Description
Object description
image: Figures, mules and a skull set against a surreal backdrop. The multiple lines include a shape resembling the
fingers and fingernails of a hand.
Label
Stanley Hayter was an innovative British printmaker perhaps more responsible than any other for the transformation of
engraving into an expressive form. In 1926 he settled in Paris and studied burin engraving at the Académie Julian, taking on his own pupils
in 1927. Hayter named his workshop Atelier 17, which was characterised by its egalitarian approach to labour and technical discoveries. He
discovered Surrealism in 1929, and this influence is evident in much of his work relating to the Spanish Civil War, where he passionately
responded to the conflict and the rise of Fascism often using violent imagery. 'Composition' sets figures, mules and a skull against a
surreal backdrop to create a highly unsettling impression. Along with Hayter's print 'Combat' (1936), it predated Picasso's 'Guernica' and
fascinatingly fused Hayter's response to conflict with his evolving artistic style.
Label
Stanley Hayter was an innovative British printmaker perhaps more responsible than any other for the transformation of
engraving into an expressive form. In 1926 he settled in Paris and studied burin engraving at the Académie Julian, taking on his own pupils
in 1927. Hayter named his workshop Atelier 17, which was characterised by its egalitarian approach to labour and technical discoveries. He
discovered Surrealism in 1929, and this influence is evident in much of his work relating to the Spanish Civil War, where he passionately
responded to the conflict and the rise of Fascism often using violent imagery. 'Ayuda a España' uses a web of lines to convey two figures
in combat, one of whom stamps on a swastika, highlighting Hayter's anti-Fascist stance. 'Composition' sets figures, mules and a skull
against a surreal backdrop to create a highly unsettling impression. These works and his print 'Combat' (1936) predated Picasso's
'Guernica' and fascinatingly fuse Hayter's response to conflict with his evolving artistic style.