Untitled (#2) [working proof 34]
1999
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
color direct gravure and aquatint with opaque watercolor additions on wove Somerset paper [working proof 34]
Dimensions
plate: 14.5 × 16.1 cm (5 11/16 × 6 5/16 in.) sheet: 42.4 × 33.6 cm (16 11/16 × 13 1/4 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Kathan Brown
Accession Number
2024.132.511
Art Historical Context
Joan Nelson's *Untitled (#2) [ proof 34]* (1999) invites visitors into the intimate world of printmaking experimentation. Created as a color direct gravure and aquint with opaque watercolor additions luxurious wove Somerset paper, modest plate-sized work (14.5 × 16.1 cm) expands across a larger sheet (42.4 × 33.6 cm). As a working proof—the 34th in a series of trials—it captures the artist's iterative process, where technical precision meets creative refinement just before final editions. Direct gravure, a precise intaglio method, allows for vibrant, layered colors directly from etched plates...