Józef Hecht
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Józef Hecht (14 December 1891 – 19 June 1951), also known as Joseph Hecht, was a
printmaker Printmaking is the process of creating work of art, artworks by printing, normally on paper, but also on fabric, wood, metal, and other surfaces. "Traditional printmaking" normally covers only the process of creating prints using a hand proce ...
and
painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...
. Born and educated in Poland, he made Paris his base from 1920. Trained in classical engraving techniques, Hecht was a founder of "
Atelier 17 Atelier 17 was an art school and studio that was influential in the teaching and promotion of printmaking in the 20th century. Originally located in Paris, the studio relocated to New York during the years surrounding World War II. It moved back ...
", and had a profound influence on 20th-century printmakers.


Career

Born in
Łódź Łódź, also rendered in English as Lodz, is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located approximately south-west of Warsaw. The city's coat of arms is an example of canti ...
, Poland, in 1891, Hecht studied at the Art Academy of Kraków from 1909 to 1914. On completion of his studies in Kraków, Hecht visited museums throughout Europe. The outbreak of
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
found him in Berlin. Due to the fact that he had done his studies in the Austrian zone in Poland and thanks to prizes obtained at the
Académie des Beaux-Arts An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...
, Hecht was given the option of going to neutral Norway, where he lived from 1914 to 1919. Immediately following the
armistice An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from the La ...
, Hecht traveled to Italy; and two years later to Paris, where he maintained his studio until his death. At this time Hecht became a member of the
Salon d'Automne The Salon d'Automne (; en, Autumn Salon), or Société du Salon d'automne, is an art exhibition held annually in Paris, France. Since 2011, it is held on the Champs-Élysées, between the Grand Palais and the Petit Palais, in mid-October. The ...
, thereby gaining an entrée into the Parisian art world and a chance to exhibit his work on a regular basis. At his Paris studio, he taught burin-engraving - the classic copper-engraving technique - to many artists, including
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...
surrealist Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...
painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...
and
printmaker Printmaking is the process of creating work of art, artworks by printing, normally on paper, but also on fabric, wood, metal, and other surfaces. "Traditional printmaking" normally covers only the process of creating prints using a hand proce ...
Stanley William Hayter Stanley William Hayter (27 December 1901 – 4 May 1988) was an English painter and printmaker associated in the 1930s with surrealism and from 1940 onward with abstract expressionism. Regarded as one of the most significant printmakers of ...
,
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
n-born British painter and printmaker
Dolf Rieser Dolf Rieser (1898–1983) was a South Africa painter, printmaker, and teacher. Early life and education Dolf Rieser was born in King William's Town, Cape Colony, and educated in Germany and Switzerland. In 1917, he studied at École Polytechn ...
. The year 1926 was a turning point in Hecht's career and heralded the most successful period of his life. He published his first suite of six prints, ''l'Arche de Noë'', which included a preface by the French
