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Chasm

Bernard Childs

Framed size: 18 in. (h) x 23 in. (w) x 1.25 in.

$1,800.00

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Childs, Figurative, Framed, Intaglio Print, Landscape, Landscape, Seascape, or Still Life, Letterpress Print, Mid-Century Style, Nature, Post-War Twentieth Century, Prints & Multiples

About the work

This work has an interesting and important history.

George Lockwood, the poet, artist, and master printmaker, was the pressman at the Impressions graphic workshop in Boston. Lockwood invited Bernard Childs to experiment with him with a new letterpress press that Impressions obtained. This work was the very first print made on that press. It was made from a plate which was a collage on a wood base.

Following those experiments at Impressions, Childs set up a press in the Brooklyn garage of Harry Bettum. (Bettum had been the master printer at The Spiral Press in New York.) The two worked together on the press, which was loaned and subsequently given to them by Steve Andrus, the owner of Impressions Workshop. A number of experiments and commissions followed.

“The Chasm” (which was also known as the “Chasm”) was not editioned. There were four black & white trial proofs, of which three were numbered 1/3 to 3/3. The first of those is owned by the Boston Public Library; the location of the third is unknown. (Notes of Judith Childs, the artist’s wife and partner, state that eight red & green trial proofs were also printed.)

Attributes	Value
Medium	Engraving, Etching, Intaglio, Print
Date	1950-1960
Signing, Dating, and Titling	Signed, dated, and titled by the artist en recto on bottom
Framing	Custom framed and matted using conservation materials
Condition	Excellent Condition

Medium:

Letterpress print made from a plate made by collage on a wood base

Date:

1967

Signature:

Hand-signed and dated in pencil by the artist en recto lower left. Titled in pencil by the artist en recto lower center. Editioned in pencil by the artist en recto lower right.

Edition:

This is the second of three numbered (plus, reportedly, one unnumbered) artist’s proofs; no edition was ever produced.

Printer:

The artist and George Lockwood

Framing:

Custom matted with an 8-ply mat in a black-stained ash frame behind 99% UV-filtering art glass using all conservation materials.

Condition:

Excellent condition.

Framed Size:

18 in. (h) x 23 in. (w) x 1.25 in.

Sheet Size:

18 in. (h) x 22 in. (w)