Ghost Fish
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View on museum website →Medium
color intaglio on BFK Rives paper
Classification
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Rosenwald Collection
Accession Number
1980.45.271
Art Historical Context
In 1969, Robert Allan Cale created “Ghost Fish,” a color intaglio print on BFK Rives paper now part of the National Gallery of Art's Rosenwald Collection. This work captures a moment of lively experimentation in printmaking, when artists used traditional processes to explore color, texture, and imaginative subjects. Intaglio involves incising an image into a metal plate, inking the grooves, and transferring the design to paper under pressure, yielding rich lines and depth. Cale’s color approach adds layered vibrancy, while BFK Rives paper—a premium cotton sheet prized for its strength, absorb...