Aquatint on paper
Tate Collection
Works with images
General Collection
Seven Aquatints
Collection
<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/robert-ryman-1888" aria-label="More by Robert Ryman" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">Robert Ryman</a>
Purchased 1982
abstraction
geometric
non-representational
paper print aquatint
4 October 2014 – 8 February 2015
2015-02-08
4 October 2014 – 8 February 2015
2015-02-08
2014-10-04
Mudam Luxembourg (Luxembourg, Luxembourg)
2014-10-04
Fragile Solids
Loan-out
[no title]
image: 297 × 300 mm
Purchased 1982
<p><a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/ryman-no-title-p07723" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>P07723</span></a> [from] <b>Seven Aquatints</b> 1972 [<a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/ryman-no-title-p07717" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>P07717</span></a>-<span>P07723</span>; complete]
<br/>Seven aquatints, six in range 11 5/8 × 11 3/4 – 24 × 24 (297 × 300–610 × 610) and <span>P07723</span> 19 1/2 (490) in diameter, on Rives B.F.K. paper approx. 23 × 23 (605 × 605), printed by Crown Point Press, Oakland,
<br/>California and published by Parasol Press, New York
<br/><a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/ryman-no-title-p07719" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>P07719</span></a>, <a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/ryman-no-title-p07721" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>P07721</span></a> and <span>P07723</span> inscribed ‘Ryman 72’ b.r., <a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/ryman-no-title-p07718" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>P07718</span></a> inscribed ‘Ryman 72’ bottom centre, <span>P07717</span> and <a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/ryman-no-title-p07720" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>P07720</span></a> inscribed ‘Ryman 72’ b.l., <a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/ryman-no-title-p07722" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>P07722</span></a> inscribed ‘Ryman 72’ top right; all inscribed ‘23/50’ and impressed with the printer's stamp
<br/>Purchased from Lisson Gallery (Grant-in-Aid) 1982
<br/><i>Lit</i>: Naomi Spector, ‘Robert Ryman: Suite of Seven Aquatints, 1972. Nine Unique Aquatints, 1972’, Art &amp; Project, bulletin 70, Amsterdam 1973, n.p.
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<br/>‘Seven aquatints’ is Ryman's first group of <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/e/etching" title="Glossary definition for 'Etching'"><span>etchings</span></a>. He has subsequently produced other aquatints both singly and in series. ‘Seven Aquatints’ is consistent with many of the ideas and practices which Ryman has explored in his <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/painting" title="Glossary definition for 'Painting'"><span>painting</span></a>, notably in its emphasis on the <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/m/medium" title="Glossary definition for 'Medium'"><span>medium</span></a> as the subject about which he has stated: ‘My aquatints are white not because I am interested in making white <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/print" title="Glossary definition for 'Print'"><span>prints</span></a> but because printing them in white is more to the point visually. If I printed in black, the printed areas would become shapes and the <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/a/aquatint" title="Glossary definition for 'Aquatint'"><span>aquatint</span></a> could not be seen as clearly’ (‘White in Art is White?’, Print Collector's Newsletter, VIII, March–April 1977, p.3). By employing a white <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/i/ink" title="Glossary definition for 'Ink'"><span>ink</span></a> on a white <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/paper" title="Glossary definition for 'Paper'"><span>paper</span></a> Ryman plays down the importance of the geometric shape, the square, which he has consistently chosen in his work because it is ‘the most perfect space... I don't have to get involved with spatial <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/c/composition" title="Glossary definition for 'Composition'"><span>compositions</span></a>, as with rectangles and circles or whatever’ (Phyllis Tuchman, ‘An Interview with Robert Ryman’, Artforum, IX, May 1971, p.46). ‘Seven Aquatints’ is unusual, however, because, although the printed motif is always square, in P 07723 a white square is printed on a circular sheet which is attached to a square backing sheet. All the other prints consist of white squares of various sizes printed on square white paper.
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<br/>In all cases the ink is brighter than the paper but its strength is varied from print to print. This differentiation is enhanced by the different methods of aquatinting Ryman adopts. The distribution of rosin on the plates is achieved with a rosin box in some prints and by hand in others, giving rise to a smooth or rough texture respectively. In <span>P07721</span> Ryman has used sugar lift. This print is closely related to the ‘Windsor’ series of paintings Ryman made from 1965–6.
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<br/>The treatment of the square motifs varies in each print as does the placing of the signature and numbering which become compositional elements. In addition <span>P07720</span> incorporates a blue line printed diagonally at the top of the sheet. According to Naomi Spector this is reminiscent of ‘Impex’, a painting of 1968, and of a silkscreen of 1969, Ryman's first <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/e/edition" title="Glossary definition for 'Edition'"><span>edition</span></a> of prints. The order of ‘Seven Aquatints’ is entirely flexible.
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<br/>This entry has been approved by the artist.
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<br/><b>Published in:</b>
<br/><i>The Tate Gallery 1982-84: Illustrated Catalogue of Acquisitions</i>, London 1986
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<br/></p>

Catalogue entry
2004-10-13T00:00:00
catalogue-entry
CATALOGUE_ENTRY
abstraction geometric non-representational