Born in London, Hayter settled in Paris in 1926 and established himself among the avant-garde as a leading experimental printmaker. In 1933 he set up the legendary and influential ‘Atelier 17’ to teach printmaking and to facilitate print collaborations, including with artists such as Picasso and Miro. At the outbreak of war, Hayter moved to New York and re-established Atelier 17, which became an important centre for the Abstract Expressionists. It was shortly after moving to the United States, and whilst staying in San Francisco, that Hayter produced this print, Maternité – an image of his wife Helen Phillips and their new-born son Augy. It is an important and rare print because it is the very first colour print Hayter ever produced. It was made using an experimental composite technique of engraving and etching together with screen printing. It may also lay claim to being the first screen print made by a British artist. Hayter would go on to develop and refine his colour print techniques, and his coloured prints of the 1950s are especially celebrated. Given the experimental character of Maternité, it is interesting that this particular impression is an artist’s proof (aside from the published edition of 50) and therefore one of Hayter’s very first attempts to successfully pull the plates and screens; the slight mis-registration of colours makes clear that he was still perfecting the technique. This sheet remained in the artist’s possession during his time in the United States and was sold to a New York collector, as part of a significant body of his prints, to help fund his return to Paris in 1950.

Provenance : Purchased by Dr Joanna Selborne from Bloomsbury Auctions, London, 26 November 2014. Consigned by a private collector in Philadelphia who acquired it as part of a large group of Hayter prints that the artist had sold to a New York collector in 1949/50 to fund his return to Paris

Inscription: Essai Maternity S W Hayter 1940 San Francisco