1190 - Gisela Kohl, “Wellenbad”, bathers in choppy water, edition print, 1979

Gisela Kohl, “Wellenbad”, bathers in choppy water, edition print, 1979 (born 1943). Etching on paper, signed and dated in pencil below the image at right “Kohl, 79”, titled at centre “Wellenbad”, edition inscription at left “I / 1/10”. Numerous bathers in churning water, in the foreground heads and torsos between the waves, some with bathing caps, at the centre a figure with raised arms, further figures at the right edge, above a densely hatched sky. Good age-appropriate condition, margins creased, torn and stained, sheet slightly yellowed. Image 20x26.5 cm (HxW), sheet 34x48 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.