Stanley William Hayter biography

Stanley William Hayter was a British artist of great importance in the panorama of surrealist art. His career spans both as a painter and a printmaker, with significant contributions in both fields. Over the course of his life, he founded Atelier 17, a printmaking studio in Paris that attracted some of the greatest artists of the time, including Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dalí, Marc Chagall, Joan Miró, Max Ernst and Alberto Giacometti. Born in Hackney, London, in December 1901, Stanley William Hayter moved to Paris in 1926. It was here that he came into contact with the surrealist avant-garde and became friends with artists such as Alexander Calder, André Masson and Éluard. In 1927, he opened his engraving studio at 17 rue Campagne-Première, where he experimented with innovative techniques in the field of color engraving.
His activity as a painter developed in parallel with that of an engraver, developing an unmistakable style, characterized by a combination of abstraction and figuration, with intense colors and dynamic linear figures, often inspired by automatic writing.
Towards the end of the 1930s, Hayter participated in the Spanish War alongside the Spanish Republicans and created several works of art in that context. During World War II, he moved to the United States, where he had the opportunity to meet and work with young artists such as Jackson Pollock . He also meets Mark Rothko, Robert Motherwell and Roberto Matta . His art evolved towards abstraction and influenced the American Abstract Expressionism movement. In the 1950s, Hayter returned to France and taught printmaking to a new generation of artists in his Parisian atelier. He also opens a studio in Provence, in the city of Alba-la-Romaine. In 1958, he represented the United Kingdom at the Venice Biennale and received numerous awards with monographic exhibitions in many museums around the world.
Upon his death in 1988, the entire catalog of his etchings was acquired by the British Museum . His works are preserved in important museums such as the Tate, the MoMA, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Centre Georges Pompidou and the British Muse.
Stanley William Hayter's biography reveals an eclectic artistic path of great relevance in the panorama of 20th century art. Through his activity as a painter and printmaker, he contributed to the experimentation of new techniques and influenced many other artists. His ability to combine abstract and figurative elements, combined with the bold use of color and the dynamic nature of his compositions, has made his works distinctive and memorable. Stanley William Hayter remains a major figure in the history of Surrealist art and the Abstract Expressionism movement, leaving a lasting legacy on the international art scene.