Jack Beal,
Self-Portrait, With Cap
Medium: Intaglio print: Line etching
Initial processing and proofing: 1965, by Jack Beal
Edition pulled: 2004, by Roger Bailey
Ink and paper type: Bone black ink on Hahnemuhle warm white
Edition size: 28
Signed: in pencil, lower right
Image Size: 4.625" x 4.125"
Paper Size: 11" x 15"
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This self-portrait was drawn, etched and proofed by Jack Beal when he and Sondra Freckelton lived and worked on the 5th floor of 101 Prince Street in New York City. Reinforced window glass was required by the building code. Jack was the superintendent for the building, and he and Sondra lived and worked in that loft from 1963-1975. Hector's Luncheonette was on the ground floor in those days. This plate was not editioned until 2004.
A Closer Look ... Self-Portrait, With Cap
When I first met Jack in 1973 he was wearing a cap similar to the one he is wearing in this photo taken in the 1960s.
Jack processed and proofed this self-portrait etching while he an Sondra Freckelton were living in New York City in 1965. An etching plate such as this one is not nearly as delicate as the drypoint self-portrait Jack made at about the same time.
Examining one of the prints from the edition.
In making an etching, the plate is first covered with an acid-resistant ground and a needle is used to draw through the ground to expose the copper beneath. The exposed metal is bitten in an acid bath and those depress lines are later inked and printed under pressure.
Jack Beal signs the edition of etchings, April 28, 2005.