Engraving, aquatint and etching on copper
Tate Collection
Works with images
General Collection
Collection
<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/stanley-william-hayter-1257" aria-label="More by Stanley William Hayter" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">Stanley William Hayter</a>
Myth Creation
Purchased 1972
abstraction
creation
emotions, concepts and ideas
formal qualities
gestural
irregular forms
non-representational
spontaneity
universal concepts
<p>Hayter's interest in the combination of chance and spontaneous creativity is conveyed in the titles of these two works: Hunt the Needle and Myth of Creation. An element of controlled design is also evident, particularly in Hunt the Needle where a woman's anatomical features clearly emerge from the tangled lines. The prints demonstrate the technical refinement that made Hayter one of the century's most innovative printmakers. His Paris workshop, Atelier 17, was a focus for Surrealist experimentation, and American artists drew upon his expertise when he established a workshop in New York in the 1940s.</p><p><em>Gallery label, August 2004</em></p>
paper print engraving aquatint etching copper
11 December 2004 – 2 May 2005
2005-05-02
11 December 2004 – 29 May 2005
2005-05-29
2004-12-11
Tate Liverpool (Liverpool, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/liverpool/
2004-12-11
Seeing is Believing: Faith in the Tate Collection
Collection based display
Myth of Creation
image: 251 × 200 mm
Purchased 1972
<p>Hayter's interest in the combination of chance and spontaneous creativity is conveyed in the titles of these two works: Hunt the Needle and Myth of Creation. An element of controlled design is also evident, particularly in Hunt the Needle where a woman's anatomical features clearly emerge from the tangled lines. The prints demonstrate the technical refinement that  made Hayter one of the century's most innovative <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>printmakers</span></a>. His Paris workshop, Atelier 17,  was a focus for <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/s/surrealism" title="Glossary definition for 'Surrealism'"><span>Surrealist</span></a> experimentation,  and American artists drew upon his expertise when he established a workshop in New York  in the 1940s.</p>
Display caption
2004-08-18T00:00:00
display-caption
DISPLAY_CAPTION
<div class="text">
<p>
<b>Stanley William Hayter 1910-1988</b>
</p>
<p><a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/hayter-myth-of-creation-p07027" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>P07027</span></a> Myth of Creation 1940</p>
<p>Inscribed ‘Etat’ b.l., ‘Myth of Creation’ b.c. and ‘S. W. Hayter 40’ b.r.<br/>Engraving, aquatint and soft ground etching on copper,<b> 10 x 8</b> (25.4<b> x </b>20.3).<br/>Purchased from Christopher Drake Ltd (Grant-in-Aid) 1973.<br/>
<i>Coll:</i> The artist’s collection; Christopher Drake Ltd.<br/>
<i>Exh:</i> Christopher Drake Ltd, October-November 1973 (4, repr.).<br/>
<i>Lit:</i> Graham Reynolds,<i> The Engravings of S. W. Hayter</i>, 1967, p.6, repr. pl.8.</p>
<p>The artist explained that this work . . . ‘features heads, an elongated figure, a phallus and refers to creation in general—the division of the waters and the sky.’ (letter to the compiler 24 May 1974).</p>
<p>In work of this date Hayter dealt frequently with the theme of creation, at the same time investigating sources of energy through the use of line. This print is an early demonstration of his practice of combining different printing methods—in this case engraving, aquatint and soft-ground etching processes.</p>
<p>Published in <i>The Tate Gallery Report 1972–1974,</i> London 1975.</p>
</div>

Catalogue entry
2012-07-27T00:00:00
catalogue-entry
CATALOGUE_ENTRY
abstraction creation emotions, concepts and ideas formal qualities gestural irregular forms non-representational spontaneity universal concepts