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In most print editions, the goal is for consistency; although each print is original and unique, variations are kept to a minimum. This was not the case for Shields’s editions. A description of his technique appeared in an Art in America article: “In the International Teady Bear series, Shields started with seventy-five sheets of paper cut to 21 ¾ x 22 inches, and, after dyeing them, screened a triangular image onto the center of each sheet. Then by altering the placement of additional triangles and dots and printing them in different colors, he established a series of relationships which have resulted in six sets and four color combinations, rather than seventy-five identical prints.” [1] Shields was fairly casual about the individual prints in his editions and had little concern for their being exact replicas. In an interview, he explained, “International Teady Bear, 1972, is a related series of prints, too, based on color variations. There are four sets and twelve prints in a set. There’s a red, green, blue, and a yellow, but the paper’s been dyed. The color variations go twelve different ways. The dots change on each of the four. The differences are in some ways gigantic, and some ways very small.” [2]
The print in the collection of Reynolda House Museum of American Art features a slightly off-center hexagon comprised of six concentric triangles: three in bright orange and three in blue. There are four additional concentric triangles placed alongside the edge of the composition on each side. In the corners of the image, off-registering the silkscreen builds up the density of the dots in each corner of the composition. Lack of opacity between color layers allows for more variation in color. Shields’s distinctive and idiosyncratic use of geometric shapes is clear when compared to the formalist Minimal works of his contemporaries Frank Stella and Richard Serra.
The titles that Shields gave to his works are as colorful, playful, and enigmatic as the images themselves. The viewer is left to ponder whether the spelling of “Teady” was intentional and what reference, if any, the artist was making to a child’s toy.
Notes:
[1] Diane Kelder, “Prints: Alan Shields’ ‘Things with Printmaking Techniques,’” Art in America (May–June 1977), 87.
[2] Howardena Pindell, “Tales of Brave Ulysses: Alan Shields,” The Print Collector’s Newsletter V, no. 6 (January–-February 1975), 138.
ProvenanceTo 1983
Barbara B. Millhouse, New York, NY and Winston-Salem, NC. [1]
From 1983
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC, given by Barbara B. Millhouse on December 29, 1983. [2]
Notes:
[1] Deed of Gift, object file.
[2] See note 1.
Exhibition History1976
Twentieth Century American Print Collection opening
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC (12/3/1976)
2016-2018
Off the Wall: Postmodern Art at Reynolda
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC (12/3/2016-6/11/2018)
Published References
DepartmentAmerican Art
International Teady Bear
Artist
Alan J. Shields
(1944 - 2005)
Date1972-1973
Mediumsilkscreen with dye and flocking
DimensionsFrame: 22 3/8 x 22 1/8 in. (56.8 x 56.2 cm)
Image: 22 x 21 3/4 in. (55.9 x 55.2 cm)
Signed<unsigned>
Credit LineGift of Barbara B. Millhouse
Copyright© Estate of Alan Shields / Greenberg Van Doren Gallery
Object number1983.2.19
DescriptionInternational Teady Bear is a work from Alan Shields’s artistic collaboration with master printer Bill Weege at the Jones Road Print Shop and Stable in Wisconsin during the early 1970s. Although Weege was formally trained in established printmaking techniques, Shields was not nor did he care to be. In most print editions, the goal is for consistency; although each print is original and unique, variations are kept to a minimum. This was not the case for Shields’s editions. A description of his technique appeared in an Art in America article: “In the International Teady Bear series, Shields started with seventy-five sheets of paper cut to 21 ¾ x 22 inches, and, after dyeing them, screened a triangular image onto the center of each sheet. Then by altering the placement of additional triangles and dots and printing them in different colors, he established a series of relationships which have resulted in six sets and four color combinations, rather than seventy-five identical prints.” [1] Shields was fairly casual about the individual prints in his editions and had little concern for their being exact replicas. In an interview, he explained, “International Teady Bear, 1972, is a related series of prints, too, based on color variations. There are four sets and twelve prints in a set. There’s a red, green, blue, and a yellow, but the paper’s been dyed. The color variations go twelve different ways. The dots change on each of the four. The differences are in some ways gigantic, and some ways very small.” [2]
The print in the collection of Reynolda House Museum of American Art features a slightly off-center hexagon comprised of six concentric triangles: three in bright orange and three in blue. There are four additional concentric triangles placed alongside the edge of the composition on each side. In the corners of the image, off-registering the silkscreen builds up the density of the dots in each corner of the composition. Lack of opacity between color layers allows for more variation in color. Shields’s distinctive and idiosyncratic use of geometric shapes is clear when compared to the formalist Minimal works of his contemporaries Frank Stella and Richard Serra.
The titles that Shields gave to his works are as colorful, playful, and enigmatic as the images themselves. The viewer is left to ponder whether the spelling of “Teady” was intentional and what reference, if any, the artist was making to a child’s toy.
Notes:
[1] Diane Kelder, “Prints: Alan Shields’ ‘Things with Printmaking Techniques,’” Art in America (May–June 1977), 87.
[2] Howardena Pindell, “Tales of Brave Ulysses: Alan Shields,” The Print Collector’s Newsletter V, no. 6 (January–-February 1975), 138.
ProvenanceTo 1983
Barbara B. Millhouse, New York, NY and Winston-Salem, NC. [1]
From 1983
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC, given by Barbara B. Millhouse on December 29, 1983. [2]
Notes:
[1] Deed of Gift, object file.
[2] See note 1.
Exhibition History1976
Twentieth Century American Print Collection opening
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC (12/3/1976)
2016-2018
Off the Wall: Postmodern Art at Reynolda
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC (12/3/2016-6/11/2018)
Published References
Status
Not on view