symbolist Symbolism was a late 19th-century art movement of French and Belgian origin in poetry and other arts seeking to represent absolute truths symbolically through language and metaphorical images, mainly as a reaction against naturalism and realis ...
Gustave Kahn Gustave Kahn (21 December 1859, in Metz – 5 September 1936, in Paris) was a French Symbolist poet and art critic. He was also active, via publishing and essay-writing, in defining Symbolism and distinguishing it from the Decadent Movement. ...
and was exhibited in December that year at the Paris gallery ''Le nouvel essor''. Hecht's future collaborator, mystical narrator
André Suarès André Suarès, born Isaac Félix Suarèshttp://data.bnf.fr/11925703/andre_suares/fr.pdf (12 June 1868, Marseille – 7 September 1948, Saint-Maur-des-Fossés) was a French poet and critic. From 1912 onwards, he was one of the four "pillars" o ...
, wrote a laudatory catalogue article. The images that Hecht developed at this time found renewed vigor in 1928 when Suarès and Hecht collaborated on the folio, ''Atlas''. In ''Atlas'' Hecht began to re-combine images and forms he had previously studied—a working method that he refined throughout his life. In 1927 Hecht's encouragement of Hayter's printmaking activities led to the establishment of ''Atelier 17'', a cooperative printmaking studio, which endures to this day in Paris as ''Atelier Contrepoint''. The "
Atelier An atelier () is the private workshop or studio of a professional artist in the fine or decorative arts or an architect, where a principal master and a number of assistants, students, and apprentices can work together producing fine art or v ...
" influenced artists
Pablo Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...
,
Marc Chagall Marc Chagall; russian: link=no, Марк Заха́рович Шага́л ; be, Марк Захаравіч Шагал . (born Moishe Shagal; 28 March 1985) was a Russian-French artist. An early modernism, modernist, he was associated with se ...
,
Alberto Giacometti Alberto Giacometti (, , ; 10 October 1901 – 11 January 1966) was a Swiss sculptor, painter, draftsman and printmaker. Beginning in 1922, he lived and worked mainly in Paris but regularly visited his hometown Borgonovo to see his family and ...
and others. In 1929 Hecht became a founding member of the group, ''La Jeune Gravure Contemporaine'', which staged annual group shows and was influential in keeping the spirit of printmaking alive. Hecht also associated with members of ''Les Peintres-Graveurs Indépendants'', founded in 1923 by J. E. Laboureur and
Raoul Dufy Raoul Dufy (; 3 June 1877 – 23 March 1953) was a French Fauvism, Fauvist painter. He developed a colorful, decorative style that became fashionable for designs of ceramic art, ceramics and textile as well as decorative schemes for public bu ...
. It is doubtful that Hecht knew each member of these groups, but it is probable that he was familiar with their work and they with his, and that this provided an opportunity for the exchange of techniques, subjects, and ideas. Hecht was an intermediary between the
avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...
artists of Atelier 17 and more traditional
printmaker Printmaking is the process of creating work of art, artworks by printing, normally on paper, but also on fabric, wood, metal, and other surfaces. "Traditional printmaking" normally covers only the process of creating prints using a hand proce ...
s. Between 1926 and 1938 Hecht's engravings were published in various collections (see Chronology), his work was widely shown, and it gained critical acclaim. Hecht won two gold medals at the
1937 Paris World's Fair The ''Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne'' (International Exposition of Art and Technology in Modern Life) was held from 25 May to 25 November 1937 in Paris, France. Both the Palais de Chaillot, housing the Mus ...
.


