• We are pleased to present a special online exhibition, A Couch of Grass, featuring a series of drypoints made by John Hartman in 1992. These etchings were created as visual accompaniment for a book of poetry, by the same name, written by Flori Vale. Hartman and Vale exhibited together at the Gadatsy Gallery in the 1980s and had much mutual admiration for each other's practices. 
     
    The limited edition book, A Couch of Grass, was in an edition of 20 and sold out immediately.
     
    The two portfolios included in this online exhibition are rare Artist Proof editions of the drypoints from A Couch of Grass. In addition, there are several Trial Proofs which are unique in their plate-colour combinations. These exceptional suites and etchings have remained in Hartman's personal archive until now. 
     
    Hartman is widely known for his contributions to the colour drypoint medium, a tradition carried on from David Milne.
  • "A Couch of Grass came into being at the suggestion of Julie and Stephen Gadatsy of the Gadatsy Gallery in 1990. Flori Vale, poet and artist, and I were both represented there. The handmade, small edition book was to feature Flori’s sensual garden poems and my colour drypoints. We loved the idea.

    I made visits to Flori’s home on Hazelton Avenue in Toronto, sketching her as she played the grand piano in the bay window of her front room, making drawings of her writing desk and of her garden at the back of her house. She was fun, unpredictable, very spontaneous – and almost twice my age. I remember this time with great affection for Flori."
  • John Hartman Speculation, 1992 colour drypoint Plate: 4 x 3 3/4 in., Sheet: 8 1/2 x 19 1/4 in. AP...
    John Hartman
    Speculation, 1992
    colour drypoint
    Plate: 4 x 3 3/4 in., Sheet: 8 1/2 x 19 1/4 in.
    AP with colour variation (6/6)
    $ 3,000.00

  • "We selected the poems and I began to envision the colour drypoints, not so much as illustrations, but more as images that took their inspiration from the poems and from Flori herself. I loved how many of the poems had obvious erotic content, even though they referred to insects and plants."

     
  • John Hartman Passion, 1992 colour drypoint Plate: 4 1/2 x 5 3/4 in., Sheet: 8 1/2 x 9 3/4 in....
    John Hartman
    Passion, 1992
    colour drypoint
    Plate: 4 1/2 x 5 3/4 in., Sheet: 8 1/2 x 9 3/4 in.
    AP with colour variation (3/3)
    $ 2,500.00

  • "To make the drypoints I cut lines into copper plates, using a separate plate for each colour. I did more experimentation with possible colour variants than was usual, before arriving at the final colour combination for each print. I was influenced by David Milne’s approach to colour drypoint, where sometimes whole editions were variants. I also had to consider how all these drypoints would work together in the book. I kept these colour variants as my artist proofs and these are what you are seeing today. The twenty copies of A Couch of Grass all sold immediately. Until now, the drypoints have never been exhibited."

  • Two complete suites with all six etchings available for purchase. A selection of individual prints are also available. John Hartman...
     

    Two complete suites with all six etchings available for purchase. A selection of individual prints are also available.

     

    John Hartman
    Couch of Grass Suite 2, 1992
    six colour drypoints
    varying dimensions
    AP with colour variation (AP2)
    $ 12,000.00
    Inquire
  • ARTIST BIO John Hartman is one of Canada’s preeminent painters. He is known for his rich, vibrant depictions of the...

    ARTIST BIO

     

    John Hartman is one of Canada’s preeminent painters. He is known for his rich, vibrant depictions of the country’s most iconic landscapes. Hartman’s prolific practice includes oil painting, watercolour, pastel, and printmaking.

     

    Hartman notes that his aerial viewpoints originate from his childhood dreams of flying; imagining the landscape unfurling like a roll of film below him. A recurrent setting in John Hartman’s practice has been the blue waters of Georgian Bay: “the Bay is my home landscape. It defines my sense of space, light and scale.” In his large-scale works, Hartman dedicates attention to the minutest of details, from people on the ground to boats flitting through massive expanses of blue water.  It is in this desire to intertwine people and place where Hartman deviates from the tradition of Canadian landscape painting, a subject that he is deeply knowledgeable about. He is an aficionado on the work of David Milne and his invention of the colour drypoint etching, a medium which Hartman is now highly regarded for as well.

     

    Hartman has exhibited extensively in Canada as well as in New York, New Orleans and London, England. His work was the subject of three widely acclaimed travelling museum exhibitions, Many Lives Mark This Place (2020 - 2024) organized and circulated by the Woodstock Art Gallery, CITIES (2007-2010), and Big North (1999-2001). Collections include the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, the New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans and the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Halifax. In 2024, Hartman received his appointment to the Order of Canada.