Walt Whitman Tomb In 3 D Printmaking By Jerry Di Falco

Year:

Medium:

Etching Print

Size - (USA):

15 W x 12 H x 1 D (inches)

Size - (metric):

38.1 W x 30.5 H x 2.5 D (centimeters)

Theme:

Landmarks

Edition:

Original

Artwork ID:

624306

PDF Copy:

Artwork Info Sheet (PDF)

Artwork Description:

This etching is one of illusion and vibration. I based the image on a photo I shot in Camden, New Jersey 1974 at the tomb of poet, Walt Whitman. I used two separate inks and ran the etching plate through the press twice first in a magenta run followed by a cyan turquoise one. I intentionally played with the printing press registration marks so that the lines from each printing would not match perfectly this resulted in a drunken-like 3-D visual effect. I employed the studio techniques of intaglio, aquatint, and drypoint for this etching. I use a CHARLES BRAND industrial printing press manufactured in New York City. This print created at The Center for Works on Paper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is from the final edition limited to only five etchings. The original zinc plate was etched in the year 2012 and, two editions of ten prints each were created then. I waited until the Full Lunar Eclipse of January 2019 to hand print this THIRD edition of five etchings, because 2019 marks the 200th anniversary of Walt Whitman’s birth. The framed print measures about 12 inches high by 15 inches wide and is matted in archival materials. My media include: Charbonnel brand oil-base inks from Paris printed on RivesBFK white paper also French. Narrative--Walt Whitman was the first poet from the United States to celebrate themes of Universalism, Free Love, Gender and Racial Equality, Nature, Same-sex Love, and The Working Classes. His poetry shocked the more traditional poets of his time like Emily Dickenson however, many famous visitors came to see Whitman in Camden, New Jersey during his final years 1888 and 1892. Note: Oscar Wilde and Thomas Eakins were among these sojourners to Whitman’s home. The poet’s final house, although not the one visited by Wilde which is now a vacant lot is now a small museum on Mickel Street near Rutgers University, Camden campus. I had the pleasure of bringing the poet Allen Ginsberg to Whitman’s home in 1974 and arranging a public reading by Ginsberg at Rutgers University on the same day. Over 1,500 people came to hear Ginsberg read, and over 200 of us escorted him to Whitman’s Mickel Street House before the reading. When Whitman died in 1892, he was interred in Harley Cemetery, Camden, New Jersey. Over 1000 people from around the world went to the grave to celebrate his life. The site is still a place where poets and artists gather to bring flowers, sip wine, and read poetry. This is a must visit place if you are ever in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, or Atlantic City. The SAATCHI price includes handling, shipment carton, packing materials, and the framed and matted etching. The frame is semi-decorative and made of white-painted wood and glass. It is wired and ready to hang.

Artwork Keywords:   Original Printmaking

Materials:   Etching Prints