Untitled

John Ferren, Untitled, 1937, carved, engraved, and hand-painted plaster in wood frame, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Patricia and Phillip Frost, 1986.92.23, © 1937 John Ferren
Copied John Ferren, Untitled, 1937, carved, engraved, and hand-painted plaster in wood frame, 18 x 22 in. (45.7 x 55.9 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Patricia and Phillip Frost, 1986.92.23, © 1937 John Ferren

Artwork Details

Title
Untitled
Artist
Date
1937
Location
Dimensions
18 x 22 in. (45.7 x 55.9 cm.)
Copyright
© 1937 John Ferren
Credit Line
Gift of Patricia and Phillip Frost
Mediums
Mediums Description
carved, engraved, and hand-painted plaster in wood frame
Classifications
Subjects
  • Abstract
Object Number
1986.92.23
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1986.92.23

Artwork Description

An abstract expressionist work from 1937, Untitled reflects an artistic approach John Ferren developed while working at Stanley William Hayter's influential Atelier 17 studio in Paris. Hayter introduced Ferren to a nineteenth-century printing technique in which an etched and inked plate is imprinted in wet plaster. The plaster is then carved and painted, using the etched lines as a guide. Pierre Matisse, son of the French painter Henri Matisse, showed several of these plasters in a 1936 exhibition of Ferren's work at Matisse's New York gallery and gave the young artist a contract to do more. (Mecklenburg, The Patricia and Phillip Frost Collection, American Abstraction, 1930-1945, 1989)