Jeux
Anthony Hill
Life Story
This screenprint is one of two works that Anthony Hill submitted for EXACTA, an exclusive portfolio of graphic work, compiled by Fausta Squatriti and Getulio Alviani between 1980 and 1985 in Milan. Twenty-seven leading artists associated with international geometric abstraction were invited to contribute two related prints for the portfolio: one from an early phase of research, and another to show how this research had developed in their later practice. [1]
Hill produced the screenprint Jeux in 1983 from a painting of the same title made in 1951, at the beginning of his career. The original painting was shown in an influential exhibition of abstract art at the AIA Gallery in London in May 1951 and was reproduced in the publication Broadsheet No.1. [2] Hill describes this work in a statement about the Jeux screenprint in the EXACTA portfolio:
‘The serigraph Jeux is based on a picture of 1951, a loose, somehow Cubist work. In its first version I had used collage, to work out my aims by trial and error; the final version is hard-edged and uses gloss paint. The title refers to a ballet score by Debussy. This was the music I played while working.’ [3]
The EXACTA portfolio was produced in an edition of 125, with twenty-five additional editions reserved for the artists involved. This Jeux screenprint is an artist’s proof and Michael Morris probably acquired it directly from Hill. The Sainsbury Centre collection also includes the second screenprint that Hill submitted for EXACTA, a monochrome geometric composition titled Graphic Monument to Rudolph Bauer, made in 1981 (see 31604).
Lisa Newby, March 2021
[1] The EXACTA portfolio can be viewed on Fausta Squatriti’s website Edizioni d’arte – 3 (faustasquatriti.com)
[2] Alastair Grieve, Constructed Abstract Art in England: A Neglected Avant-Garde (New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 2005), p.109.
[3] The Sainsbury Centre Archive includes photocopies of the artists biographies and statements produced in connection with the EXACTA portfolio. The German text has been translated into English in an additional document, which Michael Morris has annotated.
Provenance
In October 1984, the University of East Anglia accepted a planned bequest from Joyce and Michael Morris (UEA Alumni). Michael died in 2009 and Joyce in December 2014 when the couple's wishes were implemented.
Jeux- choreography by V. Nijinsky
Jeux (Games) is a ballet written by Claude Debussy. Described as a "poème dansé" (literally a "danced poem"), it was written for Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballet Russes with choreography by Vaslav Nijinsky. Debussy initially objected to the scenario but reconsidered the commission when Diaghilev doubled the fee. Debussy wrote the score quickly, from mid-August to mid-September 1912. A very similar pose to the forms depicted in Anthony Hill's print can be observed at 4 minutes, 43 seconds in this footage.
