n. 840 The Argonauts

Symbolic journey or legend of an ancestral rite, this recently engraved copper is inspired by the Greek myth of the Golden Fleece. In the mother waters, islands and islets rise before our eyes, few in truth because most have been swallowed up by primitive earthquakes. This archipelago floats in a sidereal brightness but the shadows suggest in the distance a luminous source, a nascent life. In these wrecks of stone and vegetation, the Argonauts represent the race of navigators of the past: the desire to conquer the world brings out the boldest but also the most dramatic ideas. There is in man "a rage of will, an impatience to act on the world" (G. Bachelard). Lords of war or spirits drunk with freedom, men must confront the contradictions of their destiny. With successive bites, the etching evokes the sense of depth in the different planes in space. When black serves as a casket for warm values, the shadows are resumed in drypoint. The Bible paper background offers an elegant intermediate tone between black and white and enhances the details of the layout. The edition was printed by the author on a Bendini press in the first days of the New Year.