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This whimsical screenprint by Eduardo Paolozzi pictures giant inkwells being carried on old style train cars. The composition looks like a printed image blown up to reveal the halftone dots and rough edges of lines.
Scottish artist of Italian descent Eduardo Paolozzi studied in London and then worked in Paris where he mingled with the original Surrealists: artists like Alberto Giacometti, Jean Arp, Constantin Brâncuși, Georges Braque and Fernand Léger. He was one of the founders of the British Independent Group in 1952, the precursor to the Pop Art movement.
Professor Michael Fourman at The University of Edinburgh, wrote: “Paolozzi was intrigued by genius and creativity. His heroes, Leonardo, Einstein, Wittgenstein, Freud, and Turing sought to explore the inner workings of the mind, the body and the world.” Einstein was a sort of muse to Paolozzi, serving as the subject of numerous portraits, as well as works such as this one which were inspired by his writings.
Paolozzi’s work and its reach were formidable: it ranges from screenprints and portfolios, to mosaic murals in the London subway, to album art for Paul McCartney, to a range of public sculptures and even commercial collaborations with high-end German porcelain studio Rosenthal.
Inkwells Silver 1962
Screenprint on Esparto Cartridge paper
18 x 14.5 in / 45 x 36 cm
Edition 10: this copy a signed proof
Signed and dated ‘61 in pencil lower right, annotated EA lower left (referring to the publisher Editions Alecto)
Framed: wood frame measures 22 x 26 x 1.75 in.
A few minor scratches in the plexiglass, and a small scratch in the frame. A few pinhead-sized discolorations on the mat, upper left and lower left.