Later career and death

Of
Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
descent, Hecht left Paris before the start of
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
to live in the Savoy region near the Swiss-Italian border, where he worked as an
agricultural Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating Plant, plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of Sedentism, sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of Domestication, domesticated species created food ...
laborer. After the war Hecht returned to Paris. Hayter, who had moved Atelier 17 to
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
for the duration of the war, returned to Paris and found his old friend in poor health and out of work. To encourage Hecht to take up engraving again, Hayter brought a large
copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...
plate to Hecht's studio and began working on it. Hecht could not resist, and together they produced the
collaborative Collaboration (from Latin ''com-'' "with" + ''laborare'' "to labor", "to work") is the process of two or more people, entities or organizations working together to complete a task or achieve a goal. Collaboration is similar to cooperation. Most ...
print, "''La Noyee''". With renewed enthusiasm, Hecht began producing numerous engravings, while also developing new methods for printing in
relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...
. Hecht died of a
heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...
in his Paris studio on 19 June 1951.


Chronology

1891 Born on 14 December in Lodz, Poland.
1909 Enters the ''Académie des Beaux-Arts'' in Kraków, Poland.
1914 Graduates from the ''Académie des Beaux-Arts''.
Following graduation, travels in Europe, visiting museums, spends a brief period studying in Berlin, then goes to Norway at the outbreak of World War I.
1917 Exhibition at Christiania, Norway.
1918 Exhibitions in Oslo and Bergen, Norway.
1919 Travels to Italy.
1920 Moves to Paris. Becomes a member of the ''Salon d'Automne'' and begins to exhibit with them.
1921 Begins to exhibit at the ''Salon des Indépendents''. Exhibition at Washington, D.C.
1923 Exhibitions in Philadelphia, at the ''
Salon des Tuileries The Salon des Tuileries was an annual art exhibition for painting and sculpture, created June 14, 1923, co-founded by painters Albert Besnard and Bessie Davidson, sculptor Antoine Bourdelle, architect Auguste Perret, and others. The first year's ex ...
'' and the ''Galerie Le Nouvel Essor'', Paris.
1926 Publishes ''l'Arche de Noë'', a suite of six engravings with a preface by
Gustave Kahn Gustave Kahn (21 December 1859, in Metz – 5 September 1936, in Paris) was a French Symbolist poet and art critic. He was also active, via publishing and essay-writing, in defining Symbolism and distinguishing it from the Decadent Movement. ...
; ''l'Eubage aux Antipodes de l'Unité'', five engravings with prose by
Blaise Cendrars Frédéric-Louis Sauser (1 September 1887 – 21 January 1961), better known as Blaise Cendrars, was a Swiss-born novelist and poet who became a naturalized French citizen in 1916. He was a writer of considerable influence in the European mod ...
. Exhibitions at ''Galere Berthe Weil'', Paris, and at ''Galerie Le Nouvel Essor'', Paris. Meets
Stanley William Hayter Stanley William Hayter (27 December 1901 – 4 May 1988) was an English painter and printmaker associated in the 1930s with surrealism and from 1940 onward with abstract expressionism. Regarded as one of the most significant printmakers of ...
.
1927 Helps Hayter establish ''Atelier 17'', Paris. Writes an unpublished treatise on engraving.
1928 Publishes ''Atlas'', a suite of six engravings with a poem by
André Suarès André Suarès, born Isaac Félix Suarèshttp://data.bnf.fr/11925703/andre_suares/fr.pdf (12 June 1868, Marseille – 7 September 1948, Saint-Maur-des-Fossés) was a French poet and critic. From 1912 onwards, he was one of the four "pillars" o ...
. Exhibitions in The Wanamaker Galleries, New York, and at Lodz, Poland.
1929 Publishes ''Croquis d'Animaux'', ten engravings. Exhibition at Gallery Georges, London. Founding member of ''La Jeune Gravure Contemporaine''.
1930 Exhibition at ''Galerie Berthe Weil'', Paris.
1931 Exhibition of ''La Jeune Gravure Contemporaine''.
1932 Exhibition of ''La Jeune Gravure Contemporaine''.
1933 Publishes Paris, a suite of eleven engravings. Exhibition of ''La Jeune Gravure Contemporaine''.
Exhibition in San Francisco.
1934 Exhibition of ''La Jeune Gravure Contemporaine''.
1935 Exhibition of ''La Jeune Gravure Contemporaine''.
1936 Exhibition of ''La Jeune Gravure Contemporaine''.
1937 Wins two gold medals at the International Exposition, Paris.
1938 Publishes ''Nouveaux Croquis d'Animaux'', ten engravings. Begins work on London suite while visiting his sisters.
Exhibitions in Johannesburg and Pretoria, South Africa.
1939 Exhibits in group show at ''Petit-Palais'', Paris.
1941 Exhibition in Paris.
1941–1945 Works as an agricultural laborer in the Savoy region of France. Without access to a press, all work takes the form of drawings or paintings.
1944 Exhibition at ''Galerie Denise René'', Paris.
1946 Resumes printmaking at the urging of Hayter.
1949 Invents a new relief printing process.
1950 Publishes ''Quelques Aventures de Maitre Renart'', with engravings.
1951 Dies of a heart attack in his studio in Paris, 19 June.
Posthumous Exhibitions
1952 ''La Jeune Gravure Contemporaine'', Paris.
1959 Bazalel Museum, Jerusalem.
1966 ''Galerie Berie'', Paris.
1968 Municipal Library, Mulhouse, France.
1969 Lumley Cazalet, Gallery, London.
1985 Dolan/Maxell Gallery, Philadelphia.
1998 ''Arsène Bonafous-Murat'', Paris.


