About the work

Peter Milton has been described as “the most proficient etcher in the United States”, and this work was completed in 1974 when the artist had reached his greatest maturity. His technical proficiency in etching and engraving is obvious from his ability to create shaded, lifelike images and a sense of mystery in a medium which is certainly conducive to those traits but takes perhaps more readily to a wooden and flat image of the sort never found in Milton’s work.

Milton is famous not for his technical virtuosity—though few rival him in that regard—but for the artistry of his work. There is much to be said about Milton’s creativity (and much has been said in the voluminous literature by and about Peter Milton), but we get a glimpse of it from Milton’s comment that, “I find my reward in the unexpected pleasures of a surprising and mysterious effect, when all the knowns have finally, magically combined, to produce a completely unknown, magical end.”

In that regard, this work comes at a critical junction in Milton’s artistic development. He began printmaking in about 1961, when he began teaching at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, immediately after completing his MFA at Yale. Of his oeuvre of about 120 prints, his first two dozen were landscapes, gardens, and similar traditional images. In the mid- to late-1960s, he turned to images that frequently incorporated buildings and homes and, more importantly, began his journey into surrealism. With only a handful of exceptions—including this one—all of Milton’s works are figurative and (beginning in 1968) all surrealistic. This work appears to be a bridge, reflecting the blocking out of portions of the image, a device Milton would use throughout his life, and gradations of color and texture.

Attributes	Value
Medium	Print, Woodcut
Condition	Excellent Condition
Signing, Dating, and Titling	Signed, dated, and editioned by the artist en recto
Framing	Custom framed and matted using conservation materials
Date	1940-1950
Type	Old Etchings

Medium:

Hard Ground etching and Aquatint from copper plate

Paper:

very heavy ivory wove Rives paper

Date:

1974

Edition:

The first of two examples printed for the second State Proof. There was one example printed of the first State Proof. Preceded an edition projected to be 50 examples, of which 24 were printed.

Signature:

Hand-signed by artist, in pencil, en recto lower right, with date. Notated
400:1″ en recto lower center. Editioned en recto lower left. Printer’s Chopmarks en recto lower left margin.

Framing:

Professionally framed in a black solid Ash frame and matted using strictly conservation-grade materials behind 99% UV-filtering art glass.

Condition:

Excellent condition. Very well-inked, full margins, no signs of handling, crisp edges.

Frame Size:

14.75 in. (h) × 16.25 in. (w) × 1.0 in. (d)

Plate Size:

4 in. (h) × 6 in. (w)