Tenement from 21 Etchings and Poems
published 1960
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
etching and drypoint from two plates from a portfolio of 10 etchings; six etching and aquatints; two engraving and etchings; two etching and drypoints; and one etching, aquatint, and drypoint on Rives paper
Dimensions
plate ((top)): 13.7 x 17.3 cm (5 3/8 x 6 13/16 in.) plate ((bottom)): 15.6 x 16.5 cm (6 1/8 x 6 1/2 in.) sheet: 50.2 x 42.9 cm (19 3/4 x 16 7/8 in.)
Classification
Portfolio
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Prospero Foundation Fund
Accession Number
1997.6.1.12
Art Historical Context
"Tenement" is a striking etching and drypoint from collaborative portfolio *21 Etings and Poems*, created by British abstract artist Ben Nicholson and-critic Sir Herbert Read, in 1960., a pioneer of geometric abstraction and a leading figure in the St. Ives School, paired his precise prints with Read's evocative poems, blending visual art and literature in a post-war celebration of modernist synergy. This work captures Nicholson's shift toward stark, architectural forms, evoking urban tenements amid mid-20th-century Britain's social transformations. Printed from two plates on fine Rives paper...