Details — Click to read
Drypoint on Crisbrook Waterleaf paper, from Jim Dine’s Thirty Bones of My Body portfolio of thirty drypoints, printed in an edition of 10 with three Artist’s Proofs. Signed by the artist, dated 1972, and numbered in pencil. This drypoint comes from the archive of the publisher Petersburg Press.
The hand tool is undoubtedly Jim Dine’s most iconic motif. Meticulously catalogued in rows like scientific specimens or sketched individually, hammers, awls, brushes, saws and screwdrivers assume a visceral symbolism. Curvilinear handles evoke the contours of limbs or bones, and even metal points and blades seem organic under Dine’s thoughtful hand. In this series of dry point prints, each tool is positioned vertically. Standing in for the artist’s body, the phallic shapes are gently shaded, appearing pressed into a grey field. The delicate, soft quality of dry point lines enhances the intimate nature of these portraits.
