paris to learn printmaking and eventually established his own printmaking workshop, known as Atelier 17. In 1940 Hayter moved to New York, and during the next decade Atelier 17 proved to be an important meeting place where the emigré Surrealist artists could meet with American artists such as Jackson Pollock, Stuart Davis, and Will Barnet. Hayter returned to Paris in 1950, where he continued to paint and produce master prints until his death in 1988. This print was published by Curt Valentin, from whom the work was acquired by the Museum.
The flamboyant gestures of this south Italian folk dance are captured in the dark passages of soft-ground, as well as in the expressive quality of the engraved face, hand, and foot. The use of a scorper to produce gauffrages, or relief whites, gives the raised areas additional emphasis and a plastic dimension that would otherwise be absent.
Label copy from exhibition "Dreamscapes: The Surrealist Impulse," August 22 - October 25, 1998