Message from Degas
1972–74
Helen Frankenthaler (American, 1928-2011) printed by Donn H. Steward (American, 1921-1986) published by Universal Limited Art Editions (American, founded 1955)
United States
In 1972, Donn H. Steward saw Degas’s Head of a Woman in Profile at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Captivated by the artist’s use of liquid aquatint— a process where the resin is dissolved in strong alcohol—Steward set out to master the technique. Once he achieved his desired results, he suggested it to Frankenthaler as yet another medium with which to achieve her painterly concerns in print.
Color etching and aquatint from three copper plates on ivory wove paper