l'atelier de l'amour:

British painter and printmaker Stanley William Hayter began his printmaking career working with the engraved line. His technique was based in Surrealism. He became increasingly influential among European Modernists when he opened his renonwed workshop--Atelier 17--in Paris in 1927. The workshop moved to New York City during the war, but again returned to Paris in 1950. Between Paris and New York, the workshop was filled with some of the greatest names of 20th century art: Miro, Calder, Lipchitz, Picasso, Motherwell, Nevelson, Pollock, Rothko, and de Kooning.

Aside from the innovative techniques that both advanced printmaking in the midcentury and drew hundreds of artists to Atelier 17, one of the--until recently--overlooked aspects of the workshop was the openness that welcomed female artists into the ranks. The collaborative and open sense of the workshop, and the close proximity of the small studio quarters, was bound to be the impetus for romantic involvements.

This proposed exhibition draws on works from the collection of Professor Tyrus Clutter and delves into these relationships. Several artists met and fell in (and sometimes out of) love inside the confines of Atelier 17. The exhibit explores the relationships of these couples, as they met in the studio, but also as they formed friendships among one another and with other studio artists. Interwoven is the influence of the artists on one another and the importance of the print medium and the characteristics of Hayter's teaching method.

The plan for this exhibition is an opening in 2027, the centenary of the founding of Atelier 17. Additional works are being added to the collection still, as well as loans from other collections. Images shown here, from Tyrus Clutter's collection, are currrently being considered, while others will be borrowed. Included are some photographs of Hayter and Helen Phillips as well as an engraving plate by Phillips.

The bulk of the research for this project will take place in the summer of 2023. You can donate to the travel expenses through this campaign. An article about the project was printed in the Ocala Gazette in June 2023.

This exhibit follows on the heels of an earlier exhibition from Clutter's collection: Greater than 17: The Art and Influence of Stanley William Hayter and Atelier 17. A catalogue for that exhibit can also be viewed in this PDF. The Greater than 17 exhibit opened at the Webber Gallery of the College of Central Florida in the fall of 2021 (see installation shots here) and later at the Leepa-Rattner Museum in early 2022. Professor Clutter is considering venues for both exhibitions. To inquire about hosting either of them and for more details contact tyrus@tyrusclutter.com .

Isolde Baumgart, Ember Days, 1978, Color Viscosity Intaglio, 9 3/4" x 7 5/8" (Lakeside Studio Proof)
Stanley William Hayter, La Lecon D'Anatomie (The Anatomy Lesson) 1954/55, Intaglio with Color Stencils, 15 1/2" x 11 1/2"
Helen Phillips, Module Construction, 1954, Etching with Open Bite with Color Relief Rolls, 27" x 15 1/2"
Fred Becker, Inferno, 1947, Mixed Intaglio with Rainbow Relief Roll, 7 1/2" x 6 1/4"
Sergio Gonzalez-Tornero, Cool World, 1966, Color Viscosity Intaglio, 16 3/4" x 14"
Isolde Baumgart, Atelier 17, Color Intaglio printed as a poster for 1971 Exhibition, 15" x 13 1/2"
Photograph, by Martin Harris, of Jean Morrison Becker pulling a proof at the 8th Street NYC location of Atelier 17, c. 1947, 7 1/2" x 9 3/8"
Roger Vieillard, Promethee, ca. 1939, Engraving, 9" x 8 1/4", from the Collection of John Buckland-Wright
Sergio Gonzalez-Tornero, Los, 1961, Color Viscosity Etching with Scraper, 15 1/2" x 13 1/2"
Helen Phillips, Untitled Holiday Print, 1970, Linoleum Relief as Monoprint, 3 1/2" x 6" (three versions)
Sergio Gonzalez-Tornero, Rose Field, 1965, Color Viscosity Intaglio, 17 3/4" x 13 1/8"
Stanley William Hayter, le Couple, 1952, Engraving, Softground Etching, and Scorper with Color Stencils, 17 1/2" x 11 5/8"
Stanley William Hayter and Helen Phillips, Untitled Holiday Print, 1955, Engraving with Linoleum offset on Plate and Relief Roll, 5 3/4" x 4 1/4"
Adrienne Cullom, Masquerade, 1972, Etching, 1 1/2" x 2 5/16"
Jim Monson Totem 1978, Color Viscosity Intaglio, 10" x 9 1/2" (Created at Lakeside Studio while Isolde Baumgart was also there working on Ember Days)
Stanley William Hayter, Desiree, 1966, Scorper and Soft Ground Etching with Relief Roll, 15 1/2" x 19 1/8", from variant edition
Stanley William Hayter, Untitled Greeting Card, 1959, 3-Color Woodcut, Printed Offset, 3 3/4" x 6 1/8"
Adrienne Cullom, Dunwoody, 1972, Engraving, 1 1/2" x 2 1/4"

