Stanley William Hayter
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Stanley William Hayter, CBE (born 27 December 1901, Hackney, London, England; died 4 May 1988, Paris, France) was a British surrealist painter and printmaker. Various sources state him to be a descendant of the 18th Century Hayter portraitists, either of Sir George Hayter[1] or the latter's younger brother John.[2] He is noted for his innovative work in the development of viscosity printing (a process that exploits varying viscosities of oil-based inks to lay three or more colours on a single intaglio plate). His Times obituary described him as having "revolutionized the art of engraving, with his far-reaching experiments in colour and texture".
Hayter graduated in chemistry and geology from King's College, London, and worked in Abadan for the Anglo-Persian Oil Company from 1922 to 1925. On his being invalided home to London after a malaria attack, his company arranged a one-man show of his works from his period overseas.
In 1926, Hayter went to Paris, studying at the Académie Julian and learning line engraving techniques, especially copper engraving using the traditional burin, from Joseph Hecht. In 1927 he founded a studio, which in 1933 moved to No 17, Rue Campagne-Première, where it became internationally known as "Atelier 17." Its printmaking techniques influenced such artists as Picasso, Miró, Arp, Tanguy, Giacometti, Ernst, Trevelyan and Peterdi. "Atelier 17" moved to New York on the outbreak of World War II.
During World War II, Hayter collaborated with Roland Penrose, Trevelyan, and others in setting up a camouflage unit, later acting as advisor to the Museum of Modern Art for a show, Britain at War. For this, he devised an analog computer to duplicate the angle of the sun and shadow lengths for any time, day and latitude.[3]
"Atelier 17" returned to Paris in 1950. On Hayter's death in 1988 it was renamed "Atelier Contrepoint."
Hayter continued to develop painting alongside printmaking. His interest in automatism led him to associate with the Surrealists, and in the United States he was an innovator in the Abstract Expressionism movement.
Hayter received an OBE and Légion d'honneur in 1951, and was chosen to represent Great Britain at the 1958 Venice Biennale. He became Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres in 1967, and received a CBE in 1968.
Hayter was married twice: to Edith Fletcher (dissolved 1929), and to the American sculptor Helen Phillips (dissolved 1971).
[edit] References
- Atelier Contrepoint biography
- ^ P. M. S. Hacker, "Hayter, Stanley William (1901–1988)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 25 Sept 2007
- ^ *Innovation in printmaking: Obituary of Mr S W Hayter, The Times, London, May 7, 1988
- ^ Atelier Contrepoint, biography
Hayter married Desiree Moorhead, Irish poet and writer with whom he lived in Paris and Éire until his death in Paris in 1988. He had three sons: Patrick with his first wife, d. young. Augy and Julian with his second wife. Augy was an actor, writer, translator, d. 2005 in Ardeche. Julian was a composer, gifted musician and photographer. d. Paris, 2007, both in their early 60's.
