Parchment (4/V/81)

Maker

(artist)
b. 1944 (Life dates)

Title

Parchment (4/V/81)

Date of Production

4 May 1981

Medium

copperpoint, fire, smoke on clay-coated paper

Dimensions

Height: 30.7 cm
Width: 22.7 cm

Accession Number

D.2020.XX.3

Mode of Acquisition

Patrick Heide Art Projects, purchase, 2020

Credit

The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust). Purchased through a generous gift of the Tavolozza Foundation, 2020.

Copyright

© Susan Schwalb

Location

On display

Label Text

Susan Schwalb is known for her use of metalpoint, a technique in which a metal stylus
(in this case made of copper) is used to draw on a specially prepared surface. This
remarkable work dates from the early years of Schwalb’s transition into abstraction and
is among 165 ‘burnt’ works that she produced over a four-year period. First, Schwalb
burnt the sheet with a candle to produce hazy, irregular smoke marks, before applying
precise, luminous lines with a copper stylus. The result is a meditation on the
relationship between chance and artistic intention.

Provenance

Patrick Heide Art Projects; purchased through a generous gift of the Tavolozza Foundation

Inscriptions

Inscription: Verso: lower centre, graphite, artist’s hand: Parchment; Parchment (4/V/81); Susan Schwalb; #10758 (artist's inventory number).

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