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Working proof for Fire
Working proof for Fire

Working proof for Fire

Josephine Halvorson (American, born in 1981)
2019
Medium/TechniqueSingle plate aquatint etching with soft ground, spit bite, sugar lift on white Somerset Satin
DimensionsHeight x width: 29.8 × 39.1 cm (11 3/4 × 15 3/8 in.)
Credit LineThe Living New England Artist Purchase Fund
Accession number2021.412
On View
Not on view
ClassificationsPrints
Description

In a year-long process, artist Josephine Halvorson explored the intricate multistep process of creating a sophisticated colour print with Wingate Studio and master printer James Pettengill in New Hampshire. The relationship between the artist and master printer has a rich history, critical to the foundations of printmaking itself. The master printer’s expertise and technical knowledge of certain processes are critical to guiding the actualisation of an artist’s work, both physically and aesthetically. “Fire” is Halvorson’s first etching and her painterly background, affinity for everyday objects, and close in-person observation is evident in each step of the process. The wood-burning stove is located in the printmaking workshop and is a Jotl, a brand that Halvorson’s parents sold during her childhood. She experimented with a variety of techniques including: drypoint, soft ground etching, aquatint, spit bite, sugar lift, modifying the copper plates repeatedly. After each modification, an image, or proof was printed, its visual effects analysed, and subsequently revised.

The artist and printers explored multiple printmaking processes, including burnishing in which a narrow tongue of metal is used to smooth the copper below, exposing areas of pure white. This process creates a gentle, gradual visual effect reminiscent of watercolour. The artist wanted to visualise the progress of burnishing out the line around a section of the flame, and the resulting proof was pulled by the printers. The proofs, 43 in total, will serve as a valuable teaching tool at the MFA as they demonstrate the varied and nuanced effects of each technique, while annotations reveal how essential dialogue between artist and the studio as they work toward the life-size final proof before the edition.

Provenance2019, the artist and Wingate Studio, Winchester, NH; 2021, sold by Wingate Studio to the MFA. (Accession Date: June 16, 2021)
Copyright© Josephine Halvorson
Working proof for Fire
Josephine Halvorson
2019
Working proof for Fire
Josephine Halvorson
2019
Working proof for Fire
Josephine Halvorson
2019
Working proof for Fire
Josephine Halvorson
2019
Working proof for Fire
Josephine Halvorson
2019
Working proof for Fire
Josephine Halvorson
2019
Working proof for Fire
Josephine Halvorson
2019
Working proof for Fire
Josephine Halvorson
2019
Working proof for Fire
Josephine Halvorson
2019
Working proof for Fire
Josephine Halvorson
2019
Working proof for Fire
Josephine Halvorson
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BAT for Fire, 2019
Josephine Halvorson
2019