Amagansett

Stanley William Hayter, Amagansett, 1944, pen and ink and watercolor on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase, 1969.58.2
Copied Stanley William Hayter, Amagansett, 1944, pen and ink and watercolor on paper, sheet: 26 1439 34 in. (66.7101.0 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase, 1969.58.2

Artwork Details

Title
Amagansett
Date
1944
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
sheet: 26 1439 34 in. (66.7101.0 cm)
Credit Line
Museum purchase
Mediums
Mediums Description
pen and ink and watercolor on paper
Classifications
Keywords
  • Abstract
Object Number
1969.58.2

Artwork Description

In 1940, Hayter moved from Paris to New York, where he re-established his renowned Paris printmaking workshop, Atelier 17. Amagansett refers to the Long Island fishing town where Hayter, his wife, and two young sons spent time at the shore. This drawing suggests a child on the beach and adult figure in the foreground in spite of the highly abstract treatment of line. Hayter practiced the surrealist technique of automatic drawing, or allowing the subconscious to guide one’s hand, but this drawing shows that he often had a specific subject in mind.

Graphic Masters II: Highlights from the Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2009