Evening star., 1961-12-03

1O Tedu FeIlIlell NOluHl
only a lucid account of the
processes, but also the record
of an intense personal Strug-
gle to master every way in
which 1t was possible to make
prints. Pennell on mezzo-
tint, particularly, is in the
first place a minutely in
structive description of that
difficult and rarely used
process. While the instruc-
ton is still going on, how
ever. the text m dulates
Subtly into a printman's dark
night of the soul. Try as
he would, Pennell could not
master mezzotint to his own
satisfaction. Through the
prose runs the instant
temptation to give up on the
process completely. to write
off meZzotint as fit only for
the Slavish copying of 18th
century portraits. Just as
constantly runs the certainty
that there must be something
there, that if he, Pennell,
has but the persistence and
humility. he will eventually
be rewarded with mezzotint
prints worth the consider
able expenditure of time and
energy. Meanwhile. he COM
mends the process to the
reader and hopes he may
have better luck than the
writer.
Subtle Effect
This attitude toward tech
nique is very strongly in evi-
dence in the show of Pennell
prints now on view in the
library's second floor exhi-
bition gallery. You feel that
while there's hardly a print
in the show that wouldn't
come as something of a shock
to Joseph Pennell, neverthe-
less he would be fascinated
by every item. For Pennell,
was capable of working up
high excitement over a cou-
pie of square inches of an
etching, a completely alb
stract passage of a complete
ly representational print. The
things that could excite him
in such a passage are the
qualities the present group
of acquisitions is strongest
in. the subtle varieties of ef-
feet possible from control Of
pTlIlG GeALuTe.
Despite his devotion to
technique. Pennell never
quite drifted into the late
Victorian idea that etching
technique was an end in it
self. an idea that has persist
ed. unchanged. through all
the changing Of the avant
gard that has gone on ever
since. His views of the build
ing of the Panama Canal,
for example, are perfect ex-
amples of the printmaker's
art. shading from light to
dark with exquisite control
and seemingly infinite grad
uation; they are also. of
course. valuable historical
documents. Beyond both
these. however. Pennell at
Panama unfolds a tremen-
dously impressive vision of
man the maker: The til : fig
ures move through ligh and
shadow to bring into exist
ence the immense structures.
Wider Range
Similarly In the new ac-
QUESTIONS, the range of tech
niques is far beyond any,
thing that ever entered Pen
nell's mind. Besides such
new techniques as serigraph
and metal collage, the show
includes such mixtures of the
old as color woodcut, aqua
tint and etching" a combi-
nation that surely would
have struck the old boy as
a hopeless mongrelization of
prints. Yet nowhere in the
show does the visitor get the
impression that technique is
pursued as an end in itself.
The printmakers, American
and foreign, are in constant
search of new means but the
means are clearly a part of
the larger search for ends,
just as with Pennell. The
result is an exhibition both
highly stimulating and ulti-
mately satisfying.
One Of the first prints en-
countered is Fireworks" by
the venerable experimental
printmaker, Stanley William
Hayter. Following the lead
} of contemporary painting.
the artist has successfully
translated the appearance of
accident into intaglio. The
print looks as if it was made