Original Aquatint Etching “Fireside Prayers II” [Donation]

This is the very first etching that Hardin ever executed. It was printed between March 14, 1980 and April 30, 1980 at El Cerro Graphics in Los Lunas, New Mexico. This image is number 15 of a total edition of only 25.

California art gallery owner Sue DiMaio was a major gallery for the works of Helen Hardin and she became concerned for Hardin and her health. She had already been hospitalized previously because of exhaustion, and DiMaio felt she would be again because of her intense attitude to produce her art. She visited the artist in 1979 to attempt to talk her into entering the realm of printmaking. Hardin was not interested in lithography because she felt the medium did not do justice to artists Scholder and Gorman, in that their lithographs were inferior to their original works.

DiMaio convinced Hardin to consider the medium of etching and to speak with Rick Ximinez of El Cerro Graphics, which she reluctantly did. Hardin said that Ximinez spoke with her for a couple hours and she did not understand a word he said. He then wrote her a letter that she said was “a fat thing that must have taken three stamps to mail.” She went on to say “I’ve got to do etchings for this poor guy, he’s gone to all this trouble.” Eventually, Hardin agreed that etchings suited her perfectly.

This first etching by Hardin, entitled Fireside Prayers, features robed figures gathered in a smoky semicircle. It evokes the thought of a group of Chiefs or Medicine Men holding council. It is a monochromatic masterpiece with a rich resonance.

This image is in original excellent condition and is framed so as to display the entire piece of paper on which the etching is printed. It is signed by the artist. All materials are acid free.