Le couple (The Couple) 1952

Stanley William Hayter made this print, 'Le couple', using engraving, etching, and soft ground techniques on paper. Looking at it, I’m struck by how Hayter embraces process. There's a real sense of immediacy and discovery here. The lines, etched and dug into the plate, feel like a direct record of the artist's hand moving through space, building up these figures, the titular couple. I love how he uses line to create both form and a kind of dynamic energy. Take a look at the head of the figure on the right. It’s a cage of lines, a jumble of marks that somehow coalesce into a recognizable shape. It’s like Hayter is showing us the very act of thinking, of constructing an image from fragments. The colors too, this pale teal against the darker grays and blacks, feel intuitive. There's a kind of raw, almost primal energy in this work. It puts me in mind of Picasso, both artists playing with form and abstraction, dismantling and reassembling the world around them.