About The Artist:
Reuben Nakian
Born in College Point, New York, he studied at the Robert Henri School with Homer Boss and A.S. Baylinson. He also studied at the Art Students League and from 1917 to 1920, apprenticed to Paul Manship and Gaston Lachaise. He was inspired by the myths of ancient Greece and Rome. He taught sculpture at the Newark Fine Arts and Industrial Arts College and at Pratt Institute in New York City. Reuben Nakian was a giant of twentieth-century modernist...
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About The Medium:
Etching
The printing process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. In traditional pure etching, a metal (usually copper, zinc or steel) plate is covered with a waxy ground which is resistant to acid. The artist then scratches off the ground with a pointed etching needle where they want a line to appear in the finished piece, exposing the bare metal. The plate is then put through a high-pressure printing press together with a sheet of paper (often moistened to soften it). The paper picks up the ink from the etched lines, making a print.