The People and the Bridge
1958
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
etching
Dimensions
image: 249 x 352 mm sheet: 317 x 435 mm
Classification
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Reba and Dave Williams Collection, Gift of Reba and Dave Williams
Accession Number
2008.115.1455
Art Historical Context
Dorothy Dehner's *The People and the Bridge (1958) is a captivating etching that invites viewers into the artist's mid-century vision. Measuring 249 x 352 mm on a 317 x 435 mm sheet, this intaglio print showcases Dehner's mastery of the etching technique: lines incised into a metal plate with acid create fine, expressive grooves filled with ink and transferred to paper under pressure. As a printmaker and sculptor active in New York's vibrant art scene, Dehner produced works that often blended abstraction with evocative forms, making this piece a fine example from her mature period. Created in...
About the Artist
Dorothy Dehner
Dorothy Dehner (1901–1994) was an American sculptor and printmaker whose distinctive artistic voice emerged fully only in midlife, following decades of work that had been overshadowed by her marriage to the prominent sculptor David Smith. Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Dehner studied at the Art Students League in New York, where she met Smith, and the two became central figures in the circle of American...