back to works by this artist go to previous work

Dolf Rieser

1898 – 1983

[Fish] by Dolf Rieser
 

[Fish]   c.1938

  Original scorper engraving, printed in colours.
Signed and numbered in pencil.
S 334 x 596 mm; I 198 x 525 mm
SOLD
 
Excellent signed proof impression with exceptionally strong colours, printed in blue, green and cerise inks. From the only edition of 45 signed and numbered proofs.

The engraving is effectively a surface print, printed almost in the manner of a woodcut, with most of the inked areas lying on the flat surface of the plate and some of the deeply gouged engraved lines left to print blank white. This effect has been achieved by the use of a tool pioneered by S.W. Hayter, called a scorper. This tool could be used to engrave lines gouged so deeply into the plate that they no longer hold any ink but print as embossed white marks or lines. This has the effect of introducing another dimension to the composition in a manner suggested by 19th-century Japanese woodcuts.

In this print Dolf Rieser, has filled the scorper lines which represent the sea with blue ink and has left those for the fishes, empty of ink, save for where the fishes have a band of red along their bodies. The surface of the plate has then been inked with a continuous green printer’s ink. The resulting print has a striking three-dimensional appearance which is both innovative and highly effective.

On cream laid French paper with full margins and deckle edge. Some soft vertical creasing, otherwise generally good original condition.