Print of the Day!! Fri, Aug 16, 2024 is by Atelier 17 printmaker Fred G. Becker (1913-2004): "Scaffolding", intaglio, 1952, proofs only.

Print of the Day!! Friday, August 16, 2024. is by Atelier 17 printmaker Fred G. Becker (1913-2004). Another image in a series of works by artists who worked at Atelier 17 in Paris and New York.

The Annex Galleries is celebrating the summer by featuring prints by Atelier 17 printmakers. 2024 has seen the launch of The Atelier 17 Project, Inc which is preparing for the 100th birthday of the workshop in 2027. Check out our on-line exhibition at: OnPaper.art: https://onpaper.art/the-annex-galleries ?

"Scaffolding" is a? mixed technique intaglio; an open bite softground etching with carborundum and engraving on a magnesium plate by Atelier 17 printmaker Fred G. Becker (1913-2004), done in 1952. The platemark measures 23-3/4 x 18 inches. It is pencil signed and titled by the artist in the lower margin and is dated "III 52" in the plate, lower right image. This image was printed in proofs only (fewer than 10) by the artist at Atelier 17 in New York on an ivory Van Gelder wove paper that measures 27-3/8 x 22-1/4 inches The gallery inventory for this work is 11230. This rare, experimental Surrealist intaglio by printmaker Fred G. Becker (1913-2004) is available from the gallery for purchase.

Shipping costs will be discussed. California residents will have sales tax added. Out of state residents may be responsible for use tax, depending on state law. Time payments can be arranged. Contact the gallery for any condition or other questions.

The magnesium plate matrix originally had a carborundum ground which the artist had to scrape off by hand using a specially designed tool made from a chisel. Traces of the ground are found in throughout the image.

Becker commented that he had two magnesium plates to which he had added a carborundum ground and then decided it was too hard a surface to accomplish what he wanted. He created a tool out of an old chisel and laboriously scraped most of the carborundum off. I remember him commenting that they were the most difficult plates he ever created and he never did it again. The result is an intaglio that is amazingly crisp and sure - the lines stand off the surface, the viewer is left with the feeling they are looking at a bas relief. The background is softened by subtle random lines and toning left from the inking. Scaffolding, also called staging, is a temporary structure used to aid in the maintainence and repair of another structure.

Becker's scaffolding is like confined chaos, each element connected to another, held together by friction and dotted lines which could be pattern lines, to be cut with a scissors, folded into an arrangement, and glued to hold its shape.

Fred Becker was accepted into the Graphic Arts Division of the WPA. Becker worked in the WPA between 1935 and the day he was "laid off" of the project in the summer of 1939. An exhibition in 1937 at the Federal Art Project Gallery in New York included two of his prints and the following year his work was exhibited at the Willard Gallery in New York.

When Stanley William Hayter relocated his famous Atelier 17 to New York in 1940 as the war expanded, Becker was among the first to sign up for classes. He found there another free, informal and imaginative place to learn and work.

Hayter, one of the original "Surrealist" group back in Paris, brought the surrealist concepts to the U.S., including the "automatic line." This composition, "Scaffolding," was done using engraving, drawing directly on the magnesium plate with a graver, and soft-ground etching to create textural elements. The image explores the free-flowing dream-like surrealist symbolism of the subconscious mind.

To purchase this work, see other works, or read a biography for Fred G. Becker use this link to our website: https://www.annexgalleries.com/inventory/artist/156/Becker/Frederick

Use this link to view our complete inventory on our website: https://www.annexgalleries.com/inventory/artist/