Pirates

In Pirates, the artist worked for the first time in offset lithography, in which the images on metal plates are first transferred (“offset”) to rubber blankets or rollers before being printed onto the paper. The most complex print she had yet attempted, Pirates required seven metal plates and three lithographic stones to produce its final, swirling image, one of what Bontecou called her “worldscapes.” The title was chosen by Bontecou’s printer; Bontecou herself resisted giving titles to her works, not wishing to influence the viewer’s interpretation.