Pégase 1951

This is Stanley William Hayter's "Pégase", an etching made in 1951. I can imagine Hayter in his studio, wrestling with the plate, the acid biting into the metal, each line a decision, a hesitation, then a confident stroke. The colors here are earthy - ochre, sienna, with flashes of emerald. It's a dance of control and release, right? I see how the lines cut across the forms, creating a sense of movement, but also tension. The black lines seem to trap the orange figure. Maybe Hayter was thinking about Picasso's line, and that struggle to catch something in space. Those aquatinted zones create a mood of depth and shadow. What is really going on here? Is that a figure? Is that a horse? The more I look, the more I want to keep looking. It’s the kind of work that embodies the spirit of experimentation and reminds me of the continuous dialogue artists have with one another.