Etching on paper
Tate Collection
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<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/barry-flanagan-1100" aria-label="More by Barry Flanagan" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">Barry Flanagan</a>
Field Day
Purchased 1983
animals: mammals
horse
paper print etching
Field Day
image: 184 × 216 mm
Purchased 1983
<p><a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/flanagan-field-day-p07935" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>P07935</span></a> <b>Field Day</b> 1983
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<br/>Etching 7 1/4 × 9 1/2 (184 × 216) on Velin Arches paper 11 1/4 × 15 (285 × 381), printed by the artist and Colin Dyer, published by Waddington Graphics
<br/>Inscribed ‘B F’ b.r. and ‘47/75’; impressed with the publisher's stamp
<br/>Purchased from Waddington Galleries (Grant-in-Aid) 1983
<br/><i>Lit</i>: David Brown, Barry Flanagan Etchings and <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/l/linocut" title="Glossary definition for 'Linocut'"><span>Linocuts</span></a>, exhibition catalogue, Waddington Galleries, May 1984 (n.p. repr.)
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<br/>The following entry is based on a conversation between the artist and the compiler held on 21 August 1985 and has been approved by the artist.
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<br/>‘Field Day’ is one of a series of four <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> and three <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/l/linocut" title="Glossary definition for 'Linocut'"><span>linocuts</span></a> all drawn before the model. They are ‘Stepney Green’, ‘Mule’, ‘Cob Study’, ‘Field Day’, ‘Welsh Lights’ and ‘Ganymede’ all dated 1983. Flanagan hired the horse for one day and had it brought to the yard outside his studio. In conversation with the compiler he stated: ‘I called it “Field Day” because 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/d/drawing" title="Glossary definition for 'Drawing'"><span>drawing</span></a> has a beautiful <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/f/form" title="Glossary definition for 'Form'"><span>form</span></a> to it. It has fluency and composure. That's reminiscent of racing and one can have a field day in the sense of an enjoyable event. Calling it “Field Day” was like naming the horse.’
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<br/>The black rectangle at the bottom of the plate mark results from the etching process. David Brown writes
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<br/>In the preparation of the etching plates, they are ‘smoked’ in a flame to produce a fine, even covering of wax, the plate being held by a pair of tongs. Normally the area covered by the tongs and therefore unaffected by the ‘smoking’ process would be waxed later, but with these <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>, Flanagan chose to eliminate this final stage leaving a small area etched by acid and absorbing 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/i/ink" title="Glossary definition for 'Ink'"><span>ink</span></a>.
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<br/>The image was etched without any preliminary studies. The fluency of the line results from Flanagan's general approach to printmaking. He stated that ‘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/s/sculpture" title="Glossary definition for 'Sculpture'"><span>sculptor</span></a>'s line is often <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/g/gestural" title="Glossary definition for 'Gestural'"><span>gestural</span></a>’.
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<br/><b>Published in:</b>
<br/><i>The Tate Gallery 1982-84: Illustrated Catalogue of Acquisitions</i>, London 1986
<br/></p>

Catalogue entry
2004-10-13T00:00:00
catalogue-entry
CATALOGUE_ENTRY
animals: mammals horse