Engraving on paper
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>
Le Chas de laiguille
Purchased 1972
abstraction
adults
emotions, concepts and ideas
female
figure
formal qualities
from recognisable sources
nudes
people
spontaneity
woman
<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
Le Chas de l’aiguille
image: 302 × 187 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>
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2004-08-18T00:00:00
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<p>
<b>Stanley William Hayter 1910-1988</b>
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<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-le-chas-de-laiguille-p07028" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>P07028</span></a> Le Chas de l’aiguille 1946</p>
<p>Inscribed ‘3/30’ b.l., ‘Le Chas de l’Aiguille’ centre, ‘S. W. Hayter 46’ b.r., and on mount ‘5’ b.l. ‘13¿ x 8¿’ b.c., and ‘Own Mount’ b.r.<br/>Engraving on copper, 13¿<b> x</b> 8¿ (33.3 x 21.3).<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> Whitechapel Art Gallery, November 1957 (169); Christopher Drake Ltd, October-November 1973 (18, repr.).</p>
<p>The artist told Christopher Drake that this work is essentially an erotic image, its title being a pun upon the female anatomy. In a letter to the compiler (24 May 1974) the artist stated that it is ‘really an acrobatic female and the “eye of the needle” might refer to the needle of Gammer Gurton rather than of the Bible.’ (<i>Gammer Gurton’s Needle</i> is a bawdy, vigorous sixteenth-century comedy probably written by John Still, its plot being the search for Gammer’s needle and its discovery in the seat of Gurton’s breeches.)</p>
<p>Published in <i>The Tate Gallery Report 1972–1974,</i> London 1975.</p>
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Catalogue entry
2012-07-27T00:00:00
catalogue-entry
CATALOGUE_ENTRY
abstraction adults emotions, concepts and ideas female figure formal qualities from recognisable sources nudes people spontaneity woman