1189 - Gisela Kohl, “Garten”, tree and shrubs in dense garden vegetation, 1978

Gisela Kohl, “Garten”, tree and shrubs in dense garden vegetation, 1978 (born 1943). Etching on paper, signed and dated in pencil below the image at right “Kohl, 78”, titled at centre “garten”, inscribed at left “e. a.” for artist’s proof. Densely overgrown garden, at the centre a tall tree with wide-spreading, partly bare branches, around it shrubs, tall grasses and perennials, rendered in a fine, nervous web of lines extending to the plate edges. Good age-appropriate condition, margins creased and stained, sheet slightly yellowed. Image 20.5x25.5 cm (HxW), sheet 39.5x36.5 cm (HxW). Etching is an intaglio process: the drawing is scratched with a needle into the etching ground of a metal plate, the exposed lines are deepened in acid, then filled with ink and printed onto dampened paper under high press pressure. The pressure leaves the plate mark in the paper that is characteristic of the technique. Unlike in engraving, the needle can be handled freely like a pencil, which gives etching its draughtsmanlike, lively line. The inscription “e. a.” stands for épreuve d’artiste, an artist’s proof printed outside the numbered edition.