Deep Canyon

Print

Purdue University Galleries

Name/Title

Deep Canyon

Entry/Object ID

1987.05

Description

Colorful abstracted collagraph etching print on paper of a canyon. The artist uses blacks, golds, reds, green, purple, and white to create the image. The white and colored earth drops off on the left-hand side into a deep black canyon which is bisected by a gradient blue/green river. The piece uses texture, color, and line to really create a sense of depth in the main focus which is the drop in the canyon. The piece uses various patterns and etch marks in the larger two black shapes, as well as the purple portion on the right, and the white and blue shapes at the bottom left. The left-hand side of the piece has black swirling patterns laid on top of the orange and red color of the canyon and the second black portion has etchings in the black vertically which reveals the white underneath. The bottom left-hand corner has a white slopping shape which is textured moving downward with the slope of the curve. The blue section next to it is textured through the contrast of color, and a swirling pattern of black which lays on top of the blue underneath. The whole surface of the piece is treated to have texture feel that makes it look almost like the pieces are laid on top of each other rather than painted. The primary colors of the pieces are orange, blue, red, green, purple, white, and black. The artist uses the brighter colors to create a more abstract representation of a canyon, and by using the black overlaying on the left side creates a more muted but present sense of continuity in the drop off. Moreover, the gradient in the deep royal blue to the lighter green in the river gives a feeling of gradual motion almost. The treatment on the areas of color make it look like actual rock. The contrast between the very bright colors and the black and white portions of the piece create a really stunning representation.

Type of Print

Collograph

Acquisition

Accession

1987.05

Source or Donor

Leonard Breen Memorial Fund

Acquisition Method

Gift

Credit Line

Leonard Breen Memorial Fund

Made/Created

Artist

Clare Romano

Date made

1978

Inscription/Signature/Marks

Type

Signature, Print number and run, Title

Location

Lower left hand -- along bottom white space

Transcription

42/150 Deep Canyon Clare Romano

Material/Technique

Pencil, Written, In Artist's Hand

Type

Tag

Location

Hanging from wire

Transcription

print 1987.05 HARR -C14 - B

Language

English

Material/Technique

Written, Pencil

Type

Sticker, Receiver Marking

Location

Back of canvas, lower center

Transcription

Susie Gibbs Framing & Art Gallery 553 Main Street Lafayette, IN 47902

Language

English

Material/Technique

Printed

Type

Previous Number

Location

Back of canvas, upper left corner behind punched out paper

Transcription

1987.05

Material/Technique

Written, Pencil

Lexicon

Nomenclature 4.0

Nomenclature Primary Object Term

Nomenclature Sub-Class

Graphic Documents

Nomenclature Class

Documentary Objects

Nomenclature Category

Category 08: Communication Objects

Dimensions

Height

30 in

Width

22 in

Color

Black, Green, Blue, Light blue, Red, Orange, white

Interpretative Labels

Label

Although Clare Romano’s mature work has evolved through a number of different influences and styles, the one constant in her work is her response to the landscape--any change in her geographical surroundings is sure to elicit a new body of work. She is best known for her work in collagraphy, a relief printing process which embosses the paper surface while applying color. With her husband, John Ross, she wrote The Complete Collagraph, the definitive technical guide to the medium. Romano is, above all else, a remarkable colorist. Although the colors are always based in the landscape, her personal interpretations result in unexpected tonalities and juxtapositions. A major turning point in Romano’s work was occasioned by her first trip to the Grand Canyon in 1975. She responded not only to the colors of the landscape and to the intensity of the light, but also to the dramatic monolithic formations of the canyons. Her simplification and abstraction of these overwhelming shapes gave a new dimension of spareness and strength to her work. These southwest landscapes have become a recurring theme in Romano’s work and in them both her textures and her use of color have become increasingly bolder and stronger.