Adrienne Cullom, Dream, 1972, Engraving, 1 3/4" x 1 3/4"
Stanley William Hayter, Maternity, 1940, 3 Silkscreen Colors in Tempera Overprinted with Engraving and Soft-ground Etching Plate, Artist Proof 2/5, 9" x 7 1/2"
Stanley William Hayter, Untitled Greeting Card, 1963, 3-Color Linoleum Block, Printed Offset, 4" x 4 3/4"
Stanley William Hayter, Jeux D'eau (Water Play), 1953, Engraving and Softground Etching, with Color Stencils, 14 7/8" x 12 7/8"
Anita de Caro, Conte de Fees, 19637, Hard and Soft ground Etching, 6 1/2" x 9 1/2", from the collection of John Buckland-Wright
Roger Vieillard, Le Pont Saint Michel, 1944, Engraving, 5 1/8" x 9", from Paysages de France
Helen Phillips, Pyramide, 1953, Etching and Open Bite with Relief Roll, 19 9/16" x 13 1/8"
Photo of Helen Phillips Hayter and Stanley William Hayter at his Washington Street Studio, 1948. A promotional image for their joint show at the Sidney Janis Gallery.
Helen Phillips, Untitled, c. 1936-37, Copper Engraving Plate, 2 7/8" x 4 15/16" (with posthumous impressions from 2021)

krishna reddy, shirley witebsky, judith blum reddy:

Krishna Reddy is typically regarded as one of the discoverers of the color viscosity printing method for which Atelier 17 is most widely associated. During the 1960s he was Hayter's right hand man in the workshop and actually printed many of Hayter's plates from that period. He met American Shirley Witebsky at the studio and the two were married. They returned to North America for a period to work on some sculpture projects when she was diagnosed with cancer from which she ultimately succumbed. Upon Reddy's return to Atelier 17 he eventually met Judith Blum and the two later married and moved to New York.

Stanley William Hayter, Small Horse, 1931, Engraving, 2 1/2" x 3 1/4", Ex Libris proof printed in 1978
(Gladys) Dalla Husband, Rocks, c.1935, Engraving, 8 3/4" x 7"
Stanley William Hayter, Solidarite', 1938, Engraving, 4" x 6 1/8", part of the portfolio with proceeds going to the Spanish Republican Children's Fund
Stanley William Hayter, Untitled Greeting Card, 1958, 3-Color Linoleum Block, 4 1/8" x 6 1/8"
Krishna Reddy, Floraison (Blossoming), 1965, Color Viscosity Intaglio, 17 3/8" x 13 1/2"
Krishna Reddy, Forme Rombaute (Falling Figure), 1972, Color Viscosity Intaglio, 13 1/4" x 17 3/8"
Krishna Reddy, Forme Roude (Dawn Worship), 1973, Color Viscosity Intaglio, 13 5/8" x 17 1/2"
Shirley Witebsky, Autumn, c. 1960, Color Viscosity Intaglio, 14" x 17 1/2"

jim monson and isolde baumgart:

Jim Monson worked with Atelier 17 alumnus Mauricio Lasansky at the Univeristy of Iowa before heading to Paris to work with Hayter in 1970. After living out of hotels for a year, Monson heard that a room was opening for rent from another atelier artist. The owner eventually wanted to rent the entire house and Hector Saunier--atelier assistant--suggested his friend Isolde Baumgart as a housemate; she was a German artist and graphic designer who had first worked at the atelier in the 1950s. Soon Jim and Isolde were sharing the house and by 1973 they were married.

fred becker and jean morrison becker:

After studying art at Sarah Lawrence, Jean Morrison spent some time working as an artist and art teacher before heading to Europe during WWII to volunteer for the Red Cross. Upon her return to New York she rented a studio space in a building where several Atelier 17 artists were also resident. On their encouragement she began work at the atelier in 1946. It was there that she met Fred Becker who was in and out of the studio over the next couple years. When he accepted a teaching position at Washington University in St. Louis, the two married and moved there, spending two decades there before ultimately going on to UMass Amherst.

