Stanley William Hayter (Printmaking)

English Stanley William Hayter was born December 22th in 1901, and became a well known and celebrated artist and printmaker.  He died in 1988, leaving behind a wealth of colourful and inspirational art.  Focusing on surrealism and then later abstract expressionism, Hayter injected a vast amount of colour into his work.



Firstly, wow.  This piece blew my mind.  I've never seen such a bright and awe inspiring use of colour before.  1974's Pillars is an etching on paper, using aquatint to achieve the varying tones of colour.  The clean swirling patterns are so crisp and pleasing to look at, whilst the split complimentary blues and yellows/oranges really just draw you in.  It's like looking up at the sun and being blinded on a warm day.  Everything about this image just feels satisfying.

From a little later in his career, Hang Glider from 1979 is a little less abstract.  The name and shapes really help to paint a clear image in my head  The shape of a glider visible in blue and it rises towards what I relate to an orange sunset.  The three sweeping lines suggest movement of the glider to me, helping to encourage the idea that it's rising upward.  At the same moment, the perpendicular lines imply a landscape, hills perhaps, depicting something incredibly still.  A complete contrast to what the exact same lines do to the glider shape.  And on the topic of contrast, the colours are brilliant and so full of life.  The cool blues make me think of the wind, the warm oranges the sun. 


I love these colours.  I mean really, these are spectacular.  I would gladly hang these on my walls.  I have no clue as to Hayter's intent, but to me, these images just scream inspiration.  The use of clean smooth shapes and bright contrasting colours just manages to produce an incredibly satisfying image to look at.  To me, Hayter has managed to make his art more than the sum of it's parts, to really leap from the screen.  It has it's own life to it.  It's brilliant!