Néréide (Nereid)

In Greek mythology, Nereids were goddesses of the sea, who as patrons of sailors and fisherman, came to the aid of men in distress. Strongly linear and abstract, Stanley Hayter's unconventional interpretation of Nereids swimming in the sea is more allusion than description. Hayter rejected making preliminary studies for his prints, instead relying on what he deemed were subconscious impulses--the so-called automatic drawing techniques that emerged from his early contact with André Masson and interest in surrealist theory. With vigorously engraved lines, he simultaneously records form and motion against a background of blue-green ocean. The result is read as pure abstraction, a vibrant interplay of line, form, and color.