Public Collections

Bibliothèque Doucet; Bibliothèque Nationale; British Museum; Brooklyn Museum; Cabinet d' Amsterdam; Caterby Jones Collection; Chalcographie du Louvre; Cincinnati Museum of Art; Delft Museum; Hague Museum; Leeds Museum; Leyde Museum; Library of Congress; Metropolitan Museum of Art; Musée d'Amiens; Musée des Ars Décoratifs, Paris; Musée de Belfort; Musée Carnavalet; Musée de Céret; Museum of Copenhagen; Musée du Luxembourg; Musée de Montpelier; Musée de Mulhouse; Musée de Nantes; Musée du Petit-Palais; Museum of Tel-Aviv; National Gallery of Art, Washington; New York Public Library; Philadelphia Museum of Art; University of Warsaw; Victoria and Albert Museum.


Bibliography

Books: * Adhémar, Jean; Lethève, Jacques; and Gardey Fraçoise. ''Inventaire du Fonds Françis après 1800''-Vol. 10. Paris: Bibliothèque Nationale, 1958. * Bersier, Jean-Eugène. ''La Gravure''. Paris: Berger-Levrault, 1963. * Black, Peter; and Moorhead, Desiree, ''The Prints of Stanley William Hayter: A Complete Catalogue''. Mount Kisco, NY: Moyer Bell Ltd., 1992. * Gross, Anthony. ''Etching, Engraving and Intaglio Printing''. London: Oxford University Press, 1973. * Hayter, Stanley William. ''New Ways of Gravure''. London: Oxford University Press, 1966. * Hayter, Stanley William. ''About Prints''. London: Oxford University Press, 1962. * Tonneau-Ryckelynck, Dominique; and Plumart, Roland, ''Joseph Hecht 1891-1951: Catalogue Raisonné de l’Oeuvre Gravé''. Paris: Editions de Musée de Gravelines, 1992. * Roger-Marx, Claude. ''French Original Engravings from Manet to the Present Time''. New York: Hyperion Press, 1939. Periodicals: Hopkinson, Martin. "Two Bookplates by Joseph Hecht", Print Quarterly, XXVIII, 2011, 448-50. Buckand-Wright, John. "Modern French Engraving," ''Studio'', CXXXVIII (December, 1949), 177-181. Descargues, Pierre. "Joseph Hecht," ''Evidences'', (September–October, 1951), 39-41. Descargues, Pierre. "Contemporary Artists-Joseph Hecht," ''ARTS'', (15 September 1951). "Joseph Hecht à la galerie Bernier," ''Les nouvelles de la Bibliothèque Nationale'', (1985). Kahn, Gusrave. "Les arts-Joseph Hecht," ''Menorah'', (1926), 286. Laboureur, J. E. "The Revival of the Burin in France," ''Creative Art'', V (December, 1929), 881-84. Lévy-Gurman, Anny. "Le Animaux de Joseph Hecht," ''Art et Décoration'', LXI (February, 1934), 44-48. Roger-Marx, Claude. "Contemporary French Prints," ''Parnassus'', IX (February 1937), 15+. Schwab, Raymond. "Souvenirs sur Hecht," ''ARTS'', (7 December 1951). Suarès, André. "Atlas-Gravure de Joseph Hecht," ''Montparnasse'', No. 52 (July–August, 1928), 1, 3. Catalogues: * Bonafous-Murat, Anne. ''Joseph Hecht 1891-1951 Gravures''. Paris: Arsène Bonafous-Murat, 1998. * ''Gravures et Livres de Joseph Hecht''. Mulhouse: Bibliothèque Municipale de Mulhouse, 1968. * Moser, Joan. ''Atelier 17''. Madison: University of Wisconsin, 1977. * Roosevelt, Michael A. ''Joseph Hecht''. Philadelphia: Dolan/Maxwell Gallery, 1985. * Suarès, André. ''l'Ymagier de l'Arche''. Paris: Le Nouvel Essor, 1926.


Notes


External links


Reuben and Edith Hecht Museum
University of Haifa The University of Haifa ( he, אוניברסיטת חיפה Arabic: جامعة حيفا) is a university located on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel. Founded in 1963, the University of Haifa received full academic accreditation in 1972, becoming Is ...

History of Engraving
Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

Artists Who Have Worked at Atelier 17 (1927-1955)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hecht, Jozef 1891 births 1951 deaths 20th-century engravers Polish engravers Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts alumni Atelier 17 alumni Polish emigrants to France