roger vieillard and anita de caro:

Frenchman Roger Vieillard came from a background of diverse interests but dabbled in drawing in the early 1930s. By 1935 he had met Hayter and Joseph Hecht and began studying engraving with them. The following year American Anita de Caro moved to Paris and also began to work at Atelier 17. The two initially met at a party organized by the workshop and were married in 1939.

sergio gonzalez-tornero and adrienne cullom:

A native of the southern US, Adrienne Cullom graduated with an art degree from the Atlanta Art Institute before heading to Europe to continue her studies. This eventually led her to Paris and Atelier 17, in 1961. There she met Chilean-born artist Sergio Gonzalez-Tornero. He had studied broadly before ending up at the atelier. His innovative methods in intaglio printing were mentioned in Hayter's New Ways of Gravure. Sergio and Adrienne married and moved, first, to Atlanta and then to New York, where they also worked at Robert Blackburn's print workshop.

ted appleby and hope manchester:

Hope Manchester and Ted Appleby were American artists with scant biographical information, but clearly connected to Atelier 17. There is evidence that Manchester worked at the atelier in both New York and Paris. Appleby served in the navy during the war, but by 1947 was working as an artist in Mexico. Manchester was in New York around the same time, but the two then moved to Paris in 1949 and then to Alba-la-Romaine in the south of France in 1950. The couple, as well as Bill Hayter and Helen Philips, were among the thirty or so artists who came to the small town of Alba, revitalizing it into an artist enclave.

Shirley Witebsky, Fruit Tree, c. 1960, Color Viscosity Intaglio, 14" x 18"
Shirley Witebsky, Metamorphose, c. 1960, Color Viscosity Intaglio, 14" x 17 1/2"
Shirley Witebsky, Sea Star, c. 1961, Color Viscosity Intaglio, 13 1/2" x 9"

stanley william hayter, edith fletcher hayter, dalla husband, helen phillips hayter:

Stanley Hayter began his serious study of art when he moved to Paris in 1926. There he met and married American Edith Fletcher and both of them studied engraving with the Polish artist Joseph Hecht. By the next year, Canadian Dalla Husband and her friend had met Hayter and convinced him to teach them the engraving process, which was ultimately the birth of Atelier 17. After his marriage to Edith ended in 1929, Hayter and Husband had an ongoing professional and romantic relationship for several years.That ended around the time that American sculptor Helen Phillips came to study at the atelier in1936. Hayter and Phillips married in 1940, the same year the atelier moved to New York. This was Hayter's longest relationship, ending in their 1973 divorce.

Ted Appleby (attributed), Untitled, Engraving with color relief roll, c. 1951, 7 5/8" x 7"
Ted Appleby, Untitled, Engraving, c. 1951, 4 3/4" x 3 3/4"
Hope Manchester, Untitled, c. 1950, Engraving and Soft Ground Etching with Scorper, 6 3/4" x 3 3/4"
Isolde Baumgart, Chou (Cabbage), 1975, Color Viscosity Intaglio, 9 1/2" x 11 5/8"
Stanley William Hayter, Untitled Greeting Card, 1956, 3-Color Linoleum Block, 4 1/2" x 5 5/8"
Isolde Baumgart, Unknown French Title, c.1975, Color Intaglio, 9 1/2" x 11 5/8" (details later from Jim Monson)
Jim Monson Logos, 1976, Color Viscosity Intaglio, 13 1/2" x 19 1/4"
Stanley William Hayter, Untitled Greeting Card, 1965-66, 2-Color Woodcut, Printed Offset, 3 7/8" x 4 3/4"
Shirley Witebsky, Star of the New Year, c. 1955, Etching and Aquatint, 7" x 5"
Roger Vieillard, Cheval de Bataille, 1942, Engraving, 4 1/8" x 2 5/8"
Adrienne Cullom, Nest, 1972, Engraving, 6 3/4" x 7 3/4"

Stanley William Hayter, Le Distrait (from Facile Proie), 1938, Engraving, 5 7/8" x 6 1/8"
Roger Vieillard, L'eclat du Jour, 1984, Engraving, 11 5/8" x 19"
Ted Appleby, Untitled (Three Engravings), Engraving with Soft Ground Etching, c. 1951, 7 3/5" x 1 1/2" each
Shirley Witebsky, Landscape,1953, Color Intaglio, inked alla popee, 5 3/8" x 13 1/2"