Couple (Le Couple)

Accession Number
1983/1.329

Title
Couple (Le Couple)

Artist(s)
Stanley William Hayter

Object Creation Date
1952

Medium & Support
engraving, first state on paper

Dimensions
5 3/4 x 11 5/8 in. (14.5 x 29.5 cm);28 1/8 x 22 1/8 in. (71.28 x 56.04 cm);25 15/16 x 19 13/16 in. (65.8 x 50.2 cm);19 13/16 x 11 15/16 in. (50.3 x 30.2 cm)

Credit Line
Gift of the Marvin Felheim Collection

Label copy
Hayter’s interest in automatic drawing can be seen in this early version of Couple, one of only two proof impressions he pulled of the first state. Engraving is a very physical print medium, requiring that the artist rotate the plate with one hand as he carves out the copper with the burin held in his other hand. The work is in a state of constant repositioning in relation to the artist’s eye. Hayter would allow his hand to freely create the initial lines of the print, as can be seen here, and then look at it to see what kind of image or subject matter was suggested by the lines. He would then complete the print once the subject had been determined, often adding soft-ground and scorper to create a contrast in texture and surface plane. This engraving underwent significant modification, the final version of the print incorporating additional media and printed in color to create a complex effect similar to that in Warriors.
Label copy from exhibition "Dreamscapes: The Surrealist Impulse," August 22 - October 25, 1998

Primary Object Classification
Print

Collection Area
Modern and Contemporary

Rights
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Keywords
Figures
Surrealism
modern and contemporary art

& Author Notes

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