Mondsand no III by Jean (Hans) Arp, 1887-1966

Jean (Hans) Arp, 1887-1966
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Mondsand no III

Original etching with open-bite in black ink. 1959. Signed in pencil (with the angular signature). Proof for the edition of 33 signed impressions and 300 unsigned impressions. This impression specially signed for the previous owner by Arp. Printed at the studio of Fequet et Baudier, Paris 1959. Issued by Verlag G. Neske, 1959 in the series: Mondsand - Sieben Radierungen.
Ref: Arntz-Arp no 398

Excellent proof impression with hand-wiped plate tone. On stiff cream wove paper. Excellent original condition, not restored. Full margins. Sheet: 15 x 11 1/8ins. Plate: 8 5/8 x 6 1/8ins. (217x155mm)

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The flowing sensual shapes and the feeling of evolution from the internal to the external mark such compositions as this as being from the height of Arp?s work in the late 1950?s. This work from the Mondsand series was etched in 1959, and is a proof before the signed edition of 33 impressions. It was specially signed by Arp (with the ?angular? signature) for the previous owner.

Arp made his first etchings as early as 1915. However it was not really until the 1950?s that he began to see ways in which he could use the medium to parallel and extend his ideas in sculpture. One of the most beautiful elements of his sculpture is the way in which he uses surface, with polished or mat patina, as a counterpoint to form. In the 1950?s working at studios like that of Fequet and Baudier in Paris, he discovered how he could combine line, either with clear incision or with tonal burr, with surface texture or luminosity. This composition shows the inspiration of this period. The line of the forms defines shape and creates contour shadow through its tonality, whilst the surface of the plate, worked with scraping, washes of ?open-bite? and wiped ink, gives the form the quality of a ?patinated? exterior.